Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Word on the street (read: blogosphere) is that Apple’s new MacBooks and MacBook Pros are selling out in Apple retail locations across the globe. San Francisco’s store ran out this mornig. London and Toronto locations have run out, as well.

Despite the dim global economy and lack of the $800 netbook that folks were predicting, consumers worldwide still seem pretty keen to get their hands on the latest iteration of Apple’s notebook line.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if the boss will let me out early today. I have an important appointment up at 59th Street…

Original post by Brian Heater

If you’re waiting on buying a car until automobile manufacturers introduce standard Zune integration, don’t hold your breath. If you’re looking for an iPod dock with wheels, however, the industry has your back.

More than half of the cars manufactured in the States next year will offer optional iPod integration. That’s up from 39 percent in 2008. Eight-two percent of next year’s vehicles, meanwhile, will feature optional Bluetooth support. One-third of all cars will offer USB ports.

The automotive industry is at the point where in-vehicle technologies — or the lack of them — are influencing sales,” iSuppli’s Phil Magnet told Wired.

Original post by Brian Heater

What, did you think PC Mag was going to come back from Cupertino empty-handed? Our lead laptop analyst Cisco Cheng was on-hand for Apple’s big MacBook announcement yesterday and filed a full hands-on review of the standard Macbook last night.

His thoughts? Well, as always, there’s a lot to love about the latest iteration of Apple’s 13-inch laptop, not the least of which are its good looks–you can’t beat that new aluminum design, and that glass screen certainly doesn’t hurt, either. Cisco also liked Apple’s new gesture-based glass touchpad. The notebook′s performance, 3D graphics, and typing experience have all been improved, as well. The MacBook is also half a pound lighter than its predecessor.

The downside? There’s still neither a card-reader nor an ExpressCard slot. The FireWire port has been omitted in the new MacBook, as well. And the battery is smaller.

(Personally, I’d add that the important thing really is experience. Still, as someone whose four-year-old PowerBook breathed its last a few weeks back, I’ll still probably invest a paycheck into this newest Apple laptop.)

Original post by Brian Heater

Michael Miller, PC Magazine‘s erstwhile Editor-in-Chief and current blogging pundit, just posted on the Apple notebook extravaganza earlier today–and while he was mildly impressed here and there, he′s not turning somersaults just yet. Miller writes:

Let’s look at the technology. The MacBook Pro and most MacBooks get new all-aluminum cases that look cool and that Apple is talking up a lot; but they’re pretty much the same as the current MacBook Air case. Apple may have a neat way of making this, and it certainly sounds cool, but to a user, I′m not sure what it really means–other than another good-looking aluminum case.

There’s lots more where that came from. Check out his post at his blog, Forward Thinking, and let him know whether you agree.

Original post by Carol Mangis

One of the great features of the new Macbook Pro is support for dual graphics. No, it’s not an SLI configuration like that found in gaming laptops, but switchable graphics in which you can use one or the other.

The nVidia GeForce 9400M GT is an integrated set that can potentially get battery life into the 5-hour range, while the 9600M GT chipset gets you about 4 hours, according to Apple. How you switch them is pretty simple: Go to system preferences and choose the Energy Saver setting. You then select “Better Battery Life″ to choose the 9400M GT or “Higher performance″ to enable the 9600M GT chipset. You will have to log out of the system to finalize the switch, though.

Original post by Cisco Cheng

Another October, another big Macboook line refresh. Our lead laptop analyst, Cisco Cheng, is in Cupertino right now, covering the big Apple announcement, and he’s already had the opportunity to get up-close and personal with the new Macbooks. It is, of course, our sworn duty as a gadget blog to bring you all of the gratuitous closeup shots of the new notebooks, in all of their sharply focused glory.

Says Cisco, “Pay close attention to the latch that opens the battery and hard drive. Pretty cool.”

Check out a ton of pics, after the jump.

Original post by Brian Heater

Steve Jobs once again rallied the troops at Apple’s Town Hall for the company’s yearly onslaught of product announcements. As anticipated, the announcements largely focused on the company’s Macbook and Macbook Pro lines.

Jobs started the event off by bringing the company’s SVP of of Industrial Design to discuss the company’s new casing design process–the much-rumored Macbook Brick. Rather than combining aluminum casing with a magnesium alloy, the new Macbooks carve a 1.5-pound casing out of a 2.5 pound brick of aluminum. The new casing will be implemented on the refresh to the Macbook Pro line.

