One of our favorite things to do each year at Macworld Expo is to wander the show floor with no pending meetings, and no agenda other than to see what we can find. Many of the venders are the same each year, using the expo as a time to launch variations of similar products. That’s fine, as that’s what Macworld Expo is for, but it really starts to get fun when you stumble upon the booth of a new hardware or software developer happy to demonstrate something you’ve never seen before.

Here are Appletell’s three most surprising finds of Macworld Expo 2010: a Twitter service for businesses, a photocard app for the iPhone, and a speaker system for everyone.

Bill Stiteler

It’s hard to say if there’s a “find” on the show when it’s half the size; not much can be lost. But as a social media wonk, I was intrigued by Tap 11’s product pitch: a business backend for Twitter and the like that gives you backend data on your clickthroughs, the best time to post, and so on.

Still in private beta, so we’ll have to wait to see how well it works when it comes out.

Product [Tap 11’

Ed McKell

My most surprising find of the show was not from an exhibitor, but rather from Guy Kawasaki’s presentation. His final guest was Bill Atkinson discussing his PhotoCard app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

I was really impressed with the quality and capabilities that this app has, from creating not only virtual postcards like many other apps but also beautiful full color postcards that are printed out and sent for you at a reasonable price.

Product [PhotoCard]

Kirk Hiner

Last year, I picked Linx’s Dragon-I speaker/dock station as my most surprising find. As much as I hate to do it, I’m going with speaker again this year, albeit of a greatly different type: the Edifier E3350. The “opera house” design is instantly appealing, and the 2.1 system comes in six eye-catching metallic colors.

The two 9W satellite speakers and 32W down-firing subwoofer (with separate bass control) provided a rich, full sound that could even be discerned on the show floor, but that’s not why I picked them. Rather, it’s the rotary volume control that can be placed anywhere on your desk for easy access, and that includes a headphone jack for when those around you don’t need to hear what you’re listening to. These are simple features that many of the best speaker manufacturers often overlook.

Product [Edifier E3350]

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Although Macworld Expo 2010 was confined to just the north hall of Moscone Center this year, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a wide array of great products. Now that we’ve had a chance to settle down and review our notes and brochures, the Appletell staff in attendance has selected our favorite products of Macworld 2010: a camera card, some competition for AppleTV, and a helicopter that wasn’t even a part of the show.

Bill Stiteler

My favorite product (which, oddly, enough wasn’t being even shown at the show) was the Parrot AR.Drone quadricopter. You have no idea how unbelievably cool this thing is, especially with the two stream video cameras.

The fact that they still haven’t released word on pricing or availability makes me think it’s only going to be available to the Sharper Image crowd (do they still exist?), but as a high-end iPhone/iPod touch toy, nothing even comes close.

Product [Parrot AR.Drone quadricopter]

Ed McKell

I would pick the Eye-Fi Pro X2 as my favorite product from the show. I’ve been keeping an eye on their products for a long time, but I never felt it was something I wanted to purchase.

With the Pro X2, however, they have given it the features such as endless memory and the Class 6 SDHC performance level that makes me consider this as something I can really use.

Product [Eye-Fi Pro X2]

Kirk Hiner

Visiting Western Digital’s booth, I certainly wasn’t expecting to find competition for Apple TV. But there it was, a full HD 1080p media player that allows you to play videos, photos and music from a USB drive, your network or the Internet on your TV.

It unfortunately doesn’t have WiFi, so you’ll need to either have the drive hooked up to your computer or be happy to shuffle your media to a USB drive or, say, a My Passport drive from WD. You likely wouldn’t want to be viewing full 1080p HD video over WiFi anyway. And if you’re not equipped with an HDMI compatible TV yet, no worries; you can still get quality picture and sound via the component video and optical audio outputs, or settle for composite A/V output if you’ve got no other choice.

Product [WD TV Live]

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Gendai Games, in conjunction with IDG and the Macworld Expo, has officially announced the winner of the Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge: Stunt Squirrels by Fire Maple Games. The winner was determined by the judges’ decision on Saturday afternoon at Macworld Expo. Stunt Squirrels—a physics puzzler—features blasting death-defying daredevils safely to a goal, while navigating tricky mazes and high-flying obstacles.

“GameSalad is hands-down my favorite new software! I have been able to create two popular iPhone apps in less than four weeks. This would have been absolutely impossible without GameSalad,” said Joe Kaufmann of Fire Maple Games. “Being involved with the MacWorld 2010 GameSalad Challenge has been a truly great experience, and I am honored that I was able to take home the Grand Prize!”

Numerous entries that highlighted the capabilities of the GameSalad game creation tool made the first ever GameSalad Challenge a success. Participants from around the world entered the contest by downloading the free Gamesalad tool and using the application to create their own game for the iPhone, Web, or Mac.

The winners were:

• Grand Prize: Stunt Squirrels by Fire Maple Games.
• Audience Favorite: Stunt Squirrels by Fire Maple Games
• Judges’ Favorite: Bork’s Adventure by Elie Hang, Justin Knapich, and Ben Knapp
• Best International Submission: Stairs by Strobanik

The judges for the contest were Michael Agustin (Gendai Games), Jakob Wilkenson (Aurora Feint), Omaha Sternberg (iGame Radio), Zachary Waibel (Tricky Software), and Sean Vanaman (Telltale Games), Peter Cohen (The Loop).

Stunt Squirrels, and two other entrants, Kill the King and Traffic Ninja, are available now on the App Store.

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It’s a wonderful Macworld tradition that each year many exhibitors will have show specials where you can receive additional discounts during and after the show. Some are only available on the show floor, but many are open to any with the inside track. So, each day we will try to find deals we can publish so those of you at home can play along and enjoy a few of the benefits of being at Macworld. This is what we have found so far:

• Eye-Fi: The maker of Wi-Fi enabled SD cards is offering free ground shipping in the USA. Just enter the code “eyefiatmacworld” during checkout from their web store.
• Scosche: This award winning maker of all sorts of iPod and iPhone accessories is offering 25% off plus free shipping for all orders over $50 until March 1. Simply enter the promo code “mac10” upon checkout from their site.
• HyperMac: To celebrate the introduction of their new line of iPhone and iPod line of batteries, HyperMac has placed their Nano, Micro and Mini batteries on sale for $20 off. The sale prices are currently available on their site.
• VMware: VMware is offering a 15% discount on Fusion 3, their Windows emulation product for the Mac. Just use the code “MACWORLD2010” when checking out from their store
• Bill Atkinson: Bill is offering his amazing Bill Atkinson PhotoCard iphone app for free on Tuesday, February 16, for 1 day only. This high quality postcard app is normally $4.99 but if you check the iTunes store this coming Tuesday the price will be reduced to free.
• Targus (new):  The case and accessories manufacturer that specializes in Mac products is offering a 30% discount for any products sold at Targus.com. Simply use the promo code “MACWORLD302010” during check out. 
• Hard Candy (new): One of the newer Mac case manufacturers is offering a 20% discount on all iPad case pre-orders. You can check out the entire line and place you order at hardcandycases.com. No code is necessary and you won’t be charged until the product ships in March.
• iStudio Publisher (new): “Desktop Publishing Simplified” is iStudio Publisher’s tag line and now it is more affordable as well. Until February 28, 2010 you can purchase their software for $19.99 a 60% discount over the normal $49.99 price tag. Simply purchase iStudio Publisher from their online store and use the promotion code “ISTUDIO-BUZZ”.

We will continue to update this article as we find new deals during the show, so check back daily.

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If there’s one thing we’ve taken away thus far from our trip out to Macworld 2010 in San Francisco, it’s that the show has been a success. Apple users seem happy, and nearly every exhibitor with whom we spoke has been pleased with the turnout and the energy. We’ll have a roundup article later this weekend with details on that, but in the meantime, we wanted to let everyone back home have a chance to see what’s going on in Moscone this year on the show floor, at the media events, and around the city.

You can check out our full gallery over at flickr. We’ll continue to upload images from the show floor as we round up coverage today, including from the iPad event, so be sure to check back throughout the weekend.

Gallery [Appletell at Macworld 2010]

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On Friday morning of MacWorld 2010, Guy Kawasaki showcased five iPhone/Mac developers and gave each one a chance to show off the innovative things they are doing. Guy is a former “Evangelist” for Apple and is currently the co-founder of Alltop. Let’s take a brief glimpse at the apps and developers that were showcased:

1. Guy started out by introducing Jack Dorsey. Jack is best known as the creator of Twitter, but he was here to talk about his newest creation, Square. Square is a new credit card processing system that runs on the iPhone and will allow anyone to take a credit card payment for anything. The example given was being able to accept a credit card when you are selling your couch. The entering of credit card information is made even simpler by a free magnetic strip reader that Square will provide for your iPhone free of charge. The customer will have a chance to approve the purchase and sign right on the iPhone using their finger. Square is in testing right now, but if you go out to squareup.com you can find out more and add your email to a list so you can receive more information when it becomes available.
2. Next, we got to meet Steven Echtman. Steven created Hearplanet, an iPhone application that acts like a tour guide for the whole planet. If you have been to a museum where you can rent an audio guide that will tell you what you are near as you walk around, then you have an idea of what this application is supposed to do. It is location aware, and if you are using an iPhone with location services built in it will allow you to listen to audio clips about what is around you. It will also let you search its database for landmarks or locations that may interest you. It does require a network connection, so if you are traveling outside your country you will either need a WiFi connection or a good roaming plan.
3. Our third guest was Oliver Breidenbach from Boinx. Oliver got to show us a little of Boinx TV, the only Mac application to make this list. Boinx TV is a television studio in your Mac. It helps you to pull in video and audio from many sources so that you can create a live broadcast that can be presented on stage, over the internet or recorded to disk for later. Oliver spent a little time showing use how it worked and applied some special effects with a camera he had aimed at Guy.
4. Following Boinx, we were introduced to Florian Voss from Microsoft. The crowd seemed a little taken aback by a Microsoft employee, but as Florian showed off Bing for the iPhone he managed to bring the crowd around a bit. It’s a feature-rich portal to the Bing search engine the has a well thought out and very visual interface. There have been rumors recently that Apple has been in discussions with Bing about possibly replacing Google on the iPhone. When Florian was asked about the possibility he spent several minutes trying to dance around the question. After he finished his attempt, Guy referred to Florian’s response as a BS answer with a smile on his face. Florian took it all in stride but certainly left room for the rumors to continue. 
5. To round things out, we were introduced to Bill Atkinson. Bill is a former Apple employee as well and worked to bring about technologies like MacPaint, QuickDraw and Hypercard. Bill showed us his iPhone app named Bill Atkinson PhotoCard. Using his app, people will be able to send postcards to their friends not only by email but also by postal mail as well. The app comes with 150 of Bill’s finest nature photographs from which you can choose for your postcard, or you can use your own images. After you have selected an image, you will then be able to address your card, choose your stamp design, add your message, and then decorate it using built in “stickers.” You can then email the card for free or you can purchase credits from Bill to spend, and Bill will print out a very high quality postcard and mail it for you. The average cost of the cards with postage is around $1.50. He had samples printed out at the show for everyone to see and feel the quality. Bill also announced that they will be making the app available free of charge this coming Tuesday, February 16, for 1 day only. So head over to the app store and pick up this wonderful app for free.

