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AppleInsider: Apple Computer in September plans to unveil a new line of iMac computers with faster processors and a little surprise to boot. More …

The SMC Firmware Update addresses boot issues with the iMac.

The Front Row Update delivers a variety of fixes for better reliability and compatibility when playing music, photos, and videos on your Macintosh.

Bugs fixed in 1.2.2 include:
- Addresses bugs that prevented song shuffling within playlists
- Front row no longer says the server was not found when its waiting for a large movie trailer or long shared video to load
- Corrects bugs that prevented authorized Audible Audiobooks from playing
- Fixes a variety of DVD compatibility issues
- Purchased movies located in the Movies folder are now correctly recognized
- Includes a variety of fixes for VoiceOver accessibility
- Fixes a bug that prevented Front Row from reconnecting to shared video libraries after wake from sleep

What’s New in this Version
- With Front Row, you can enjoy full-screen music, photos, videos, and DVDs on your Macintosh using a simple Apple remote control. This Front Row update provides a variety of fixes for better reliability.

Macworld UK reports that although still available through the Apple Store and most resellers the 20″ iMac G5 (PowerMax) has been declared “end of life” (EOL) by the company.

“With immediate effect, the following product and it’s relate configurations are ‘End of Life’ and no further orders can be taken,” Apple has said in a note to resellers.

Apple posted a special Web page that provides support for the new iMac Core Duo. Apple is calling this first MacIntel to ship, the iMac (Early 2006).

If you start your first generation iMac G5 computer in single-user mode, the computer fans will run at full speed for as long as you are in single-user mode. This is normal. However, on a first generation iMac G5 with Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, the fans may continue to run at full speed even after you restart the computer normally. Solution…

Apple has reduced the price from $1,699 to $1,499.

20-inch widescreen LCD
2.1GHz PowerPC G5
512MB memory (533MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
250GB Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load 8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon X600 XT with 128MB DDR video memory

A posting to Apple’s .Mac account page alerts members to expect downtime next Tuesday morning, the time of the Keynote address:

“Mac will be undergoing scheduled maintenance from 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM PST on 1/10/06,” Apple said in the posting “All .Mac services will be affected. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

AppleInsider states this is consistent with recent reports suggesting that “.Mac would see updates next Tuesday in support of a new iLife application, amongst other possibilities.”

Apple is offering “free” overnight shipping on a range of Macs in each of its product lines. This offer applies only to stock models, so regular charges apply when shipping BTO kit.

Use these links to track down eligible models:

• PowerMac G5

• iMac G5

• iBook

• Mac mini

Naturally, some restrictions and quid pro quos apply, but Apple does state that product will ship within 24 hours of it being ordered (not necessarily the same day).

Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal has posted a column with his views on the Apple iMac G5. “We’ve been testing this new iMac, and our verdict is that it’s the gold standard of desktop PCs,” writes Mossberg. “To put it simply: More