New iMac, FrontRow and PhotoBooth Apps

[~Shard~]

I think that has potential, but I would rather they drop the LCD prices, add HD and make a pro-isight that sits along not perpendicular to the screen.

That would be nice to see. Now that Apple has integrated the iSight into the iMac, perhaps a redesign of the original external model is in order.

Due to the dropping prices of LCDs, I think a price drop is definitely in order as well, even with better screens.

 

[nick.hill]

Is the iMac intel already?

Looking at the specs i cant help but think they may have slipped this one in? the G5 is just a marketing term, they've done so much fiddleing and it's not going to be wasted by replacing it so soon.

I'm not an expert but i don't know - it does say powerPC on the tech specs so it would be "illegal" but who knows.

I'm sure someone of higher inteligence than I will put me right.

N

 

[~Shard~]

Looking at the specs i cant help but think they may have slipped this one in? the G5 is just a marketing term, they've done so much fiddleing and it's not going to be wasted by replacing it so soon.

I'm not an expert but i don't know - it does say powerPC on the tech specs so it would be "illegal" but who knows.

I'm sure someone of higher inteligence than I will put me right.

N

No, it is not Intel. It is referred to on Apple's page as a PPC G5, so definitely not. G5 may be a marketing term, but referring to PPC or Intel is not - that is the chip architecture, plain and simple. We will not be seeing Intel chips in any Macs until 2006. 😎

Good thinking though, nothing wrong with that... 😉

 

[aswitcher]

Due to the dropping prices of LCDs, I think a price drop is definitely in order as well, even with better screens.

In Australia Dell 24" screen is about $1000 AUD (~$750 USD) cheaper than Apple's 23" screen when you get a special deal or go in for one of the bulk purchases that have been happening. Apple are just priced out of the market.

I wish they would do for LCDs what they have done for 4 gig solid state music player, by intorducing a new model so cheap and compelling that everyone will want one.

 

[~Shard~]

In Australia Dell 24" screen is about $1000 AUD (~$750 USD) cheaper than Apple's 23" screen when you get a special deal or go in for one of the bulk purchases that have been happening. Apple are just priced out of the market.

I wish they would do for LCDs what they have done for 4 gig solid state music player, by intorducing a new model so cheap and compelling that everyone will want one.

Well said. I think one thing against Apple with regards to the LCDs (and other products for that matter) is the long time between updates. With their LCDs only being updated once a year, give or take, this doesn't give Apple much chance to change with the changing market trends, etc. Of course, nothing stops them from doing a simple price drop whenever need be, which they did earlier in the year, but I agree, they need to get back into the market and get more competitive. Their displays are great, but are priced a bit too much.

With new LCDs being used in the new iMacs though, we know they exist, and they'll be updating the line soon - it's just a question of when. Next week would be nice, but MWSF might be a bit more likely...

 

[powerbook911]

With new LCDs being used in the new iMacs though, we know they exist, and they'll be updating the line soon - it's just a question of when. Next week would be nice, but MWSF might be a bit more likely...

I really want to get the 23-inch ACD, when they are updated, but unfortunately it won't fit in the space on my desk. I've tried desperately to find a different desk I would like, but I can't find any.

It is funny how after a few months the 20-inch starts to feel small. 🙂

 

[aswitcher]

I really want to get the 23-inch ACD, when they are updated, but unfortunately it won't fit in the space on my desk. I've tried desperately to find a different desk I would like, but I can't find any.

It is funny how after a few months the 20-inch starts to feel small. 🙂

I have enough desk space for a 30"...just lack the cash to get it 🙄

 

[~Shard~]

I really want to get the 23-inch ACD, when they are updated, but unfortunately it won't fit in the space on my desk. I've tried desperately to find a different desk I would like, but I can't find any.

It is funny how after a few months the 20-inch starts to feel small. 🙂

When I got my first 17" screen I know it felt big compared to the 15" I was using, so I can see where you're coming from. 😉 Since I'm still using a 17" LCD though, I think a 20" would be awesome - when you buy your 23", I'll take your 20" off your hands... 😉

 

[ksz]

The ATI Radeon X1800 XT is a faster card than the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX in almost everything BUT Doom3. There are many benchmarks proving it.

Not necessarily.

CrossFire was a bit of a disappointment, but I was fairly sure that ATI's X1800 XT board would put up a better fight against NVidia's 7800 GTX. And I was mostly right. The two cards were pretty much neck and neck throughout our tests.

