Sunday, October 23, 2005

Apple Updates Two PowerBook Models
(October 19, 2005) Today Apple updated its 15" and 17" PowerBook G4s with upgraded displays, longer battery life and 8x SuperDrives that now burn dual-layer DVDs (the 12" PowerBook has not been updated and includes an 8x SuperDrive without dual-layer support). The two new models each feature displays with millions more pixels than before; the 15" PowerBook has 1,440x960 resolution (26 percent higher than before), and the 17" unit has 1,680x1,050 resolution (36 percent higher than before). In addition, each new laptop has 128MB of graphics memory and a DVI output that will run any Apple Cinema Display, including the 30" Cinema HD Display. Battery life has been extended to a maximum of 5.5 hours, an hour more than the previous PowerBooks. Rounding out the upgrades are built-in optical digital audio input and output, which means you can hook them up to 5.1 surround sound speaker systems. Optional configurations can give you a new 15" or 17" PowerBook with a 100GB internal hard drive running at 7,200rpm and up to 2GB of RAM. See www.apple.com/powerbook for more information.

• 12" PowerBook 1.5GHz G4 | 512MB RAM | 80GB Hard Drive | $1,500
• 15" PowerBook 1.67GHz G4 | 512MB RAM | 80GB Hard Drive | $2,000
• 17" PowerBook 1.67GHz G4 | 512MB RAM | 120GB Hard Drive | $2,500

Source: Apple Computer, Inc.

Apple Power Mac G5s Add Dual- and Quad-Core Processing
(October 19, 2005) Apple today announced its new Power Mac G5s with several enhancements, most notable of which are the new dual-core G5 processors. As a probable workaround for stalled G5 processor speeds, dual-core processors provide more power per processor. Two of the three new Power Macs include one dual-core G5, while the Power Mac Quad includes two dual-core G5s running at 2.5GHz each. In a series of processing tests using scientific and pro media applications such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Photoshop, Apple reported that the new Power Mac Quad was 39 to 69 percent faster than the previous high-end Power Mac, which included dual 2.7GHz processors. However, the Power Mac Quad does cost $300 more than the previous model.

Every new Power Mac G5 supports Apple's 30" Cinema HD Display out of the box and includes three open PCI Express expansion slots and two Gigabit Ethernet ports. New expansion options allow you to upgrade the Power Mac's RAM from the standard 512MB to a maximum of 16GB or to upgrade the graphics processor to an Nvidia Quadro FX 4500, which Apple has called the "industry standard for workstation graphics." The following models are now on sale. Go to www.apple.com/powermac for more information.

• Dual-core 2.0GHz G5 | 128MB VRAM | 160GB Hard Drive | $2,000
• Dual-core 2.5GHz G5 | 256MB VRAM | 250GB Hard Drive | $2,500
• Quad-core 2.5GHz G5 | 256MB VRAM | 250GB Hard Drive | $3,000

Source: Apple Computer, Inc.

Apple Introduces Aperture Pro Photo Software
(October 19, 2005) Calling it like Final Cut Pro for professional photographers, Apple introduced its Aperture software today. One of the program's biggest attractions is its fast, advanced workflow for digital images in the RAW format. Apple wants working with RAW images in Aperture to be as easy as working with JPEGs has been. The software sorts images in stacks based on the time interval between exposures, and you can spread out images in a tile format across a full screen and multiple monitors to sort through them. With a magnifying tool, you can zoom in on portions of images without panning across large files. Aperture features non-destructive image processing and includes a suite of retouching/adjustment tools, so you can modify images without creating additional files or destroying the original file. Aperture supports Tiger's Automator actions for simplifying the workflow, and you can launch images directly into Adobe Photoshop. A variety of color managed printing, book publishing and web publishing options are also on hand. To preorder Aperture for $500 and get more information, go to www.apple.com/aperture. Aperture should be available in November.

Source: Apple Computer, Inc.

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Toon Boom Studio Express 2.5

TOON BOOM STUDIO Express 2.5 resembles the "pro" version, capable of beautiful 2D, handdrawn animation if you have the time and skill. Studio Express also animates the same shapes and characters to resemble most of the Flash files online. The main difference between this and the pro version is that Studio Express limits the length and elements allowed per project; the restrictions are a little heavyhanded at times. You couldn't really create the next Rugrats movie with it, but Studio Express is suited for simpler needs.

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