iBooks Author

Creating layouts in iBooks Author is easier than any comparable tool I’ve come across, including Adobe’s InDesign and Quark Xpress, and the ability to instantly see on your iPad through iTunes how the final product will look and feel really helps with the design process. Switching between portrait and landscape orientation is as easy as tapping a button.

You can add any kind of media using a pop-up media drawer, or by dragging and dropping elements from your desktop. Apple provides ready-made widgets for interactive galleries, images, in-line video, chapter review, Keynote slide shows, 3-D .dae files and HTML code. Each of these offers additional custom settings, like captions and headings, to make sure you can present your multimedia elements exactly as you want. The interactive image feature is particularly cool, because it requires almost no media creation skills; you can simply upload your photos, then set view points that zoom in and pan on the image as required when clicked, and also provide a helpful description of what a reader is looking at.

If you just want to publish your work for private distribution, it’s easy enough once you have the elements in place; just hit the “Publish” button and save it to the folder of your choice. Then you can distribute the file to whoever you want, and they can manually upload it to their iPad via iBooks through iTunes.

For those looking to publish their title in the iBookstore, there are only a few more hoops to jump through. Create an iBookstore seller account at Apple.com, download the iTunes Producer application, create an active contract if you don’t have one at iTunes Connect, and then make a sample version of your book. Books on the iBookstore max out at 2 GB and are of course still subject to Apple’s approval process. Apple has more about the distribution process in its official iBooks Author FAQ.

I have a confession: I used to publish poetry anthologies in college when I was doing my graduate studies. I admit that here only to point out that this would’ve been a great way to create something like that quickly and cheaply. It’d be even better if Apple would update iBooks Author to also work with iOS’s Newsstand, but this is still a lovely start. Especially since while titles can be distributed through the iBookstore, they don’t have to be, with the big caveat that Apple’s licensing agreement specifies you can’t charge money for iBook Author books distributed outside its own marketplace.

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Bloomberg reports that Apple will announce tools that make publishing interactive textbooks on the iPad much easier, and also allow for the creation of other “digital education content,” according to two sources familiar with the announcement’s details. The new tools, which will be introduced by Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, are intended to help broaden the appeal of the iPad for educational institutions, with a special focus on grades K-12, Bloomberg claims. The idea of making it easier to create educational content aimed at kids is basically what Erica described in her article on Monday.

That the announcement will have a strong educational component is backed up by a report from the Wall Street Journal  earlier this week, which said Apple had been working with textbook publisher McGraw-Hill on material to be revealed at the event since June.

Bloomberg’s sources also claim Apple will introduce new software that will allow a wide range of authors to publish digital e-book content, along the lines of what Amazon offers with its self-publishing tools. That’s in line with what a report from Ars Technica published Tuesday claims: Its sources suggested Apple would be unveiling “GarageBand for e-books.” Such a self-publishing suite is also something I suggested might be in the offing before the actual announcement was confirmed.

Apple’s event takes place Thursday beginning at 10 a.m. EST (7 a.m. PST), and we’ll have a liveblog following all the action as it unfolds.

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Final Cut Pro X arrived in the App Store today

This is only the most recent example of Apple bringing significant price cuts to once expensive software. Mac OS X 10.0 cost $129.99, for example, while even a family pack of Snow Leopard was priced at only $49, and a single user license was just $29. Lion, which is said to be coming in July, will cost $29 for a copy that can be used on multiple Macs associated with your Apple ID. Windows still starts at $79.95 for entry-level upgrade pricing, and can cost as much as $219.99, depending on the edition.

But pricing isn’t the only difference. Windows also divides its software product offerings, making clear distinctions between tools it thinks consumers need vs those that professional users would want. Apple has always done a good job of steering clear of such defined lines, and although it does offer an OS X Server variant of its software, that product is much more clearly designed for a very specific use than Microsoft’s “professional” grade operating systems.

Apple also seems to be gaining ground in the enterprise thanks in part to its refusal to target professionals specifically. BlackBerry tried that strategy, and while it worked well for many years, mobile companies now appear to be following Apple’s lead, realizing that the new path to the enterprise is by convincing individual users of the value of your product, and not necessarily by selling to corporate IT. Apple doesn’t ignore business, but it definitely doesn’t unduly prioritize that market, as evidenced by the decision to stop selling Xserve late last year.

