Apple eNews: February 15, 2007

Writing for St. Paul Pioneer Press, Julio Ojeda-Zapata complains that “Vista hardly rocked my world during weeks of testing. It’s a fine Windows upgrade, but it’s also a shameless rip-off (and not quite the equal) of another major operating system, Apple Computer’s Mac OS X.” Which led him to another conclusion. “Those upgrading from XP likely will have to get a new computer anyway because Vista doesn’t work properly on most older PCs,” he notes. “So, instead of purchasing a Windows PC, they could—and typically should—get an Apple Macintosh computer running OS X.”

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Photographers: Take a workshop and learn how Aperture can help you bring your best work to light. Wedding and event photographers should sign up for one of the free Aperture workshops beginning on February 20. Learn from top pros and get a free Aperture Tutorial DVD. Or learn Aperture as you cruise north to Alaska—and get a free copy of the application.

Automatic time tracking. Customizable invoice templates. iCal and Address Book synchronization. Network collaboration. Flexible reporting. It’s all in a day’s work for iBiz 3, the latest version of IGG Software’s powerful yet easy-to-use time billing and invoicing application. Do you bill for your time? Then it’s time you took a look at iBiz 3.

QuickTime Presents. Mr. Brooks. In this exclusive QuickTime trailer, watch Man-of-the-Year Earl Brooks struggle with a deadly addiction. He likes to kill people. The movie—coming to theaters in June— stars Kevin Costner (as Ed Brooks), William Hurt, Demi Moore, and Marg Helgenberger.

Freeverse recently released “six classic games designed to stimulate the cerebellum, cajole the cortex, and gratify the grey-matter.” Read more about Big Bang Brain Games on our games site. You can even download a demo and see if you can puzzle out Reaction, Sudoku, NovaSweeper, Remembrance, Echo, and Fallacy.

If you’d like to enjoy the excitement of Super Bowl XLI all over again—and as often as you’d like—be sure to visit the iTunes Store, where you’ll find exclusive video highlights from the game: Devin Hester returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Peyton Manning deftly passing the ball to a wide open Reggie Wayne for the Colts’ first score, Kelvin Hayden’s game-breaking interception and touchdown, and many more such highlights.

Two members of the Norwegian parliament have nominated former Vice President Al Gore for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the work he’s done to promote awareness of global warming. Gore, who sits on Apple’s Board of Directors, used a Mac and Keynote to create the presentation he’s seen giving in “An Inconvenient Truth,” a documentary on climate change nominated for an Academy Award.

Like to see how easily you can create slideshows using iDVD? We provided all the steps—and some great tips, as well—in “Adding a Photo Slideshow to Your DVD.”

It’s just one of many iLife ‘06 multimedia tutorials you’ll find on the iLife site. Enjoy.

Found an article you think a few dozen friends ought to read? Send them to the online version of Apple eNews.

Every week, developers release new products for us to enjoy. Like to see some of the more recent arrivals?

Apple eNews
February 15, 2007
Volume 10, Issue 3

We hope you thoroughly enjoyed reading this issue of Apple eNews. You can expect your next issue on March 1. See you then.

Written and designed by Apple in Cupertino, 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 Apple Store prices as of the date of this publication. They do not include sales tax or shipping charges, are subject to change, and are listed in US dollars. Product specifications are subject to change.

That’s what the hot Broadway musical “Spring Awakening” earned from theater critics. And that’s what composer Duncan Sheik awards his Macs and Logic Pro.

For good reason. To begin with, the Grammy-nominated Sheik composed the music for “Spring Awakening” on acoustic guitar, piano, and Logic Pro. “I’ve been using Logic for ten years,” he says. “It has become second nature to me. I can move around in it really fast, and I find editing to be incredibly intuitive.”

As an encore, Logic Pro also proved instrumental in another way—helping him produce and record the original cast soundtrack album. “It’s a fabulous recording studio tool,” says the musician. “I never would have been able to make the record without Logic Pro and its editing capabilities.”

Pop quiz. You’ve got an aging PC on your desk or lap, and you’re wondering if it’s time. Now that Vista’s made the scene, should you make the leap? Should you finally say “hasta la vista” to your old PC and replace it with a computer that’s “easier,” “safer,” “more entertaining,” and “better connected”?

You bet. But if you want to earn yourself some bonus points, you should leap right over Vista and get a computer with the world’s most advanced operating system.

A Mac. Running Mac OS X.

After all, with Spotlight, Widgets, built-in Parental Controls, Exposé, iLife, one of the best web browsers on the planet, and lots more, Mac OS X Tiger remains years ahead of Vista. And we’re not the only ones who believe that Tiger’s got Vista by it’s tail. Take a look.

Though she’s perhaps best known for her photography—American Photo named Lauren Greenfield one of the 25 most influential photographers working today—the Mac has truly emboldened her to explore new ways to tell her story.

She and her crew used Final Cut Pro to produce Thin. Her first film, the feature-length documentary on eating disorders premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. The Mac also helped Greenfield create the book and DVD that formed part of the project.

“Final Cut Pro totally transformed our studio and opened up something for me creatively,” she says. “Now, cutting multimedia is part of our workflow. I’m adding interviews and ambient sound to my images, which is very exciting because sound has a magical—and natural—relationship with photography.”

He’s back. Or, should we say, he’s just arrived—the terminator, that is. Among the first films from Lionsgate to appear on the iTunes Store, “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” takes a starring role alongside “L.A. Story,” “Reservoir Dogs,” and 150 other Lionsgate titles scheduled to debut this month on the world’s most popular online movie store.

In upcoming weeks, Hollywood’s leading independent studio also expects to release such popular and critically acclaimed films as “Basic Instinct,” “The Blair Witch Project,” “Dirty Dancing” “Total Recall,” “Rambo,” Monster’s Ball,” “Chaplin,” and “The Boys from Brazil.”

As with other movie titles in the iTunes Store, most Lionsgate films will sell for $9.99. Films download at near-DVD quality (640x480 resolution¹). Watch them on your computer or TV. Or take them with you on your iPod.

^{1. Up to 480, depending on the aspect ratio.}

Ever share or backup files by walking from one computer to the next?

Thanks to the new AirPort Extreme Base Station—now available at our online store and wherever Apple products are sold—your sneakernet days are over.

That’s because, in addition to sharing an Internet connection with others, the AirPort Extreme Base Station lets you easily share a hard drive with every computer on your network. Whether they join the network via a wired or wireless connection.

And once you connect that hard drive, you can backup files to one large volume from any computer on your home network; distribute workshop assets to an entire classroom of students; share project files among the team members in an enterprise workgroup. Easy network sharing. What an extreme idea.