iLounge

2009 Best of Show Awards video now online

• January 8, 2009
• Site News
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Our video for the 2009 Best of Show Awards is now online. In a change from past years, when we put individual videos up for each product, this year’s video has been compiled into one 6-minute collection of clips for your viewing convenience. You’ll find live footage of each award-winning product, providing a more complete view than is possible through still photography. 

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Palm introduces iPhone competitor Pre

• January 8, 2009
• Other
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Palm today introduced its latest handset, named the Pre. Featuring a 3.1-inch, 480x320 touchscreen, a dedicated gesture area below the display, a vertical slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and more, the device is aimed at the same market as the iPhone. Other technical features include high-speed wireless (EV-DO Rev. A or HSDPA, depending on the model and carrier), GPS, Wi-Fi, a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, 3.5mm headphone jack, microUSB connector, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP, 8GB of internal storage, an accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensors, a removable rechargeable battery, and an optional wireless charger. Pre is exclusive at launch to Sprint.

The device runs Palm’s new WebKit-based operating system, webOS. Designed for next-generation, touch-friendly devices, it offers many iPhone OS-like features, such as a full web browser, Exchange email support in addition to POP and IMAP, IM, MMS, and SMS messaging, and Palm Synergy, a new feature that aims to consolidate information like calendars, chats, and contacts from various sources in one place. Slated for release in the first half of 2009, no price has yet been set for the Pre. Initial impressions suggest that the phone is a large step forward for the company, which hired former Apple senior vice president Jon Rubenstein to develop its next-generation software and hardware in October 2007. Former Apple employees have reportedly joined Palm in significant numbers to aid Rubinstein in Pre’s development.

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Memorex rolls out speakers for iPod, iPhone

• January 8, 2009
• iPod Accessories
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Memorex has introduced a trio of new speaker systems for the iPod, two of which feature iPhone compatibility. The Mi9490P Hi-Fi CD Sound System for iPhone and iPod is a one-piece table-top unit featuring an integrated dock, slot-loading CD player, LCD with song and artist information display, equalizer, digital FM radio, and full function remote. Available in black only, it will sell for $140. The Mi4290P Dual Alarm Clock Radio for iPhone/iPod offers 10 Watts of total power, dual alarms, a digital FM radio, a reversed segment LCD display, an included remote, and an auxiliary line-in jack. It will sell for $80 and be available in either black or white. Finally, the Mi2290 Travel Speaker System for iPod is a white foldable, adjustable unit that comes with a custom fit neoprene travel sleeve. Features include an integrated dock, two 1.5-inch neodymium speakers, a backlit LCD display, an auxiliary input, and AC or battery power with up to 10 hours of playback time. It will sell for $60; all three systems are expected to ship in the first quarter of 2009.

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Panasonic debuts SC-HC3 iPod stereo, iPod-docking TVs

• January 8, 2009
• iPod Accessories
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Panasonic has introduced its SC-HC3 compact stereo system for iPod. Nearly flat on the front, the system features proprietary, 2.5-inch full-range bamboo cone speakers with a dual passive radiator design, a motorized front door that allows access to the integrated iPod dock and CD player, MP3 CD support, an AM/FM tuner, a clock, 40 watts of total power, an auxiliary input, and an included remote control. It will be available in March and will sell for $200.

In addition, the company has introduced a new line of iPod-docking televisions. Panasonic’s Viera X1 LCD televisions, available in 19-inch (TC-L19X1), 26-inch (TC-L26X1), 32-inch (TC-L32X1), and 37-inch (TC-L37X1) models, all feature an integrated Universal Dock and on-screen menus that let users play music or videos. Other features include the ability to select a song by artist, album or playlist, an SD card slot, dedicated game mode and 720p resolution. The 37-inch and 32-inch models will be available in March, 26-inch in April and the 19-inch in August; pricing has yet to be determined.

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Mix: Keynote Remote, Pandora, Rogers, AdMob

• January 8, 2009
• Mix
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Apple has released its Keynote Remote application for iPhone and iPod touch. The new app allows users to control Keynote slide presentations on their computers directly from their devices via a Wi-Fi connection. Simple swipe gestures allow users to move back and forth through slides, and users may preview the next slide in landscape view, or view presenter notes while in portrait mode. Keynote Remote requires Keynote ‘09 and is available now for $1.

Pandora Radio has released version 2.0 of its application for the iPhone and iPod touch. New in the updated version is a CoverFlow view for recent songs, artist bios, and the ability to create genre-based stations, play song samples for bookmarked tracks, and tap album art to see a progress bar, create a station from the current song or artist, or email the current station to a friend. Pandora Radio 2.0 is available now as a free download from the App Store.

Rogers Communications has announced that they added 199,000 net subscribers in the fourth quarter, helped along by sales of the iPhone. The Canadian iPhone carrier said it added 130,000 iPhone customers in the quarter, with new subscribers representing 40 percent of that total.

Mobile advertising firm AdMob has revealed that iPod touch requests more than tripled worldwide from November to December. The firm said there was a particularly large spike in requests the week after Christmas, although it is unclear how many of the increased requests can be attributed to sales of AdMob-supported applications. According to the company, the iPod touch is now the #2 device in the AdMob network; the iPhone and iPod touch now represent 15.5 percent of all worldwide requests.

