October 2, 1998 (TOKYO) -- A huge iMac balloon greets visitors to Makuhari Messe, home of the World PC Expo 98. Among the exhibits related to the Macintosh, the iMac is definitely the center of attention.

Asian manufacturers are getting in on the popularity of the iMac with new peripherals, also on display in the exhibition hall. A number of seminars on using the iMac are taking place in the iMac Pavilion corner. The seminars have been especially popular, giving visitors a rare chance to get their hands on the hard-to-find iMacs.

Editors from Nikkei MAC spotted several interesting products at the iMac Pavilion.

Among the most interesting: a SuperDisk drive for the iMac, the SDD-120USB MAC, developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and Imation Corp. Japan. The SuperDisk has a storage capacity of 120MB in a floppy disk-sized footprint. The drive sells for 33,800 yen and the media for the drive sell for 2200 yen. The product will be available around mid-October.

Yano Electric Co., Ltd. is exhibiting a floppy disk drive for the iMac, the UFD-01, and a PC card drive, model UPCRW-01. The floppy drive will be marketed at 14,800 yen in early October. The PC card will be available in mid-October at a price of 24,800 yen.

Also on display at the show are several USB-parallel conversion cables designed to connect existing printers to the iMac's USB port. Pixela announced a cable, the PixaCable USB, that connects Canon Inc.'s Wonder BJ series printers to the iMac. The cable sells for 9000 yen, and will be shipped in October. Seiko Epson Corp. has produced a cable designed for the company's PM series printers, selling for 9000 yen. The cable from Alps Electric Co., Ltd. connects the company's MD-1000 and MD-1300 printers, and will be available in November at a price of 11,000 yen.

(Nikkei MAC)