It was a nice presentation that showcased what both small and large developers were doing. I’m sure everyone there had knowledge of one or more of the products before they arrived, but I would also venture to guess that everyone walked away with something new. I know I did.

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Apple may not have used Macworld Expo to announce the iPad, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t present. Cases are all over the show floor and many developers have been happy to discuss their iPad plans. We’ll have more on that later this weekend. But today, IDG held a special event roundtable discussion moderated by Jason Snell (editor of Macworld Magazine) and four other journalists, three of whom have actually had their hands on one. What did they have to tell us about the forthcoming device? Not much at all.

The panelists included Snell, Dan Moren and Ted Landau of Macworld.com, Ryan Block of gdgt, and Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun Times. All but Ted were at Apple’s iPad announcement (they said they’d explain Ted’s absence, but never did), and all had the chance to play with the device for about 20 minutes, albeit not as it’s intended to be used. Apparently, the demo units were high up on pedestals, with Apple employees hovering over their every move. Not exactly the relaxed atmosphere displayed by Steve Jobs on stage.

Each panelist was able to offer his thoughts on the device. Dan pointed out that he was “... surprised by how natural it feels. It makes sense.”

Ryan added that “Everything served the screen.”

When it came time to discuss the wide bezel, only Ryan seemed to have a problem with the empty space, while the others all agreed that it’s necessary to hold it, unlike the iPhone or iPod touch which can be held by the sides with one hand. Andy seemed the most excited with the device, stating that he was impressed with the “... supremely high quality of the build. It really does disappear within in your hand.”

Conversation then descended into a discussion of the App Store, jailbreaking, and a Kindle vs. iPad debate that’s been argued ad nauseam since the iPad’s announcement. Nothing new to report there. But at the end of the event, Jason asked the others what impact the iPad will have in the next five years or so.

Ryan couldn’t see such a device replacing the computer completely. “You can’t be fully productive on a touch screen keyboard,” he argued. “I’m skeptical of seeing a tablet device actually take the place of a computer. It’s not going to take the place of when I need to be productive.”

Ted, however, looks forward to it being useful in other areas. “I’m optimistic of the long term use. The iPad in a more digital home…can become a focal remote control for [using devices] around your house.”

And finally, panelists were asked to sound off on any unanswered questions about the iPad for which they’re seeking resolutions. Support for application multitasking was at the front, as was printing. But also, what is going to specific with the iPad versus common between the iPad and iPhone? Will anything be done with the currently sparse home screen we’ve been shown to really distinguish it from the iPhone? Andy looked specifically to publishing, wondering how easy it’ll be to get content in the iBooks Store. Will it be as hard as getting a song into iTunes?

The discussion ended there. They had no answers, of course, and there was no Q&A session for audience members afterwords (and it was a full audience), likely bouyed by the opportunity to win an iPad, which I didn’t win, sadly). As a result, the iPad Special Event ended up being not all that special. Rather, it was a formal discussion of the same informal discussions we’ve been having since even before Apple officially announced the device. These questions should all be answered within a couple of months. Until then, it should be encouraging to Apple to see that people want iPad information so badly that they’ll pack a room to hear people talk about it even if those people don’t really have anything new to say.

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John Gruber, author of Daring Fireball, outlined what he felt were the top ten issues facing Apple (but not necessarily with solutions) at his Macworld 2010 presentation. In no particular order (except for the first, biggest, one) they were:

1. Steve Jobs: Comparing Jobs to Walt Disney, a man who built an empire by seizing opportunities for growth (television, animated feature films, theme parks), Gruber pointed out the elephant in the room: can Apple survive when Steve is gone? It certainly floundered when he was kicked out in the Sculley era, but Gruber theorized that Jobs took his time in the wilderness to learn how to build a company where management and product aren’t separate, and pointed to the work of Pixar, which consistently turns out quality films due to its corporate culture.
2. AT&T: Pointing out that trying to use his iPhone in Philadelphia resulted in one or two dropped calls, but that his experience in San Fransisco was absurd and comically bad, Gruber spoke about how Apple doesn’t like to partner with other companies; the Apple Stores being a prime example. In the case of cell phones, however, Apple doesn’t have a choice. As to whether the AT&T network problem can be fixed, Gruber pointed out that Apple executives will either not comment on issues, or will say something that you can generally believe that Apple believes, and in a recent investment call, Apple’s CFO said that they’ve looked into AT&T’s plans to fix the network, and have faith in it.
3. Computers: When he was a kid working with the command line, Gruber said he believed that the future of computing was going to be HAL, the computer from 2001: a Space Odyssey that understood human speech. But the future turned out to be the Mac GUI. Now, when people speak of the future of computing, most people envision virtual reality a la Minority Report. But is the iPad the future of computing? Simpler, not more complex? Gruber also pointed out that Apple will now have two computer interfaces competing against each other at the same time, something that’s never happened before: the Apple II, he pointed out, was dying as soon as the Mac appeared.
4. The App Store: Criticism of the App Store, according to Gruber, falls into two camps. One is that Apple is headed in completely the wrong direction, and needs to reverse course. He used the Android Marketplace as an example, where users are free to buy approved apps, or set their phone to download apps from other sources. The other type of critics say that Apple is headed in the right direction, but they’re a few degrees off and need to make a few changes. Gruber suggested that the second type may be drowned out by the first to such a degree that Apple didn’t listen to any criticism, resulting in delays for things such as bug fixes. Likening it to the pre-internet days where developers had to try and ship products with no bugs because patches were hard to push, Gruber noted that antecdotal evidence suggested that Apple is moving faster, perhaps by “throwing more people at the problem.”
5. Security: Gruber drew a comparison between safety and security, suggesting that Windows may indeed be more secure than Macs, but that Windows needed to be more secure (like having better locks on your doors) but Macs were safer (like living in a low-crime neighborhood). One concern was that Apple was slow in rolling out security fixes for publically disclosed bugs, a danger since they were the largest user of such software (Microsoft develops their own).
6. Mobile Me: “Why does Mobile Me exist?” Gruber asked, to chuckles from the audiences. The synching works well, he said, the web apps seemed to be created because Apple felt it needed some web apps, and by a quick show of hands he noted that iDisk is far less popular than DropBox, a small company with a much better product than Apple.
7. Backups: The problem with Apple is that everything is focused on local storage, to the point where certain iPhone users don’t even back their phones up to their Mac. The experience is entirely focused on the computer in your house, as contrasted with cloud computing and the Android’s approach.
8. Apple TV: Entertainment executives, said Gruber, seem to be entirely focused on getting things back to The Way They Were. Movie execs want you to watch movies in a theater, TV execs want you to watch a program when it’s broadcast (and with commercials), and music execs want you to buy expensive CDs that you only have one copy of. So when Apple figured out a way to make money of selling music over the internet, what the TV and Movie industry saw was “Apple didn’t make music sales back the old fashioned way.” Gruber talked about how certain movies weren’t on Apple TV (he was looking for the James Cameron hit True Lies) and that there were often blackout periods before films were available (in an attempt to make you buy the DVD). Gruber noted that Boxee, which allows you to watch video on a computer or a TV (“They’re all just displays.”) got in trouble with Hulu—set up to let people watch TV and movies with commercials by entertainment companies because the execs had a wall between what a computer is and what a TV is. And it’s going to be hard for Apple to negotiate “... with people that stupid.”
9. Arch Rivals: Apple needs rivals to remain competitive. Rivals help you focus. But Apple is so dominant in certain fields that he worries they’ll turn into Microsoft, which isn’t really a competitive company any more.  Gruber went on to praise the Palm webkit, saying he hoped it would do well, so as to spur Apple on.
10. About Box Credits: Closing with an out-of-left-field complaint, Gruber noted that Apple’s About Boxes are really boring, containing only the name of the app, the version number, and the copyright. They used to have the names of the coders, something which Apple stopped doing when Steve returned. Code can be art, said Gruber, and artists should be allowed to sign their art.

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Walking outside the Moscone Center at Macworld 2010, congoers were likely to be under attack by flying robots: the AR.Drone by Parrot. The quadricopter is controlled by an iPhone or iPod touch over a wifi network created by the drone itself.

It’s an astonishing piece of hardware; flexible rotors, extremely light, with two cameras that can stream live video to your screen. Once you connect to the drone’s adhoc network, you control it by tilting the iPhone. The drone uses its bottom camera to identify the ground and stabilize itself (you can also switch your view from between the front and bottom). You can rotate the drone or change its altitude using buttons on the iPhone screen, and it has a maximum speed of about 18 mph.

It comes with a lightweight cover that circles the flexible rotors. If the drone flies outside of network range (about 50 meters), it will stop, return to its startup altitude (about a foot), then shut itself off. Flight time is about 15 minutes using the rechargable battery.

