Appletell

Apple has updated its iLife ‘08 applications and accompanying software. The updates are available for download from Apple’s Web site, and can also be downloaded through the Mac Software Update tool.

The new versions are as follows:

• iWeb 2.0.4
• iLife Support 8.3
• iMovie 7.1.4
• iPhoto 7.1.4

Additional info after the break.

MORE »

Smilebox, Inc., a leader in photo-sharing technology, has launched Smilebox for Mac giving Mac customers an easy and compelling way to share their photos and videos. Mac users can extend their iPhoto and iTunes experience by mixing their photos, videos and music with hundreds of interactive Smilebox designs, including scrapbooks, greetings, slideshows, photobooks and postcards. Smilebox also provides Mac customers with new ways to share their media: they can share creations via email, post to a blog, website or social network, or print, all in a matter of minutes.

Details after the break.

MORE »

For those with fledgling Apple lovers at home, put this in your iCal. The schedule for this summer’s Apple Camp has been announced by Apple. If you have a child between ages 8 and 12, be sure to snag one of the free (but limited) spaces for lessons on the creative aspects of a Mac, such as how to create a good Keynote presentation, how to capture, manage, and edit shots in iPhoto, how to make custom music in GarageBand, and videography tips with iMovie. 

Registration is open now, so be sure to claim a spot ASAP.  Sessions last three hours and include a shirt, field guide, DVDs and CDs of your child’s masterpieces, along with other goodies picked up during giveaways along the way. Register at Apple.

Via [TUAW]

How can you really show your mom that you love her this Mother’s Day?  With an Apple product, of course!  So if you’re wondering what you can get for the rapidly approaching May 11th, look no more, you can find it all here!

1) Mom’s love photos and memories, so get her an Apple photo book! You know how the saying goes, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” Gather up all those old memories from this year and put them together in a nice, high quality book that your mother can cherish forever.  Plus, Apple is making it even easier with 20% of photo books just by using the promo code “LoveMom.” Just make sure you order in time so the books makes it for Mother’s Day.

2) Introduce them to the tech world with an iPod Shuffle! Only $49 and coming in five separate colors, an iPod Shuffle is the perfect way to show your mom you love her.  You can load it with all of her favorites songs before you give it to her and really make her smile, too!  Not only that, but they are extremely portable, light weight, and make for good fashion statements.

3) Keep in touch with a new Mac!:  If money isn’t a factor, go ahead and get her a new computer.  With the iSight camera and Leopard, it is easier than ever to have a great time video chatting.  She will thinks it’s awesome and you’ll have fun doing it, what more could you ask for on Mother’s Day?

4) If home made is more your style, use iLife! All Macs come with great pre-installed editing software.  If you want to give your mom something truly from the heart, make her a movie or slideshow with her favorites pictures and clips.  They love to see that you took the time to create something wonderful for them.

5) If your mom already has all the above, give her the gift of Apple with a gift card!:  Whether it be for iTunes or the store, everyone loves have the freedom to spend their money one what they want.  Get your mother a gift card and allow her to choose something for herself.  You can always find something at the Apple Store to spend some money on.

If you’re a user of Aperture and like to shoot your photos in RAW format, you should install Apple’s latest software update. Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.0 brings extended support for RAW images to Apple’s Aperture and iPhoto ‘08 photo-organising software. The update includes support to the following new digital SLR cameras:

• Hasselblad CFV-16
• Hasselblad H3D-31
• Hasselblad H3D-31II
• Leaf Aptus 54S
• Leaf Aptus 65S
• Nikon D60
• Olympus E-3
• Pentax *ist DL2
• Pentax *ist DS2
• Pentax K100D Super
• Sony DSLR-A200
• Sony DSLR-A350

The update is only a 2MB download from either Software Update or Apple’s website, it doesn’t require a system restart either. If you have any of the new cameras mentioned above, this update will be necessary to you. Otherwise, you could just ignore it.

Apple has officially launched a “Find Out How” section of their website, seemingly aimed at Windows switchers. It is an expansion of the few video tutorials that were seen at the bottom of Apple.com’s Mac page. The page features video tutorials on basic Mac actions, such as “Moving to Mac,” the “Anatomy of Mac” in which the dock, menu bar, etc. are explained.

Tabs at the top of the webpage allow the visitor to choose tutorials related to Photos, Movies, Web, Music, and Documents, which basically collect the tutorials already available for iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, GarageBand, and iWork, respectively.

Unfortunately, as with the great “Switch 101” page detailing how to do things on a Mac vs. Windows, this page is a little bit hidden. With as many pages as apple.com has, it is impossible to make every page accessible, but some pages are inexplicably hard to find (for instance, finding the brick and mortar Apple Store directory page is nearly impossible unless you are looking for light grey size 2 text at the very bottom of the website.)

Picasa has been a popular and successful photo organizing tool from Google, for Windows, for a long time now. I guess Google never thought about bringing it to the Mac because, let’s face it, iPhoto has everything you need already. I was surprised when I heard that Google is going to launch a Mac version of Picasa. I’m not so sure this app will do so well - seeing as the majority of Mac users will either use iPhoto or Aperture to manage their photo libraries. And as for online photo storage, Flickr and .Mac seem to be popular amongst Mac users. But then again, they brought Google Desktop to the Mac - a direct competitor with one of Tiger and Leopard’s most notable features.

Duncan Riley of TechCrunch was lucky enough at the Macworld Expo this year to dig out the truth out of an unexperienced Google employee. It “is under development and will be launched later this year”. I guess I can’t complain about a product that isn’t launched yet. For Windows users, it’s probably the best application for free. But if you have the latest version of iPhoto, I can’t see a reason to switch.

Via [MacUser]

2008 is just around the corner, and what a better gift to give than to share all the memories you had just days ago. Apple’s renowned photo books and calendars are on sale until February 29th. The codes are good for both items created in iPhoto and Aperture, and will save you a decent 20%. If you’re purchasing a photo book, use the code NAWinterBook08, and if you’re purchasing a calendar, use the code NAWinterCal08. Remember, that’s 20% off your purchase, and it’s good until February 29th.

Via [TUAW]

It seems that Apple was under a tight dateline with the development of iLife ‘08, judging from the number of updates in the past 2 weeks. We’ve already seen patches and updates for iPhoto, iMovie and iWeb. Unfortunately, iPhoto seems to be the buggiest of the lot, because there’s another patch (version 7.0.2) waiting for you.

MORE »

If you haven’t already seen the new features in iPhoto 08 in action then take a look at this brief but useful video from Glenn Wolsey. Events looks particularly useful, and the way in which you can quickly see how adjustments would effect your photograph is very cool.

While you are there check out his other stuff, and I am sure that we will see more on iLife 08 from Glenn soon. Glenn Wolsey is a very popular Apple blogger who has been around for a little while now, this jump to video is definitely interesting as we value his opinions as he has some good ones.

Updated: Glenn has also added a video on iWeb.

Watch [The Glenn Wolsey Show]