Don’t want to watch the entire 2009 Macworld Keynote? Here’s a rundown of what was announced and a little commentary.

iLife 09
iLife 09 will be released sometime in late January. iPhoto and iMovie received the largest updates. New organization features Faces (facial recognition) and Places (geotagging) allow you to more easily find the pictures you’re looking for in iPhoto. iPhoto now includes direct upload capability to Flickr and Facebook. iPhoto also includes some pretty sweet slideshow functionality. iMovie now features video stabilization (which looks ridiculously slick), more precision editing, dynamic themes, and a cool travel map feature. GarageBand and iWeb were also updated; iDVD is the same. The cool new feature in GarageBand is the new artist lessons feature. The artist lesson feature is a video where various artists teach you to play their songs. iLife 09 is $79 and $99 for a family pack. You also need OS X 10.5 Leopard to run iLife 09.

iWork 09
I’ll save you the boring details on iWork 09. Basically, increased functionality across all applications. Pages includes a new full screen mode to help remove distractions. Mail Merge is also now included with Pages. Also new is a cool $.99 iPhone/touch application to control Keynote presentations called Keynote Remote (iTunes link). Numbers got a cool linked chart feature when adding Numbers based charts in Pages. iWork 09 is available now for $79 or $99 for a family pack. You can also purchase iWork 09 with a new Mac for only $49.

Mac Box Set
The Mac Box Set is a new product that includes iWork 09, iLife 09, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard for only $169. Considering Leopard is $129 by itself, this is a remarkably good deal.

iWork.com
iWork.com is a sharing and collaboration site for iWork documents. iWork.com will be available on a subscription basis (price not announced) at a later date. You need iWork 09 to use iWork.com. Though not officially announced, it looks like iWork.com is available for use now.

17″ MacBook Pro
The 17″ MBP looks exactly like the new unibody Macbook and 15″ MBP. The downside of the 17″ MBP is the fact that the battery is not user replaceable, but does get “up to 8 hours” of battery life. The new battery can be recharged up to 1,000 times, “3x the recharges of the standard notebook battery”. The 17″ MBP is available with a new anti-glare option for an extra $50. Video editors will be happy with the new 17″ MBP because it supports 8GB of RAM.

iTunes

• Beginning April 1st, songs sold on iTunes will be available with variable pricing, $.69, $.99, and $1.29.
• 80% of the songs available on iTunes are now DRM free. The remaining 20% will be available DRM free by the end of this quarter.
• The iTunes iPhone/touch App can now operate over the cellular network. This works over Edge and 3G.

My Analysis
The most important announcement was easily iTunes becoming DRM free. Perhaps this is truly the final nail in the DRM coffin?

Perhaps the most interesting announcement is iWork.com. Though it initially seems limited, could this come to rival Google Docs?

If you want to watch the last Apple Keynote at Macworld, Apple has posted the video online. You can also pick it up in iTunes (iTunes link).

Since the covenants of Mac blogging include making Macworld predictions (likely for the last time ever), I’m going to join every other Mac blog and make my predictions too. The following are my own predictions of what the Phil-note will contain and the likelihood of it happening.

Very Likely

• Snow Leopard Preview – There is no doubt the words “Grand Central” and “Open CL” will be mentioned a few times.
• Mac Mini – I’m not sure if it’s a complete abandonment of the product or a design update, but something will happen with the Mac Mini. If it’s updated, I would expect a price drop too. $599 is still high for many computer users.
• iMac Update – A design change is pretty unlikely, but expect better processors and other hardware improvements.
• 17″ MacBook Pro Update – The Macbook and 15″ MacBook Pro were both updated in late 2008. It’s time the 17″ MacBook Pro got the unibody treatment.

Likely

• iPhone Software Update – Perhaps copy/paste will make an appearance?
• iLife Update – iLife was largely ignored in 2008. The creative suite is often seen as one advantage of buying a Mac vs a PC. Apple needs to restore some of the luster to their Mac creative suite.

Not Very Likely

• Apple TV – I’d love to see the product move forward somehow. SDK, third party hardware certification, something else? But please, please don’t kill it Apple!

The Detriot Lions Winning the Super Bowl Next Year Likely

• Netbook – Not now, but maybe before the end of 2010. With the current economic conditions however, a Netbook would do more for Apple’s bottom line in 2009 than in 2010.

Those are my Macworld 2009 predictions. I have no inside knowledge of Apple release schedules or product development, so these are just my gut feelings combined with a little bit common sense. I’d love for there to be a whiz bang “one more thing”, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

OS X
-5 million copies of Leopard have been delivered. This is likely a combination of new Mac sales and Leopard boxed copies (no definitive word given).