The Pro will also get a Apple’s new “chiclet” keyboard, a flush screen, and a new multi-touch glass trackback, which does away with Apple’s longstanding single button. The notebook line also features the NVIDIA 9400M GPU + chipset for discreet graphics. The Pro also offers a solid state option and now measures a thin 0.95 inches. The Pro comes in two price configurations: $1,999 for the 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DD̷ RAM; and $2,499 for 4GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD, and a step up in the processing department.

The standard Macbook, meanwhile, also gets the NVIDIA 9400M graphics, brick casing, and the new glass trackpad. The $1,299 base configuration offers a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo. Stepping the system up to $1,599 adds 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD. The company has also added a solid-state option. On the other end of the price spectrum, Apple is dropping the price of the low-end Macbook to $999–not quite the $800 netbook we were hoping to see.

The new Macbooks are shipping today, and expected in retails stores tomorrow.

The Macbook Air is also getting those NVIDIA 9400M graphics, along with a 120GB hard drive or 128GB solid state configuration. The new Air comes in two price configurations: $1,799 and $2,499, which will get you a 1.86-GHz Core 2 Duo processor and that SSD. The latter will arrive early next month.

Also updated are Apple’s cinema displays. The monitors will get a 24-inch bump, along with LED backlighting, a MagSafe adapter, and a Mini DisplayPort, all for $899.

Original post by Brian Heater

Well, here we go again! Another Apple announcement–which we wouldn′t miss for the world. As our invitation to this one reads, “The spotlight turns to notebooks.” But what will Mr. Jobs be illuminating with said spotlight? Will we see the rumored “Macbook Brick,” made from a new manufacturing method in which the case is carved out of a solid brick of aluminum using lasers and high pressure water jets? Or perhaps a lower price for notebooks–even as low as $800? Rumors abound, but we’ll all have to wait until today at 10 A.M. PST, 1 P.M. EST to find out what’s real. We’re live-blogging the event, so come back then for our instantaneous updates. (New entries will appear on top, after the jump.)

[Joel Santo Domingo plans to weigh in periodically with some meta-comments; he’ll be in brackets, like this.]

And that’s all, folks! Thanks for joining us. We’ll have first impressions and reviews here and on PCMag.com, so come back soon.

[I’d love to see these in our labs, but I guess we′ll have to wait for Cisco to bring one back. The Macbooks will go like hotcakes over the upcoming holiday season.]

[Translation on Blu-ray and HDMI answer: Too many lawyers are involved in these technologies, and Apple makes more on the iTunes transactions anyway, so Go iTunes!]

What are the size and weight differences of Macbooks and MBPs? The Macbook goes from an inch to .95 inches–Macbook 4.5 pounds–and the MBP is 5.5 pounds, so they’re not heavier with the glass screens. The biggest difference is the Macbook, which goes down in thinness and weight significantly

1:58 Only the 15-inch MBP gets the new design for now, The 17-inch Macbook will not receive the new design but will get its innards updated.

1:57 Why display port and not HDMI? HDMI can’t drive high really high resolutions - Apple thinks display port is the future of video out put.

What about Blu-Ray? It’s a bag of hurt, according to Jobs - the licensing of the technology is so complex. Waiting on things to settle down and for the cost of the drives and licensing to come down. Umm, go to iTunes!

1:55 First question: Is Apple the first to use the 9400M nVidia chipset? Apple is the only one for now.

1:55 We’re off to the Q&ampA session. I was hoping for that one more thing, but it looks like he used that already for the Macbooks. BTW, Steve’s blood pressure is 110/70–the room erupts in laughter.

1:53 The edge-to-edge glass screen is very similar to the one on the HP HDX16t- really sleek looking, but I wonder what that does to the weight.

[I’m a little bummed that there’s no NetBook/MacBook, but bargain basement has been verboten since Steve came back.]

1:46 Now showing a really cool video of how the new Macbooks and MBPs are manufactured. So it does start from a big slab of aluminum, which seems like a real waste of money. I hope they were able to make several enclosures out of this slab.

[Predictably, the ‘old’ MacBook is still available in white plastic to meet the $999 price point, but I’m guessing that’s so they can use up the inventory of current models.]

