New Apple iMac to go on sale 30 November

New Apple iMac to go on sale 30 November

Apple’s new ultra-thin iMac desktop computer with the all-new Fusion Drive is to go on sale on 30 November. The new 21.5-inch iMac will be available in Apple’s online store and will begin shipping in December, the company confirmed.

The new iMac - Apple’s thinnest desktop yet - comes with an aluminium and glass enclosure that measures just 5 mm thick at its edge and features a re-engineered display that reduces reflection by 75pc.

The new desktop was unveiled in Octoberat an Apple press event in San Jose, California, alongside the new iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad.

The computer includes 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, a 1-terabyte hard drive, third-generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processors that can be upgraded to Core i7, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors that deliver up to 60pc faster performance.

The new machines will come with Fusion Drive, an innovative new storage option that gives the performance of flash and the capacity of a hard drive by combining 128GB of flash with a standard hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimise read and write performance.

The 21.5-inch iMac is available with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M for a suggested retail price of €1,399 including VAT (€1,137.40 excluding VAT); and with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M for a suggested retail price of €1,599 including VAT (€1,300 excluding VAT).

The 27-inch iMac is available with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M for a suggested retail price of €1,949 including VAT (€1,584.55 excluding VAT); and with a 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX for a suggested retail price of €1,699 including VAT (€1,415.83 excluding VAT).

Apple introduces super slim new iMac, to be released in November

Apple introduces super slim new iMac, to be released in November

Apple's senior vice-president of marketing Phil Schiller presents the new iMac to the press in San Francisco

During its press event today in San Jose, California, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Mac was both the No 1 laptop and desktop computer in the US, which calls for an update to the almost two-year-old iMac line-up.

The super-thin new iMac is just 5mm thick at its edge, making it Apple's thinnest ever desktop computer. Not only thinner than its predecessor, it's also 8 pounds (more than 3.5kg) lighter.

The edge-to-edge display is laminated to the glass – just one of this computer's space-saving design features. The new iMac also features a FaceTime HD camera, dual microphones and stereo speakers.

As far as the internal components go, the new iMac comes with up to 32GB of RAM, Nvidia Kepler dedicated graphics and quad-core Intel Ivy Bridge processors.

While Apple will be selling separate optical drives for the all-in-one desktop, senior vice-president of marketing Phil Schiller joked that this was for people "stuck in the past", as the iMac is packing an Apple Fusion Drive. This innovative piece of hardware contains 128GB of flash storage and a choice of a 1TB or 3TB hard drive.

The Fusion Drive is very clever and keeps users' most frequently accessed applications on the flash drive for rapid access, while the hard drive is for lesser-used storage.

The updated 21.5-inch iMac starts at US$1,299 and starts shipping in November, while a 27-inch priced from US$1,799 will follow in December.

Review: Sony Xperia Tipo

Review: Sony Xperia Tipo

Sony’s affordable entry-level smartphone, the Xperia Tipo, packs decent specs for its €79 price tag. But how did this smart device for beginners fare with a smartphone novice, and did it make him a convert?

Look and feel

The Xperia Tipo is a compact little number with a 3.2-inch display sporting 320 x 480 resolution. The durable screen is made from scratch-resistant mineral glass and the casing has an attractive matte quality available in red, white, blue or black, and an inviting curved design, making it stand out from the sharper-edged high-end Xperia devices.

While the compact size is very pocket friendly, it’s not the most text-friendly device. Typing can be tricky as the display offers fairly small real estate whether in portrait or landscape mode. Input methods like Swype and predictive text do help to make this easier, though.

Small, but powerful

A huge positive for those upgrading from a feature phone or older mobile phone is that the 1,500mAh battery on the Xperia Tipo could easily last for two days provided you aren’t watching video 24/7, so the shock of quickly draining battery power won’t be too much to bear.

For €79, though, you’re not going to get high-end camera specifications and the 3.2MP rear camera on the Tipo is nothing to write home about. Photographs in low light are off the table without a flash to brighten things up, and video calls aren’t likely as there is no front-facing camera.

Where the Tipo delivers, though, is in giving entry-level users an 800MHz Qualcomm processor running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This means the Tipo may be small and inexpensive, but it’s certainly powerful enough for general browsing and other activities new smartphone users will want to get on with.

In terms of audio, you get the clear sound you expect from Sony’s xLOUD audio technology, and the built-in speaker performs well for such a small device. However, the recessed headphone jack posed some problems in that sometimes the device did not recognise that headphones had been connected, continuing to play audio through the speaker, and other times it didn’t recognise that the headphones had been removed – which was particularly difficult if it happened when trying to take a call.

The test

To be sure the Tipo was a suitable entry-level device, we gave it to a smartphone novice to try out. Our guinea pig had never before used a smartphone, nor had he any interest in purchasing one. However, he liked the compact design of the Tipo and was happy to give it a go.

We left our tester to his own devices to see how he got on switching to a smartphone interface, and though he admits he didn’t grasp everything immediately, he claims that within 30 minutes of use he had figured how to do most of the things he wanted.

With the help of a set-up guide to help new users along, the Tipo is well suited to a novice in terms of usability. Our tester was particularly impressed by the clarity and brightness of the display, and video playback was fairly consistent with infrequent stalling.

The touchscreen on the Tipo presented some issues in that it wasn’t always responsive to gestures, particularly in one spot on the bottom right. This could be very frustrating for users taking on a touchscreen device for the first time and could deter them completely.

Verdict

Despite its faults, I would happily recommend the Sony Xperia Tipo to users considering upgrading to a smartphone but not willing to break the bank. For what you pay for, the Tipo delivers, and I think it would be tough to find better performance at such a low price.