Steve Jobs gave the keynote address at the Macworld exhibit today, he rolled out some new products. The super thin, super light laptop they call AIR. He also showed a wireless back-up drive that is pretty slick, but at $299 seems a little pricy. It also acts as a wireless hub, repeater station and print server, so it is probably a good deal all things considered, but I don't know that I need those things. I was waiting for some big news on the iMac (none came) or some big news about the iPod Touch.
Well we got big news about the iPod Touch and there are some pretty slick additions.
Still, its worth a look. As a media player they increased its usefulness by adding the ability to RENT movies from iTunes. That is a handy thing for travelers, especially since the screen size is big enough to make it a personal player.
iPod Touch also got some new MAP functionality that looks very good. You load the map before you leave the WiFi hotspot, or you upload it from your computer and you are now good to go. Not as good as a GPS, but very few GPS units allow you to play movies, listen to music, download podcasts . . .
There is new EMAIL functionality that includes the ability to read WORD and EXEL files. A slick customizable front/home page. The NOTES function has been improved and you can now make notes on your iPod Touch just like you can on a Palm PDA. Its got some interesting weather and stock market stuff too.
But it still falls short. I can't find the ability to add/update/edit your calendar function. That would be a big deal for people who carry PDAs because it would go a very long way to replace the PDA. So its a big shortcoming. One other thing they did not do was increase capacity. That alone kept me from buying one.
Sorry Apple, I will keep my iPod Video. When it dies, then I will upgrade. But nothing I see is worth the upgrade today.
Well we got big news about the iPod Touch and there are some pretty slick additions.
Still, its worth a look. As a media player they increased its usefulness by adding the ability to RENT movies from iTunes. That is a handy thing for travelers, especially since the screen size is big enough to make it a personal player.
iPod Touch also got some new MAP functionality that looks very good. You load the map before you leave the WiFi hotspot, or you upload it from your computer and you are now good to go. Not as good as a GPS, but very few GPS units allow you to play movies, listen to music, download podcasts . . .
There is new EMAIL functionality that includes the ability to read WORD and EXEL files. A slick customizable front/home page. The NOTES function has been improved and you can now make notes on your iPod Touch just like you can on a Palm PDA. Its got some interesting weather and stock market stuff too.
But it still falls short. I can't find the ability to add/update/edit your calendar function. That would be a big deal for people who carry PDAs because it would go a very long way to replace the PDA. So its a big shortcoming. One other thing they did not do was increase capacity. That alone kept me from buying one.
Sorry Apple, I will keep my iPod Video. When it dies, then I will upgrade. But nothing I see is worth the upgrade today.
