First off, kudos to Apple this week. Not only did they introduce some very cool new products and software this week, but the day after Steve Jobs announced these new products, Apple announced record-breaking quarterly financial results, far exceeding analysts expectations. Profits rose an amazing 368 percent (according to a report in the SF Chronicle today) on obviously stronger than expected Mac sales. While the iPOD is making major contributions to the bottom line at Apple, they still make most of their revenue on CPU sales. That means if these earnings reports are accurate, Apple is still doing an amazing job selling Macintosh computers!

It is believed that the iPOD is pulling consumers from the PC world to the Mac. The rumor mill has it that 13% of first time new Mac purchases are from PC users who bought an iPOD first, liked the Apple products and software (iTunes on the PC) and decided to make the switch. This same rumor mill also believes that many who wanted to switch in the past have not because they did not want to buy a new computer that included a monitor, the eMac or iMac, because they already have a good monitor on their PC. The additional cost drove them away. If the rumors prove true, then the miniMac should be a large lift to Mac sales in the future. Not only is it low cost, but now a PC user can easily disconnect all their cables from their PC, removeit, and drop the miniMac in its place. Connect your existing monitor and USB keyboard and mouse, plug in your Ethernet connection, and you are ready to rock on a Macintosh. I hope this turns out to be the case, and time will tell, but I believe this is a great product from Apple.

But I also expect a good number of these miniMacs sold to die hard Unix users as well. For $499, plop Linux or a true Unix on this computer, and you have on hell of a small system that can be a file server, web server, mail server, or small and powerful Unix workstation. It will be fun to see where these things end up.

Meanwhile, another day at MacWorld, and another day filled with even MORE iPOD accessories. I had no idea before the show just how many companies there were making things for iPODs. And to save you some time, if you can think of something to do with your iPOD, there is probably a product to help you do it. Cases galore, more ways to hold and protect your iPOD than ever before. Ear Buds were everywhere as well, many with sound isolation adapters to make it easier to hear your music, from inexpensive ones with plastic ear shields, to the top of the line Shure $499 ear buds.

Now I must admit, the idea of spending more money on my ear buds than I did on my iPOD seemed absolutely crazy, until these little guys where put into my ears. OMG! I have never heard such amazing sound.

And when you add Shure’s new little isolators (which comes in many types and sizes as you can see above) to the earpiece, the outside noise seems to disappear completely behind the amazing sound quality. I am not sure I am ready to buy these yet, and a later review by Nemo may change my mind, but my music does not sound this good on my rather expensive home stereo speakers! You have to listen to a set of these to appreciate them. Here is Nemo trying them on now:

Lastly from Shure was an amazingly inexpensive hands free ear piece for your cell phone which uses some of the same technology.

I put this on and connected it to my Treo to place a call. The show floor was so noisy that you had trouble hearing people 5 feet from you without shouting over the sounds and music filling the hall floor. However, after sticking this in my left ear and placing a call, not only could I hear the call effortlessly, but the noise canceling microphone (I guess Shure knows how to build mics) allowed the other person to hear me as effortlessly as well, with almost no background noise at all. I’m buying one of these tomorrow!

One of you asked in my last report about BlueTrip from Griffin, so I went and had a look. BlueTrip is a Blue Tooth technology that connects to the top of your iPOD and sends the music via BlueTooth wireless to a receiver that connects to your existing home stereo. Thanks for pointing this out, because it is truly a cool technology. A similar technology is coming from Belkin as well I understand, but they would not say much or let me take any pictures. Here are the pictures of BlueTrip you asked for:

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On the back are power and a switch, standard left/right RCA audio jacks out, and a SPDIF digital interface for stereo equipment with optical connections. I am not sure what the green wire was for!

Belkin’s unit was very similar in size and function, but lacked the digital audio out.

Also in Griffin’s booth was a NON-iPOD accessory (wow, I found one!) which I really liked, a USB/wireless remote for your Mac.

Using RF technology and small app on your Mac, you can control many different functions. Simply plug in the small receiver to a USB port, install the small app, and your ready to go. You can set it up to control iTunes and play and select songs from across the room, or switch it to control your Keynote or PowerPoint presentation.

Ending out the long list of iPOD accessories was my favorite, but slight out of my price range:

Mercedes was showing off this SLK. Inside a small compartment behind the center consol is a small cable to which you attach your iPOD. Once attached, the dash board of the car displays information, one line at a time, about the iPOD, including song name, track number, artists, etc, and the iPOD is completely controllable from the small buttons embedded into the steering wheel. At around $56,000, this is definitely the most expensive iPOD accessory at the show.

As many of you may recall, I continue my search for the perfect bag to carry my 17” PowerBook. It was back to Timbuk2, a company that truly loves what they are creating to see an amazing line of new and improved bags of all kinds, including, believe it or not, a woman’s purse bag! We will have more coverage on this company later, but I loved the new, smaller messenger bag which now has a pouch inside to carry a 12 or 15” PowerBook, SIGH, my 17” will have to wait, but I hear they have something with wheels coming up, and you know I will be trying that out soon.

Oh yes, one more look at That Bag’s Drag Bag. I tired putting my 17” PB inside, and it is not so perfect any more, but still damn great. A sleeve from Timbuk2 inside this bag, and it should be perfect. I’ll let you know.

Andy Hertzfeld was spotted at the O’Reilly booth talking about his new book “Revolution in the Valley, How the Mac was Made.” If you love the tiny technical details, this was the talk for you, and there was a rather large crowd hanging about listening to him speak. If what he spoke about is in his book, it should be an interesting read for anyone who wants to know it all.

Do you have a Macintosh you leave on all the time? Do you have a small business with several phone lines, no receptionist, and a bunch of employees who never answer the phone? Here is the product for you: Parliant’s Phone Valet uses a small piece of hardware and your Macintosh to create a full service voice mail system for all your lines, including incoming and outgoing phone call logging, including who was called, and them time and length of the call. Incoming callers are greeted by a voice mail system that allows them to pick the proper mail box to leave personal messages for the right person. This system can even email you the voice mail after it records it so you get the message right away. And one Mac can control up to 11 incoming phone lines. Not ground breaking, but a great use of the Mac.

Now for a trip down all the small booths occupying the far back corner of the hall. For those who cannot afford a full size booth, which I bet is quite pricy at this show, there are the small one or two man “booths” to show off your wares. Amazingly enough, some of the more innovative products seem to appear here first, so I always take the time to see what’s new. Here is a quick peek at two of the ones I liked…

Bare Bones Software was giving away a “light” version of its BBEdit program, called TextWrangler. Basically, this is to BBEdit as Adobe’s Acrobat Reader is to Acrobat. This is a simple text editor which can display BBEdit files, but lacks all the advanced editing features and code help that BBEdit contains. Free copies can be downloaded from the Bare Bones’s website at http://www.barebones.com.