$300 is still a lot of money for a consumer to spend on a single application, don’t get me wrong. But Final Cut Studio once cost $1300. To say that it isn’t more likely that hobbyists or pro-sumers will drop the cash to take their craft to the next level than it was four years ago just isn’t realistic.

Some might claim that the disappearance of Final Cut Express, Apple’s mid-range offering between Final Cut Pro and iMovie actually indicates the distinction between pro and consumer applications is getting more defined. But Final Cut Express was priced at $199, just $100 shy of the new Final Cut Pro X, and it didn’t incorporate the same audio and color correction tools of the newer application, plus it carried a lot of limitations that made it pale in comparison to the full Final Cut Pro product.

And that’s the key: Apple isn’t narrowing the gap between pro and consumer by leaving out features and dumbing things down; it’s making things easier, certainly, but it’s also just making them more affordable. It’s the smart move for a workforce that is becoming more and more contract-based, where freelancers often have to source their own tools in order to impress potential employers and win contracts.

Apple is already a company that knows how to make a tool that everyone can use. Now that it’s increasingly becoming one that also knows how to make tools that everybody can afford, there are even fewer barriers to the potential heights it can reach.

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If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on an iPad 2 tomorrow, the new iMovie features a reworked interface that much more closely resembles the OS X version of the program. You get a media viewer, timeline and preview screen all in the same landscape layout. iPad 2 users also get precision editing tools, which allow you to zoom in on your video timeline to fine-tune transitions, and get a better look at your video’s soundtrack.

Users with Apple’s small-screened devices also get a few new tricks, including the ability to rotate your video in the editing preview screen, and other multi-touch gestures that expand your options for common editing tasks like zooming, splitting or trimming clips. There are also new themes, each of which contain new audio and video effects.

Apple also included better handling of photos in iMovie. You get automatic face detection for photo slideshow transition effects, and you can create text overlays for images, too. Soundtrack options are also better, letting you use three separate audio tracks which can use songs from your on-device iTunes library, or recorded directly from your device’s microphone. There are also a bunch of new sound effects and songs included in iMovie itself in the update. New sharing options should please social movie makers. You can now publish to Facebook, Vimeo, or CNN iReport  right from within the app, and use AirPlay to push your video out to an Apple TV-connected display.

It’d be nice if Apple made this available for the original iPad, too, since I don’t see why you have to be able to shoot video on a device in order to be able to edit with it, but Apple clearly has its reasons (including providing a small upgrade incentive, possibly). Still, this is one of the apps I’m most looking forward to trying out on the iPad 2 when I eventually get one, though I’ll probably depend more on video shot on my iPhone 4 than on that filmed using the iPad’s rear camera. How about you?

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Apple’s new Smart Cover for the iPad 2 also features pretty prominently in the new video spots, and you can see just how versatile this one aims to be when compared to its predecessor (my own official iPad cover was only used once before being banished to the closet). They may be only a serious of tantalizingly well-shot marketing videos, but speaking as someone who can’t wait for the new tablet’s arrival, they’re plenty entertaining to watch. Check out the entire series of 14 videos at Apple’s site.

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Photo Booth (Free, built-in)

This is obviously an iPad 2 exclusive, since the only reason it exists is to take advantage of the iPad’s new front-facing VGA camera. Like the Mac app of the same name, the iPad version of Photo Booth lets you take photos of yourself (and whoever else happens to be in frame) and then lets you manipulate the pics using a variety of special effects, such as color and distortion filters. According to Apple’s official site, the app only seems to works with the front-facing camera (although the sample screens it provides show camera switch icons), which seems an oddly unnecessary limitation, and flashes the entire screen white before it takes a photo to act as a flash. Once you’re happy with your bizarre self-portraits, you can share them via Mail or access them via your on-device photo library.

iMovie ($4.99)

The new iMovie app is universal, meaning it will replace the existing version on the iPhone 4. It brings more advanced editing tools and introduces a screen layout very similar to the one found in the OS X version, with your film’s timeline on the bottom, and a clip library on top. You can pinch any transition to reveal a more detailed Precision Editor in the timeline, allowing a clear view of where clips overlap and making it easier to make fine adjustments with your fingers.

