HD Reportโs Quasi-Live Blogging of Appleโs Keynote Event
11:19 am (final post): Apple.com overview of iPad Mini. ย Apple Store now includes iPad Mini (for pre-order starting 10/26), 13โณ Macbook Pro, upgraded Mac Mini and new, thinner iMac.
11:18 am: Appleโs siteย (splash page, etc.) now showing iPad Mini and other new products that were just announced.
11:14 am: Technical difficulties on Appleโs stream (not our fault!) and/or end of the Keynote, canโt tell whichโฆ just getting color bars on the stream. Nope, that appears to be itโฆ Tim Cook cut-off mid-stream. ย Appleโs site (splash page) appears to be undergoing an overhaul. iPhone 5 items now off the splash page (save for two videos).
11:13 am: Cook is giving props to his teams at Apple that make these products (the best products on Earth, according to Tim Cook).
11:12 am: 2012 year of innovation. ย Mountain Lion OS and iOS 6 with new features and seamless integrations. ย New iPods, redesigned Nano, thin iPod Touch. New iPhone (does not call it the 5). Refreshed entire notebook line with Retina displays. New iMac. ย iPad upgrade (4th gen) and the addition of iPad Mini. ย 2012 was an incredible year for Apple, says Cook.
11:11 am: Tim Cook takes the stage to wrap up. ย iPad Mini: โVery Cool.โ
11:10 am: The iPad family is now complete. ย TV add to run immediately. ย Cute addโฆ iPad plays bass line of โHeart and Soulโ on a piano app, then Mini chimes in with the chorus on the same app.
11:08 am: Mini will come in different configurations and start at $329. ย Available for pre-order 10/26 and ready to ship within a week.
11:08 am: Mini Smart Covers!!
11:07 am: Methinks Steve Jobs would be proud of the iPad Mini.
11:05 am: The iPad Mini is essentially (except for processor speed) a smaller version of iPad making it the bridge device between iPhone and iPad (sans phone, of course). ย Perhaps Appleโs telling us that phone calls will soon be superfluous as we concentrate on video calls, texting, and other forms of tech-based communication.
11:03 am: Video time for iPad Mini! ย Hereโs Jonathan Ive onscreen talking about the design.
11:01 am: iPad Mini: A5 dual-core chip (a step below new iPad), FaceTime HD frontside camera, 5MP iSight Camera, Ultrafast LTE Wireless and Wi-Fi, Lightening connector (of course). 10 hour battery life.
11:00 am: Apps look better on iPad (either version) than competitionโs stretched out apps (that are nearly unusable in their scaled-up, adapted form for the โotherโ platformโฆ ahem! Android).
10:55 am: iPad Mini getting compared to competition. ย No contest.
10:54 am: You can hold it in one hand! (erโฆ yay!). ย Itโs 7.2mm thin. ย Itโs going to give Samsung a run for their money. ย 7.9โณ diagonal screen vs. 9.7โณ iPad screen. ย Same resolution size as iPad, so apps will work on both iPad models.
10:53 am: There it isโฆ significantly smaller than the iPad (it was hidden behind it, heh heh). This is iPad Mini.
10:52 am: Phil Schiller announces iPad Mini
10:50 am: Going over current iPad specs, Phil says the iPad 4th gen. will get updates (A6X chip, etc.)
10:49 am: iPad with Retina Display the fastest selling iPad. ย Tim Cook letโs Phil back on stage.
10:48 am: iPad taking business market by storm, says Tim Cook. From large to small businesses, iPad is increasingly becoming a part of business users.
10:47 am: New iBooks Author for publishers of e-books. ย Publishers can now render content inside pages along with multi-touch widgets that are key for educational use.
10:46 am: Dude, Tim, youโre drawing out the inevitable arenโt you?
10:43 am: Showing off iPad owners and their love of Appleโs tablet. ย iPad has been embraced by education (teachers, students use it as a learning tool). ย Cook talking about how iPad has become a game-changer in education. iBookstore carrying more textbooks.
10:42 am: More iPads shipped in Q2,12 than PCs. ย Web traffic share is 91% for tablets.
10:41 am: 100 million iPads sold (here comes the iPad announcement).
10:37 am (we went down again, sorry). ย The 21.5-inch iMac starts at $1,299 with 1 TB of storage and a 2.7GHz Ivy Bridge processor, another model,ย theย 27-inch (begins at $1,799) will offer a a 2.9GHz Ivy Bridge processor with 1 TB of storage. Both are due to ship in December.