1:45 So looks like there’s no Blu-ray drive, no switcheable graphics on the Macbook. And you can′t get the new aluminum Macbooks for under a grand, only the older one, which is a real bummer.

1:43 Macbooks will use the nVidia 9400M GT graphics card - same gorgeous glass trackpad with all the gestures. Two configurations: $1,299 for the aluminum Macbooks with 2.0 GHz processor, 2GB DDR3, 9400M GT, 160GB hard drive, superdrive. Second model: $1599 - faster processor , 2GB DDR3, 128GB SSD, 320GB HDD.

[It’s official: Alu and Black have replaced White Plastic.]

[24-in display, iMac, and new MacBook Pro all share same design language with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Your White Plastic doodads are officially out of style. Macbook too.]

1:40 New Macbooks - Apple is updating everything, saving the best for last. Reduce the entry price to $999, so its not the $800 Macbooks we were all hoping for. New aluminum Macbook on top of the current ones - same enclosure as the MBPs.

1:38 New cinema 24″ display. New cables coming from the back with the AC power cord. Magsafe, USB and, mini display port.

1:37 Macbook Air gets an update. Putting the GeForce 9400M GT in the Macbook Air –has to run it a little slower because of thermal issues. Upgrades the HDD to 120GB and the 128GB SSD drive and mini display port - $1999 and $2499 configs.

[EPEAT Gold for the new MacBook Pro we’re definitely going to be considering this in contention for a Greentech award.]

1:34 First configuration–$1999 and $2499.

[So far the rumour-meisters have been 100% correct. (UK spelling in honor of J. Ive.) Notable wins on the Rumour front: the leaked shots of the chassis and the dual integrated/discrete graphics.]

1:30 New displayt port (replacing DVI-Out)_, optical digital, expresscard 34 slot, battery indicator, 2 USB, Firewire 800. First MBP to offer Solid state drives. Access the drive and battery through the same removable lid. (Me: first time Apple has ever allowed consumers to access the hard drive so easily.)

1:29 Added a new nvidia chip to higher end MBPs, GeForce 9600M GT. Added another nVidia graphics chipset, the 9400M GT–so essentially you have dual graphics. The 9400M GT will give you 5 hours of battery life - the 9600M GT a lot less.

1:26 Shows the enclosure of the Macbook Pro and passes around a prototype. Teams of hundreds of people have worked on this enclosure

1:22 New Macbook Pros! All glass screen - LED display - All the connectors on one side. Black keyboard -same as the current Macbooks - mini display port

[Here we go: Glass touchpad. And the protective cover market goes wild!]

1:21 New touchpad -oohhh! Completely glass and multitouch gestures like the Air and MBPs.  

1:20: The 9400m is within 55% of the graphics horsepower of the Macbook Pros graphics chipset–the GeForce 8600M. Great new graphics for notebooks. [Switchable graphics would be nice!]

1:18 : Jobs reenters the stage. Partnership with nVidia -nVidia GeForce 9400M–combines the chipset and GPU–70% of die area is GPU, 5 times faster than Intel integrated graphics.

1:15 For years have been looking for a new way to design notebooks. Finally found it. Start with a thick piece of aluminum, a solid piece which is how the palm rests of the Macbook Air is designed. Now Apple is applying this technique to the Macbooks. Start with a solid slab of aluminum that weighs 2.5 pounds and end up with a 1.5 pound part. That single part forms the structure of the Macbook Air.

1:11 Jobs comes back on. Johnny Ives comes up to give an overview of a revolutionary way of designing new notebooks. How Apple is currently building its notebooks: aluminum enclosure, internal frame made from magnesium casting, bottom case is a very thin aluminum pressing. This composite creates a really robust system. Palm rests are made from aluminum stiffening plates.

[More Gartner perspective: 2007 total PC shipments were 271 million.]

[Macs are #1 in education again. I guess all those free iPods are paying off… Buy a Mac, get an iPod free promos.]

1:09 Macs at Major Universities are moving closer to 50% in 2008, and these are some of the most well known schools in the world.