New themes make it easy to add flair to your projects without any heavy lifting, and Apple includes a CNN iReport  theme that provides a branded way to add a degree of authenticity to your homemade breaking news reports. Themes include titles, transitions and soundtrack elements, so they really act as one-stop shopping.

The new iMovie adds some more versatile audio-editing tools, including the ability to add sound effects from a built-in library, visual soundtrack timeline management, and narration or voice-over recording right in the app.

Once you’ve got everything just right, there are a bunch of new sharing tools, too. Post your video direction to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo or CNN iReport (Apple certainly is buddying up with CNN with this one). You can also share via email, MobileMe or MMS (on iPhone only) once you’ve exported the movie to your on-device camera roll. Movie playback directly to Apple TV via AirPlay is also supported, or by mirroring with the new digital AV HDMI adapter from iPad 2 to a cable-connected TV.

GarageBand ($4.99)

I love music, but am hopeless when it comes to playing an instrument or learning how to make any myself. Even auto-tuned, I sound terrible. But GarageBand for the iPad looks like it might let even someone like me come up with something worthwhile.

The app boasts Touch Instruments, which are virtual recreations of real life drum kits, pianos, organs and guitars that you can manipulate in various ways with multi-touch gestures. Depending on how hard, and where, you hit the virtual keys, cymbals or chords you can produce different sounds, since the app uses the iPad’s accelerometer and other technologies to distinguish between different types of interaction.

If that sounds like it still requires too much skill, then Smart Instruments are for you. These are like the auto-tune of guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. You can easily strum perfect chords on a guitar, set up and trigger complicated finger picking, or try visually arranging drum beats in a way that makes playing more like solving a puzzle than coming up with something original.

The iPad GarageBand also a includes a full-featured, eight-track recording studio that lets you zoom in and fine-tune each track. Jobs was quick to point out that this wasn’t a toy, but could was in fact perfectly suited for professional use, too. Apple loves its creative pros, and it doesn’t look like that’s changing as it moves its focus to mobile.

Which of these are you most looking forward to? I couldn’t care less about Photo Booth, but the other two both sound equally appealing.

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Fire up iMovie ’11 and open up a project. The first thing you’re going to want to do is swap the project view and the events view so that the video you’re editing is along the bottom of the screen. To do this, click the ‘Swap Events and Projects’ button on the middle toolbar — it’s the one that looks a bit like a refresh button.

Swap Events and Projects button

Once you’ve done that, there’s one more step. Just underneath the middle toolbar, on the right-hand side of the window, there’s a new button introduced in iMovie ’11 — it looks like a row of boxes. This is the ‘Single-Row View’ button. Click this and your project will rearrange itself into one long row which is scrollable to the left and right.

Single-Row View button

So there you have it, an emulation of the old timeline view in iMovie ’11. It seems Apple must listen to user requests after all, because iLife users have been complaining about the lack of a timeline view since it was removed two versions ago. It also suggests, along with the new audio editing features, that Apple is trying to make iMovie seem much more like its Final Cut products, which is great news for amateur videographers.

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When Steve Jobs announced that the new iPhone 4 would have HD video capabilities, and that Apple would be releasing iMovie on in the App Store, everyone’s first impression was that the Flip was dead. What was not expected was that within the first few days of the product being available to the public, such a well put together movie short would be comprised entirely on the iPhone using the new iMovie App.

If you have not already seen this, you have to check it out for yourself. “Apple of My Eye” is a movie short shot and edited entirely on an iPhone 4. That’s right, full production on the iPhone. Watching the behind the scenes clips that follow the short, you will see that the folks over at Majek Pictures do have skills. They did have some sophisticated rigging that was used to maneuver and hold the iPhone steady, but still. In an exhausted testimonial, the editor Anna Elizabeth James admitted that it only took her fourteen hours of tedious pinching and tapping to get the whole thing done. Perhaps she should have checked out TheAppleBlog first to understand what the potential health risks were before she started. All the same, I am glad she didn’t.

