Apple announced today that it’s bringing some major changes to the iTunes Music Store. Most notable among the announcements is their shift to making its entire 10M-plus song library completely DRM-free.

Prior to today, Apple’s iTunes Plus selection was fairly slim. Now, all songs from the four major labels, as well as the plethora of independent labels, will be available by default as DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads. Previously purchased songs can be upgraded via iTunes’ “Upgrade My Library” option in the Music Store at 30 cents each, music videos for 60 cents, and entire albums for 30 percent of the original price (roughly $3 if it was purchased at $9.99). According to Apple, 8M songs are available in the iTunes Plus format now, with the remaining 2M-plus tracks to be converted by the year’s end.
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iMovie ’09 adds powerful, yet easy-to-use new features to let you create a movie quickly, or add refinements and special effects to your project if you have more time. There are a whole host of new features, each of which can aid in the quest to have family and friends gasping in awe at your home movie.

Advanced Drag and Drop

iMovie ’08 introduced drag and drop editing, and the latest version takes the facility to new heights. When you drag and drop one clip on top of another, you reveal new advanced editing options, including replace, insert, audio only, and even picture-in-picture or green screen. These new features allow you to make visually stunning movies, while retaining the simple drag and drop interface iMovie is renowned for.
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GarageBand ’09, the updated version of Apple’s popular software used by millions to play and record music, now gives budding musicians a fun new way to learn to play piano and guitar.

Basic Lessons

Basic Lessons let you learn the fundamentals at your own pace with Apple instructors in beautiful HD video synchronized to animated instruments and notation. You’re able to practice either the piano or guitar, playing through nine different lessons which prepare you for playing an entire song. Speed and repetition can be controlled until you’ve perfected the stage.

When ready to play the entire song, GarageBand allows you to do so with the full backing band. The video shown in the Keynote presentation looked to be of excellent quality, though it was noted that the piano lessons appear somewhat easier to follow than the guitar counterparts.
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Well, the Macworld keynote has come and gone, and we received a lot of new software from Apple, but not too much on the hardware side. In fact, the long-awaited missing unibody MacBook Pro is the only machine to come out of the event. But it might not be the laptop itself which becomes the biggest headline. In fact, the notebook’s battery is much more deserving of attention.

As rumored, the 17-inch MacBook Pro will have a built-in, non-removable battery (or not removable without major surgery, at least) when it ships later this month. The reason for the battery being locked in, rather than switchable? According to Phil Schiller and Apple’s engineering department, the new design increases space efficiency immensely, allowing the 60% boost in battery life Apple is claiming for the new laptop. That’s 8 hours (or 7 running the dedicated graphics card), compared to only 5 claimed for the last gen Pro.
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One of the early treats of Macworld this year is the release of a new Skype beta which boasts some big improvements over the existing stable release. The beta was demoed during ShowStoppers yesterday at the Macworld trade show, and released today for public download. Among the improvements it brings are a few entirely new features, which, for now at least, can be found exclusively on the Mac platform.

As is usually the case, this latest update brings improvements in audio and video call quality as well. I found that incoming audio was definitely improved, and outgoing seemed to be better as well, although it was hard to tell because I was using my MacBook’s built-in microphone, which probably wouldn’t show as significant gains as, say, a high quality USB mic. Likewise, video did seem improved, but it was hard to tell how much using my MacBook’s internal iSight cam.
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View more Macintosh news and analysis from Computerworld.com

We’ve made it in to the keynote, have decent seats, and currently really solid W-Fi. Crossing our fingers that the Wi-Fi (and our batteries) will stick around.

The vibe here is update and people are handing out “Bring Steve Jobs Back” apple-shaped flyers.

We’re not planning on doing any live blogging of the event, but I will be live twittering assuming my connection sticks around.

Immediately following the keynote we’ll be getting posting our initial thoughts and reviews of the tech-gold that Schiller is set to announce.

Stay tuned.

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Check back here at Noon Eastern time/9:00am Pacific time on Tuesday, January 6th as I will be trying to keep up with all of the announcements that Phil Schiller can dish out. I should have a handy list of predictions by then which will be mostly wrong.

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Check back here at Noon Eastern time/9:00am Pacific time on Tuesday, January 6th as I will be trying to keep up with all of the announcements that Phil Schiller can dish out. I should have a handy list of predictions by then which will be mostly wrong.

