Apple Living Larger

Updated from 2:09 p.m. EST

CUPERTINO, Calif. -- For those used to big announcements from Apple(AAPL), the company's media event at its headquarters here on Tuesday might have been a disappointment.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised some "medium-scale" product introductions and delivered along those lines, introducing a new version of the company's low-end computer and an iPod-powered boom box.

But if the actual products were underwhelming, the company's vision is becoming clearer -- and bolder. The product announcements indicate that Apple is clearly trying to establish itself as a player in the battle for the digital living room, where computer and networking technology is married with consumers' traditional entertainment systems.

"We've put a lot of work into making the iPod a part of on-the-go living," Jobs told an audience of journalists, analysts and employees in a small auditorium on the company's corporate campus. "Now our second focus is in the home."

Along those lines, Jobs touted some of the features of the new products that should help them mesh into -- or become a featured part of -- consumers' living rooms. The updated version of the company's Mac mini computer, for instance, has sophisticated audio-out jacks, a remote control and Apple's Front Row software, which allows users to access digital video, pictures and music using the remote.

With the Mac mini, the company is releasing an updated version of Front Row that allows the software to connect with other computers on a user's network, meaning that consumers will be able to watch video or listen to music stored on computers other than the Mac mini.

Jobs showed photos of the mini being used in living rooms, connected to consumers flat-panel TVs and potentially their home stereos.

But the Mac mini and Front Row are just part of the company's new advance into the living room. The company's iPod Hi-Fi is the other. Essentially a speaker box that connects to an iPod, the Hi-Fi represents Apple's first effort by itself to transform the iPod from a personal music device to a home audio device.