The update is available free for existing Apple TV owners by selecting the “Update Software” option under the “Settings” menu. The update takes around 10 minutes to download and another 10 minutes to install.

DVD quality movie rentals are available for $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, high-definition versions come in at just $1 more for both library and new releases.

Movies can be kept for 30 days, but expire within 24 hours of playback beginning.

A guided tour of the new Apple TV is available on the Apple website.

The first video entitled “Boom” is a quick run down of the trip to San Francisco, the keynote line and the keynote itself.

• Download iPod compatible format (59MB)
• Download High Quality video (75MB)

The second video called “Expo” highlights the Macworld show floor, including some brief interviews with some of the exhibitors.

• Download iPod compatible format (55MB)
• Download High Quality video (74MB)

As promised, as a followup to our whirlwind tour of the South hall, here is a tour of the West Hall.

The West hall consists mainly of the smaller booths but does offer up a great collection of gaming booths and a fantastic area for Mac and iPhone developers.

View the gallery

Macworld magazine editors Jason Snell and Jim Dalrymple present Best of Show 2008

This year the show created mixed reactions with some being disappointed with the lack of beta and non-shipping products.

At this years Macworld Best of Show awards 11 products won, and here they are:

• Photoshop Elements 6
• Vector Designer
• Parallels Server
• An NEC 30-inch MultiSync LCD
• The MacBook Air
• Eye-Fi wireless SD card
• Guitar Hero III for Mac
• Dictate from MacSpeech
• Flow from GridIron
• BusySync
• OmniFocus

Congratulations to all the winners from World of Apple.

This years Macworld Expo in San Francisco is split into two separated halls, the Moscone South and Moscone West. Both halls are packed with over 400 companies between them making this the biggest Macworld in many years.

This gallery of over 100 photos is a tour of the South hall, West hall tour coming tomorrow.

View the gallery

Possibly the most interesting point to come out of the interview was the fact that Apple is not in a contentious relationship with China Mobile.

Jobs sat down with David Pogue and John Markoff for half-an-hour, when speaking of the MacBook Air Jobs said;

“I’m going to be the first one in line to buy one of these,”…”I’ve been lusting after this.”

According to the Apple CEO, designers went through around 100 design prototypes to find the right “form.”

He and Jonathan Ive were worried that they’d be unable to “fit the computer into the package that they came up with.”

When talking of Amazon’s Kindle Steve Jobs simpl stated that it was floored due to the fact that people simply don’t read anymore.

It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

On Google Android Jobs stated;

“Having created a phone its a lot harder than it looks,” he said. “We’ll see how good their software is and we’ll see how consumers like it and how quickly it is adopted.”

Finally when talking of Bill Gates and his imminent retirement from Microsoft this Summer Jobs said;

“Bill’s retiring from Microsoft is a big deal.” “It’s a significant event, and I think he should be honored for the contributions he’s made.”

Here are a selection of photos of Apple’s Booth at this years Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Apple has a very large table featuring around 40 MacBook Air’s, there are also three tables of iPod touch’s and iPhones as well as desks with Apple TV units on and some Mac Pro’s.

View the gallery

Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveil Apple’s latest innovations at the Macworld 2008 Conference in San Francisco, California. See the video-on-demand event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.

During the keynote Steve Jobs announced the following:

• MacBook Air
• iTunes Movie Rentals
• Time Capsule
• iPhone software update
• iPod touch software update

After the Macworld 2008 keynote presentation Steve Jobs showed of the MacBook Air to press and we caught some celebrities on film.

View the gallery

Apple’s Steve Jobs shows off the MacBook Air, refreshed Apple TV, iTunes Movie Store Rentals and the latest iPod touch and iPhone software at the 2008 Macworld Keynote.

View the gallery

“These amazing new mobile applications make iPod touch not only the best iPod, but the best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With its revolutionary touch interface and software, plus its stunning 3.5 inch screen, iPod touch is evolving into the first mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform of the 21st century.”