Not too far down the isle was a small company called Portents with a product called The Rip Monkey. Now some of you will recall I admitted to being a media junkie in a recent article on DRM. I seem to save all sorts of movies, TV, and music files, and managing them is always a chore. Well, here in Portents’ booth was a device that holds 200 CDs or DVDs, contains 2 DVD drives inside, and is completely controllable by the Mac. WOW, imagine what I could do with a few of these and all my CDs and DVDs. But what I want to do is not what Portenrts though of. Rather than use these drives to hold and play media, these devices will allow the user to load up to 200 CDs and rip them automatically and directly into iTunes all by it self, two disks at a time! I decided at $4000 a drive (buy a drive and get the software for free) I better move on quickly before I was tempted to buy one. But this does get the best abuse of technology award. If I had the cash, I would buy a drive!

And lastly, before I say good night, just a few more pictures worth showing. One of our mymac.com writers called the city where I was born and work, San Francisco, a dump. In fact, there were comments from others that the area around the convention hall was seedy, leading to the conclusion that San Francisco was now a dump. I’ll let you be the judge, here are a few pictures taken within a 1 block radius of the convention center. If this is a dump, I guess I need to see the nice parts of town!

Oh yes, and there was plenty of iCandy at this show as usual…

The last batch of Owens Macworld Expo pictures.

Thanks, Owen!

The Quiet Zone at MacWorld is several rows of small booths off in the far left corner of the hall. While there’s no truly quiet area, the area devoted to smaller developers is free from the bass-heavy thumping of demo music, or the the snake-oily voices of pitchmen doing product demos with their speakers cranked up to 11.

I like to wander the quiet zone, seeing what the little guys are doing. Some of the smaller developers are doing innovative work that deserves to be recognized. Even Microsoft started small, once upon a time.

Circus Ponies (gotta love that name) had crowds stacked three deep watching developer Jason Adams run his latest creation, Notebook, through his paces. Wanting to get a closer look, I came back a second time, but the crowd was no smaller. On the third try, I was able to get close enough to see and hear. Notebook is on sale for a show price of $39.95, and after watching the demo on Expo day one, and reading reviews later that night, I happily slapped down my credit card. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Circus Ponies had already sold out the stock brought to the show, so my copy will be Snail Mailed.

Some day soon I’ll have to ask Jason the story behind the name "Circus Ponies"

Bare Bones Software is another developer camped in the Quiet Zone. Bare Bones writes and distributes BBEdit, MailSmith, SuperGetInfo, and TextWrangler. BBEdit, Bare Bones’ best known application, in has recently been revv’ed to version 8.03. Like Circus Ponies’ booth, I had to wait for several minutes to get within hearing range of the demos. BBEdit’s popularity with the web coding crowd was immediately apparent, as I could hear many different languages spoken; HTML, PHP, Perl, XML, and other assorted dialects. BBEdit is a polyglot application, as it speaks all these languages fluently. I use BBEdit in my real job, analyzing thousands of airline pilot schedules, and I’d be lost without it. MyMac.com readers can plan on a review of BBEdit 8 soon.

MailSmith is Bare Bones’ other main application. I’m becoming frustrated with Entourage 2004′s slow search speed, and MailSmith is reputed to have speedy searching I got a fine demo, and loved many of the features (GREP searching) but found that the lack of ability to send HTML email to be a deal-breaker. I hate HTML email, but from time to time, I do need to send formatted emails. Entourage handles HTML sending with aplomb, so I’ll have to stick with it, even though I fume at it’s pokiness during content searches.

These are just two booths that stood out from the crowd back in the Quiet Zone. Plenty of other small developers are doing well, and the crowds in the Zone show it!

Here are some photos Owen Rubin took during the Expo!

Thanks to Owen for these great photos!

As the Macworld Expo comes to a close today, I thought now would be a good time to reflect back on the Apple announcements. While the Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle will deservedly get the majority of the headlines, especially from the mainstream press, I wanted to look at the other new product announcements, because for most of us, these are actually much more important than either the Mini or the Shuffle.

iWork

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This is a good place to start. While some are lamenting the fact that, as a replacement to AppleWorks, it does not have either a built-in database, spreadsheet, painting, or drawing program, I would argue that it does not need them. Sure, AppleWorks had fine implementations of all those technologies, but ask yourself how often you used any of them?

I cut my spreadsheet teeth on the spreadsheet program a decade ago using AppleWorks, but quickly moved on to Excel. If anyone is doing any serious spreadsheet work, and there are a lot who do, chances are you did not use it in AppleWorks. Yes, some did, but most did not. Most use Excel, for better or worse.

The drawing and painting programs were all but useless anyway. No one I personally knew ever used them, save for a new Mac user who played with it for ten minutes before moving on, never to return. If you needed these types of programs, the AppleWorks versions were not what you wanted.

As for the Database module, Apple did not do away with that. It may not be in iWork, but if you need a fantastic database program on the Mac, I bet you already own FileMaker Pro. I do, I love it, and the AppleWorks version was woefully out of date, even when it was new.

So no, iWorkdoes not need to have any of those functionalities built in to it. What it needed to be it is: a replacement for Apple’s aging word processing application. It is robust, takes advantage of the underlying technologies in Mac OS X, and looks very easy to use. In other words, as a replacement to AppleWorks, it is perfect.

I would suggest, however, that Apple un-bundle it from KeyNote 2.0 and make it a cheap $29 download for those who do not need or want KeyNote (which is probably most Mac users in all honesty) or at least put it on iMacs, eMacs, and Mac Mini’s for free as they do iLife.

Importance Factor: Four Stars out of Five

iLife
This, to my way of thinking, will have the largest effect on most Mac users’ lives. Besides iTunes, it is a major upgrade to all the applications that make up iLife.

iPhoto
Probably the most popular outside iTunes of all the iLife programs, it is used by every Mac user I know. Even my sixty-year-old Uncle, a computer user for only a year, uses this program. With the rampant use of digital cameras, Apple was way ahead of the game when they released the first version of this program. Now it is even more powerful, and the new features make it a must-have.

The new features are simply inspiring. I absolutely love the new sorting abilities is sports. Working with RAW files is a must, and actually long overdue. I am surprised it took Apple until 2005 to support RAW in iPhoto.

iPhotos new photo retouching tools are also very nice, though I think I may perhaps continue to use Adobe Photoshop CS to do that. Also, why are the retouching tools in that cool black semi-transparent window style? Don’t get me wrong, I like the look, but whatever happened to staying within the style guidelines of the main application? If Apple likes that look, why not make the entire iPhoto window look like that?

The new Slideshows will come in handy here in my home. Besides storing and cataloging my photos, I used that feature all the time, and it makes a great screensaver. I know a lot of other Mac users who do the same thing.

The new books also look cool. I have never used that feature, but I think I may in this new version, if for no other reason than to see the quality of the books.

I am also really happy to see Apple is finally allowing video from digital cameras to be imported into iPhoto. I know people who have video capture on their little cameras, but don’t know how to get the files off, or where to save them. This could be a huge deal for a lot of people.

Importance Factor: Five Stars out of Five

iMovie HD
The importance of the HD format will not really be felt for a few more years, regardless of what Steve Jobs said about 2005 being the year of High-Def. The entry point is simply too high for most people yet to make that jump. Still and all, there are other new features in iMovie HD that will make this a worthwhile upgrade for us.

Magic iMovie is a great new feature, making an iMovie on the fly with little help or need from the end user. This I have to see in person to fully come to grips with how well it works, but the promise sounds really great.

