Well as we reported last week Apple at its special Mac event today, introduced the new iMac, its consumer desktop computer line, with bigger displays, cheaper models and a brand new design. The new software suits iLife '08 and iWork '08. This may not seems like a big deal but it was an extraordinary keynote delivered brilliantly by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, with a little unexpected ending.
Seeing Is Believing
The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing and iLife '08, making it the ultimate digital lifestyle desktop computer for both consumers and professionals.
The 20-inch iMac now starts at just $1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch model, and the 24-inch iMac starts at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous 24-inch model.
"This new iMac is the most incredible desktop computer we've ever made," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "Our new design features the innovative use of materials, including professional-grade aluminum and glass, that are highly recyclable."
Redefining Apple's signature all-in-one design, the new iMac integrates the entire computer system into a sleek, professional aluminum enclosure for a clutter-free desktop. A glass cover joins precisely to the aluminum enclosure creating a virtually seamless front surface, similar to the company's iPhone handset.
The new iMac's 20- and 24-inch glossy widescreen displays provide incredibly crisp images, Apple said, ideal for photos and movies. Meanwhile, as reported earlier the new ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard is just 0.33 inches thin at its front edge. A new optional Apple Wireless Keyboard is a compact design that, with Apple's wireless Mighty Mouse, offers customers a cable-free desktop.
Packing professional performance into the convenience of an all-in-one design, the new iMac includes the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors running up to 2.8 GHz with 4MB of shared L2 cache and up to 4GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory. The iMac line features ATI's next generation of graphics with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory. Each iMac also offers up to 1TB of internal storage to accommodate a user's growing library of digital photos, movies and music.
Apple also said each iMac features highly recyclable and durable materials including scratch-resistant glass and professional grade aluminum. The power-efficient iMac also meets the stringent new Energy Star 4.0 requirements, the company said.
check out Apple.com for more on the new iMac.
Check out Engadget's first look at the new iMac
One of the unusual things about today's keynote is that Job's ended the presentation with a Q&A session, a thing which doesn't really happens at Apple event, I don't recall any in the past decade. In answering a question about the Mac's future regarding the MultiTouch technology, jobs replied: "Makes sense for the iPhone, not sure it makes sense in the Mac. Classify that as a research project." So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth: Apple is at least considering letting you get all touchy touchy with your Mac's screen, and you can't ask for much more than that, right?
iLife '08 and iWork
One of iLife's best apps is iPhoto and today we got a brand new web 2.0 version of it called: iPhoto '08.
The new version of iPhoto, announced today, has improved the level of integration between .Mac and iPhoto. iPhoto '08 introduces .Mac Web Gallery, a two-way street for image-sharing that Apple boss Steve Jobs called "a real web 2.0 app".
iPhoto users can share images with a single click. The application then publishes the gallery in the background. Users can deploy gallery, carousel or mosaic views, and the online collection can be viewed using any web browser - users can also define who is allowed to view their page.
In another new feature, the company has also added the facility to allow site visitors to download print quality downloads if you give permission.
On the desktop, iPhoto also gains a new Events view, which lets users tag new image collections by an event name as they import the images. The application also gets new features - users can hide images that don't have a star rating, or images that have a low star rating.
iPhoto '08 also lets users copy photo adjustments for a single photo and paste them into the rest of the images taken during a session.
Now Showing: Your entire Video Library.
iMovie '08 has been completely revised - it's an all-new application.
The development team aimed to transform the popular consumer desktop video-editing application into a solution that can be used to craft a video in half an hour
The application also lets you scrub through video in real-time without needing to play it. This means you can swiftly find the clip you want to use in a film project.
Adding text has been vastly improved, and music, sound effects, images and transitions are quick and easy to drop into a project. The software also offers many special effects.
Sharing video has also been simplified. The 'Share' menu now permits a user to make a version for iTunes, iPod, Apple TV, iPhone, a computer or for .Mac, as well as burning creations to DVD.
Users can also send films directly into YouTube from within iMovie '08, and can encode projects into multiple resolutions at one time.
The application offers wide support for video formats, including for High-Definition (HD) format AVHCD.
It looks awesome. and that's just some of the new apps in iLife '08, have a look at them all in Apple's website.
Apple have also put out a new video for the iLife suite, it looks wonderful.
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