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News & Opinion
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News & Opinion
MacBook Air in Short Supply as Rumors of 11.6"
Replacement Persist
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes and Kasper Jade report that supplies of
Apple's MacBook Air
subnotebook are drying up in the distribution and sales channels,
adding fuel to rumors that have been swirling about since July that a
major makeover to the lightweight notebooks is in the pipeline.
Hughes and Jade note that all but one of the Apple Authorized
Resellers that AppleInsider tracks as part of its Mac Price Guide have
run out of low-end 1.83 GHz MacBook Air units, including Amazon.com,
Mac Connection, MacMall, and J&R, and at least two of those
resellers are also reporting no stock of the high-end 2.13 GHz
configuration. Apple has indicted to wholesale buyers that it won't be
replenishing supply of MacBook Air products until Oct. 12 through Oct.
16 at the earliest.
If a new MacBook Air is in the offing, it's not before time, the
machine having been changed little since its January 2008
introduction.
Scuttlebutt consensus of the rumor mills is that a revamped MacBook
Air is likely to be somewhat downsized, possibly with an 11.6" display,
powered by an Intel i3 CULV low-wattage CPU with integrated Intel HD
graphics, and it is hoped sell for a significantly lower price than the
current Air's $1,499 entry-level.
But don't call it a netbook, a category that has been the object of
withering scorn from Steve Jobs and other senior Apple execs.
Link: Apple's MacBook
Air Supply Dries Up as Rumors of New 11.6-inch Model Persist
Two-thirds of AppStorm Poll Respondents Use
Notebooks
AppStorm's David Appleyard says he uses a MacBook Pro personally and
has been thinking about upgrading his system at some point over the
next six months or so - his dilemma being whether to stick with a
notebook or opt for one of the 27" iMacs. Appleyard says he really
likes the idea of a portable computer, but in reality he very rarely
uses it for that purpose, so maybe his investment would be better made
in an Mac that also comes with a gorgeous screen.
I've mused similarly in the past - and even acted on it back in 2001
when I purchased a G4
Cube for the purpose of replacing my WallStreet PowerBook as my
production machine. I really liked the Cube, but I discovered that
deskbound most of the time or not, a desktop is no substitute for a
portable when you need portability. And then there's the issue of
carrying on through power outages, which are unfortunately not uncommon
where I live. After about five months, I swapped the Cube for a
Pismo PowerBook in
excellent condition and have never regretted it.
AppStorm's poll asked "what sort of Mac do you use?" The last time I
looked, the running vote tally was:
- MacBook 14.29% (242 votes)
- MacBook Pro 52.13% (883 votes)
- MacBook Air 0.65% (11 votes)
- iMac 23.2% (393 votes)
- Mac Mini 2.42% (41 votes)
- Mac Pro 5.67% (96 votes)
- I don't use a Mac! 1.65% (28 votes)
- Total Votes: 1,355
That works out to 67.07% of respondents being Mac laptop users, so I
guess that these days I'm in the majority. Remember when skeptics used
to scoff at the idea that notebook sales would ever approach parity
with desktop machines?
Link:
Weekly Poll: What Sort of Mac Do You Use?
Apple Wins Key Multiband Cellular Antenna Patent
for MacBook
PatentlyApple reports:
"The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of
17 granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Amongst them are several major
design patent wins pertaining to the original iPod touch and the
all-metallic iMac which has received registered status in both Europe
and China. Yet the most notable granted patents issued today in our
opinion would have to be one that relates to Apple's notebook trackpad
assembly and perhaps more importantly, two strategic patents relating
to the notion of a future telephonic MacBook."
Link: Apple Wins Key
Multiband Cellular Antenna Patent for MacBook
iPad in Tablet Sector Vanguard as Netbook Shipments
Plummet
Editor's note: DisplaySearch persists in calling netbooks
mini-notes, a term I find annoying and out of step with the rest
of the industry. In this press release, we have substituted the more
widely used netbook label. dk
PR: According to a new DisplaySearch Notebook Report,
shipments of netbooks and tablet PCs in Q2 2010 were down 4% Q/Q, but
up 29% Y/Y. However, without the 3.3 million iPads shipped in the
quarter, shipments of netbooks/tablets would have been down 14% Q/Q and
13% Y/Y. Clearly there was an "iPad Effect" in the portable PC market,
DisplaySearch observes in their Quarterly Advanced Notebook PC Shipment
and Forecast Report, which also tracks tablet PCs 5.0" and larger. The
effect might have been even more pronounced had Apple not struggled to
fulfill demand, with shipment times listed as 7 to 10 business days for
all of Q2 10, and shipments into Japan and China just beginning at the
end of the survey period.
