Apple Introduces Slim Notebook, Online Movie Rental Service
Ellen Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
(01-15) 12:42 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Tuesday introduced what he said is the world's thinnest notebook computer.
Jobs, in a keynote speech opening the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco's Moscone Center, said the new MacBook Air measures between 0.16 inch and 0.76 inch thick. Other notebook computers typically measure 0.8 to 1.2 inches thick, he said.
"We're talking thin here," Jobs said, as he effortlessly pulled a MacBook Air from a manila envelope, generating oohs and ahhs from the crowd of Apple fans, industry analysts and journalists.
TheMacBook Air has an 80-GB hard drive, a 13.3-inch, backlit LED display and a full-size keyboard in a recyclable aluminum case, and weighs 3 pounds. It sells for $1,799 and Apple will start taking orders today, with the first models shipping in two weeks.
In a nod to environmentalists, Jobs said the display is mercury-free, with no arsenic in the glass surface. The packaging also amounts to 50 percent less volume than previous MacBooks, he said.
Jobs also introduced a new iTunes Movie Rentals service, partnering with Touchstone, Miramax, LionsGate, Fox, Warners Brothers, Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal and Sony.
"We have every major studio," Jobs said.
ITunes Movie Rentals will launch by the end of February, Jobs said, with 1,000 movies available for download over a high-speed Internet connection. The iTunes service will make movies available 30 days after their DVD release, viewable on Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones. The movies will be start playing less than 30 seconds after the download starts, he said.
Once rented, users have 30 days to watch a movie and, once it has been cued, 24 hours to finish it. The service will cost $2.99 for older movies and $3.99 for new releases. High-definition movies, a new offering, cost $1 extra.
iTunes remains a critical part of Apple's digital strategy. Jobs said the number of songs sold via iTunes topped 4 billion last week, and iTunes sets a one-day record on Christmas with 20 million songs sold. The online store has also sold 125 million television shows and 7 million movies.
Apple's announcements are being closely watched as the Cupertino technology company continues to play a leading role in setting digital lifestyle trends. Last year, Jobs unveiled the iPhone, which helped spur the mobile industry to produce ever more smart phones that connect to the Internet, play music and videos and incorporate touch-screen technology.
On Tuesday, Jobs said 4 million iPhones have been sold since they first went on sale 200 days ago.
In the third quarter of 2007, the first full quarter of sales for the iPhone, it garnered nearly 20 percent of the smart-phone market, Jobs said, citing statistics from Gartner, a market research firm. Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, has 39 percent of the market, but Jobs said Apple's share already matches that of Palm, Nokia and Motorola combined.
Jobs also introduced new features for the iPhone and the iPod touch, including a GPS-like service that identifies a person's location. Although the iPhone does not have Global Positioning System technology, it uses technology developed by Google and Skyhook to triangulate the person's location.
Another uprgade to the iPhone enables users to send text messages to several people at once.
Jobs also said that thelatest Mac operating system, Leopard, is the most successful launch of an Apple operating system, with 5 million copies shipped. "We're really thrilled by this," he said.
To compliment Leopard's Time Machine automated back-up feature, Jobs introduced the Time Capsule on Tuesday, a wireless device that will automatically save and back up files from the home's other computers. Available next month, the 500-GB Time Capsule will cost $299 and the larger 1-terabyte device one will cost $499.
Jobs acknowledged that the Apple TV, a device that transfers digital content from computers to televisions, has not met expectations and that no one, including rivals such as Microsoft, has been able to convince consumers en masse to move their downloaded movies and television shows to their televisions.
Jobs said he hopes to change that with a new and cheaper $229 version of the Apple TV, which will allow users to rent movies directly on their television without connecting to their computer.
"Today seemed to be some course correction, saying, 'We could do better,'" said Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD. "They're listening to customers. No company is infallible. Every product can be improved, even Apple's products."
Jim Gianopulos, chief executive of 20th Century Fox, joined Jobs briefly on stage, announcing that its new DVDs will also allow consumers to make a copy to their iTunes library. Fox was the first of the studios to partner with Apple to offer online movie rentals. "When Steve came to us with the idea, it was a no-brainer," he said.
E-mail Ellen Lee at elee@sfchronicle.com.
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