The much-anticipated launch of the low-end new Intel-powered MacBook’s has just happened – or IntelMac for the rest of us as it might become known (or not).
Three new 13.3-inch screen models have been launched, joining the already-launched higher-end 15 & 17 inch MacBook Pro’s.
For Mac fans the big news won’t be the details of processor, hard drive size or enhanced screens (although it is much improved over the current iBook) it will be that it’s available in black. Shock, horror. From the company that has come to own the colour white (yes, yes we know that strictly white is a combination of all of the colours), this counts as radical. Looks like they learned a lesson from the U2 iPod and Nano. Given people white for long enough and they’ll rip off your arms if you given them something different.
Beyond the trivial matter of the colours it’s available in, the headline is Apple are claiming that it runs five times faster than the iBook. It comes in 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz.
For those who prefer the machines to be as portable as possible, there will be happiness that the new machines will be about 20% thinner than the current iBook. A few pro-portable tears will be shed as Apple are dropping the 12-inch format, making the 13-inch the smallest available.
The screen sounds like a significant improvement. Apple refer to it as a ‘glossy widescreen display’ and it’s 79% brighter than the previous, with “incredibly crisp images with richer colours, deeper blacks and significantly greater contrast.” We’d imagine that it’s like those great Sony laptop screens and will become a big seducer.
Other goodies of note are built-in iSight™ video camera and the cool media-front end software, Front Row.
If you want to get down and dirty with detail, see the tables at the bottom. Here’s the summary –
- 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor; 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 60GB HD; DVD-ROM/CD-RW; built-in iSight video camera – £749 (inc VAT), $1,099
- White 2.0 GHz; DVD±RW/CD-RW – £899 (inc. VAT), $1,299
- Black 2.0 GHz; 80GB – £1,029 (inc. VAT), $1,499
The last one’s quite a lot more for an extra 20Gb of hard drive and a slap of black paint, don’t you think?
Let’s hope that these machines don’t suffer from the problem that some of the recent MacBook Pro’s have with fan whine. Apple’s apparent insistence at ignoring the problem has enraged their customers sufficiently that they’ve created a Web site about it, Stop the Whine, and stuck video of it up on YouTube.
The 1.83 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £749 (inc. VAT), includes:
• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness;
• 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 667 MHz front-side bus;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
• 60GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;
• Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire® 400 port;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analogue;
• Scrolling TrackPad;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £899 (inc. VAT), includes:
• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness;
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 667 MHz front-side bus;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
• 60GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load SuperDrive™ (DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;
• Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analogue;
• Scrolling TrackPad;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £1,029 (inc. VAT), includes:
• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness;
• 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 667 MHz front-side bus;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
• 80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;
• Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analogue;
• Scrolling TrackPad;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Palm have announced the successor to their hugely successful Palm OS-powered Treo 650 smartphone, the Treo 700p. 
Bundled with the phone is DataViz’ Documents To Go for reading and editing Microsoft Office files, a PDF viewer and an email client that works with Exchange Server 2003 via ActiveSync, plus POP and IMAP accounts. 
So much so that we’re even prepared to forgive the omission of Wi-Fi in the latest Treo (Palm in the US insist that EV-DO should be enough.) 
Straight out of the school of Advanced Homage to iPods comes this new music phone from South Korean phone maker Pantech. 
Rounding off the phone’s feature set is stereo audio-enabled Bluetooth and a speakerphone in the 10.2 x 4.7 x 1.8cm package which weighs in at 94.1g. 
For hyperactive sporty types, lardy lumps looking to lose some weight and headband-totin’ workouters, Nokia has trotted out its new super-sporty phone, the 5500 Sport. 
Jog the line
Music on the go
Conveniently, there’s a dedicated key that makes it easy to switch between phone, music and training modes with text to speech software feeding you text messages and workout status reports on the move. 
Video game kings Nintendo have opened hostilities with arch-rivals Microsoft and Sony with the unveiling of its new “Wii” console. 
The Wii will certainly be considerably cheaper that its rivals when it goes on sale later this year, with pundits predicting a price around the $250 mark – cheaper than the Xbox 360 and around half the price of the top-of-the-range PS3. 
Sporting an unusual, one-handed wireless controller, the remote control-shaped Wii handset comes with motion sensors and speakers, letting users interact with games by waving their arms about and looking like a bit of a nutter. 
Nintendo reckon that users will find their one-hand, noise-making controller more fun and intuitive: “Our goal is to expand the total number of people playing games,” said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata 
Reggie Fils-Aime, chief marketing officer at Nintendo, was even more enthusiastic, insisting that the Wii was designed so “even your mother could use it.” 
Sony has announced the pricing for its eagerly anticipated next generation PS3 console at a pre-E3 conference in Los Angeles. 
There’s certainly a lot at stake for Sony, with the company expected to lose several hundred dollars per unit – while hoping to rake in fat profits from software sales over the life of the console. 
The company expects two million of the puppies to have shunted off their production line and into the shops during the ‘launch window,’ four million by the end of the year and six million worldwide by March 31, 2007. 
Samsung have unveiled their new SGH-X820, proudly labelling it the ‘world’s thinnest phone’. 
Apparently using Victorian corset techniques, Samsung’s designers have also managed to wedge in a 1.9″, 176×220 pixel display (262k colours), Bluetooth connectivity, USB support, a TV-out jack and a 2 megapixel camera that records video into its 113mm x 50mm (4.4″ x 2″) dimensions. 
The super-slim device supports GPRS/EDGE data on 900MHz, 1800MHz, and 1900MHz GSM bands and, unlike Motorola’s futuristic designs, comes in a traditional format with individual keys. 
Pantech Group, South Korea’s second biggest mobile phone company, has announced that it’ll be wowing the crowds with the new PG-2800 GSM ‘finger writing recognition phone’ at the Moscow SVIAZ Expo Comm trade show this week. 
The company is also aiming high worldwide, with expectations to shift 27 million unit sales globally in 2006. 
With the weather warming up and the great outdoors beckoning, here’s our selection of must-have gadgets for technology addicts heading off for a day strolling over heath and heather. 
Smartphone: Treo 650
Where the chuffin’ ‘eck am I? GPS and Memory-Map
Pulling out its big book of alliteration, Samsung have declared their new D520 phone to be full of “Stylish Simplicity and Stunning Sophistication.” 
The SGH-D520 should be appearing on the shelves around Europe any time now.