More results...
View specials while on-hand supplies last. Please note that some specials may not be available in our retail stores; check for availability.
Over 200 total specials are featured online on our Specials page. Check them out here!
_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.
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
iWeb also received minor updates for Macworld. In iWeb, it’s now easier to upload websites and website changes to MobileMe or to your own server via FTP with a single click. Like iWeb ’08, iWeb ’09 uploads only your changes when you publish, so you’ll enjoy quick site updates.
iWeb will now notify your Facebook friends when you update your site. Simply link any iWeb site to your Facebook account. Following an update, iWeb adds the changes to your profile, alerting your friends and providing them with a handy link. It’s now also easier to add web widgets to your site that update automatically.
iDVD didn’t appear to get any new features beyond performance and stability improvements. iMovie once again supports DVD chapter makers and titles for use with iDVD ’09, which is very welcome news.
“Learn more and pre-order iLife ’09 here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72885
iLife ’09 looks like an awesome upgrade. Too bad it won’t be released until the need of the month. Fortunately, Apple has an iLife ’09 up-to-date program. If you’ve purchased a qualifying computer on or after January 6, 2009 that does not include iLife ’09, you can upgrade to iLife ’09 for US $9.95 plus tax.
*Apple will administer this program, including collecting the $9.95 and shipping the iLife ’09 DVD.*
More information about this is forthcoming. Please check “our blog”:http://blog.smalldog.com on or after Monday, January 12 for additional details!
Grace gave me an advance 60th birthday present just before I left for Macworld. She is taking me to Tanzania to see hippos in the wild. After watching the keynote with the new version of iMovie, we have decided to bring along a digicam, too!
Our friend Chet Newbold from Olympus is going to loan me one of their ultra zoom cameras, too, so I hope to bring back some great photos and video from this trip. I am so excited about fulfilling this dream and spending my 60th birthday in Africa!
I think we are going to see a lot of new products coming out of Apple this year. When they are ready on schedule, I am much more optimistic than most about 2009. I think that Apple is well-suited to innovate its way through this economic downturn.
Thank you so much for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!
Your Kibbles & Bytes Team
_Don, Kali & Ed_