Even though Apple did n’t have a big event for the press at this twelvemonth ’s National Association of Broadcasters trade show , that does n’t signify the troupe does n’t have a grownup comportment in Las Vegas . Although not as bragging as Sony ’s 24,000 square foot root camp , Apple ’s NAB booth is almost as enceinte as its Macworld Expo gibe — and with a premier location on the show floor .
Because of the vast gang attending NAB , it ’s toilsome to get a good look at anything in the Apple kiosk , so I was happy to have a private meeting with some of the caller ’s product managers ( not to mention a hushed room in which to sit around down and rest my aweary feet after walking the show floor all Clarence Day ) .
The main stab of my group meeting with Apple was to talk about the new 17 - in MacBook Pro announced at the show . As has been observed elsewhere , NAB proved to be a meet position to acquaint such a mannikin since editors now do a pot of video and audio editing on laptops when they are away from their high - end office setups . ( There ’s also the not inconsiderable matter of Apple not having an Intel - base background system usable for pro drug user yet . )
One of the more telling effort Apple demo involved the new MacBook Pro wreak four HD television streams at once in the Universal version of Final Cut Pro , with no detectable drop in frame rates or reduction in playback tone — something a PowerBook G4 can only daydream of . For comparison , Apple also set up a Quad 2.5GHz Power Mac G5 next to the MacBook Pro playing the same project ; I could n’t secern much , if any , difference in carrying out and quality . ( Apple ’s revelation that it doubled the number of loudspeaker system in the MacBook Pro over the 17 - inch PowerBook G4 and that I would learn the superior audio recording performance was n’t nearly as exciting — or even very detectable ) .
Although the new MacBook Pro does n’t ship until next week ( which , in Apple - speak , usually signify “ When the first model begin the slow journey from their Asiatic manufacturing plants ” ) , it was good to see that laptop computer bag Jehovah Booq has already announced theVyper XL2 laptop computer sleevespecifically designed for the 17 - in MacBook Pro . The $ 60 case ships on June 5 — maybe some shoppers will scent up getting their hand on a case before even receiving the laptop computer itself .
It ’s also near news for Apple that FirmTek has announced one of the first existent products for the ExpressCard slot that Apple added to the MacBook Pro line , exchange the PC circuit board expansion slot in PowerBook role model . The $ 120 SeriTek/2SM2 - E — which wo n’t be available until the third quarter of 2006 — will let portable users touch base to external Serial ATA magnetic disk drives , give them another option for add fast outside warehousing on the go . The card will support transfer rates of up to 3 Gbit per second per larboard .
Another thing Apple was very not bad to show off at NAB was how easy it will soon be for Final Cut Pro users to work with Sony’sXDCAM HDcameras , which can frivol away in 1080 formats suitable for broadcast or cinema . Sony has created software specifically for Final Cut Pro that lets editors conquer time from the XDCAM HD ’s 23.3 GB optical recording media using a stock FireWire connection .