No word yet on pricing, but they’re hoping to begin selling them sometime this summer.

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Film maker Kevin Smith came to Macworld 2010 on Thursday, joking that he was invited to warm up the crowd for Steve Jobs, to whom he was excited to talk and pitch movie ideas.

Smith spent the next hour and a half taking questions from the audience, much like on his tours of An Evening with Kevin Smith. No topic was taboo, as Smith talked and joked freely about his weight, recreational drug use, and reputation in Hollywood.

“I’m the clown prince of film making,” Smith said at several points, adding that it took him a while to step out of of writing and directing his own style of films. His upcoming comic book of The Green Hornet, in fact, is based on a screenplay he wrote for a film he was too uncomfortable (at the time) to make: a big budget action picture. His next film, Cop Out, was a concious decision to try and push himself into unfamiliar territory. Smith described what it was like working with Bruce Willis, and actor he admired, but who was very aware of his career and image, as well as being astonished at Smith’s loose style.

Smith went on to say that social media like his Twitter feed and Smodcast give him a chance to express himself and his thoughts in such a way that he doesn’t need to give his alter ego, Silent Bob, monologues anymore. He added that Cop Out was a switch from his last film, Zack & Miri Make a Porno because he was starting to feel like he had grown away from the characters he was writing when he started film making 15 years ago.

Asked by a film student how to become a film maker, Smith said it was easy; just make one. “Make one that everybody likes,” he added, before correcting himself saying that not everybody had to like it. “Your parents can hate it,” but you just needed to find enough people who liked it. “Then make another one.”

There were very few questions related to Apple, but one person asked how he felt the iPad would change film making. Smith responded that we’d probably see someone killed with an iPad in an upcoming film.

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As the good folks over at Gamertell reported today, it’s now official; Telltale Games has begun releasing their entire game catalog on the Macintosh. Tales of Monkey Island is available now, with with Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People soon to follow. Mac gamers can actually vote on which game comes out next by visiting Telltale’s website. Polls are open until Feb. 21, with the winning game being announced the following week and launched in March.

We had the chance to speak with Dan Connors (CEO, director, founder) and Mark Darin (designer/programmer) about their games. Why the Mac? Why now?

“For us, our audience is always a unique group of people, anyway,” Dan explained, “and we just want to find them wherever they are. A big part of what Telltale is about is creating interactive experiences that are about storytelling—about great cinematic presentation and art—so, in a way, we want to be the next generation of interactive content in general, and we think Mac is where a lot of that innovation is going, so we want to be part of that.”

Each game they’re bringing to the Mac is the type that can appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers; they’re easy enough for new gamers to instantly start playing, but offer the deep gaming experience that appeals to those who’ve been playing for quite some time. In fact, their focus on adventure games harkens back to the birth of computer gaming, which Dan called “... one of the most creative eras of games, from a storytelling standpoint.”

“We want to make high quality engaging content,” Dan told me. “A lot of the what the current casual space is about is kind of lower production values and really addictive experiences versus immersive experiences. So, we’re in this place now where the gamers expect immersive experiences, so we’re delivering to them. But at the same time, we’re trying to figure out ways to make those immersive experiences accessible to people that aren’t necessarily gamers, but who love comedy; love a good story.”

When we were done speaking with Dan, designer/programmer Mark Darin answered a few questions about the games and what went into them, and we got his comments on film. The audio’s a bit annoying with all the noise going on around us, but you can see some of the games in action by watching the video below:

We’ll have our review of Tales of Monkey Island up soon, and will continue to follow Telltale releases as they come. In the meantime, be sure to visit Telltale’s website to cast your vote for their next release.

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David Pogue kicked off Macworld 2010 with his trademark mix of humor and geekery, bounding on stage after being announced as the new keynote speaker, Steve Ballmer. A few “Whoo!“s later, Pogue announced that this was the first Macworld where we didn’t have to be “nice to Apple,” shouting that the hockey puck mouse was terrible, and AT&T’s iPhone service stunk.

After playing one of his song parodies on a Yamaha Avante Grande piano (which has the full deep sound of a grand piano despite being entirely electronic), Pogue demonstrated the power of Twitter (a web app he initially derided), showing how it focuses the hive mind of it’s users (who, Pogue pointed out, tended to be older and wealthier than people who comment on YouTube (“12 year olds with English as a second language.”)). Pogue showed off some of the funny replies to questions he poses on his feed, which he collected into a book, The World According to Twitter.

Set up in a talk show format (hence the “Late Night with David Pogue” taking place at 9 a.m.), Pogue introduced his first guests, the Gregory Brothers of Auto-Tune the News. The family spelled out how they create internet sensation which takes news clips and turns them into music. They start by filtering the news through several blogs to see what’s the most outrageous or popular thing being talked about, pull clips off YouTube, then write a song around it (all the members of the family are musicians).

After another song, Pogue announced they’d be performing a play based on his 1998 column, It’s a Wonderful Mac. The Gregories took on the parts of the townsfolk who show what the world would be like if Apple had never created the Macintosh, but Pogue realized he was still missing the key role: Steve Jobs. Fortunately there was a professional actor on hand: Levar Burton!

Burton did a wonderful job of portraying El Steve, then settled in for a discussion of his career and love of Macs, but not before telling Pogue that he was a fan of his. When Pogue demurred, Burton pointed out “You’re the man, here. You’re the man… because Steve’s not here.”

Burton went on to discuss the new company he’s formed (Burton Wolf Entertainment) to bring programming “wherever there’s a screen.” In addition to, he said that they’re looking into bringing Reading Rainbow back for the internet. Burton described the iPad as “something I don’t feel like I need” as a die hard Mac user, Pogue remarked that a lot of people echoed that sentiment. And after a final song, the first event of Macworld 2010 drew to a close.

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It’s just after 9:00 a.m., and Steve Jobs has just taken the stage at Macworld Expo 2010. Except that he hasn’t. David Pogue has. As you all know, Steve Jobs and Apple aren’t here, Now, we all love David Pogue. In fact, I’d wager he’s more liked and well-respected than Jobs, but no matter how fantastic his presentation is, it won’t feature any new software and hardware. There will be no groundbreaking announcements. Nothing to set the Apple community buzzing. Of course, that also means there’s no potential for a letdown.

This is the “new era” about which IDG and Macworld are speaking. An era without Apple. Without the glamour and energy of a Steve Jobs keynote. It’s certainly been different thus far, and the show floor hasn’t even opened yet. In previous years, the bigger companies (Apple included) were all located in Moscone South. This year, it’s not even open.

Things have been more casual with the media, too, which I attribute to the lack of competition for keynote seats. There was a decent line outside for expo attendees, but there couldn’t have been more than 50 members of the press lined up for the exclusive access. Also, the representation has been largely U.S. Not a lot of foreign writers coming into San Francisco this year to cover the event.

But who cares about the media, right? Macworld Expo is here for the vendors and the users, and that’s where the focus has been. The North Hall seems to be fairly well filled up, and we’ll know that for sure once we get in later this morning. The question is, will there be any energy there? Will the products they’re bringing get people excited? Will there be enough attendees to carry this excitement throughout the show and outside the Moscone?

And will they want to talk about the iPad?

I hope so, because if there’s one thing that’s apparent here today, it’s that those who are continuing to come on day one of the expo still love it. Still want it around. And quite honestly, when it comes to discovering new devices and apps, I’m more excited about this show than any other I’ve attended. Without Apple, Adobe and such to demand my time, I’m free to dig deeper. To attend more press conferences. Within a few hours I’ll know how that pans out.

But right now, I just know that the opening keynote is going on, and I’m sitting in the media room contemplating the validity of Macworld Expo while Ed McKell and Bill Stiteler from Appletell are attending Pogue’s presentation. I can hear plenty of music and laughter and applause, but does that mean this new era will, in fact, rock? That, I won’t know until Saturday evening.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Today at Macworld Expo, Boinx will be showing off their new versions of PhotoPresenter and FotoMagico. PhotoPresenter 4 is a theme-based photo viewer for creating stylish animated slideshows with photos, movies and music in just a few seconds. FotoMagico is Boinx’s award-winning storytelling software for digital photographers. Both now offer full compatibility with Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard.

Boinx PhotoPresenter, winner of the Apple Design Award 2005 “Best Mac OS X Student Product,” is a quick presentation tool for digital photographers with a variety of high-quality animated themes to present images and movies instantly.The program has been completely rewritten, featuring:

• A New User Interface
• New and Improved Themes
• Flickr and Photo Booth Integration
• A Standalone Player
• Workflow Automation and Smart Album Awareness
• Custom Watermarks
• Attendance to a Live Webinar

PhotoPresenter 4 is available immediately for download for $29 (US) in the Boinx Software Kagi Store. A family license (for up to five computers in a household) for PhotoPresenter is available for $49 (US). PhotoPresenter 4 is also included in FotoMagico 3 Pro that is available for $149 (US).

FotoMagico, winner of two Apple Design Awards - “Best Mac OS X Leopard Graphics and Media Application Runner-up 2008” and “Best Mac OS X User Experience Runner-up 2006,” is a storytelling tool for digital photographers. It is easy to use and produces impressive presentations that makes the audience want more.

Version 3.1 includes:

• Support for Chapters
• Scrubbing Live Preview
• FotoMagico Remote for iPhone and iPod touch

FotoMagico 3.1 Pro ships with PhotoPresenter 4.

FotoMagico 3.1 is available immediately for download from Boinx Software online. The update to FotoMagico 3.1 is free of charge to current FotoMagico 3.x license owners at their current license levels. A built-in assistant will guide users through the process of acquiring the proper license. FotoMagico 3.1 Home is available for $29 (USD) and FotoMagico 3.1 Pro (including PhotoPresenter 4) is available for $149 via Kagi. For all purchase options visit Boinx Software online. Current FotoMagico 2.x license owners at their current license levels can upgrade to FotoMagico 3.1 Pro for $89. Commercial multi-user license discounts are available upon request. FotoMagico Remote is available in the iTunes App Store for $19.95.

