Imac's are flat out uncool.

Some thought it the minute they arrived - but now the rest of the planet will think it too. News later this Monday will announce the über-cool flat iMac.
In fact - TIME will probably have it on the cover.

Quick - sell that Blueberry iMac before it's too late!

The rumors are all over the web. The photographer is Michael O'Neill. You can read more at about the 15-inch desklamp iMac.

The new iMac looks like a desk lamp.

Apple Computer will unveil a new iMac on Monday that sports a 15-inch flat-panel display connected by a pivoting arm to a half-dome base, resembling a luxo desk lamp, according a report published in next week's issue of Time magazine.

The introduction of the original iMac fueled Apple's resurgence into the consumer market, also ushering a new era of computer design. Apple apparently hopes to repeat the magic with the successor, with prices that range from $1,299 to $1,800, with the high-end version containing a DVD burner, according to Time.

Apple had been baiting the public for a week about a big announcement, which is to be made Monday during CEO Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo keynote address in San Francisco.

But Apple apparently gave the story to Time, which put the new iMac on its cover. MacMinute broke the story after obtaining a copy of the Time article. The issue went on sale at New York newsstands late Sunday.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Sequeira declined to comment on the new model ahead of Monday's announcement.

Besides the new iMac, Apple apparently will announce new consumer photo-editing software Monday. Dubbed iPhoto, the program also packs a service component. Apple will create a hardcover 10-page book of photos for consumers willing to pay $30, according to the Time article.

Apple hopes iPhoto will do for handling photos what iMovie 2 does for amateur video production and iTunes 2 for managing and listening to digital music.

Throughout 2001, Apple positioned Macs as a hub for connecting to digital camcorders, cameras and music players. The company delivered software for editing movies, listening to digital music and authoring DVDs. In October, Apple delivered its first device playing off the marketing theme, the iPod digital music player. Several Mac dealers rated iPod as one of their top-selling holiday products.

Still, the star of Macworld will likely be the new iMac. Rumors that Apple would deliver a flat-panel successor to the iMac have been circulating for more than six months. In fact, many Mac fan sites predicted Apple would release iMac's successor in time for the holidays.

But the first signs Apple would finally deliver the new model came in early December, when Morgan Stanley analysts Gillian Munson and Sterling Levy reported Apple had placed component orders for about 100,000 flat-panel iMacs per month.

During last January's Macworld, Apple introduced the first Power Macs with drives for recording movies to DVDs that can be played in consumer players. Since then, Compaq Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Sony have added DVD recording drives to their consumer models.

The larger question: Other than the first iMac, all-in-one computers haven't been huge sellers. Gateway has tried a number of times with the Profile series to popularize the concept, but only enjoyed limited sales. Apple also won't be the first company to combine a PC with a flat panel monitor. Gateway did it with it with one in the Profile series that resembles a terminal.