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For live event updates, visit Macworld.com.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs anounced today at a special event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino that iPhoto is going "...to a whole new level."

The new version will feature "Events," which is being touted as an improved way of navigating through the digital photos stored on your Macintosh. "Events" will be able to take photo groups such as birthday parties and other major...well...events, and automatically make "Events" out of them.

Users will also be able to hide photos from view without deleting them, then bring them back when they need them. Users will now also (finally) be able to search by date, keyword and rating.

iPhoto also gains new editing tools, including copy and paste. Books and calendars for printing have been improved, theme based home printing is now available and more. Jobs demonstrated the new features and held up a book example, which can now be printed with foil lettering.

According to Macworld's live report, Jobs demonstrated a new "skimming" feature that enables users to quickly see different photos in an event by simply moving your mouse over the event icon. Users can pick a photo to represent the event, and can also push a Merge button to merge multiple items into one event.

The new iPhoto extends features into .Mac, as well, according to Jobs. iPhoto 08 lets users publish .Mac Web galleries, and features one-button photo sharing. Photos can be viewed by users in a grid, as a slideshow, in a mosaic and a carousel. This new feature will work regardless of operating system or browser, according to Jobs.

In addition, visitors will be able to download print-quality images and contribute their own photos to your Web gallery using a special e-mail address. Photos added by others will synchronize with your Mac.

.Mac users with an iPhone will able to pick a gallery on their iPhone and use it to e-mail photos to the web gallery.

Applelinks will have futher details and screen captures as they're made available. In the meantime, be sure to visit Macworld.com for breaking news.