Jobs Touts Mac Mini, Fine-Tunes iPod Gear; Apple Targets Stereo Market; Emphasis on living rooms underlines transformation to digital entertainment.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: NICK TURNER & PATRICK SEITZ

With its eye on the home entertainment market, Apple Computer Tuesday unveiled a new version of its Mac Mini computer and a hi-fi stereo system for the iPod.

Apple touted the new Mac Mini, which runs on faster chips from Intel, as an affordable way for consumers to enjoy digital content in their living rooms.

The iPod stereo system, meanwhile, is the company's first foray into home stereo equipment. Apple's popular iPod portable music player plugs directly into the component -- called the iPod Hi-Fi -- which features built-in speakers.

A number of current iPod accessories do much the same thing as the new product, notes Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs. But Apple's system is the first to provide a truly hi-fi experience, he says.

"It's home stereo, reinvented for the iPod age," Jobs said during Tuesday's product announcement.

Both new products fill gaps in Apple's product line, analysts say. But the news fell short of some expectations. There had been talk of Apple releasing a new iPod or an Intel version of its iBook laptop.