..from one of Apple's mailings (apologies for the sales hype ::-(:

1. Big Sound. Small Profile. iPod mini. ......................................

Weighs just 3.6 ounces. Holds 1,000 songs. Fits in a Hobbit's pocket. Comes in five luscious colors.

Sounds like you've got your fingers on a new iPod mini. Why, even it's name is small.

But there's nothing small about the sound emanating from the new iPod mini. In that way, it sounds just like its slightly bigger brother. Wonderful. And just like iPod, it's simple to use. So simple you can operate it with one hand tied behind your back. That's thanks to the new Click Wheel and the handy buttons positioned right underneath.

Fast, iPod mini supports FireWire and USB 2.0, so you can automatically sync your music from iTunes for Mac or Windows in seconds.

http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/

2. Ring in the New Year with iLife '04 .....................................

We thought we'd start the year off with a New Year's resolution. Come on, let's hear from everyone:

I resolve to soar to new heights of creative expression in the coming year with iLife '04.

Wasn't that easy? Unlike other resolutions, this one will also be easy to keep. That's because iLife '04 offers you more than it ever has before. More ways to express yourself. More features. More performance. Even a brand new team member.

That would be GarageBand. Whether you really are a musician or just want to feel like a rock star, GarageBand offers the simplest way to create, play, and record your own music. Drag-and-drop easy, the revolutionary GarageBand turns your Mac into a recording studio, letting you play over 50 software instruments and create CD-quality music for iPhoto slideshows, iMovie soundtracks, or iDVD motion menus.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

Available for the Mac and Windows, iTunes 4 does it all. The leading digital music jukebox, it makes it easy to listen to any song in your music collection, create playlists, burn audio CDs, sync to iPod, and access your tunes from iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. It works just as seamlessly with GarageBand, too. Of course, iTunes also features the acclaimed iTunes Music Store. The paradigm by which all other online ventures are judged, it's stocked with over 500,000 songs and 5,000 audiobooks. And we've just added over 12,000 classical music tracks, iTunes Essentials, and Billboard charts from 1946 to the present.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/itunes/

There's fast. There's faster. And there's iPhoto 4. Distinguished by blazingly fast performance, iPhoto 4 lets you quickly zoom through photo collections of up to 25,000 photographs. Smart Albums, automatic time-based organization and easy-to-assign ratings help you categorize and find images in the blink of an eye. Slideshows have never looked better thanks to the new Keynote-inspired transitions. And wait till you read about Rendezvous photo sharing.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/

Make movies faster with iMovie 4. Thanks to direct trimming, a new non-destructive editing technique, you can edit video faster than you ever could before. And here's a real time-saver: iMovie 4 lets you select multiple clips (even non-adjacent clips) and assign transitions or apply effects to all of them at the same time. Another new feature, "Snap to" timeline alignment, makes syncing audio and video a breeze. You're gonna fall in love with iMovie all over again.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

There's no better way to share your movies and slideshows with friends and family than with a DVD. And there no easier way to make Hollywood-quality DVDs than with iDVD 4. The built-in media browser offers instant access to all of your photos, movies, and music, including the songs you create yourself in GarageBand. And you can use any of them in the drop zones and motion menus you'll find in iDVD 4's twenty new themes. Faster and better compression, stunning new effects, more customization options, and new features--Auto-Play, Save-As-Archive, the DVD Map feature--make iDVD 4 a delight. And a powerhouse.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/

3. No Stopping Final Cut Express 2 .................................

Edit like a pro with the latest version of the highly affordable yet decidedly advanced DV editing solution--Final Cut Express 2. Optimized for the DV25 format (MiniDV and DVCAM), Final Cut Express 2 offers the perfect blend of power, ease of use, and affordability. It's simple enough to be used by home videographers yet provides the sophistication required by the pro, including high-quality compositing, titling, and effects.

