October 12, 2005, 1:26 PM PDT
Buy TV shows in the new iTunes 6
Posted by: Jasmine France

Only five weeks after the company released iTunes 5, Apple today announced the availability of iTunes 6. This version works hand in hand with the new video iPod by offering a decent amount of video content for purchase, including the "breakthrough" availability of popular ABC TV shows Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Night Stalker, as well as Disney Channel favorites That's So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. This landmark deal between Apple and Disney (which owns ABC) will allow iTunes users to download not only every episode from last year's season but also commercial-free episodes from the current season the day after it airs. TV shows will be available for $1.99 each--a fact that garnered applause at the media event.

There are other new features in iTunes 6, including gifting, which allows users to purchase and send friends songs, albums, playlists, and even videos; customer reviews and ratings; Just for You, which provides a personalized page of content based on your musical preferences; and of course, a more refined video section, with searches and access to "legal" content such as music videos, trailers, TV shows, and your own footage. For more information, check out our First Take.

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October 12, 2005, 1:14 PM PDT
Apple's newest iPod
Posted by: James Kim

As most of us (except ThinkSecret) surmised, Apple announced the video iPod at today's media event in San Jose. Simply called the iPod, the new video-enabled device not only has a bigger 2.5-inch screen but is also physically thinner; the 30GB version is a preposterous 30 percent thinner than the 20GB iPod that it replaces, while the 60GB version is 12 percent skinnier. And at $299 and $399 for the 30GB and the 60GB models, respectively, you get a great deal.

Back to some key specs: The new iPods will be available in white or Nano black, and the beautiful screen has a resolution of 320x240 pixels with 260,000 colors. The 30GB version weighs just 4.8 ounces, and it has a rated battery life of 14 hours for audio only (60GB version is 20 hours). This number will surely be much lower for photo or video-only playback. As for content, Apple has turned the new iTunes 6 into a legitimate source for video, with 2,000 clips that include music videos, trailers, and--most impressively--TV shows such as Desperate Housewives and Lost. More later... for now, watch the Apple iPod video and Steve Jobs' presentation.

Update: We've now posted our First Take of the new video-enabled Apple iPod here. Go check it out!

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October 12, 2005, 12:15 PM PDT
Apple's very own Media Center
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

While everyone's yakking about the new video iPod and those superthin iMacs, I thought one of the more interesting things to come out of Apple's big press conference today was its stab at Media Center-style functionality. There's a small iPod-looking remote, which controls a front-end interface called Front Row, which manages your media collection with big easy-to-read icons, perfect for couch-based viewing. It's very similar in spirit to Windows Media Center, but I'm deliberately avoiding the chicken-and-egg debate over who borrowed what from whom.

On another note, since every other NYC-based tech blogger seems to be talking about it, I'll mention that I checked out the Xbox 360 media event held here yesterday and got some serious hands-on time with the new console. The Media Center extender functionality looks very slick, but from what we saw, the games are a bit of a mixed bag. Call of Duty, Need for Speed, and Condemned were among the better-looking titles, with graphics that seemed to be on a par with top-of-the-line PC gaming rigs. Several other titles fell a bit short, including the much-hyped Oblivion, which suffered from jerky animation and wonky controls. Just today, that game was pushed back to December, giving the developers more time to tweak it.

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October 12, 2005, 12:12 PM PDT
Small-business spyware woes
Posted by: Dorian Benkoil

Small businesses are having more trouble with spyware than larger enterprises, according to a new survey. About 40 percent of U.S. workers said they'd encountered spyware, with more of the intrusions coming at small and medium-size businesses, according to a news release from antivirus and Internet content security company Trend Micro, which conducted the survey.

The survey found that the top five consequences for U.S. companies of being victimized by spyware were lower computer performance, loss of productivity, loss of connection bandwidth, malicious downloads, and violation of privacy.

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October 12, 2005, 11:38 AM PDT
New iMacs ready to entertain
Posted by: Rich Brown

Apple's Store is back online, and on it you'll find all the info on the new iMac G5s. Apple's Web site has a complete spec rundown, but here's the salient info:

• Two new models are available for purchase today (if you can get Apple's Store page to load).

• Old iMacs are gone, replaced by a 17-inch model for $1,299 and a 20-incher for $1,699.

• There's a 1.9GHz PowerPC G5 CPU on the 17-inch model, 2.1GHz on the 20-inch.