Mail on iPod touch is a rich HTML email client that fetches email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and graphics along with the text of the email. Users can configure Mail for Google’s Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, .Mac Mail or most POP or IMAP based mail services with just a few clicks.

Maps on iPod touch features the ability to automatically find your current location using nearby Wi-Fi base stations*, and use it as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. Users can get real-time traffic conditions, and view maps in map or satellite view, or a hybrid view which combines map and satellite views so you can see major street names overlaid on satellite imagery.

Stocks and Weather allow users to access live stock and weather reports at their fingertips, and Notes lets you jot down information on-the-go using the intelligent keyboard.

The iPod touch home screen can now be customized, allowing users to reorder and add new icons, with support for up to nine different home screens which they can easily flick between. With the new Web Clips feature, you can even create custom icons on your home screen for your favorite websites. Web Clips are a great way to easily track web sites that you frequently check such as news, blogs, sports sites, movie listings and more.

With Apple’s new iTunes Movie Rentals, movie fans can rent movies on their computer, easily and quickly transfer them to their iPod touch, and watch them anywhere on iPod touch’s gorgeous 3.5 inch screen. Users can also now navigate forward or backward through their movies by chapters, select alternate language tracks and view subtitles, if available.

The software upgrade for iPod touch is available immediately. New iPod touch products shipping from the factory will include the software upgrade and existing iPod touch customers can get the software upgrade for $19.99 by purchasing and downloading it from iTunes.

The free software update for iPhone allows users to automatically find their location using the redesigned Maps application; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for their favorite websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the new iTunes Movie Rentals right on their iPhone. With its revolutionary multi-touch user interface and pioneering software, users can easily add significant new features to their iPhone through software updates whenever an update becomes available. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes

“iPhone doesn’t stand still—we’re making it better and better all the time,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve delighted millions of users with this revolutionary and magical product and it’s great to share these improvements with them.”

Maps, one of the most popular and helpful applications on iPhone, has a new interface that is simpler and easier to use and adds incredible new features such as the ability to find your location automatically. With just the tap of a button, iPhone can now triangulate your position using nearby Wi-Fi base stations or cellular towers. You can use this as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. The new hybrid map view combines map view and satellite view so you can see major street names overlaid on satellite imagery.

Users can now create Web Clips—icons on the home screen that take you directly to your favorite websites, including to the exact spot you have zoomed into. Web Clips are a great way to easily track websites that you frequently check such as news, blogs, sports sites and movie listings. In addition, users can now customize their home screen by repositioning any of the icons, and even create up to nine different home screens that they can easily flick between.

iPhone’s new software update also adds the ability to send the same SMS text message to multiple people, and iPhone saves a history of your text messages, so with one tap you can send a new message to the same group.

With Apple’s new iTunes Movie Rentals, movie fans can rent movies on their computer, easily and quickly transfer them to their iPhone, and watch them anywhere on iPhone’s gorgeous 3.5 inch screen. Users can also now navigate forward or backward through their movies by chapters, select alternate language tracks and view subtitles, if available.

The iPhone software update 1.1.3 is available immediately for free via iTunes 7.5 or later for all existing iPhone customers in the US, UK, Germany and France.

“iTunes Movie Rentals instantly brings great movies from all the major studios directly to your iPod, iPhone, TV or computer—without having to drive to the video store or wait for DVDs to arrive in the mail,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Movie lovers can now discover and enjoy movies as simply and easily as music lovers discover and enjoy music today on iTunes.”

“Apple has created an incredibly easy and innovative way to rent and enjoy movies,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “Millions of movie lovers will be able to watch wonderful movies from Fox and the other major studios whenever and wherever they want, be it on their computer, TV, iPod or iPhone.”

Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it—or watch it multiple times.

iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only and are $2.99 (US) for library titles and $3.99 (US) for new releases, and high definition versions are priced just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 (US) and new releases at $4.99 (US).

