Apple appeases Mac and PC users with new products

Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled an iMac with a 17-inch monitor in his New York Macworld keynote speech today, as well as a Windows-version of the iPod MP3 player.

Jobs will hope the appeal of a larger monitor, which features on the top-end 800MHz, DVD-R/CD-RW model only, will help boost relatively disappointing sales for its flagship consumer model.

The machine will cost £1,649. The mid- and entry-level iMacs still feature 15-inch LCD displays.

In line with widespread industry speculation, Apple is also introducing a Windows-version of the iPod.

Jobs said the company has partnered with music software maker MusicMatch to provide a digital jukebox application to sync music between the PC and the iPod.

Apple will offer PC users the iPod in the same models and prices as Mac users.

Jobs unveiled three new iPod models and an updated version of its music-synching software, iTunes 3. The three models come with 5GB, 10GB and 20GB hard drives. The latter two models also feature a much-needed remote control module.

In other announcements, Jobs said the "Switch" marketing campaign, aimed to convert PC users to the Mac platform, has been a success.

He said the Switch website, featuring former PC users evangelising Macs, has attracted over 1.6 million visitors - 60 per cent of whom used PCs - since its launch last month.

The company's free iTools service will be rebranded later this year as an all-in paid-for web services initiative called .mac.

.mac will feature, free email, online storage, a homepage, anti-virus tools and system backup. The service will cost users $99 per year.

Jobs also took the wraps off iSync, an application that lets users synchronise information between GPRS/Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, iPods and Palm PDAs.

The application is based on the SyncML open standard and also lets users sync and back-up information with .mac web services.