iLife '09 Update: GarageBand

ByMike Moffit

At Macworld, Phil Schiller introduced a new version of GarageBand. The biggest new feature is called “Learn to Play.” It is designed to teach people to play instruments such as guitar and keyboards. You see the a representation of the instrument on the screen with a video of the instructor facing you.

Celebrity instructors include Sting, Sarah McLachlan, John Fogerty, and more. Apple says “learn to play a hit song from the artist who made it famous,” which I think sounds pretty cool. Additional video lessons can be purchased from the new GarageBand store for $4.99.

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    This week we are reviving a very popular special offer on previous generation 15-inch MacBook Pros. This special offer includes a MacBook Pro with 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, SuperDrive, a free Isis sleeve, and free shipping. “Click here to see this.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18719/

    Before the introduction of the unibody MacBook Pros in late 2008, these were the top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pros. We sold out of them a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately were able to find a few more at one of our distributors. It’s a great price on a fully loaded portable Mac.

    “Note that this bundle is also available with AppleCare for $2199.99.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18718/

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    Noted features:

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  • Happy Tuesday,

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    As always, thanks for reading and keep in touch.

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    Millions of cheers were heard ’round the world when Phil Schiller announced some of the changes coming to the iTunes Store in April. 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.

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