pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four’s Music and Media Blog

It’s that time of year again…MacWorld 2008 and more updates from Apple about its products. CNet’s live blog has it all covered. Here’s the highlights:

He announces Time Capsule, which is a “backup appliance” that looks like the Mac Mini or Apple TV; it’s basically a wireless access point with a hard drive. This lets you backup your notebook wirelessly over Time Capsule, which was an early complaint about Time Machine–that it only worked over wired networks. There will be two versions, 500GB and 1TB. The 500GB model will cost $299, the 1TB model is $499. It will ship in February.

iPhone goodies, updates available today. Go sync…

Apple’s adding five applications to the iPod Touch, including Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes, and Weather, which make the iPod Touch much more like the iPhone. The iPod Touch will use Wi-Fi as the Maps triangulation, and you’ll be able to customize the iPod Touch just like the iPhone. It’s now built in to every iPod Touch, but older iPod Touch users will have to pay $20 for the features. For the first time, the crowd grumbles at that news.

As expected, today Apple is introducing iTunes Movie Rentals. Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, and New Line Cinema are involved, plus Fox, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony. That’s actually a few more studios involved than was reported, Apple did some work over the holiday break. “We have every major studio.”

In February, Apple will launch with 1,000 films. But the company had to make a concession: Apple won’t get them until 30 days after the DVD release. The movies can be watched anywhere, on any device. You can watch them instantly; they download as you start watching. You have 30 days to watch the movie after you download it, but only 24 hours to watch it after you start the movie.

Library titles will cost $2.99. New releases will cost $3.99. You can also transfer movies to an iPod from your Mac or PC right in the middle of watching them, although I assume the 24-hour thing still applies. iTunes Movie Rentals launches today, apparently: the 1,000 movies is (I guess) what they’re going to have by the end of February. It’ll be in the U.S. only to start, with international support coming later this year.

So, what about the big-screen TV? “We’ve all tried, and we’ve all missed.” Apple TV was designed to be an accessory, Jobs says, but that’s not what people wanted: what people wanted was movies, movies, movies. “So we’re back, with Apple TV Take 2.” No computer is required. You can rent movies, including movies in HD, which gets a lusty cheer from the crowd. HD quality will cost you an extra buck, though, which settles them down. The Apple TV does have a new user interface and will allow you to pull photos from Flickr and Picasa.

You can sort through all kinds of movies on the new interface, using the Cover Flow user interface. You can get previews right from the Apple TV. Again, you don’t need a Mac or a PC; you can hook this right up to your TV. Jobs shows us how to search through the iTunes Music Store: you can do it by title and genre, as well as a few other categories that flew by. TV shows and music can also be purchased through the new Apple TV. “For the recipient, there is no computer involved.” You can pull music, podcasts, and Flickr photos. It’s the same black interface from the old Apple TV. Now Jobs trots out the “revolution” tag for Apple TV, after calling it a hobby last year. A software upgrade, for free this time, delivers all the features. With all the new features, Apple’s cutting the price to $229. The free software upgrade and the new model will ship in two weeks.

The rumors were true: “Today we’re introducing a third kind of notebook, and it’s called the MacBook Air. In a sentence, it’s the world’s thinnest notebook.” Most ultraportable notebooks are around 3 pounds, with miniature keyboards and about a 11-inch to 12-inch screen. Jobs says Apple likes the weight goal, but says you have to make too many compromises. The MacBook Air is about half as thin as a Sony ultraportable model that he uses for comparison–0.76 inch at the thickest part, and just 0.16 inch at the thinnest. That’s thin; it’s so thin, it fits inside one of those office-to-office envelopes.