It has been rumoured for a while, but only moments ago is it official. There are new Macbooks and Macbook Pro’s on the Apple block, and they got some handy, but not life changing updates. The biggest one is the introduction of the Air’s Multi-Touch pad to the whole Macbook range and the updated processors to Intels flagship Penryn series.
They’re also getting a much more powerful graphics processor, with the introduction of the sweet new Nvidia 8600GT with 512mb of memory onboard, on all the new Pro’s. The new top end processor is the beastly 2.6 GHz processor with 6MB of shared L2 cache.
The rest of the package is pretty standard affair, but is nice to see Apple rolling out the Multi-Touch feature to its minions. Starting from $US1,099, the new Macbooks are available from the Apple website immediately.
For a whole lot more info, click over to Apple Insider.
It doesn’t create green electricity, nor does it create water (or wine for that matter), but it does prevent your drink from freezing when it drops below zero. Plus it has the ability to keep beverages warm for twice as long as a standard aluminum-polyurethane bottle. It is the drink bottle for hikers of the future, except it is available now.
The Laken ISO 70 drink bottle is insulated by a material called Aerogel, which is made of 99.8% air. Other then the excellent insulation properties, it is also very light. The 24 ounce bottle (600ML) weighs less then half the weight of other conventional vacuum bottles.
They are available now for $US59, and if you are going to the Antarctic is it a must have gadget. I recommend reading up on Aerogel, because if they are already placing it in drink bottles, the next place might be your next iPod.
For more info, click over to OhGizmo!
WiFi is something that on paper is fantastic, but in practice is less fun then being hit around with a hammer. It is slow as all hell, it gets interference from my underpants in the right weather conditions, and beats my phone battery like it had a bad childhood. As usual the Australian are here to rescue us from our wireless nightmares with a technology they call GiFi.
The promise of GiFi is high, with it offering data speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second over a 10 meter distance. It does all that and still manages to use only 2 watts of electricity. It isn’t expensive either, with the researchers at Melbourne University believing it will cost as little as $10 to add the component to your device. The price is kept down due to the chip being designed using existing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, and measuring 5mm (add 1mm for the antenna). Ohh, did I mention it used the 60Ghz range, which just so happens no other device uses.
The technology won’t be ready for consumers till 2009, and could exist in any magnitude of consumer device, from cell phone to television. 2009 is going to be the big year for wireless USB, but with a little help from the aussies, we may see a new format war starting.
For more info, transfer over to PMPToday.
Damn those hawks and there fun killing ways. Apparently those WowWee Dragonflies that sold so damn well during Christmas may have an unexpected side affect. According to 5th grader Danny McGorry, a hawk swept in and took away his toy and apparently he isn’t the first. Around 45 other people have also complained of the same hawk attack issue, and that is only in the last 2 months.
All jokes aside, I would like to know if these things going to hurt hawks because they resemble pray from above? I’m pretty sure a hawks can’t digest plastic and batteries.
For more info, click over to Gizmodo.
You have your pocket protector, a Linux smartphone, but what will you do when it gets dark? The Cap Light is going to be the ultimate accessory for you. It simply attaches to the bottom of you hat and features 5 LED lights.
Really, if you buy one of these (it is only $US16 BTW), and use it in the outside world, you are going to get made fun of by a lot of people. This will be multiplied if you live in a metro area. Remember you have been warned.
For more info, flash over to ChipChick.
P.S. Thank you for the fix Forrest.