Product [PhotoPresenter 4] and [FotoMagico]

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Appletell was at the Second Annual Best Best App Ever Awards presentation tonight in San Francisco to hear the announcement of the winner. Yes, winner, singular, because 148Apps only announced one at the event: Pocket God. Of the 560 nominees, Pocket God took Best App Ever for “... so many reasons. The immersive episodic interactive environment has expanded from a simple deserted island simulation to a world of entertainment in itself.”

Other winners include Tweeite 2 (Most Innovative App), Instapaper Pro (Most Useful App), and Canabalt (Best Productivity Killer). There are 56 categories in all, with apps assigned from 26,994 that were nominated. 302,880 total votes received, and some apps won more than one award: Real Racing (3), Words With Friends (3) 2Do (2), Canabalt (2), Dictionary.com (2) and Tweetie 2 (2).

[Update:] The full winners list is now available online at bestappever.com.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

The GameSalad Challenge finalists have been announced. Why should this matter to you? Because the winners will be announced at Macworld Expo 2010, and until TellTale Games hopped on board, the GameSalad Challenge was all the gaming you were going to get there. Those attending Macworld Expo can stop by booth #1478 to play the finalists’ games, attend various training sessions on the GameSalad tool, and participate in a daily mini-game jam on the show floor where the winner receives a GameSalad Express Membership as a prize.

Gendai Games, the makers of GameSalad, an authoring tool created to support amateur and professional game development, has enlisted judges from the Mac and gaming communities to select five finalists for the Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge. For the past five weeks, participants have submitted their GameSalad-created games in the GameSalad Challenge. The Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge finalists are:

• Bork’s Adventure by Elie Hang, Justin Knapich, and Ben Knapp.
• The Cat Rides the Astrobus by Drew Daycross and Jamie Potter.
• Kill the King by Eastbound Studios.
• Stunt Squirrels by Fire Maple Games.
• Traffic Ninja by Steve Hoffman.

The winner of the Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge will be announced during an award ceremony at the GameSalad booth on Saturday, February 13th.

“I was really impressed at the diversity present in the submissions for the GameSalad Challenge,” said judge Omaha Sternberg, producer of the iGame Radio Podcast. “There were some real creative ideas in game design, art, and sound. There are budding game developers growing in the GameSalad community.”

The games were reviewed by judges: Michael Agustin (Gendai Games), Jason Citron (Aurora Feint), Omaha Sternberg (iGame Radio), Zachary Waibel (Tricky Software), and Sean Vanaman (Telltale Games). Kill The King, Stunt Squirrels and Traffic Ninja can already be found on the iPhone App Store. All five finalists’ games are now at www.gamesalad.com/macworld. For a full list of GameSalad events at the Macworld Expo, please visit www.macworldexpo.com/gamesalad.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

So, Apple essentially flipped-off IDG, insulted their mother and kicked their dog by pulling out of Macworld Expo and then announcing their biggest product since the iPhone two weeks before the largest Apple event of the year is set to start. In retaliation, IDG has chosen to turn the other cheek (not that they have any other choice) by embracing the iPad and announcing an exclusive preview of the product.

The iPad preview will be held on Saturday, February 13 at 1:00pm at the Moscone Center. Jason Snell, vice president and editorial director at Macworld, and a panel of industry insiders will explore the features, functionality and provide insight into the iPad.

“Apple’s new iPad represents another watershed event for the tech marketplace, and Macworld 2010 will be the first and best place where end users can learn how the product works and whether it’s a buy now or wait decision,” said Paul Kent, vice president and general manager for Macworld 2010. “Our special event will help demystify the just-announced iPad and give users an in-depth look into the future of this product and what it might mean to them on a personal and practical level.”

Because whereas Apple is seemingly content to show their product only to tech analysts and media reporters who continue to whine about things like lack of built-in 3G and the omission of front/back cameras, IDG understands the importance of showing products to fanboys who continue to whine about things like lack of built-in 3G and the omission of front/back cameras.

Those attending the event will get the chance to win an Apple iPad when the product is available to ship, but IDG has offered no other contest rules at this time.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Earlier this month, the good folks at Gamertell got word that Telltale Games would soon be releasing its entire lineup of games for the Macintosh. We haven’t heard much about this rumor since, but our inside source has pointed out that Telltale is now officially listed as an exhibitor at Macworld Expo 2010.

It’s safe to assume at this point that Telltale will use Macworld as their platform for officially announcing some sort of Macintosh compatibility. Whether that’s their entire catalog remains to be seen, but even a game or two would be a great thing for the Macintosh (and the Expo). Major players such as Aspyr and Feral are sitting out this show, so any Mac gaming representation will be welcome. That it’s a company with such high profile franchises as Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, Wallace & Gromit and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is even better news. All of these tiles currently exist for PC and some are also available for Wii and/or Xbox 360.

We’ll have to wait for the Expo to find out which of these titles will be coming our way and when we can expect them, but it certainly gives Mac gamers something to look forward to in San Francisco this February. We’ll be sure to pass along the official announcement once it’s made, and will sit down with Telltale at the Expo on February 11th to get more information (and hopefully a sneak peek).

Read [Gamertell]

Product [Telltale Games]

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Macworld has long been the event for Apple users to gather and interact with the companies that produce their favorite pieces of hardware and software, in addition to Apple.  We all remember last year, when Apple decided they didn’t need to attend Macworld anymore, and I think their current stock price reflects just how much they need Macworld.  Many in the industry have said that Apple’s withdrawal symbolized the death of Macworld. And with the iLounge at CES, you might begin to think that CES is a suitable replacement for Macworld. Plus, CES seems to be fairing much better without Apple than Macworld.

When I stroll the aisles of CES 2010, I don’t feel like some Mac snob who thinks he’s better than everyone else.  Why is that?  Because everywhere you look there are new accessories, software and hardware, and a large portion of it works with Apple products.  There’s even an iLounge where everything works with an iPod or a Mac.  And then there are the people.  We might not all be Apple-centric reporters, but many of the journalists here use MacBooks.  Essentially, we’re all Mac snobs.  Okay, perhaps not, but all of this makes me feel right at home.  Honestly, it’s not that different from Macworld, save one large detail.  CES is not as easy to get into as Macworld is.

Macworld is open to the public, so users can interact with companies and producers in ways that are normally not possible.  They can test out products and software not normally sold in retail stores, and they can even ask questions directly to the makers. I can do that here too, but it’s a shame everyone doesn’t have that kind of access.  But let me tell you, CES isn’t open to everyone for good reason.  There are so many people here already that if it were to be opened to the public, I doubt that any of use would be able to move.  So, I can see the necessity and appeal of Macworld, I’m just not sure about its longterm viability.

I talked with some of the folks at VestaLife, an audio company making iPod speaker docks and the like, about their thoughts on Macworld.  This year they chose to only attend CES, and this is the first year they’ve had a booth at CES as well. The reasons are numerous, but included things like the cost of attending both events, and the exposure gained by either.  In the end, VestaLife decided that, for the size of their company, it only made sense to attend one event.  And they determined, like I imagine most companies would, that CES would be more worthwhile, and would increase their exposure more than another year of Macworld.

I also talked with other companies around the show floor and responses were mixed concerning Macworld attendance.  Some were attending Macworld in addition to CES, but most found it to be pointless considering the sharp drop in attendance estimates for exhibitors and attendees.

So you can believe in Macworld if you like, but I’m preparing an obituary very shortly, as I’m expecting to wake up one of these days and hear that Macworld is dead.

Long live CES.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Anyone who’s attended the last few Macworld Expos in San Francisco can tell you that Mac gaming has been fading to a distant memory. With no Apple at Macworld 2010 in February, Mac gaming is a blink away from disappearing completely; stalwarts such as Freeverse, Feral and Ambrosia will not be attending. In a last second effort to save the day, Gendai Games and IDG World Expo have announced the “Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge.”

From December 21, 2009, through January 25, 2010, teams of game creators can participate in a contest to make the most innovative, creative, and fun video games for the Mac and iPhone. In other words, make a game and promote it at Macworld without having to buy a booth. It’s not a bad idea, actually, as it aims to bring developers and the gaming community together; Macworld 2010 attendees and fans will be able to participate in the judging via Twitter, creating an interactive experience that continues on-site at Macworld 2010, scheduled for February 9-13, 2010.

” ‘Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge’ is a great way for game developers in the community to participate in a different way at Macworld 2010,” said Paul Kent, Macworld 2010 General Manager and Vice President at IDG World Expo. “We are excited to see what kind of innovative games are created, as well as how our Macworld 2010 community votes to select the ultimate winner.”

What do developers get?

Entrants must use GameSalad Creator for Mac to create their game. Games will be judged on overall fun, quality and creativity. The games will be available to play for free on gamesalad.com. Finalists will be announced January 29, 2010, and the Grand Prize Winner will be decided by 50% vote of the judges and 50% of the audience participation from Twitter. All Finalists will receive a Macworld 2010 Platinum Pass (a $1,600 value) and have their game showcased during the awards presentation at Macworld. The Grand Prize Winner will be announced on the show floor during a live awards presentation on February 13, 2010, by judges from the Mac and gaming communities: Jason Citron, Founder and CEO of Aurora Feint, and Michael Agustin, Founder and CEO of Gendai Games. During the awards presentation, the judges will demonstrate the games and offer their insights. The Grand Prize winner will receive a Platinum Pass to Macworld 2010, a GameSalad Pro Membership and an iPod touch—all totaling a $3,800 value.

What do gamers get?

During the expo, attendees will have the opportunity to play each of the game entries and vote for their favorite through Twitter. Expo attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in the GameSalad Bar, a space on the show floor open to all attendees where group tutorials provide free training on how to build games using GameSalad technology. Each day, attendees will have the chance to participate in a mini-game jam on the show floor where the winner receives a GameSalad Express Membership as a prize.

Granted this is a far cry from the days of the gaming pavilion where a dozen companies would should off a half dozen games each, with contests and Lara Croft statues and developers camping in military tents to stick with the themes of their recent releases. But do you know what? It’s something. The climate has changed, with this gives those of us attending the show something else to look forward to. We’ll be covering the GameSalad Challenge up through the show, and we look forward to seeing what the winners bring us.

