Having promised a new consumer product that is "innovative,
revolutionary and different," Apple Computer is expected to take
the wraps off a redesigned iMac which looks more like a desk lamp
than a desktop computer at Macworld Expo later today.
The original, bubble-like iMac was an instant hit when it was
unveiled in 1998 and has been credited with saving Apple from the
doldrums it had settled into during the mid-1990s. But analysts
have commented that the iMac's design has become stale and was in
need of a fresh look to boost sales.
Details of the new iMac have been scarce, with Apple officials
remaining tight-lipped on what users can expect the company to
unveil at this week's San Francisco show. However the first
pictures of the new iMac slipped into the public domain earlier
today when Time Canada ran two photographs on its Web site of the
elusive revamped iMac.
The design of the new iMac is a radical departure from the previous
version. Its base is a small, halved sphere that measures 26.4
centimeters in diameter, according to the Time report. A flat-panel
monitor is attached to the base using a jointed chrome neck that
can be adjusted to position the monitor. The monitor itself is
ringed by a translucent plastic "halo" while the rest of the case
and the base is white plastic.
The new iMac, which is priced from US$1,299, includes a raft of
multimedia software applications and a DVD (digital versatile disc)
burner in the $1,800 top-of-the-range model. The iMac will ship
with iDVD, which allows users to make DVD movies; iMovie, a video
editing application; iPhoto, a digital photo editing tool and
iTunes, which lets users convert CD music into MP3 files which can
be synchronised with Apple's iPod portable MP3 music player.
The Time article, however, did not reveal several key technical
features of the new iMac, including what processor the computer
uses, the amount of memory it has, how big the hard disk drive is,
and whether it offers built-in support for wireless networking
protocols such as Bluetooth or 802.11b.