In the 63 days since Apple unveiled its new iMac consumer desktop, some 117 new applications have already been developed for the system, Apple’s interim CEO Steve Jobs said yesterday. Speaking in New York at the keynote of the annual Macworld Expo show, Jobs emphasized that the games and entertainment markets were a key focus for the iMac. He said the company had been working very closely with developers over the last year and acknowledged that they were hopping mad because Apple had not bothered to listen to them or paid attention to their criticisms. Jobs said he asked them to re-partner with Apple and added that the company’s relationship with its biggest developer, Microsoft Corp, was now blossoming. He used the show to unveil a whole host of software games titles, developed exclusively for the iMac from Tomb Raider II and the X Files through to Cosmopolitan Virtual Make Over. And Disney’s Richard Wolpert, president of the company’s online division, took the stage to announce that, for the first time, its Blast On-line product, an online service for children, is now available to Macintosh users in a beta version. Jobs said the new computer, which begins shipping on August 15, was designed to combine the excitement of the internet with the simplicity of a Macintosh. He highlighted the iMac’s compliance with universal serial bus (USB) as the key focus for Apple. It’s a really big deal, he said, Something which extends our legendary plug and play even further. Jobs said the iMac’s two USB ports are 30 times faster than old Apple serial ports and can fit up to 127 hot pluggable devices. The iMac comes bundled with a variety of software including AppleWorks, formerly ClarisWorks, Quicken Deluxe 98 from Intuit and Earthlink’s Total Access 2.01. Ben Waldman, general manager of Microsoft’s Macintosh business unit also unveiled a new, bundled version of IE 4.01 with features only accessible to the iMac. One enhancement, for example, allows the user to split the screen so that you can see the results of an Internet search and the content in the browser at the same time. That way, Waldman said, you don’t have to hit the back arrow and wait for the search list to reload again every time you want to continue. The software also allows users to save live web pages to the hard drive, which means you can access data over the internet without a telephone line. Priced at $1,299, the iMac basic configuration includes a 233-MHz PowerPC G3 processor with a 24-speed CD-ROM drive, 32MB Ram, 1024×768 15 monitor, four megabits per second infrared technology and built-in stereo speakers. In response to customer demand the iMac will include a 56K modem, and not a 33K version as previously specified, Jobs said. He also announced the long-awaited DVD video drive for its PowerBook G3 line; a technology that he said would provide The coolest way to watch movies on airplanes in the whole world. Jobs also demonstrated the company’s new OS 8.5, code-named Allegro, which is due this fall. He showed off new search technology for the OS, code-named Sherlock, which allows users to search both their hard drives (files and content) and the internet in a highly-specific way. It also features a much faster copy file facility. He said version 8.6 will be available in the first quarter 1999 and the final (publicized) version of System 8, co-named Sonata, is due in the third quarter 1999. Jobs also announced that Rhapsody had been renamed OS10 Server and would be available by the end of this quarter or early next quarter. The first desktop beta version of OS10, the follow up to System 8, is expected in the first quarter 1999 and the full release at the end of 1999.
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