mac

'OneLessDesk,' for the ultimate Mac-head

Apple doesn't need any accessories to validate its station as a cultural mainstay. But if it did, what better indication could there be than a desk designed specifically for the Macintosh?

Heckler Design says its "OneLessDesk" has multiple uses but still saves space as the lower "deck" can be stowed under the top when not in use, according to BornRich. Can it be used for non-Apple computers as well? Of course, but that wouldn't take advantage of the ready-made branding that comes with any product claiming to be made for the Mac. And when … Read more

Photos: MacBook Air

I watched The Prestige (starring the always-excellent Christian Bale) this past weekend, so I was looking for the sleight of hand used by Steve Jobs as he pulled the MacBook Air out of that manila envelope at the Moscone Center earlier today. Jobs skipped the Pledge and the Turn, and jumped right to the Prestige (while oddly choosing Paul Otellini over Scarlett Johansson to assist him on stage). Still, it was an excellent display of consumer electronics magic. I've assembled a bunch of images of Apple's newest and thinnest laptop. Take a spin through this Macworld 2008 slide show … Read more

Breaking down Macworld 2008 from all sides

Macworld is a little like the Super Bowl: one big day where everything gets laid out on the table.

So, let's break down Macworld 2008, Super Bowl style. Instead of offense, defense, and special teams, however, I'll take each of the big four themes that Apple CEO Steve Jobs presented, and share my thoughts.

MacBook Air -- I'm not crazy about the name, but this is a nice-looking laptop. Ultraportable laptops are prestige products for both the vendor and the customer; Apple gets to show off what it's capable of designing, while the customer gets to … Read more

Stealing Macworld's thunder

Every year in early January, Apple aficionados gather together in San Francisco to celebrate the big Mac news of the year at the Macworld Conference and Exposition. Windows users, on the other hand, celebrate...Rubber Ducky? Or a public prerelease of the first service pack for Windows Vista? It doesn't seem fair.

However, except for the hardware news (the MacBook Air is very thin), this year's report from Steve Jobs wasn't nearly as exciting as last year's iPhone announcement. In fact, some of the news--and rumors--are old hat for Windows fans.

For example, Apple TV will … Read more

Hands-on with the MacBook Air

Say what you will about Steve Jobs, but when he pulled Apple's latest laptop out of a standard inter-office envelope I stood in awe--of both his showmanship and of the laptop's remarkably slim design. Though the MacBook Air is not quite the thinnest laptop ever, it is among the thinnest we've seen (the Fujistu LifeBook Q2010 and Toshiba Portege R500 both measure 0.8 inch thick, but neither tapers to 0.16 inch like the Air).

These data can't really convey the MacBook Air's wow factor--thus the envelope trick. Yet even with that visual I … Read more

Not much music at Macworld 2008

Music was hardly mentioned in today's Macworld keynote by Steve Jobs.

iTunes got a major update, but it wasn't related to music--rather, Apple introduced movie rentals starting at $2.99. The biggest limitation seems to be the requirement to finish the movie within 24 hours of starting it--contrast this with Netflix, which gives you physical DVD rentals and 6,000 on-demand movies over the Internet without any time limit, starting at $4.99 per month. Apple TV is also becoming a much more interesting product, with no personal computer required to rent movies direct from iTunes. (Netflix and … Read more

Security reseacher issues warns against rogue MacSweeper

F-Secure is warning Mac users to beware of a rogue software application that is making the rounds.

The application, MacSweeper, purports to clean a user's Mac, but in reality will "always" claim to find something wrong with a user's system and seek payment to remove the unwanted file or spyware, security researcher F-Secure noted in a blog posting Tuesday.

"It's a scam...when you visit the MacSweeper Web site with a PC and click on "Scan", it will tell you that you have security vulnerabilities in folders that only exist on a … Read more

MacBook Air missing more than an optical drive

The new MacBook Air is svelte-as-can-be, but it's also missing some key, traditional Mac functionality that might leave some users disappointed or in a lurch. First off, the battery is apparently not user-replaceable. This means you can't swap out batteries to extend operating life, and you'll likely need to seek authorized service to get the battery replaced when it inevitably loses capacity or if it fails altogether.

Since the MacBook Air lacks an optical drive, you can't boot from an inserted DVD like the Mac OS X Leopard install disc unless you purchase the optional, $100 … Read more

Apple releases the "MacBook Air," but will it measure up?

Apple has put the "Wow" in computing, today announcing its MacBook Air. What had been rumored to be a MacBook with wireless broadband built in turned out to be nothing so pedestrian. Apple, the Arsenal of computing, surprised many with an insanely thin new MacBook Air

Intel and Apple started collaborating on the project a year ago and the result is nothing short of spectacular. Whether it's something that you'll actually want to buy is an entirely different question, however. At $1,799.00, it's not cheap, but no one buys excellence for pennies.

Here are some of the more incredible/interesting aspects of the design:

Dimensions: 0.16" to 0.76". 13.3" screen. As demonstrated, it fits within an envelope. It is dramatically thinner than anything else on the market. The option of flash-based memory.… Read more