In this TechUniversity iMovie 101 screencast (subscription required) we’ll walk you through, from start to finish, how to create an edit a movie in iMovie.

Topics covered:

• The projects and events window
• Adding and editing video
• Titles, transitions, sound and maps
• Sharing your video

Below is a sample of the video. The full screencast clocks in at just over 20 minutes.

iMovie, on the other hand, does have a stabilization feature built in so I hatched a plan: I’d use iMovie for the clips that need to be stabilized. Here’s the process of taking a clip from Final Cut Express and using iMovie to stabilize it.

Export the Clip from Final Cut Express

Find the shaky clip in your Final Cut Express timeline and set the in and out point around it. To do this, go to the start of the clip and press I to mark the in point. Then go to the end of that clip and press O to mark the out point.

Go to the File menu and Export the clip as a QuickTime Movie…

I titled mine “BeforeStabilization.”

Stabilize the Clip in iMovie

Launch iMovie and create a New Project.

Now go to the File menu and Import the clip.

I unchecked Optimize video in an attempt to keep the file from being converted too many times.

After the clip is imported into your Event Library, Right-click on the video and select Video Adjustments.

The Inspector window will come up. Click on the Clip tab and then the Analyze Entire Clip button.

Wait for iMovie to analyze the clip.

Now the Inspector window can be closed.

Now drag your clip to your project and watch the clip to confirm iMovie did its job.

Export from iMovie

Now we need to export the clip out to bring it back into Final Cut Express. Click on the Share menu and select Export Using QuickTime.

You want to try to use the same settings as the files currently in your Final Cut Express timeline. I’m using a 1440×1080 Apple Intermediate Codec timeline so my export settings mirror that.

Give this new file a location and a name to save with.

Import the Clip into Final Cut Express

Use the File menu to import the stabilized clip.

Add the new clip over the original to see how they compare.

Conclusion

These are a lot of steps to go, but if Final Cut Express & iMovie are all you have, they will work. The stabilized image is noticeably softer than the original but it’s worth it to have shake-free footage. I’ve also stabilized this clip in Final Cut Pro using the SmoothCam filter and I think it looks cleaner than iMovie’s attempt.

Use a tripod or monopod for your videos and you shouldn’t have to go this process too often. I’ve included my sample clip below with the before and after clips so you can get an idea of the results.

Watching the iPad’s first television spot on the Oscars Sunday night, I got giddy all over again in anticipation of getting my hands on this hot new product. Though it’s still a few weeks away, I’m even more excited for the applications that will be coming to the platform. Here’s my top 10 list of apps that I want to see developed for the iPad.

Coda

As a graphic designer and web developer, Coda is a staple in my workflow. It features a built-in FTP system, which could be problematic to port to a mobile device, considering there isn’t a traditional file structure to store data. However, perhaps the iPad’s new file storage system will provide an adequate solution. Regardless, as someone who codes, it would be awesome to sit next to a client and modify code and push changes to a site all from my iPad while they load and test the revisions on their own desktop.

Photoshop

Before you laugh, remember that Adobe has already released Photoshop Mobile for the iPhone, and all things considered, it’s not such a bad application. A larger iPad version could allow support for opening and manipulating native Photoshop files as well as working between multiple files. CS4 introduced a new tabbed approach to viewing multiple documents at once. A similar setup could easily be implemented on the iPad.

Katamari Damacy

What’s a fun touchscreen device without a fun game? Katamari already exists as an iPhone app so it’ll scale up decently on the iPad. But given the advanced graphics of the iPad and the larger screen, a native iPad version is a must. If you’ve never played Katamari, check out this clip below.

iMovie

Call me crazy (it doesn’t hurt to be wishful) but the feasibility of an iMovie-like app is certainly within the realm of possibility. I would have never expected Apple to introduce video editing on the iPhone. Nevertheless, along with a video camera, the iPhone 3GS allows for simple video edits. Why couldn’t we have a larger implementation of this on the iPad, provided it gains a video camera at some point? With the larger screen, there’s plenty of room to view a larger timeline, add transitions or effects and with one tap, upload your masterpiece to YouTube.

iChat

I’m actually quite surprised this app still hasn’t made it to the iPhone yet, but as a platform that’s designed to be “the best way to experience the web, email, photos and video,” the iPad seems like the perfect device for iChat, especially if a future model gains a video camera.