For additional information the Macworld 2010 GameSalad Challenge, visit gamesalad.com.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

That time of year is coming up again. And no, I’m not talking about Christmas. This event is going on February 9th through the 13th, and is known as the Macworld Expo. And yes, while it’s sad that Apple won’t be appearing this year, you might also be surprised to hear who else isn’t showing up. Despite IDG mentioning HP, Microsoft, FastMac, Shure and Intuit had already signed up during their town hall meeting last January, the exhibitor list they’ve posted says otherwise. Currently missing from there are both Microsoft and Intuit. Other than imitating Apple as Microsoft commonly does, why would they choose to also leave the Macworld expo?

While the answer to that question is currently unknown, there could be a few reasons. For one, maybe it is simply that Microsoft doesn’t feel a need to be present at an event for Mac products that Apple isn’t even present at. That said, it could also be that Microsoft doesn’t have any announcements worthy of paying the price to set up a booth there. However, Office for Mac is currently still a 2008 product, and while I don’t use it myself, I’m sure there are some updates due for that software. Perhaps the plans just fell through as Microsoft got distracted and too caught up in the Windows 7 and Zune HD product launches. Whatever the reason is, it is certainly interesting to see such a large name missing from that list after having committed to it nearly a year ago.

Another big company missing from the list is Adobe, makers of the popular Creative Suite design package. While they certainly dominate the photo editing space with Photoshop, they have seen recent competition from Mac focused applications such as Acorn and Pixelmator. For that reason, I would think that they would want to make their return to the expo to show why their software is still better. However, I also get the feeling that they, too, may no longer see the point, especially considering they’ve been known to skip the Expo even when Apple has been present. After all, their software is already a household name, so perhaps they just don’t see the point in advertising it further at an event where everyone knows of it. Either that, or they, again, don’t have any products or updates to announce to make their presence worth it, either.

Also not on the list is Sonos, creator of iPod focused multi-room speaker systems. With their recent launch of the ZonePlayer S5, the absence of this company makes me really feel for Macworld and where it may be heading. An event like this would be perfect for a company like Sonos to appear, in my opinion. With hardware such as Sonos’ and software such as Adobe’s not on the expo floor, the event will certainly be lacking some of the big players in the Mac marketplace. Gaming, for instance, is not represented at all. Although there’s been a slow drift away from Macworld, regulars such as Freeverse, Feral Interactive and Ambrosia have yet to commit.

It could be the absence of all of these companies is a sign of Macworld losing support after Apple left, or maybe exhibitors are holding out to see who else signs up or are awaiting better deals. While I certainly would love to see Macworld continue strong for many more years, it may be hard if these big name companies do indeed back out.

Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Today at WWDC 2009, Apple removed the beta label from Safari 4 and released it for Leopard, Tiger, and Windows. This finalized version of the browser includes Top Sites, as well as other new features that make browsing the web easier. Also, Safari 4 will increase the speed of surfing the web. Apple has claimed that users will notice that Safari renders JavaScript 7.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 8 and 5X faster than Chrome. It was also noted in the keynote that it passes the Acid3 test, whereas IE8 only gets 21%. There was also the usual bashing of IE8 as a browser that doesn’t adhere to web standards.

Safari 4 will be included with Snow Leopard and will take advantage of the 64-bit backend that will be in that version of the operating system. One of the new features that will be available on the Snow Leopard version of Safari 4 is Crash Resistance. This will help to make the application more reliable, especially when dealing with plug-ins. There is also the cover flow view of web history, and Top Sites lets you know when a site has updated.

Follow this and more updates at our WWDC Keynote live blog.

Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

The organizers of Macworld, IDG, have set the dates for the Macworld Conference and Expo: February 9th - 13th, 2010. The significant detail here is the month. Macworld has always been in January, but as a result of exhibitors and attendee’s comments, February was considered a better month—offering more time to prepare products and demonstrations.

At Macworld 2009, Apple stated it would be their last appearance at the Expo, which left many people wondering what would be left of the event. According to the organizers, Macworld 2010 is more focused on the community of Mac users and developers, in particular iPhone developers. Naturally, it will feel a smaller event, with the Expo floor using only one of two available halls at the Moscone Center. The conference will remain in the West building, while the Expo will only use the North hall, rather than both the North and South. While using less floor space, the North hall will be filled with independent developers and companies showcasing their best Apple-related tech.

Making the event smaller could prove to be a great advantage. It creates a space where developers can meet users and other developers and present their latest ideas and share thoughts. With the emphasis next year on the Apple community, it already looks to be a brilliant event—over 10,000 people have already registered, since entrance to the Expo-only will be free. Another advantage for the community of users and developers are the dates. Running from the Thursday through Sunday, it offers people the weekend to turn up, if escaping from work early isn’t an option.

Macworld Conference & Expo 2010, San Francisco Moscone Center, February 9th - 13th 2010. What are you waiting for? Macworld has always been a great time for developers and users, offering exhibitors a few more weeks to perfect their ideas can only make things better.

Full Story » | Written by Ed Parry for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

PCMag reported late last week that the CEA has announced they’ve sold out their section devoted to the “Mac” for CES 2010. The iLounge Pavilion, as CES is calling it, sold out in one week, so CES had to quadruple the size to accommodate the demand.

The speed at which the CEA has managed to fill the area—devoted to manufacturers of iPod and iPhone accessory manufacturers—has surely signaled that, at the very least, Macworld Expo 2010 will be a stripped-down, stark contrast to its predecessors…

4,000 square feet was initially designated for the space. The CEA has since expanded the area to 18,000. The organization has also announced a handful of vendors that will exhibiting in the area, including Griffin Technology, Mobis Technology, Pro Clip USA, Scosche, and Incase Designs.

Can the demise of Macworld, which is traditionally held the same week as CES, be far behind?

And so, the PC web vultures have already starting circling.

A couple things that Brian Heater, writer of the article, gets wrong are that CES is not selling “Mac space.” The iLounge is set up specifically for iPhone/iPod accessory/software developers. This has nothing to do with the Mac. Also, it’s certainly not uncommon for developers to exhibit at both shows, which any of the examples provided by Brian could certainly do. In fact, Griffin, Scosche and Mobis did that this year, so the announcement that they’ll be at CES in 2010 doesn’t really mean anything…yet.

There’s certainly trouble ahead, after all, and it’s likely that most iPhone/iPod exhibitors will abandon a smaller Macworld Expo for the larger crowds of CES. I’ll be curious to see how the extra foot traffic will play out for those who leave Macworld for CES. Will the larger number of attendees lead to better sales and brand recognition, or will their products and announcements get buried under the vast array of competition at a show where people just aren’t really there to see what’s up next for the Apple devices? Likely, that’ll depend upon the vendor and their products.

Either way, this will likely leave us with Macworld that actually seems to focus on the, you know, Macintosh, but whether that’s enough to keep the show running past 2010, we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meanwhile, IDG has announced that general attendance for Macworld Expo 2010 will be free, and they’re already accepting attendee registrations. They’ve also set up a Macworld user community and are soliciting suggestions on how to make Macworld 2010 a better event. Feel free to sound off, but for the love of all that’s holy, let’s forgo the Macworld Texas suggestion, okay?

Via [PCMag]

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

The best thing about attending Macworld Conference and Expo aside from mashed potatoes in martini glasses is discovering something on the show floor that you weren’t expecting. Being members of the media, we get a lot of invites to a lot of booths. But setting aside a day for exploration, you can find some really cool stuff you had no idea existed. Well…most of the time.

Jake Gaecke:

The most surprising thing about Macworld 2009 was the lack of announcements. Apple basically turned the gears a few times and pushed out a couple of obvious updates, and many companies followed suit by not having anything to announce. I mean sure, there were a number of products that were updated, like EyeTV and Parallels. And there were some announcements of future features like Eye-Fi’s video uploading and their iPhone app, and Delicious Monster’s iPhone apps as well.

But let’s be honest; for the most part, announcements like these are a little unexciting because we’ve been tainted by their previous awesomeness. All of these things are great, but they don’t blow me away. If you’re anything like me, then you live on new products, or features that only exist in your dreams. That didn’t happen at Macworld this year (with the possible exception of the ModBook Pro). I wasn’t left speechless anywhere on the floor, and I’m a little bit sad as a result. That’s why the only thing that surprised me at this year’s Macworld was that I wasn’t surprised by much of anything at all.

Kirk Hiner

I partially agree with Jake, but my expectations were a bit lower to begin with. I tend to lean more heavily towards the software for what I consider to be the good finds; I recall being floored by the functionality of Toon Boom Studio way back when I first saw it at a Macworld Expo New York, the first floor demo I saw of Boinx’s iStopMotion was pretty wild. Because the exhibits this year leaned so heavily towards iPhone/iPod apps and gadgets, however, there was just less to be impressed by. And so, my pick is based entirely on sight. The “cool” factor, really. It’s Starking’s Dragon I music and video station for iPod, iTouch and MacBook.

I didn’t even get to hear them, and wouldn’t have been able to over the show floor noise (they’re only 5W per speaker), but they’re just so cool looking that the design stuck with me well after I returned from San Francisco. Reminiscent of War of the Worlds, the speakers can hover over your MacBook like UFOs, provided you’re willing to hide an iPod dock back there. But they can be positioned however you like, within reason, allowing you to not only get a look you prefer, but also giving you the ability to place position them for the best sound. And because of their flexibility, they can be adjusted to work on your computer desk, in a den, in the kitchen…wherever you listen to your iPod. It’s an approach to speaker design and placement I’ve never seen before, which is why it made such an impact.

I just hope they sound as good as they look.

Bill Stitler:

The most surprising product I saw was probably the ModBook, something that truly qualifies as Sci Fi in terms of “wow” factor. Realistically I have no use for it—I’m a writer, not an illustrator, and I’d rather have a really nice keyboard than a smudged-up monitor—but that doesn’t negate the fact that the Modbook is a beautiful piece of engineering.

