Apple Event Coverage

Don't forget, we'll have live reports throughout the day, covering the big Apple announcement. Also, we'll have a special version of TDL Live at 9PM ET recapping all the announcements, along with your reactions. Pop Torrent, normally on at 9, will be on at 8PM ET.

Check back throughout the day for live video! We've officially got the the slate/tablet fever!

What Apple Product Do You Think Of When You See This Image?

It's official. The invites are out, and Apple will indeed have an event on Jan. 27th to celebrate their latest "creation." And in typical Apple style, the invite gave no other hints, tempting all of us to read far too much into the graphics on the front of the invite.

So based on this image, what do you think will be the name of the new Apple device? The Paintball? The Hype? Let us know in the comments.

All kidding aside, we are 90% certain, it will be the Apple Canvas. You heard it here first.

Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Him Away

(We apologize for the awful title of this post.)

Well we followed the live blogging of todays iPod event just like you and here a few quick thoughts.

-iTunes 9 We were hoping for a big redesign with lots of social networking features and maybe a subscription service, instead we got some new Genius features and digital LP's. Sharing content across multiple computers in a household looks great, but somehow he think this is still to confusing for the average family. We're still shocked Apple is allowing sharing of paid apps.

-More Games Phil the Schill is unleashed and goes on the attack after Sony and Nintendo, pointing out the cost of games and poor buying experiences for those platforms. We might agree on cost, but poor buying experience? Maybe Phil just finds Best Buy too low brow. Sure Apple has thousands of titles more than the competition, but no mention of quality is made. Also please don't showcase Gameloft next time. They only exist by ripping of other developers properties.

-New iPods Everyone gets an update, even the Classic. New Nano looks gorgeous and will probably be the big seller this winter. We do think it's odd that it now has a video camera and the iPod Touch does not.

All in all the announcements seems rather tame. The big story of the show will definitely be the return of Steve. We'll give today a solid B.

What do you have to say?

Winners and Losers of Today's Apple Event

Some announcements that were expected, and some non-announcements that left us scratching our head. Here's a look at he winners and losers of today's Apple Event:

WINNERS:

Fans of the iPod Classic. Not only wasn't it killed off, it got a capacity boost (of course it had its capacity reduced  previously). $249 for 160GB makes it the perfect iPod for the music-only crowd, or if you need a spacious hard drive with your music.

iPod Nano Shoppers. It's a little surprising considering the non-announcement with the iPod Touch (see below), but the nano really is an intriguing device now with a built-in video camera. Note that this isn't an HD camera as in the newer Flip cameras, but rather a VGA camera. FM radio is now on board, along with a live pause feature and iPod tagging (so you can buy the songs and not have to listen to the radio again!) These features definitely add value to the Nano, but they feel a generation behind. Low res video, and now after all these years FM radio? Where's the HD radio and HD video?

Game developer investors. As someone who spends a great deal of each day using/reviewing iPhone apps/games, it's getting a little tiring seeing the somewhat misleading assumption from Apple that the number of titles equals success on the platform. There's no denying the iPhone offers revolutionary features in a gaming platform. You also can't deny though, that a large majority of apps wouldn't qualify as sellable on other platforms.

iTunes users with multiple libraries/computers. The new home sharing feature (and app organization) make iTunes 9 a decent update, while the facebook/twitter features (at least in a quick look) don't seem very groundbreaking.

People who recently purchased an iPod Touch. I would've advised everyone I know to not buy the iPod Touch over the last six weeks in order to see what the new Touch would bring. Well, it's out, and if you did recently buy a touch, don't feel too bad.

LOSERS:

Beatles fans. Apple's new LP feature looks custom-made for the Beatles catalog release, but it wasn't to be.

Tablet believers. There's always next time.

iPod Touch cam-fans. How do you have developers on stage to extoll the virtues of the iPhone/iPod Touch OS, then not try to make it easier for them by standardizing hardware with cameras and microphones on the Touch? This is by far the most head-scratching omission from today's event.

What are your thoughts on today's announcements?

Notebooks Announcements

Well the Spotlight on Notebooks announcement just ended and we came up with a quick list of the good and the bad.

Things We Love

-The new eco-friendly aluminum enclosures. White plastic was so 2001, and the iMac like black border looks surprisingly good.

-Multi touch trackpad has us excited, but we wonder if "switchers" will miss the mouse button?

-The Revenge of the Graphics Card! Macbook users can play games too! Now we just need some games.....

-User replaceable hard drives all around.

Things We Hate

-Where is the affordable pricing that was rumored for so long. The $999 Macbook is last years gimped model. Kinda like when Apple sold a $799 Snow iMac G3 after the G4 was introduced. No one will want this model.

-Pricing all around was poor. $899 for a display, even one with snazzy Mag-Safe connectors is too much in today's economic climate. The base model of Macbooks went from $1099 to $1299. Somehow Steve decided this was a $700 SAVINGS?!?!

-The lack of options for Bluray or HDMI. Despite what Apple may think, these technologies are mainstream. Steve mentioned licensing issues with Bluray in his Q&A. HP and DELL has managed to work it out.

Overall we'll give today's announcement a C+, but we get the feeling Apple is slightly out of touch with today's consumer when it comes to pricing. Are they now the John McCain of computers? Steve doesn't own seven houses right? Or does he.