[2.5 million Macs sold last quarter, not bad considering the ‘PC’ makers shipped 76 million worldwide in 4Q 2007. (Source: Gartner)]

1:04 Over 50% off the Macs Apple sells are to people who are new to Macs - shows the first store in Australia and first entry in Beijing, China

1:03 Tim Cooks gives us an overview of Leopard. Better computers, better software, compatibility, Vista sucks, great marketing–stuff we already know

1:00 im Cook comes on to give us the state of the Macs. Jobs hinted that he would love to tell us about how these notebooks were made, so the rumors are true!

12:59 Lights are dimming!

[JSD: So if anyone cares, here are the liveblogs I’m viewing: Gizmodo, Macdailynews, Slashgear, Macobserver, Engadget, Crunchgear, Macworld, Techztalk, Technologizer (Harry McCracken), Arstechnica, and of course, Gearlog.]

[JSD: My first prediction: Steve will talk about the newest Apple Store(s) and some organizational stuff before he gets to the products.]

12: 52 They just started letting people into the auditorium. Not a big a crowd… a lot of familiar faces.

12:45 Lining up for the announcement.

12:30: The Apple Store is being updated. Let the festivities commence!

Original post by Cisco Cheng

Apple has finally made next week’s Macbook event official, and, like clockwork, the blogosphere chimed in with fuzzy spyshots and rumors galore. However, I’d have to say that, like those leading up to the last iPod announcement, this round of rumors is a touch disappointing, compared to the rampant speculation of past years. Maybe everyone is just exhausted this time out.

After the jump, check out some of the rumors currently floating around the Web. And, just for kicks, we′ve compiled a wish list of features we′d love to see implemented in the next round of Macbooks.

If you′ve got any to add to the list, please do so in the comment section. We’re pretty sure that Steve’s reading this.

Rumor: The Macbook Brick. This is easily the most pervasive rumor floating around the Web. Word has it that Apple has pioneered a new method for carving cases out of solid bricks of aluminum using lasers and high pressure water jets. The end result is sleek casing design that requires no screws.

Rumor: The budget Macbook. At $800, the rumored budget notebook would be the cheapest Macbook yet–almost $300 cheaper than the current low-end model. What sorts of features would such a notebook have? We’re guessing that it would be comparable to the many netbooks that have flooded the market in recent months, only with OS X–and a significantly higher price tag.

Rumor: Macbook Air upgrades. This one makes perfect sense, of course. So, what kind of upgrades can we look forward to in the Macbook Air’s second rev? How about a Penryn-class Core 2 processor and bigger hard drives.

Rumor: Blu-Ray support. This one′s been a long time coming, of course, but will Blu-Ray′s failure to launch keep pushing the inevitable upgrade back?

What we want:

Cisco Cheng, Laptop Analyst: Macbook: Built-in media card reader (it’s ridiculous how every other notebook has it except for the Macbook), LED display, multiple resolutions, HDMI-out, gesture touchpad, and 2GB of memory in its base configuration. Macbook Air: User upgradeable battery, extended battery option, Ethernet port, more ports in general.

Mark Hachman, News Editor: Tablet, LED backlights across the entire line.

Jamie Lendino, Contributing Editor: Discrete graphics in the MacBook line.

Eric Griffith, Staff Writer: If they don’t have a sub $900 netbook with Mac OS I think they’re shooting themselves in the foot losing that market. People would love that, and they probably should start thinking WiMax for that Baltimore market. Me, I still hope for the iPad, but I’m not sure I even remember why anymore.

PJ Jacobowitz, Camera Analyst: 16 x 9 aspect ratio, option for 1080 resolution, and a dedicated right-click mouse button.

Sacha Segan, Phone Analyst: Integrated AT&T 3G, with an add-on to your iPhone plan.

Lance Ulanoff, Editor-in-Chief: Tablet functionality, touchscreen.

Bill Howard, Contributing Editor: Will Apple finally provide a cellular data chipset with an embedded antenna? Without the embedded antenna, Apple flips off the business users who need the very best wireless connections. I think the embedded antenna is worth +1 bars of service vs. an external device.

Zach Honig, Product Reviews Coordinator: A 399 Netbook with removable battery, and a sub-$1000 convertible tablet or $599 tablet similar to iPod Touch but with a larger display (7-inch) and full Mac OS.

Erik Rhey, Senior Editor: How about one that’s not made with toxic chemicals? Or maybe an introductory model (whose price Apple always touts) that doesn’t skimp on components and forces you to upgrade immediately?

Tony Hoffman, Reviews Editor: One with OS X and Windows (XP or Vista) and Bootcamp preinstalled.

