Sep 29
Is this cable-free design the face of things to come? Our own Charlie Sorrel pointed out earlier today that the rumor mill hints of a new MacBook utterly devoid of cables. However, he wouldn’t speculate on its physical dimensions. But now we’ve got the, uh, skinny on what this new ultra slim, ultra portable actually looks like thanks to one source who says they saw this device in the wild.
Steve Jobs is widely expected to reveal a new MacBook at Macworld on Tuesday morning, and with the rumored name being “MacBook Air. Most people are expecting a conventional sub-notebook — a super-thin, lightweight laptop that ships without an optical CD/DVD drive. The MacBook Air may also dispense with a wired Ethernet port, according to rumor. It will be a purely wireless device, relying solely on Wi-Fi or other wireless technology for its connectivity — hence the “Air” moniker.
But the Air seems more like a ultra portable with a physical keyboard and multi-touch screen, according to our source (who we promised not to name but confirmed works at an Apple third-party vendor).
Tagged with: Apple Insider Leaks • Apple Insider Leaks Ultra-Portable Details • Ultra-Portable Details leaks
Sep 25
A surprise it isn’t, but it’s nice to know that at the very least the iPhone is about to get a storage boost, doubling its internal flash memory to 32GB. Up until the euthanization of the 160GB iPod Classic, Apple could always be relied upon to increase drive size in iPods.
The rumors/leaks come from two independent sources, and both are the results of either incompetent slip-ups or a genius-level marketing strategy. First, T-Mobile Austria posted a placeholder on its site listing a “iPhone 32GB” starting at €0 (that’s $0, for the mathematically challenged), and the blog Area Mobile was sharp enough to grab a screen shot.
Finally, Vodafone Australia has issued an end-of-life notice for the 32GB iPhone. This could, of course, just means that the 16GB iPhone 3G is about to be replaced by a newer 16GB iPhone, but we agree with MacTalk.au that it looks like there will be a bigger model along soon.
Tagged with: 32GB iPhone details leaked • 32GB iPhone Leaked • Leaks All But Confirm 32GB iPhone
Sep 25
The cheap and simple email-only device is set to get a v2.0 makeover. The new model, called the Pronto, was briefly leaked on the company’s site, where the picture above was snapped.
This is great news, for consumers at least. A cheap, fast e-mail device could certainly take a crack at the BlackBerry’s lower end. And with the top-of-the line CrackBerries being eaten by the iPhone, RIM could be facing some trouble in the future.
Stay tuned on this one. We’re excited to see what the Pronto will look like, especially now the “leak” has been confirmed. It’s almost as if the whole thing was deliberate…
Tagged with: Pronto Email Device Leaked • Pronto is Leaked
Sep 14
A single Light Peak cable will be capable of transporting multiple types of data simultaneously such as transferring data to a hard drive, connecting to the internet and transferring video. Each end of the Light Peak cable will be connected to chips that contain light producing devices, encode data, and transmit data. The chips will also amplify data and convert the light to electrical signals.
Researchers are hopeful that silicon photonics will eventually replace copper wires on motherboards and microprocessors by making high-bandwidth connectors cheaper. The first generation of Light Peak cables will use the same type of optical chips used in telecommunication devices today. Intel will be able to drive down the cost of these chips because the manufacturing standards are less stringent.
The lasers and detectors inside the chips are not required to be high performing. The chips don’t need to transmit data over great distances as required in the telecommunication industry. Intel is currently working with other companies to form partnerships. Sony is supportive of Intel’s Light Peak technology, with more announcements coming.
Tagged with: Intel's Light Peak • Intel's Light Peak Will Replace Copper Wires
Sep 09
Pre-CES, the gadget blogging world has an itchy trigger-finger. Embargoes are agreed to in exchange for new product info ahead of time, allowing prompt coverage of new products as they are announced.
Embargoes are a Gentleman’s Agreement, unlike NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements) which carry some legal weight. And here’s the problem: A blog, say, CrunchGear, might decide to run a story early to get the scoop. As it may have done with the new Palm Nova device.
Described by “a trusted source” (Palm PR flack, perhaps?), the new phone is an iPhone with a keyboard, a portrait-format touchscreen device with a slide-out QWERTY. Running the whole show is the hot new Nova OS, which is being described as “amazing”. We’ll see if Nova is super enough to rescue the ailing Palm. That’s the thing with touch screen phones. The software just has to be awesome.
Tagged with: Palm’s New Touch Screen • Palm’s Nova iPhone-Alike • Palm’s Nova iPhone-Alike details leaked • Palm’s Nova iPhone-Alike leaks