“With the new Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rentals, movie lovers can rent DVD-quality or stunning HD movies from their couch with just a click of a button,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “No more driving to the video store or waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail.”

iTunes Movie Rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movie rentals as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes. Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it—or watch it multiple times.

With Apple TV, users can also view photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac, they are automatically updated on Apple TV. Apple TV users can now browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 125,000 video and audio podcasts, view over 50 million originally created videos from YouTube or choose from a selection of six million songs, over 600 TV shows and 10,000 music videos to purchase directly from their Apple TV. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, all current generation iPods or iPhone.

The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers later this month. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple Store for a price of $229 (US) for the 40GB model and $329 (US) for the 160GB model (US and Canada). Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

“Bring Time Capsule home, plug it in, click a few buttons on your Macs and voila—all the Macs in your house are being backed up automatically, every hour of every day,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With Time Capsule and Time Machine, all your irreplaceable photos, movies and documents are automatically protected and incredibly easy to retrieve if they are ever lost.”

Built to work seamlessly with Time Machine, Time Capsule lets users wirelessly back up all of the data on their Macs, find lost files and even restore all of their software. In the event a file is lost, users can wirelessly search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file. If it’s ever necessary, Leopard can also easily restore an entire system from the Time Machine backup on Time Capsule.

At $299 for a 500GB model and $499 for a 1TB model and a fully integrated 802.11n AirPort Extreme® Base Station, Time Capsule can serve as a backup solution for multiple computers as well as the backbone for a high-speed, 802.11n wireless network, making it effortless and affordable for everyone at home, school or work to protect their digital files.

Additional Time Capsule features include:

• dual-band antennas for 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequencies;
• three Gigabit LAN ports;
• one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA-2), 128-bit WEP encryption; and
• a built-in NAT firewall supporting NAT-PMP for features like Back to My Mac.

Time Capsule will be available in February.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air is the world’s thinnest notebook. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.

“We’ve built the world’s thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.”

MacBook Air has a vibrant 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display that is energy efficient, and its spacious trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe, making it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages in Safari. MacBook Air features a full-size keyboard design in a sleek and durable aluminum enclosure. The backlit keyboard makes it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls, and a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility.

MacBook Air delivers up to five hours of battery life for wireless productivity and includes AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, which delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. Apple’s Migration Assistant software now enables users to quickly transfer files, applications and preferences from your old Mac to MacBook Air right over your wireless network.

MacBook Air users can buy the companion MacBook Air SuperDrive, a compact external drive designed for MacBook Air, for just $99. The MacBook Air SuperDrive is powered by MacBook Air’s USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter. Many MacBook Air users will not find a need for an optical drive now that they can wirelessly rent movies from the iTunes Store, wirelessly backup files with Time Capsule and access the optical drives on remote PCs or Macs to wirelessly install software applications on MacBook Air.

MacBook Air is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz, and includes as standard 2GB of memory and an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive. An optional 64GB solid state drive contains no moving parts for added durability. Every MacBook Air includes a micro-DVI port so users can connect to Apple’s gorgeous 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays to extend their desktop or connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adapters. MacBook Air includes USB 2.0 for plugging in peripherals or charging an iPod or iPhone™, a headphone jack and Apple’s acclaimed MagSafe Power Adapter designed especially for mobile users.

“One of the most requested features DVD buyers have been asking for is the ability to get the movies they bought into their iTunes library,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to offer such an incredibly simple way for our customers to get even more out of their DVD purchase, and we look forward to releasing many more DVDs this year with iTunes Digital Copy.”

“Now movie fans can easily transfer a free copy of the movie they purchase on DVD into iTunes,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “DVDs containing an iTunes Digital Copy allow movie fans to get a copy of their movie which can be viewed on a computer, iPod, iPhone or on Apple TV.”

