Apple Introduces MacBook Air—The World’s Thinnest Notebook

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 15, 2008—Apple® today unveiled MacBook® Air, the world’s thinnest notebook. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight® video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.

“We’ve built the world’s thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.”

MacBook Air has a vibrant 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display that is energy efficient, and its spacious trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe, making it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages in Safari™. MacBook Air features a full-size keyboard design in a sleek and durable aluminum enclosure. The backlit keyboard makes it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls, and a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility.

MacBook Air delivers up to five hours of battery life for wireless productivity and includes AirPort Extreme® 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, which delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g*. Apple’s Migration Assistant software now enables users to quickly transfer files, applications and preferences from your old Mac® to MacBook Air right over your wireless network.

MacBook Air users can buy the companion MacBook Air SuperDrive, a compact external drive designed for MacBook Air, for just £65 (inc VAT). The MacBook Air SuperDrive® is powered by MacBook Air’s USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter. Many MacBook Air users will not find a need for an optical drive now that they can wirelessly backup files with Time Capsule and access the optical drives on remote PCs or Macs to wirelessly install software applications on MacBook Air.

MacBook Air is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz, and includes as standard 2GB of memory and an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive. An optional 64GB solid state drive contains no moving parts for added durability. Every MacBook Air includes a micro-DVI port so users can connect to Apple’s gorgeous 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays to extend their desktop or connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adaptors. MacBook Air includes USB 2.0 for plugging in peripherals or charging an iPod® or iPhone™, a headphone jack and Apple’s acclaimed MagSafe® Power Adapter designed especially for mobile users.

Every MacBook Air comes with iLife® ‘08, the most significant update ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto® and a completely reinvented iMovie®, both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing. The new MacBook Air also comes with Leopard™, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Leopard introduces Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat®. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a MacBook Air over the Internet while out on the road.

The new MacBook Air embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by recyclers; Apple’s first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass; and brominated flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as PVC-free internal cables. In addition, MacBook Air consumes the least amount of power of any Mac, and its retail box, made primarily from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, is 56 percent smaller by volume than the previously smallest MacBook packaging.

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook Air will be shipping in two weeks through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com/ukstore), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers for a suggested retail price of £1,199 (inc VAT), and includes:

• 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280x800 resolution;
• 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache;
• 800 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
• 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
• Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adaptor, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork ‘08, Logic® Express 8, Final Cut® Express 4 and Aperture™ 1.5.

Apple Announces Time Capsule

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 15, 2008—Apple® today introduced Time Capsule, a backup appliance that automatically and wirelessly backs up everything on one or more Macs running Leopard™, the latest release of Apple’s Mac OS® X operating system including the amazing Time Machine™ automatic backup software. Time Capsule combines an 802.11n base station with a server grade hard disk in one small package. Simply plug it in, then easily set up automatic wireless backup for every Mac® in your house to a single Time Capsule with just a few clicks. Time Capsule offers the benefits of a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station, and comes in two models: a 500 gigabyte model for just £199 (inc VAT) and a 1 terabyte model for just £329 (inc VAT).

“Bring Time Capsule home, plug it in, click a few buttons on your Macs and voila—all the Macs in your house are being backed up automatically, every hour of every day,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With Time Capsule and Time Machine, all your irreplaceable photos, movies and documents are automatically protected and incredibly easy to retrieve if they are ever lost.”

Built to work seamlessly with Time Machine, Time Capsule lets users wirelessly back up all of the data on their Macs, find lost files and even restore all of their software. In the event a file is lost, users can wirelessly search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file. If it’s ever necessary, Leopard can also easily restore an entire system from the Time Machine backup on Time Capsule.

In addition to being the best way to back up a Mac, Time Capsule is also a full-featured Wi-Fi base station with the latest 802.11n technology. Delivering up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g, 802.11n* is built in to Apple’s iMac® desktop and the entire Mac notebook line up, including MacBook®, MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air. Time Capsule features a sleek design with a built-in power supply and connections to print wirelessly to a USB printer. With Time Capsule, it’s very easy for users to create a secure, wireless network for up to 50 users and set security restrictions such as Internet access limits for children’s computers.

