GeekSugar

Live From Macworld: The New iLife and iWork

GeekSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:00:55 -0800

Apple's Macworld announcements keep rollin' in! Continuing with my earlier coverage, I'm picking up with Phil Schiller's keynote, centering around iLife; so far he's mentioned that new features of iPhoto and iMovie, and now he's moving on to Garageband.

Garageband can now teach you to play an instrument! With the "Learn to play" feature, you can get lessons from artists like Sting and Fall Out Boy on the piano or guitar.

The new iLife is supposed to be available later this month, and ships free on all Macs, but for upgrades will be $79, or $99 for a family pack that can be used on five computers.

To hear about Schiller's other announcements for Mac, read more.

iWork '09 is also boasting some new impressive features, if you use your Mac for presentations at work. iWork's Keynote feature will provide themes and organize your slides for you, and you can use your iPhone as a remote to change your slides with the Keynote Remote app for the iPhone (just 99 cents).

Next, Pages and Numbers - the Mac equivalent to Excel and Word, respectively, have an amazing amount of new and beautiful templates, and work together so you can link tables you make in Numbers with docs you make in Pages.

iWork, ready to ship today, is $79 or $99 for a family pack, or $49 if you're buying a new Mac and want to add it in. Since iWork and iLife must use Leopard, Apple is providing a bundle of iWork, iLife, and Leopard called Mac Box Set for $169, available later this month.

Schiller also says that Apple is working on iWork.com (still in beta), which will allow you to share documents online, but edit them offline. iWork.com will be fee based when it launches, but free to sign up for the beta.

Source

It Had to Happen. . . Eventually: A New Virus Attacks Macs

GeekSugar — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:46:21 -0700

Part of the Mac appeal to new computer users is that they are (or have been) virtually free from viruses. Since the large majority of the population uses Windows, hackers design viruses and worms to attack PCs to get more bang for their virus buck. And although there's no reason to panic just yet, researchers have found a virus that can attack your Apple computer now too.

It's not like there haven't been viruses designed for the Mac before, but this one, called iBotnet, has been successful at wiggling its way into thousands of computers around the country since January. And once the virus makes its way into your system, your computer will then be part of a large network which can be controlled buy the virus's author. How can you avoid this virus? Find out when you read more.

Thankfully, a large majority of Mac users won't have to worry about this virus, since iBotnet is contracted by downloading pirated versions of iWork. So if you don't want iBotnet on your machine, you should steer clear of any extracurricular file sharing activity!

Source

The Cheaper and Faster iPhone 3G Has Arrived!

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:30:20 -0700

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off this morning at the Moscone Center with Steve Jobs' keynote speech, and thanks to Gizmodo's live coverage, I was able to be a part of the minute-by-minute action. The latest and greatest iPhone was finally announced and it's jam-packed with goodies galore. Available in 8GB (black) model for only $199 and a 16GB (black or white) model for (yay!) only $299. The 3G iPhone has thinner edges than the first iPhone, comes with a full-plastic back, a flush headphone jack (phew!), and improved audio quality and battery life. It also includes fun stuff like built-in GPS, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and access to the new App Store. The iPhone 2.0 software will be released in early July and is free for all iPhone owners and $10 for iPod Touch owners!
For more info about the iPhone 2.0 software, just read more.

Additional neat iPhone 2.0 tools include an eBay app called Auctions that helps you search for new items, place bets, and browse through pictures belonging to various auctions. There's also an app called Loopt - a social networking tool with location-based services, a TypePad app that allows you to create blog posts with photos, medical apps for doctors so that they can show CT or PET scans on the iPhone, full iWork document support (view iWork docs on your iPhone) as well as parental controls. With so many apps at your disposal, the iPhone is truly going to be a revolutionary all-in-one cell phone. Stay tuned as we further explore all these amazing technology tools!

Macworld '09 Roundup

GeekSugar — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:03:50 -0800

If you were one of the lucky ones who was still on holidays this past week, Macworld 2009 has already come and gone. I must admit, it just wasn't the same this year without Steve Jobs, but thankfully there were some interesting announcements to feed our Apple addictions. Want to find out what they were? Check out the headlines below!

iPhoto and iMovie '09	iLife and iWork '09	GarageBand '09
The 17-Inch MacBook Pro	What Macworld Is Like For a Girl	Sexy Trexta iPhone and Laptop Accessories

"Today's About Notebooks"- Live Blogging From Apple!

GeekSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:35:00 -0700

Welcome to Apple HQ with geeksugar! I'm reporting live from Cupertino to bring you today's big Apple news. Will we be hearing about the new MacBooks yet?! So far we've heard an intro from Steve Jobs himself, saying, "Today's about notebooks." Let's get started then, shall we?

COO of Apple, Tim Cook, presented us with the current "State of the Mac." What is the state then? Cook says that Macs have grown 2-3 times because of six big factors:

1) Better computers - iMac's all-in-one design, the MacBook Air
2) Better software - Leopard, which he says is far ahead of Vista (BURN), plus things like iLife and iWork
3) Compatibility - People are able to switch from PCs to Macs more easily due to Bootcamp, Fusion, and Parallels
4) Vista - Yes, Cook cited Vista as a reason for Mac's growth. Namely, the fact that its failure has pushed people toward Macs. "It's fair to say that Vista has not lived up to what Microsoft wanted."
5) Marketing - The "Get a Mac" ads
6) Retail Stores - 247 stores in 8 countries with 400,000 visitors per day. Wow!

Stay tuned for the big announcements!

Are Your Kids Driving You Nuts? Send Them to Apple Camp!

GeekSugar — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:03:24 -0700

I had no idea Apple offered this! Not only is the Apple store good for picking up guys, but you can also send your kids there for Apple Camp during the Summer months!

Apple Camp kicks off in July at all Apple store locations and entails 2.5 hours of free workshops for kids to learn fun Mac stuff and be involved in entertaining hands-on activities. Workshops include things like using iLife and iWork applications and are specifically designed for kids ages eight to 12.

Apple Camp attendees will also create their own projects and take them home to mom and dad on a DVD. How cool is that?!