Screen Sharing or Remote Desktop

There have been a number of third-party developers that have created similar apps for the iPhone, but I’m honestly shocked to see that Apple hasn’t implemented its own solution yet. With a larger screen and almost full-size keyboard, remotely accessing and interacting with other Macs on my network would be a breeze on the iPad.

Preview

While the iBooks application will open books that are in EPUB format, I’d love to see a more robust implementation of Preview available on the iPad (and iPhone). Specifically, an app that is capable of annotating PDF files and provides support for links within PDFs. Since I’m also an academic, some of the journals I read (as PDFs) contain bookmarks to other articles or chapters and currently, none of the built-in applications on the iPhone support interacting with them.

Hulu

I don’t care how it has to happen or if it involves Flash or not. Who doesn’t want Hulu on the iPad? Even if it required a small subscription, I would love to be able to access my Hulu queue on the go. Better yet, since the iPad is a closed system, the app could download and cache content so it wouldn’t necessarily have to be streamed in real time. This could be a great solution to save AT&T’s crowded bandwidth for 3G models and allow WiFi-only models to still play even if a network isn’t around. I’d pay for that; would you?

Bento/Filemaker

Now that we have iWork, how about a real implementation of Bento (or FileMaker if that’s not too much to ask)? The current iPhone version is pretty pathetic and really hard to use to manipulate larger databases. While FileMaker may be a stretch, I’d put serious money on seeing an iPad version of Bento before the year is out.

An Improved iTunes App

It looks as though the new iTunes app represents a step ahead of the current iPhone version, but there are still some missing features that would make this app a rock star on the iPad. Adding support for Internet radio, browsing my other libraries by Home Sharing or support for iTunes Extras and LPs would be amazing. Honestly, why hasn’t Apple announced support of iTunes Extras and LPs? The specs call for a viewing area of 1280×720 (the 720p high definition standard). They also call for building your iTunes Extras with what’s called a bleed graphic, or a graphic that can “fill in the extra space” if you’re viewing it at a size greater than 1280×720. Now given that as a way to compensate for a difference in aspect ratios, if you were to scale down an iTunes Extra for the 1024×768 display, wouldn’t it just make sense? Come on, if the Apple TV can do it (and we all know how excited Apple gets about that product), shouldn’t the iPad as well?

What are your thoughts on apps you’d like to see? Share your thoughts in the comments below. The great thing about Apple’s developer community is that they keep up with what’s discussed in the blogosphere. You never know; a developer might see your suggestions. So, share what you’d like to see on the iPad!

One of the interesting rumors that has come up after the official announcement of Apple’s event on the 27th is that a new version of iLife will also be announced there. Whether or not this rumor is accurate is less interesting than what an Apple tablet might mean for iLife.

As we all know iLife has been a key selling point for the Mac lineup ever since the first version was announced at Macworld in 2003. In many ways it epitomizes the difference between Macs and the competition, as iLife gives any Mac user easy to use and well-integrated tools to explore their creativity on a computer.

Whether iLife, or some version of it, will make it to an Apple tablet is a matter of debate, it depends on whether you think the tablet will be a complete computing platform or just a content-consumption device a la the iPhone. I tend to agree with John Gruber that what Apple is aiming for with the tablet is redefining the computing experience, that is replacing entry-level computers rather than complementing them. That leads me to believe that Apple will try to reproduce at least some of iLife on its tablet device, even if it’s just a matter of consistency in branding.

So what would that look like? Let’s look at each application in turn and consider what might be left in and what would be taken out.

iPhoto

In:
Thumbnail browsing is obvious and I imagine the event browsing view will also be a core feature. I also expect the editing features to remain intact, including non-destructive editing. Uploading to MobileMe, Facebook or Flickr will almost assuredly be included.

