The iPod turns eight years old

"Do you remember where you were on October 23, 2001? I don’t, but I do remember that Apple make a very big announcement, which—at the time—I thought was a big mistake: the iPod. Today marks the eighth year of the iPod’s existence and these days I find it hard to image a time when the iPod wasn’t a part of the cultural zeitgeist.

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Jobs unveils the iPod. (Macworld photo by Rick LePage)

The first iPod had 10 hours of battery life, a FireWire port (which I still miss), and 5GB of storage for $399. Oh, and it was Mac-compatible only. When I first heard about it I thought, “Who the heck even has one gig of music? Dumb move, Apple.” Good thing Apple doesn’t call me up for business pointers because I couldn’t have been more wrong about the iPod if I had tried.

Macworld's Jon Seff, Rick LePage, and Jason Snell at the iPod launch.

Over the years, the iPod has morphed into far more than an MP3 player but today, on its eighth birthday, let us take a moment to remember fondly that simpler time, when seeing someone with white headphones was a rarity and there was a sort of unspoken bond between iPod users. Here's thenews story that ran on Macworld about the announcement, and you can watch the Apple music event in which Steve unleashes the iPod an an unsuspecting world.

Here’s to another eight years of the iPod. (I’m sure that I’ll be amongst the first to line up for the iPod cranial implant that Apple will introduce in 2016.)

For more iPod nostalgia, check out our iPod 5th anniversary podcast, Jason Snell's recollections of that day, a timeline of the first five years of iPod, and a selection of iPod quotes from back in 2001. You can also read Jonathan Seff's first look at the original iPod."

Written by Scott McNulty

Apple Targets Windows 7 With Three New 'Get a Mac' Ads

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Following through on claims that Apple would launch new advertising targeting Windows 7, the company today posted three new "Get a Mac" commercials to its ad gallery and began airing them on television.

The first commercial, entitled Broken Promises, features PC announcing the availability of Windows 7, stating that it's "not gonna have any of the problems my last operating system had." The ad then progresses through a series of flashbacks of PC, wearing the fashion of the respective dates, making similar promises at the release of previous Windows versions.

The second ad, entitled Teeter Tottering, features a Windows XP user named Annie who is moving to a Mac for a "fresh start" with a computer line-up rated #1 in consumer satisfaction. As part of Annie's rationale for making the switch to Mac, she notes "I could stick with what I know, but what I know is pain and frustration."

The third commercial, entitled PC News, features PC as a news anchor speaking to an in-the-field reporter at the Windows 7 launch. The reporter interviews several excited customers who are switching to Mac, noting "If we have to move all of our stuff, why not move to the computer that's number one in customer satisfaction?""

Written by Eric Slivka

Kindle Software for Mac Under Development

"Amazon yesterday announced the launch of "Kindle for PC", a free Windows application that will allow users to read e-Books purchased from the company's Kindle Store on their computers. While the news release made no mention of a Mac version of the application, Fast Company reports (via 9 to 5 Mac) that a Mac version is in fact under development.

An Amazon spokesperson told me late Thursday: "Yes, we are working on a Kindle app for Mac."

Amazon has worked to quickly broaden access to its Kindle Store content beyond the original Kindle hardware launched in late 2007. In addition to several new models released since that time, the company has pushed Kindle Store content to the iPhone with the release of a free iPhone applicationand an iPhone-optimized Kindle Store accessible through Safari. Earlier this month, Amazon also announced an international version of the Kindle hardware that allows global access to Kindle Store content.

Apple has reportedly been looking to pursue e-Book-like capabilities with its much-rumored tablet device, but is rumored to be taking things even further in an attempt to redefine print media by creating interactive experiences for users."

Written by Eric Slivka

More Details on Motorola Droid Surface

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Earlier this week, Verizon began an advertising campaign for the forthcoming Motorola Droid, pitting the smartphone against Apple's iPhone. At the time, Boy Genius Report offered a brief report of its hands-on impressions of the device, calling it "the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive."

Detailed specs on the Droid, however, were unavailable until product pages for the device apparentlyappeared prematurely on Motorola's site yesterday. According to the pages, the Droid offers the following notable features:

- 3.7-inch, 854 x 480 touch screen with a pixel density of 267 pixels per inch (ppi), compared to the 3.5-inch, 480 x 320 screen at 163 ppi on the iPhone 3GS.
- Overall device dimensions of 2.4 x 4.5 x 0.5 in, only marginally thicker than the iPhone's 2.4 x 4.5 x 0.48 in. The Droid weighs in at 6 ounces, slightly heftier than the iPhone 3GS at 4.8 ounces.
- 5-megapixel digital camera with image stabilization, autofocus, and dual LED flash, compared to the 3-megapixel autofocus camera found on the iPhone 3GS.
- WebKit-based browser compatible with HTML5 and with support for Flash 10 planned for 2010.
- 16 GB microSD card included, with support for up to 32 GB cards.

