New Apple Gets Shined Up

Hoping to boost recently slackening sales of its flagship product, Apple Computer Inc. is using the dog days of summer to unveil the redesigned iMac, opening the curtain on its popular desktop computer at the Apple Expo in Paris.

Most of the buzz around the iMac upgrade involves the move to speedier G5 processors used in Apple's Power Macs, the Associated Press reported. Shipping out mid-September and starting at $1,299, the spiffed-up iMac looks like "a flat-panel monitor but with a processor and other components stashed behind the screen. CDs or DVDs load vertically into the side of the panel," the wire service said. Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a keynote speech called the machine "the world's thinnest desktop computer," eWeek noted. BBC News Online picked up on canned quote by Schiller, which ratchets up the cheese factor for gee-whiz marketing speak: "With the entire system, including a gorgeous 17 or 20-inch display, just two inches thin, a lot of people will be wondering, 'Where did the computer go?'" Schiller said.

Apple would have launched sooner, but plans were delayed due to a dearth of IBM-made G5s, the AP said. So the company today used the expo, the major Mac event in Europe, to tout its newest PC. "Although Apple began taking orders for the iMac G5 on its Web site on Tuesday ... the gap in timing has left Apple without a consumer-oriented desktop to sell for the much of the 2004 back-to-school season," CNET's News.com reported. Apple might be eyeing these numbers for motivation: "The first iMac model - a translucent, colorful all-in-one cathode-ray-tube design - sold 6 million units after its introduction in 1998, helping Apple draw a line under three years of losses," the AP said.
• The Associated Press via The Washington Post: Apple Introduces New iMac at Paris Expo (Registration required)
• eWeek: Apple Unveils 'World's Thinnest Desktop'
• BBC News Online: Apple Shows Off New iMac in Paris
• CNET's News.com: Apple Puts the Squeeze on New iMac

The coming-out-party "ended considerable speculation. Mac enthusiast sites had been buzzing recently about possible designs for the new machines," CNET's News.com noted. "Previous models included the iMac G4, introduced in 2002, whose swing-arm-mounted flat screen drew comparisons to a desk lamp, and the first-generation CRT-based machine from 1998, whose form is still emulated by the eMac. This time around, the company has created a profile that emulates that of Apple's iPod digital music player when mounted inside its docking cradle."

IDG News Service gave more details about bells and whistles. "The new machines have two FireWire 400 [high-speed data transfer] ports, three USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports, [and] audio line-in, optical audio-out, video out, modem and Ethernet connections at the back of the screen. The speaker grills are concealed in the base of the screen and bounce sound off the desktop up to the user." Macworld gives a more technical run-down of what's under the hood of Apple's latest.

Reuters said the same team that developed the iPod was behind the redesign, but that iMac sales "have slowed in recent quarters, however, while Apple's portable notebook computers were doing well." While "Apple's iPod music player and iTunes music download site have also become runaway successes ... the company still makes about 60 percent of its revenue from computers," according to the AP.
• IDG News Service via InfoWorld: Apple Unveils New iMac G5s
• Reuters: Apple's New iMac Computer Is All Display

In other Apple news, the company's iTunes online music store continues to be popular. Apple announced at the expo "it has sold five million songs in the first 10 weeks after opening three European iTunes Music Stores on the Internet in Germany, France and Britain," Reuters reported. "Worldwide, Apple has sold more than four million of its market leading iPod digital music players and sold more than 100 million tracks on its iTunes online music store in the United States since it was launched in April last year." Microsoft, Wal-Mart, RealNetworks and other competitors in the digital music space are taking notes.

Another Reuters dispatch picked up on a new study by Forrester Research, which says the digital music biz will boom in Europe starting this year. "Selling songs over the Internet in Western Europe will explode to a 3.5 billion euros [about $4.2 billion] a year market by 2009," Reuters said, citing the study.
• Reuters: Apple Cheers Euro iTunes Sales
• Reuters: Music Sales on the Web to Hit Jackpot – Survey

A High-Speed Challenge

Cable companies have an ally in Uncle Sam. "The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a decision that requires cable companies to open their high-speed Internet networks to rival online providers. The cable industry has been pushing for an appeal of a lower court's decision, saying the ruling would dramatically reduce its incentive to continue investing in Internet services and expanding their reach," The Washington Post reported. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell also doesn't want the 9th Circuit appeals court's ruling to stand, arguing that the FCC "will be forced to treat cable Internet service under the same regulatory framework that applies to the telephone industry," The Post said, summarizing a Powell statement made yesterday. "A successful appeal of this case would ultimately mean lower prices and better service for American consumers," Powell said.
• The Washington Post: High Court Petitioned on Cable Net Access Rule (Registration required)

Consumer advocates are balking, however. "Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation ripped the decision to fight a court ruling he says could benefit consumers by forcing cable broadband services to open their networks to rival Internet service providers. EarthLink's Dave Baker says consumers 'deserve choice' in broadband providers. Today, most cable broadband services offer subscribers only their in-house ISP, a setup that means higher profit margins and more control of the customer," USA Today reported.
• USA Today: FCC Asks High Court to Rule on Broadband