At £199 (inc VAT) for a 500GB model and £329 (inc VAT) for a 1TB model and a fully integrated 802.11n AirPort Extreme® Base Station, Time Capsule can serve as a backup solution for multiple computers as well as the backbone for a high-speed, 802.11n wireless network, making it effortless and affordable for everyone at home, school or work to protect their digital files.

Additional Time Capsule features include:
• dual-band antennas for 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequencies;
• three Gigabit LAN ports;
• one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA-2), 128-bit WEP encryption; and
• a built-in NAT firewall supporting NAT-PMP for features like Back to My Mac.

MacWorld San Francisco 2008 Keynote

The MacWorld 2008 Keynote is well underway now, and this time I have chosen to save my comments for after the event. I must mention though, that the MacBook Air looks very thin and sexy, so it will be interesting to get the full specs to you as soon as possible. Check back later for a full update.

Get Trained Up for 2008

Academy Class is open in even more locations around the UK, so you can get up to speed with the latest applications in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Devon. They are an Authorised Training Centre for Adobe, Quark, Apple, Maxon and Autodesk.

Most popular certified courses include;

  • Print / Design - Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, Indesign, Creative Suite, Quark Xpress
  • Web / Developer - DreamWeaver, Flash, Flash Lite for mobiles, Coldfusion, Captivate, Flex, Fireworks, Ajax
  • 3d and CAD - 3D Studio Max, Maya, Combustion, AutoCAD, Viz, Vectorworks, Sketch up, Cinema 4d, Acrobat 3d
  • Internet Marketing - Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Web Writing, Pay Per Click Marketing
  • Video and Motion - Premiere, AfterEffects, Final Cut Pro, Motion
  • Adobe and Apple certification Certification - Gain professional and industry recognition with an Adobe or Apple Certification
If you mention 'Geekanoids' when booking your course, you will get 15% off too. How about that for extra value! (discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer).

Check out what is on offer here.

The Best of MAKE! - A Must Read!

The Best of MAKE!: The #1 Authority on D-I-Y Turns Out 350 Pages of F-U-N!

Farnham, UK-The 21st century world has both a genuine need for resourcefulness and a ravenous appetite for originality. Catering to both of these is the enormously popular MAKE magazine (called "the bible" of the new Do-It-Yourself movement by FORTUNE magazine). With 12 volumes already in print, a lot of latecomers to this movement are struggling to play catch-up. Thankfully, MAKE has just made their lives a little easier with the release of The Best of MAKE, on sale now at makezine.com and available at bookstores nationwide.

The Best of MAKE features projects of all types, from "kitchen table quickies" like LED Throwies and Vibrobot, to "afternoon long-builds" like Cigar Box Guitar and Two-Can Sterling Engine, to "weekend projects" like Rocket-Launched Camcorder and Mousey the Junkbot. And to help the reader easily find what they enjoy most, the projects are organized into convenient categories including: Tools, Electronics, Microcontrollers, Toys & Games, Robots, Music, Flight & Projectiles, Photography & Video and Cars & Engines.

"One of the things we've tried to do with MAKE is to create projects where the reader will think, 'I can do this!'" explains Associate Publisher and Executive Editor Dan Woods. "For The Best of Make, we looked for the projects that most clearly resonated with that type of can-do enthusiasm."

Since it's launch, MAKE has been celebrated everywhere from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS Sunday Morning. With The Best of Make, you can see what the fuss is all about. The Best of Make is sure to keep any reader in tinkering heaven.

For 12 year olds or 70 year olds, MAKE has something for everyone. The only pre-requisite is that you be curious and creative!

The Best of MAKE costs $34.99, £21.99, 28 Euro and can be found here.
ISBN: 0-596-51428-x

Fairer iTunes Pricing for the UK (and Europe)

LONDON—January 9, 2008—Apple® today announced that within six months it will lower the prices it charges for music on its UK iTunes® Store to match the already standardised pricing on iTunes across Europe in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. Apple currently must pay some record labels more to distribute their music in the UK than it pays them to distribute the same music elsewhere in Europe. Apple will reconsider its continuing relationship in the UK with any record label that does not lower its wholesale prices in the UK to the pan-European level within six months.