Me: Honestly, as someone who will likely buy one of these notebooks (after four years my trusty Powerbook finally gave out), I’m primarily hoping for price cuts across the line–some kind of economic downturn special.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

Sure we all saw this coming, but Apple has finally officially confirmed that it will be holding a “Special Event” next week in California. Set for 10:00 on October 14th, the event will once again be held at Apple′s Town Hall.

Unlike past events, there’s no question which of the company’s line will be getting a refresh. Apple has a longstanding tradition of refreshing its Macbook line in mid-October, but, just to drive the point home, the official invite bears the caption, “The Spotlight Turns to Notebook,” as well as the shadowy image of a Macbook.

As for the specifics, like, say the “Brick” or the $800 Macbook, well, only Jobs and company knows. Of course we′ll be bringing you the news right here as it unfolds.

Original post by Brian Heater

Holding off for that upcoming Apple announcement before you buy a new Mac? There may be some good news in store for you, especially in light of the window-jumping economic crisis. According to a leaked price list, Apple is looking to jump aboard the low-cost PC market with an $800 notebook.

The Inquisitr claims to gotten a hold of said info, stating, “The information comes from a source we would categorize as reliable, would have access to such information, and who has been accurate in the past.”

The notebook would mark Apple’s first under four digits, with the current low-end Macbook running $1,099.

Apple, of course, is infamous for being tight-lipped about upcoming product announcements, but as we’ve seen with the last few iPod models, increased visibility tends to lead to more slip-ups.

Original post by Brian Heater

Filed under: Wireless

Flying out of BWI to Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. or Northern Virginia? Make sure you pack in that SWC-E100, because we’re hearing that Sprint’s XOHM WiMAX networks are already live in each of those locales. According to a XOHM representative at a booth in Baltimore, the networks in each of those cities are already up, though they aren′t officially supported as they’re still “being tested.” If any of you XOHM early adopters happen to head to any of the previously mentioned regions, bust out your ExpressCard and see if you get lucky (and then let us know how it goes).

Read | Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Wireless

Now that Sprint’s XOHM service is officially live in downtown Baltimore (and working in cars, phew!), how’s about taking a look at the card that’s handling the magic? Samsung’s SWC-𐷬 ExpressCard, which was conveniently leaked by Sprint early last month, is a “simple, inexpensive″ card that does a more-than-adequate job at placing you on the mobile broadband superhighway. Reviewers at PC Mag dubbed it a “solid first effort from Samsung for getting laptops onto Sprint’s fast XOHM WiMAX network,” and while the card “worked as advertised,” the inability to work with EV-DO or any non-WiMAX protocol was sort of a downer. Furthermore, the card won′t play nice with OS X and there’s no external antenna port, but they do bundle a potentially important extra: a PC Card slot adapter for users with aging laptops. Bottom line? Not too shabby for $59.99 sans contract.

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Wireless

XOHM is live in Baltimore, and Laptop Magazine has sent a few (slightly dazed-looking) staffers on an impromptu tour of the “Charm City” to get a feel for Sprint’s new WiMAX service. Overall, they found performance to be quite good, clocking in at 3.05 Mbps down and 2.4 Mbps up. That compares very favorably to Verizon’s EV-DO network, which delivered 1.43 Mbps down and 0.54 Mbps up in the same locations. Sprint’s network also beats Clearwire’s WiMAX down in Reno both in speed and in connectivity; testers in the Biggest Little City in the World couldn’t get a signal while in a car, but those in Baltimore could, albeit at half the speed as when stationary. So, it certainly sounds like a good solution for those who need a high-speed connection on the go — so long as they’re only going to places within Baltimore, of course.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Wireless

Sprint may have just launched the XOHM WiMAX network in Baltimore, but would-be merger partner Clearwire has been running its version of the mobile broadband service in Reno for a while, and InfoWorld went down to test it out and give us a taste of what to expect. Performance was good while not in motion, with downloads speeds around 1.5 to 2.0 Mbps and uploads hitting 275 to 325Kbps, but actually getting mobile broadband seems to be out of the question — the system simply couldn’t connect to a laptop moving in a car or on a train. That seems like a dealbreaker to us, but we’ll give it a pass for now since it’s so early in the game — we’ll see if Sprint can do better.

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Nilay Patel