The new editing features are really a big deal most people have overlooked. Being able to edit clips in the timeline with non-destructive editing is a must-have feature. One I have wanted since the first version was released years ago. And virtually unlimited un-dos? I am so there!

Also a HUGE new feature most people have thus far ignored is iMovies ability to import MPEG-4 format videos. Usually those are the video format found on digital still cameras. I know a lot of folks who, had they wanted to use those video files in an iMovie, had to convert them first in QuickTime. This is a big timesaver. (Now if they would simply make QuickTime and iMovie DIVX compatible. HA! Might as well wish for Apple to make me CEO!)

Importance Factor: Five Stars out of Five

iDVD 5
Major new features abound in iDVD. First, the importance of being able to work with a wider assortment of formats is a huge benefit. With all the assorted video formats on the market today, the biggest limitation to iDVD is now gone. Formats now include DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW.

OneStep DVD is a super handy feature for those who don’t want to edit their video in iMovie, but rather simply make a DVD from the video in their digital camcorder. Plug in the camera, click the OneStep DVD button, and it is off and running. In an hour or so, you will have a perfect digital copy of your tape on DVD, ready to play in any home DVD player. A real timesaver for a lot of people.

The new themes are also nice, but don’t forget that there are a lot of third-party companies out there already making iDVD themes that are in many ways just as nice, if not better, than what Apple supplies out of the box. Still, these new themes are really great looking, and I already can see a few that I want to use for a few video projects I have underway.

iDVD still supports (and does it even better) still-picture slideshows, but I cannot find an answer to my main question about that. Is it still limited to only 100 pictures per slide show? That was/is a huge limitation, one I have hated for years. If they fix that limitation, this will make my year.

Importance Factor: Four Stars out of Five

GarageBand 2
The first major upgrade to the one-year-old application, and it is a dozy. First, the ability for eight-track recording just made GarageBand a must-have for live performances. This will require a fast and powerful computer, not something you will want to try on anything less than a G5 with a few GB of RAM, but still a sweet upgrade nonetheless. (A reason for Apple to get us a G5 PowerBook if I have ever known!)

The big new feature for me, however, is GarageBands ability to display musical notations as it records or during playback. This is simply amazing. My only question is, can this be printed? Exported as a file or graphic of some sort? If not, this is a HUGE limitation. If so, this alone will put GarageBand on the map.

Importance Factor: Four (or five, see question above) Stars out of Five

Final Cut Express HD
If you are going to need Final Cut Express HD, chances are you are either going to buy an HD camcorder, or already own one. If this is the case, this is a major upgrade for you. Otherwise, you are probably an iMovie HD user, and this would be overkill.

Honestly, I have a copy of Final Cut Pro myself, but find myself using iMovie most often, as it usually suits my meager needs just fine. Still and all, that moving into HD video will enjoy the entry-level price and full-featured video, audio, and LiveType features this upgrade has to offer.

Importance Factor: Four Stars out of Five

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
While not unveiled for the first time at the Expo, the next version of Mac OS X (Tiger) will have the largest impact on Mac users. Ask me no questions, and I will tell you no lies, but I have used Tiger myself for an extended period of time. My initial thoughts?

SpotLight
SpotLight will change everything. I have never seen a search work so fast and be so useable. It is one thing to watch Steve Jobs perform a search on a giant screen at an Expo: it is another to do it on your own computer and see the real-world results. It is amazing.

As a person who has used the BeOS, and know how fast a computer can find files using metadata, Spotlight still blew me away. To have this new search engine on your computer is as changing as the first time you use a high-speed internet connection. You cannot imagine ever going back to the old, clunky, and crappy way of searching. Simply unreal.

DashBoard
There have been widgets around for a while now on MacOS X. How is DashBoard different? I think in the long term, this will play a major roll in many future programs. For third-party vendors and software designers to be able to quickly and easily add functionality we have not even thought of yet will be as revolutionary as SpotLight is.

Imagine a DashBoard Widget that can talk to another application, calling out a series of commands. As an example, perhaps there is a widget that interacts with Adobe Photoshop that, when enacted, will run through a series of action with one click that would normally take you ten or twenty menu commands to execute. The possibilities are endless, and I really look forward to it.

iChat AV
This is going to be a lot of fun! Can you imagine the fun of running this as you are playing a multiplayer game online? FUN! But on the serious side, this can be a real boon for business. Imagine real-time, high quality, multiple videoconferences. There is a lot of potential here. (And don’t think the porn industry is not looking at this thing closely!)

Importance Factor: Five Stars out of Five

So while the Mac Mini and the iPod Shuffle may get all the attention, and will be the main thing this Macworld Expo is remembered for, chances are the above product announcement will have a much larger impact on you and your Mac in the not-too-distant future. Please feel free to share your thoughts below it the article discussion.

Nemo Thursday MWSF 2005 report from the Expo floor and beyond

10:00 — Timbuk2 (bag and case company)
http://www.timbuk2.com

Owen Rubin was running a little late, so I had a few minutes by myself with CEO Mark Dwight, a very upbeat fellow with loads of experience at Kensington, Cisco, and elsewhere. I gave Mark a hard time regarding the ridges on the round handle of my Detour combo bag (carry / shoulder / backpack). He promises to improve this in a future model.

We talked about shoulder straps, and how they need integrated pads. Other details of my very familiar Detour were discussed, each time with a promise to fix the annoyance. We agreed to continue the interview after lunch, when both Mark and Owen would be available.

10:30 — Dantz Retrospect (backup software)
http://www.dantz.com

EMC, a multi-billion-dollar enterprise complete storage management corporation, recently purchased Dantz. Owen and I each have reviewed their Retrospect Backup application in the past. Pat and Julie from EMC/Dantz guaranteed that Retro will endure. It’s currently in version 6.0 and an update will appear soon after Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 arrives mid-2005.

Owen is concerned with the heavy-duty use of Retro, and I’m interested in the single user aspect. We four talked at length about how Maxtor and other external drive companies bundle an Express edition of Retrospect that isn’t sold separately, and how much or how little ordinary folks should be involved in deciding what and when to back up their precious data.

EMC has acquired nineteen different companies for “end to end” storage, and their Dantz division wants MyMac.com and the rest of us MacPersons to maintain interest. Owen is considering an online tutorial on our site to help newcomers become comfy with the backup experience, and get a flying start, not just on Retrospect.

11:00 — Shure (audio products)
http://www.shure.com

Owen wasn’t really interested at first, but did he ever change his tune once we were with Kevin, National Sales Manager, for five minutes. Shure has two high-performance affordable mobile phone headsets (one with a boom microphone) that include noise-cancel earpiece and noise-reducing microphones. A worthy description is difficult, but Owen claims that in the noisy Moscone South Hall his wife on the other end of the conversation could only hear what Owen and Kevin were saying, and nothing from the awful crowd hubbub. Owen could hear her perfectly. He was sold on the boom model.

I was next, auditioning the two most expensive earbuds-with-earclips-style audio headphones in my life. Listening both to quiet and loud music from my iPod (I’m glad I brought it to Macworld!) the audio quality was excellent and the ambient noise was minimal. Not really different from hearing first-rate car speakers while driving at speed.