Overall, the portable PC market posted strong Y/Y unit
growth in Q2 10, surging 32% to 50.4M units. However, not all market
segments were equal, and it's apparent that the combination of iPads
and falling ASPs (average selling price) took share from other parts of
the netbook/tablet PCs segment and from the ultraportable segments of
the market.
Buyers chose iPad as a thin, lightweight device but buyers seeking
more functionality chose larger notebooks, with only slightly higher
ASPs. The price gap between the average 11.6" ultraportable notebook
and the average 15.6" portable notebook PC fell to less than US$60 in
Q2 10.
Revenue in the netbook/tablet PC category was also positively
impacted by the higher ASP of the iPad. Despite the Q/Q drop in unit
volume for the category, revenues surged past US$4 billion as ASPs
increased 21% Q/Q and 14% Y/Y.
DisplaySearch expects netbooks to continue to sell well in
emerging economies to first-time PC buyers. However, looking forward,
they expect tablets like the iPad will continue to take market share
from netbooks and the ultraportable segment in regions where PCs have
high penetration rates. The industry consensus is that a successful
business model for tablets will center around an a la carte
method for selecting the software capabilities (apps) for the device
and content consumption (though the ability to create some content will
certainly be possible), as opposed to the typical PC market trend that
is built upon a Windows operating system and office suite applications
for content creation.
"The end of 2007 witnessed the launch of netbooks. The first quarter
of 2010 signaled the birth of the tablet PC, and possibly, by
extension, the beginning of the end of the netbook market, especially
in developed regions," says John F. Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market
Research. "Apple has leveraged their successful iPhone business model
onto the iPad. More than 50 other brands have tablets in varying stages
from development to mass production. Unlike the netbook/netbook model,
which was not much more than a low-cost, basic mobile PC based on the
Wintel platform, the majority of tablets have, or will, choose a
combination of next generation Intel Atom CPUs or ARM-based CPUs paired
with a version of Android, or in the case of HP, WebOS."
Jacobs adds, "Although Apple now holds the vast majority of tablet
PC market share, the plethora of other brands that have, or will soon
be launching, their own tablets are sure to capitalize on what at this
point appears to be widespread consumer demand for very thin and very
light devices with exceptional battery life and a primary focus on
portability and content consumption."
DisplaySearch defines netbooks as clamshell style devices with
display sizes ranging from 7.0" to 10.2"; also commonly referred to as
netbooks, and Tablet PCs as Tablet-style devices like the Apple iPad
with display sizes from 5.0" to 10.2"; also commonly referred to as
slates.
The DisplaySearch Quarterly Advanced Notebook PC Report is now
available, with other report highlights including forecasted notebook
and netbook PC shipments by region, display size, and resolution, along
with insightful analysis of the state of the notebook PC industry,
including the breadth and depth of netbook and notebook PC demand in
the major geographic regions, and identifying the key variables
influencing changing demand patterns in these markets.
Link: Quarterly Notebook
PC Shipment and Forecast Report
Products & Services
Hitachi Launches Industry's Highest Capacity
Notebook Hard Drives: 750 GB
PR: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has announced the
highest-capacity 2.5" format hard drives available, with their 375
GB/platter density giving them a slight edge on 2.5" drives from
competitors Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital.
The 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM, 2.5" hard drives (the Travelstar 5K750
and the Travelstar 7K750 hard drive families respectively) feature the
industry's highest capacities in a standard 9.5mm two-disk design. The
new drives come in capacities of 750 GB, 640 GB, and 500 GB. The drives
are built with Hitachi's proven hard drive technology that delivers
high shock protection, low power, and fast performance for a variety of
notebook computers, external storage solutions, gaming consoles, and
other mobile devices.
The Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 drive families are the first Hitachi
GST hard drives that feature "Advanced Format," which increases the
physical sector size on hard drives from 512 bytes to 4096 (4K) bytes.
This helps utilize the storage surface area more efficiently, allowing
for increased drive capacities and improved data integrity at higher
storage densities.
5400 RPM Travelstar 5K750 Family
The Travelstar 5K750 family is the next generation of Hitachi's
mainstream mobile hard drive line engineered to achieve high capacity,
reliability and low cost per gigabyte. It is a 5400 RPM hard drive
offered with an 8 MB buffer and a Serial ATA 3 Gb/s interface
for fast data transfer rates. The Travelstar 5K750 family has been
designed with superior low power consumption for energy efficiency,
offering 0.5 watts low power idle and 1.4 watts power during read/write
operations, which contributes to longer battery life in notebooks and
other unplugged applications. The new Travelstar 5K750 is also claimed
to offer the best nonoperating shock at 1000G/1 ms to protect against
bumps and rough handling in mobile environments.
7200 RPM Travelstar 7K750 Family
The Travelstar 7K750 is the latest hard drive in Hitachi's growing
7200 RPM family, that meets the growing demand for performance
computing. With a 16 MB buffer, 3 Gb/s SATA interface, and
excellent media transfer rates, Hitachi Travelstar 7K750 series allows
quicker access to data and faster system performance, especially for
multitasking, and other high performance office and home applications.
With the lowest read/write power specification in its class at 1.8W,
users don't have to sacrifice battery life for fast 7200 RPM
performance.
Both the Hitachi Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 families feature
exceptional operating shock, Thermal Fly-height Control (TFC) for
better soft error rate and improved reliability, and Hitachi's
TrueTrack Technology™ for tracking accuracy in high shock or
vibration environments. Fluid dynamic bearing motors also deliver a
near silent operation. The drives use halogen-reduced components to
support the green computing initiatives that are of increasing
importance in today's end users. Hitachi Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750
have also earned the Hitachi EcoTrac classification, used to describe
products that minimize environmental impact in the areas of product
design, manufacturing, operation and disposal.
Self-encryption Options
Travelstar 7K750 is a self-encrypting drive (SED) designed to meet
the industry-standard Trusted Computer Group (TCG) Opal Storage
Security specification. This drive is the fifth generation to feature
Hitachi's Bulk Data Encryption (BDE). These self-encrypting drives
encrypt data using protected keys in real time, providing users with
the highest level of data protection available. It also speeds and
simplifies the drive redeployment process. By deleting the encryption
key, the data on the drive is rendered unreadable, thereby eliminating
the need for time-consuming data-overwrite.
Enhanced Availably Options
Designed specifically for use in blade servers, network routers, and
video surveillance systems, the new Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 EA
models bring together a host of features such as high capacity,
durability, and low power for applications needing 24/7 access to data.
Based on a proven platform for quality and reliability, the Travelstar
drives help system designers, integrators and IT managers build and
maintain their storage systems, achieving greater storage density in
the same 2.5" footprint, while maximizing performance, and improving
data integrity in always-on applications in lower-transaction
environments.
Travelstar Retail Hard Drive Kits
Hitachi Retail Hard Drive Kits are designed for Mac and PC users who
want to replace or upgrade their internal hard drives in their
notebooks or compact desktop systems. Providing solid warranty
protection, service, and support, Hitachi Retail Hard Drive Kits give
users the additional capacity and/or performance needed for demanding
multimedia applications such as games and video, or for those who want
to upgrade to a new operating system such as Microsoft Windows 7 or Mac
OS X. In capacities up to 750 GB, Hitachi Retail Kits include simple
step-by-step instructions making it easy to upgrade.
"Our new Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 offerings address the growing
demand for high-capacity and low-power hard drives, which are at the
heart of today's notebooks, external storage devices, gaming consoles
and other mobile computing applications," says Brendan Collins, vice
president of Product Marketing at Hitachi GST. "Couple this with our
proven design platforms and broad 2.5" portfolio, and Hitachi GST
continues to demonstrate its leadership in the 2.5" mobile hard drive
market."
