Only Connect

If yesterday's keynote speech by Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, could be summed up in one word, that word would be "connectivity".

This is a departure. Normally, the word would probably be "hardware" - Mr Jobs knows a sexy new piece of computer kit, like another flash iMac or a cute laptop, is the sure-fire way to guarantee a happy MacWorld.

Certainly, in New York yesterday, Mr Jobs had some hardware to show off: he pulled the wraps off a new 17-inch iMac with his customary flourish.

The new model duly got a cheer, but the move was hardly unexpected: an iMac with a bigger screen was high on the wish list of many Mac users. In two weeks, for £1,499, they will be able to buy one.

But by far the most significant developments revolved around software, and particularly around the next revision of Apple's OSX operating system.

This upgrade has been code-named "Jaguar" (pronounced "Jagwire" by Mr Jobs), but is likely to be formally known as version 10.2 when it appears on sale on August 24.

And connectivity - whether those connections are over the net, over wireless connections, with gadgets, other computers or web services - lies at the heart of much that is interesting in the new system.

First, Apple's digital hub strategy has been extended. Already, Mac users know it is very easy to attach digital cameras, camcorders and MP3 players to their machines, and use software built into the system to manage and edit images and music. It is Apple's frequent boast - made again yesterday - that nothing exists in the Windows world to match its capabilities in this area.

Yesterday, mobile phones and Palm personal digital assistants (PDAs) joined Apple's hub. Using Bluetooth, a communication standard designed to join up gadgets without the use of wires, your Mac will soon be able to manage your mobile phone and PDA.

You'll be able to send text messages, via your mobile, from your desktop. And instead of keying in 100 phone numbers into your new phone, you will be able to beam your Mac address book - or a portion of it - over at the touch of a key. Ditto with your calendar to your Palm.

To help with this, in a move that is likely to have developers of Mac diary software groaning, Apple has dramatically enhanced the Mac's built-in personal information management software. A scheduling program called iCal, as well as a much-improved address book, will come free with Jaguar.

iCal, which can publish your diary to the web to let others know what you're doing, will make use of .Mac, Apple's cheekily titled foray into web services. Mr Jobs acknowledged the services were named after .Net - Microsoft's much-hyped drive to provide services over the net - but claimed .Mac was already doing what .Net had yet to deliver. "We're already doing stuff - we know what it means," he joked.

In reality, .Mac does not come close to the complexity of the .Net scheme. What it is - at least for now - is an enhanced version of Apple's free iTools service, which offers email, online storage and other services. With .Mac, users will get 100Mb of storage, a variety of premium email services and new backup and anti-virus software services

But, whereas iTools is free, .Mac will cost $99.95 (£64) a year for new users. The existing 2.5 million iTools users will get in for half price for the first year.

Yesterday's keynote was also unusual for the glimpse the normally secretive Mr Jobs gave into the future of Apple's operating system development. He was particularly keen on a new feature called Rendezvous, which will make it easier to control devices like printers from your Mac, and spot other people on networks, both wired and wireless.

One of the first applications to use Rendezvous will be iChat, a new AOL Instant Messaging-compatible chat program that will be built into Jaguar.

Future versions of iTunes, the free MP3 playing software, will also benefit: users will be able to dip into the music collections of computers nearby via wireless technology and play music from those machines.

And administrators of large computer networks may celebrate at the news Rendezvous will be able to spot network devices, like printers, without human intervention, and then set up the Mac automatically.

When the user hits print, the Mac should got on with it, without any configuration. Mr Jobs said that the various functions of Rendezvous shown off yesterday were "only the start" of the company's exploration of the system's capabilities.

If all this goes a little over your head for now, Apple's simplest gadget was also given an easy-to-understand boost yesterday. iPod, Apple's dinky MP3 player, was lowered in price (it now starts at £259 in the UK), and a new higher capacity model (£399) was added to the top of the range.

To cheers, Mr Jobs also announced that the little gadget will also be doing missionary work in the PC world - a Windows-compatible version is to be launched in the middle of August, to show off the Apple way of doing things to the PC-toting masses.

It will, promised Jobs, appear a couple of weeks after the new Mac-only models have gone on sale, of course. "We want to look after you guys first," he said, again playing to his audience perfectly.