I’m not going to bore you with the specifications, because you can obtain them from the Shure web site. Just remember the concepts of high-end, high-definition drivers, and a two-year full warranty, plus stereo sound isolation and splendid audio quality, and you’re using sound judgment when considering Shure equipment. We’ll have review units soon for our personal evaluations, to be reported here in MyMac.com

11:30 — Lunch break and discussion, including:

• Don’t bother with Shure, because other companies, including at least two competitors here at Macworld, produce better budphones for less cost. Hmm. Have to investigate.

• A full range of accessories for iMac Mini are being created on every continent, to be appearing at an Apple retail store near you quicker than you can say whazzat. Thingamabobs for rack-mounting and much more will deliver many novel uses for these little silver boxes.

• Internet and email security stinks, even (especially) here at Macworld / Moscone Center. Without encryption, plenty of proprietary material is being transmitted, ripe for potential interception. Be careful what you write and where you click, because someone you hope never to meet may be watching your every move. How scary.

12:30 — Timbuk2 (again)
http://www.timbuk2.com

Owen picked up where I left off, giving the bouncy Mark Dwight some pointers on the 17” shoulder bag Owen has used for a full year. Strap needs pad. Little pocket should be here. Why not this, and you should that. Mark took notes and maintained his momentum, then showed us the latest TB2 product line: attractive quilted laptop sleeves, improved Classic Messenger bag with new 15” PowerBook sleeve ($90); top-loading 15” zip brief with accordion sides (sounds like men’s underwear, but it’s not — cost $100); true computer purse with tapered sides, padded all around, flower power fabric inside, for 12 or 15 inch computers, has iPod pocket inset, good shoulder handles (cost $80).

What really drives Mark and Timbuk2 is their quest for practical design. He and they recently sponsored a design major college student all the way to production and Apple Store availability. Her particular product is for home-grown discoPodders, who carry two iPods, full-sized headphones and accessories for disco jam sessions. Visit their web site for info on this Digital DJ and all their products.

1:00 — ThatPack (yes, another pack company)
http://www.thatpack.com

Dean is bursting out of his skin with enthusiasm for his emerging family of high-end computer and camera packs. On one single case you have wheels and handle for rolling around an airport, plus stowaway shoulder straps, and molded plastic grab handle. Owen’s quest for the perfect bag may (or may not) end with one of these “don’t leave home without it” cases, as may my search for a camera bag that can fit any and all equipment, then roll, lift, or shoulder its way around the globe. Review units will be available soon.

**Oh, by the way, in our companion photos from Macworld there are pictures of almost all of the items we’re discussing in our Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday written reports. Let us know if you can’t figure out which photo goes with which company, because captions are not given most of the time. We’ll try to provide them for MWSF 2006.**

2:00 — Prosoft Engineering (data utility company)
http://www.prosofteng.com

Gordon and Jen are coming to Tucson for a live presentation at my local user group, TMUG. They’ll bring copies of all their data recovery and other utilities, including the newest, Drive Genie.

I was with David Casseres and not Owen during this preview at the bustling Prosoft booth. The highlight was a meeting with the New Zealander who is lead software engineer for Drive Genie, which claims to be Norton Utilities, Tech Tool Pro, Disk Warrior, and Listerine mouthwash all in one. Jen handed each of us a review copy, so MyMac.com has no excuses for not giving it a run through. You’ll hear more from us as we look into the Prosoft catalog this year. MyMac.com applauds their persistence and courage in entering such a well-stocked existing market.

2:30 — Sybex Publishers
http://www.sybex.com

I needed to get caught up with Dan, associate publisher, and Rodney, their PR staff member. This doesn’t matter much to you readers, but Sybex appeared from an invisible dot on the horizon three years ago to enter the Mac and graphics book market, and now they are highly-regarded. Dan, Rodney, and I fine-tuned our strategy for getting Sybex books reviewed in a timely manner, agreeing that capsule commentaries delivered soon are better than long dissertations that take forever to post.

You can wake up again now, because the rest of our long conversation will remain off camera.

3:00 — Sonos (audio equipment)
http://www.sonos.com

This company makes an expensive contraption that wirelessly delivers top-quality audio sound to speakers located everywhere in your house. My appointment was brief, and I’ll need to return tomorrow for photos and a better description, because both the presenter, Morgan, and I were running low on energy by this time in a long day. To be continued, but you can go to their web site for some additional info.

3:30 — Intuit (financial management software)

Owen is an expert on Quicken, and I’m familiar with Turbo Tax. A loud band was giving a concert twenty feet away, so I made arrangements to obtain TTax for review here in MyMac.com, and Owen remained to discuss Quicken and QuickBooks with Peggy. Hoping Owen reports on his meeting.

That was my last formal appointment of the day, so at MyMac.com publisher Tim Robertson’s request I spent an hour taking photos of new products and people learning about them, all to be posted early on Friday (I hope).

Along the way I met briefly with the following companies, while doing the photography:

• Rain Design (beautiful computer furniture and accessories, including a laptop portable padded stand reviewed by David Weeks)

• Power Support and Bridgewell Associates and Tunewear and a couple other iPod accessory vendors

• Pressure Drop (computer stands containing combo FireWire and USB hubs)

• STM (“luggage for the global digerati” pack and case company — yes, another one!)

• Hoodman (glare-reducing visual accessories)

• Fujitsu Ten (groovy speakers for iPod and computers)

and several more I won’t remember until I see their photos on our site.

Okay. It’s late now on Thursday night and I need some rest before the final Friday fracas. I have some uncensored thoughts on the present and the future of Macworld and the world of Mac, that I hope to write before MWSF 2007! Let us know if we’re on the right track while it’s fresh in your mind, to assist in planning our coverage of future Expos.

See you Friday bright and early. My only two formal appointments are with I.R.I.S (booth 1644) and Altec Lansing (2149).

Part Two of Nemo’s MWSF 2005 Expo coverage, continuing from the previous posting:

Special thanks go to publisher Tim Robertson, for editing our text submitted late last night for early posting this morning, complete with product photos; to David Weeks, who is on his way back to Arizona after putting up with my corny jokes and manic behavior for several endless days and nights; to David Casseres, newest member of our MyMac.com MWSF team, for his wisdom and sense of perspective; to Owen Rubin, super writer and high-energy product investigator, for his ongoing energy and insights; and to cousin Jim Nemo, for his endless support of MyMac.com and reliable chauffeur service door to door each day! Without all of them, we would flunk MWSF 101.

Now back to Wednesday afternoon on the Expo floor:

2:00 — IOGEAR
http://www.iogear.com
I have a fondness for this enterprising peripherals company, based on their products I reviewed following the 2004 Macworld show. Lewis from IOGEAR proudly showed me their newest KVM device to run two computers with the same monitor, and a hot-item DVI-KVM for digital video. I don’t use or understand this aspect of technology, so I’ll need a little help from Owen or Tim to supply a coherent explanation once the units are shipping.

IOGEAR’s cute USB flash drive-equipped mini-mouse soon will have 128 MB capacity. Yippee! I use my 32 MB original version every day in my work as a residential private computer tutor.

The ION Tri-Select Combo external powered hard drive includes an easy, automatic backup feature, and the ION-UP Combo mini-drive runs either with FireWire or USB connections.

Last items I saw were Bluetooth mouse and adapter dongle, both of which we’ll review as soon as we can.

