Apple Posts iTunes 7.6, QuickTime 7.4, iMovie 7.1.1, and Front Row 2.1.2

Shortly after the conclusions of Steve Jobs’ annual MacWorld San Francisco 2008, apple posts updates to iTunes, QuickTime, iMovie ’08, and Front Row 2.

01/15/2008

iTunes 7.6 for Mac (45MB) | Windows (56MB)
iTunes is the best way to enjoy your digital music and video with your Mac, PC, iPod, iPhone and Apple TV.

Front Row 2.1.2 (16.8MB)
This Front Row update provides for bug fixes and improved iTunes compatibility.

iMovie 7.1.1 (16MB)
This update addresses issues when publishing movies to a .Mac Web Gallery, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

QuickTime 7.4 for Leopard (55MB) | Tiger (51MB) | Panther (50MB) | Windows (22MB)
This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users

The updates are also available through Apple Software Updates and Apple Support Downloads page.

Apple Software Updates 2008-01-15

MacWorld San Francisco 2008 – “There’s something in the air.”

January 15th, 2008

Time Capsule

Apple - Time Capsule

iPhone Software 1.1.3 – read more here

Apple - iPhone Software 1.1.3

iPod touch upgrade – ($19.99 upgrade cost) – editorials/rants coming soon

Apple - iPod Touch January 2008 updates

iTunes Movie Rentals

AppleTV (New Software – Free Upgrade)

AppleTV - Take 2

MacBook Air

Apple - Introducing MacBook Air
——-

Here we go again.

Steve Jobs is taking the center stage at MacWorld San Francisco 2008, delivering his keynote. Many has speculated what he will say, and the rumors are running wild. What’s with the “air”? What’s in the air?

Take all the rumors with a boulder of salt. In short time we all will find out.

Live coverage of MacWorld San Francisco 2008 Keynote starting at 09:00AM Pacific Standard Time:

Mac Rumors Live
Engadget
Ars Technica
MacScoop
LoopRumors
The Mac Observer
MacDailyNews
MacWorld
The Unofficial Apple Weblog
CNETLive
Mac360

Year 2007 Expires on December 31st at Midnight

Despite all efforts to hack the flow of time, the “year 2007” expires on December 31st at midnight. Teams of hackers are still working on cracking the encryptions to prevent “year 2007” from expiring. Unfortunately, their efforts so far bear no fruits.

If you are affected by the expirations, please do not panic. Upon the expiration of “year 2007”, “year 2008” will automatically activate and resume any tasks carried over from “year 2007”. If for some reasons, you found out that other people in different part of the world were already upgraded to “year 2008”, please do not panic. That’s because you’re living in a different time zone that is a little bit behind the time. As a matter of fact, numbers of part of the world have already had “year 2008” activated at the time of this writing.

Q: Would I need a new serial number to upgrade from “year 2007” to year 2008″?
A: No. You don’t need any serial numbers at all.

Q: Is “year 2008” backward compatible with “year 2007”?
A: Generally yes. But remember to date anything with “2008” instead of “2007”. Let alone using “2009”.

Q: Where do I sign up for year 2009 beta testing?
A: Unfortunately such beta program has not been announced yet.

Q: I love “year 2007”, and I refuse to upgrade to “year 2008”. What can I do to stay with year 2007?
A: In a way it is a mandatory upgrade. You can pretend that it’s still
year 2007, but it’s going to be hard to interact with everyone else. There is one other extreme solution, but I won’t get into that; let alone recommending or condoning it.

Q: Will year 2008 performs better than year 2007.
A: Results may vary. It also depends on what happened in
year 2007.

Q: Will my love life be better after upgrading to year 2008?
A: Can’t answer that one. You’re on your own, buddy!

Q: What kind of warranty does year 2008 come with?
A:
Year 2008 comes with a limited lifetime warranty; the lifetime of “year 2008”. It’s guaranteed to run until December 31st, 2008. It also comes with guaranteed upgrade to year 2009.

Q: Can I get full refund if I don’t like year 2008?
A: You’ll get full refund of the amount you paid for purchasing the
year 2008. Basically you’ll get refund in the amount of nothing.

Q: I think I like year 2008. But can it run Linux?
A: You dirty unbathed Linux Hippie!

