Apple eNews: January 13, 2005

	“The ultimate computer.” That’s how highly TechNY.com’s Steve Rea thinks of the iMac G5. “Apple,” he says “has created a small, powerful, aesthetically appealing, innovated, creative, workable, user friendly, attractive, reliable computer that everyone can use. The ultimate Internet machine. The ultimate music machine. The ultimate graphics machine. The ultimate computing machine.”
	“Carrying around a wallet full of pictures of the kids or the dog is so last year,” writes Cathy Lu in Digit. “Apple’s iPod Photo makes it as easy to look at your most beloved pictures on the go as it is to listen to your favorite tunes.”
	Bob LeVitus agrees. “I just received my sixth, an iPod photo, and if I loved my iPod before, I really love it now,” he writes in the Houston Chronicle. “The new iPod photo stores not only your songs, but also your digital pictures. The 2-inch color display is the best little color display I’ve seen, and I’ve heard many remarks about its clarity and rich, saturated images. Photos look amazing, and iPod photo stores and displays album art for songs which have cover art available.”
	Not only did we just open our 99th Apple Store on London’s celebrated Regent Street (the largest Apple Store to date, by the way), but we also just cut the ribbon on the newest iTunes Music Store. O Canada!
	More news...

True, it would take a really big stocking, but if your honey has a need for speed, you might want to consider squeezing the newest member of the Power Mac G5 family into a big red stocking this holiday season. The 1.8GHz Power Mac G5 starts at just $1499 but offers most of the benefits of its high-powered siblings.

Want to send someone a holiday greeting? Then check out the lovely holiday cards available on the iCards site. You won’t need stamps or return address labels, and with iCards from .Mac, you have plenty of beautiful designs from which to choose.

You have only a few weeks left to take advantage of a great holiday promotion from FileMaker. Purchase one retail copy of FileMaker Pro 7 between now and December 15, and you can nominate a friend, colleague, or charity to receive a free copy, as well. Terms apply, so check the FileMaker website for details.

Think Santa’s planning to slip a new iPod into your stocking this year? Then you’ll be pleased to hear that DataViz can convert your PDFs and Word files into text files you can download to your iPod and read on the train while you commute. Just one of the new features in MacLinkPlus Deluxe 15, the venerable document translation program lets you read files on your Mac—and iPod—even if you don’t have the app that created them.

If you have a videocam or iSight, you can take Holiday Cards to the next level (or, maybe, the level after that) with Videocue, a new application from Vara Software. Videocue lets you easily create videos that include photos, subtitles, and other media. And, thanks to its built-in teleprompter, your entire family can take turns offering a holiday greeting without memorizing a word. Just read it off the scrolling teleprompter. When you’re done, you can publish your QuickTime movie on .Mac, and let everyone know it’s there with an iCard. See how Videocue works and download a demo.

Got friends who’d enjoy an article in today’s issue of Apple eNews? Send them to our online version.

Software makes a great stocking stuffer. And, considering how industrious Mac software developers have been this year, you have a vast number of titles from which to choose. Start by checking out some of the newest arrivals.

But you’ll find even more options in the Mac Products Guide, which contains over 23,000 hardware and software products for the Mac and Mac OS X.

Apple eNews
December 2, 2004
Volume 7, Issue 25

We hope you enjoyed reading the final issue of Apple eNews for 2004. We’ll be back on January 14, 2005, bringing you news direct from the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where Macworld 2005 will be held. Until then, we wish you all a joyous holiday season. And a Happy New Year. See you in 2005.

Apple eNews is a free, bi-weekly email publication.

Event dates are subject to change. Some products, programs, or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Visit your local Apple site or call your local authorized Apple reseller for more information. Prices are estimated retail prices and are listed in U.S. dollars. Product specifications are subject to change.

It’s a perennial problem. That special someone in your life wants to buy you the perfect gift for the holiday, but he wants to make it a surprise and doesn’t like it when you flat out tell him what you’d like.

Sound familiar? Well, we think we’ve developed the perfect solution: a completely subtle way to offer a hint about the gift that would make your spirits bright this holiday season.

Like to try it? Visit our Holiday gift guide, and click Send an iMac gift hint. Or, if you fancy a laptop instead, click Send an iBook gift hint.

While you’re there you can take a look at some of the other great gift ideas available for the Mac lover this holiday season.

A first-of-its-kind digital box set, “The Complete U2” made its debut on the iTunes Music Store just last week, and the reviews have been awesome.

Featuring 446 songs, “The Complete U2” includes the band’s latest album, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.” In addition to all of U2’s previously released albums, “The Complete U2” brings you more than 100 rare live cuts, remixes, covers, early demos, b-sides, soundtracks, and 40 rare and previously unreleased tracks. Want more? The box set also includes a digital booklet containing album art, track listings, and comments from the band. A PDF, the booklet can be read on both Macs and PCs.

You can download the entire box set for just $149. Or purchase it for just $99 by redeeming the coupon that comes with your iPod U2 Special Edition.

We all must have been particularly good this year. So good, in fact, that Jim Heid—author of the best selling “The Macintosh iLife ‘04”—has a special present for us: a free PDF called “There’s No Place Like iLife for the Holidays.”

In addition to gift ideas you can make yourself in iLife, it includes a list of the top 10 things you need to know about digital cameras. Like to print your own Holiday Greeting Card using an image from your iPhoto library? Heid provides step-by-step instructions. And for those of us who’d like to share holiday memories in a movie, he offers a detailed discussion about shooting footage and editing the video in iMovie.

To receive the PDF, visit Heid’s site¹ and provide the information requested. You can even order “The Macintosh iLife ‘04” for 30% off.

^{1 Free registration required with Avondale Media to receive the PDF.}

Show of hands. How many of you have created photo albums in iPhoto?

Then you’re just one click away from publishing those photos in a beautiful iPhoto Book. A great way for iPhoto fans to celebrate the holiday season, iPhoto Books—professionally printed on acid-free, glossy paper and bound in an elegant linen cover—delight everyone with their large luminous images and exquisite quality.

Memorable gifts, they let you share your best digital photos with friends and family. Got photos? Publish them in a beautiful iPhoto Book and let everyone enjoy them this holiday season.

Order an iPod, iPod mini, or iPod photo directly from the online iPod Store, and we’ll personalize it for you. Free of charge.

Custom laser engraving can make the iPod you give someone very special indeed. Your message could be sweet. It could be comical. Or it could be mysterious. (We even offer suggestions if you’re stumped.)

And that’s just one of the services that make our new iPod Store special. A veritable one-stop iPod shop, the iPod Store carries it all. Headphones. Speakers. Cases. Accessories of every description, in fact. And just by clicking a “Learn More” link, you’ll find detailed product descriptions, customer ratings and reviews. In fact, we invite to share your own opinions about iPod products you own.

Perry Como. George Strait. The Boston Pops. Vanessa Williams. Chris Isaak. The Cedarmont Kids. Even the Barenaked Ladies stopped by the iTunes Music Store to drop off their recently released “Barenaked for the Holidays.” As a result, whether you fancy jazz, country, or boogie woogie, you’re likely to find just what the reindeer ordered on the iTunes Music Store. And it doesn’t hurt that you get to listen to your holiday music seconds after you purchase and download it.

Thinking of giving the gift of music to others this holiday season? You’ll find the iTunes Music Store Gift Card when you visit Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Target, and the Apple Store. (In fact, you get free shipping if you purchase Music Store cards from the online Apple Store.) And if you purchase a Gift Certificate from the iTunes Music Store, you can opt to email it, send it via surface mail, or, the newest option, print it yourself and deliver it in person.