We expect to have ongoing evaluation of IOGEAR equipment during 2005. Let us know if you hear of other items from them that you want us to look at.

2:20 — ADS Tech
http://www.adstech.com
Andy Marken, PR professional, demonstrated latest products from this company previously unknown to me. I like their simple-box approach to analog-digital audio transfers, and their empty-box solution for people who need a handy powered FireWire / USB drive enclosure for full size bare drives.

We’ll have more on the companies Andy represents once the dust settles and I’m back in my home office.

2:30 — LaCie
http://www.lacie.com
Caught up with Owen and Casseres here. Melissa from LaCie walked us through their entire new product lineup. Owen is excited about LightScribe, mentioned in his report from yesterday, and also Fast Coder (for digital video encoding) plus Silver Screen (for transmitting video from computer to television). He’ll have to say more, because this is his territory, certainly not mine.

David, Owen, and I were stunned by the quality of LaCie’s 321 monitor, a mid-priced beauty for graphics pros. With its special automatic calibrator puck device, for under $2,000 you can have easy, custom monitor profiles that are (I hesitate to go overboard) perfect. I’m v-e-r-y tempted to audition this monitor, but it’s better suited to Tim’s graphics capability.

You’ll definitely see coverage of LaCie products in MyMac.com this year, including a few that were announced but we’re not able to mention yet.

3:00 — Atempo

http://www.atempo.com
Whoa! I’m over my depth here. This ambitious data security company makes enterprise-level server-based products for backing up and restoring company data. John Dean from Atempo patiently penetrated my meager brain cells with an explanation of how and why this is possible, especially using OS X’s core technology. I’m going to ask Atempo to give us a brief summary, to help readers who are able to take advantage of this solution. These people are heavy duty, if that’s your focus.

3:20 — Wiley

Hooray! Finally met my two primary media contacts from this venerable publisher. Mac Superstar Bob LeVitus was holding court on several topics. It’s always a treat to spend quality time with Dr. Bob. Wiley supports MyMac.com with frequent shipments of books to be reviewed by Bob and other authors, and we pledge to be as fair and opinionated as in the past when discussing their titles in 2005.

3:30 — Rick Smolan of America 24-7
http://www.america24-7.com
I’ve been a huge admirer of photographer and publishing impresario Rick Smolan for over twenty years. His latest monster project was to create 53 books with images by thousands of photographers to represent one complete day in the life of every state of this sometime-great nation.

David Casseres heard Rick speak at yesterday morning’s MWSF presentation by David Pogue, and Rick told me that David and MyMac.com will be able have access to the books for review purposes.

Learn more about this cultural and publishing extravaganza at:

4:00 — LQ Graphics
http://www.lqgraphics.com

Chris Meyer and his wife run this mom and pop shop. He’s the developer, engineer, tech supporter, and shoeshiner, and wife Jill does everything else. Along with Jeff Carlson from TidBITS and Jason Snell, editor of Macworld Magazine, I admired the skill used to create Photo To Movie, taking users “beyond the Ken Burns effect.” I have clients who need this product right now, today, or sooner! My favorite feature is PTM’s ability to edit and transition entire or parts of songs using a really simply scrubber interface, ala iMovie. I could go on at length, but time is short, and you’ll hear more from them (and us) on Photo To Movie as soon as possible.

4:30 — Wrap-up

Lost track of Owen, but the two David’s and I compared notes, submitted photos, and discussed our Thursday plans back in the Media Room. Weeks has left for home and work, Casseres will reappear either Thursday or Friday, I’ll be attending hardware and software appointments most of the day along with Owen, and Tim will be posting our submissions as quickly as possible.

We see other publications such as ours whose writers and photographers wear custom logo shirts. Next year, with our snazzy “retro” new logo on newly designed cards and shirts, we make a fashion statement in our Macworld SF 2006 presence. How about a shirt design contest, Tim?

Thanks to everyone for following along. I’ll write more later today, and/or post additional photos.

Nemo

Well, I finally made it to the show floor today. Due to other conflicts and meetings, I never actually made it onto the floor yesterday for the few hours I attended the show.

My first impression was “spread out.” As has been pointed out already, they only used half the normal space this year on just one side of the convention hall, choosing to shove everyone into the single space. Not only did this mean that all the vendors were in the same space, but so were all the conference attendees. In the past, each “side” of the show floor was less crowded because at any one time, a good percentage of the people would be spread out between the two conference halls. This year, everyone was in one, making the space just a bit too crowded to se things easily. It was harder to see product, harder to walk down aisles, and harder to talk to people. I found I missed a great deal of stuff as I walked each isle.

I also noticed a lack of companies selling Mac products this year. In the past there have been a number of VERY large booths from major Macintosh and PC retailers selling their wares at the show. While several still made the show, they had smaller booths, and still others seemed to be missing all together. There was a great stall at the far end of the hall selling only musical products, from keyboards and midi devices, to Mac software for music professionals. It was very crowded every time I passed.

Like David Casseres, I noted WAY too many people with iPod accessories, and a good deal more people selling bags for which to carry all your Apple stuff. I was surprised at the number of cases for iPods, and ONLY iPods! I showed one company my Treo 600 and asked them if they had a case for this? They said“…the Treo is not popular enough so we will not bother.” OK, fair enough! SIGH

Bags, Bags, and more bags, everyone has a bag for your PowerBook or iBook, and everyone has their own little special thing that makes theirs “better than the others.” (Look for a review or two on some of these from Nemo and myself very soon.)

A few stood out amongst the others in my first pass through the show (but there is still time to find more!) First off is Laptop Armor by Matias. This is not your typical bag, but rather a very strong hard shell aluminum carrying case with a “do-it-yourself” interior for holding your laptop. With the use of Velcro pads, you place your PowerBook or iBook in the bottom and then Velcro together enough pads to hold it securely in place. There is no way you are going to damage your laptop even if you drop this down a flight of stairs, which I hope to try with a sample case and an old 540c PowerBook sometime later this month! Look for a full review on these cases from Nemo and myself soon. More info is available at http://www.laptoparmor.com

My favorite item this arena has to go to a company called That Pack. As many of you know, I have been on a quest to find that “ultimate” bag to carry around my 17” PowerBook. I wrote several reviews in the past on bags from Timbuk2 and Brenthaven, both great bags, but for me, both with mixed results. But I think this company has a real winner with a product they called “Drag Bag”. I will do a full review on this later, but in a nutshell, this is a full backpack style case that is VERY comfortable to ware on your back. But wait, it has wheels and a telescoping handle which lets you put in on the ground and, you guessed it, drag it behind you like a roller cart. I can’t wait to drag this thing around myself, as this may be it, the ultimate bag for my extra heavy PowerBook. Stay tuned, but meanwhile see http://www.thatpack.com for a bit more info.

As I continued to walk the floor, I saw the usual array of stuff from Adobe, Microsoft, and other usual players. Intuit is showing off a new version of TurboTax and Quicken 2005. Both appear to have some cool new features and improved user interfaces, especially TurboTax which has cleaned up the UI in this version to make it easier to use.