10:36 am: The display is top-notch but is not a Retina Display. Lighter computer on the whole, but a powerful computer with an overhaul in processor, etc. ย HDD drive or Flash Drive. ย Schiller is explaining that there is now a third optionโฆ called the Apple Fusion Drive. 128gb of Flash and a 1TB (or 3TB) HDD space combined. ย All pre-installed Apple software will be on the Flash side, while you have access to the HDD side for files, folders, etc. ย Heavily used applications will be on the Flash drive (automatically switched over depending on use).
10:35 am: Schiller is sooooo technical ;)
10:34 am: Apple kills optical drive in iMacsโฆ bye by discs, hello smaller components, and a thinner iMac is the result.
10:33 am: Showing innards of previous iMac generation. ย 2mm air gap between glass and display. ย Now display is laminated to glass.
10:32 am: 5mm thickโฆ 80% thinner than prior generation. ย Friction stir welding used to put the machine together to merge the aluminum and glass.
10:31 am: Lots of applause. ย Edge-to-edge glass, very thin, pretty remarkable looking. ย Gorgeous display. Sooooo thin youโd think itโs a supermodel.
10:30 am: Next generation iMac: REDESIGNED with a thinner panel (same stand).
10:29 am: iMac gets some attention. ย #1 Desktop model in US. ย Flagship of Mac product lineโฆ starting with Bondi Blue iMac (going way back in the WayBack machine, eh, Phil?)
10:27 am: Schiller teases iPad Mini, but moves to Mac Mini. ย New features: ports (lots of ports including USB 3). ย Bottom cover comes right off and youโll see an upgrade on processors, memory. ย It has a 2.5GHz dual-core i5 processor,ย 4 GB of RAM and 500 GB of storage, with prices starting at $599 (depending on configuration, the price jumps toย to $999). ย All configurations ship today.
10:26 am: Notebook lineup: Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook Pro with Retina (13/15 inch).
10:26 am: Preview of the 13โณ Macbook Pro advertisement. Peter Coyote narrating about how cool it is with the new Retina Display.
10:25 am: Schiller still going on about 13โณ Macbookโฆ. Ships today!
SORRY folks, we lost our connection thereโฆ either WordPress sucks or your other is a moron.
10:22 am: 4 million pixels for native photo resolution.
10:21 am: Better brightness, contrast and an improved non-glare screen.
10:20 am: 4x number of pixels of previous generation of Macbook Pros. Image displays twice as many pixels as an average HDTV.
10:17 am: 13โณย Macbook Pro time. Talking Retina displayโฆ 13โณ Macbook Pro is their #1 seller. 13โณ Macbook Pro is now .75โณ thin, 3.57 lbs (full pound lighter than previous iteration). Very close to MacBook Air in terms of design. ย No optical disc reader any longer to increase number of ports. ย Retina Display.
10:16 am: Philโs (Phil Schiller)ย coming on stage.
10:15 am: Moving onโฆ to Mac! ย Macs have outgrown the PC market for 6 years straight. ย #1 Notebook computer in US, etc. (Cook talking new innovations).
10:15 am: A new version of iBooks announced. ย New reading option: continuous scrolling in addition to page flip (audience silent), other new features and sharing (share a quote on FB or Twitter). Update to number of languages iBooks can present. ย New version of iBooks available for download via App Store today.
10:14 am: iBooks, iBookstoreโฆ Over 1.5 million books have been put in the bookstore. ย 400 million book downloads since store inception.
10:13 am: Great for App Devs. ย Paid out over $6.5 million to App Devs.
10:12 am: 25 billion apps have been downloaded from App Store (total).
10:11 am App Store review. ย Sales of both iPhone and iPad apps are growing.
10:10 am iCloud, iMessage (billions of messages sent), Game Center, Shared Photo Streamsโฆ the usual suspects are being marched out to show iOS 6โs market prowess.
10:10 am: Cook goes over the features of iOS6โฆ either gloating or time-wasting, canโt tell which.
10:09 am: 200 million Apple devices running iOS 6 (Cook calls it โphenomenalโ
10:08 am: 3 million iPods (all inclusive?) sold. Fantastic (Cook againโฆ loves the word).
10:07 am: New iPods, Nano also a successful (fantastic) start in terms of sales.
10:05 am: People apparently LOVE the iPhone 5โฆ at least the video shows as much.
10:04 am: Video time about the iPhone 5 launch.
10:03 am: First off iPhone 5 โฆ 5 million units sold. Fantastic โ according to Tim.
10:02 am: Tim Cook walks on stage โGood Morning!โ
10:00 am: Nothing Yet.
Coming upโฆ In the ballroom, Appleโs currently playing the kind of hipster music that often finds its way to their commercials.