Out:
Faces may be the most obvious feature not to make it into iPhoto on a tablet due to its impact on the processor. Places might make it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it left out. I also expect the ability to create books, calendars etc. wouldn’t make it to a tablet.

GarageBand

In:
This one is tough, I frankly wouldn’t be surprised to see GarageBand left off a tablet entirely. That said if Apple does decide to put the iLife suite on the tablet it’s unlikely to pick and choose apps so what would GarageBand on a tablet do? I’d expect basic functionality, like trimming and arranging audio clips. Perhaps some fun effects and instruments that can be thrown in.

Out:
Don’t expect to be able to record and produce your own music on the tablet. GarageBand has always been one of the most impressive parts of iLife, I would not expect it to keep that badge on a tablet device.

iMovie

In:
At the very least simple trimming of clips will be in (see the iPhone). I also expect the ability to combine clips, add transitions and titles and perhaps even add your own music or voice-over. Uploading to YouTube or MobileMe will also definitely be included.

Out:
Advanced color editing and the ability to pull audio out from a video clip will probably not be included. I also wouldn’t expect the ability to import AVCHD files.

iWeb

In:
Like iPhoto, iWeb’s interface lends itself to a touch capable tablet device. It’s really just a drag and drop operation. Thus I expect most features of iWeb to make the transition to a tablet.

Out:
I wouldn’t expect the ability to export your site to a local folder as I don’t expect a tablet device to have much in the way of a file system. Other than that I can’t think of any major features that might be left out.

iDVD

In:
Ah, the red-stepchild of the iLife suite. Let’s be frank, there’s no way in heck anything resembling the current iDVD makes it to a tablet. That said there have been rumors of a re-worked iDVD that might become the publishing tool for things like iTunes LP. If that happens then some version might make it onto a tablet device.

Out:
Everything.

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iLife X

Probability: Guaranteed
When the last version of iLife launched, it adopted the moniker “iLife ’09.” Recently however, Apple has modified most of its website to drop the date from the title. Now simply called “iLife,” I wonder if Apple will be quick to release a new “yearly” iteration at the outset of 2010.

Based on previous versions, the next iteration of iLife will require Mac OS X 10.6. By requiring Snow Leopard, this does make iLife an Intel-only release. Though some users will be left behind, significant performance gains should be recognized by taking advantage of 64-bit technology included in Snow Leopard.

Within the apps themselves, I believe we’ll continue to see significant updates. Here’s the roundup.

iPhoto

Probability: Possible
The addition of Faces and Places to iPhoto ’09 was just the beginning. The next version of iPhoto will support more accurate facial recognition and integration with Twitter. Those who enjoy the photo slideshow themes that were added to the last version will enjoy a larger selection of new themes that will be added in the new version. I also predict that the next version will bring support for bulk renaming of files (similar to how Aperture can do this upon import) and better performance when dealing with larger libraries. I also predict revised or better photo editing controls with additional effects.

iMovie

Probability: Possible
I believe the next version of iMovie will boast support for posting videos directly to more Internet services, such as Facebook and Flickr. An expanded set of new themes as well as more advanced title options will be present as well. The user experience of the application will be refined, for those who are still frustrated by the intense switch from iMovie HD to the last two versions.

iDVD

Probability: Guaranteed
iDVD will likely see one of the most significant updates that it has ever seen in quite a while. 2010 will mark the beginning of new ways of enjoying media. From the possibility of the first out-of-the-box Blu-ray drives on the Mac to iTunes Extras & LPs to the elusive Apple Tablet, the presentation of digital content remains a key focus for Apple.

The next version of iDVD will help push this agenda forward, allowing users to create Blu-ray discs or optimize their video content into formats like iTunes Extras. Such a dramatic update would likely warrant changing the name of the application, but that’s also within the realm of possibility. iDVD has definitely been late to the party for the past two years, seeing only small maintenance updates. While many speculate that Apple plans to axe DVD creation altogether (foreseeing the death of the digital disc in favor of digital distribution), I believe Apple has been working on a successor application to take advantage of new forms of distribution (a la Blu-ray or iTunes Extras-styled media).

iWeb

Probability: Possible
iWeb is one of those apps that is difficult to pack full of compelling new features every year. I predict the next version of iWeb will support more themes and a few more widgets, including a widget that provides a live feed of your Twitter stream on your website.