HP has an amazing array of new printers in all categories. Their new All-In-One printer blew me away with its built in wireless 802.11. If you use wireless networking at home or in the office, the printer is just “there” for any computer you authorize to use it. I was also very impressed with new low cost laser printers in both B&W and color, and I am told that HP now supports a glossy paper in a color laser writer. This I have to see!

HP has also introduced a new technology called “lightScribe” that they are licensing to a number of DVD writer companies. A new coating on the back of a DVD recordable media disk is “writable” using the very same laser in your DVD writer that burns the data! What this means is after you burn your DVD, you take it out, flip it over and put it back in the burner drive. Simply run the lightScribe software, design your label contents from pictures and text, and press print. The drive uses the same technology that it uses to write the DVD to “burn” the coating revealing your label. LaCie was showing a DVD burner with this technology that should be available soon. Watch this site for a review of this technology, it is very cool.

Did I mention that there were WAY too may iPod accessories everywhere. From head phones, ear buds, and boom boxes to a “built-in” wall speaker and small alcove in which you place your iPod for listening. WAY TOO MANY iPOD THINGS! Help me!

Starry Night was showing new versions of their products, and I must say, I continued to be impressed with this product every time I see it. I reviewed the previous version and will be presenting as new review on the new version soon. Given the complexity of this product, their new “Sky Guide” gives you an HTML like access to hundreds of the products features, and a new “Sky Calendar” shows you upcoming interesting night events in your area.

Walking down one isle, I got my camera lenses and PowerBook screen cleaned at “iKlear.” I still do not fully understand how this product works, but once you clean a surface, fingerprints seem to no longer stick. This is an inexpensive product that really does keep your computer, camera, or iPOD display clean. Somme of their new products now include a synthetic micro-chamois which dries the surface clean but leaves no lint at all, great for cameras. This same micro-chamois is also available as a seperate product to protect your screen from the keyboard on a PowerBook. See http://www.iklear.com.

Also in the very cool category was a product from a company called Solio. For about $100, you get a small pod that rotates open into three “leaves”, each with a solar cell on it. Inside the pod is a battery as well which is charged from these cells, or by plugging this device into a wall wart to charge it faster. The when you need extra power for your iPod, cell phone, or camera, this device provides from 4 to 14 volts automatically at up to 1 watt of power for your battery operated device. A few adapter cables are included, and more are on the way for more devices. In full sunlight, they claim your battery in the device will never drain as it uses power from, the pod and the sun. Definitely in the “cool” product category. See http://www.solio.com.

And of course, no floor tour would be complete without a walk through the Apple booth. Strangely missing were iPods of any kind and I found that strange. I also do not recall seeing any PowerBooks, iMacs, or eMacs there either. Perhaps I just missed them, but I do not think so!

A whole wall of iSticks (that is what I call them) or iPod Shuffle, as Apple calls them were displayed hanging from a bar. The jury is still out for me on this gadget. While I like the idea of a $99 iPod and have said so in the past, the idea that this device chooses the order of the songs randomly (and thus the name) does not work for me. At $149 for a 1 GB version or $99 for half that size, I would have liked to seen a small, 1 line LCD display with some of Apple’s clever UI work to let me select and play the songs in the order I want, and see what I am playing. Yet, I expect this product will do well without it, so what do I know.

The miniMe…uh, Mac Mini I thought was very cool, and plan to get in line early for one of these. Rumor has it that 13% of new Mac first time buyers in the last year were PC users who first bought an iPod and then switched to a Mac. Unfortunately, these same rumors say that many did not switch because they already owned a nice monitor, keyboard and mouse, and felt the iMac or eMac as an entry machine required them to buy another monitor they did not want. Same is true for G3 and G4 tower users who purchased expensive monitors but would like to upgrade to a faster machine. And lets face it, as cool as the G5 is, it is WAY too large for most people, especially new users. I think Apple hit it right on the mark with this device, with one exception. Come on Apple, 256 Meg is just not enough memory any more, especially for new users who will be disappointed at the response of this machine when memory starts getting tight. For $25, add the second 256 Meg and make this a GREAT machine.

I did not get a chance to get even close to Panther, maybe tomorrow. Same for the new iLife or iWork, but others have covered those things already…

Well, back to MacWorld tomorrow for a closer look at a few more products.

If there is something you want some more details on, please respond below and tell me what you want to see or hear more about. I will have my camera with me tomorrow (as I did today, but forgot my transfer cable) and will take requests for pictures of items or products. Do let us know.

And now, back to the conference, already in progress.

-Owen-

Photos from many of these meetings are posted in the Tuesday "Nemo" pictures at MyMac.com.

10:00 — SecuriKey by Griffith Technologies

Bennett Griffin, company president, introduced us to their SecuriKey USB thumb-drive-lookalike hardware/software combo security solution. Packaged in an impressive little industrial suitcase, users receive two USB plug-in keys and an installer CD. When activated, the computer can be used only by a special password with the USB key inserted.

David Casseres and Owen Rubin are planning a two-person review of this cross-platform product, priced at $130. David Weeks and I were impressed by Bennett’s enthusiasm, and by the straightforward implementation of his product. "What about a lost key?" we asked. For $49, users can obtain a replacement key if they registered upon initial purchase and installation. "The gerbil ate both my SecuriKeys!" Fear not — in a day or two you’ll be back in action.

Web site: http://www.securikey.com

10:30 — Peachpit Press

Old friend Kim and new staff member Sara Jane gave us a preview of titles being released in early 2005. Peachpit is pleased with our coverage of their books. Kim had a few suggestions of subject areas we don’t normally review to enhance our depth. We’ll brace ourselves for several cartons of books dealing with the new software announced yesterday during the keynote address at MWSF 2005.

http://www.peachpit.com

11:00 — iPort by Sonance

This company has twenty years’ experience creating custom home audio gear. Apple’s iPod provided a new set of challenges and opportunities, and iPort is the first result.

Using a local installation service from their nationwide network, you pay $600 for the hardware and another $100 – 300 (on average) to have it mounted in the wall of your home. Then the iPod becomes the source for listening via in-wall speakers.

It wasn’t easy to determine quality in the noisy Macworld Expo, but the company knows which end of a speaker is the front, and I expect this custom gear is worth the cost for many convenience-oriented music consumers.

http://www.sonance.com

11:30 — Lunch with David Weeks, David Casseres, Owen Rubin, and cousin Jim Nemo.

We enjoyed meeting young ("I’m almost seventeen") O’Reilly author Adam Goldstein, excited about the imminent release of his book Apple Script: The Missing Manual from O’Reilly / Pogue Press. David Casseres will be our lead reviewer. It sure is great to spend time with so many MyMac.com writers, in a collaborative, energetic environment. I wish we could do it every week! Hey — other writers — make plans NOW to join us next January, please!

1:00 — Other World Computing

CEO Larry enjoys sending review products to MyMac.com. We currently have two laptop batteries and a power supply unit from them, and our reviews will be posted in a few weeks. OWC is making more and more high capacity replacement laptop batteries, and this market is becoming "huge," says Larry. Their traditional processor upgrade line is now enhanced with items for digital musicians.

The improved iBook and PowerBook batteries are made in Canada and Japan, and marketed under OWC’s legendary Newer Technologies brand. Replacements for iPod batteries are steady sellers, as are jumbo external battery packs for several models of iPod.

