Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 6, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Apple today introduced iLife ’09, bringing major upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand and including iDVD and an updated version of iWeb. iPhoto ’09 builds on the ability to organize photos automatically into Events by introducing Faces and Places as groundbreaking new options that make photos easy to organize and manage. iMovie ’09 advances the revolutionary record-time filmmaking introduced with iMovie ’08, adding powerful, easy-to-use features such as the Precision Editor, video stabilization, enhanced drag and drop, and animated travel maps. GarageBand ’09 offers a completely new way to learn guitar or piano, with 18 Basic Lessons and optional lessons from leading musicians including Sara Bareilles, John Fogerty, Norah Jones and Sting. iLife ’09 is included with every newly purchased Mac and is available separately for €79 including VAT.
“iLife continues to be one of the main reasons our customers choose to buy a Mac,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With iLife ’09, we’ve made working with photos, making movies and learning a musical instrument even more fun. iMovie users will especially love the advanced yet easy-to-use new features.”
iPhoto ’09 makes it even easier to browse and search photos—not only by the date they were taken (Events), but also by the people shown in them (Faces) and where they were taken (Places). iPhoto automatically scans photos to identify people’s faces. Once a face is named, iPhoto automatically finds more pictures of that person. The photo library can be browsed by name or through the new Faces view. Places automatically imports location data from photos taken with GPS-enabled cameras or iPhones. Location information can also be assigned manually to individual photos, groups of photos or Events. Once iPhoto knows where photos were taken, they can be explored through a simple search or an interactive map. iPhoto ’09 makes it easy to publish photos on Facebook or Flickr. Photos posted to Facebook include assigned names, while name tags added on Facebook are automatically synchronized back to iPhoto. Photos can also be shared by creating a themed slideshow for playback on a Mac, iPhone or iPod, or by creating a beautiful travel book complete with customized maps of the journey.
iMovie ’09 delivers powerful yet easy-to-use new features for quickly creating movies or, when more time is available, refining projects and adding special effects. Placing one clip over another using drag and drop reveals advanced editing options including Replace, Insert, Audio Only, Picture-in-Picture and Greenscreen. The revolutionary Precision Editor lets users browse and click through an enlarged filmstrip to inspect clips close up and perfect every edit. Users can precisely identify how much footage to retain, exactly where to cut, or combine the soundtrack of one clip with the video track of another. iMovie ’09 analyzes footage and reduces camera shake as clips are added to a project. New titles, transitions, movie effects, speed changes and animated travel maps give films a professional touch.
GarageBand ’09, the updated version of Apple’s popular software used by millions to play and record music, gives aspiring musicians a completely new and enjoyable way to learn guitar or piano. Basic Lessons teach the fundamentals at an individual pace with Apple instructors in beautiful HD videos synchronized with animated instruments and notation. Artist Lessons are taught by the original artists, who demonstrate in detail how to play their songs, from finger position and technique to the story behind each song. Lessons are available from well-known musicians including Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat, John Fogerty, Ben Folds, Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder and Sting. Artist Lessons are sold separately through the new GarageBand Lesson Store available within GarageBand ’09. GarageBand ’09 also includes exciting new guitar amp and stompbox effects, plus Magic GarageBand Jam, which lets users play with a self-created virtual band.
iLife ’09 includes iWeb ’09 for creating custom websites and iDVD ’09 for creating DVDs. iWeb ’09 adds new widgets including iSight video and photos, a countdown timer, YouTube video and RSS feeds. New FTP publishing enables users to publish their website to almost any hosting service, and site updates can now be displayed automatically in a Facebook profile.
Prices & Availability
iLife ’09 will be available later this month for €79 including VAT from the Apple Store (www.applestore.de), Apple Retail Stores and authorized Apple resellers. Customers who purchased a new Mac system from Apple or an authorized Apple reseller on or after January 6, 2009 can obtain the iLife Up-To-Date Upgrade Package for a shipping and handling charge of €8.95 including VAT. Artist Lessons are sold separately through the GarageBand Lesson Store and are available only in selected countries.