Boy Genius Report has also promised a full preview of the Droid for sometime today.

Update: Boy Genius Report has posted its Droid preview, which is full of details regarding the user experience. Overall, BGR is very impressed with the device.

The Motorola CLIQ was a pretty big disappointment for me personally, but oh man does the Droid make up for it. Sure, there's a little hype sprinkled in because this is the first Android 2.0 device I've had the pleasure of using, but once you move past the initial "wow" factor, the Droid really delivers.

BGR hesitates to pit the Droid directly against the iPhone, noting that the only true competitor for the iPhone is the next iPhone, but the Droid will certainly stand out in a growing smartphone segment with room for a number of significant players.

So will the Motorola Droid be successful? Absolutely, we think. It will eat in to BlackBerry sales, Windows Mobile sales, and positively murder any lingering Palm Pre sales. It's that good. Did you notice how Verizon still hasn't announced the BlackBerry Storm2?

We really enjoyed using the Motorola Droid and think you're going to love it. It's not as straight forward as an iPhone and a little more involved than a BlackBerry, but if you're up for the challenge, so is the Droid."

Written by Eric Slivka

Apple Releases Updated iMac Models With 21.5- and 27-Inch LED Screens

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Apple today announced updated iMac models carrying LED-based 16:9 displays in 21.5-inch and 27-inch sizes.

Apple today unveiled an all new iMac line featuring brilliant LED-backlit 21.5 and 27-inch widescreen displays in a new edge-to-edge glass design and seamless all aluminum enclosure. The new iMac line, starting at $1,199, is the fastest ever with Intel Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for up to twice the performance. Every new iMac ships with a wireless keyboard and the all new wireless Magic Mouse, the world's first mouse with Multi-Touch technology pioneered by Apple on the iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpad.

The 21.5-inch model, which begins at $1,199 and carries a 1920x1080 display, offers Intel Core 2 Duo processor options running at 3.06 GHz or 3.33 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M or ATI Radeon 4670 graphics card options.

Pricing on the 27-inch model, which carries a 2560x1440 display, begins at $1,699. In addition to the same processor options found on the smaller model, users can also select from a 2.66 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or 2.8 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, although machines carrying those higher-end processors will not ship until November.

All new iMac models feature an SD card slot and ship standard with a wireless keyboard and the new Multi-Touch Magic Mouse also unveiled today."

Written by Eric Slivka

Apple Introduces Magic Mouse - A Multi-Touch Mouse

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Apple introduced a new multi-touch mouse today called "Magic Mouse". The mouse uses the same multi-touch technology found in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Mac notebook trackpads. The entire surface of the mouse is a seamless multi-touch surface.

The new mouse comes standard with the new iMacs introduced today and is also available separately for $69.

"Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Apple's Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design."

The gesture commands allow users to scroll through documents, pan across images, or swipe to move forward or backward through web pages or photos. It is said to work for both left and right handed users and gesture commands can be configured in the System Preferences. Magic Mouse is Bluetooth wireless enabled and will be available at the end of October."

Written by arn

Apple Updates Mac Mini and Adds Server Option

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Apple today updated its Mac mini, offering spec bumps to its existing $599 and $799 models and adding a new $999 server model.

Apple today also announced that the Mac mini, the world's most energy efficient desktop, is now faster, offers more storage and comes standard with double the memory. Starting at $599, the entry level Mac mini features a faster 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, a 160GB hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a SuperDrive. The $799 Mac mini features a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory and a larger 320GB hard drive. Apple now offers a $999 Mac mini that is specially configured with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard® Server. Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server features two 500GB hard drives for a total of 1TB of server storage in the tiny 6.5-inch square by 2-inch tall Mac mini enclosure.

The server model runs Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server and replaces the Mac mini's usual optical drive with a second 2.5-inch hard drive, allowing for the 1 TB total hard drive capacity."

Written by Eric Slivka

MacBook Updated with LED Display, Multi-Touch, 7 Hour Battery

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As rumored, Apple updated the MacBook line with a new durable polycarbonate unibody design with LED-backlit display, glass multi-touch trackpad and a 7 hour battery life.

"The new MacBook includes many of the great features found on the innovative MacBook Pro, such as an LED-backlit display, glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in long-life battery," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With the only lineup of notebooks all featuring unibody enclosures, LED-backlit displays and long-life battery technology, there's never been a better time to switch to a Mac."

The new design includes a non-skid bottom surface, and weighs 4.7 pounds. It contains a 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, 250GB HD and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics card. The new built-in battery can be replaced by Apple for $129.

The new MacBook is available immediately for the price of $999."

Written by arn