Look here at MyMac.com for honest but subjective reviews of OWC accessories during 2005 and beyond.

http://www.macsales.com

1:00 — HP

Owen and both Davids were at HP before I arrived. The four of us were impressed as Rick Spillers, from the Mac Connect group at HP, gave us a dynamic tour through the company’s entire series of new products. And there are a lot of them, all happily compatible with the Macintosh. New inks, new monochrome and color laser printers, new multifunction units, new new new more more more. We’re each looking forward to reviewing equipment within our individual areas of expertise. HP hardware and software are impressive!

http://www.hp.com

David Weeks’ comments:

Nemo’s covered the Moscone waterfront, but I’ll chip in a few observations.

I liked the SecuriKey. While it’s a hardware-based system, the accompanying software is accessed via a Preference pane, with varying levels of security and convenience. That, of course, is the age-old tradeoff. More security and less ease of use, or more ease of use and less security. SecuriKey may have found a good balance.

If you get the willies when you think about using Apple’s built-in FileVault technology, you may prefer this hardware-based approach. If you lose the key, you can get another one FedExed to you overnight, unless you reside in Ulaan Bator, Outer Mongolia. Then it’ll take two nights to get a replacement.

Peachpit book reviews are a staple food item at MyMac.com. We get the books from Peachpit as soon as the ink is dry on the initial press run. At MyMac.com, unlike many reviewers, we read the books, not just weigh them and read the back cover! You’ll find out which ones are best for you by reading Weeks’ or Nemo’s book reviews.

iPort by Sonance.

Got kids? Kids can’t agree on what to listen to? You and the kids can’t agree what to listen to?

My favorite iPort model was a combo unit that consists of an iPort and two Sonance in-wall speakers that is inexpensive enough for each teen (or adult) to have a unit in their own bedroom. When you leave, pop the ‘Pod out of the iPort dock. When you’re back in the bedroom, pop the iPod back in the iPort, and you’ve got your music in your personal in-wall stereo.

OWC Larry, the head honcho of Other World Computing is a character. If Larry talked any faster, he’d hurt himself. But he’s no snake-oil salesman. John and I have started reviewing two of his Newer Technology PowerBook batteries, and they look like they’ll outperform the stock Apple batteries. More news when Nemo and I have finished beating up on the batteries.

HP printers

I had a bad experience with my multi-function HP PSC 750 printer/scanner/copier a few years back, so HP had some serious ‘splaining to do to convince me to give them another try. HP’s Rick Spillers got me to listen long enough to agree to let HP send me a new PSC unit for review. I’ve always liked HP’s hardware, so let’s hope they’ve gotten it together with their current OS X printer drivers. Good news or bad, you’ll hear it from me after I spend time with the PSC 2610.

Macworld Photo’s, Nemo Batch 1

Be sure to check back during the week for more Macworld Expo coverage!

I won’t try to talk about the SteveNote — Nemo has done such a good job of that already. Here are my random impressions and thoughts, as I spent the entire afternoon roaming the floor of the exhibit hall.

1. They’ve compressed the whole show in on hall in Moscone South. In previous years there were two halls, North and South. It gives the whole show the feel of a mideastern bazaar, not that I’ve been to one of those, with a dense, milling mob of booths and people all jammed into a half-size space. It creates excitement, and also makes it very hard to judge whether attendance is up, down, or what.

2. iPod accessories are occupying at least three times as much space as last year.

3. Bags are big. Bags for laptops, for iPods, for iMacs, you name it. I think I visited half a dozen bag vendors. What’s going on here?

4. The focus on things that are directly connected to Apple products is tighter than before. This is no longer a handy bazaar for anything that people who like Macs might also like.

5. Tiger is burning bright. I went and looked over shoulders a lot and got my hands on it a little. Spotlight is awesome, though I will also have to write a whole article about it when Tiger is released. Dashboard now has a whole lot more widgets than it did back at WWDC 2004, and looks much more interesting. And the eye candy is just, I don’t know what to say, fabulous. I don’t put down eye candy — it makes you like your computer. This is something that no one else understands as well as Apple does..

6. iLife 5 looks good. I cross-examined an Apple booth-weasel about whether I could use IPhoto to make a fancy KenBurnsified slide show and export it as a QuickTime movie, which could then be imported to, oh, iMoveie or KeyNote. The answer is, yes, of course.

7. iWorks looks pretty good too. Of course, having written Why I Hate Word Processors a while ago, I am going to have to go into Pages in some depth when I can get my hands on it. But I subjected it to an important test that AppleWorks failed: control of widows and orphans. Widows and orphans, you ask? Well, these are just cases where the first line of a paragraph gets isolated at the bottom of a page, or the last line gets isolated at the top. A decent word processor has to prevent this, and Pages passes the test. I also asked the booth-weasel whether Pages could handle big documents. He said they test it regularly on War and Peace, which I thought was a pretty darned good answer.

8. I found Andy Hertzfeld at the O’Reilly booth, and chatted with him about his new book, Revolution in the Valley. This book grew out of his terrific web site, folklore.org, where he has induced the people who know the great stories about the creation of the Macintosh to preserve them for others to read. And though the book is out, the web site goes on. Andy is still exactly the same great, interesting guy he always was, and everybody should buy his book. I did, and O’Reilly gave me 20% off on it and another book, plus a T-shirt for buying two books. I like O’Reilly a lot.

9. Before the fact, I went on record as not believing in either the Headless Mac or the Flash iPod. Well, as my father used to say, that is why they put erasers on pencils.

10. The Mac Mini may or may not sell a lot of units. I’m not dumb enough to try to predict that. But at an absolute minimum, it will get a lot of people to go into Apple retail stores to see it, and that is nothing but good. I put my hand on top of it at the booth, and it was not warm. I asked if it had a fan, and answer was yes, but it’s very quiet. I also asked if it had the same footprint as a Cube, with the height squished down; the booth-weasel thought the Cube footprint was 8×8 inches, while the Mini is 6.5×6.5. Even so, you can surely argue that this is The Cube Done Right, at $499.

11. The iPod Shuffle is a pretty smart product. When ThinkSecret leaked the basic idea, they did not know about the smart part. Because the question is, if you want it to be really cheap and tiny, you probably can’t have a display at all, so how do you pick songs? And as we now know, the answer is, You don’t. Hell, there’s only one or two hundred songs on the thing, play them all. Either shuffled or not. I think it’s brilliant, and at the strikingly low prices of $99 for 512MB and $149 for 1GB, Apple will take over the flash-player market in short order — after all, the others are selling 256MB for $179, mostly.

12. Once again, there are basically no flight sim games for OS X. All I saw was X-Plane, which is nice, but come on, only one? I don’t mean science-fiction games with imaginary spacecraft, I mean flight simulators with real aircraft. What’s the problem?

13. I’m an old guy, and you know what, there are a LOT of old guys at MacWorld. Not that the younger demographics aren’t there, but you know, there must be a market out there for stuff like Medicare Minder and Social Security Maximizer and Heart Medicine Tracker and suchlike. Just a little clue for the developers.

NEW Macworld PodCast. Click here to listen!

Chad Perry, new MyMac PodCast co-host, and Tim Robertson talk about the Mac Mini and the new iPod Shuffle!

