So, this year, Apple at the Expo was all about the mac. And they meant it: although you still find tons of third party iPod/iPhone accessories, the Apple booth had only a bunch of new nanos, artfully arranged, and a couple tables with maybe a dozen iPhones.
Ironic that for its last MacWorld, Apple is focusing back on the Mac.
So, with so little hardware news (if a 17" laptop can be considered "little"), the Apple booth was all about iLife and iWork.
I spent some quality time with iPhoto 09, alone and talking with an Apple staffer (who was a photo geek too), and here are my impressions.
For me, the main new feature is the integrated geotagging of pictures. Simply clicking on places in the source list shows a map displaying the world with pins indicating where you shot your pictures (in a very iPhone-ish style).
The feature uses Google Maps, and is really fast. There is a new "terrain" display mode that replaces the usual "map": it shows a topographic map including elevation, which looks absolutely gorgeous.
Clicking on a pin's arrow display images shot in this location.
Images can be geotagged directly if your images contain EXIF location data, or manually by using Google Maps, like you can do on flickr.com. To location data to a bunch of images, simply look for a "place" by typing in the search field, then simply drop a pin on the map.
A cool feature is that you can define a "size" for the place you select, which is basically a circle around the pin, for which you can change the radius, meaning that you can have an "area" instead of just a point (like "my district" rather than a couple of GPS coordinates).
Once you have selected a place, you can associate it to selected pictures, or bookmark it for future use (this is neat).
When a picture has been geotagged, you can view location details by simply clicking on it.
I asked an Apple staffer about the geo features of iPhoto, and after a long discussion slipped the $1,000,000 question: will these features make it under some form in Aperture. The answer was: "I can't say anything, except that the iPhoto software manager is also the Aperture manager, so... I'm really looking forward to it." Thats would be awesome (and please throw in GPS track log import).
The other "big" (although a tad unnecessary) new feature is the face detection tool. Basically, you select an image, ask iPhoto to detect the face, which it then displays within a frame (quite accurately), and you are asked to name the person.
Once this is done, you can search your library by people, and iPhoto will try and find all the pictures that contain a face similar to the one you defined for that person. It sort of works, pretty well for frontal shots of adults, quite randomly for action shots of kids.
Overall, this feels like an interesting feature, especially for family shots, but we'lll have to see how it handles real photos, and not selected demo shots.
Another new feature is the publishing of pictures directly form iPhoto to your flickr or facebook account, which works as it should, although you can only use one account at a time (too bad for people posting to flickr using multiple accounts, like a personal and a pro one).
Overall, this feels like a solid update to iPhoto, especially the geotagging features.
Although they were quite scarce, I had some hands-on time with the new 17” MacBook Pro.
On first contact, it does not look that big, at least when you compare it to the way the old 17-incher compared to the old MacBook Pros... maybe it's the tapered edges, I don't know. Surprisingly, it feels heavier than it looks (those damn edges again!), and you really feel the extra pound compared to the 15" model. It also feels very rigid, thanks to the Unibody and non-removable battery.
The trackpad is the same as on the new MacBooks and Pros, although larger, and feels really natural. I hadn't tried the new monobloc trackpad before, but I actually didn't notice it at first, it just felt kike the standard trackpad cum button.
The overall finish is extremely smooth, and even the speaker grilles have received manic attention, as they are now level and silky smooth, a bit like the iSight ON light, which holes are laser etched: if you run your fingers on the speaker grille, you actually cannot feel it, it feels weird.
Apple is claiming that the new non removable battery (cue scandal, uproar and outcry) is worth "up to 8 hours", which, if true, would be outstanding. My main concern with non-removable batteries is not the impossibility to carry around a spare battery (at worst, there exist solutions like external juice packs), but rather the fact that batteries don't age well, especially if you use your laptop on AC most of the time (my 2 years-old MBPro battery doesn't hold more than 1 hr of charge now, which is why I had to buy a new battery for when I'm on the go): what will happen after 2 years when your 17" incher needs some Viagra to last longer? How much will Apple charge for a replacement battery?
One of the great things regarding the new 17" is the new screen, given for a 60% wider gamut than it's ancestor, which will be great for photographers. Also, Apple is finally adding an "antiglare" coating option, basically you can order a matte screen if you hate glossy displays. The models on display were all using glossy screens, so I can't say if the antiglare versions look like the old matte MacBook Pro screen or not.
The models on display at the Expo are running a custom build of Mac OSX 10.5.6, namely 9G2104.
The new 17" inches MacBook Pro starts at $2,799 for the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz with 4GB Memory, 320GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB.
Options include a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo [Add $300.00], 8GB of RAM [add Apple RAM tax of $1,200!!!], faster 7200 RPM HD, 128 or 256 SSD [Add respectively $50, $500 or $900] and the much-asked-for matte screen finish for and extra $50
I finally arrived in Frisco, had a quick shower, browsed through the live coverages of the Keynote, got bored, now I'm grabbing a sextuple ultracaffeinated latte and heading to Moscone Center.
Ah well, guess it's like holidays again...