The new iTunes Digital Copy provides a consumer friendly way to transfer a DVD purchase to a user’s iTunes library. Once a customer buys the DVD, they insert it into their computer, enter a unique code into iTunes and iTunes automatically copies the movie to their iTunes library within minutes. Customers own the iTunes Digital Copy of the movie and it has all of the same great viewing options as other iTunes Store video content, including the ability to be viewed on a computer, iPod with video, iPhone and Apple TV. Each DVD will only transfer its iTunes Digital Copy to one iTunes library.

The media have arrived in droves at this years Macworld 2008 keynote line, the only time such a media presence has been here was last year at the launch of the iPhone.

The keynote line currently wraps half a block around the Moscone West building, estimated to be around 400-500 people.

View the gallery.

The line for Steve Jobs’ keynote presentation has begun with Matt and Sidney from TheiLife.com upfront.

As of 9.00pm PST the line is around 30 people long but expected to grow rapidly at around 2 in the morning.

View the gallery.

MacBook Mockup

A source disclosed to the blog that the MacBook (not Air) is a tapered design, thicker at the top behind the screen, thinning towards the edges.

“It’s unbelievably thin,” said the source.

The MacBook is said to be aluminium and glass, the blog has posted mockups based on the information they recieved.

One commentor on World of Apple has pointed us to a page which purports to have screenshot of the MacBook Air specifications page on Apple.com

The blog posting reads:

With MacWorld just a few days away… we were watching the Apple Store website, and our vigilance paid off.

Having “been there done that” we quickly took a screenshot. SNAP. And good thinking too. All gone 23 minutes later.

The teaser also promises that the Keynote will be available to view tomorrow afternoon at Apple.com.

Follow the keynote live here at World of Apple.

Admin Street1: 303 Second Street
Admin Street2: Suite 800N
Admin City: San Francisco
Admin State/Province: CA

‘macbookair.com’ is currently showing as a private WHOIS record so is not showing any address but ‘macbookair.us’, ‘macbookair.biz’, and ‘macbookair.info’ all show the above address as well as:

Billing Street1: 1 Infinite Loop
Billing Street2: Mail Stop 3-TM
Billing City: Cupertino
Billing State/Province: CA
Domain Registration Date: Fri Jan 11 22:49:59 GMT 2008

MacBook Air?

One particular commentor on 9to5Mac points at a Google cache record of a computer named “MacBookAir” documented in Adium’s usage logs.

The Moscone Centre’s North and West have almost completed their preparations for the start of Macworld 2008 which runs from the 14th January through the 18th.

Preparations for the Keynote presentation to be held in Moscone West have also started with the media van setting up at the side of Moscone West.

Apple has also hung banners reading “There’s something in the air”.

View the gallery

Coverage will begin on January 13th and continue through to January 19th.

All Macworld coverage can be followed on our Macworld 2008 tag, you could even subscribe to the RSS feed.

News, rumours and highlights

World of Apple will be covering the news, and rumours surrounding Macworld this year as they happen.

World of Apple will also be offering some third-party product coverage from press conferences down to chatter from the booths.

Since our change in host in the middle of last year we’re hoping that we now have a significantly decreased chance of going down under all that Macworld traffic.

Photo Coverage

World of Apple will be offering extensive coverage of Macworld 2008 via photos. Our newly refreshed photo galleries offer a more intuitive user interface and run much smoother and quicker than the previous version.

We’ll be tweaking these over the week to make them better and better.

Send us your feedback.

Keynote Coverage

Due to legal issues and a lack of suitable funding World of Apple is unable to offer a Live video stream of this years Macworld 2008 Keynote.

World of Apple has teamed up with The iLife to offer a great text feed from the Keynote floor this year.

Coverage begins on Tuesday, January 15th at:

• 07:00AM - Hawaii
• 09:00AM - Pacific
• 10:00AM - Mountain
• 11:00AM - Central
• 12:00PM - Eastern
• 05:00PM - London
• 06:00PM - Paris
• 02:00AM - Tokyo (January 16th)

Getting around San Francisco is a breeze but the key to no stress travel is knowing how it all works. This guide will attempt to alleviate a lot of the stress, which accompanies travelling around a large city like San Francisco.

First of all, unless you are far out of the city, driving is a big no, no. The city is permanently congested and public transport is easy and cheap compared to expensive parking fees.

The SF Muni is key to travelling around San Francisco, a one week Muni pass is available that is valid for unlimited use on all Muni lines. A seven day pass (Monday - Sunday) will cost $15. To put this in perspective $3 is the price of a single bus ticket which is valid for 3 hours of unlimited travel.

Find out where you can buy a Muni pass here.

Visitor passes are also available and these allow travel on the Muni and also the cable cars.
1-day pass: $11
3-day pass: $18
7-day pass: $24

SF Muni maps are available here, according to them the nearest Muni stops to the Moscone centre are 9X, 12, 30, 45, 76, and 81X.

If you’re catching a Muni check out the NextBus website, it’ll let you know when the next one is on the way. Use the Muni system map to help know your route.

If you’re taking a Muni train you can call ‘511′ from a phone, let the system know your line, direction and stop and ‘511′ will respond with train times for the next 30 minutes.

According to 511.org: On the phone, the service is only available on the J, K ,L, M, N, and T lines, and on San Francisco’s historic F-line streetcars. Other trains and buses will be available in 2008.

Cable cars are San Francisco’s novelty transport, a novelty they may be but they are very handy. Cars operate daily 6:30am -12:30am. The POWELL-HYDE line runs from Powell & Market over Nob Hill and Russian Hill to Hyde & Beach in Fisherman’s Wharf. The POWELL-MASON Line runs from Powell & Market, over Nob Hill and through North Beach to Bay & Taylor at Fisherman’s Wharf. The CALIFORNIA Street line runs from California & Market, at the Embarcadero BART/MUNI Metro Station in the Financial District, through Chinatown, over Nob Hill to Van Ness Avenue.

For those interested in the operation of the cable cars, there is a museum on Washington and Mason Sts.

Finally taxis are a great way to get from A to B directly. Catching a taxi in San Francisco is easy when you know how. Hailing a taxi down is not very easy but if you’re staying in a large hotel it’ll quite often have a taxi line; wait here and the valet will get you a cab.

If your hotel doesn’t offer a valet service most hotels will happily ring a taxi for you.

Alternatively you can call a taxi yourself and arrange a scheduled pickup if necessary, the local dispatch number is (415) 333-3333.

Part 1 - Where to Stay?
Part 2 - Good Food Guide

The week of Macworld can overwhelming for newbies and veterans alike, the parties, conferences, shows and general events are difficult to follow. This guide is by no means the be all and end all but it’ll hopefully highlight the best that Macworld 2008 has to offer.

Macworld Parties

Lets start with the biggest party of Macworld this year, Ars Technica and Gizmodo will be hosting a joint event on Monday 14th at 46 Minna. As with most of these events plenty of freebies going around.

Date: Monday, January 14th
Location: Harlot at 46 Minna St, San Francisco, CA
Time: 8pm
Map: Google Maps

The next big event is the annual Macworld Blast! party. Blast! is the official Macworld Expo party and is a great place to mingle with fellow attendees, exhibitors and celebrities (Apple related celebrities that is).

Date: Keynote day (Tuesday, January 15th)
Location: Warfield at 982 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
Time: 8pm - 11pm
Tickets: $40
Map: Google Maps

Also going down is the annual DailyTechTalk Macworld party, this will be the 3rd annual event with great live entertainment and a brilliant selection of drinks at the bar.

Date: Wednesday, January 16th
Location: SWIG at 561 Geary St, San Francisco, CA
Time: 9pm - 3am
Map: Google Maps

Also hosted by DailyTechTalk is the Macworld Closeout, this is less of a party and more of a general meetup but a great place to finish off your mingling.

