APPLE has once again surprised everyone with a new piece of hardware that no one was expecting.

It's called the eMac, (www.apple.com/uk/emac) and it's something of an oddity as it combines the shape of the old style iMac, the flat screen of the new version and the cool white curves of the new iBook laptop.

And it's called the eMac because it's intended for education. And that means that you can only buy one if you are a teacher, a pupil or attending some kind of college.

Priced at just under £1,000, it's a very good deal, considering what's contained inside.

The technical specifications are almost the same as the desk lamp-shaped consumer iMac. However the casing is less adventurous.