Apple's New Speed Demon

Lifting a brown cloth to reveal a sleek, glistening machine, the leader of Apple Computer heralded the company's latest workstation as "the world's first desktop supercomputer."

Before an admiring crowd of about 1,000, Apple Computer interim CEO Steve Jobs introduced the computer Apple plans to market in competition with an Intel Pentium III system.

In fact, Jobs held a head-to-head race against the Intel system during the unveiling, rendering a scene with Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. Jobs claimed that the G4 was more than twice as fast as the Pentium machine, which was running at a speed of 600 Mhz.

"This is the most powerful personal computer ever brought to market," Jobs said at the Seybold publishing conference on Tuesday.

The new computers, powered by chips made by Apple, Motorola Inc. and IBM, cost between $1,600 and $3,500 and mark Apple's continuing efforts to sell to business users such as architects, publishers and graphic designers.

The G4 chip incorporates a new execution unit named the Velocity Engine, which is the heart of a supercomputer miniaturized onto a sliver of silicon.

Jobs also unveiled a new 22-inch flat panel display monitor, dubbed the Apple Cinema Display, which together with the top G4 model will sell for $6,500 in October. The display monitor is twice as bright, twice as sharp and has three times the contrast of traditional monitors, Apple said.

Software developers on hand gushed over the new machine.

"The new G4 is an unbelievable machine for creating compelling content that adds life to the web," said Rob Burgess, CEO of Macromedia.

Adobe Systems CEO John Warnock said that the G4 runs his company's image editing software - Photoshop - significantly faster than any other platform.

But Intel isn't letting the gauntlet thrown by Apple go unchallenged.

At about the same time Tuesday, at an Intel developers conference in Palm Springs, Intel CEO Craig Barrett announced that the "Coppermine" Pentium III processor, an enhanced version of its high-end chip, will be released in October. It will operate at a speed of at least 700 Mhz - more powerful, but not necessarily faster, than Apple's 500 Mhz G4.

For more on Apple's new Power Mac G4, click here.