Date: Friday, January 18th
Location: Clift Hotel at 495 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA
Time: 10pm
Map: Google Maps

Macworld Expo Highlights

Macworld isn’t just made up of booths with products, a keynote and press conferences. It is also jam packed with shows and presentations. Here are a few to definitely check out.

Every year at Macworld, Steve Jobs kicks off the expo by showing the world Apple’s latest products. Last year the stage at Macworld hosted the revealing of the iPhone. What will it be this year?

• What: Keynote
• When: Tuesday, January 15th 9.00am
• Where: Moscone West
• Details: Available to those with conference badges and press passes only. This is the one and only event that is a must see.

Every year at Macworld hundreds of features presentations take place, one of the best is called the “Macworld Best of Show 2008.” Hosted by Macworld magazine this presentation showcases the hottest products at Macworld this year.

• What: Macworld Best of Show 2008
• When: Wednesday, January 16th 2.45pm - 3.45pm
• Where: W-3001
• Details: Not to be missed!

If you’re into having a laugh or just generally like David Pogue then Macworld Live! is the place to be. David Pogue, New York Times columnist hosts his version of a chat show with interviews, song parodies and plenty of Macworld news.

• What: Macworld Live! with David Pogue
• When: Thursday, January 17th 9.00am - 10.00am
• Where: W-3001
• Details: Pogue’s song parodies are hilarious, definitely worth getting up early for this.

Another fun presentation to go watch is “The Process of Elimination”, Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Times hosts a gameshow just for Macworld attendees.

• What: The Process of Elimination hosted by Andy Ihnatko–Columnist (The Mac Observer),The Chicago Sun-Times & Macworld
• When: Thursday January 17th 2.45pm - 3.45pm
• Where: W-3001
• Details: Join us for some trivia — join us for some fun — join us! Andy Ihnatko will host a game show exclusively for members of the Macworld community. Test your wits with a short series of Apple and general-trivia questions that describe the “Mystery Product.”

Apple Store Events

San Francisco has a brilliant Apple Store (actually has three) located on the corner of Stockton and Ellis. When you’re tired of the bustling Expo take a short walk up 4th Street and you’ll be greeted with that familiar brushed aluminium facade of the Apple Store.

During Macworld week the store often hosts a couple of special presentations that are out of the ordinary schedule. Some of these are well worth checking out, here is a few of our selection.

• What: Run Windows on Your Mac with VMware Fusion
• When: Wednesday, January 16th 1.30pm - 2.30pm
• Where: Apple Store, Stockton Street
• Details: Discover VMware Fusion, the most seamless way to run Windows applications on your Mac.

• What: Expert Photo Tips from Real Experts
• When: Wednesday, January 16th 4.30pm - 5.30pm
• Where: Apple Store, Stockton Street
• Details: Expert photographers and O’Reilly authors Derrick Story, Mikkel Aaland, Rick Smolan, and Harold Davis share their insiders’ perspective on the world of digital photography to help you get the most out of your digital images.

• What: Pogue’s Tips and Tricks for Mac OS X Leopard
• When: Thursday, January 17th 4.30pm - 5.30pm
• Where: Apple Store, Stockton Street
• Details: Get a little humor with your knowledge from David Pogue, a New York Times columnist, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for CBS News, and author of the Missing Manual series. He’ll share his insights into getting the most out of Mac OS X Leopard.

That’s it for our series of posts about Macworld 2008, for those attending we hope you enjoy the show. Feel free to drop us an email with any questions or maybe you want to meet up!

• A slim notebook, but not a “sub notebook”
• 13.3″ screen
• Not a “Pro” machine
• External Optical Drive

MacRumors rightfully notes that so close to Macworld, Apple has often fed sources with false information to throw rumour sites off the scent.