For example, looking at tests in Doom 3 run at 1600 by 1200 with antialiasing turned on, ATI's X1800 XT posted 42 frames per second compared to 49 fps for NVidia's 7800 GTX. Our Far Cry test, run at the same settings, saw the X1800 XT post 64 fps to the 7800 GTX's 51 fps. And in our Unreal Tournament 2004 test at the same settings, the 7800 GTX posted 72 fps while the X1800 XT hit 69 fps.

In the big picture, those scores are pretty close. There's no clear winner, to my mind. It's worth pointing out, though, that the ATI card included twice as much RAM (512MB) and has a list price of $549 versus the NVidia card's actual $480 street price. Rumor has it NVidia and its partners will eventually roll out a 512MB version of the 7800 GTX, which would make for a more even playing field.

Right now nVidia has the lead. SLI is far superior to the current implementation of CrossFire, and I was more impressed by PureVideo than ATI's Avivo.

 

[tiramisu]

photobooth

i wounder where i could download this little nice application. i got a g5 and a nice speedy graphic card plus i bought the isight. apple should make it downloadable. does anyone own the new imac yet? 🙄

 

[~Shard~]

i wounder where i could download this little nice application. i got a g5 and a nice speedy graphic card plus i bought the isight. apple should make it downloadable. does anyone own the new imac yet? 🙄

Outright downloading the application would be illegal unless Apple makes it available for free, so you'll have to wait until Apple releases it for the PowerMac or releases it for sale on its own, which may not be for some time yet. They seem to want to put the focus on the iMac as the "home theater" system now, with Front Row being its unique feature, so I don't see it being ported to other systems just yet.

Don't forget you'll need an IR receiver of some sort as well. 😉

Edit: My apologies, my mind read "Front Row" when you said "Photobooth". My mistake... 😱 😎

 

[BenRoethig]

Not necessarily.


Right now nVidia has the lead. SLI is far superior to the current implementation of CrossFire, and I was more impressed by PureVideo than ATI's Avivo.

Not that SLI/Crossfire matters to use since the current G5 case doesn't have enough expansion card slots.

 

[Platform]

Not that SLI/Crossfire matters to use since the current G5 case doesn't have enough expansion card slots.

It does.....just not the right kind 😉 3 PCI-X and One AGP 8X... 😱

 

[ksz]

It does.....just not the right kind 😉 3 PCI-X and One AGP 8X... 😱

I doubt Apple will support SLI anytime soon, but that's besides the point. Even a single 7800 GTX with half the onboard memory keeps pace with the X1800 XT while offering better video processing.

SLI requires two PCIe x16 slots and chipset support.

 

[BenRoethig]

It does.....just not the right kind 😉 3 PCI-X and One AGP 8X... 😱

I'm talking slots. SLI on the G5 would take up every available slot leaving no room for anything else. And additional two or three slots would be needed.

 

[LGRW3919]

i really want Front Row... its so awesome. oh well. since i don't watch too many movies and whatnot w/ my iMac i guess i'll just have to deal.

 

[hyperpasta]

You mean integrated iSights in the displays? 😕

Yeah, why not? They seem intent on forcing people to get iSights. Note I said maybe, though. As in, no.

 

[~Shard~]

Yeah, why not? They seem intent on forcing people to get iSights. Note I said maybe, though. As in, no.

Thanks for clarifying. 😉

 

[beatle888]

Apple is making the move on the living room. Front Row is the OS for the living room/living room appliance. The news media really hasn't touched on the signifigance of Front Row.

Apple has the consumers (installed ipod user base, not just us mac evangelists) on a leash and is leading them along the path to an apple intergrated home media future/device. Large display panel, Front Row interface, all the wireless connectivity, built in isight, hangs on the wall, yadda yadda yadda..... It's just going to be a while till we get there, apple has some money to make on the way selling all the iterations of products that get us there. It will be a fun ride.

They have been doing a great job captivating the consumer, they just need to maintain it. Bring people along just fast enough to keep their attention (buying and upgrading), while not letting them be distracted by flashy competing concepts, and doing all not too fast as to confuse them with the technology and losing them.

yup, and its too expensive for me. apple asked us to buy in a long time ago with iTunes. they even used the Front Row interface as a screen shot during the presentation to illustrate their intent (the four huge icons on the black glossy background). we all have been waiting so long and now apple releases the utility that will make all the apps work together and now they ask us to buy the MAIN hardware all over again. not just upgrade to some software and perhaps extra device....they want us to buy NEW SYSTEMS.

i stopped playing with apple since the announcement that front row is only available to the iMac....for now. if that statement means that only hardware released after the latest iMac will be able to use front row then im over it. theres no reason to limit the old hardware. its plenty capable. my friend has a top of the line G5 for crying out loud. all i can say is i hope hackers screw apple over on this one. and if it wasnt for my stock i could care less what happens to apple at this point.

of course if they do release it to all macs then its all good.

