Apple today unveiled an innovative optical mouse and a long-overdue new full-size pro keyboard, both of which are housed in crystal-clear enclosures and come standard with all of Apple's new desktop computers. Apple's optical mouse provides precise positioning without a mousepad on almost any surface and features an ergonomic, full surface button and comfortable elliptical shape. The sleek new pro keyboard offers full-size function and navigation keys, volume control and disc eject keys, as well as two USB ports.

"Apple's optical mouse is such a home run that we wanted all our customers to have one," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "None of our competitors bundle an optical mouse with any of their computers, much less one that costs $799. We do."

The Apple Pro Mouse's high-performance optical sensor ensures extreme precision and eliminates skipping and sticking. The optical mouse has no moving parts, such as a mouseball which could get dirty and degrade performance. Its innovative design also enables users to easily adjust the clicking tension to obtain the feel that is just right for them.

The sleek new Apple Pro Keyboard offers a two port bus-powered USB hub for convenient connection to desktop USB devices. The Apple Pro Keyboard includes 15 full-size programmable function keys, full-size inverted-T cursor controls, and a 6-key document navigation pad. The keyboard provides quick access to dedicated audio volume and mute controls, as well as a media eject key for removing discs from the computer's optical drive.

The Apple Pro Mouse and the Apple Pro Keyboard, which requires MacOS 9, come standard with Apple's new iMac, Power Mac G4 Cube and Power Mac G4. The Apple Pro Mouse and the Apple Pro Keyboard are compatible with all USB-enabled Macintosh computers and will be available separately on the Apple Store (http://www.apple.com) for $59 beginning in September.

To complement its new professional desktop Macs, Apple also today unveiled a completely new family of matching displays in crystal-clear enclosures: the 17 inch (16 inch viewable) Apple Studio Display CRT, the 15 inch Apple Studio Display flat panel and the 22 inch Apple Cinema Display.

Apple's new line of displays are specially designed to complement Apple's new Power Mac G4 Cube and Power Mac G4 professional desktops and incorporate three new advances: each is powered from the computer, eliminating the need for a separate power cord; each has a two port powered USB hub for convenient connection to desktop USB devices, such as keyboards, USB speakers and digital cameras; and each utilizes the Apple Display Connector, a revolutionary new cable that carries analog and digital video signals, USB data and power over a single cable and features a quick latch connector.

"These new beautiful displays perfectly complement our new extraordinary computers," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Their innovative design helps clean up desktop cable clutter, and makes set-up a breeze."

The 17 inch (16 inch viewable) Apple Studio Display features a Natural Flat Diamondtron CRT, extraordinarily sharp text and ColorSync internal calibration to keep colors accurate over time. The 17 inch (16 inch viewable) Studio Display, with an ultrafine 0.25mm aperture grille pitch, features both futuristic styling and a unique electrical design that supports multiple resolutions at over 100 Hz vertical refresh rate. An innovative Theater Mode provides increased screen brightness for enhanced viewing of full screen iMovie, DVD or QuickTime content.

The 15 inch Apple Studio Display active matrix TFT flat panel offers a pure digital interface delivering 1024-by-768 distortion free pixels. It offers 16.7 million saturated colors at twice the brightness, twice the sharpness, and twice the contrast ratio of typical CRT monitors. The 15 inch Apple Studio Display uses the same elegant design as the award-winning Apple Cinema Display.

The 22 inch Apple Cinema Display flat panel is the largest all-digital LCD flat panel display ever brought to market and offers a pure digital interface, an extra wide viewing angle and support for true 16.7 million saturated colors, making it perfect for even the most demanding graphics-intensive applications. Delivering 1600-by-1024 distortion free pixels, it is the largest LCD based flat panel display ever brought to market and ideal for viewing two full pages of text and graphics.

Available immediately through the Apple Store (http://www.apple.com) and Apple Authorized Resellers, the 17 inch (16 inch viewable) Apple Studio Display CRT is $499 (US), the 15 inch Apple Studio Display flat panel is $999 (US), and the 22 inch Apple Cinema Display is $3,999 (US).

Charles W. Moore

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July 05, 2009