GarageBand

Probability: Possible
GarageBand will likely see an expanded music lesson store with more artist lessons and lessons for drums and bass. I also predict Apple will make it easier to share GarageBand creations beyond iTunes and iWeb. Similar to the other apps, I believe we will see support for exporting to other web services such as Facebook or YouTube.

iWork X

Probability: Possible
I predict the biggest improvement to the iWork suite will be a tighter integration with the iPhone and iPod touch. On the short side, I see iWork.com coming to the iPhone as an app to allow quick browsing of documents. In an ideal world, Apple will eventually build lightweight mobile versions of its iWork apps to allow users to create and edit Pages, Keynote and Numbers files on the go.

I believe we’ll see an update to the “beta” of iWork.com, including a paid plan if Apple deems the project a huge success, or inclusion with MobileMe if Apple feels the product isn’t strong enough to stand on its own footing.

All three applications will see new templates and a refined Inspector palette. It seems very un-Apple like to mandate users bring up a palette for colors, a separate one for fonts, another for media and yet another master Inspector to control everything else. Additionally, I predict the Media Browser will be updated across all apps to support Faces and Places from iPhoto.

I also predict Pages will provide support for (or perhaps work directly with) third-party applications like bibliographic software such as Endnote or Refworks for academic publications.

iTunes

Probability: Guaranteed
iTunes is an interesting application as every version seems to bring about a large number of extra features that many people don’t expect, or at first glance, really need.

I predict the next major version of iTunes, iTunes 10, will bring support for syncing with the mythical iTablet, as well as better syncing support (including over the air syncing of content if on a Wi-Fi network). Furthermore, iTunes 10 should feature better support for managing larger libraries of content and the need to split those libraries across multiple hard drives in a simple but effective manner.

Conclusion

Finally, I’d like to see iWork and iLife dropping in price back to the familiar $49 from years past. In light of economic conditions and Apple’s vocal attempts of providing quality products to more and more users, a price drop seems wise as it would also help generate better market penetration.

Again, many of these predictions are pure speculation and hopes and dreams on my part. What do you think we’ll see in these areas over the coming year?

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Like many of you, most recorded footage of my youth was on those archaic black plastic things called VHS tapes. As the rest of society moves into the digital age, I’m facing a battle of preserving my childhood memories on something a little more robust and modern than 800 feet of mylar tape. With many video capturing solutions on the market, I settled on a new product by Elgato, called Video Capture.

As new formats for recording video footage come to market, the quality of these mediums greatly improves. Since the VHS system is considered “analog” and is composed of interlaced video, converting to a digital solution requires some special equipment. These breakout boxes work by allowing you to connect your device via some type of connector (depending on the quality of the box) and to your Mac via USB or FireWire.

Since we’re using the breakout box as an intermediary and there are three devices in the chain, there is a potential for less than stellar quality due to any number of reasons: the breakout box in particular, the video tape you’re capturing from, or the VCR deck itself. Considering most of these devices are in the same price range, they are probably all comparable in quality. (Though as you will read on the Internet, everyone has a different opinion as to which one is the best.)

Elgato’s solution, retailing for $99, is a very simple dongle that attaches either via composite or S-video to your device and via USB to your Mac. The biggest concern many have about these types of devices is the flexibility they will have with capturing their video. Elgato includes their own video capture software with their device, though it is quite simple. For many, this is all you will need.

Getting Started

When you start the software, you are asked simple questions about how you have chosen to connect your media device and the aspect ratio of your footage. For folks converting from VHS like me, you’ll want to pick 4:3. The video will be captured at 640×480 resolution.

The biggest oddity about the way the software functions is that before recording, it asks the user to determine the overall length of the recorded project. There are several options to choose from, at varying intervals from 10 to 180 minutes, each giving you an estimate of the final output size. You can stop recording at any point before your pre-set time has elapsed. If you have footage recorded in “EP” or “LP” modes, your tapes could have more than 3 hours of footage on them, making it awkward for bulk captures.

Recording

Once you begin recording, it is pretty much hit or miss. When you hit stop recording, the application is done and saves your file. For some, this may not be a concern as they plan to further split up clips or edit their footage in something like iMovie. Others may find this problematic if they are looking for a bit more control. Some of these concerns can be assuaged as the application does allow users to trim the start and end points of their captured footage.

After you stop recording, you have options within the software to instantly play the file in QuickTime, add it to iTunes, edit with iMovie or upload directly to YouTube. The videos are output in either H.264 or MPEG-4.

Based on the footage I have captured thus far, I have been quite impressed with Elgato’s solution. Sometimes the quality may not be the best but again, in my case, this is VHS we’re talking about. How many times in your home movies are there other concerns to worry about, like somebody panning the camera too fast?

I’m rating Elgato’s solution four out of five stars. Its software is simple and easy to use, and they included all of the cables I would need to plug its device directly into my VCR. The only cons are the limited in-application editing options and the awkward “time restrictions.” The good news is that these could easily be corrected with a future software update.

For some, they may criticize the lack of higher definition inputs, such as component video or HDMI, but these types of capture devices exist and are much pricier. It really just depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Why go overboard for something simple? As a quick and simple way to preserve VHS tapes, this is a great solution and feels a bit stronger than some of the other slightly cheaper options.

If you’ve had an opportunity to use the Elgato video capture or one of the other competitor products, let me know in the comments below.

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Icon Garden

Any discussion of Apple’s icon design should begin with a discussion of some of Apple’s most infamous 8-bit icons from its original GUI. Apple used to feature large versions of these in its icon garden at 1 Infinite Loop, however at some point around 1998, Apple removed the icons. Featured amongst the garden were classic icons, such as the eraser, hand, stopwatch, and even Clarus the Dogcow. (Moof!)

Check out how the paint bucket is "filling" the grass with green and the paint brush and pencil have just finished "creating" the flowers.

Whoa! The eraser is erasing the flowers!

Similar Colors

Depending on how cluttered your Dock is, you may or may not have noticed that the most prominent colors chosen by Apple for its icons is from the blue family. This trend was originally favored in Apple’s hardware (the original Bondi blue iMac, for instance). Associated with the sky or the ocean (a la OS X’s original UI codename Aqua), the blue also evokes a sense of stability, trust and calmness. (It really does make the infamous Blue Screen of Death a lot less harsh than if it were red.) It wasn’t until the release of Leopard that Apple shipped with a default desktop background that wasn’t blue.

Evolution of Icons

Some icons in OS X have evolved over time. Occasionally there may be some rhyme and reason to changing icons, such as the inclusion of the video camera for when iChat AV was originally launched, or the major redesign of iMovie between iMovie HD and iMovie ’08.

Other times, icons are seemingly changed sporadically, like the evolution of the iTunes icons. Originally every new version came with a new icon, but even that trend has wavered.

Other applications have also seen different icons with new versions, such as Backup, iDVD, iPhoto and Keynote. Though the Keynote icon has not seen a drastic change since Keynote ’08, the version that ships with iWork ’09 updates the date of the fourth-quarter report on the icon to Q4 2009.

Alternative Uses

Some icons depict their contents, such as the icon for a photo or a typeface. Other icons present users with dynamically updating information, such as the iCal icon which changes to reflect the current date. Other icons “change” by badges that indicate various information (unread emails, download speeds, etc.).

Another example are icons for exported vCards. If you have set them up in Address Book, they will export with their photo in the icon.

With the introduction of Snow Leopard this fall, users will once again begin to find new uses for icons, as the operating system allows users to preview media directly on the icon itself.

Bonus iPhone Icon

If you haven’t had a chance yet to take your iPhone or iPod touch into Starbucks, when you do, you’ll notice a new icon in your iTunes Store app. Specifically the Starbucks icon, and it is the only navbar icon on the device that exists in full color and not the usual masked blue color as typically seen.

Have you noticed any other unique or interesting icon changes or features?

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