• apple,  appletv,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  itunes,  mac os x,  touch,  windows

    Apple Launches iTunes 10, Unveils New iPods, AppleTV, iOS 4.1 Update

    September 2, 2010 /

    It has been a busy day for Apple fanatics customers today.

    New iPods, Apple TV

    At today’s annual September media event, Apple took the wraps off a new iPod nano and iPod touch.  The iPod shuffle got it’s click-wheel back.  Apple TV received an extreme makeover, and we were told that iOS 4.1 will arrive next week (9/8/10) to fix the proximity sensor and Bluetooth issues on iPhone 4 and performance issues on the iPhone 3GS.  Owners of current iPod touch models will also be getting the iOS 4.1 treatment next week.  iPad owners, like me, will have to wait until November for the iOS 4.2 update to be released.  Ugh!

    The good news for those of us not eager to shell out a few hundred more dollars for the latest shinny Apple gizmo is that we can get our hands on iTunes 10 today.

    Once you get past the hoopla over the redesigned logo, Apple dumped the CD to focus on the music note, you’ll see the new features that have been added to the popular jukebox software.  Click the read link for the new iTunes 10 features and more photos of Apple’s latest gear.

    What’s new in iTunes 10

    •Introducing Ping. Use Ping to follow your favorite artists and friends or connect with the world’s most passionate music fans. Discover the music everyone is talking about, listening to, and downloading.

    • Rent HD TV episodes for just 99¢ each. Watch them on your Mac or PC, on-the-go with iPhone or iPod touch, or in your living room with the all new Apple TV.

    • Play your favorites on the all new iPod touch, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and Apple TV.

    • Play music wirelessly with AirPlay on AirPlay-enabled speakers, home theater receivers, and iPod accessories.

    • Explore many look-and-feel improvements throughout iTunes.

    • Enjoy performance improvements which make iTunes faster and more responsive.

    • Additional voice support with VoiceOver Kit for iPod.

    For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

    [Editor’s Note: At the time we posted this article, iTunes 10 was only available as a download from the Apple website.  It was not appearing in the Software Update control panel on our Mac OS X and Windows 7 boxes.]

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  • apple,  appletv,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  itunes,  touch

    Apple Invites Media to a Special September 1 Event

    August 26, 2010 /

    September is almost upon us and that means it’s time for Apple to send out invitations to the media-only fall event.
    According to the Tech Trader Daily blog, Eric Savitz writes:

    “There’s zero information in the invitation on the nature of the event, and the only hint is the photo of the guitar with the Apple-logo shaped cut out that I’ve included with this post.” 

     My invitation seems to have gotten lost in the mail.

    Apple’s fall events have been the showcase for the new iPod touch and music related products for the holiday season. This year is expected to be no different with rumors flying around of an iPod touch refresh that will feature iOS 4.1, dual cameras and support for FaceTime, and a the same high resolution Retina display that has been used on the iPhone 4.

    There are also near daily rumors that Apple will release a new version of the Apple TV, possible called “iTV”, that runs iOS and replaces the hard drive with a smaller flash drive.  Content would be streamed to the device rather than store it locally on a hard drive as the current Apple TV model does.  The new Apple TV is also rumored to go on sale with pricing as low as $99 and TV show rentals for $0.99.

    [Via Tech Trader Daily blog…]

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  • apple,  appletv

    Apple iPod Event – Will Jobs Make an Appearance?

    September 2, 2009 /

    After weeks of rumors and wild speculation by almost everyone, it is clear that on September 9 Apple will be talking about new iPods, iTunes 9, and possibly a hardware or software update to Apple TV.

    Interestingly, what has taken on a life of its own is whether or not Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs will take the helm and deliver the presentation and product demos or will Apple chose to bring out SVP of Product Marketing Phil Schiller or COO Tim Cook who took on the role of acting CEO while Mr. Jobs was on his medical leave earlier this year.

    Personally, I think there is a 50/50 chance that Mr. Jobs will make an appearance at the event to kick off and wrap up the presentation. If Mr. Jobs doesn’t run the presentation, I would expect to see Mr. Schiller take on the presentation chores as he has done in the past.

    The bottom line is that I like watching Steve Jobs hock is ‘wares, but what I’m more interested in is seeing what new features will added to the iPod touch and the Apple TV.

    On the top of my list for the iPod touch is the addition of a 3.0MP digital camera and the inclusion of a GPS radio. On the Apple TV front, I’d like to see Apple add a TiVo-like TV show recording feature that will record the show to the local hard disk and then transfer down to iTunes on a Mac or PC. It would be really cool if the exiting Apple TV hardware could do that (since I have one), but I suspect that for a TiV0-like feature to become available on Apple TV, it will require a hardware change to add a line-in connection.

    What would you like to see Apple add to the iPod and Apple TV? Let us know in the Comments section below.

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