Apple Launches Surprise New Range

As the crowds filed out of the Moscone centre in San Francisco last night, the principal emotion was one of surprise. Steve Jobs, in his keynote to the Mac community, had pulled rabbit after rabbit out of the hat in his two-hour address.

He had been widely expected to announce little to excite the crowds at the Macworld show. The keynote had been preceded by gloomy predictions from industry observers and, on Monday, a "sell" recommendation from one US investment house which described Apple's new product pipeline as "skimpy".

But, having promised enough announcements "for two Macworlds today", Mr Jobs went on to announce two new laptop computers and a substantial revision of the company's software products, to whoops of delight from the crowd. "We want to drive this industry with innovation," Mr Jobs told his audience.

Hardware

The PowerBook G4 17" - a new top-end laptop
£2599, including VAT, ships February
The Powerbook G4 17"

This new 6.8lb addition to the very top of Apple's notebook range sports an enormous 17" widescreen display, yet is also the company's thinnest laptop at less than 1" thick. It has Bluetooth built in, allowing it to communicate wire-free with other mobile devices, and also sports Apple's new Airport Extreme - a faster version of the WiFi networking standard. The Airport antenna is built into the lid of the device, to tackle complaints that previous PowerBooks had poor WiFi reception. It has a 1GHz processor and a DVD burning SuperDrive as standard, and Apple claims four hours of battery life.

The PowerBook G4 12" - a new compact notebook
From £1399, including VAT, available late January
The PowerBook G4 12"

Apple says this is the world's smallest "full feature" notebook. It has a 12" display, and it is capable of burning DVDs with an optional SuperDrive. It is only 1.2 inches thick, and weighs 4.6lbs. Like its bigger sibling it comes equipped with Bluetooth, although Airport Extreme is available as an option rather than fitted as standard. Battery life is claimed to stand at five hours.

Software

iLife - Apple's revamped digital media suite
£39, available late January
iLife

Apple has revamped its digital media software, more closely integrating iTunes, iMovie, iDVD and iPhoto. This makes it easier, for instance, to set your digital photograph slide show (in iPhoto) to music (from iTunes). Apple sees its iLife suite doing for digital media what Microsoft's Office suite did for productivity software. The iMovie, iDVD and iPhoto programs have all been given major upgrades. Apple is charging for this software bundle for the first time, although all bar iDVD will still be available for free download. New Macs will come with the software bundled in.

Safari - Apple's new web browser
Free to download, in beta (test) version now
Safari

A major surprise was the arrival of Apple's new open source-based web browser. The move is seen by some as an attempt by Apple to become less reliant on Microsoft for vital programs. Safari is in a test version at the moment, but Apple claims it is already substantially faster than Internet Explorer - although they did not reveal how well it compares with the Mac browser from Norwegian software company Opera. Other features include Google integration, a "snap-back" feature to make searches easier, easier organisation of bookmarks and pop-up ad prevention.

Keynote - Apple's answer to PowerPoint
£79, available now
Keynote

Another surprise, seen as a dig at Microsoft, whose PowerPoint software is the industry standard presentation creator on both Windows and Mac. Mr Jobs claimed the package had been specially made for him and, indeed, his presentation featured a few new special effects between some of the 500 slides. On first inspection Keynote seems a straightforward but powerful package. A library of templates is intended to give the impression of a large graphics design studio working for you "day and night", said Mr Jobs, although the TV-like special effects could wear thin in the hands of a David Brent. Importantly, Keynote will be able to import and export PowerPoint files. Could this be a subtle attempt to get Apple into PC-dominated businesses?

Final Cut Express
£248.99, available now
Final Cut Express

This cut down version of Apple's award-winning video editing package, Final Cut Pro, shaves £580 off the price, without losing much of the functionality that makes its parent package popular. The interface remains the same, there are plenty of special effects to give your video a professional look, and even sophisticated functions like colour correction remain. It usefully bridges the gap for amateur film makers who have grown out of iMovie, but who cannot afford - or face - the more complex Pro package.