Entries tagged with “apple” from O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

The Macworld keynote today focused on three basic new products: iLife '09, iWork '09, and an updated MacBook Pro 17". Within the iLife suite resides the new iPhoto. It has some refreshing technologies, such as Faces and Places, and has added a new twist or two to the Adjust panel. Here's a closer look at those features. Adjust Panel Improvements...

Whenever there is a major Apple presentation, the demo machines are meticulously prepared, showing a well-managed list of documents and a sparkling-clean Applications folder. Some of the video tutorials on the Apple website, however, provide a more candid view at which applications Apple employees like.

With a sweet $18 billion of cash in the bank, it was just a matter of time until Apple would consider a major acquisition. Who would have thought that Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit would be their object of desire.

Everyone has a song inside. On March 22 and 24, Apple Stores around the country will show you how to get it out of your head and into an MP3 you can submit to American Idol. Apple promises, You don't have to know how to play an instrument, write a song, or even sing in tune. With GarageBand and...

Some days I feel sorry for Apple employees. As their market share has grown, their base has changed. I've been in the Apple store four times this week (three times more than I wanted to be there) and the feeling in there has definitely changed in the past year. It must be hard for the store employees to hear the signal over the noise.

Chances are that, by the time you are reading this, Steve Jobs has already finished his keynote at MWSF2008, announcing shiny new Apple products. As a little counterweight to the springflood of news messages this will most definitely cause, I thought you might enjoy a little walk down memory lane to rediscover how it all began, and which milestones it took Apple and the Macintosh to get to where they are today.

O'Reilly authors Mikkel Aaland, Harold Davis, Derrick Story and special guest Rick Smolan will have a panel discussion on digital photography at the SF Apple Store, Wednesday at 4:30.

No, not Disco, Disc. Disc is dead. The existing iTunes movies and video model may be flawed but digital distribution is the way of the future. If the rumor mill is right, tomorrow Apple will reinvent this space

I'm not saying that I'm an elitist Applecentric snob, no wait, yes, i am. And a lot of the UI decisions made me roll my eyes. The five screens before you can play any game, the mismatched dialog boxes without consistent font usage, the fact that you must pay 5 bucks for a Web browser, the fact that there doesn't seem to be easy third party development for an Internet-savvy device.

At last week's Apple Expo Paris, music technology was pushed into a corner, and quite literally so! In the West corner of the expo hall, French music technology reseller, univers-sons.com, presented the "Music Performance" booth. Demoed by competent and friendly staff, visitors could take a close look at the latest products from major players in the industry like Steinberg, Mark...

Two weeks ago, Apple introduced iLife '08, the latest version of their multimedia software bundle - and that means a new version of the impressive GarageBand audio software. Of course, impressive is a strong term, but I would definitely apply it to a piece of software that gives you powerful and easy-to-use recording, mixing, and editing tools as one fifth...

Keep this in your back pocket... You reset the iPhone by holding down the top power button and the Home button for about 6 seconds or until you see the Apple logo....

You've no doubt heard that EMI announced this past week that they'll be releasing higher quality DRM-free songs at a premium price per download, starting with a limited term exclusive on iTunes. There's a lot of buzz about the implications of this announcement. One important question is whether the other three major labels will follow suit (all the labels renew...

Yeah, yeah. The Zune may be a miserable failure according to some, but there are definitely some positive points about the Zune that Apple should take note of and consider emulating. Here is my list of six lessons Apple might consider learning from the Zune and implementing in their iPod line. 1. Be fingerprint resistant. The soft feel of the...

My co-author Kelli Richards, who spent a decade promoting music at Apple, has an ingeniously simple suggestion for how Apple and the Beatles’ Apple Corps can resolve their ongoing dispute. What if producers and DJs designed your next iPod? Although Kelli didn’t list a Beatles iPod in her plan, I’ve long wondered why Apple stopped with the U2 model. I’d...

Currently Apple Records and Apple Computer are back in court -- for the third time. The dispute centers around Apple Computer not using the Apple name in conjunction with music-related endeavors. I was in the middle of the fray during the second court case during my tenure at Apple Computer; we lost that one. This time I suspect a settlement...

This is serendipitous: While searching for information on the history of GarageBand, I entered Acid/GarageBand programmer Chris Moulios’ name and found this intriguing patent application. Called “Method and Apparatus for Expanding Audio Data,” it offers a peek inside the conceptual process of warping audio: One method relies on crossfading pairs of segments of audio data while running one segment backward...

MicrosoftWatch.com reports: Microsoft is still pushing full-steam-ahead with a music-making program, code-named "Monaco," according to Microsoft partners who requested anonymity. Monaco would be very similar to Apple's GarageBand application, but would be optimized to take advantage of Windows Vista and the Aero user interface. The article doesn’t explain how Areo would benefit music; I’m guessing musicians will actually get better...

As someone who has been in the digital media space for nearly two decades now (mostly focused on the music side, but really immersed in all facets of it), it's interesting to observe what goes on at some of the industry conferences -- where all of us at the convergence of entertainment and technology gather. One such gathering, Digital Hollywood...

Apple fans everywhere are anticipating next week's announcement (Sept. 7th). What will Apple announce?