Apple goes on Safari with open-source browser
Published: 07 Jan 2003 20:40 GMT
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs kicked off his Macworld Expo keynote speech on Tuesday by focusing on the company's software and services strategy, including the release of its own Web browser.
Jobs unveiled a new Web browser called Safari that he claimed is faster than any other. It's "three times faster than (Internet Explorer) on the Mac."
The browser is based on the KHTML rendering engine, which is based on an open-source licence that makes its underlying technology available to any developer. Jobs said that Apple had improved the browser's performance dramatically, and would be releasing all its software source code for Safari to the public on Tuesday.
"Some people have a problem with open source, but we think it's great," he said. Apple's OS X operating system is also based on open-source technology.
Before the announcement, IE for the Mac had been the default Web browser on new Macs. The bundling began in 1997, when Apple cut a five-year technology agreement with Microsoft that expired last year.
"It's a very minimal" user interface, Jobs said. "We want the contents of the page to be the star here."
Safari is available as a free download on Apple's Web site and runs on Mac OS X version 10.2.
Apple also introduced a new presentation application, called Keynote. "We built this for me, and so I wanted to share it with you," Jobs said, adding that he used test versions of the software for all his Macworld presentations in 2002. The program conceivably would compete with Microsoft's version of PowerPoint for the Mac.
"Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint," Jobs said. The program also supports Adobe's PDF and Apple's QuickTime formats and uses an XML-based document format that will be made freely availble. Keynote will be available starting on Tuesday for $99 (about £65).
While introducing Keynote, Safari and updates to Apple's "digital hub" software, Jobs spoke at length about the company's broader strategy, which revolves around OS X.
"We hit our goal...We now have 5 million active Mac OS X users," he said, predicting that the number could nearly double this year.
Jobs also talked about Apple's retail stores and the "switchers" ad campaign -- Web testimonials, print ads and TV commercials featuring people who have switched from a Windows-based PC to a Mac. "We were right on target" with $148m in December sales at the retail stores, he said. About 50 percent of those sales were to former Windows users and the 51 stores had 1.4 million visitors in December, he said.
On other points, Jobs:
* Touted the success of a programme to give free copies of Mac OS X to teachers. More than 290,000 people signed up for the programme, which was supposed to end on 31 December in the US. Apple extended the deadline until the end of the quarter in the US. According to Pascal Cagni, Apple's vice president for its European operations, the programme will also now be introduced in Europe.
* Discussed the value of .Mac, the company's online suite of paid services. Apple now has 250,000 paid subscribers, compared with about 2.5 million users when the service was free under name iTools.
* Introduced a new video-editing product, Final Cut Express, a trimmed down version of Apple's Final Cut Pro software. The new product will sell for £249 inc. VAT, compared with about £650 for Final Cut Pro.
* Talked up iPod, the company's portable music player. Apple has sold 600,000 iPods since its launch 14 months ago, and Jobs said the device has 42 percent market share for digital music players in Japan.
"We live at an incredible time in history," he said. "It's an inflection point," he added, referring to digital devices.
Taking a shine to digital
Jobs' focus on software was not unexpected. The company has increasingly focused on Mac OS X 10.2.3 and its six or "i" applications as a way of positioning the Macintosh as a hub for digital devices and content. The four core applications are: iDVD, iPhoto, iMovie and iTunes.
Jobs also touted the importance of iCal and iSync, the company's newest digital media applications. Apple released new versions of the two digital applications on Thursday.
Jobs explained that iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto and iTunes were developed separately but the company is now working to better integrate them. "We are going to do for digital lifestyle applications what Microsoft Office did for productivity applications," he said.
For example, with the updates a user can more easily bring digital music from iTunes into iPhoto for creating a slideshow that can be recorded onto a CD or DVD.
While showing off the new iMovie 3, Jobs highlighted a new user interface, the ability to edit audio and the importation of digital images from iPhoto and music from iTunes. Better integration of iMovie 3 with iDVD means customers no longer need to export movies to build menus before burning them to DVDs, he noted.
As expected, Apple also unveiled iDVD 3, which comes with 24 new themes for creating Hollywood-stylised DVDs. Jobs said Apple distributed 680,000 copies of the earlier versions of iDVD. Apple typically only offers the software with DVD-burning iMacs and Power Macs.
Apple called the integrated suite of "i" applications, iLife. The new suite will be available on 25 January and will be included with all new Macs.
Jobs said that iTunes 3, iMovie 3 and iPhoto 3 will be available separately for free. But consumers will have to pay for iDVD 3, which will come bundled with the other three applications for $49.
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