• They have PCI Express graphics chips: 128MB ATI Radeon X600 Pro on the 17-inch, 128MB ATI Radeon XT on the 20-inch.

• There's a built-in iSight camera.

• New Front Row software provides a Media Center-esque front end for photos, music, videos, and DVDs.

• The included six-button remote control works with Front Row from a distance.

• The Apple Mighty Mouse comes standard.

Since the newly announced and already downloadable iTunes 6 lets you download video content for $1.99 a pop, it's eminently clear that video is the new keyword for Apple and that the company is gunning for Microsoft and the rest of the home-theater PC world. Just be sure if you do purchase a new iMac that you throw in Apple's video adapter, because despite the new features, there's no integrated video output to connect to a larger display.

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October 12, 2005, 10:58 AM PDT
Apple U.S. telesales doesn't bite
Posted by: Rich Brown

With its online store down for an update, we tried to see if we could get Apple's telesales department to give us the goods on the new iMacs.

"Hi, I'm trying to find out if you can tell me anything about the new iMacs that were announced about one minute ago," we asked.

"No."

The gentleman we spoke with was at least kind enough to say that Apple's online store will be back up by 2:30 p.m. PT.

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October 12, 2005, 10:45 AM PDT
It's a video iPod and then some
Posted by: Molly Wood

Updated: So, it is indeed a video iPod, along with iTunes 6, just a month after iTunes 5 came out. So, if you rushed out to buy the Nano, well...sorry, sucker! New iMacs, too--but still nothing on the languishing PowerBook line. Keep an eye on James Kim's blog for more.

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October 12, 2005, 10:42 AM PDT
Take that, Google Talk!
Posted by: Molly Wood

Yahoo and Microsoft have announced that they'll make their IM services interoperable, as a way to attack the dominant AOL Instant Messenger and counter the growing Google Talk threat--and, of course, widen the spread of those oh-so-adorable Yahoo Avatars.

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October 12, 2005, 9:41 AM PDT
Instant messengers from Yahoo and MSN hook up
Posted by: Elsa Wenzel

By spring of next year, you should be able to log on to Yahoo Messenger with Voice or MSN Messenger 7 and chat with users of either program. Yahoo and Microsoft announced this morning that they'll make their IM services interoperable, so users can even share emoticons and contacts. Instant-messaging apps hasten to outdo each other with features such as VoIP Web-based calling , video chatting, and blogging, but most still don't talk to each other. Joining forces, the two instant-messaging services could share millions more users than the king of instant messaging, AIM. In July, AOL's instant messenger counted 30 million users, while Yahoo and Microsoft's IM services each had about 25 million, according to ComScore. The Yahoo-Microsoft partnership leaves the fledgling Google Talk in the dust.

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October 12, 2005, 9:03 AM PDT
Nokia unveils new E series
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

Today, Nokia announced three new smart phones aimed at all you mobile professionals out there. The brand-new E series consists of the Nokia E60, the Nokia E61, and the Nokia E70. All three models run on Symbian OS 9.1 and support a number of corporate mobile e-mail solutions, including GoodLink, BlackBerry Connect, and Nokia Business Center. Plus, they feature some advanced voice services, such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and push-to-talk capabilities. The trio is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2006.

The Nokia E60 sports a classic candy bar shape and offers a host of voice options: speakerphone, conference calling, push to talk, and VoIP. The E60 will operate on GSM 900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 2100 (3G) networks.

The Nokia E61 is designed to be a mobile e-mail device, and its styling may look a little familiar (think BlackBerry). The lean, mean e-mail machine is armed with a full QWERTY keyboard and push e-mail clients such as BlackBerry Connect, GoodLink, Nokia Business Center, Seven Mobile Mail, Seven Always-On Mail, and Visto Mobile, as well as support for attachments and an editing function. The E61 also has all the voice capabilities of the E60 and will operate on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 2100 networks.

Last but not least, there's the Nokia E70. Much like the Nokia 6820, the candy bar-style E70 opens up to reveal a full keyboard so that you can message till the cows come home. The smart phone features many of the same voice and productivity functions of its two siblings. Nokia will offer two versions of the E70: one for Europe and Asia (GSM 900/1900/1900; WDCDMA 2100) and one for the Americas (GSM 850/1800/1900). Check back for our complete Nokia E-series line show.

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