Time Capsule
-Time Capsule is a companion product for Leopard’s Time Machine. Time Capsule is a combination Airport Extreme Base Station with a server grade hard drive. It’s a “backup appliance”.
-500GB and 1TB storage for $299 and $499 respectively.
-Backup multiple Macs to the same Time Capsule.
-No word on if this feature will be available for USB drives connected to the current Airport Extreme Base Stations.

iPhone
-4 million iPhone sold to date.
-It’s first quarter shipping it garnered 19% of the smart phone market share.
-1.1.3 iPhone software upgrade released: SMS to multiple people, current position locator in maps, customizable home screen, and more.

iPod Touch
-Mail, maps, stocks, notes, and weather coming to the Touch.
-The cost of those applications is $20 for current Touch owners and will be built in to new ones.

iTunes
-4 billion songs sold
-125 million TV shows sold
-7 million movies sold
-iTunes movie rentals coming by the end of February
-Studios renting movies on iTunes includes Fox, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony.
-24 hours to finishing watching rented movie once started; you have 30 days to watch movie from the time of download.
-You can transfer the movie to a PC, Mac, iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, nearly anywhere.
-Library titles are $2.99 and new releases are $3.99

AppleTV
-Computer no longer required for AppleTv
-Rent movies directly from AppleTV
-Rent movies in DVD quality or HD (with 5.1 sound)
-Flickr and .Mac photo support
-50 million Youtube videos now available for AppleTV
-Buy TV shows and music directly from AppleTV and have them sync back to your computer
-HD movie rentals are $1 more than the standard rentals.
-New UI
-Free software upgrade for existing AppleTV owners to support new features
-Price reduced to $229

Movie Media
-Working with Fox to include a digital copy of a purchased movie on current optical media (DVD, Blu-Ray) to allow instant transfer to iTunes.

Macbook Air
-Super thin notebook
-.76 – .16 inches thick; 3lbs
-Full size keyboard
-13.3″ widescreen LED backlit display
-Built in multi-touch gesture support ala iPhone
-80GB or 64GB SSD (upgrade option) hard drive
-2GB RAM standard
-Runs on a Intel Core 2 Duo chip that is 60% smaller than current chips
-Magsafe power adapter, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, USB 2.0 port, iSight, Micro-DVI, and headphone jack. No optical drive.
-$99 USB external optical drive
-Remote Disc feature allows you to connect to a local Mac/PC and share its optical drive
-5 hour battery life
-$1799
-Ships in two weeks; pre-order today.

So those are the highlights of the Macworld Keynote. I included nearly every remotely interesting detail about the Keynote, but not everything. Engadget liveblogged the event and you can see their post here. I kept waiting for the “one more thing” but there wasn’t one this year. My money is out for an AppleTV in a few weeks. Are you going to buy anything mentioned in the Keynote?

With the 2008 Macworld JobsNote just a few days away, speculation is nearly at an all time high. Every Apple and gadget related blog has already posted their Macworld predictions and I’m about to toss mine out too. Could this years Keynote bring something bigger than the 2007 Keynote when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world? I think it’s going to be pretty hard to top the iPhone, but I’m expecting great things from Apple none the less. Here are my predictions (and the percentage chance that it will happen) for the 2008 Macworld Keynote, which will be held Tuesday, January 15th live in San Francisco. Head on over to this post on Engadget for live coverage of the Keynote starting at 9:00AM Pacific.

Software
In light of the recent news that iTunes will soon bring movie rentals, I think it’s safe to say we’re going to see a new version of iTunes out (and likely Quicktime as these are often updated together). With the exception of Aperture, all other Apple software has received some kind of update recently. Will there be a new version of Aperture released at Macworld? I don’t think we’ll see a new version of Aperture at Macworld. Macworld is predominately a consumer focused event and Aperture is a professional level application. Maybe we’ll see a new Aperture at WWDC in June. Chances we see a new iTunes/Quicktime: 100%. Chances we’ll see a new Aperture: 15%.

iPods
Not much to speculate on here. The entire line was recently updated (except for the color for the Shuffle) so it’s pretty unlikely you’ll see anything new here. Chances we’ll see a new iPod: 0%.

Cinema Displays
The Cinema Displays haven’t received a redesign in quite some time. The long running rumor on the circuit has Apple adding iSight cameras to the displays. This is a fairly obvious upgrade path for the Cinema Displays so if they were to be updated I’d go for that. If we do see a new Cinema Display, I’d expect to see a price drop to keep them reasonably attractive in the current marketplace. Chances we’ll see an updated Cinema Display: 20%.