The Travelstar 5K750 is currently shipping in volume. Hitachi
Travelstar 5K750 Retail Hard Drive Kits will be available in November
with a suggested retail price of $129.99. The Travelstar 5K750 EA
version will be shipping to OEMs for qualification by the end of the
year. The 7200 RPM Travelstar 7K750 family, including EA versions and
retail kits, will be available in Q1 2011.
The Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 hard drive come in three capacity
points: 500 GB, 640 GB, and 750 GB.
Link: Hitachi Mobile
Drives
Toasted Skin Syndrome - a Quick and Easy Fix That
Costs Less Than a Visit to Your Doctor's Office
PR: LapWorks Inc., designer and vendor of ergonomic laptop
desks and accessories, responded today to news articles this week
regarding laptop computer induced "Toasted Skin Syndrome." According to
one article, "People who work with one of today's hot-running notebooks
on their lap can develop 'Toasted Skin Syndrome,' an unusual-looking
mottled skin condition caused by long-term heat exposure." These
reports went on to say that the condition looks like "a
sponge-patterned skin discoloration" and, in very rare cases, it can
cause damage leading to skin cancer.
The medical term for "Toasted Skin Syndrome" is "Erythema Ab Igne,"
also known as "laptop-induced-dermatosis." These articles quote Drs.
Arnold and Itin from University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland: "to be
safe, place a carrying case or other heat shield under the laptop if
you have to hold it in your lap."
LapWorks has long been an advocate of protecting the user from the
"Hot Lap" affect. The company's line of four lap desk products were
designed exclusively to prevent hot lap and protect the user. The desks
act as a heat shield under the laptop when using the device on your
lap. Overheating laptop or notebook computers have been a source of
discomfort for their owners for years.
It is now obvious that hot lap isn't the worst of the potential
problems with overheated notebooks. Reports surfaced a few years ago
that some notebooks were spontaneously combusting due to overheated
batteries. At about the same time, a study by the State University of
New York concluded that overheated laptop usage can lead to low sperm
count and infertility in young men. If that wasn't enough, now there is
proof positive that using an overheated notebook on the lap repeatedly
for extended periods of time can lead to "Toasted Skin Syndrome."
Laptop Desks from LapWorks not only prevent dreaded toasted skin
syndrome but can also prevent other injuries that are common with
extended notebook usage. Persons who squeeze their legs together to
support a notebook on the lap or who hunch over a notebook while typing
on the lap can develop serious shoulder, neck and back injuries. Proper
posture ergonomics is key to preventing long-term musculoskeletal
injury, and a 22" long, lap-spanning laptop desk from LapWorks can be
the simplest solution for less than $30.00.
Those at greatest risk from injury are:
- Students who typically use poor posture because they are young and
feel indestructible
- Mobile Professionals who travel with their notebooks and don't
often have a desk available
- Couch Potatoes with their notebooks on their lap while watching
TV
- Video Game players who don't consider their posture in the heat of
battle
José Calero, President of LapWorks and a strong advocate of
proactively preventing injuries related to notebooks, says that they
"routinely cause ergonomic related injuries . . . injuries like Carpel
Tunnel Syndrome or Cumulative Trauma Disorders. Ask any back specialist
and they will tell you that four in five patients have chronic nerve
damage caused by working on a laptop incorrectly."
Mr. Calero adds: "Our Lap Desk products can prevent ergonomic
related injuries and they've been lab tested to reduce heat build-up in
notebooks up to 20%, summarizing that "the problem is getting much
worse as ergonomic related injuries are rising at an unprecedented
level due to incorrect laptop usage."
Bottom line? - it's prudent to protect yourself against overheated
notebooks and other laptop ergonomic issues, making yourself familiar
with proper notebook posture and how to improve ergonomics with the use
of a Laptop Desk from LapWorks, Mr. Calero advises.
The Laptop Desks retail for $29.95 and are also available from
Amazon.com
with free shipping.
Link: LapWorks
Also see Charles W. Moore's column "Toasted Skin Syndrome" - How To Avoid Roasted
Thighs When Using Your MacBook In Laptop Mode on PB Central.
Bargain 'Books
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