Later today, Dell is expected to start selling its new Studio Hybrid line of desktop PCs, arguably the company's first real shot across Apple's bow, design-wise. As you can see, bamboo (the middle one in the pic) appears to be the fashionable and eco-friendly enclosure of choice lately. Judging from the image, it will also be available shrouded in colorful plastic.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. The computer, by virtue of its size, uses a lot less material in its manufacture and it draws less than 65 watts. Early reports peg the starter Studio Hybrid at $499 for a 1.73GHz dual-core Intel CPU and 2GB RAM.

We'll have more details as they surface.

[via Electronista and Engadget]

Update: According to the press release, the case "sleeves" are interchangeable. There's also an HDMI port for hooking it up to an HDTV. Options include built-in Wi-Fi, a Blu-Ray drive, TV tuner and wireless keyboard and mouse.

Green credentials include Energy Star 4 compliance, a recycling kit, 30 percent fewer packing materials (by weight) and 75 percent fewer manuals and printed pack-ins (also by weight).

The official Studio Hybrid page is http://www.dell.com/hybrid, which should be going live any minute now...