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Ecamm Network have announced the world’s first webcam with Bluetooth wireless technology. The new BT-1 webcam combines top-notch video and sound with complete freedom from wires. This is the first Bluetooth webcam supported by OS X, and will be priced at $149.99 when launched in a few months time.

Technical Details

The BT-1 streams H.264 video and AAC audio, taking advantage of Mac OS X’s rich media capabilities to provide a truly seamless experience. The detailed specifications are:

• 640×480 H.264 video and 48 kHz AAC stereo audio
• Compact 2″ x 2½” x 5/8″ design
• Compatible with iChat, Skype and more
• Standard tripod mounting screw
• 4 hour talk time
• Includes a flexible mini-tripod and USB charging cable
• Works on all latest Macs with Leopard and Bluetooth v2.0+EDR or better.

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Mac OS X 10.5.6 users continue to experience issue in which their systems will produce a out pop when booting.

I read with great interest Greg Keizer's article "Windows market share dives again as Mac nears 10%" because I've been waiting for Mac to garner just that kind of market share.  I was doing Pascal programming in college on a Mac back in 1984 and while the screen was monochromatic, it did have icons and a mouse. Remember, that was almost a decade before the boys up in Redmond introduced the Windows operating system.

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In Tuesday's IT Blogwatch, Richi Jennings watches Steve Jobs confess he does have a medical condition after all. Not to mention Tony the Tiger as you've never seen him before...

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It could certainly be argued that the iPhone has sparked a new revolution of multi-touch capable mobiles phones and handheld devices. iPhone-esque phones seem to be rearing their heads every day, all sharing one common problem; they don’t recognize a tap from a gloved finger.

For many users in warm climates this simply isn’t a problem, though Apple fans in the northern hemisphere struggle on a daily basis. In the UK, I find gloves to be an issue for only a few months of the year. That short period, however, is enough to make me realize that if the weather was cold for any length of time I’d be thoroughly disgruntled.
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I think Macworld 2009 will mark Apple's real entry into software as a service (SaaS) amongst other things....

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I think Macworld 2009 will mark Apple's real entry into software as a service (SaaS) amongst other things....

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs might not have been on hand for today's Macworld keynote, but that didn't stop Phil Schiller from pulling the wraps off new versions of iLife and iWork and unveiling a new unibody 17-in. MacBook Pro.

Looking to take on Microsoft Office on Macintosh systems, IBM said it will make a Mac version of its Lotus Symphony desktop applications suite generally available later this month.

I have been a frequent user of Truphone since it launched its mobile VoIP service over two years ago. What started as a simple VoIP client for Nokia Symbian S60 devices is fast becoming a unified client that does it all. You can make low-cost calls using Wi-Fi networks, utilize the wireless networks for call-back services and send SMS messages on the cheap.

Read the full article on GigaOm.com →

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yellowsn0w Disrupts The White Stuff - The iPhone is no longer pure as the driven snow. The dev team, true to their word, has delivered the iPhone 3G unlocking tool to the public. Dubbed “yellowsn0w”, it appears to work well enough, based on Stephen Fry’s anectdotal evidence via Twitter, at least.

28″ iMac A Possibility - It might be one of the more out-there rumors surrounding Macworld, but there is some evidence to suggest we might see a 28″ iMac unveiled tomorrow. The bigger all-in-one would begin shipping in February, alongside revamped Mac Pros, if the rumors are correct. I think anyone who needs a 28-incher is overcompensating. So there.

iGlove Patent Could Help You Avoid iPhone-Related Frostbite -  I don’t know about where you are, but here in Toronto, it’s frikkin’ freezing. So yes, Apple, I would like these gloves. Soon, please.

Microsoft Sings That Old Familiar Tune - In a somewhat lame attempt to take some of the wind out of Apple’s sails ahead of tomorrow’s Macworld keynote, Microsoft released a statement to news outlets today that brings up the old spectre of the Apple Tax yet again. Nothing new, but that’s their point. They claim Apple is being negligent in not addressing the supposed “tax.” Here’s our answer, yet again, Redmond.

Less DRM, New Pricing Structure Rumored for iTunes Store - CNET is reporting, based on information gathered from a “source” close to negotiations between Apple and major music labels, that more DRM free tracks will be coming to iTunes. The deal also involves the introduction of an alternate pricing structure for the iTunes store that allows for three levels of pricing.

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