At Macworld, Apple introduced the new AirPort Extreme wireless networking solution. It’s based on 802.11n, and according to Apple, offers twice the range and five times the performance of their previous AirPorts.

In addition to the network performance, the new AirPort Extreme Base Station features connections for networked computers, printers and a USB hard drive, letting it be used as a wireless media server.

For people with multiple computers and large media files, the combination could be an easy way to share and backup files.

YouTube is reported to be considering creating a offline TV channel made up of content culled from the thousands of clips posted on its site, according to YouTube vice president of content Kevin Donahue.

Donahue, speaking on the “Hollywood and the Digital Consumer” panel at the Consumer Electronics Show, said YouTube has been toying with the idea of generating conventional-form TV programs.

“We’re noodling on it,” he said. “We haven’t gone down a specific road yet. We’ve had a lot of conversations with networks that want us to do shows, companies that want us to do linear YouTube channels … We’re more in strategy phase right now.”

No one seems to have noticed this in the rush to cover the iPhone, but Steve Jobs seems to have completely blown off Mac users at MacWorld this year.

There were no announcements of new Macintosh computers. There were no updates of Mac OS X. No mention of iLife updates. Apple didn’t even announce any cool new applications for Macs.

Instead of offering any morsel of goodness for Mac users, Steve Jobs used the stage at MacWorld to announce that Apple was removing the word computer from its name.

None of the products that Apple announced at MacWorld are Mac products. The iPhone runs a version of OS X, but can’t really be considered a Mac because it runs a very limited version of the operating system, with a different user interface. The phone also can’t run user apps.

The AirPort Extreme is a wireless networking solution, and Apple TV appears to be platform neutral.

Based on Jobs’ announcements at MacWorld, it looks like Apple will be introducing fewer Mac-specific product, and will instead be focusing on consumer electronics that they can sell to any computer user.

The Pico-iPod from i’Coo is a high-end baby stroller that features a built-in iPod dock, volume controls and speakers so you and your baby can rock out while you run your errands.

via TUAW

CES Update: MusicIP is inviting both music fans and music-centric software developers to take advantage of their newly introduced tag-fixing functionality, which cleans up the metadata in digital music collections of any size.

Along with building instant playlists and acoustic music searching, music fans can use MusicIP Mixer to fill in missing metadata and correct wrong artist, album and song title information. The new tag-fixing feature is built on the MusicIP database, which is updated by artists as well as both commercial and non-commercial sources to ensure accuracy.

“Tag Fixing is an exciting new feature for the MusicIP product line,” said Dr. Matthew Dunn, CEO of MusicIP. “People get music from many sources – not just CDs. Our patented acoustic fingerprinting technology enables consistent track recognition, so we can fix the mess for users automatically.”

CES Update: Ford has announced factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment systems that offer support for iPods.

The technology is based on Microsoft Auto software (Sync), and supports virtually any mobile phone or digital media player. Drivers can operate their iPod (or other device) using voice commands or the vehicle’s steering wheel or radio controls.

“Sync is what today’s generation and today’s drivers demand in connectivity,” says Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, product development at the Ford Motor Company. “Not only does it offer hands-free phone operation and iPod connectivity, it’s built on a software platform that is upgradeable and will allow us to offer new features by simply upgrading the software.”

Avvenu, a new online music service, lets people share music stored on their PCs with other computer or mobile phone users. Using the free Avvenu Music Player, users can select tracks they want to share and send links to friends via e-mail. Recipients click on the link to listen to the songs for up to five days on standard Web browsers.

Avvenu supports audio files in MP3, AAC and WMA formats. Only tracks that are free of copy-protection restrictions can be streamed with the service. Users sharing their collections must have Apple’s iTunes music software on their Windows or Macintosh computer. Mobile phones must run Microsoft Windows Mobile software in order to listen to the audio files.

Recipients do not need to have iTunes or the Avvenu software on their computers to play back tracks.

At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), ZAP introduced a new series of lithium battery packs designed specifically to work with iPods.

Called iZAP, the chargers and power packs are designed to work in conjunction with iPods, including the iPod mini, iPod shuffle, iPod nano and iPod with video. According to the company, the iZAP designed for the iPod shuffle can extend listening time up to 60 hours.

“Our new iZAP series of lithium battery packs are specifically designed for the iPod,” said ZAP CEO Steve Schneider. “Part of ZAP’s mission with advanced energy technologies is to continually find new market applications for advanced batteries so that economies of scales in battery manufacturing can be developed to power full-size automobiles.”

VeriSign and Adobe have announced their intent to collaborate on integrating Adobe Flash technologies with VeriSign’s peer assisted content distribution technology. The first phase of the expected collaboration consists of VeriSign incorporating Adobe Flash Media Server 2 into its new globally deployed Intelligent Content Delivery Network (CDN), letting publishers deliver high fidelity video on-demand and MP3 audio streaming services across a high-performance, more secure and reliable CDN.

The two companies expect to work together to integrate future versions of next generation media technologies leveraging VeriSign’s Kontiki peer-to-peer technology and Adobe’s Flash Video software. The combined services will allow companies to deliver customized interactive Flash Video experiences, including movies, TV shows, broadcast media, and user interface technologies.

Cisco has announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Apple, Inc., seeking to prevent Apple from using the company’s registered iPhone trademark.

Earlier in the week, Apple announced their iPhone – a new device that combines a state-of-the-art mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device.

“Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, senior vice president and general counsel, Cisco. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission.