So the Macworld keynote address came and went.. and the world is still in one piece. As a regular bystander, the keynote was a bit ho-hum.. Yes.. Apple announced new software releases (iLife’09 and iWork ‘09); yes there’s a new 17 inch MacBook Pro notebook… and yes.. there are changes to iTunes.. but overall – it was a bit of a letdown wasn’t it? Maybe I’m not hardcore enough of an Apple follower.. Oh well.

In any event, let me try and summarize today’s announcements. Apple announced a new version of iLife ‘09 which features major updates to iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand. IMHO, the best additions have to be for iPhoto where you can now perform automatic face detection within the software, automatically publish pictures to both Facebook and Flickr as well as sync name tags back to iPhoto from Facebook. iPhoto will also now support location information stored in pictures from GPS enabled cameras or mobile phones. You’ll be able to search by places and faces – nifty. iLife ‘09 also contains an updated version of iWeb ‘09 as well as iDVD ‘09 for creating DVDs. You can purchase iLife ‘09 later this month for $79 dollars.

Apple also announced a major update to their iWork productivity suite in the form of iWork ‘09. The new version adds many new features to Keynote, Pages, and Numbers – all of which you can read about in the press release if you’re interested. Not to be outdone by Google or Microsoft, Apple is also getting into the online document sharing business with the introduction of the iWork.com beta website. With iWork.com, users will be able to share their iWork ‘09 documents online using their Apple ID. iWork ‘09 is available now for $79 dollars or $49 dollars with the purchase of any Mac.

As long rumored, Apple finally released an updated 17 inch MacBook Pro – bringing the aluminum unibody construction from the MacBook family to the 17 inch domain. The new 17 incher also features a new built-in rechargeable battery with a battery life of up to eight hours and lifespan of 1000 recharges – more than three times the lifespan of conventional notebook batteries. Other features of the new MacBook Pro include:

• High resolution LED backlit 1920 x 1200 resolution display
• Glass based multi-touch trackpad
• Latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.93 GHz
• Up to 8GB RAM
• Switchable NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics
• Standard 320GB 5400RPM HDD
• Optional 320GB 7200RPM HDD or 128GB/256GB SSD
• Mini DisplayPort

The new 17 inch MacBook Pro will be shipping at the end of this month. For a suggested retail price of $2799, you’ll get a system with the following specs:

• 17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200, glossy display;
• 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• three USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire® 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible); 
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; 
• built-in, 95WHr lithium polymer battery; and
• 85 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.

Yes.. $2799 is a lot of money..

And FINALLY, changes are coming to iTunes. Apple finally gave up on their single price point of $99 cents – offering songs in three price points now – $69 cents, $99 cents, and $1.29. However, the company also announced that all four major music labels (Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI) will now be offering their music in iTunes Plus – Apple’s DRM free format with 256kbps AAC encoding.

Let’s focus on the price changes first. Apple will be rolling out the price changes in April and it will be based on what the music labels charge Apple. The company claims that many more songs will be priced at 69 cents vs $1.29 but you can be sure the newest most popular songs will be on the higher end of the spectrum.

Ah but what about your existing collection of purchased songs? You can upgrade them to the newer DRM free format at a price of 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price.  The iTunes Store will begin offering eight million of its 10 million songs in the DRM free format with the remaining 2 million available by the end of March.

Finally, iPhone 3G owners will finally be able to download their purchased songs over the 3G network – just like they would over a Wi-Fi network.

AND.. that’s a wrap

Technorati Tags: Apple, Macworld keynote, iLife '09, iWork '09, Macbook Pro, iTunes Plus