July 27, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Apple Unveils New Mac Pro With Up to 12 Processing Cores

CUPERTINO, California—July 27, 2010—Apple today unveiled a new Mac Pro line with up to 12 processing cores and up to 50 percent greater performance than the previous generation. Featuring the latest quad-core and 6-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics and the option for up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD), the new Mac Pro continues to deliver amazing performance and expandability for the most demanding consumers and professionals.

“The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With up to 12 cores, the new Mac Pro outperforms our previous top-of-the-line system by up to 50 percent, and with over a billion possible configurations, our customers can create exactly the system they want.”

At the heart of the new Mac Pro’s performance are next generation quad-core and 6-core Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 3.33 GHz. These multi-core processors use a single die design so each core can share up to 12MB L3 cache to improve efficiency while increasing processing speed. These systems feature an integrated memory controller for faster memory bandwidth and reduced memory latency; Turbo Boost to dynamically boost processor speeds up to 3.6 GHz; and Hyper-Threading to create up to 24 virtual cores. The Mac Pro now comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory and customers can configure-to-order the even faster ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of memory.

For the first time, Mac Pro customers have the option to order a 512GB SSD for the ultimate in reliability and lightning fast performance. With the ability to install up to four SSD drives in the system’s internal drive bays, the new Mac Pro can provide ultra high-speed disk bandwidth and random disk performance, two times faster than the average performance of a standard disk drive. Mac Pro also now features two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port. The additional Mini DisplayPort output allows customers to connect two LED Cinema Displays without an additional graphics card or adapter and the dual-link DVI port supports legacy DVI-based displays up to a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Every Mac Pro comes with Apple’s innovative Magic Mouse and customers can also order Apple’s new Magic Trackpad as an option. The Magic Trackpad brings the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures of Mac notebook trackpads to the desktop. With its glass surface, the wireless Magic Trackpad allows users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with their fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of web pages or photos. The Magic Trackpad can be configured to support single button or two button commands and supports tap-to-click as well as a physical click. Magic Trackpad is available separately for $69.

Continuing Apple’s commitment to the environment, Apple’s desktop lineup is a leader in green design. The Mac Pro meets stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status. The Mac Pro enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and the interior is designed to be more material-efficient. The Mac Pro uses PVC-free internal cables and components and contains no brominated flame retardants. The new Apple Battery Charger provides a convenient and environmentally friendly way to always have a fresh set of batteries for your Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse and Wireless Keyboard. The Apple Battery Charger is available as an option for $29 and comes with six long shelf life rechargeable batteries.

Every Mac also comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. iLife features iPhoto®, with breakthrough ways to organize and manage your photos by who appears in them and where they were taken; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which offers a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar.

Optional Apple professional applications include Aperture, Final Cut Express, Final Cut Studio, Logic Express and Logic Studio®.

Pricing & Availability ýýýThe new Mac Pro will be available in August through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
The new quad-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:
•    one 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache;
•    3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 16GB;
•    ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
•    two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
•    1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
•    18x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
•    four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
•    five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire® 800 ports;
•    AirPort Extreme® 802.11n;
•    Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
•    Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.
The new 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $3,499 (US), includes:
•    two 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor;
•    6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
•    ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
•    two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
•    1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
•    18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
•    four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
•    five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
•    AirPort Extreme 802.11n;
•    Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
•    Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.
Configure-to-order options include:
•    one 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3565 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
•    one 3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon W3680 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
•    two 2.66 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5650 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
•    two 2.93 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5670 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
•    two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
•    one ATI Radeon HD 5870 card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
•    up to 16GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the quad-core Mac Pro;
•    up to 32GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the 8-core Mac Pro;
•    up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD); or
•    up to four 1TB or 2TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm;
•    Mac Pro RAID card;
•    dual-channel or quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel card; and
•    up to two 18x SuperDrives with double-layer support.

Accessories include: Magic Trackpad, Apple Battery Charger, wired Apple Mouse, wireless Apple Keyboard, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, the AppleCare® Protection Plan; and pre-installed copies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server; iWork®, Logic Express 9, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture 3. Complete options and accessories are available at www.apple.com/macpro.

July 27, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Apple Unveils New 27-inch LED Cinema Display

CUPERTINO, California—July 27, 2010—Apple today unveiled a new 27-inch LED Cinema Display with stunning 2560 x 1440 resolution and 60 percent more screen real estate than the 24-inch LED Cinema Display. Featuring a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speakers, powered USB 2.0 hub, and universal MagSafe connector, the new LED Cinema Display is an ideal companion for the MacBook family or a Mac desktop, and is available for $999.

“With built-in MagSafe charging, iSight camera, speakers, and USB ports, the LED Cinema Display is ideal for MacBook and MacBook Pro users,”said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With its massive 2560 x 1440 resolution, the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display is a perfect fit with our powerful new Mac Pro, and it gives iMac users an easy way to double their screen real estate.”

The new, larger 27-inch LED Cinema Display features a beautiful 16:9 edge-to-edge glass display on an aluminum stand with an adjustable hinge that makes tilting the display almost effortless. The LED Cinema Display has vivid colors and exceptionally high contrast and uses a premium display technology called in-plane switching (IPS) to provide a brilliant image across an ultra wide 178 degree viewing angle.

Designed as a companion for any Mac notebook or desktop, the 27-inch display includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, an integrated MagSafe charger to keep Mac notebooks charged, built-in Mini DisplayPort connectivity for video and audio input and a powered three-port USB 2.0 hub so customers can charge their iPhone® or iPod® even when they take their MacBook with them.