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Massive Flickr photoset from Macworld Expo 2009 posted

• January 6, 2009
• Apple
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iLounge has just posted a massive photo gallery from Macworld Expo 2009. We’re in the process of sifting through all of the products we’ve been looking through during the day, but it suffices to say that there isn’t a huge amount to get excited about here. Photos show both major booths with handfuls of cool products, and many minor booths. We’ll have more to come later today.

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Apple: No new iPod, iPhone announcements for MW Expo

• January 6, 2009
• Apple
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iLounge editors have been able to confirm with Apple representatives that there are no new developments for the company’s iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV products planned for announcement at Macworld Expo beyond what was mentioned in the keynote. While only a few small iPhone/iPod related items were mentioned during the address, Apple has in the past released small updates to product lines, such as capacity bumps, on an under-the-radar basis directly after keynotes and other events.

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iTunes goes DRM-free with variable pricing, OTA downloads for iPhone

• January 6, 2009
• iTunes
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Apple today announced that it has signed agreements with all the major music labels to offer their music in a DRM-free format on the iTunes Store. Like prior iTunes Plus tracks, all music will now be sold in DRM-free, 256kbps AAC format. Starting today, eight million songs are available; all ten million songs are expected to be available DRM-free by the end of the quarter. iTunes will offer customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of previously purchased songs to the higher quality DRM-free iTunes Plus format for 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price. Beginning in April, and based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs will now be priced at one of three price points—$0.69, $0.99, and $1.29, with most albums still priced at $9.99. Finally, users are now able to download music from the iTunes Store on their iPhone 3G over the 3G network, removing the need for a Wi-Fi connection.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer our iTunes customers DRM-free iTunes Plus songs in high quality audio and our iPhone 3G customers the ability to download music from iTunes anytime, anywhere over their 3G network at the same price as downloading to your computer or via Wi-Fi,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points—69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29—with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29.”

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Full transcript of 2009 MWSF Keynote Address

• January 6, 2009
• Apple
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Continue reading a full play-by-play transcript of the keynote address from the 2009 Macworld Conference and Expo, presented by Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apple, Inc. Note that events are presented in reverse chronological order. Most of the announcements found in this transcript are explained in further detail in separate news articles; photos from the event can be found here.

10:33 AM: This most likely signals the end of the presentation. Sorry, iPod + iPhone fans - we were hoping for more today, too. But there has been a little good news, especially for iPhone users. Lots of applause for Bennett. He’s doing another song. Left my Heart in San Francisco. A melancholy way to close this all out. The 3G iTunes music downloading is working _RIGHT NOW_, Jesse Hollington confirms. Standing O for Tony Bennett. We’ll be updating iLounge with all the news from the show, stay tuned, guys! Thanks for tuning in.

10:29 AM: iTunes. iPhone 3G downloading of music starts today. Since they’re ending on music, they have a musical performer… Grammy winner… 15 Grammies, 2 Emmys, Tony Bennett. Song that is “very appropriate to this last Macworld,” Schiller says. Bennett slides out on a platform with a band. The Best is Yet to Come is the song.

10:27 AM: iTunes. DRM-free, 256k encoding in AAC, one-click upgrades from iTunes. All the majors, starting today, 8 million songs are DRM-free. By the end of this quarter, 2 million more - all 10m songs will be DRM-free. In AAC format. It’s easy to upgrade library to DRM free for a fee. Third new thing: iPhone/iTunes. Wi-Fi Music Store. You’ll be able to buy music over 3G network. So it’s no longer Wi-Fi Music Store. Same price. Same selection. Same quality. Anytime, anywhere, you can get music on your iPhone. …

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iLife ‘09 brings new features for iPhone, iPod touch

• January 6, 2009
• iPhone
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Apple today announced iLife ‘09, the newest edition of its digital media management and creation suite. Introduced in iPhoto ‘09 is the ability to sync slideshows to the iPhone or iPod touch, complete with transitions, many of which are exclusive to the latest version of the program. The program also adds a “Places” feature that automatically imports photo location data from iPhone pictures. In addition, Garageband ‘09 adds a new dedicated section for iPhone ringtones. iLife ‘09 includes iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD, and Garageband, and will be available late this month for $79.

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Sling shows SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone, coming Q1

• January 6, 2009
• iPhone Applications
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Sling Media is demonstrating a version of its SlingPlayer Mobile application for the iPhone at Macworld Expo, and has said the application will be submitted for App Store approval in the first quarter. The application allows users to stream video from any Slingbox directly to the device, and can also control their home digital video recorder to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or queue new recordings while away from home. “SlingPlayer Mobile is ideally suited for the iPhone’s large touch screen display and I know iPhone users are eagerly anticipating the application’s availability,” said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media. Pricing for SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone has yet to be determined.

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Best Buy now offering refurbished iPhone 3G

• January 6, 2009
• iPhone
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Electronics retailer Best Buy is now offering refurbished iPhone 3G units in its stores. Like the refurbished iPhones available from AT&T, Best Buy is offering 8GB refurbs for $149, and 16GB units for $249; a two-year service contract is required. “This is focusing on customers’ needs, trying to provide as wide a range of products and networks for our consumers,” said Scott Moore, vice president of marketing for Best Buy Mobile. Apple has yet to offer refurbished iPhone 3G units directly from its retail or online stores.

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