Steve Jobs Takes A Leave Of Absence.

On January 14th Apple released a press statement that Steve Jobs was stepping down as CEO of Apple and taking a leave of absence due to his medical state. Later that day Jobs sent out an email to Apple imployee's to inform them of his plans to return in June:

Team, I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June. I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple's day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan. I look forward to seeing all of you this summer. Steve

I can't really say this move surprises me, with Apple's recent announcement to pullout of Macworld and for Phil Schiller to present the last keynote instead of Jobs, something was definitely going on. Jobs had a battle with Cancer in 2004 and let's hope that's not rearing it's ugly head again. Let's hope Jobs has a quick recovery, and gets back to making the worlds great electronics.

Apple's New MacBook Line.

Apple today announced a refresh to their entire notebook lineup this afternoon.  First up we have the MacBook Pro.

The specs are about in line with what they have been.  The only notable exception is the transition to the Nvidia GeForce 9400M in both the MacBook Pro and the MacBook.  Nvidia cooked up something really special here and it could help Mac's become a force to be reckoned with as far as computer gaming is concerned.  

Here's a spec rundown:

-2.4GHz Core2 Duo

-15" or 17" Screen

-2GB or 4GB of RAM

-250GB or 320GB HDD

-Nvidia GeForce 9400M

-Backlit Keyboard

-Glass LED Display

-Price: $1,999 - $2,799

The MacBook is almost identical to the new MacBook Pro's with a horsepower downgrade, no blacklit keyboard, and a smaller 13.3" display.  

Spec's:

-2.0GHz to 2.4GHz Intel Core2 Duo

-2GB RAM

-160GB or 250GB HDD

-Nvidia GeForce 9400M

-13.3" Glass LED Display

-Price: $1,299 - $1,599

And seemingly in an interest to be competitive in the market and to get the "Us too!" PR line into some press releases Apple is still selling the 'old' white MacBook for only $999.  So now Apple can add a bullet point saying that 'they too' have notebooks under $1,000.

What I am most excited about in today's announcement is the new all glass, multi-touch, buttonless, trackpad.   Let me explain: 

Glass - smooth, frictionless, and pretty.  Think iPhone.  

Buttonless - Apple trackpad's have always been on the cutting edge IMO and todays announcement proves that.  Apple went ahead and removed the button from below the trackpad and made the entire trackpad a clickable button.  That's right now you can click anywhere in the trackpad, you're no longer a slave to clicking  at the bottom.  Right-click you ask?  Simply press down with two fingers, and -blam- a right-click.

Multi-touch - Apple has added a slue of cool new touch features to the trackpad, it now has options for 1, 2, 3,  and even 4 finger touch gestures.  Use two fingers to scroll up and down, and  pinch to zoom in and out. Swipe with three fingers to flip through you photo libraries. Swipe with four fingers to show the desktop or switch applications.

Well needless to say I can't wait to get my hands on these bad boys, Jobs and Co. says they are shipping today and will be in stores tomorrow.  I might just have to buy one for 'review' yeah that's it.  ;-)

iPhone 2.0. Now With (Official) Games & Apps!

After much anticipation and hype around Apple's iPhone, it's no surprise that developers have been chomping at the bit to build applications for it. Today Apple outlines its plan to release a Software Development Kit (SDK) to developers.

Apple is offering a "beta" version of the SDK today on their developer website so developers can get their apps or games! ready for when Apple is ready to distribute them via Apple's new App's Store.

Through the App Store, developers have the choice to set their price on their creation and even give them away for free. The best part is the devs get to keep 70% of the revenue! Apple is even handling the credit card fee's and transactions, hosting and bandwidth costs, along with marketing and promotions.

The App Store is setup much like the iTunes Store on the iPhone. You can access it from either WiFi or AT&T's EDGE network. You be able to browse apps through several categories: featured, top rated, bookmarked, and plain ol' search.

Much to the surprise of many people Apple announced that gaming is going to be a (big) part of this SDK release. With big names like EA and SEGA bringing big titles like Spore (that game is everywhere!!!) and Super Monkey Ball (of Wii fame) the iPhone is looking like a gamers dream.

Above is Spore in action. You start out as a single celled organism and work your way to space flight and beyond. From non-other than Will Wright, of Sim City (Sims) fame.

One of the most asked for apps was is instant messaging, and AOL was touting their AIM client running on an iPhone at the conference today. This looks to be a perfect match for those who have to be in constant contact with their 'buddies'.

In a big coup for the corporate market, Apple has said that they are bringing Microsoft's ActiveSync and Exchange server support to the iPhone. Which should be enough to push businesses over the edge since now corporate email will work with the iPhone.

Version 2.0 of the iPhone software is promised to be released in late June, which is the update that will enable all this new app goodness. I can't wait.

Apple's Giving Me $100 Dollars.

Today a letter written by Apple PR Steve Jobs was posted on Apple's website stating:

"...we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned...."

All I have to say is, Wow. This is unprecedented for a company to do, give money back to the consumer without there being a product recall or some other cataclysmic event. So $100 is a $100, even if it's just in Apple credit, I'm sure I can find something that I want to buy...

Although this makes me feel much better about the massive price drop, this is still a win-win-win for Apple.

1. First: They're appeasing the early iPhone adopters.
2. Second: It's a great PR spin that make Apple look like such a generous company.
3. Third: There is almost nothing in the Apple Store that is under $100 dollars (other than maybe some accessories), so they're (Apple) almost guaranteed that people will go spend more money that goes directly back to Apple.

Well, either way I am happy(er) about this whole price drop thing, or at least more so than I was 24 hours ago.

(Steve Jobs Open Letter)

Steve Jobs Quits Apple!!!!

Ah, those whitty Mac folks...