Tale of Two Keynotes (2x the yawn)

Despite what you may think, the beginning of January is actually a hopping time for the tech world. CES - the Computer Electronics show opens annually this time every year in Las Vegas, and MacWorld in Los Angeles goes against it nearly head-to-head. Oddly, the adult video industry's annual convention is also held annually in Vegas this week - not that anybody who would attend one would attend the other of course.
While the list of "expected announcements" was kind of dismal, interest peaked in the blog-o-sphere given that these would be the first ones without either Steve Jobs or Bill Gates giving the keynotes for their respective companies. Gates stepped down from running Microsoft last year, and Jobs and Apple pulled out of MacWorld altogether, though Apple SVP Phil Schiller still gave the keynote. This didn't stop the usual rampant speculation about what might have been kept under wraps, but in the end - it turned out to be, well, not so much.
Both keynotes were largely dull (even by geek standards) with perhaps the most humorous moment happening not in the halls, but in the coverage itself, when the live blog stream from Mac Rumors was hacked and published false news of the early demise of Mr. Jobs. (I thought Mac's didn't get hacked anyway?) Microsoft countered with a blisteringly-boring Steve Balmer keynote that rehashed a number of older demos, included 2 performances by a band called "tripod" that left many scratching their heads, and introduced a 12 year old girl who wrote a game live on stage and predictably whooped the head of the Microsoft gaming division Robbie Bach, who struggled to even turn on his Xbox controller. Nice.

Here's a quick rundown of the announcements I think most folks would care about:

Apple:

• iTunes finally removes copy-protection from more songs, and will make it's entire catalog DRM-free by end of year. I'd be surprised if the song format for downloaded songs would change to MP3 however. I'd also expect the "plus" label currently used for DRM free music on iTunes will probably also go away.
  
• iTunes song pricing will change to either 69 cents or $1.29 - depending on what "tier" the song is in. Any guess as to what tier most of the music you'd actually want to buy is in?
  
• Apple announces a new 17-inch MacBook with eco-friendly battery and 8 hours claimed battery life. Yours for $2800 starting in February.
  
• A new version of iLife with better video editing, facial recognition for photo organization, and spiffed-up garage band for $79 as an upgrade. Music lessons available on demand from celebrity musicians for $4.99 each.
  
• A new version of the iWork suite (for the MS Office hater in your life) goes $79 as an upgrade. Get it bundled as a box set with the Leopard OX and iLife for $169. Add $1 for the Iphone remote control application for keynote (seriously? yes.).
  
• An on-line version if iWork - (iWork.com) similar to GoogleDocs will lauch for document collaboration and sharing. Free now, paid down the road.
  

Microsoft:

• Windows 7 was briefly demo'd with improvements to taskbar and desktop navigation / management. Much touch and media functionality built right it, so expect to see more devices with a touch-focus similar to HP's. No final date announced.
• New "Playto" function will allow you to remotely play a song on a remote device such as the XBox 360 or Roku. Allegedly this will work over the web as well. I'm not sure "push" is the right metaphor here, though, as I THINK I'd rather be standing in front of the device I'm listening to and "pull" music to it. Part of the "Sharing media experiences" thing I guess.
  
• Windows 7 beta is available for download now to MSDN/Technet subscribers, Friday worldwide. Indications seem to be there will only be one beta, so look for a release candidate in early spring.
  
• "Live Essentials" - Microsoft's collection of basic tools for writing, photo management, video editing, and a new msn messenger are available now. A new "what's new" feature will let you aggregate your Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed and other updates into a single stream here. Kinda cool if you do a lot of Social networking.
  
• Xbox Live will offer real time interactive gaming such as participating in a live version of "1 vs. 100". They claim the new Wii-like avatars are increasing social interaction (umm, sure they are).
• Xbox Live's "Kodu" environment lets you create your own games and play them against others. So easy, a 12 year old could do it (and did so with frightening speed actually).