This dock will make for a cheaper MacBook Air workstation
When it first released, the MacBook Air was all portability, no power. Like many first generation Apple products, it had limited functionality but paved the way for the future. Now that has changed — the latest MacBook Air rivals its big brother, the MacBook Pro, and it just lacks an optical drive. The engineer behind a Kickstarter project wants to simplify the unleashing of the Air’s home computer potential.
LandingZone is a docking station for the MacBook Air. It has four USB ports, ethernet, and a mini DisplayPort. Slide your 11- or 13-inch Air (2010 or later) into the dock, snap the connectors into the laptop, and transform your mobile computer into a workstation. Read more...
Lenovo says new ‘Ultrabook’ thinner than MacBook Air
Lenovo has jumped on Intel's "Ultrabook" bandwagon, announcing a new IdeaPad on Thursday that the company said is thinner than Apple's celebrated MacBook Air.
The IdeaPad U300S has a 13.3-inch display and is the slimmest laptop on the market, said Michael Littler, marketing lead at Lenovo's product group consumer marketing. The U300S is 0.59 inches thick (1.49 centimeters) and weighs 2.2 pounds (0.99 kilograms), Lenovo said. The 13-inch MacBook Air is 0.68 inches thick and weighs 2.96 pounds.
The U300S comes with a choice of low-power Intel processors. It provides up to eight hours of battery life during active use and 30 hours on standby. The starting price is $1,200, and the laptop will start to ship in mid-October, with worldwide availability set for November, Lenovo said. Read more...
Apple’s MacBook Air to be ‘big hit’ in China
Apple has started selling the new MacBook Air in China, a move one analyst said would prove a "big hit" in the country that delivered more than an eighth of the company's revenues last quarter.
The MacBook Air, which debuted in the U.S. and other markets last month, went on sale in China this week.
Currently, Apple's online store for Chinese customers lists all four MacBook Air models -- two each in 11-in. and 13-in. configurations -- for sale, but with lengthy shipping delays.
The 11-in. MacBook Air's estimated delivery time, according to the e-store, is 9-to-11 working days, while the 13-in. models will reach customers approximately 5 working days after ordering. Read more...
Apple’s 13-in. MacBook Air: All this style and speed, too
I'm not going to hem and haw: As far as I'm concerned, Apple's new 13-in. MacBook Air is just about perfect.
Usually, when I'm reviewing laptops, I wind up with a variety of caveats that weed out potential buyers for whatever I have in hand. The screen isn't big enough. There's not enough RAM. The processor is outdated. The keyboard is spongy.
I'm having a tough time finding similar flaws in the new Air, which Apple rolled out last month when it released OS X 10.7, better known as Lion. Part of what makes the Air such a great little laptop is Lion. Part of it is the hardware itself. Put those two pieces together and you have a solid nexus of modern OS and top-notch hardware that makes this laptop a real pleasure to use.
And I'm saying this as someone who always -- always -- defaults to a larger screen, aiming for as much high-resolution real estate as I can get. Preferably with the fastest processor available. (Right now, my personal laptop of choice is the top-of-the-line 17-in. MacBook Pro.) Read more...
Shortages stifle MacBook Air
Spot shortages of the MacBook Air show that demand for Apple's recently-revamped notebook is off to a strong start, a Wall Street analyst said today.
"Certain models at some Apple stores are at times in short supply," said Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities. "In some cases, it's the high-end 11-inch [that's out of stock], while in others it's the low-end 13-inch. I don't think [the shortages] are broad-based, but demand is very, very strong."
White based his conclusion on spot checks of Apple retail stores.
Apple's online store, however, has indicated no shortages of MacBook Airs: Since the line's refresh on July 20, all models have shown a ship time within 24 hours of ordering. Read more...
New MacBook Air to boost data transfer with faster NAND flash
The next version of Apple's MacBook Air, the release of which is reported to be imminent, will feature NAND flash memory with up to 400Mbps performance, about 1.5 times faster throughput of its current technology, according to a published report.
Unlike many notebooks, the MacBook Air has no hard drive or optical drive and instead uses a slim flash board for its internal mass storage device. Read more...