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TheAppleBlog
TheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Pre-Macworld 2009 Thoughts and Rumors

The good news is that with the keynote almost upon us, the Mac community has switched primarily from crying about Jobs not giving the keynote to instead focusing on the usual rumors and speculation. This is as it should be.

I've written about what I think of the change from Jobs to Schiller for Apple's last Macworld keynote, so let's talk about what we may see tomorrow. So many rumors, so little time…

Software

It seems there are three likely announcements on the software front:
- An update to iLife appears likely. I haven't seen much rumor or discussion on this, but it's been over a year and it's due. Unlike many who hated iMovie ‘08, I rather like it, but would very much like to see enhancements in the area of titles and transitions. I'd also like to see the rather anemic sound controls updated.
- I also see an update to iWork likely. Like iLife, it has not been updated in over a year. To me, it's a testament to how solid Numbers was as a "1.0" product that it didn't need a major "update" (as iMovie ‘08 did) in order to make it more acceptable. Still, it needs some beefing up to help sell serious number crunchers, if that's what Apple is after. As for me, I'd simply like to see more polish and more templates. When iWork ‘08 came out, there was much discussion about how Microsoft's Office had features 90 percent of users don't use, so iWork was a better substitute. However, if Office is more than 90 percent need, then surely iWork is more than 85 percent need? In short, I'd rather iWork continue to focus on usability, and making its power more accessible, than getting more Office-like. There is some speculation that Apple will take iWork online with web apps. I think this is a great idea, but I sure hope that they can have performance about 20 times better than MobileMe. I'm hopeful MMe performance suffers because the service was so "broken" upon launch that tuning it was last on the priority list.
- The third software announcement likely is news about Snow Leopard. Maybe a demo and some discussion of a release date, though I suspect that will be a very general release date.
Other software announcements we could see or hear about are for Apple TV or even the iPhone. The former seems more likely than the latter to me. It's been a while since we've heard about Apple TV, so it's due. My thinking is that ATV is going to get more and more like a merger between itself and Front Row. In fact, the rumor that Apple TV software may be able to run on a regular Mac seems like a worthwhile goal for Apple to shoot for. I'm especially interested in ATV because sometime this quarter I'll be entering the HD TV world and am wondering if ATV or perhaps a Mac mini would be a good addition to my video system.
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Line Forms for Macworld Keynote: Let the Waiting Begin

I was walking ’round the Moscone Center this morning after I snagged my media badge and noticed a guy sitting at the entrance to the Moscone Center. I inquired.

Nick Lensander (of The MacTips Podcast) was, and currently still is, the first and only guy in line. He’s been manning his post since 6:30AM, meaning he’ll have sat in that spot for nearly 26 hours by the time they start letting folks in for the keynote.

It’s a fairly nasty morning here in SF with temperatures in the upper 40’s and rain, so he’s got some dedication. His MacBook, iPhone, and camera in hand, he’s set to keep himself occupied for quite sometime. Not sure how he’s keeping all his gear charged, though.

At any rate, if you’re wanting a seat in the keynote, you’ve been warned. The line has already started forming.

Macworld Attendees: Don’t forget to checkout our Macworld SCHED to plan your week!

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Jobs Speaks Out To Quell Health Rumors…Again
I suppose it’s just the price you pay for having created such a powerful brand, but Steve Jobs has been forced to publicly deal with rumors about his health once again, and this time he’s had to give details about dealings with his doctor. In order to stem the growing tide of speculation about his declining health, the climax of which was likely Gizmodo’s claim last week that he was in fact gravely, if not terminally ill, Jobs released a letter today addressing the issue.

The letter, addressed to the “Apple Community” at large, is extremely candid, and indicates that the true cause of Jobs’ recent weight loss is not a deadly bout with cancer, as many suggested, but the result of a hormonal imbalance. Jobs says he is sharing the information so that all concerned can relax and enjoy Macworld, the keynote of which will be delivered by Phil Schiller tomorrow. The Apple CEO even goes so far as to detail his timeline for recovery, now that a course of treatment has been agreed upon.