The new LED Cinema Display now includes a new ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts the display brightness based on external lighting conditions and uses only as much energy as necessary to provide an optimum viewing experience. Made with mercury-free LED technology, arsenic-free glass and highly recyclable materials, the LED Cinema Display meets stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status.* The new display contains no brominated flame retardants and all cables and components are PVC-free.

Pricing & Availability
The new LED Cinema Display will be available in September through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US). The LED Cinema Display requires a Mac with Mini DisplayPort.

*EPEAT is an independent organization that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. Products meeting all of the 23 required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products. The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

From OnOne software

• Remotely fire your Canon EOS or Nikon DSLR from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad
• Remotely control the camera settings like shutter-speed, aperture, white-balance and more
• View images shot on the camera from your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad
• Look through your camera’s viewfinder remotely

Here is a link where to get this app:

http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=38

ipad

Apple iPad

So the Apple iPad is finally here. After over two months of hype and speculation, accusations and arguments, debate and worship, the thing has finally shipped and is in the hands of the early adopters. Well, sort of anyway. If you are one of the ones who chose to buy the 3G version, you are still waiting for that ship notice email from Apple (and will keep waiting for another couple of weeks).

But for those who chose the Wi-Fi only version, the worlds first mainstream successful tablet has arrived. How can I say successful when the iPad has only been out a week? Well, with 450,000 units sold in that week, I think we can say that it’s pretty successful. At the very least it’s going to be more successful than any other consumer tablet computer thus far. To be fair though, there haven’t been many of them. Anyhow, as I previously stated I would do, I ordered a wi-fi iPad to arrive on the first day they were released. After being asked by a number of photo.net members what my impressions of the thing were, I decided to write a short-term hands-on review.

Good stuff about the iPad

Here are some things that I was impressed with:

Performance

The iPad is a snappy performer. There is virtually no startup time, you just press the button and slide your finger across the screen to unlock it and the iPad is ready to use. Opening programs is much faster than doing the same thing on the iPhone as is switching between horizontal and vertical orientation. There are none of the random pauses and long load times that smartphone users have always had to live with. Websites open quickly and long pages display as fast as if you were reading them on your home computer. Overall Apple has done a great job with their homegrown A4 processor.

Screen

The iPad’s screen is really something to see. Bright and sharp with rich colors, both photos and video look great on the device. Its 1024×768 resolution may not sound like much in this day and age of external monitors with resolutions of 3840×2400. But the fact is that for whatever reason, the screen on the ipad looks wonderful. I have yet to talk to anyone who thought it was lacking in that department. The multi-touch interface has scaled up well from the iPhone/iPad devices. In fact, given the larger real-estate, you would have to say that the concept of multi-touch works even better on the larger form factor as you have more room to scroll, swipe, pinch, draw, etc. If I were a photographer who needed to have a portable digital portfolio, I can’t think of a better device than the iPad. Between its “looky here” new gadget factor, finger swipe navigation, and great looking screen, what could be better for getting an art director, bride, or editor’s attention?

Battery Life

In his initial presentation, Steve Jobs claimed a 10 hour battery life for the iPad. Unlike most other battery life claims in the electronics industry, I think Apple was underestimating the iPad’s numbers. While I haven’t done any scientific testing myself, every review that has done that testing seems to come out with at least 10 hours as the actual battery life, and often it’s somewhat more. Now, Apple could have been giving itself wiggle room knowing that the 3G version would use more power than the wifi. But the fact remains that battery life on the iPad is impressive. Of course, it had better be, because you can’t replace the battery yourself. If your battery craps out, it’s $99 out of your pocket to Apple for a replacement. Though they do apparently give you a whole new (refurbished?) iPad rather than just replacing your battery.

Screen Rotation Lock

Hallelujah we have made it to the mountain top! Well no, not really. But this feels like a much bigger deal than it really is to anyone who has tried to use their iPhone or iPad Touch to read in bed, curled up on the couch, or in any other position where the device is not exactly straight up and down. There was simply no way to keep the device from switching screen orientation if it thought that it should. It was frustrating and limited the usefulness of those devices. The iPad’s physical screen rotation lock is just the answer. Now no matter how contorted you are in your favorite chair, you and you alone can decide in which orientation you want the device to display content.

Speaker

This may seem like a small thing, but the speaker on the iPad is actually pretty good. Apple has a lot of strengths. But like all companies, it has its weaknesses as well. I have never been able to figure out why they can’t make a decent set of built in speakers for any of their devices. But the iPad speaker, while nothing that audiophiles would write home about, is plenty loud enough to watch videos or listen to a podcast in most situations. While I think that most people watching videos or listening to music on the iPad will be doing so via headphones, it’s nice to know that at least the option is there to use the speaker and actually hear something.

Newspapers and Magazines

Now, I have to admit, I’m a newspaper junkie. I subscribe to 2-3 daily newspapers and read them cover to cover. Oddly enough I very much dislike reading those same stories on my computer. Perhaps it is because of the environment in which I like to read the newspaper (at the kitchen counter or on the couch) or perhaps it is because of the cluttered ugly design that most newspaper websites have. But reading the news on my desktop or has never been satisfying or enjoyable for me. Sure, I use news websites for information gathering and breaking updates. But for the simple enjoyable ritual of reading the paper in the morning while eating a bagel and drinking my coffee, the computer has never done it for me. I prefer the real thing. I feel much the same way about magazines, though the difference with them is that at least the concept of a “web magazine” has been moving in some new directions in recent years. with Flash based layouts such as the one used by and others.