Apple promised “something in the air” for last week’s Macworld Expo and delivered the MacBook Air, a super-thin (and fairly aerodynamic if you want to test its moniker) laptop that relies heavily on wireless networking. We’re back from the show and cover the MacBook Air as well as the new Time Capsule wireless backup device (including why some Mac users are upset about it), iTunes movie rentals, the Apple TV 2.0 update, and changes to the iPhone and iPod touch software. If you weren’t in San Francisco, Glenn put together a podcast interviewing industry notables and friends of TidBITS, Tonya noticed an increase in women attendees, and Adam looks at how this year’s expo marks a change in how vendors are operating within the Mac market. We also cover the important QuickTime 7.4 security update (and how it still needs more work), and the releases of iMovie 7.1.1 and Front Row 2.1.2. And in non-Expo news, Joe Kissell offers an AppleScript solution to pasting unformatted text in Word 2008.
Apple released QuickTime 7.4 to coincide with the latest update to iTunes and to provide a handful of important security fixes. However, QuickTime is still vulnerable to a new exploit discovered just before version 7.4 was released.
iMovie '08 and Front Row were both updated with minor bug fixes and improved compatibility, but for some reason the MacBook Air received all the attention.
Get an inkling of what keynote day at Macworld Expo is like through a short audio adventure before and after the big news.
If you need to create equations for papers, reports, or publications, be sure to enter this week's DealBITS drawing to win a copy of the MathMagic equation editor.
Claiming the title of "world's thinnest notebook," the MacBook Air is a sub-notebook without the cramped screen and keyboard of other models of its class. It also lacks Ethernet, FireWire, and an optical drive, making wireless Apple's preferred state for this little marvel.
Apple announced movie rentals through the iTunes Store (including HD rentals), and unveiled Apple TV 2.0, a free software update that adds direct purchase or rental of media and a new interface.
Combining the backup power of Time Machine and 802.11n wireless networking, Apple's new Time Capsule is an AirPort Extreme Base Station with either 500 GB or 1 TB of internal hard disk storage.
Don't get mad, get encapsulated: Apple's Time Capsule offers networked Time Machine backup support, but provides a stark contradiction, with Apple failing to explain why hard drives attached to an AirPort Extreme (a promised feature for Leopard) can't offer the same feature.
The January '08 updates to the iPhone and iPod touch bring improved Google Maps that can pinpoint your current location automatically, Web Clips for saving portions of Web pages, a new home screen with icons that can be repositioned or assigned to up to nine home screens, and more.
TidBITS Senior Editor Tonya Engst is shocked to have to wait in line for the bathroom at Macworld Expo. Seemingly many more women made the trek to the show this year.
Is Apple still leading the Macintosh industry, or has the popularity of the Mac and the iPhone created a situation where independent developers can do their own thing and let Apple focus on consumer electronics and online entertainment content sales, along with maintaining the basic Mac and iPhone platforms?
Pasting plain text in Word 2008 turned out to be weirdly complicated. I found one way of doing it, though, that doesn't rely on third-party utilities, and there may be others.
This week's discussions touch on announcements made at Macworld Expo, but also deal with warranty service, multi-function printers, the Mac mini, troubleshooting Leopard, broadband Internet access outside of DSL or cable, AVCHD video import, and more.