With Final Cut Express 2 you can capture video just by connecting a FireWire-equipped DV camcorder to your Mac. Editing's a breeze, too. Thanks to the professional tools--razor blade, slip, slide, ripple. roll, extend and split--built right in. You'll also like the hundreds of stunning transitions, filters, and effects it provides. And hanks to RT Extreme, you'll enjoy real-time rendering of both audio and video. Get creative. Get Final Cut Express 2.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/

4. Introducing the 64-bit Xserve G5 ..................................

Looking for world-class server performance? Then look no further than the new Xserve G5. The first 1U server to offer dual 64-bit processors, Xserve G5 features the same G5 processor and advanced architecture that powers the third-fastest supercomputer cluster in the world.

It also offers support for up to 8GB or DDR SDRAM with EEC protection, dual Gigabit Ethernet, up to 750GB of internal storage capacity, and for up to 3.5 terabytes of data storage with the optional Xserve RAID. Designed to deliver the UNIX-based strengths and cutting-edge capabilities of Mac OS X Server, this rack-optimized server also offers remote management tools that make it easy to deploy and maintain.

Find out why Infoworld rated Xserve the overall best server solution value for 2003 and how Xserve G5 offers even more.

http://www.apple.com/xserve/

5. What's New? .............

If you couldn't get to Macworld yourself, take a virtual tour of the Macworld show floor, get up close and personal with the new products announced at the show, read reactions from the media, and enjoy the lovely view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2004/01/mwsf/

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Want to get even more out of your GarageBand experience? Jam Pack adds over 2,000 additional Apple Loops, including many for hip-hop and electronica; over 100 additional software instruments, including a concert grand piano and twelve-string guitars; over 100 additional pro-quality effects presets; and 15 additional guitar amps, including surf, grunge, heavy blues, and atmospheric.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore...

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To take advantage of the 50 software instruments that come with GarageBand or the 100 additional software instruments available in JamPack, you'll want to equip your Mac with a great MIDI keyboard. Like the M-Audio Keystation 49e. Just plug it into your Mac via USB, and you're ready to rock.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/accessories.html

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Ah, the great outdoors. Hiking. Jogging. Power walking. Bicycling. Wear the new iPod mini Arm Band when you venture forth, and you can take 1,000 of your favorite tunes with you.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/accessories.html

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Try these on for size. The new In-Ear Headphones for iPod and the all-new iPod mini offer great sound quality, come with their own carrying case, and include caps of three different sizes. Perfect fit. Great sound.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/accessories.html

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Listen up. To get more audio please from your iPod, iPod mini, or your Mac, you'll want to bend an ear--or two--in the direction of the new JBL Creature II speakers. They sound simply mahvelous.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/accessories.html

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We've set a milestone. There are now over 10,000 applications available for Mac OS X. These include brand new applications introduced at the Macworld Expo (like Adobe's InDesign CS PageMaker Edition) as well as the second and third generations of Mac OS X products from such developers as Macromedia (which introduced Macromedia Director MX at the Macworld Expo) and Microsoft (which announced that it would begin shipping the newest versions of Microsoft Office 2004 later this spring). Said Roz Ho, general manager of the Macintosh Business Unit: "Office 2004 is packed with Mac-first features--some of which are not available on any other platform."

Microsoft Office 2004:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=office2004

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In addition to the new Xserve G5, Apple also introduced a new version of Xserve RAID than not only delivers up to 3.5 terabytes of storage capacity but also certification on a variety of platforms in addition to Mac OS X, including Windows- and Linux-based servers.

http://www.apple.com/xserve/raid/

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Heard about Virginia Tech? They now enjoy the distinction of having the third fastest supercomputer cluster in the world. Composed of 1,100 off-the-shelf dual processor Power Mac G5 computers, the cluster was operational in less than 3 months (an astounding feat in itself) and costs one-tenth as much as similar systems.

Watch the video (it premiered at Macworld):

http://www.apple.com/hardware/video/virginiatech/

Then read the in-depth story of how they did it:

http://www.apple.com/education/science/profiles/vatech/

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Shareware Spotlight.

Now Mac OS X can take you to Mars. Your red planet experience comes courtesy of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which made Maestro available. With Maestro, you can view photos Spirit (the rover) has already captured of the surface of Mars, try your hand at driving the rover, and learn more about the Mar's mission.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/home_learning/maestro.html