"Apple's New Designs for The Digital Home"

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Straight from Computer Shopper, a mainly PC magazine.
Apple Computer (www.apple.com) rang in the New Year with a flurry of announcements aimed at cementing it's place as a hub for consumer digital devices. Topping off the news from Cupertino was the unveiling of the redesigned iMac, the updating of Mac OS X to support more peripherals, and the launching of the iPhoto digital file-storange and -manipulation system.

The revamped iMac captured the lion's share of the attention for it's innovative appearance, with reactions varying from wild praise to dismissive comparisons to a desk lamp. The new design features a 15-inch flat-panel display connected to a dome base with a pivoting arm, five USB ports, and two IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ports.

Three new iMacs will be available this spring. The $1,299 entry-level model is based on a 700MHz PowerPC G4 processor, 128MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, and a CD-RW drive. For $200 more, consumers can purchase a model with 256MB of RAM and a combo DVD/CD-RW drive. The top-of-the-line version sells for $1,799 and is powered by an 800MHz G4 processor, a 60GB hard drive, and a SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW drive.

All Macs now ship with the latest version of OS X. Version 10.1.2 adds support for more peripherals, including devices with USB and IEEE 1394 connections, notably digital cameras and camcorders. It also increases support for PC Card-based storage devices, such as media readers, that are useful for transferring data between digital cameras and laptops.

Rounding out the announcements, iPhoto follows in the footsteps of iMovie and iTunes, programs that store, edit, and organize digital movie and music files, respectively. iPhoto does the same for digital images, while retaining the elegantly straightforward iTunes interface.

Still, it's too early to crown Apple the king of the digital home. Stephen Baker, an NPD Intelect analyst, believes the digital-hub concept is still in its infancy, and says Apple has a way to go before it can claim the mantle of leadership.

"Apple, consumer-electronics companies, and the IT world all have visions of what will work as a digital hub, and everybody's is different," Baker observes. "These things will be sotring themselves out for a while."

- Jon Halpin

Sorry if I misspelled some words...