For those who need further information, Sling Media sells a device called a SlingBox, this SlingBox allows you to stream video from your home television over the internet to any supported device (Mac, PC, Mobile Phone).

A native app for the iPhone/iPod touch would bring the ability to interface with a SlingBox and also watch live TV.

MacRumors fails to dismiss the rumour which comes from a relatively unknown source. The mighty rumour site claims that it knows for sure that SlingMedia is one of the lucky developers to have recieved the iPhone SDK. It was previously reported that the iPhone SDK has reached the hands of some developers.

The iPhone SDK is officially pegged for a February 2008 release.

Finally, MacRumors reports that Apple will show new iPhone software at Macworld but admits that this rumour could refer to the upcoming iPhone 1.1.3 firmware.

AppleInsider has posted a selection of photos from the Moscone Centre in San Francisco ahead of this coming weeks Macworld Expo.

Apple has hung the banners at the Moscone Centre an unusual four days before the conference begins, a sure sign to cause widespread speculation. The banners read:

“2008. There’s something in the air.”

Macworld Expo is traditionally a busy place and San Francisco as a city, although very mellow can be busy at times. So attendees require to eat and as you’d expect San Francisco is packed full of restaurants. We’re going to focus on just a few locations in the main area of the Moscone Convention centre and downtown San Francisco.

Spruce
3640 Sacramento St
San Francisco, CA 94118
Phone: (415) 931-5100

Although a little out of our immediate area, Spruce is well worth making the taxi/cable car journey one evening.

Spruce is an American style restaurant with a formal ambience, the interior is contemporary being housed inside an early 1900’s car barn.

The bavette steak is well worth trying as well as the Maine Lobster and be sure to finish off with chocolate-and-caramel fondant with chocolate sorbet and chocolate paper.

Uncle Vitos Pizzeria
700 Bush St
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 391-5008

You won’t find this one in most good food guides but Uncle Vitos has to the best pizzeria in the whole of San Francisco. With a friendly tourist free environment you can’t go wrong with any of its pizzas or pastas.

Service isn’t top notch but what can you expect for eating under $30?

Vitos is situated just up the road from Union Square, it is also conveniently situated on the corner of Bush and Powell making it perfect for those who wish to hop on the Powell Street cable car.

Asia de Cuba at Clif
495 Geary St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 929-2300

Beautifully situated just 2 blocks from Union Square Asia de Cuba at Clift is an ultra-trendy Asian, Cuban and Caribbean restaurant.

The beef dumplings served with coconut rice are a particular favourite and be sure to start with the shredded duck and lettuce.

Although pricey the fantastic atmosphere is great for an evening out, cocktails are also available and are of the highest standards.

Hana Zen
115 Cyril Magnin St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 421-2101

For those seeking some Japanese cuisine you can’t beat Hana Zen.

Great service, fantastic saki and the best sushi in the area, Hana Zen is well within walking distance of the Moscone convention centre and therefore a brilliant lunch venue.

Things to try other than the sushi are the chicken filets, scallops and the teriyaki chicken.

Grand Cafe
501 Geary St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 292-0101

The Grand Cafe is a trendy restaurant offering French cuisine. This restaurant can be difficult to get into on some evenings it can also be quite pricey.

The beautiful restaurant with huge rooms with tall ceilings and the grand dining room always has some fantastic music playing.

Be sure to try the French onion soup.

Afterthought

San Francisco is jam packed with brilliant restaurants, the above selection is just five in the local area of the Moscone convention centre area. The marina area has some excellent options as well, not to mention some great tourist attractions.

Some of you may be a thinking that a hotel guide might be a little late and no doubt the majority of travellers have a hotel booked and ready, but if you’re one of those making a last minute decision or intending to attend Macworld 2009, then this is for you.

The Mosser
54 4th St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 986-4400
Price per night: $99 - $209

A mere one block from Moscone Centre The Mosser is effectively an upmarket hostel/hotel. An executive suite and perfectly decent double and queen rooms are available for modest prices but for those wishing to save The Mosser offers rooms with a share bathroom.

