2007 Macworld Expo SF Keynote @ unbiased bias

2007 Macworld Expo SF Keynote
January 9th, 2007 at 02:20:33 PM

Steve Jobs kicked off the 2007 Macworld Expo today with his keynote address. He started by talking about how well the iPod and the iTunes store is doing. Apple is now #4 in music sales, between Target (#3) and Amazon (#5). They sell 5 million songs per minute and boast a 2 billion song library. They have new iTunes+iPod ads and a new Mac ad.

Steve then spoke of the 'iTV' (now called 'Apple TV') device that will allow you to stream your iTunes videos to your TV. The box, looking like a thinner mac mini, will have a 40GB drive, HD video, wi-fi, and will work with the Apple remote. The Apple TV will stream trailers from the Apple website (at 720p HD) as well as playback your purchased media, both audio and video, from the iTunes Store. Steve shows its streaming capabilities as well as showing downloaded iTunes Store content. Further, the Apple TV will show your photos on your TV and stream videos from up to five computers; it's integrated with iLife. When can we own this box and how much will it cost? Order it for $299 today, and get it in February.

Steve shocked the audience with three 'revolutionary' products: a widescreen iPod (with touch controls), a mobile phone, and an internet communicator. And why is it 'revolutionary'? Because they are all one device. Steve is calling it 'iPhone' (which is odd because I thought Apple didn't hold that trademark). The iPhone, at only 11/16in thick, is one, large, touchscreen that uses multi-finger gestures for input. The only button on the device's face is the power button. It runs OS X, so all the things you want (mail, web, etc) are included. It has sensors that let the device be smarter. A proximity sensor turns off the display and sound when you put it up to your ear. The ambient light sensor helps save power by regulating the backlight. The device can also detect it's orientation (landscape/portrait) automatically. Steve showed general phone use, and it's pretty sexy. It syncs via a docking cradle and will store all your contacts, videos, photos, music, email, and notes. Cingular will be the first to carry the GSM+EDGE phone and it'll cost you $499 (4GB) or $599 (8GB) (compare to the usual $200-$400 with 2 year contract) to own it in June. Oh, and did I mention the touch-to-add callers conference feature, the 2MP camera, and the 5 hour battery (16 hours just for audio)?

So 2 hours had flown by at this point and then Steve drops the bomb: Apple Computer, Inc is no more! They're changing to Apple, Inc. Now, that may not sound like much, but the name that they've been using for 30 years is no more. It's not a huge change, but it's just enough to reinvent the company. Jobs has been looking to make some history since he returned to Apple in 1998, and he's on his way to doing just that (or has he already?).

The wind down was nothing special, just John Mayer (he's there every year).

And that wraps it up. Well done Steve and co, you've left us all with our mouths watering, wanting more.

And for those of you keep tabs, Apple's stock is now up over $5.50.

Of note, Apple also slipped in an update to their AirPort Extreme wireless base and didn't mention it during the keynote.

New Apple Web Pages:
Apple.com
iPhone
Apple TV
iTunes+iPod ads
Mac ads

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