“This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing.”

New Mac Pro - Fastest Mac Ever - 8 Processor Cores Standard

CUPERTINO, California—January 8, 2008—Apple® today introduced the new Mac® Pro with eight processor cores and a new system architecture that delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor*. The new Mac Pro combines two of Intel’s new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage to offer the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists. The standard 8-core configuration starts at just £1,749 (inc VAT).

“The new Mac Pro is the fastest Mac we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With 3.2 GHz 8-core Xeon processing, a 1600 MHz front side bus and 800 MHz memory, the new Mac Pro uses the fastest Intel Xeon architecture on the market.”

The new Mac Pro features the latest Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors based on state-of-the-art 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture running up to 3.2 GHz, each with 12MB of L2 cache per processor for breakthrough performance and power efficiency. With a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses and up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory, the new Mac Pro achieves a 61 percent increase in memory throughput**.

Every Mac Pro comes standard with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256MB of video memory. The Mac Pro includes a new PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot that delivers up to double the bandwidth compared to the previous generation, and supports the latest generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA, such as the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of video memory, or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5GB of video memory and a 3-D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications. With support for up to four graphics cards, the new Mac Pro can drive up to eight 30-inch displays at once for advanced visualisation and large display walls.

The Mac Pro is the most expandable Mac ever, featuring four internal hard drive bays with direct-attach, cable-free installation of four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives, totaling 4TB of internal storage and support for two SuperDrives. With optional 15000 rpm SAS drives that can deliver up to 250MB/s of RAID 5 disk I/O performance, the Mac Pro is ideal for film and video editors. Combined with SATA or SAS drives, using an optional Mac Pro RAID card offers the ultimate data protection and disk I/O performance on the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is easily and conveniently accessible in front and back so users can connect external devices with five USB 2.0, two FireWire® 400, two FireWire 800, optical and analogue audio in and out, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and a headphone jack.

Every Mac Pro includes Leopard™, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Leopard is packed with more than 300 new features and introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac. Featuring an improved scheduler and other multi-core technology, Leopard is a perfect companion to the Mac Pro, making applications faster and helping application developers take advantage of multi-core systems.

The new ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard now ships with every Mac Pro and built-in Bluetooth 2.0 makes it easy to reduce cable clutter with the optional Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse.

Pricing & Availability
The new Mac Pro is shipping today and will be available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers.

The standard 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of £1,749 (inc VAT), includes:
• two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors with dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses;
• 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory;
• 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• 16x SuperDrive™ with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• two PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI Express slots;
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; and
• ships with Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse.

In addition to the standard configuration, the Mac Pro offers numerous build-to-order options including: one 2.8 GHz, two 3.0 GHz, or two 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors; up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 fully-buffered ECC memory; up to four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm or up to four 300GB SAS drives running at 15000 rpm; Mac Pro RAID card; up to two 16x SuperDrives with double-layer support; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics cards; AirPort Extreme 802.11n; Apple USB Modem; Apple wireless Aluminium Keyboard; Apple wireless Mighty Mouse; and Mac OS X Server Leopard. Complete build-to-order options and pricing are available at http://www.apple.com/uk/macpro.

Merry Christmas to All Our Readers

With Christmas upon us and everything icy cold, it comes time to say thanks to all our readers for your support over the past year. Just for a few days I will be taking a well earned break and you may not see any new posts until the 28th December. Don't fret though, as some of the video coverage that has already been shot will be with you before the New Year. All that is left for me to say is "Have a Very Happy Christmas, full of turkey and gadgets!" - Dave.

Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide

No matter how much Mac experience you have, Mac OS X Leopard requires that you get reacquainted. There's a new look, a Quick Look, something called Stacks, a Time Machine, Spaces, and more. So what do Mac aficionados need to get to know Leopard? A clear and concise resource illuminating how best to use and unleash the operating system's powerful new features.

O'Reilly's newest release, Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide, fills this need. This timely new resource by Mac expert Chuck Toporek comes packed with more than 300 tips and techniques. It covers all the details you need to learn Leopard's new features, configure your system, and get the most out of your Mac... fast.

"For me, there's a lot to love about Mac OS X Leopard," says Toporek. "The two big features that I can't live without now are Time Machine and Spaces. With Time Machine, there's no reason not to back up the Macs in my home office. It's automatic, and best of all it's transparent after you get through the initial backup."

As for Spaces, "it is... without a doubt... the best feature in Leopard! I do all of my writing on a MacBook, so there's not much screen there to work with. But with Spaces, I can have up to 16 virtual screens to work with, and I can configure it to have applications open in a specific Space. For example, I have Word in Space 1, Firefox in Space 2, iChat and AdiumX running in Space 3, Terminal in Space 4, and so on."

For Mac newbies, Toporek included a Survival Guide that explains how to adapt and a chapter on Mac OS X's key features. Experienced Mac users can leap right to the heart of Leopard with chapters on system preferences, applications and utilities, and configuration. Throughout this pocket guide, clear, easy-to-grasp tables, concise descriptions, and step-by-step instructions that explain:

. What's new in Leopard, including the Time Machine
. How to use Leopard's totally revamped Finder
. All about Spaces and how to quickly flip among them
. How to find things with Spotlight
. How to use Leopard's enhanced Parental Controls
. Handy keyboard shortcuts to increase your efficiency
. Quick tips for setting up and configuring your Mac to make it your own

So if you want to get in on the Leopard buzz and get started taming Apple's new cat now, this is the guide to keep close at hand.

Chuck Toporek is a Mac technology geek and a senior acquisitions editor with Addison-Wesley, a division of Pearson Education. He is the author of three Mac books and one medical book, and he has written for MacAddict and Macworld magazines.

Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide
Chuck Toporek
ISBN: 0-596-52981-3, 223 pages, $14.99, £8.99, 12 Euro

Yummy FTP now ready for Leopard

There are a lot of FTP software choices out there for Mac OS X. I personally use Cyberduck, but for those wanting a bit more, you really should check out the exhaustive feature list of Yummy FTP. In its latest version, it becomes fully Leopard compatible, with some extra goodies thrown in for good measure. You get Bandwidth Control, Free FTP Alias Droplets, and a Dock Menu to name just a few. $25 buys you a single license.

Apple Release OS X Leopard 10.5.1 Update

Apple have been hard at work fixing and tweaking their latest operating system. Available through Software Update, or as a standalone installer, 10.5.1 fixes a slew of things. Amongst the fixes are:

  • Allows password-protected accounts on AirPort Disks to show up on in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.
  • Restores the functionality of the progress bar during permission repairs in Disk Utility.
  • iCal alarms are now more reliably delivered via email.
  • Improves stability in Mail when resizing columns in the message viewer or switching between Stationery templates in email messages.
  • Addresses a potential data loss issue when moving files across partitions in the Finder.
  • Addresses formatting issues with certain drives used with Time Machine (specifically, single-partition MBR drives greater than 512 GB in size as well as NTFS drives of any size and partition scheme).
There is a lot more besides just this short list. Shame it did not fix my issue with a crawling internet connection when using my wifi. Oh, and the printer queues still stay open after all my documents have finished printing. And and and, my Quark Xpress will not print to my Xerox Phaser 6180, unless I create a PDF and print that instead. Anyway, full details of the update can be found here.

Apple updates Remote Desktop Client & iPhoto

Apple made available two updates today for Mac OS X Leopard. The first addresses issues with Apple Remote Desktop 3.2 Client, taking it up to version 3.2.1. I had personally experienced issues with this, when repairing permissions, Disk Utility would warn of errors with ARD, so this is a welcome update. After installing, I found that both restarts and cold starts on my Mac Mini were lightning fast.
The second update takes iPhoto to version 7.1.1 which improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues.
Both of these updates are available through the Mac OS X 'Software Update' feature.