The new model doesn’t plug into the wall like the old one. Instead, it looks just like an Apple TV, and even has the exact same dimensions, but comes in white instead of the Apple TV’s black. The back of the device features two Ethernet ports (one WAN, one LAN), a USB port and an analog/optical audio jack for speakers.

Among the new features of the device are support for simultaneous dual-band 802.11n, which means you can use both the 2.4GHz wireless band and the faster 5GHz band at the same time. AirTunes has been replaced with AirPlay, so you can send songs to an AirPort Express from your iPhone or iPad as well as your Mac. Also, if you have more than one AirPort Express connected to speakers, music can be played on all of them at the same time, which is pretty neat. (Update: Sorry, playing music on multiple speakers at once isn’t a new feature, as pointed out by a commenter. Sending songs to an AirPort from an iPhone or iPad also isn’t new, but is only supported on last-generation models that have 802.11n.)

The new AirPort Express is available now for $100. Now we’re left wondering when the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule will get updates, or if they’ve gone the way of the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

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The top of this list would probably be the Apple TV, but recent rumors of an imminent refresh of the device, perhaps built on iOS, has bumped the “hobby” project in favor of some other devices and features that are waiting for a little love from Apple.

Airport Express

The Airport Express was last updated in March 2008 when Apple added 802.11n capabilities. The Airport Express was the first device to sport AirTunes remote speakers so you could play iTunes audio in another room, but it is the last device to still have 100baseT ethernet. When 802.11n can hit transfer speeds of 150-300 megabits, it seems silly to be bottlenecked at 100 megabits on the ethernet side. The Airport Express would also benefit from AirDisk support in addition to the printer facilities it currently provides through the USB port. Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi as found in the Airport Extreme would also be a nice update.

30″ Cinema Display

[inline-ad align="right"]A lot has already been said about the lack of updates to the 30″ Cinema Display, introduced in June 2004. The 30-incher is still a great display, but the newer 24″ LED Cinema Display sports a lot of upgraded technology that needs to make its way into the 30″ model too. The 30″ is crying out to be updated with LED backlighting and Mini DisplayPort inputs. I know it is a bit un-Apple-like, but I would really like to see multiple HDMI and Mini DisplayPort inputs so that the next 30″ display could be connected to a MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and/or a Blu-ray player, game console, etc. While we’re at it, both displays could use an upgrade to a higher resolution iSight sensor and Firewire 800 connectors.

Front Row

Front Row is not exactly a product, but this feature of Mac OS X provides a 10 foot interface for your iTunes content. Unfortunately, it has not been updated since Mac OS X 10.5 in November 2007. Front Row does not even understand newer content like iTunes U or iTunes Extras. The new interface on the Apple TV introduced with version 3 would be a good place to start, but frankly the whole thing could be redone. Adam Jackson pointed out to me that a new Front Row would be great for the Mac mini because the new HDMI output makes it the perfect Mac to connect to an HDTV — where you actually need an interface that you can use from across the room with a remote.

Apple Remote Desktop

Speaking of remotes, Apple Remote Desktop is supremely useful for managing large numbers of Macs in a school or enterprise setting. But the last major update was April 2006 and has only seen three minor updates since then, the most recent coming out last summer which consisted of bug fixes and sending function keys to the remote machine.

Apple TV

OK, I know I said I was going to leave this alone since the Apple TV update is rumored to be coming soon. Still, I love my Apple TV and I have to point out a few things that need updating in the next release. Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n at 5GHz, 1080p video,  HDMI bitstreaming of advanced audio codecs, and support for iTunes U are a few of the features that I really want to see in the next Apple TV.

Other Thoughts

• I know the Finder has been a frequent contestant on these lists of things to be updated but I am never sure if anyone really knows what needs to be done. Most of the Finder wishlists I have seen look like notes from the Norton Commander fan club, but there might be something here.
• iTunes Home Sharing should evolve into a more general iTunes content server.
• It is great that iBooks 1.1 lets you read ePUB and PDF files on your iPad and iPhone, but iBooks for Mac is still missing and publishers cannot submit PDF books to the iBookstore.
• Geoffrey Goetz wants to know why you can control presentations on your Mac with Keynote Remote, but not presentations on your iPad.
• Andy Boothe wants key rebindings for every feature in Mac OS X.
• Chris Ryan wants consistent features across the iPod lineup — cameras from the nano, voice over and speech from the shuffle.

What Else?

I have probably only touched the surface of Apple products and features that have been languishing. What products or features do you want to see Apple update this year?

I recently hooked up an Airport Express with speakers connected so that I could stream music to it from any of my computers. When I purchased it, I didn’t realize that by default OS X only lets you stream music from iTunes to it, not any application. I wanted to stream music over the internet through Firefox, and felt dead in the water until I found Airfoil.

With Airfoil you can take audio from any application and send to your AirPort Express units, as well as Apple TVs, and even other Macs and PCs running Airfoil Speakers! Transmit audio from RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, QuickTime Player, and other media players. Send audio from web-based applications like Pandora, Last.fm, and more. You can even stream audio from audio devices like RadioSHARK, XM and Sirius radios, all around your house.

The description on the website sounded very promising, so I downloaded it and gave it a whirl. After the install I fired up Airfoil, which found my Airport Express and its attached speakers immediately.

To stream music with any program to an Airport Express with Airfoil:

1. Click the speaker button next to the name of Airport express. The status word “Available” should now read “Active.”
2. Select the program from the drop down menu that you want to hear on your speakers.



3. Give it whirl! You should now hear audio from the program you selected over your wireless speakers

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