Q: Should I buy an iPhone along with year 2008?
A: Should you? Buy it if you want it. I’d suggest to wait until Steve Jobs is done with his annual Keynote at MacWorld San Francisco. If you’re recently given a T-Mobile Dash after you dropped and broke your Treo, just wait and listen to me!

Year 2008 is expected to be the time of many events, which some of them are carried over from year 2007. In the world of technology, many events are scheduled to take place in year 2008. Confirmed events to take place shortly after year 2008 activates are CES and MacWorld San Francisco.

According to many rumors, speculations, analysis, and pure imaginations; the followings are expected to be announced at MacWorld San Francisco 2008:

  • iPhone announcements. Second Generation iPhone with 3G network support?
  • New Mac announcements. New MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, and Mac mini?
  • Updates to Apple TV with more features.
  • iTunes movie rental.
  • More DRM-free music on iTunes Store.
  • New Apple software. What could it be?
  • iPhone software updates.
  • More news on iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK).
  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard update. (10.5.3)
  • A new device from Apple. OK, this one can be classified “made-up”. Take that, Apple!

to be continued.

Flip4Mac 2.2 is now Available

Telestream has taken Flip4Mac 2.2 out of beta.

Flip4Mac icon

Flip4Mac 2.2.0.49

  • Significant encoding speed improvements for Intel Mac
  • Improved video quality when encoding 2-pass VBR
  • Added JavaScript support to the browser plugins
  • Added support for URL Stream Scripting
  • Added support for manual Deactivation/Reactivation
  • Improved support for MMS servers and live streams
  • Improved compatibility with many different web sites

Read more about Flip4Mac 2.2.0.49 here (pdf file)

Flip4Mac WMV is a collection of QuickTime™ components that allow you to play, import and export WindowsMedia® files. Flip4Mac WMV can be used with most of your favorite QuickTime applications including QuickTime Player, iMovie 6 (iMovie ’08 is not supported at this time) and Final Cut Pro.

Create Ringtones for the iPhone using GarageBand

Apple has finally added iPhone Ringtones creation support in GarageBand 4.1.1 (build 248).

GarageBand - Share to Ringtones

Requirements:

  • Mac OS X
  • GarageBand 4.1.1 or later
  • iTunes 7.5 or later
  • iPhone with software version 1.1.2 or later

A subtle Disclaimer from Apple:

With GarageBand 4.1.1 you can export your original song, your original audio recordings, or use Apple Loops and iLife jingles to create a custom ringtone for your iPhone.

That means that you can not should not use any copyrighted songs. What if you have the permissions from the copyright holders or the artists or the composers?

It is clear that Apple does not want to get sued by the Record Labels.

What about iPhone users with Windows? Well, they still can create their own Ringtones using any audio programs and use the .m4r method (read the instructions here).

For more informations, read the Apple Support Article here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307108

and also this one:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1036

Roxio Releases Toast 8.0.3 Update

Roxio releases Toast 8.0.3 update.

Roxio Toast 8 icon

Roxio Toast® 8 now support Blu-ray discs recording on the Mac. Toast® 8 includes exclusive EyeTV burning and TiVoToGo™ transfers to DVD or iPod®.

Toast® 8 now supports Mac OS X Leopard.

Toast® 8 version history:
http://www.roxio.com/enu/support/toast/version_history8.html

Download Toast® 8.0.3 update:
http://www.roxio.com/enu/support/toast/software_updates.html

Buy Toast 8 Titanium @ Amazon.com

Apple: iPhone and iPod touch Software 1.1.2 is Available Through iTunes

Apple has officially released iPhone and iPod touch Software 1.1.2 through iTunes.

Previously, the Software Update was only available on Apple Download server, during iPhone launch in the UK and Germany.

How to add your own custom made ringtones to the iPhone:

  • You need iTunes 7.5 and iPhone Software 1.1.2
  • Encode the file into 128kbps AAC, smaller file size is preferred. I use GarageBand to edit and convert the audio file.
  • Rename the file extension from “.m4a” to “.m4r”; for Mac OS X “Get Info” the file, then change the extension name there.
  • Add the now “.m4r” file into iTunes, preferably have iTunes to copy the files into the library.
  • Connect your iPhone, go to the “Ringtones” tab, and check the ringtones you want to send to the iPhone.

more on this.