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Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 01:00 pm

Notes from Apple's Showtime event

By AppleInsider Staff

Apple's Showtime event has begun and Steve Jobs is currently on stage introducing new products.

  • Over 70 percent of 2007 model cars sold in the United States will include some form of iPod connectivity

  • Apple has sold over 450,000 Nike+iPod Sport Kits in just under three months.

  • Apple is introducing a new video capable iPod with 60 percent brighter screen. Battery life has been increased from 2 hours to 3 and a half hours when playing videos.

  • Apple is introducing a new earphone design they've been working on for about a year and a half. They are white and look similar to the existing version.

  • New iPods feature gapless playback so songs flow into one another

  • New iPod software features: instant searching, faster scrolling and games.

  • Some of the new games -- which will work on 5G iPods -- include Bejeweled, Tetris, Texas Hold'em, Mini Golf, Packman, etc. They'll be on sale at iTunes for $4.99

  • $249 for the new 30GB iPod video and $349 for the new 80GB model.

  • New iPod nano: Aluminum and in colors. Color options include Black (8GB), Silver (2GB), Green (4GB), Pink (4GB), and Blue (4GB). Using new software like on the iPod video. 24 hour playback. 2GB model for $149, 4GB model for $199, and 8GB for $249. The new nano packaging is more economical -- about 52% smaller. Less fuel to burn when shipping. New accessories include armbands, lanyard, and charger

  • Apple is also introducing a second generation iPod shuffle with built in clip for improved wearability. It comes in one standard configuration: 1GB, metal enclosure, available in October for $79. It will also come in new packaging.

  • Apple has sold 10 million shuffles so far.

  • That's it for iPods...moving on to iTunes.
  • iTunes has sold 1.5 billion songs and is now the 5th largest reseller of music in the US behind Wal-mart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon.com

  • Apple today is introducing iTunes 7 with three different interface views. Apple has added an Album View that allows users to flip through their albums digitally. And if you've ripped your CDs and don't have album covers, Apple is gonna give you the missing covers for free (if you have an iTunes account). The third view is called Cover Flow view and it looks like you are flipping through a CD album book.

  • Apple has sold over 45 million iTunes videos. iTunes now features 220 shows from over 40 networks. NFL is joining as a new network today.

  • All videos are now encoded in H.264 at 640x480 and iTunes 7 features seamless playback for videos

  • You can now sync iPods with multiple computers if authorized.

  • iTunes will show games you've download and list instructions for the games.

  • iTunes 7 is a free download today

  • One more thing... Movies

  • Apple today is rolling out movies from Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax (studios owned by Disney). Over 70 movies online today and new movies will be available the same day they arrive on DVD.

  • New movies will be $12.99 if pre-ordered during the first week with others costing $9.99. Movies can be previewed in iTunes. They'll be available in near DVD resolution of 640x480 with Dolby surround sound. Download time is about 30 minutes and you can begin watching as it downloads after the first minute.

  • Bob Iger, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company is invited on stage to wrap things up. He makes some comments.

  • But wait -- there's still one more thing... It won't be ready till early 2007, but it completes the iTunes movie story so they are going to preview it today.

  • It's the long rumored Apple set-top box / wireless streaming device temporarily called iTV

  • It's half the size of the Mac mini (looks like a mini sliced horizontally) and includes a built-in power supply, USB, Ethernet, 802.11 wireless component video, optical audio and HDMI ports (in addition to old RCA audio ports) and works with Apple Remote. It will feature a next-gen Front Row interface. Video streams almost instantaneously and looks pretty damn good on a large screen.

  • iTV even interfaces with iTunes store movie trailers... Steve is using it to play The Incredibles in HDTV!

  • iTV: $299...Q12007. Mac or PC.

  • Steve: Apple is now in your Den, Living Room, Car and Pocket.

  • Still one more thing -- it all comes down to the artists. Steve is closing out the show with a live performance by Grammy-winning artist John Legend.

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