Books

New MacBooks dropping plastic for aluminum

The MacBook redesign is just around the corner, and further proof has surfaced that it's going to look a lot like its siblings.

AppleInsider reports that new MacBooks and new MacBook Pros have been spotted by people-in-the-know, and that as expected the new systems will get aluminum-based exteriors similar to the ones found on the MacBook Air and iMac. This will give Apple some consistency across the Mac notebook lineup entering the holiday shopping season; for years, the MacBook has had a distinct look separate from the MacBook Pro.

One interesting part of the report also suggests that Apple … Read more

Fully Equipped: Is Irex's new digital reader a preview of the next Amazon Kindle?

Gizmodo posted a blog Monday on Irex's new line of "digital readers" and took a few whacks at the company for over-promising and under-delivering.

You see, Irex, which developed the full-featured but pricey Iliad reader, recently ran a little online teaser ad that alerted the world that, "A new era in digital reading" was set to begin on September 22. Well, the blogger at Gizmodo wasn't impressed with what Irex is now offering up: a series of three 10.2-inch monochrome e-ink displays that start at $649 for a base "read-only" model (… Read more

iRex delivers next-generation electronic book reader: Preview of the next Amazon Kindle?

Gizmodo posted a blog post yesterday on iRex's new line of "digital readers" and took a few whacks at the company for over-promising and under-delivering.

You see, iRex, which developed the full-featured but pricey Iliad reader, recently ran a little online teaser ad that alerted the world that, "A new era in digital reading" was set to begin on September 22nd. Well, the blogger at Gizmodo wasn't impressed with what iRex is now offering up: a series of three 10.2-inch monochrome e-ink displays that start at $649 for a base "read-only" … Read more

Google book search now fits on your blog

Google has put out a cool update to its book search service that lets anyone embed entire books, or just book previews on their site. While aimed mainly at online retailers and educational institutes, it's also a great way to drop entire public domain works onto your blog in case you want to give your visitors something more exciting to flip through than your latest ramblings.

The news comes alongside some partnerships including A1Books, Books-A-Million, and The Book Depository. When you're viewing an indexed title on any of these sites you'll see a Google preview link that … Read more

A match made in heaven: Apple's MacBook Air and Iomega's eGo Helium

Earlier this year, we took a close look at Iomega's eGo line of portable hard drives. We tested both the brown leather eGo and the camo eGo, with superb results: we liked both Iomega's Drop Guard design that protects the drives from drops up to a meter above the floor, and the quick transfer speeds.

Now, Iomega is taking the drives' aesthetic value one step further by introducing the 320GB eGo Helium. The drive is just .63 inches, and its sleek exterior casing is anodized silver to match perfectly with Apple's MacBook Air. Inside the chassis, you'… Read more

Apple gaining North American notebook share

Apple's picking up notebook market share faster than any of its competitors in its home continent, according to DisplaySearch.

Market research figures released Wednesday have Apple's share of the North American market for notebooks, up from 6.6 percent to 10.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared to last year. Every other major notebook maker's market share was either flat or down, compared to the previous year, with market leaders Hewlett-Packard and Dell picking up just 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, and Acer's share plunging 4.2 percent, including … Read more

A funny thing happened on the way to the file system

When Apple's MacBook Air first came out, I was woefully unimpressed. Sure, it was plenty pretty, but it lacked the thing I needed most: a big hard drive.

Well, a funny thing has happened in the past year. I've stopped using my hard drive.

Yes, I still install applications, all of which require hard-drive space. And yes, I still use Handbrake to rip DVDs to my hard drive to watch on long flights.

But I've also started keeping all of my e-mail on my company's Zimbra server. But it's not just e-mail: I keep all … Read more

Crazy Apple rumor of the day: New MacBooks already shipping

We usually hate acting as an echo chamber for the viciously self-inflating Internet rumor mill, but this one is so gloriously out there that we can't help but weigh in.

Usually respectable financial outlet Barron's (owned by Dow Jones & Company, after all), caught our eye with the following report:

Citigroup's Richard Gardner asserted in a research note this morning that..."field checks" have confirmed that shipments of new MacBooks have begun; he says the most distinctive features of the new MacBooks are "very thin aluminum casing, an LED-backlit display and an aggressive entry-level … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Top TV manufacturers fight back

A year after being surprised by upstart budget brands like Vizio and Olevia, the big names in TV have fought back. Samsung showed it too could play their game, and developed its own line of budget model TVs, which have helped it return to dominance in the mid-size LCD market in North America. But what's next for Vizio? CNET home theater expert John Falcone joins us to talk TVs and holiday shopping prices.

Also in Friday's podcast, Apple releases the much needed software update for the iPhone, hackers find their way into one of the computers at CERN … Read more