Along with the new MacBook Air family, Apple has updated its signature consumer-media suite to iLife ’11.  As you may know, the iLife ’11 suite continues with the three core media-creation progams,  iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand, with each getting workflow tweaks that will hopefully make your life smoother.  Additional tweaks are also found in new versions of iWeb and iDVD.

Of particular interest are the new and improved audio editing controls in iMovie ’11, which is more than welcomed for those who have had the misfortune of trying to work with audio tracks in iMovie ’09 projects.

iLife ’11 will ship with all new Macs, and runs $49 for those who want to upgrade.

Get the full scoop in the press release below.

Apple Introduces iLife ’11 With Major Upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand

CUPERTINO, California—October 20, 2010—Apple today introduced iLife® ’11, a major upgrade that gives Mac® users even more great ways to create and share photos, movies and music. iPhoto® ’11 has a whole new look, with stunning full screen modes for Faces, Places and Events. iMovie® ’11 makes it easier than ever to edit videos and quickly transform them into fun theatrical trailers for easy posting online. GarageBand® ’11 introduces new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs with Flex Time and Groove Matching. Free with every new Mac, iLife ’11 is available as a $49 upgrade for existing users.

“iLife is widely regarded as the best suite of ‘Digital Life’ applications in the world, and iLife ’11 makes them even better,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iLife now makes it easier than ever to create books and letterpress cards, make amazing movie trailers from your personal videos and post them online, and make your band sound far better or teach yourself piano or guitar.”

iPhoto ’11 features stunning new full screen modes that take advantage of your Mac’s brilliant display for browsing, editing and showcasing your photos. Sharing your photos is easier than ever in iPhoto ’11, whether you send them by email using one of eight beautiful themes, post them to your Facebook wall with a single click, or play them in full screen with one of 12 professionally designed slideshows. iPhoto ’11 features a completely new approach to creating books and cards with a sleek carousel interface, intelligent book layout and a bookshelf that displays all your projects. New letterpress cards let you combine your photos and text with elegant imprinted designs to create unique wedding invitations, birth announcements, holiday greetings and more.

iMovie ’11 helps you turn your videos into captivating Hollywood-style trailers that are fun to watch and share. You can choose from 15 different genres including Adventure, Romantic Comedy and Epic Drama, each one complete with its own unique titles, graphics and cinematic soundtrack. Powerful new tools make it easy to selectively adjust audio levels and apply sophisticated visual effects like flash and hold, instant replay and jump cuts with a single click. People Finder analyzes your videos and marks sections containing faces, so you can quickly find the perfect clips for your trailer or movie. iMovie ’11 also adds exciting new themes that make your videos look like professional news or sports programs.

GarageBand ‘11 includes two new ways to fix or change the timing of your recordings. Flex Time lets you move, stretch or shorten individual notes by clicking on just the part of the audio waveform you want to change, without affecting the rest of the recording. With Groove Matching, you can select any track as the “Groove Track” and all other tracks will instantly match its rhythmic feel. GarageBand ’11 adds seven authentic-sounding new guitar amps, five fun new stompbox effects, and 22 new Basic Lessons for piano and guitar. The new “How did I Play?” feature listens while you play along with any lesson, highlights mistakes and tracks your progress to help you become a better musician.

Pricing & Availability
iLife ’11 is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $49 (US) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The iLife ’11 Family Pack includes five licenses and is available for $79 (US) and the Mac Box Set which includes iLife ’11, iWork® and Mac OS® X v10.6 Snow Leopard® is available for $129 (US).

iLife ’11 requires Mac OS X version 10.6.3 or later, a Mac computer with an Intel processor, 1GB of RAM, a DVD drive for installation and 5GB of available disk space. iPhoto print products and GarageBand Artist Lessons are sold separately and are available in select countries. Full system requirements and more information on iLife ’11 can be found at www.apple.com/ilife.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Singular Software has made available the Beta 4 version of its PluralEyes audio syncing software for Adobe Premiere Pro.  If you are using an earlier beta version, you should be notified automatically.  The latest beta release is available for download on Singular Software’s website.

Microsoft has dropped Office 2010 on the world today.  The big M did some heavy public beta testing with Office 10, and thinks with the success of Windows 7 that Office 10 will be its biggest Office release to date.

