iWork '09: Pages

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_Dear Friends,_

I am writing from my hotel room in San Francisco at Macworld. I just came back from the nearest Starbucks for a grande black eye before I get on the plane to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. I walked outside and everyone seemed to be all bundled up with down coats, gloves, etc. It was 50 degrees out! I was proud of my tough Green Mountain blood in my t-shirt.

This has been a very productive Macworld, although I only had about an hour to look on the show floor. I have been in meetings, one after another, every day. It is these one-on-one meetings, the dinners and social events where business takes place that I will miss with the absence of Apple’s presence at Macworld.

There was a lot of reminiscing and talk about how we will preserve this personal contact in an increasingly impersonal business world. Everyone seems to be very concerned (and rightfully so) about the economy, and I must have heard someone say they are just “biding time” about a hundred times.

I am very excited about the iLife ’09 and the great bargain that the Mac Box Set represents. I was able to take a look at the new iPhoto and had a chance to talk to the designer/engineer from Apple. I had an important question: would the new facial recognition feature, Faces, work for dogs? Unfortunately, the answer was “no,” but he said that it was the most asked question thus far!

I’ll give you a short report from the CES show next week as Geoff and I search the floor for some new products. We have a whole new set of meetings before I fly back home on Sunday.

It just was not the same to see a Macworld Keynote without Steve Jobs, but I thought that Phil Schiller did an admirable job of showing off the latest from Apple.

The top four innovations from my point of view were:

1) iPhoto – the changes to iPhoto are simply astounding. It is the most advanced photo management system for consumers ever conceived. It will make your photo library more accessible, more manageable and more useful than ever before. iPhoto is reason enough all by itself to buy a Mac!

2) iMovie – the new features in iMovie have me thinking about taking a video camera with my on my upcoming safari to Tanzania. The ability to manipulate your videos and the new tools introduced make video editing even within my capabilities.

3) The Mac Box Set – The new package @ $169 of iWork, iLife and Leopard is a great way to get folks stuck back with Tiger finally into the modern age!

4) DRM-free iTunes – YES, this will make managing your music library as easy as managing your photo library. It is a credit to Apple that the record labels have finally seen the light and dropped the requirement for DRM on music. Apple has demonstrated that they have the market for music no one else can touch.

Plus, I like a lot of the features in the new MacBook Pro 17-inch, especially the new battery. While I know some will complain about the non-removable battery, I am sure that it can be replaced by Apple Service Providers and with a 1000-cycle life and up to 8-hours on a charge, you do not have to carry a spare battery just to get through the day!

I was surprised to see Tony Bennett as the musical star at the end of the keynote but Artie was enraptured and applauded wildly.

Millions of cheers were heard ’round the world when Phil Schiller announced some of the changes coming to the iTunes Store. The main one: all DRM-free music, meaning that songs can be played and burned without restriction. The four major record companies (Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI) are all now on board with the change, which was crucial to feature songs without the “DRM”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management encoding.

Beginning today, over 8 million songs in the iTunes Store feature:

* No DRM restrictions
* Higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually unchanged from the original
* Same price for song downloads onto iPhone 3G over their 3G network

The remaining 2 million songs in the 10 million+ iTunes library will be available without the DRM restrictions by the end of March. According to Apple, they will offer a “simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of previously purchased songs to the higher quality DRM-free iTunes Plus format” for 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price. Sounds intriguing, but it could get expensive… I say choose your favorites wisely!

In April, songs will be available at three price points: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. This will be dictated by what the music labels charge Apple for the above licensing.

“Read Apple’s entire press release here.”:http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06itunes.html

Apple has updated iMovie ’08 to iMovie ’09 as part of iLife ’09. iMovie ’09 was introduced with the statement that iMovie ’08 “didn’t have all the features that older customers wanted.” Apple has added “a bunch of features that should please everyone.” Phil Schiller continued to say that Apple has added “depth and power” to iMovie ’09.

Some of the new features include:

* Precision editor with expanded timeline for advanced users. Improved drag and drop of video clips and audio clips. Easier to insert, overlay, replace, and add audio straight from clips. Sound can now be extended from the first clip over audio from the second clip to give pro continuity to edits. Also now easier to skim and see edits before and after cuts.

* Automatic video stabilization. The software identifies jittery/bumpy motion and reduces it by comparing frames of video to subsequent and previous frames. Video stabilization along with image stabilization in camcorders can practically create still photos. Two-step process. The first-pass is processor intensive.

* Now possible to integrate maps into iMovie projects, including an option for Indiana Jones-style flyovers with a beginning and end point.

* iMovie once again supports DVD chapter makers and titles for use with iDVD ’09, which is very welcome news.

Other features include new themes complete with titles, transitions and credits. “Clip adjustment” includes a slider to speed up or slow down video clips (which was mystifyingly absent in iMovie ’08). A new Project Library shows you all your film clips. New video effects have been added with instant previewing; no rendering is necessary. Read all new changes “by clicking here.”:http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/new-features.html

Personally, the announcement of iMovie ’09 was the most exciting event at this Macworld. I can’t wait to try it out. It sounds like creating engaging, attractive videos will be more fun than ever.

“Learn more and pre-order iLife ’09 here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72885

Get the most out of the photos, movies, and music on your Mac with the latest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD! It has lots of new features, which we’ll highlight below. *Note that iLife ’09 includes all five applications which are not available for purchase separately.*

On a related note, the Mac Box Set was announced as well: this is one package that includes Mac OS X Leopard, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 for $169.99 (You’ll save over $100; Leopard alone is $129.99!) Also available in Family Pack: $229.99

This will ship late this month; reserve your copy below!

Single User Edition:
http://www.smalldog.com/product/72889

Family Pack:
http://www.smalldog.com/product/72890