• Also see Appletell’s favorite gadgets of Macworld Expo 2009.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

It’s been a while now since Macworld Expo ended, and we’ve since seen a MacBook update that probably should’ve been in the keynote, and heard more news on the health of Steve Jobs. Thinking past this back to the show, and having finally dug through all the product materials we collected, the Appletell writers who were at Moscone have finally been able to select their favorite products of the 2009 expo.

Jake Gaecke:

My favorite newly announced product of the show has to be, without a doubt, the ModBook Pro by Axiotron. On paper, it truly is the biggest and best tablet made…period. In real life, the case is the most sturdy case I’ve ever had the pleasure of holding. I’m not even sure if Axiotron knows what the words flex or bend mean, because the ModBook Pro certainly doesn’t know how to do either of those things. Many Apple fanboys have been asking Apple for a MacBook Touch. This product exists, and it’s amazing. It’s called the ModBook Pro, and it’s the tablet Apple should have made.

Beyond just the tablet interface, the independent touch functionality, the stunning case design, the vastly improved handwriting recognition—I could go on and on—are the people at Axiotron. I stopped by the Axiotron booth several times; once to see the press release with the Woz, once to talk with Monica Ballin and once to sit down with CEO Andreas Has. Each time I visited, I couldn’t help but smile the entire time. These people are doing amazing things and they love it just as much as we the end users do. And how could you not feel like you’re instantly best buddies with Andreas? He’s such a great guy. Really, there are way too many reasons to list as to why I think the ModBook Pro outshines almost everything at Macworld this year. If only everyone could afford to own a ModBook Pro, though you get what you pay for.

Kirk Hiner

Unlike years past, it was difficult for me to decide upon one particular product as my favorite this year. I’d like to say it’s because there were too many from which to chose, but that wouldn’t be accurate. Rather, there just wasn’t a single product that caught me completely off guard. There were some gems, though, my favorite of which would have to be the Microvision Pico Projector.

This tiny device connects to your iPod or iPhone to project video on any surface. And when I say “any,” I mean “any.” Flat, curved, near, far, it doesn’t make much difference because the video is projected with lasers, so it’s always in focus. The image is bright and clear when the projector is close to whatever it’s being projected on, but does get dimmer (and bigger, obviously) as you pull away. In controlled light conditions, you can expand the projection to up to about 100” inches wide without washing it out too much. In your standard lit room, anything over about 32 inches becomes a little difficult to see. The only drawback to the Pico Projector is that it can’t handle iPod or iPhone games, as Apple doesn’t support video out from other apps. Well, there’s that drawback and the fact that it won’t be available in mass quantities until the second half of this year, and would cost about $500 if released now. Hopefully, they’ll get that price down by the time it’s released.

Bill Stiteler

I’m going to have to go with the herd on this one and say that Macworld Expo 2009 was a big yawn. There were a lot of good products there—notably cases for the iPhone—but if anyone was hoping for the Next Big Thing, they were sorely disappointed.

The best product I saw there was the introduction of Sling Player for the iPhone and iPod touch, one of several products that are bringing streaming television to the iPhone. But the advantage of Sling Player is that you can watch live TV, and if you want to watch a show you’ve already recorded on your DVR, you can simply watch it; there’s no need to figure out what you want to watch beforehand and upload it to another website. I’ll be anxious to see how good the feed is in real-world-internet conditions.

• Also see Appletell’s “most surprising” finds of Macworld Expo 2009.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Did Apple pull the major announcement (the “one more thing”) from this year’s Macworld Expo keynote in anticipation of Steve Jobs’ health announcement?

My reasoning goes like this: First, Apple had something really cool to announce at Macworld Expo 2009. Something that would have taken up the big empty space at their booth. We heard rumors that after the Expo, Apple was going to announce a new Mac mini as well as something so big that the rest of the news would pale beside it. A Mac netbook? Opening the iPhone to other carriers? We couldn’t find out.

Now, Apple must have known that the lack of a truly big announcement at Macworld would send their stock down. So why not announce it then? Because Steve knew he was going to have to take a leave of absence, which was an even bigger downer. “The last hurrah,” they’d have called it: one last thing before Jobs leaves his company floundering for months! And then stock prices go down even further.

So, what if the plan was this: Take the hit from the keynote and from Jobs announcement. Let that play out in the press and then ta da! An announcement of both a new version of a popular product (Mac mini) and this “Next Big Thing” to boost confidence that Apple can run just fine sans Steve.

Pure speculation on my part, of course, but it’s hard to believe that even if Apple wanted Macworld Expo to die, they would squander a press opportunity like that one.

Full Story » | Written by Bill Stiteler for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Shortly after the update of the 17” MacBook Pro at this year’s Macworld and news that it will contain a longer life, non user replaceable battery, Apple has published a support article that can help users when the time to replace their battery comes. According to details from this article, the replacement price will be $179 if the battery is out of its one year warranty period. When it comes time to actually replace the battery, it can surprisingly be done in one day at an Apple store if you schedule an appointment. If you choose to send it in, it will take 3-4 business days after your shipment.

With it taking only one day to replace the battery at an Apple Store, it kind of got me wondering how hard it could possibly be. Although Apple may have certified workers and special tools for the process at each store, one day isn’t long at all, especially considering the unibody design of the machine. However, even if us customers could find a way to do it ourselves, it doesn’t appear as if Apple will be selling batteries by themselves. Any thoughts?

Via [Apple Support]

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The last Macworld Expo I attended was in 2004. It was my first in San Francisco, as New York had previously been my beat. But even on the other side of the continent, it still felt familiar to me. It still felt like a Macworld Expo. The iPod was still fairly new, there was no iPhone, and people were there to hear about the Macintosh.

Macworld Conference and Expo is now a different beast, and by beast, I mean that little duck from Wonder Pets with the annoying voice.

Actually, that’s a bit harsh. Macworld was still fun this year. There were many great products to see and some wonderful people to meet. But it felt different. It felt like Queen with Paul Rodgers on lead vocals. It felt like Timothy Dalton as James Bond.

Opening With the Finale

The change could have happened anywhere between now and January 2004, but it was immediately obvious. At the beginning of Phil Schiller’s keynote (certainly a change there, but not necessarily relevant to the focus of the whole show), he basically said, and this is not a direct quote, “Well, we’re at Macworld, so what the hell…let’s talk about this Macintosh thing.” It’s like it was the night before the keynote, and Phil suddenly remembered, “Oh yeah, I’ve got to give a speech tomorrow. Crap. What to say…what to say…”

The iWork and iLife updates Phil showed us were pretty cool, and yeah, I’m a pretty big fan of John Fogerty. John Fogerty can make just about anything worth watching…except Grey’s Anatomy. For a brief moment, I thought John was going to appear onstage and lead us all in a rousing rendition of “Around the Bend,” “Bad Moon Rising,” or some other Macworld 2009 appropriate song…like “Eye of the Zombie,” maybe. But no, instead, we got Tony Bennett, who may be the only living singer older than John Fogerty. When Apple talks about the iPhone or iPod, they bring out young John Mayer, because the ladies dig him. When they discuss the Macintosh, they bring out a guy who, when I searched for a graphic of him, showed up on www.todaysseniorsnetwork.com in the top three results. Dude can still go, though, I’ll give him that, and I’ll certainly take him over John Mayer.

But okay, so Apple wants to shaft IDG with a keynote of minor press release material, at best. Fine. We get that Apple no longer needs the Expo. What I wasn’t expecting, though, is that so many of the exhibitors no longer need the Expo either, apparently.

Standing In for Macintosh Programs In Tonight’s Performance Will Be…

Even the night before, I was surprised at how many of the participants in the ShowStoppers event weren’t Macintosh companies. There were iPhone app developers and laptop bag manufacturers and iPod case manufacturers and mashed potatoes in a martini glass, but where were all the Macintosh software developers? I guess at the Expo, right?

Not really. Well, I mean, yes, of course there were quite a few, but the ratio of Mac developers to accessory manufacturers and iPhone app developers was unsettling. This wasn’t a Macworld Expo, it was a gadget expo. It was a consumer electronics exp…oh.

That feeling hung in the air throughout the show like all the garlic I ate at the Stinking Rose on Thursday evening. I talked to many developers about their plans for next year, and no one seemed thrilled about returning to a Macworld Expo without Apple. It’s understandable, I guess. I mean, who wants to go a party if Louie won’t be there?

Actually, I think Louie may be a better choice for next year’s keynote speaker than David Pogue, but I’ll address that at another time.

Anyway, one developer of iPod/iPhone cases told me representatives from CES were on the floor that day, trying to talk people out of Macworld Expo in 2010 and signing up for CES instead. I could almost picture them slinking around in black trench coats, twirling their waxed mustachios, enticing gadget accessory manufacturers with bags of money that have dollar symbols painted on the side. And sadly, it appears to be working. This developer admitted that, because of CES’s lower rates and higher volume of attendees, he’d probably take them up on that.

IDG’s going to be facing a lot of this in the coming months. Even this year, with Apple still around, I talked to many company reps on Tuesday who were about to split for Las Vegas. Quite a few of my meetings later in the week weren’t with my usual company contacts, but with someone else because my contacts were at CES. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for consumer electronics and gadget accessory companies to split their week accross two shows. If they’ve been looking for an excuse to quite one of them, this is it.

The Show (Floor) Must Go On

So, what will that leave us with for next year? I’d like to say a bigger ratio of Mac software developers who can’t move to CES, but even that doesn’t appear to be true. Many of them have stated they may just pull altogether, and aren’t biting on IDG’s deal offering companies who sign on now the ability pull after 90 days if they feel IDG’s not going to be able to pack the Moscone. In an effort to get this started, IDG held a Macworld Expo Town Hall to solicit ideas for Macworld 2010. It felt a bit more like an AA meeting than anything else—“Hi. My name’s Fred Dogcow, and this is my 12th Macworld Expo.” (Polite applause.)—but maybe that was the point. Some suggestions were obvious (get the show the hell out of January), some were absurd (Macworld Expo Texas?). We at Appletell had two pretty brilliant suggestions, we thought, but felt it best not to offer them at that time.

