Apple put on show
at Stanford-area expo with Intel-based processors
This
week, Mac aficionados descended on San Francisco's Moscone center for Macworld,
the one-week expo concerned with everything Apple. The conference floor buzzed
with life. As flabby programmers flirted with young female trade reps, iPod
gizmos and gadgets vied for space among rows of gleaning new Intel-based
laptops. Apple put on an impressive show.
The Macworld expo offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on some of Apple's new innovations. Mac users will benefit from the new Intel processor and an overhaul of the iLife software suite. The rest of the world may appreciate some lesser-known progress that Apple has made over the past few months to bring H.264 -- a new, high-quality video standard -- to the Internet.
Bait and Switch
The biggest news from the conference was that Apple has switched away from IBM's PowerPC processor a new line of Intel-based processors. This has been a long anticipated transition, but most doubted that Apple would release the new Intel machines so early.
For years, Apple used IBM's PowerPC processor to run its computers. Rumors abounded that the IBM processor wasn't up to par with the more efficient Intel processor in PC computers and laptops. Although Apple made progress by releasing a new iMac with a faster IBM G5 processor, Apple's premiere laptop line -- the PowerBook -- was stuck with a slower G4 processor. Pundits speculated that the G5 processor was too power hungry and dissipated too much heat to fit into the sleek body of a PowerBook.
All of that changed when Apple's Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs unveiled a new, faster iMac and a Powerbook renamed the MacBookPro. While the iMac looks unchanged and the MacBookPro retains its shiny aluminum casing and translucent Apple logo, both computers now run off of a new Intel Dual Core Duo processor. Apple claims the processor is up to four times faster than its predecessors. Both computers have a built-in iSight Web camera with remote control, and the laptop comes with a nifty, trip-proof magnetic power cord.
After toying around with the new laptop, I think Mac users will be pleased. It is everything the old laptops were -- but faster.
Do I Stay or Do I Go Now?
If you're looking to buy a Mac, you should jump in now and get the new Intel machines. Buying a G5 or G4 machine now would be a mistake, as the Intel processors are clearly the wave of the future.
But if you already own a Mac, there's no need to toss out your old G4 laptop just yet. The new Intel machines don't benefit from their fast processors when running most external software such as Microsoft Word. For the time being, these programs are run through a translator called Rosetta that allows the old PowerPC software to speak to the new Intel processor. Until Microsoft and Adobe release new versions of their software specifically designed for the Intel Apples, Mac users should not feel compelled to give up their current machines.
Lights, Camera, Action
For the 96 percent of computer users who don't choose Apple, the new Intel Macs don't really change much. Apple, however, has made some quieter adjustments to which Mac and non-Mac users alike should pay attention.
Apple, for example, is pushing the new H.264 video standard which shows promise at becoming a de facto standard for video on the Web.
For years, no one could agree on any format for sending video. Browsing the Web always seemed to require at least three video players, including Apple's Quicktime, Microsoft's Windows Media Player and Real Network's Real Player.
H dot what?
Although they all try to accomplish the same thing, not all video algorithms -- or codecs -- are equal. Stupid codecs send a series of pictures one after another and the computer displays it. Smarter codecs use high-level tricks to save themselves from sending images. For instance, a clever codec will send one image and then tell the computer how to change it, over time. Rather than send a new image, a codec might say, "move this clump of pixels over" or "make everything darker." It also might send more information to parts of the video that has lots of action and less to parts that have dark shadows. These higher-level directives save precious network bandwidth and allow the codec to cram more information and bigger images at better resolutions down the same Internet connection.
Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to agree on a clever way for sending video in a wide range of situations. Microsoft's Windows Media 9 codec came very close, but it was closed-source and only Microsoft knew how it works. MPEG-2 worked well for DVDs and HDTV broadcasts but it didn't work well for streaming. This past year, however, the international standards body ITU-T finalized the H.264 standard -- a very robust video codec that uses all the tricks in the book to send high quality video through slow connections.
One Standard to Rule them All
H.264 could finally be the one standard for video that almost everyone will use. H.264 is already widely used in the video surveillance industry and it's a required standard on both new HDTV-DVD formats. Thanks to Apple's inclusion in Quicktime 7, H.264 is also gaining traction online.
To see for yourself, download Apple's Quicktime 7 at http://quicktime.com or grab VLC at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. Then head to http://apple.com/trailers/ and check out a movie trailer in H.264. One of the advantages of H.264 is that the algorithm works on a wide range of screen sizes from HDTV resolution down to an iPod. On my tests, H.264 looks pristine with almost lossless video quality even though it compresses to sizes comparable to low quality DivX or MPEG videos.
For a real treat, see Sony's Bravia advertisement at http://bravia-advert.com. Watch in vivid color as a quarter million super-balls bounce down San Francisco hills. Then check out the "Behnid the Scenes" footage to see how they did it. Both of these videos are in H.264 and in both cases, the quality makes the video.
Unfortunately, H.264 is not for the light of heart. Compression comes at a cost. You'll need at least a fairly recent computer to watch H.264 video. My old PowerMac G4 444Mhz lacks the computing power to play H.264 in realtime.
A new Intel iMac, however, will have no problems. Once again Apple puts on an impressive show.
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The Macworld expo offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on some of Apple's new innovations. Mac users will benefit from the new Intel processor and an overhaul of the iLife software suite. The rest of the world may appreciate some lesser-known progress that Apple has made over the past few months to bring H.264 -- a new, high-quality video standard -- to the Internet.
Bait and Switch
The biggest news from the conference was that Apple has switched away from IBM's PowerPC processor a new line of Intel-based processors. This has been a long anticipated transition, but most doubted that Apple would release the new Intel machines so early.
For years, Apple used IBM's PowerPC processor to run its computers. Rumors abounded that the IBM processor wasn't up to par with the more efficient Intel processor in PC computers and laptops. Although Apple made progress by releasing a new iMac with a faster IBM G5 processor, Apple's premiere laptop line -- the PowerBook -- was stuck with a slower G4 processor. Pundits speculated that the G5 processor was too power hungry and dissipated too much heat to fit into the sleek body of a PowerBook.
All of that changed when Apple's Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs unveiled a new, faster iMac and a Powerbook renamed the MacBookPro. While the iMac looks unchanged and the MacBookPro retains its shiny aluminum casing and translucent Apple logo, both computers now run off of a new Intel Dual Core Duo processor. Apple claims the processor is up to four times faster than its predecessors. Both computers have a built-in iSight Web camera with remote control, and the laptop comes with a nifty, trip-proof magnetic power cord.
After toying around with the new laptop, I think Mac users will be pleased. It is everything the old laptops were -- but faster.
Do I Stay or Do I Go Now?
If you're looking to buy a Mac, you should jump in now and get the new Intel machines. Buying a G5 or G4 machine now would be a mistake, as the Intel processors are clearly the wave of the future.
But if you already own a Mac, there's no need to toss out your old G4 laptop just yet. The new Intel machines don't benefit from their fast processors when running most external software such as Microsoft Word. For the time being, these programs are run through a translator called Rosetta that allows the old PowerPC software to speak to the new Intel processor. Until Microsoft and Adobe release new versions of their software specifically designed for the Intel Apples, Mac users should not feel compelled to give up their current machines.
Lights, Camera, Action
For the 96 percent of computer users who don't choose Apple, the new Intel Macs don't really change much. Apple, however, has made some quieter adjustments to which Mac and non-Mac users alike should pay attention.
Apple, for example, is pushing the new H.264 video standard which shows promise at becoming a de facto standard for video on the Web.
For years, no one could agree on any format for sending video. Browsing the Web always seemed to require at least three video players, including Apple's Quicktime, Microsoft's Windows Media Player and Real Network's Real Player.
H dot what?
Although they all try to accomplish the same thing, not all video algorithms -- or codecs -- are equal. Stupid codecs send a series of pictures one after another and the computer displays it. Smarter codecs use high-level tricks to save themselves from sending images. For instance, a clever codec will send one image and then tell the computer how to change it, over time. Rather than send a new image, a codec might say, "move this clump of pixels over" or "make everything darker." It also might send more information to parts of the video that has lots of action and less to parts that have dark shadows. These higher-level directives save precious network bandwidth and allow the codec to cram more information and bigger images at better resolutions down the same Internet connection.
Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to agree on a clever way for sending video in a wide range of situations. Microsoft's Windows Media 9 codec came very close, but it was closed-source and only Microsoft knew how it works. MPEG-2 worked well for DVDs and HDTV broadcasts but it didn't work well for streaming. This past year, however, the international standards body ITU-T finalized the H.264 standard -- a very robust video codec that uses all the tricks in the book to send high quality video through slow connections.
One Standard to Rule them All
H.264 could finally be the one standard for video that almost everyone will use. H.264 is already widely used in the video surveillance industry and it's a required standard on both new HDTV-DVD formats. Thanks to Apple's inclusion in Quicktime 7, H.264 is also gaining traction online.
To see for yourself, download Apple's Quicktime 7 at http://quicktime.com or grab VLC at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. Then head to http://apple.com/trailers/ and check out a movie trailer in H.264. One of the advantages of H.264 is that the algorithm works on a wide range of screen sizes from HDTV resolution down to an iPod. On my tests, H.264 looks pristine with almost lossless video quality even though it compresses to sizes comparable to low quality DivX or MPEG videos.
For a real treat, see Sony's Bravia advertisement at http://bravia-advert.com. Watch in vivid color as a quarter million super-balls bounce down San Francisco hills. Then check out the "Behnid the Scenes" footage to see how they did it. Both of these videos are in H.264 and in both cases, the quality makes the video.
Unfortunately, H.264 is not for the light of heart. Compression comes at a cost. You'll need at least a fairly recent computer to watch H.264 video. My old PowerMac G4 444Mhz lacks the computing power to play H.264 in realtime.
A new Intel iMac, however, will have no problems. Once again Apple puts on an impressive show.
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