 

[johngordon]

I'm surprised there is no scroll wheel on the remote. The Front Row UI displays your music library in a very iPod-like way; with the iPod, Apple has taught us that we need that scroll wheel to quickly navigate through pages and pages of artists/albums/songs. But now I figure we'll have to hold down the next/prev buttons to scroll, which is basically what all the iPod competitors have had to resort to. But Apple ... couldn't you have done better here? And is it not so obvious that I seem to be the first person to mention this?

i'd though that too - does seem an odd one. don't know if theire are any IR technical hurdles there, but i wouldn't have thought so.

Iain

 

[johngordon]

Doesn't the iMac's LCD have a better resolution than standard TVs? It's better than 480i or 720p, no? And LCD TVs with VGA input could also display iMac's video.

but the problem remains that people don't typically have their desktop in the same room as their tv.

this whole media / front row thing is just screaming out for a mac mini like box that sits next to your tv and outputs all your media to your tv.

i'd be there like a shot.

Iain

 

[Squire]

but the problem remains that people don't typically have their desktop in the same room as their tv.

this whole media / front row thing is just screaming out for a mac mini like box that sits next to your tv and outputs all your media to your tv.

i'd be there like a shot.

Iain

Very true. I wonder if the updated 1.5 GHz mac minis will have this built in? If so, the people who got stuck with the 1.42 GHz, 32 MB minis will have one more thing to complain about.

Squire

 

[johngordon]

Very true. I wonder if the updated 1.5 GHz mac minis will have this built in? If so, the people who got stuck with the 1.42 GHz, 32 MB minis will have one more thing to complain about.

it all makes sense as well with the whole 'no need for a display or keyboard' thing - because effectively all you need is your tv.

depending on price, i could easily see myself buying one, not as a computer, but just as this standalone media server device.

i'm sure if this is screaming out so obviously to the likes of you or i, apple will be on the case as well.

do you think 2-3 years down the line, when all of this truly comes together, we have HD, and broadband fast enough to stream HD quality content through our little box to out HD tvs we'll finally have everything we'll ever really need, or will there be more stuff on the horizon?

Iain 😀

 

[Squire]

it all makes sense as well with the whole 'no need for a display or keyboard' thing - because effectively all you need is your tv.

depending on price, i could easily see myself buying one, not as a computer, but just as this standalone media server device.

Yeah, if I had some spare cash to burn, I'd plunk down 500 bucks for a mini. Damn, the thing even looks like a home theater component. (Same color as my TV and Nad system, too.)

i'm sure if this is screaming out so obviously to the likes of you or i, apple will be on the case as well.

They're likely all over it.

do you think 2-3 years down the line, when all of this truly comes together, we have HD, and broadband fast enough to stream HD quality content through our little box to out HD tvs we'll finally have everything we'll ever really need, or will there be more stuff on the horizon?

We will never have everything we ever need. Apple will make sure of it. 😀

Squire

 

[johngordon]

Yeah, if I had some spare cash to burn, I'd plunk down 500 bucks for a mini. Damn, the thing even looks like a home theater component. (Same color as my TV and Nad system, too.)



They're likely all over it.



We will never have everything we ever need. Apple will make sure of it. 😀

that's good to know! 😀

it is a strange thing this whole devotion to Apple thing. i needed (wanted) a laptop a couple of years ago so i could work on stuff without being anti social and vanishing up to the study all the time.

had a look at apple, and was instantly sold on the PB. have had absolutely no regrets, but similarly am unlikely to need to upgrade anytime soon (like a lot of people here seem to), but still frequent this site to see what's happening, and watch the keynotes etc - there is something very watchable about Jobs showing all the new kit off.

and i have managed to get three other people to switch so far - to an emac, imac, and ibook, and they're all more than happy. the iMac was my father-in-law, who is the most financially sensible person i know, so thought he might end up with a dell or something. but i took him to the apple store in london, and he was sold! 😀

(sorry, this is a bit off topic... 😱 )

Iain