Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepped up to the plate today — and the fans went wild. At his annual keynote address at Macworld in San Francisco, Jobs introduced the rumored MacBook Air, which he called “the world’s thinnest notebook”; a revitalized Apple TV and movie rentals through iTunes; updates to the iPhone and iPod Touch; and wireless backup.
Multi-Touch Pad, 13.3-Inch Display
The MacBook Air, weighing three pounds, features a 13.3-inch display, a built-in iSight camera, and a backlit “full-sized” keyboard. It is also heir to the multi-touch interface made famous by Apple’s iPhone, with a trackpad that, for instance, allows the user to expand a photo with an “expanding,” two-fingered gesture.
Jobs said the Air has a 1.8-inch 80-GB hard drive, and an option for a 64-GB solid-state drive. Inside, it features an Intel Core 2 Duo running at 1.6GHz. Paul Otellini, Intel CEO, was invited to the stage to take credit for accomplishing Jobs’ request for a smaller-than-normal Core 2 Duo package — reportedly 60 percent smaller.
The MacBook Air is priced at $1,799 in the standard configuration, and begins shipping in two weeks.
Jobs’ other big Macworld announcement was movie rentals from Apple’s iTunes Store. Library titles will rent for $2.99, new releases will cost $3.99, and rentals can be watched on Macs, PCs, iPods, iPhones and Apple TVs. High-definition titles are available for a dollar more, Jobs added in his Macworld keynote.
When a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store to your local iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast connection can start watching it immediately. The movie can be watched any time within 30 days of its rental and, once a customer has started to watch it, the customer has a 24-hour window to finish it or watch it over and over. Feature films from…