Apple Unwraps iLife ‘06, Now With iWeb

January 9th, 2006 at 2:00 PM - Macworld Expo by Brad Cook

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs also took the wraps off iLife i06 during his Tuesday morning Macworld keynote. The suite offers new versions of iPhoto, iDVD, GarageBand and iMovie, as well as a new application, iWeb, that enables easy Web site creation. "This is a giant new release that will propel Apple even further ahead of the competition," Mr. Jobs told the audience.

iPhoto can now hold up to 250,000 photos. The software offers new controls, including one-click effects, and a new interface. Users can create new styles of books, greeting cards and calendars they can order through the application; Mr. Jobs noted that the quality has been increased.

iPhoto also has a new feature, "photocasting," that Mr. Jobs compared to podcasting. Users have to be .Mac members to publish a photocast, but anyone can subscribe to it via an RSS feed and see new images as theyire added.

Video podcasting tools have also been added to iMovie, along with new animated themes that enable easier effect creation. When users want to burn those movies to a DVD, iDVD allows them to simply drag and drop the files and burn them through a new feature called Magic iDVD. They can also make widescreen DVDs.

Apple also added podcasting capability to GarageBand. Users can now easily turn tracks into podcasts, complete with the ability to create an AAC Enhanced podcast. To demonstrate, Mr. Jobs recorded an episode of his mock "Super Secret Apple Rumors" podcast, complete with the information that "the next iPod will be huge! An eight-pounder, with a 10-inch screen!"

Mr. Jobs also noted the release of four new Jam Packs for GarageBand.

When users want to turn their iLife content into a Web site, Appleis new iWeb application lets them do so easily. Photocasting and blogging features are integrated with it, as is support for RSS feeds and the ability to select themes that can be easily changed without harming the siteis content. .Mac subscribers can publish from iWeb to their Web sites with one click.