Mac Desktops
With the recent update of the Mac Pro and the fairly new iMac redesign, those products will likely see no action at Macworld. My predication here is that Apple will finally plug the gap in their product line and release a traditional tower Mac, much like you can find from every PC vendor. This new “Tower Mac” is the perfect transition for switchers and plugs what I consider a fairly serious hole in the Apple product line. The problem with this hypothetical Mac is creating something that will bring in similar profit as the iMac but at the same time avoiding the cannibalization of Mac Pro sales. This tower Mac will be somewhat upgradeable and much like the Mac Mini, it won’t come with a keyboard or mouse. The main features would be an upgradeable video card, optical drive, and extra bays for hard drives and optical media. Chances we’ll see this “Tower Mac”: 33%.

Mac Notebooks
I’m going to go with the blogosphere here and predict some type of 12″ Powerbook type device. This will be a sub notebook type device without an optical drive and without a touch screen. I don’t think the standard configuration will include a SSD for storage, but that will be configuration option. Right now SSD storage is expensive and capacity is lacking. As far as a Macbook or Macbook Pro update, there’s a chance we’ll see something for the MBP but unlikely for the Macbook. The Macbook is selling very strong and I don’t think Apple will update it while sales are soaring. Chances for a sub notebook: 75%. Chances for a Macbook Update: 5%. Chances for a MBP update: 20%.

iPhone
When the AT&T CEO spilled the beans about the 3G iPhone, I predicted it would be a 4Q release. I’m sticking to that predication, but I do think we’ll see one iPhone related announcement. I think Steve Jobs will demo a few applications built with the upcoming iPhone SDK. Demoing new functionality will keep people interested in the current iPhone and encourage them to buy now rather than waiting for the 3G iPhone. Speaking of new functionality, I’m predicting some formal announcement about supporting Microsoft Exchange on the iPhone (IMAP doesn’t count). Oh yeah, and we’ll see some of those new features in the 1.1.3 firmware upgrade. Chances we’ll see some iPhone applications demoed: 100%. Chances we’ll see a 3G iPhone: 5%.

AppleTV
I’m hoping for a new AppleTV. I think we’ll see movie rentals with a firmware upgrade to the current AppleTV too. I’d really love to see more HD content on the AppleTV and I’m hoping Apple delivers. I’m not entirely sure what Cupertino will bring to the AppleTV but I’m hoping it gets updated in some fashion. I’d really like to get one! Chances Apple will drop an AppleTV update: 50%

Other
HD content is the future and Apple has long been on the cutting edge of technology changes (mouse, network card, removing floppy disk, express card, etc). I think it’s time Apple shows why they joined the Blu-Ray Disc Association back in March 2005. I could see a Blu-Ray optical drive standard for Mac Pros and Macbook Pros, and as an option for Macbooks and iMacs. It’s cost prohibitve to include Blu-Ray drives with the lower prices iMac and Macbook. Chances of Blu-Ray support: 60%.

We just might see the Leopard 10.5.2 update hinted at during some point of the Keynote. I don’t think it will be much more than a footnote, if it’s mentioned at all. Who knows, 10.5.2 could be the gate keeper for something new. Chances we’ll see any mention of 10.5.2: 20%

So those are my picks. I’m fully confident that some of my picks will be totally off the mark. But if you shoot enough, you’re bound to hit the target sometime.

Update: I seem to always have problems embedding Youtube videos here. I’m really hoping this last edit will fix the layout.

If you’re a Mac user that absolutely needs Office for Mac, you’ll be happy to know that Office for Mac 2008 is nearing store shelves. As of December 12th, Office 2008 has been released to manufacturing. This means that the MacBU has signed off on a final build that has been sent to manufacturing sites.

Office 2008 will be released on January 15th at Macworld. A large number of the MacBU team will be on hand at Macworld to show off their work and talk to Office users.

I’m actually going to buy Office 2008. I nearly purchased iWork 08 as my Office replacement, but I decided to wait until Office 2008 is released. I don’t absolutely need Office 2008, but for less than $20 you can’t go wrong. In an upcoming post I’ll reveal how you too might be able to get Office 2008 for Mac for less than $20.

If you want an iPhone but don’t want to put down $399, Apple Phone Show is coming to your rescue. Apple Phone Show is hosting a contest and the prize is an Apple gift card valued at $399. So if you already have an iPhone, you can still put that gift card to use.

The contest has one way to enter. Just take a picture with your iPhone or of an iPhone (or something iPhone related) and uploaded it to Flickr. Previous rules were limited to pictures taken with an iPhone but those rules were amended to allow non iPhone owners to participate. Once you upload the picture to Flickr, tag it with APPLEPHONESHOW and that’s it. If you post a link in your blog or website to the Apple Phone Show website you can enter two pictures, otherwise you can only enter one picture in the contest.

The contest ends December 31st, 2007. You must be a US resident 18 years of age or older to enter. For the full rules and additional details about the contest, visit the Apple Phone Show website here. The winner will be announced at the 2008 Macworld in January.