Category: Geek Stuff

It looks like Apple’s MacBook Air line of thin-and-light laptops will finally be refreshed this year, but this time around it’ll sport an 11.6-inch screen and a carbon fiber chassis. According to Apple Insider, the new MacBook air model will hit before the end of 2010. Here are the details:

In an effort to make the design of the Air more appealing and further differentiate the notebook from the company’s mainstream 13.3-inch MacBook, Apple in 2008 reportedly began experimenting with a partial carbon fiber enclosure that would shave upwards of a 100 grams off its weight.

With plans for such a design failing to materialize over the last two years, it’s believed that Apple returned to the drawing board at some point and began crafting a makeover that would deliver both size and weight reductions, further pushing the envelop of ultra-portable notebook computing.

The first evidence to this end arrived earlier this year when an analyst citing sources in Apple’s Taiwanese component supply chain revealed that the company was placing orders for parts to fit a slimmer and lighter MacBook Air based around an 11.6-inch LED-lit display and Intel Core i-series ultra-low voltage processor.

On Friday, a report put out by Taiwanese rumor site DigiTimes appears to further corroborate such claims, alleging that Apple’s primary notebook manufacturer Quanta has landed orders to produce the first 400,000-500,000 11.6-inch “MacBooks” for delivery to the Mac maker before the end of the 2010 calendar year.

With the rapid advancement of the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the scorching sales of the 9.7-inch iPad, I’ve been wondering about the future of the MacBook Air. I’d love a (relatively) full-featured notebook that weighed less than three pounds. While I’m not thrilled with the screen size, I’m hoping Apple uses some of its fancy display technology to make the new MacBook Air more appealing.

What do you think of the new MacBook Air rumors? Does the device fill a gap between the iPad and the 13-inch Macbook? Are any of you interested in a device like this? Think I could get away with video editing on an Intel CULV (don’t answer that question)?

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Instant Karma’s Google’s gonna get you. Gonna look you right in the face. John Lennon lyrics aside, Google has introduced a pretty slick feature designed to make search faster and more efficient: Google Instant. Search results on Google.com now appear instantly and adjust as you type. It’s pretty impressive tech (from my five minutes of playing around with it). On the down side, product manager Jonathan Effrat used the word “magic” to describe Google Instant’s goals. The word sounds stupid when Steve Jobs uses it and downright asinine when a lesser speaker incorporates it into a spin session.

Have you played around with Google Instant? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it when you have a chance.

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To celebrate the two-year anniversary of its Chrome web browser, Google has release version six of its excellent web surfer. Here’s a clip from the official Google blog:

We’re releasing a new stable version of Chrome that is even faster and more streamlined. Chrome is now three times faster than it was two years ago on JavaScript performance. We’ve also been working on simplifying the “chrome” of Chrome. As you can see, we took the already minimalist user interface and stripped it down a bit more to make it easier to use. We combined Chrome’s two menus into one, revisited the location of the buttons, cleaned up the treatment of the URL and the Omnibox, and adjusted the color scheme of the browser to be easier on the eyes.

Chrome has been my main browser for about a year and I’m thrilled with its performance. I used to be a Firefox guy, but that browser has been getting slow and bloated. I’m super impressed with how quickly Chrome has progressed in a short period of time.

Any of you download the latest version of Chrome? Is it your primary browser? If not, how does it compare to your main browser?

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Google has started rolling out a VoIP service that allows U.S. callers to make free calls within the U.S. and to Canada for free (for a limited time) through Gmail. The service also allows you to make cheap international calls. If you have a Google voice number, those digits will be displayed as your caller ID. Here’s a clip from the official Google blog:

We’re rolling out this feature to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days, so you’ll be ready to get started once “Call Phones” shows up in your chat list (you will need to install the voice and video plug-in if you haven’t already). If you’re not a U.S. based user — or if you’re using Google Apps for your school or business—then you won’t see it quite yet. We’re working on making this available more broadly — so stay tuned!

I’m a Gmail, Google Voice, and VoIP junkie that’s always looking for cheaper and more convenient ways to stay in touch with friends, particularly overseas. I’m thrilled that this features has been implemented into Gmail and will be experimenting with it over the next month. If it works the way I think it will then it should be a valuable part of my VoIP arsenal.

Any of you interested in Gmail’s new VoIP features?

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This is one of the most disappointing things I’ve learned all year — ancient Greek statues were probably extremely tacky when they were first erected. Accroding to i09, “Original Greek statues were brightly painted, but after thousands of years, those paints have worn away.” Scientists have used ultraviolet-light techniques to get a picture of what these statues originally looked like…and it’s jarringly gaudy.

Here’s a technical explanation:

Infrared and X-ray spectroscopy can help researches understand what the paints are made of, and how they looked all that time ago. Spectroscopy relies on the fact that atoms are picky when it comes to what kind of incoming energy they absorb. Certain materials will only accept certain wavelengths of light. Everything else they reflect. Spectroscopes send out a variety of wavelengths, like scouts into a foreign land. Inevitably, a few of these scouts do not come back. By noting which wavelengths are absorbed, scientists can determine what materials the substance is made of. Infrared helps determine organic compounds. X-rays, because of their higher energy level, don’t stop for anything less than the heavier elements, like rocks and minerals. Together, researchers can determine approximately what color a millennia-old statue was painted.

I’ve always loved the look of ancient Greek statues, but these colored ones look more Las Vegas than Athens. Bummer.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the Apple Magic Trackpad lately. You might think it’s crazy (Ric Ocasek!) to spend time thinking about an input peripheral, but I think the Magic Trackpad is more than that. I’m positive that the device is a gateway to Mac OS’ multi-touch future.

Think about it for a few minutes (Ha! Now I have you thinking about input devices. Win.) Apple has done a ton with multi-touch on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. I think the company is going to go even heavier on touch features with Mac OS. Sure, there are lots of multi-touch gestures that are currently supported, but I think that Apple will design future operating systems with multi-touch in mind from the start. Obviously a touchscreen 27″ iMac would be ridiculous, but controlling a huge screen with a Magic Trackpad totally works.

There are a few reasons Apple would do this. First of all, it realizes that mice are archaic and inefficient. More importantly, it keeps with its “walled garden” approach. By having a familiar touch experience on iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Mac products, Apple makes it harder for its customers to leave for competing products.

I’m pretty sure I’m right about Mac OS going way heavier with touch in the near future. I just need Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer to dismiss it, then I’d be 100-percent sure I’m right. What do you think of my postulations on Mac OS’ multi-touch future? Am I spot on? Am I crazy?