Jobs also takes the opportunity to refute claims that he is getting ready to leave his position as CEO of the company, and assure the public that he would leave were his health to interfere with his duties at Apple. He closes with an acknowledgment of his reluctance to speak in the first place, and claims that he won’t do so again. Clearly, the motivation for the lesson came from business pressures, as rumors regarding the CEO’s health were significantly impacting stock values. We’ll see if Jobs’ attempt to clear the air will be enough to put the spotlight firmly back on the keynote address tomorrow where it belongs.

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A Touch of Daylite
At Macworld Expo 2009, the folks at Marketcircle, makers of Daylite, are announcing and demonstrating their new iPhone application: Daylite touch. Marketcircle originally announced this tool in the summer of 2008 and many of their users have been anxiously awaiting this new companion product.

What can we expect from this new iPhone application? A bunch of new features, to say the least:
1. Daylite touch users can simultaneously book meetings, view other users' calendars, delegate tasks, manage contacts, projects and opportunities and look at their short term history -– all offline.
2. Daylite touch syncs over the air with 3G, Wi-Fi, or 2G EDGE, allowing Daylite users to coordinate with other mobile colleagues or with workgroups back at the office.
3. Daylite touch offers a more distinctive set of collaborative productivity features than Microsoft Exchange or Apple MobileMe.
Sounds reasonably impressive. What does it look like? Here is an advanced screenshot.

From this screenshot, we can see a pretty rich Calendaring application. I like the fact that Daylite touch is utilizing the iPhone’s screen real estate to best benefit readability. This screenshot alone makes me salivate at what the rest of the application will look like.
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Weekly App Store Roundup: Jan. 3, 2009

Grab a party hat, don your celebratory garb and prepare to get your freak on because, praise be, it’s the first ever Weekly App Store Roundup of 2009.

Indeed, with Macworld drawing near, attendees should immediately check out our very own Conference Schedule – it’ll make sure you’re consistently in the right place at the right time.

In the meantime, those who can’t make it can attend vicariously through TheAppleBlog: we’ll be bringing you the latest Macworld coverage throughout. And, if you can handle even more Apple-happenings being foisted into your giddy brain-box, then read on for my picks from the App Store this week.

This week I’ve been looking at Shoutcast Radio, SledMania, Fnorder and Crayon Physics.
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Plan Your Macworld 2009 Schedule

At this past year’s SXSW one of the most popular “tools” used by attendees was a web app called SCHED. It was immensely helpful in figuring out what events were offered, who was going, and if you wanted to go.

I’m excited to announce that this is now available for Macworld 2009 courtesy of TheAppleBlog.

If you’ll be attending Macworld next week, this web app is the perfect way to figure out your schedule for the week. Best of all, it’s free. Nothing to pay for, no ads, nothing. Just pure, schedule goodness.

Some nifty features worth noting:
- Create custom schedules - Create an account and create your own personalized schedule that you can hook directly in to iCal.
- Search - There are hundreds of events. Using the search feature you can narrow that down significantly
- Most popular - Find out what events are most popular
- Group calendars - Create group calendars on the fly like so: http://macworld09.theappleblog.com/shpigford,gtmcknight,chirag
- Mobile Safari Version - Just go to http://macworld09.theappleblog.com on your iPhone/iPod touch and get an optimized version.
Hopefully we can pull together a TAB meetup…which of course will be on our SCHED.

Go check it out: http://macworld09.theappleblog.com

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Task Management With Things

The latest application from Cultured Code is Things, a task organizer and to-do list manager for Mac and iPhone. It centers around the ideas encompassed in Getting Things Done (GTD) and makes it easy to break down and organize tasks.

Far from being a straight forward To Do list manager, Things provides separation between tasks due now, scheduled for a future date, postponed indefinitely, or completed. Comprehensive features make searching and organizing your tasks a piece of cake.
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