Apple Announces iLife 06; Major upgrade features new versions of iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD & GarageBand and introduces iWeb.

M2 Presswire

January 11, 2006

M2 PRESSWIRE-11 January 2006-APPLE UK: Apple Announces iLife 06; Major upgrade features new versions of iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD & GarageBand and introduces iWeb(C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:10012006

MACWORLD EXPO, SAN FRANCISCO - Apple today announced iLife 06, the most significant upgrade to Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications ever. iLife 06 features iPhoto 6 with blazing performance, new printed books, calendars and cards, and Apple's innovative new Photocasting for sharingphotos over the Internet; iMovie HD 6 with new motion themes for adding spectacular production value to your movies; iDVD 6 for authoring custom DVDs for today'swidescreen TVs; and GarageBand 3, now the complete solution for creating professional-quality Podcasts. iLife 06 also introduces iWeb, a new iLife application that makes it super-easy to create amazing websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts and publish them on .Mac for viewing by anyone on the Internet with just a single click.

"This is the most exciting iLife upgrade ever," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Applepioneered applications to serve our emerging digital lifestyle and then consolidated them into the iLife suite. With this major upgrade to iLife, we're leaping even further ahead of anything available for the PC."

iLife 06 introduces iWeb, the easiest way to create professional-looking web pages,online photo albums, blogs and Podcasts in minutes. Apple-designed templates help create stunning websites and the iLife media browser makes adding photos, movies, music or playlists as simple as drag and drop. Powerful editing tools make it easy tocustomise websites without having to know HTML. iWeb works seamlessly with other iLife 06 applications as a complete solution for creating photo albums, blogs andPodcasts that can be published to the Internet with one click using .Mac.

iPhoto 6 offers blazing performance, support for up to 250,000 photos and introduces Photocasting, an innovative new way to share photos directly from within iPhoto via .Mac to friends and family. Photocasting is like Podcasting for photos where anyone can subscribe to a published photo album and automatically receive full quality photosdirectly within iPhoto 6 or on a PC. Pictures automatically update when the owner adds, edits or deletes a photo within the published album. Photos can be viewed on Apple's stunning displays with new full-screen edit and compare mode without menus orwindows to distract from the image. Up to eight photos can be comparedsimultaneously and adjusted with a one-click image enhancements and effects panel. Professional-quality books, calendars and greeting cards are created easily by adding photos to Apple-designed themes.

iMovie HD 6 introduces revolutionary new Apple-designed motion themes that let users add Hollywood-style production value to their movies in minutes. Effects can bepreviewed without waiting with new real-time Core Video effects, while cinematic titling gives users flexibility to create incredible text effects. New audio enhancement tools and sound effects make movies sound as good as they look. Multiple projects can now be opened at once in iMovie HD 6 and clips can be moved among projects. iMovie HD is the easiest way to make a video Podcast which can be published with iWeb for the whole world to experience.

iDVD 6 allows users to take content shot with the latest HDV and widescreen DVcameras and author custom DVDs with widescreen menus, movies and high resolution slideshows that fill every inch of the newest widescreen TVs. iDVD 6 features 10 new Apple-designed menu themes in both widescreen (16:9) and standard (4:3) formats. iDVD 6 themes include new autofill drop zones to make customizing menus even easier. In addition, iDVD 6 can burn using compatible third-party DVD burners. iDVD 6 also includes new Magic iDVD, the easiest way ever to make a DVD. With just a few clicks, users select a theme and choose their movies and photos, Magic iDVD then automatically creates a complete DVD that's ready to burn.

In addition to being the best way to make music on a computer, GarageBand 3 is now also a complete solution for creating professional quality Podcasts. Voices can easily be recorded using the built-in expertise of an audio engineer and Podcasts can beenhanced with radio-style sound effects and music jingles, chapter artwork and URL links. Talk show Podcasts are created easily by interviewing one or more guestssimultaneously in iChat AV and recording directly into GarageBand 3. Podcasts can be posted for the world to enjoy on .Mac and submitted to iTunes using iWeb. In addition, a new video track makes it easy to create music to score iMovie projects.

Pricing & Availability

iLife '06 is now available for a suggested retail price of GBP55 (inc. VAT) through the Apple Store (www.apple.com/ukstore), Apple's retail stores (www.apple.com/uk/retail) and Apple Authorized Resellers. The iLife '06 suite of applications will be included with all new Macs. iTunes version 6.0.2 is currently available as a free download atwww.apple.com/uk. .Mac is available as a subscription-based service for GBP68.99 (inc. VAT) per year for individuals and GBP119.99 (inc. VAT) for a Family Pack which includes one master account and five sub accounts. Anyone can sign up for a free, 60-day .Mac trial fromwww.mac.com.

iLife 06 requires Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or version 10.4.3 or later (Mac OS X version 10.4.4 recommended), a Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core processor (733 MHz or faster for iDVD), 256MB of RAM (512MB recommended), iTunes 6.0.2 and QuickTime 7.0.4 (included), a DVD drive for installation, and 10GB of available disk space. HD video requires a 1 GHz G4 or faster processor and 512MB of RAM. Burning DVDs requires an Apple SuperDrive or compatible third-party DVD burner. iPhoto print services are available in the US, Canada, Japan, and select European countries. A .Mac account is required for iPhoto Photocast publishing andrecommended for iWeb. Mac OS X version 10.4.4 is required for iMovie themes, iPhoto Photocasts, and iChat AV recording in GarageBand.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II andreinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Applecontinues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop andnotebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.

Image files of Apple products and key executives are available for download at http://www.apple.com/prFor information on any Apple product, or details of their nearest Apple Authorised Reseller, customers should consult Apple's U.K. web site (http://www.apple.com/uk). Customers in the U.K. can buy direct from Apple through the Apple Store (http://www.apple.com/ukstore or 0800 039 1010).