1. Booth babes.
2. Bring back Apple.

Even if our suggestions don’t fly, I believe there will be a Macworld Expo next year. Granted, I also believed eating a bowl full of heated garlic and oil wouldn’t make my stomach perform Cirque du Soleil style acrobatics the next day, so what do I know?

Throughout this year, we’ll undoubtedly be talking quite a bit about Macworld Expo. There’s going to be plenty of change—there has to be plenty of change—and I’m curious to see how Mac users and developers are able to drive that. Will the show return to the halcyon days of the Macintosh die-hards, or will it be turned over to a new generation of earbud wearing Apple fanboys? I guess we have a year to figure that out. All I know for certain is that wherever Macworld Expo ends up, just like Louie, and with apologies to The State, I’ll be there to “... dip my balls in it.”

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Face recognition. Wow. We have the same—if not better—technology as the local police station. How freakin’ cool is that? iPhoto is groundbreaking in the fact that you can train it to recognize someone’s face and know where you took the picture. Let me introduce you to Faces and Places.

Faces is the term apple has coined to describe a breathtaking new feature for your iPhoto software. What it does is allow you to group your photos together by who is in them. This is simply amazing, and it is only going to get better in the future. Yes, this first attempt will take a lot of user input, but when you’re done teaching your Mac who everyone is, you will be able to upload a photo and have it get filed away neatly with all the other photos of Tommy.

Yes, if you have two people in the photo, the photo gets filed under both of them or all three or four or however many faces can fit in a photo. Unfortunately, from all the information I have been able to gather, it does not work really great out-of-the-box. People who have had their hands on iPhoto ‘09 are saying it needs a lot of user input for small objects such as toddlers and small adolescent children. It will not work with pets or babies, and one would have to assume that as your children grow you will need to update the software accordingly.

The way it is supposed to work when you install iPhoto ‘09 and run faces for the first time, is that you pick a photo and it will identify the faces in it. You then type the name of the face in a box just below the face. Apple says to do it in a “few” photos and iPhoto will do the rest of the library for you. A few? I wonder if I am going to have to tag half of the 10,000 photos in my library or just 4 or 5. Let’s hope it is reasonable.

Places is the label for iPhoto’s newfound ability to organize your photos via a Geotag. If you have GPS enabled camera, or an iPhone, you can theoretically take a photo of the Eiffel Tower with your iPhone, upload it to flickr, Facebook, or Mobileme, and instantly your friends and family can make a couple of clicks and know your exact location and can see what you see. Places is going to require more user input than faces.

In order for places to work, you have to assign an area on the map, and iPhoto can then put a photo that you take in that geographic area to the name you designate for that area. Basically I would have to manually tag all 10,000 of my photos. Not going to happen. What I will do, however, is tag any new photos that I have so I can create a cross country album by state when I ride my motorcycle across the country next summer.

Apple and technology. What’s next? Online live video streaming from your iPhone? We are a firmware update away from it, people. Apple never ceases to amaze me. Love or hate them, they are the absolute standard for innovation.

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Okay, that’s not entirely true. The dental pick part is, but not the destruction of Macworld. Apple took care of that by its own self, thank you very much. Rather, while watching a demo of how DriveSavers rescues data from damaged hard drives, Jake was selected to be the one to cause the damage. Check out the video to see just how bad your drive actually looks when you hear that clicking sound and find yourself face to screen with that dreaded question mark.

Chris Bross of DriveSavers presented “Dr. Data’s Hard Drive Failure Demonstration” at their booth at Macworld Conference and Expo. The presentation provided a “... cleanroom engineer’s perspective on the inner workings of a hard disk drive ...”

View the video below to see a good disk drive, and a “Jake picked” drive. The damage is actually pretty dramatic when it occurs, and it offers pretty good insight into how hard drives work, and how they’re destroyed.

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By now, it’s old news that Apple will no longer be participating in Macworld, one of the biggest Mac focused conference events around. The concrete reason from Apple for this unexpected dropout is nonexistent, making it hard for many of us loyal Mac users to know why they have decided to stop. However, when Apple leaves something open to interpretation from their customers, that is exactly what is going to happen. The following reasons are a couple potential causes for Apple’s “abandonment” of Macworld.

• Could Apple be moving on to bigger, better events? - If you have heard of Macworld, you have most likely heard of the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), which runs at the same time as Macworld.  This event that takes place in Las Vegas attracts 1,700 companies from all over the world every year, making it a boiling pot for new technology.  Knowing Apple has stepped out of Macworld, could they possibly believe it’s time for the company to hop on the CES bandwagon?  Apple has grown a lot these past few years, and I believe the company is ready to make an appearance at such a large event.  That, and it would be really interesting to have two Stevenotes at one event.
• Apple doesn’t need Macworld anymore to announce products - When Apple was a smaller company, they could take great advantage of all the press coverage of Macworld.  However, now that they are much larger with many more products, they don’t necessarily need Macworld to announce a new product.  They can either do it on their own time or even take advantage of CES in the coming years, if they want.  Either way, people will hear about it.

There are plenty more reasons out there that could be just as probable as these, as no one is really sure beyond what Apple has publicly stated. However, both of these reasons seem to be the most prominent in the current news. What are your thoughts? Why has Apple left Macworld?

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iWeb, iMovie, Garageband and iPhoto have all been upgraded. These are the applications that comprise the iLife suite. If you own a Mac, chances are you use one or more of these applications just about every day. Apple seems to be updating the software with new features about once a year, and this year everything gets a major improvement or two. Some of these new features are very powerful tools that are actually used by law enforcement (Faces). Kinda cool that we can use face recognition at home now. So, lets get to it.

iWeb did not get any major upgrades this year, but did get a few new features that are worth talking about. The Facebook users out there will love the fact that you can link your site to your Facebook account and can then let your friends know when you have updated your site. For the hardworking web designer, you can now manage multiple sites in iWeb. Each site will have its own menu and can be published individually at different times. I know people who have wished for that functionality for years. Wish granted. Other than that, not whole lot new going on in iWeb 09’.

iMovie got several major changes and several new features. Pretty major overhaul, if you ask me. Drag and drop got way cool. Now you can drag and drop a clip into a clip. Also they have added a green screen and a cutaway effect. I know there are people out there like me who have trouble getting our clips to line up just right. Enter the precision editor. This is a magnified film strip of the clips you’re working with so you can see exactly where they end/begin. You can also edit audio and video independently, so you can use the sound from one clip with the video from another. This is some serious film editing here people.

Imagine the astronomical amount of money a Windows user would have to pay to get this kind of power. $79? I am already sold, and we haven’t even gotten to Garageband or iPhoto. Back to iMovie. They have added a feature called animated travel maps. This gives you the ability to add a 3D flight plan to a movie. iMovie 09’ also has a new video stabilization feature. What it allows you to do is have the application scan your clips (all or one at a time) for camera movement. It then can stabilize the picture for you. This is undoable, however, if you want the effect. iMovie ’09 introduces 18 new animated titles, 19 new one-click video effects, and eight new transitions. The last notable new feature is the ability to browse your movies full screen. This will allow you to watch your videos without making a movie if you don’t want to. I can’t wait to use this application.

Garageband got its hair done, and nails done too. Not only can you record any instrument in a near professional manner, but Apple has decided to teach you how to play a guitar or piano, too. They only thing you have to do is write the masterpiece and take the nine basic lessons for the guitar or piano. You can even have artists give you lessons if you like. Sting, Fallout Boy, and John Fogerty are just a few of the artists who have provided some insight into their world of music. Amateur guitarists such as myself will have the most fun with the new version of Grageband. They have added amp modeling to the long list of tools at your disposal. Nice. I use Gearbox for my amp modeling, and it has a lag. Not a big one, but just enough to notice. I have to assume that an amp and cabinet set up right inside Garageband will not suffer from this annoying issue. Apple is claiming 30 complete rigs. I’m sure there are going to be good ones and bad ones, but it only takes one good one.

The last notable feature is Magic Garageband “Jam.” What this does is turn your Mac into a full screen full customizable band. Sounds like fun to me. They could have taken functions away from Garageband, and will still use it heavily. I’m glad they didn’t do that.

iPhoto got the coolest new feature of them all. Faces. Face recognition for the common man? Are you serious? This is stuff that is used at the FBI, CIA, and any other agency that hunts people. You can even create smart albums much the way you would in iTunes with LP names. My guess is that real world, iPhoto will need a moderate amount of user input for Faces to work well, but I can tell you that I am going to find the limitations out of sheer curiosity. The powers that be have also added a places feature to iPhoto 09’. Places is only going to be used by people with a GPS enabled camera or an iPhone. This is because the only way it will work otherwise is for you to go through your entire library and tag each photo manually with location information. I have 10,000 photos. I am not going to tag them. If you do decide to tag them, you can then search by location or keyword.

Themed slideshows is another cool feature. It has six themes that let you create beautiful slideshows in seconds. So, for you social-lights, Facebook is now integrated into iPhoto, and you can create a details map of where you have been. Let’s not forget the additional edit capabilities. iPhoto rocks hard.

Well that just about covers it. More horsepower, better gas mileage,  and more towing capacity, and all for only $79. You can’t beat that deal with a stick. I will be pre ordering. What do you think of the new stuff?

Product [iLife ‘09]

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BeejiveIM has recently announced the availability of their newest update to their instant messaging app for the iPhone. This app has a ton of features for IMers on the go, and can almost replicate the functionality of a desktop app.

Let’s start with services. It supports AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, GoogleTalk, ICQ, and Jabber, to name a few. Plus, after talking with the developers, they’re working on incorporating Facebook chat as well into a future update.

BeejiveIM now also supports file transfers. You can send and receive files that are supported normally by iPhone: pictures, videos, PDFs, MS Office documents, etc. You can even record a voice note and send it to your IM buddies. Now, if only they could add the option for full on voice chat. Other apps are doing it, so I’m guessing it’s possible in a future update.

