MacWorld

January 16, 2008--At the Macworld Expo today, Electronic Arts Inc. announced that Spore will be available for the Mac later this year. From Will Wright, creator of the mega-hit The Sims comes Spore, the only game that allows creative personalities to explore the depths of their own personal galaxy. A sneak peek of the game will be on display at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, CA throughout this week. A PC version of the game will also be released later this year.

“We couldn’t be happier to bring Spore to the Mac at the same time as the PC version. Spore is a highly creative game and I look forward to seeing what the players come up with to fill the universe they design,” said Will Wright, Chief Designer of Spore. Read more

January 15, 2008—Twentieth Century Fox and Apple today announced Digital Copy for iTunes, which provides customers who purchase a DVD with an additional Digital Copy of the movie. Just like movies purchased from the iTunes Store, an iTunes Digital Copy can effortlessly be transferred to iTunes and then viewed on a PC or Mac, iPod with video, iPhone or on Apple TV. The first DVD to make its debut with iTunes Digital Copy is the Special Edition DVD premiere of the Family Guy “Star Wars” parody, “Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest,” which is being released in stores today. Fox and Apple are planning to deliver many more DVDs with iTunes Digital Copy this year.

“One of the most requested features DVD buyers have been asking for is the ability to get the movies they bought into their iTunes library,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to offer such an incredibly simple way for our customers to get even more out of their DVD purchase, and we look forward to releasing many more DVDs this year with iTunes Digital Copy.” Read more

January 15, 2008—Apple today unveiled all new software for Apple TV that allows movie fans to rent movies on the iTunes Store directly from their widescreen TV, and lowered the price of Apple TV to just $229. With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV, users can just click a button on their remote to effortlessly rent movies from a catalog of over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, with no computer required. DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals are $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99. Apple will provide the new Apple TV software free of charge to existing Apple TV owners when it releases the new Apple TV priced at $229 in about two weeks. Read more

January 15, 2008—Apple today announced iTunes Movie Rentals featuring movies from all the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema. Users can rent movies for as low as $2.99 and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods, iPhone and Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals launches today and will offer over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound which users can rent directly from their widescreen TV using Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are priced at $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99. Read more

January 15, 2008—Apple today announced a major software upgrade for the iPod touch, making the best iPod into even more—the world’s best Wi-Fi mobile device. iPod touch customers already have the most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari, and now Apple is adding five more great mobile applications—Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes. The iPod touch software upgrade also includes new features such as Web Clips, a customizable home screen and beginning today, the ability to watch iTunes Movie Rentals. New iPod touch products shipping from the factory will include the software upgrade and existing iPod touch customers can get the software upgrade for $19.99 by purchasing and downloading it from iTunes (www.itunes.com).

“These amazing new mobile applications make iPod touch not only the best iPod, but the best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With its revolutionary touch interface and software, plus its stunning 3.5 inch screen, iPod touch is evolving into the first mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform of the 21st century.” Mail on iPod touch is a rich HTML email client that fetches email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and graphics along with the text of the email. Users can configure Mail for Google’s Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, .Mac Mail or most POP or IMAP based mail services with just a few clicks. Read more

January 15, 2008—Apple today announced a free software update for its revolutionary iPhone that allows users to automatically find their location using the redesigned Maps application; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for their favorite websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the new iTunes Movie Rentals right on their iPhone. With its revolutionary multi-touch user interface and pioneering software, users can easily add significant new features to their iPhone through software updates whenever an update becomes available. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes (www.itunes.com). Read more

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 $299 and a 1 terabyte model for just $499.

“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.” Read more

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.” Read more

January 15, 2008--Targus Inc. today announced its Radius eco-friendly bags for MacBook and MacBook Pro. The new line of stylish cases is made of PVC-free material, making the production of the bags less harmful to the environment. Composed of 100% recycled polyester, recyclable plastic and nickel-free metal, the Radius bags are the next step in Targus’ on-going EcoSmart initiative to create eco-friendly cases.

EcoSmart, Targus’ company-wide initiative toward becoming an eco-conscience company, has grown vastly since its launch in September 2007. Starting with changes on the corporate level such as the paper recycling program and eco-friendly product packaging, the EcoSmart program stretches to every corner of Targus’ corporate culture including product design, sourcing, operating and manufacturing practices. Read more

January 15, 2008 – Gefen's Personal Video Recorders have something to offer both industry pros and everyday computer users. Multifunctional in capability, the Gefen TV PVRs come in two models to choose from: high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). While each supports a unique selection of video formats, both provide the ability to record movies, television programs, images, audio files and more onto removable storage devices for easy portability.

Gefen TV HD Personal Video Recorder
Compact and simply designed, the HD PVR offers the ability to record and playback high definition television programs, movies, home movies, images captured from film, photographs and MP3 files. It accepts composite/s-video, component and two HDMI inputs, outputting all video in the HDMI format supplemented by audio ins and outs. Its 80Gb hard drive can store up to nearly 18 hours of recording at resolutions up to 1080i making this one of the most robust storage solutions for HDTV available today. Users also have the option of downloading content onto the removable SD flash card in the MPEG4 format while selecting the quality of the video (high to low) to increase storage capacity. The unit is controlled by a learning IR remote, the RS-232 connection for smart devices or the IR blaster to the sources. It also comes with IR extension capability for easy installation. Read more