Office 2010 Home and Student is priced at $149 retail, while Office 2010 Home and Business is $249 retail.  However, Amazon already has some significant discounts on those prices today.  Hit up the Microsoft Office 2010 Resource Center for more details.

muvee Reveal is a software program designed to help luddites transform simple home movies into more professional-looking videos.  The software touts the ability to apply professional templates, add music voiceover and captions, and share on YouTube or Facebook with ease.  muvee Reveal also supports HD video for the growing HD crowd of home video cameras.

Key Features:

• Make home movies in three easy steps
• 10 included Styles do the work for you
• Switch Styles with just one click
• Powerful editing features include automatic brightness, color correction and red eye reduction
• Personalize with music, captions, voiceover, Styles and more
• Add credits at the end of your movie
• One-touch transfer from your camcorder, camera or phone
• Support for HD video from AVCHD and HDV camcorders
• Easy export to your iPod,® iPhone,® mobile phone or PSP—or simply burn to a DVD
• Instant full-screen previews
• Import video in WMV, Quicktime, MPEG4, H.264, MPEG2, MPEG1, DV-AVI, 3GPP, DVD Camcorder MPEG2, AVCHD, AVCHD Lite or HDV formats.
• Import photos in JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP or TIF formats
• Import MP3, WMA, AAC or WAV audio files

Requirements

• Windows® 7, Vista™ or XP® (Service Pack 2)
• Intel® Pentium® 4, AMD Athlon™ 64 (or equivalent); 2GHz or higher
• 1GB RAM (2GB RAM for HD)
• 128MB Video Memory (256MB for HD)
• Video driver must support Open GL 1.4
• Apple® Quicktime® is required for supporting MOV and iPhone®/iPod® formats

muvee Reveal Press Release

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Smith Micro Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMSI) Productivity and Graphics Group, today announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with muvee to distribute the award-winning video editing solution Reveal™. People of all ages can use muvee Reveal to transform their home videos into professional-looking movies in three simple steps: select content, add music and choose an overall style for the movie piece. Reveal does the rest by compiling all of the information into one multimedia montage that is completely personalized from start to finish.

Reveal allows users of any skill level to create personalized movies in minutes and share them with the world by uploading to popular sites, such as YouTube and Facebook. Bloggers can use Reveal to create unique, branded content to connect with their audience in a more engaging and efficient way. Reveal lets the most advanced users take complete control of video production by adding opening titles and credits, voiceovers or music.

“Whether it’s from a Smartphone or HD video camera, seemingly everyone is shooting video,” said Steve Yatson, Senior Director of Productivity and Graphics at Smith Micro Software. “Reveal, our newest addition to Smith Micro’s expanding line of consumer products, makes it easy for anyone to create compelling home movies with user-friendly tools such as theme selection and automated editing. Over 100 million people already use muvee’s photo and video technology and we’re thrilled to bring muvee Reveal to our extensive base of global retailers and distribution partners.”

Key Features and Benefits of Reveal:

• Easy transfer – Lets users transfer content from a camcorder, phone or camera in one-touch making it effortless to import any media (including HD) regardless of format
• Easy-to-use – Offers easy-to-edit tools such as automatic brightness control, color correction, red-eye reduction and the ability to easily zoom-in on specific details, rotate images and change the sequence of images
• Personalize – Lets users personalize their favorite part of a song and insert logos, captions and voiceovers to give movies a special touch
• Styles – Users can select from or customize the 10 included styles, each with unique effects, animations and transitions

Pricing and Availability:

The MSRP for muvee Reveal is $79.99 and is available direct from the Smith Micro online store at: http://www.smithmicro.com/reveal and from popular resellers, catalogs and distribution partners worldwide. muvee Reveal supports Windows®7, Vista and XP.

What is Google Chrome OS? Google explains below.

More on Chrome OS

Install guide for Chrome OS – TechCrunch

With Chrome OS, Google Intends to Destroy the Desktop and Microsoft – Mashable

Everything You Need to Know About Chrome OS – Gizmodo

Why Google Should Cool It With Chrome OS – Wired

How-to: run Chrome OS as a virtual Machine – Engadget