Apple's bigger picture becomes clear, analysts say

"At first, we felt a little underwhelmed with the product announcements [...] due to our expectation of more announcements," analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a research note distributed to clients on Wednesday. "But after more careful thought and consideration, we believe Apple is making less apparent progress in building a broader digital entertainment portfolio with both its Macs and iPod+iTunes franchises."

In the analyst's view, the new Mac mini has evolved into a competitive compact entertainment center with faster Intel processors, giving it processing muscle previous PowerPC G4 processors didn't deliver. "In addition, to us it screams connect me to a TV with the inclusion of a remote control, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DVD burner, enhanced Front Row software with Bonjour file sharing and streaming, and more robust display options (DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video output)," Wu wrote.