Plus there are customization options included. One of those options is the choice of different notification sounds (more than just the default sounds for each service).

One thing that that the Beejive app doesn’t come with is their booth babes. Did I just think of a way to save Macworld?

Kai Yu, founder and CEO of Beejive about the app, said, “We created BeejiveIM to address the lack of reliable, user-friendly instant messaging applications available to mobile users. The fact that we were widely viewed as the top social networking app of 2008 demonstrates what a need there was for such a service. Now, with BeejiveIM 2.0, we are able to offer iPhone users a rich collaboration platform, where they can do everything from exchange their favorite MP3s to get a colleague a needed PDF in seconds flat. We are excited to see what our BeejiveIM community will accomplish with these new tools.”

The app is available on the App Store now for $14.99.

Product [BeejiveIM]

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Most people are aware that the 2MP camera on the iPhone isn’t the best at taking photos, especially if there is a lot of movement or the area is dark. However, if you hold it still enough in the right light, the photos can actually be quite clear for a camera on a phone. One of the bad things about the camera, however, is the extremely limited functionality it has. For example, Apple doesn’t allow you to zoom, take video, or do almost anything. That’s where USB Fever steps in with their iPhone lenses. These products may not be the greatest around, but they do offer some pretty interesting functionality.

USB Fever is offering three detachable lenses for your iPhone that connect magnetically after you add an adhesive metal ring around your iPhone camera. The frame of these lenses is made of “top-grade Aluminuim” while the glass is “high-class.” The first lens cost $19.99 and brings the fish-eye style to the iPhone. This 170 degree lens weighs only 10.8 grams and can give your camera a nice new effect. The next lens is the wide angle lens which costs only $16.99. This product will do just what it implies, give your images a wide angle. The last lens is also $16.99 and is being called the telephoto 2X zoom lens (it’s fairly obvious what this one does). For such a cheap price, they might be worth checking out. What do you think?

Products [Fish-Eye Lens, Wide Angle Lens, Telephoto (2X) Lens]

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Now that the crowds have died down a bit, I was able to spend a little more hands-on time with the new 17” Macbook Pro. The screen is a thing of beauty, but then, I like the glossy screen and the saturation it gives the colors.

As the owner of a 17” G4 Powerbook, I’ll say this: the Macbook Pro feels smaller, more compact, though that’s probably just a matter of it having a very thin, almost air-like screen. It’s a hair thinner than the previous design, but the tapered edges give it a razor-like feel.

It weighs a bit less than the G4 powerbook, but at 6.6 pounds, it’s still going to be a brick to carry around. Think long and hard about how badly you need that big screen, and how often you’ll need to be portable.

For those of you who love a good, tactile feel to the keyboard: you’re out of luck. These are the flat keys that are standard on the Macbook. They have a nice bounce to them, but the concave keys of the old Powerbook line that scratched up many a screen appear to be a thing of the past.

Here’s a short video showing off the 17” Macbook Pro’s physicality.

Full Story » | Written by Bill Stiteler for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Disappointed by Apple’s Keynote announcements? Me too. We were all expecting something in the way of hardware that wasn’t completely obvious (i.e. the 17” MacBook Pro). Well, we received some potentially good news. While discussing the fate of the expo with a long-time Macintosh software developer, we received a tip from someone in the know about Apple’s coming plans, and it seems that those plans involve a big finger to Macworld.

The tip goes like this. Apple is planning on updating the Mac Mini very soon, and that update won’t be it’s death. In fact, it’s most likely ready as you read this, and could have been announced at Macworld. But instead of announcing it here, Apple held back, seemingly in an effort to prove that they don’t need Macworld. The announcement could come as soon as two weeks. But, as much as I want a new Mac Mini, that’s not the juice in this tip.

Apparently, Apple also has a “huge” announcement that will make the Mac Mini news pale in comparison to the other half of this rumor. Unfortunately, that’s all we know. Our source, who says he heard this directly from Apple reps at this week’s Expo, wouldn’t tell him more than that, but he finds this particularly peculiar. He has had Apple reps slip information to him before, but not this freely. This info, he says, was offered straight off without any questioning, as if it isn’t a secret, but is. He believes Apple is purposely letting this information slip in an effort to further prove the company doesn’t need the Macworld Conference and Expo, and to immediately start generating interest in their own event and to build bigger news than what’s coming from the Moscone Center this week. If this is true, it’s working.

Apple will more than likely be holding a special event shortly for the two big announcements; the first is the Mac Mini, to which Apple expects to you… excuse me… yawn.  The second is in true Apple style, completely a secret. But it’s gigantic and will make your mouth drop in a way that doesn’t involve yawning. Stay tuned, things should be heating up shortly.

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Ask almost anyone who attended the Macworld keynote this year what they thought of it and you probably won’t get a very great response. With no Steve Jobs, the keynote was almost bound to not be as great as the past few years. However, not only did Phil take the place of Steve, but there weren’t any outstanding new product announcements.  The only real hardware announcement was the new 17” MacBook Pro. So, do we have a right to be angry with Apple for a “mediocre” keynote? I don’t think so at all. Read on to find out why.

You would be correct in saying that Apple didn’t release anything all that groundbreaking at this keynote, as with the iPhone and such from past years. However, you can’t really blame them. The economy isn’t all that great right now, and people aren’t as willing to spend money. Apple realizes this, and, in my opinion, is extremely able to coast on some of the amazing products they currently have. By not announcing a new product, they can spend more time and money developing and improving their current ones, something everyone can appreciate.

And can you really say there weren’t any great announcements? The innovation that was brought forward in the new iLife ‘09 software was outstanding. Think about it. Both Places and Faces in the new iPhoto take advantage of two things that people love to do with their photos. And to have this built in to $79 software is a great feat, if you ask me. Not only that, but iPhoto now takes advantage of Flickr and Facebook, two of the most popular photo sites. It doesn’t stop there, though. iMovie ‘09 offers some groundbreaking image stabilization algorithms that will make editing video even more fun and easy. And people are complaining there wasn’t anything great?

In my opinion, we Apple fanboys have been spoiled in the last couple years with great new announcements to spend our money on. This year, we should be just as happy. Although there is no new iPhone or Mac Mini, the software we use everyday on these machines has been greatly improved.  That’s just as important as the hardware can be.

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Why are you looking at a big, gray, empty space? Good question: maybe we should ask Apple.

Small correction: the side of Apple’s booth that I say is iPods is actually more iMacs. The iPods were on the other side.

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That’s one way to say “cancelled.” Okay, I’m done.

Wednesday at 5:00, IDG held a town hall meeting at Macworld Conference and Expo to discuss the future of the annual event. Paul Kent started the townhall meeting by talking about what Macworld is. You already know it’s not like a typical trade show. Macworld is about users coming together. IDG has been doing Macworld for 25 years now. When the Mac was born, they had a Macworld. Up until now, they’ve endured. But what about the future? What does 2010+ hold in store?

Well let’s talk about what Macworld has to offer now. Even with the current economy, there are over 500 exhibitors. 90% of the products here aren’t available at any Apple Store location. Plus, you can learn new things, see new products and try out things you couldn’t try anywhere else.  Where else can you go to talk to the developer of an app face to face?  Or the maker of a product?  I’ve heard from exhibitors that it’s great for networking between companies.  Why travel all over the country, or even the world, during the year when everyone comes together for Macworld anyway?

IDG isn’t dumb; they know that if they can’t provide a good enough reason for exhibitors and visitors to come, then they won’t.  They’re starting with exhibitor preregistration for next year. HP, Microsoft (what!?), FastMac, Shure and Intuit are already among the 60 companies that have signed on the dotted line that they intend to exhibit next year. David Pogue intends to give the Anti-Keynote, and as far as I’m concerned, if David Pogue is involved, I’m interested.

Alex Lindsay stood up to give his opinion on the future of Macworld. He considers Macworld attendees to be the nucleus of the Mac community. Basically, he wants to make it easier for visitors to connect with each other. But so much more needs to be done.

Overall, IDG is taking ideas from everyone. They’re working on it, and they’re listening.  So what did visitors voice about what they want?

• An easy way to communicate ideas to IDG after today.
• Video previews for conferences before you buy access.
• A Mac users social network, and impromptu user meet ups.
• Bring back Macworld Boston, New York, Texas (more central and possibly cheaper) or other cities. How about more than one Macworld each year? Paul Kent took the feedback, and struggled with an answer, but then it came. They’re committed to MWSF ‘10, but after next year, IDG says, “When you want it, where you want it.”
• More Mac gaming!  There needs to be more games and Macs set up here on a network so attendees can frag each other while screaming “newb!” all day long.
• User group meetups.  They held the community together for a long time.  It needs to be more valuable for them to come.
• Bring in the best of the best in every area for training sessions.
• Schwag area.  An area for trading of schwag between visitors.  Why stop there?  How about you guys just give us tons of stuff for free?

After hearing all of this, and experiencing Macworld, I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been here who doesn’t want to come back.  I know I want to come back, but I’m afraid that if Apple isn’t here it will be quite different.  Only time will tell, but I’m not all that optimistic about the future of Macworld Expo, and it makes me sad.

IDG needs to do a lot of things to keep Macworld alive. A popular opinion in the Town Hall and amongst developers with whom we spoke is that Macworld Expo needs to bring in more gaming companies. Not only does Macworld need more games, but the Mac in general.  IDG needs to bring back the gaming area.  Make it LAN style and just let people play.  There also needs to be more computer areas in general where you can learn tips and tricks one on one, or even just play around.

Registration for next year starts now.  Exhibitors can register now with a 90 day window to decide if they are actually coming (expect somewhat fuzzy inflated numbers).  Exhibit Only passes will be free, so your trip to Macworld may be just a little cheaper.  And if you’re a local, close to free.  They’re going to talk to educators, gamers and everyone else.  They want everyone to come.

IDG also wants to hear your suggestions.  You can send those ideas to .

You can expect a lot more suggestions and commentary on this within the coming weeks at Appletell, and, indeed, the year to come.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »