"It's only Rock and Roll, but we like it" Live Blog Extravaganza
Posted 09/09/2009 at 8:13am
| by Roberto Baldwin
Join us tomorrow morning at 10am Pacific for our live blog of Apple's "It's only rock and roll, but we like it" event. We'll be bringing you updates and pictures from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco is blazing color.
Can't get to a computer, or maybe your work blocks your favorite site. Follow Mac|Life on Twitter for latest info coming out of the event. It's just like being there 140 character at a time.
We're live right now!
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That's it folks! Stay on MacLife.com for the latest info abut the new gear.
11:10AM It's Norah Jones!
11:04AM. "Isn't that great?" Environmental cred: Arsenic-free glass, mercury free, BFR- and PVC-free, recyclable enclosures.
11:03AM. Built-in speaker. Same enclosure. Camera is on the back. Bright, pretty rainbow colors. Polished anodized aluminum. CORRECTION: 16GB iPod nano is $179. (I had said $199 earlier. Sorry about that.) The 8GB is $149.
11:03AM It'll do the Genius Mixes too. Built-in FM radio. Built-in Voice Recorder app and mic. Built-in pedometer, syncs with Nike+ website.
11:02AM. iPod nano, over 100 million sold. The most popular iPod, which makes it the most popular music player overall.
10:59AM. But still, it's Flip-sized and the demo video looks OK.
10:59AM. Yeah, "free" because it's built in to the new iPod nano. Which is not free, you FIBBER.
10:59AM. He shows the Flip, calls it "incredible." That's $149 for 4GB of memory. "We want to get in on this." Theirs is 8GB of memory for...FREE!
10:58AM. One more thing: A video camera.
10:56AM. What is new? Colors. Black, silver, pink, green, blue. And a price drop59 for 2GB, $79 for 4GB. Shipping today.
10:54AM. iPod shuffle. More third-party headphones being made to control it. He recaps the VoiceOver features, but none of that is new.
10:54AM. Now the iPod classic. Great for the "gotta have all the songs with me all the time" people. Keeping it at $249, but it's 160GB. Same size.
10:53AM. Straight to the ad. No mention of a camera.
10:53AM $299 for 32GB. $399 for 64GB. Up to 50% faster. OpenGL|ES 2.0 for good game performance.
10:51AM. iPod mini sales doubled after the drop from $249 to $199. So today the iPod touch drops from $229 to $199, for the 8GB model.
10:50AM. Can we see some new hardware now, please?
10:49AM. Madden NFL 10 is live in the App Store starting today.
10:48AM Hot Route feature lets you redraw the play right on the screen with your finger. OK, that's pretty cool looking.
10:46AM. Last is EA. Madden NFL 10 has all the teams, players, and stadiums from the big game. Plus the robust playbook. Tap players directly instead of using a D-pad to select.
10:43AM. Next is Gameloft, one of the biggest devs. Their FPS is Nova, a 12-level single-player that looks gorgeous.
10:41AM. Tapulous's game is called Riddim Ribbon. Tilt the phone to the beat to control your vehicle along a track. Bumpin'.
10:41AM Twitter is back.
10:40AM. Next is Tapulous, who does Tap Tap Revenge (10 million users). iPhone-only studio. Now they're working on a game combining music and racing.
10:38AM. New Assassin's Creed title demo, Assassin's Creed II: Discovery. Cool graphics, effects, sounds. Add your own photos to Wanted posters, etc. Prince of Persia-style acrobatics with touch controls.
10:38AM. Twitter is down, by the way. Sorry, Twitter pals! We'll keep checking.
10:37AM. Developer demos. Ubisoft up first, makers of the aforementioned Assassin's Creed.
10:36AM. Playing a game-trailer montage. Sports, racing, Assassin's Creed, flying, dragons, OH MY GAMENESS!
10:35AM Gaming category in the App Store is huge. 21,178 games available, compared to 607 for PSP and 3,680 for the Nintendo DS. Wow.
10:34AM. Oh yeah, and it's also a handheld gaming platform. The industry has taken notice of it for sure -- PAX, GDC, all have big iPhone game presences.
10:32AM. Oh, all those things were its iPod-ness. Thing two: It's a great wee computer. Safari, email, and so on.
10:31AM. And its Genius tech. That's more than three things, Phil!
10:30AM. iPod touch set apart by three things: Its iPod-osity, its great video experience, and its Wi-Fi ability to, um, sell you things from iTunes? Sure, why not.
10:29AM. iPod has 73.8 percent market share. 50 percent of sales are the user's first iPod.
10:28AM Phil Schiller reminds us "The iPod is a big hit." One of the most successful products in ALL OF HISTORY.
10:27AM. Demo's over. Steve is back. iTunes 9 is out today, free download. Go get it!
10:26AM The movie version is called iTunes Extras. Chapters, Features, More, like the bonus stuff on a DVD.
10:25AM. Dave Matthews Band liner notes include hand-drawn images, lyrics, videos, fun stuff for fans.
10:23AM iTunes LP tour, featuring the Doors, who don't look so hot in high-def photos... Sorry, Jim.
10:22AM Arrow on Buy button accesses Gift This Album, Add to Wishlist, Share with Facebook/Twitter.
10:21AM iTunes Store has new nav bar and drop-downs. Preview button in top charts. Quick-view albums and preview songs from there.
10:20AM You can auto-sync new purchases (he was careful to say purchases) too.
10:19AM App organization up first. List of apps to sync, drag-n-drop home screen arrangements. Select multiples to speed it up. You can search for your apps in the list, sort by category, reorder entire home screens, looks pretty robust but simple to grasp.
10:16AM Jeff Robbin onstage to do an iTunes 9 demo.
10:16AM. Digital "album covers" will include track lists, artwork, photos, videos, credits, links. Artists can contribute their own content.
10:14AM. "Some of us here are old enough that we actually bought LPs. And it was great." Photography, liner notes, essays, etc. iTunes LP is bringing it back.
10:14AM Home Sharing will stream or copy. iTunes Store has improved navigation, design.
10:13AM Home Sharing: Copy songs, TV shows, movies, etc. between 5 authorized computers in your home network. Nice...

10:13AM Manage iPhone home screens in iTunes! Finally! Yay!
10:11AM Smarter syncing. All my reggae, all my Paul Simon, certain playlists, etc. Photos by albums, events, faces.
10:09AM iTunes 9 debuts. New streamlined look. Genius mixes, more DJ like. 27 million libraries (average 2,000 songs) submitted to the Genius database.
10:08AM iTunes is the largest music store. 100,000,000 credit card accounts. Hackers start drooling...
10:07AM Free update for iPhone and iPod touch owners, available today.
10:07AM Mac users, we still recommend you just GarageBand your own ringtones. It's insanely easy, and um, free.
10:07AM Also adding ringtones to the iTunes Store, with 30,000 from 4 labels. $1.29? That's more than the track!
10:06AM iPhone OS 3.1 out today! Genius recommendations extended to apps. Neat!
10:05AM 30 million in two years. 75,000 apps in the store. 1.8 billion downloads served. Woop woop!
10:04AM "Today we get to talk about music." Phil Schiller, Jeff Robbin on the docket. But first, the iPhone.
10:03AM Steve is thanking "everyone in the Apple community" and encouraging us to become organ donors. Great idea.
10:00AM :It's Steve. Steve Jobs takes the stage to a standing ovation. Welcome back!!!
9:59AM: Stones "It's only rock and roll, but I like it"
9:57AM: Announcement to shut off mobile telecommunication devices.
9:49AM: And we're inside.