Mobile DJs and music producers rejoice, because the word on the grapevine is that new MacBook Pros, MacBooks and iMacs are a-comin’. Details inside. According to Apple Insider: The new MacBook Pro will sport a new form battery cover that spans the width of the system, also providing access to the notebook’s hard disk drive when released via a latch on the bottom of the casing. A new metal casing is one hell of a rumour as far as the MacBook pro is concerned, because it hasn’t seen a physical upgrade for nigh on seven years. In 2003 the MacBook Pro (then called the PowerBook) switched to the now infamous aluminium design. They changed a little in 2006 with the addition of a built-in webcam, albeit not as significantly as Mac Insider are making out regarding the 2008 range. They go on to say: Together, the redesigns of the MacBook and MacBook Pro are radical enough that they’ll warrant a special introduction. Slimmer MacBooks are on the way Both will see their first industrial design overhaul since adopting Intel processors over two years ago. Most notable will be the 13-inch MacBook’s metamorphosis from a plastic-wrapped portable to one clad in aluminum and stainless steel. Like the upcoming redesign of the MacBook Pro, the MacBook will be highlighted by aesthetic revisions reminiscent of those used on the new MacBook Air and the latest aluminum iMacs, such as instances of matte black on portions of the casings and tapering around the edges to produce a slimming effect. Internally, both are also rumored to sport a mysterious chipset that is something other than Intel Corp.’s Montevina. (Note: this should not be confused with the CPU, or primary Intel processor.) As far as iMacs are concerned, Apple Insider reckons: Separately, Apple is also planning to refresh its line of 20- and 24-inch iMac seasons ahead of the holidays. People familiar with these plans have described the refresh to consist of ‘speed bumps’ rather than major internal or external changes. Based on the roadmap presented to AppleInsider, these systems would debut later this fall following the release of the new MacBooks, making their way to market with little fanfare. Sketchy shot of the sexy new MacBook Pro Whilst you’ll have to wait until fall for new iMacs, the new MacBooks are allegedly due in October. Is the picture on the right what Apple’s future product is going to look like?
Today saw Apple launch the revamp to 3 of their existing products. iTunes and the iPod nano, touch and classic.
Starting with iTunes. Apple today unveiled iTunes 8, which includes breakthrough Genius technology that, with a single click, lets you automatically create playlists from songs in your music library. iTunes 8 also features new ways of viewing your music and video libraries, and it adds television programs in stunning high definition for sale on the iTunes Store.
Steve Jobs then introduced the new iPod Touch. Perfect for music, movies, and games, the new iPod touch features an amazingly thin contoured metal design, a gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, integrated volume control buttons, a built-in speaker for casual listening, a built-in accelerometer and other advanced sensors, and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch interface. Available now in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB models. The 8GB is £169 and the 32GB £279. So not much of a cut on price...
Then came the grandest of the re-designs in the shape of the new iPod Nano. Available in nine vibrant colors, the new fourth generation iPod nano — the thinnest iPod ever — features a sleek new design with a curved aluminum and glass enclosure. It also incorporates Genius technology and features a built-in accelerometer that automatically switches to Cover Flow when rotated and automatically goes into Shuffle mode when lightly shaken. iPod nano (4th generation) comes in 8GB and 16GB models, starting at just £109.
The Classic also had some attention paid to it, with the moto of 'One size fits all' applied to it. The new Classic has a standard 120GB of storage, iPod classic can hold up to 30,000 songs, 150 hours of video, or 25,000 photos. That’s more than enough room for a day’s — or a lifetime’s — worth of entertainment.
Unfortunately, computer lovers who have waited 2 - 2 1/2 years for new MacBooks and MacBook Prosare going to have to wait even longer. With another product seminar to be held in October of this year. Price reduction and special iPod slots and tracker pad technology are 'to be expected'. Fingers crossed...
In typical Apple form, it seems that your new iPod Touch will be already out of date in the next month as Apple plan a major revamp on their entire product range. Founder, CEO and all round Geek God of Apple, Steve Jobs, is to present an event on the 9th of September to announce major changes to the world’s most popular MP3 player. The iPod Touch is set to receive some cosmetic changes while the Nano is set to undergo a major re-design including a much larger screen. Macbooks and iMacs are also set to receive similar treatment and it is rumoured that all products will severely drop in price. However, it is not the changes to the current Apple products that have got tech nerds all hot and bothered; the internet is abuzz with rumours of a potential new product to be announced following hints dropped by CFO of Apple Peter Oppenheimer. It is unclear as to what Apple have left to create in the world of MP3, perhaps an integrated MP3 washing machine or the ability to control your iPod by merely thinking about song you want to listen to?
In the last 7 years or so, we have seen the switch in DJs tools of choice. Like any industry , this is inevitable, but in an industry as huge and bitchy as the music industry, these changes have provoked certain arguements. All DJs, if they have any style or quality will admit that vinyl is the best way to listen to music, but unless you are a "superstar DJ" and get given tracks by artists and record labels, then DJ vinyl is a costly activity. So came along CD decks. Which incorporated "beat matching" technology and therefore provoked arguments of technicality and cheating. Almost all computers nowadays have a CD writers and almost everyone has there music stored digitally and can burn it CD. The former making DJing a lot easier and the latter a lot easier.
3 x DMC champion DJ Craze then teamed up with a certain technology company and produced Final Scatch. A digital deck that links to your computer, pressing a digital file to a vinyl almost instantly. While Final Scratch dominated the industry for a long while and with a very high premium attached, others have followed suit and it is now readily accessable to bedroom DJs and the rest.
Apple are now set to get involved in this DJing evolution, with the introduction of virtual decks and mixer. On July 10th, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a major Apple patent application pertaining to a system and method of managing, manipulating and editing media objects on a touch sensitive advice. According to a blog post on the Macintosh News Network, the patent "illustrates an embodiment of the invention for manipulating the replay and recording of audio or musical files", and will enable DJs to display and mix a pair of virtual records (graphical representations of digital music files) on a pair of virtual turntables:
"Like a pair of physical turntables, the [styli] can be graphical icon indications of a playback queue, the position of which can be varied by touching the queue on a touch sensitive display screen and dragging the icon to the desired position on the graphical record. The moving of the stylus would cause a jump in the playback point of the corresponding song, as on a physical turntable.
"Also like a pair of physical turn tables start/stop buttons can be touched by one or more fingers to toggle the start or stop/pause of the song reprotuction. Speed variants bars can be linearly adjusted to control the playback speed of the songs. Windows can graphically reproduce the frequency representation of the reproduced songs, while window can display the frequency representation of the actual output of the music application, which can be simply one of the songs being reproduced, or a mixed /combination of the songs. Mixing/pan bar can be manipulated to modulate or demodulate the two songs being reproduced.
"During song reproduction, the records can be manipulated similar to a physical record. For instance, rapid back and forth movement of a record can cause the sound effect of a record "scratching", as disc jockeys often do on physical turntables.
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