By spring we'll see new versions of iLife and iWork, which will probably be dubbed iLife X and iWork X instead of iLife '10 and iWork '10. Like Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"), they'll be Intel-only and won't run on PowerPC Macs. And both suites will take advantage of Snow Leopard's 64-bit technology.
iPhoto X will beef up its facial recognition features, as well as add new themes and more functionality in editing photos and generating web galleries. iMovie and iWeb won't see any major changes, but will also add new themes and, in iMovie, more transitionx and titling options, as well. GarageBand add more artist lessons for more instruments. iTunes will add the ability to sync with the iPad/iTablet (more on that later). This device will also see the introduction of some new features to iTunes in regards to e-magazines and ebooks.
As for iWork X, iWork.com will come out of beta and Apple will promote it heavily along with iWork. iWork is a service Apple is developing to share iWork ’09 documents online. Using your Apple ID, just click the iWork.com icon in the Keynote, Pages or Numbers toolbar to upload your document and invite others to view it online. Viewers can provide comments and notes, and download a copy of your document in iWork, Microsoft Office or PDF formats. A consolidated online list of all your shared documents indicates when your viewers have posted comments.
Apple will also release iPhone and iPod touch versions of iWork X that will allow you to view and do some rudimentary editing of your Pages, Keynote and Numbers data on the handheld devices and sync those changes with your Mac.
Speaking of the iPad/iTablet, it will be introduced at a special Apple event on Jan. 26. At the time Apple will begin taking pre-orders, but the device won't ship until early March. It will have all the capabilities of the iPod touch, but will also support new features for ebooks and e-magazines. For example, you'll be able to subscribe to digital copies of newspaper and magazines and have them downloaded directly to your iPad/iTablet.
A wireless option will be available in conjunction with Verizon. However, there won't be a GPS feature. And the much-rumored Apple TV subscription service won't arrive until summer, so there'll be no support for that -- until the service is up and running.
The iPad/iTablet will be available in two versions: a seven-inch model for $500 and a 10-inch version (with more capacity) for $800. If (and this is a big IF) Apple allows you to dock it and use it as a computer, this could spell the end of the MacBook Air line.
Along the same lines, in the third quarter of 2010, Apple will also add Verizon as an iPhone carrier in the US, ending AT&T's exclusivity. In 2011, T-Mobile and Sprint will also join the fold. By mid-year, we'll see an iPhone offered with Toshiba's recently announced 64GB embedded flash memory module. And the Apple device will also finally get full security capabilities built-in to make it even more enticing to business users.
Making use of its Lala purchase, Apple will introduce iTunes Replay in early spring. The service will allow iTunes shoppers to build up a digital video collection (music, movies, TV shows, etc.) without having to worry about the intensive storage space involved. iTunes Replay would, per the rumors, stream music, TV shows and movies purchased on iTunes, so you wouldn't have to download them after purchasing, freeing up hard drive space.
Tomorrow I'll offer my iPod and Mac forecast.
