Apple’s iMac just got a makeover.
And what was arguably the best desktop computer on the market for the average consumer is slimmer, sleeker and significantly faster.
But perhaps best of all, it’s cheaper, by $200 to $300, depending on the model.
The 20-inch starts at $1,199 and has a 2 GHz processor, while an impressively huge 24-inch starts at $1,799 for a 2.4 GHz version.
The high-end model goes for $2,299 and has a 500 GB hard drive, a 2.8GH processor and 2GB of memory. That’s the one that boasts the most-improved speed in running programs, up to 29% when compared to the previous top of the line 2.33 GHz iMac.
But as nice as the processor improvements, it is the design changes that are most notable.
Gone is the hunk of white plastic that wrapped around the always-distinctive one-piece iMac screen. That’s been replaced by an anodized aluminum frame bordered by a thin band of black plastic.
It’s clearly an effort by Apple to carry over the iPhone style to its all-in-one iMac line.
The screen itself is markedly different, too. Its glossy glass finish means colors generally look brighter and bolder than with the matte finish of the previous models.
But if the room has a lot of overhead lights or bright windows, the glass could show distracting reflections and glare, even though Apple insists it has treated the surface with an anti-reflective covering that also resists scratches and smudges.
Pro users — those who work with a lot of photo images or video — may also not appreciate the glass, which a lot of image experts say does not register colors as accurately.
But I’ve been using a 24-inch model of the new iMac for almost two weeks now and I have had no real problems with the screen. In fact, I much prefer the new.
By tilting the screen, I’ve been able to minimize or eliminate any glare in my home office where it is set up. And the colors seem more crisp.
The most revolutionary design associated with the new iMac is its super-slim aluminum keyboard.
The keys are flat, not raised, much like on Apple’s MacBook notebooks, and the whole board is just a third of an inch thick. The keys are a tad bit wider than the old Apple keys, and very easy to type on.
And the keyboard has two built-in USB 2.0 ports, instead of the much slower 1.1 on the older keyboards. The new 2.0 ports can power and charge an iPod, an iPhone and even some small external USB drives. They are a subtle but very welcome addition to system.
The standard iMac configuration comes with a wired keyboard and mouse. But for $79 more, you can get Bluetooth versions, meaning a desk totally unencumbered by wires, except for the power cord at the back.
Apple clearly introduced these new iMacs in time for the big back-to-school rush. And I have no problem recommending them, but with one caveat.
In October, Apple will release Leopard, the latest iteration of its OSX operating system.
If you own a Mac, you’re going to want it.
But Apple’s iMac Product Manager Laura Metz told me there is there is no migration path for those who buy a new iMac now to get a free upgrade to Leopard next month.
So be warned: If you buy the iMac now, you’ll have to pay for Leopard in a little over a month if you want to upgrade to the new system. Price has been set at $129.
The iMac comes preloaded with the standard array of Apple software, including iLife ’08; a new suite of digital programs like iMovie; a video editing application that has both been simplified and beefed up with better features; and iPhoto, Apple’s digital image manager, which has new organizational and picture editing tools.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Apple, Hardware | No Comments »
A two-day outage that left millions of Skype users unable to use the popular Internet phone service was caused by an abnormally high number of restarts after people had downloaded a Windows security update, the company said Monday.
The worldwide outage, which began on Thursday and ended on Saturday, left millions of Skype users unable to log on to make phone calls or send instant messages.
Luxembourg-based Skype Ltd., part of online auction giant eBay Inc., has more than 220 million users in total but typically has 5 million to 6 million users online at any given time. In January, Skype reported that it had counted 9 million users online at one time.
In an update to users on Skype’s Heartbeat blog, employee Villu Arak said the disruption was not because of hackers or any other malicious activity.
Instead, he said that the disruption “was triggered by a massive restart of our users’ computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update,” Arak wrote.
Microsoft Corp. released its monthly patches last Tuesday, and many computers are set to automatically download and install them. Installation requires a computer restart.
“The high number of restarts affected Skype’s network resources. This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the lack of peer-to-peer network resources, prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact,” Arak wrote.
Arak did not blame Microsoft for the troubles and said the outage ultimately rested with Skype. Arak said Skype’s network normally has an ability to heal itself in such cases, but a previously unknown glitch in Skype’s software prevented that from occurring quickly enough.
Users from Vietnam to Brazil to Germany to the United States had complained they could not log on and make phone calls or send instant messages.
The outage was a critical moment for the company, founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, and was the first major outage since October 2005 when its service was down only for a few hours.
“This disruption was unprecedented in terms of its impact and scope,” Arak wrote. “We would like to point out that very few technologies or communications networks today are guaranteed to operate without interruptions.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Microsoft, Software | No Comments »
The advent of digital photography has opened up a new world of image editing possibilities including the ability to fill-in blanks or replace unwanted parts of an image. A new algorithm devised by James Hayes and Alexei A. Efros of Carnegie Mellon University facilitates this process by drawing on a huge database of more than a million images from the World Wide Web in order to seamlessly fill in the missing areas of incomplete photographs.
There could be many reasons for an image to feature an undesirable blank area – a patch of bright light that needed to be cropped out or perhaps a shadow, a person or an object ruined an otherwise perfect shot.
The algorithm tackles this problem by completing a given image in a number of different ways leaving the user to select the one which is deemed most suitable. This can be achieved without the user having to label the image fragments being used, or for that matter, offer any direction at all.
‘Holes’ in images are ‘patched’ as suitable image fragments are found and re-arranged to complete the image in a manner that is claimed to be semantically valid. That is, the patched area is consistent with the rest of the image. Hays and Efros claim that their algorithm is a means to restore data missing from an image that ‘should have been there’. Existing methods of filling such blank areas have largely involved drawing image fragments from other parts of the same picture. This algorithm is quite unique in that it draws from an exterior database and also in the means by which it achieves this.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Design, Software | No Comments »
