NEW YORK - Apple Computer on Tuesday unveiled a series of products aimed at sparking new interest in one of its core markets, and interim CEO Steve Jobs disclosed vague plans for a product line in a former stronghold.
Among the products aimed at the publishing industry were the company's fastest-ever desktop PC and a new flat-panel display. As expected, Jobs gave attendees of the Seybold Seminars New York/Publishing '98 conference a look at the prototype of a new ultra-fast PowerPC with a 400 Mhz processor. That chip will be made by Motorola and IBM using copper chip-making technology.
In a presentation to launch the products, Jobs also alluded to an aggressively priced consumer lineup this fall. That market, formerly an Apple stronghold, is one in which Jobs acknowledged the company has failed to maintain its lead.
"Apple has not had a great consumer product over the last few years and that's really bizarre," Jobs said during his keynote address at the conference. "You're going to see that change this fall."
Jobs said he was not prepared to offer specifics but said the new lineup would be priced "very aggressively," to meet with the recent trend in home PCs.
He declined to comment when asked by a conference moderator about a rumored project to develop an entertainment device for the home market, saying only, "I can't talk about that stuff."
Jobs also shied away from duplicating the financial forecasting he did at the Macworld trade show in January - when he surprised Wall Street by predicting a first quarter profit - and offered only that sales of the company's current line of G3 PowerPCs were "doing very well."
Among the products launched today were a new Power Macintosh G3 computer that includes a 300 Mhz PowerPC processor and is priced starting at $2,499, and Apple's entry into the flat-panel display market, a 15.1 inch model priced at $1,999.
Prices on flat panels, which take up far less desk space and are much lighter in weight than traditional monitors, are starting to reach levels where the technology may win a broader market.
IBM today also lowered prices and broadened its lineup of flat panels, introducing a 14.5 inch model priced at $1,799.