Finally, a MUCH BETTER PODCAST!

Click here to listen.

15MB @ 30 Minutes.

More pictures from Macworld Expo (Nemo) #5

MyMac.com writers Roger Born (left) talks shop with Owen Rubin

Roger shows off his “pimp-daddy” stance to Owen.

More pictures from Macworld Expo (Nemo) #4

MyMac.com’s own Owen Rubin (Middle) and David Casseres (Right)

Owen Rubin at the LaCie booth

Bob LeVitus (left) with MyMac.com’s own John Nemo

The official MyMac.com Macintosh Snack Tray!

Photo’s from Macworld Expo, by David Weeks!

Take a look at the other photo galleries here, here, here, and yet more here!

More Expo pictures!

(From left top) David Weeks, David Casseres, Jim Nemerovski (from left bottom) Roger Born, John Nemerovsk

New version of GarageBand is announced. You can now create your own loops! Also 8-track recording and can record 4 live tracks.

New iDVD to support more formats. A new one step creation of DVDs. Now will support all formats. iLife 05 prices at $70, will be out 1.22.05

New iMovie will allow MPEG4 with Hi-Def editing.

A demo of the new Hi-Def Sony camera with the Mac

AppleWorks is no more, introducing iWork!

Keynote 2.0, Jobs says he uses it for everything. Major upgrade to the two-year-old program!

Demo of new word proccesor, Pages!

Pages will support PDF

Compatable with Microsoft Offie

Apple releases Mac Mini. New Macintosh at $499! 1.25GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 40GB HD. Cac order one with more memory and HD for $599

Mac Mini- you have to buy your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Just a headless Macintosh. VERY small. Abou the size of a PaperBack book

Plays DVDs, CD’s, slot-loading. Ethernet, USB, and a modem. VGA output to get PC switchers so that they can use a PC monitor VERY nice!

Apple will ship Mac Mini on January 22

Now talking about the iPod!

New iPod, the iPod Shuffle. Flashcard based plaer. Weighs less than 1 ounce, about the same as four quarters. Has LED. Shuffles your music, or play an album. USB 2 connector.

512MB = $99 (120 Songs)
1GB = $149 (240 Songs)

John Mayer onstage to entertain…

Solio solar power source and charger
www.solio.com
$119 (iPod)
$99 (cellphone)

Solar power.

Mobile power.

Recyclable components.

MyMac.com got a first look at BetterEnergySystems’ Solio, a solar powered portable energy source.

The Solio is a small device with three wing-shaped solar panels that fan out into a small, flower-like array. Inside the central section from which the panels unfold is a smart lithium-ion battery. The panels charge the battery, which provides power to run or recharge your iPod, cell phone or other mobile device.

Solio is capable of over eight watts of power output from its battery, so you can run most any portable device, except laptops. Obviously, the greater the draw, the shorter Solio’s battery can provide the juice. However, on a normally sunny day, Solio’s panels can provide enough output to charge its internal battery while the battery powers your device!

If you happen to summer near the South Pole (or winter near the North Pole), and suffer from no daylight at all, you can also charge Solio’s internal battery from regular AC wall power.

The Solio can be outfitted with an iPod connector (third or fourth generation iPod), or with connectors for various cell phones.

BetterEnergySystems is focused on being environmentally friendly. After demoing Solio, CEO and founder Christopher Hornor showed us the iTread, a case for the Solio, that’s made from 100% recycled materials. Most of the iTread comes from recycled truck tires. In spite of being mostly "used tires" the iTread has a nice fit and finish.

Solio’s smart battery should provide at least 500 complete charge discharge cycles, and the solar panels themselves are designed to last 15+ years.

I was impressed with Hornor, Solio, and the iTread. He has a product that allows you to be both mobile and energy conscious at the same time.

MyMac.com will have photos of Solio and iTread in the near future.

Both Solio and iTread are being introduced tomorrow at the MacWorld convention. Solio fitted with an iPod connector is priced at US $119, while the cellphone version is US $99.

Nemo Weeks Casseres sitting with other media chums in special room NOT in the live Keynote ballroom. Casseres got here first and reserved three seats. We’re banished this year, for the first time, into the guts of Moscone, unable to experience His Stevenss in person. The room we’re in, number 103, has a live wireless Internet service available, so we can transmit comments as they happen (wish us luck).

It’s a dark room; with two large screens both side front and a couple of easy chairs and a desk center stage. Familiar faces and new ones are trickling into the seats. Nobody is overjoyed at being shoved down here, but at least we’re in good company. Roger just called to say he’d take photos, meaning he may have special access to the in-person keynote.

Casseres has placed his mind into a Zen state so as not to corrupt the flow of new info that actually happens. Rumors are flying everywhere, colliding with one another and neutralizing any coherent thought.

Next to me is Gary Coyne from AppleLinks.com, a congenial fellow who publishes witty, insightful postings as often as he can. In real life he’s a scientific glass blower, meaning he’s full of hot air except when doing his Mac writing.

Many media editors and reports are REALLY annoyed at not having full access to the live Keynote address, but gradually people are letting off steam. People from IDG, the conference company, are trying to keep the feather from being too ruffled, with limited success. A huge line of VIPs and paid attendees fills the upper and lower halls here at Moscone, and *these* folks are the ones being able to feel Steve’s vibes up close and personal.

Hey! Let’s come up with some advantages of having media restricted to a basement closet:

1. No need to stand in line nervously for over an hour, trying to maintain witty conversation with other hung-over or bored stiff media colleagues.

2. Not necessary to risk life and equipment when dashing into the Grand Ballroom in order to obtain a decent seat closer than Tacoma.

3. Much more spacious seating down here in Gutland. David, David, and I have ten feet to stretch out legs and the opportunity to move around freely any time we wish.

4. Aha! Full access to an always-on wireless connection to send you this commentary as it happens, especially since no simulcast in QuickTime is being broadcast this year (also for the first time).

5. We three can sit together and compare notes.

Yikes. Casseres is worried our Internet access will be shut down as soon as Steve starts talking. If I disappear suddenly, that will be the reason.

"We are Grey People," says David Casseres

It’s the missing yellow sticker! Intrepid media reps are scrounging for anything yellow they can stick onto their media badges, because yellow stickers are required for VIP access to the live in person Keynote address.

Let’s shift gears and hear from some of the finest minds in the MacUniverse.

Thoughts in the air here at Macworld SF 2005

* the lawsuit against ThinkSecret.com has some observers ruminating on the actual possibility of the low-cost "headless" iWhateverMac.

* Is there a real reason for Apple to create a flash memory iPod, or similar?

* An expanded iLife suite, including an upgraded AppleWorks plus Keynote v.2, would be a huge competitor to Microsoft’s Office X.

* Or, since "AppleWorks is a mess," any new productivity suite will be a complete replacement, not an upgrade!

* Will the G5 tower top processor speed get goosed up to?

Nemo sent in these pictures taken yesterday. Today is the day, be sure to stop back often for reports, articles, and MANY more photos from the opening of Macworld Expo today!

Setting up the Adobe booth

Allume set-up

Nemo’s brother, Jim, shows off his NeXT Cube.

Get them while you can!

What will tomorrow bring?