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Apple announces new Apple TV, iPad, app updates

Amber Sass

Amber Sass

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Apple announced several exciting developments at its special event held in San Francisco today.

Among the announcements, the next generation iPad, new Apple TV, iOS 5.1 update, and several new and updated apps for iPad were top highlights. Several apps and games developed with the new iPad specifically in mind were also demoed at the event.

Here’s a round-up of some of Apple’s big announcements.

As usual, the event was punctuated with big screen graphics and demos of many newly announced products and features. Apple CEO Tim Cook also stressed Apple’s continued success with innovation, design and technology.

Apple TV

Apple TV is a small device that plays digital content from iTunes, Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and other photo and video services.

Today Apple announced the newest version of Apple TV, which notably will feature support for 1080p video. This means that movies and TV shows from iTunes are available in 1080p as well. Picture quality should be vastly improved as a consequence.

iCloud’s photo stream is also supported in the new Apple TV. All photos you take on your iPhone or iPad will automatically appear on Apple TV.

Apple TV also sports an updated interface, with large category button icons and content featuring nicely detailed artwork and logos.

The new Apple TV launches on March 16 and pre-ordering is available today.

iPad: new and updated apps

Arguably one of the most anticipated questions was whether we’d be seeing a new version of the iPad in our near future. Apple didn’t disappoint, announcing the third generation iPad as simply “The New iPad” today. In addition to the iOS 5.1 update, the new iPad will feature a high-resolution “Retina Display,” an A5X processor and an upgraded camera when it releases on March 16.

The new iPad announcement also came shortly before news that there would be several new and updated iPad apps. Here’s what stood out:

iPhoto

Apple is finally bringing its popular digital photo editor and organizer to iPad. Originally part of the iLife suite, users can now easily manage, edit and share photos through iPhoto. iPhoto for iPad comes with a great selection of features that will make editing photos a fun and easy experience for users, no matter what their level of photo editing proficiency happens to be.

iPhoto features:

-Smart browsing

-Multi-touch editing

-New photo effects

-New brushes

-Multi-photo comparisons

-Flagging

-The ability to send photos to Twitter and Facebook

-iCloud photo publishing capabilities

-Photo Beaming, where you can “beam” photos between iOS devices

-Photo Journals that allow you to share groups of photos with other people

iPhoto is available today in the App Store. With all these great features and more, it certainly looks like it could give Photoshop Touch a run for its money.

GarageBand

The new GarageBand update that was announced today adds even more awesome features into the mix.

Top on the list is Jam Session that lets you connect wirelessly or via Bluetooth with up to four iPads for real-time music playing, creation and more. There’s also integration with iCloud for song syncing, expanded music sharing capabilities, Note Editor for tweaking your recordings and Smart Strings, an automatic string orchestra feature.

iMovie

iMovie for iOS also received some cool new features to ensure your movie making experience is second to none. Movie Trailers, a popular feature from iMovie ’11, is now available on iOS devices, with nine templates to choose from. In addition, video can be saved in 1080p and streamed to Apple TV via AirPlay. Alternatively, you can opt to share your new films on YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook.

iWork

Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office, iWork is a powerful and user-friendly productivity suite. Today it received an update to make it look even better on the iPad’s new Retina Display. The iWork update extends to Pages, Numbers and Keynote, and also includes 3D charts and animations.

Infinity Blade: Dungeons

In addition to iLife updates for iOS, Epic Games president Mike Capps revealed a new chapter of Infinity Blade in a demo at Apple’s event. This prequel to previous Infinity Blade games will be released exclusively for iOS devices and was developed with the new iPad in mind.

The trailer for Infinity Blade: Dungeons reveals crisp graphics and some impressive looking action sequences.

What do you think of the new products and updates Apple released today? Lots to look forward to or too much hype over nothing? Let us know in the comments below!

Amber Sass

Amber Sass

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