The Apple store is down....you know what that means. We've been eagerly awaiting the news this morning, as we sure most of you are too. Here's our roundup of what's new and exciting from Apple, and we'll keep updating this post as we learn more details.
We're still waiting on what is expected to be the most exciting announcement and will update as soon as it's available, but check out other exciting Apple news after the jump.
Time Capsule: A full Airport Extreme base station with "server grade" hard internal drive. There will be two versions, a 500GB for $299 and a 1TB for $499. This sounds like the perfect networked external hard drive solution we have been searching for.
iPhone Upgrades: New software upgrades that include improved maps with gps-like capabilities, a customized home screen with "webclips" that allow you to bookmark web content, and the ability to text multiple people. These are free for all existing iPhone owners. There are similar software upgrades for the iPod touch (not including the mapping), but will cost users $20.
iTunes: Movie rentals are the big announcement there with every major studio on board. Over 1000 titles available, with a 30 day delay after DVD releases. You will be able to watch movies anywhere (PCs, Macs, iPod, iPhone), instantaneously. Rentals will cost $3.99 for new releases and $2.99 for older films. You are able to hold onto rentals for one month, but it expires 24 hours after you begin to watch the film.
AppleTV: It's new and improved, allowing you to use it with your TV without the need for a computer. You'll be able to take advantage of the new iTunes capabilities, and also rent HD movies for $4.99.
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i've been keeping track on the live feed on macworld. it's always a good sign when the store goes down.
view jmorey's profile
ITS BACK UP...!
view sgnt13's profile
I'm really excited about Time Capsule. I'm looking to replace my old router (4 years old) and add some network attached storage, and this will enable me to combine them into one device.
Take that cords!
view aghman's profile
IMHO, Time Capsule is extremely limited (and limiting).
All the things that it won't do (and why I won't buy it):
* won't back-up a non-mac (PC or linux box)
* requires a leopard upgrade (extra $100 right there)
* won't serve as a networked storage device (for keeping things that are NOT duplicated on your computer's HD)
It's hard for me to justify the cost of Time Capsule, the only advantage of which is eliminating the action of plugging and unplugging an external hard-drive.
view LuckyMonkey's profile
Where are you getting your information LuckyMonkey? My take on the Apple store page is that you can indeed use this as networked storage. You'll need all that you mention to take advantage of Apple's Time Machine software, but not the device itself.
view Kelly's profile
Kelly, in order to back-up PCs and/or linux boxes you will have to buy additional software (extra $$$), which usually comes included with most most good networked storage/backup solutions. And unless you are completely new to back-up for the mac (read: have never done this before), you are likely already an owner of a back-up software solution which won't be able to take advantage of all the new features of the Time Capsule, lest you plunk down the $$$ for the Leopard upgrade.
Expanding Time Capsule won't be easy: adding an external HD for more space will make any data on much slower to access.
Also, there's no RAID protection (and despite claims of the harddrive being "server-grade," this won't insure against failure - all HD fail eventually, it's usually just a question of time). This means that while you are technically right about the last point (can be used as networked storage), but because the data will then be stored in only one place it will have to be backed-up with some additional method.
All in all, this is good for somebody with just a mac, limited technical knowledge and a need to back-up (though IMHO still pretty overpriced at that).
view LuckyMonkey's profile
It's funny that they say it's "server-grade". That's so silly and misleading.
view Keisha Kornbread's profile