My geek lust is in full bloom today, after Apple and Barnes & Noble (yes, B&N) both released some pretty cool products. Apple unveiled a new iMac model with a better screen, faster processor and bigger hard drive. It’s mostly just the kind of speed bump you’d expect, but this one comes with a 16:9 widescreen LCD display that’s capable of displaying 8-bit color, meaning millions of colors instead of thousands.
But the real star of this release is the “Magic Mouse,” the successor to Apple’s Mighty Mouse. The Magic Mouse is a sleek, buttonless, wireless mouse that recognizes “gestures” the same way as Apple’s most recent laptops. I haven’t tried one yet, but it looks incredibly cool.
The other product is the “Nook” ebook reader by Barnes & Noble. I’ve seen Amazon’s Kindle (in all three varieties) and never found it compelling. The Nook, though, looks exciting, with a color touchscreen display, built-in WiFi to complement its 3G networking and books at just $9.99. Oh, and it also supports the ePub book format. At $260, I’m still willing to wait and see how it fares in the market, but it’s the first time I’ve seen something of its kind that shows promise. I’d love for my wife to give it a try.
This would be a great week to have an extra three grand lying around
The other product is the “Nook” ebook reader by Barnes & Noble. I’ve seen Amazon’s Kindle (in all three varieties) and never found it compelling. The Nook, though, looks exciting, with a color touchscreen display, built-in WiFi to complement its 3G networking and books at just $9.99. Oh, and it also supports the ePub book format. At $260, I’m still willing to wait and see how it fares in the market, but it’s the first time I’ve seen something of its kind that shows promise. I’d love for my wife to give it a try.