Inside The Mosser you’ll be greeted by the light of stained glass windows, custom made furniture and a generally friendly environment.

St. Regis Hotel
124 3rd St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 284-4000
Price per night: $499 - $649

Only for those with a pocket of cash. The St. Regis is no cheap hotel but this is a recommendation guide and it certainly belongs here. All the rooms features wireless internet connections and 42-inch TVs, a great geek combination. The St. Regis is super-luxurious with the 260 odd rooms being packed full of modern art, soft leather texture walls.

For those looking for the ultimate experience the St. Regis features 46 luxury suites with their own 24-hour butler service.

Next-door to the Regis is the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, well worth a visit even for those not interested, and across the road is the Yerba Buena gardens perfect for those wishing to relax.

The St. Regis is situated one block from the Moscone Centre, perfection for those looking for luxury and relaxation.

Grovesnor Suites
899 Pine St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 421-1899
Average Price per night: $149

The Grovesnor Suites are a fair distance from the Moscone, but no more than a ten minute walk (downhill), five minute ride on the very local cable car or a short ride in a cab. The Grovesnor Suites are perched on top of Nob Hill giving beautiful views from most rooms in the hotel.

Rooms are large and spacious but the bathrooms are a bit small.

This hotel is well worth the money and is very reasonably priced for its location.

Bloomberg states that new and old releases will be available to rent for $3.99 for 24 hours.

Follow our iTunes Rentals tag for up to date rumours on iTunes Store rentals

Fox Digital Copy file

When attempting to play the “Fox Digital Copy” file the tipster was prompted to upgrade to iTunes version 7.6 which as of writing is not available to the general public.

AppleInsider reports that iTunes 7.6 will herald the introduction of iTunes Store movie rentals, Apple is expected to offer digital movie downloads from the catalogues of motion picture studios Walt Disney, and Twentieth Century Fox.

Apple invites UK and European media to view Macworld keynote live in London

During next weeks keynote presentation being held in Macworld San Francisco, Apple has invited members of the European media to BBC Television Centre for a live stream of the keynote.

Please join us at the BBC Television Centre, London, on January 15 at 5:00 p.m. for a special live satellite broadcast of Steve Jobs’ Keynote Address from Macworld San Francisco. writes the email.

Leeds to Host Apple Store

ifoAppleStore reports that the city of Leeds in the UK will be host to a new Apple Store in the future.

The city centre of Leeds is being renovated to include an additional 200,000 square-feet of upscale retail space including what appears to be an Apple Store.

ifo’s source appears to be a rendering of the development which appears to show an Apple Store.

Stevenote Bingo

On a light note, John Siracusa has posted his Macworld 2008 keynote bingo card.

A report from Reuters notes that an increasing shift to flash-based storage has forced Fujitsu and Hitachi out of the ultra-small rotating hard drive business.

Both Fujitsu and Hitachi had supplied micro hard-drives for Apple’s iPod in the past but even Apple has begun moving across to flash-based storage with the iPod classic being the last remaining hard-drive based iPod.

Toshiba continues to make micro hard-drives.

Icon Wiggle in Patent

Hrmpf.com has noted that the recent icon wiggle seen in the recent videos of iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 are reminiscent of that in a recently published patent.

The patent filing for a reconfigurable touchscreen interface notes in detail the wiggle of the icons when a user selects them.

The patent does include some details of the ability to “toss” icons which appears to have not made it to the iPhone in firmware update 1.1.3.

Final Cut Meeting Holds Answers

AppleInsider writes that a collection of Final Cut Pro user groups will hold a meeting at Macworld Expo later this month.

According to the rumour site Apple will have a surprise for the attending guests.

The meeting which will take place on January 16th; the day following Steve Jobs’ anticipated Keynote will feature “something super secret” from Apple.