http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en denkinews@mac.com Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:39:53 -0500 Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:39:57 -0500 iBlog 1.4.6 icruise Denki News News and commentary on Macintosh, video games, and electronics icruise denkinews@mac.com Denki News Arts & Entertainment http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C454184164/E20060623183943/index.html I had tried a number of options when I started my blog (including some hosted options and programs like iBlog and iWeb). I eventually settled on iBlog because it seemed to offer the features and customizability that I wanted. But recently I've been kind of fed up with using iBlog, partially because it's rather buggy, and partially because it's really not convenient to have my blog accessible from only one computer. I had some trouble finding a hosted blogging service that seemed to fit my needs, but WordPress came the closest. I don't like the fact that you can't do much to customize the look of your blog, but aside from that it works quite well and I now have all the articles that I wrote with iBlog transferred to the new site. The only hiccup is that you have to use Firefox to make use of all of the fancy in-browser editing features -- Safari doesn't cut it. But that's also true of Blogger.com, so I can't hold it against WordPress completely. In any case, I hope that this will work out better.

The new site can be found here:

http://icruise.wordpress.com

]]> Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:39:43 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C454184164/E20060623183943/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1676663544/E20060620045901/index.html

Mark/Space, maker of software that allows products like Windows Mobile-based, Sony Clie, and HipTop PDAs to sync with OS X, has released The Missing Sync of the PSP. It provides conversion and syncing of video files, syncing of iTunes music, iPhoto photos, iCal calendars, Address Book contacts, and Safari bookmarks, as well as providing an off-line web browsing feature and a file syncing feature. It apparently uses the PSP's built-in web browser for much of this functionality (converting your calendars into HTML which the browser displays, for example). This means that it requires a PSP with 2.71 firmware or above. It costs $29.99, but unfortunately there's no demo version of the software. Still, it looks like it adds significantly to the PSP's usefulness, especially for people who don't already carry around iPods or PDAs. Without any means of data entry, the PSP and the iPod are a little limited as PDAs, but I've often thought that there was a lot of untapped potential there, and this sounds like a good start.

http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_psp.php

]]> Tue, 20 Jun 2006 04:59:01 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1676663544/E20060620045901/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C878209492/E20060612010621/index.html


I was out by the mall a couple of days ago and decided that I would go to a few places to see if I could find a DS Lite that had been put out before the official launch date (June 11th). Some other people had been able to find them out on the shelves. I didn't find any, but Toys R Us had a sign up saying that they were reserving them for people on the two days prior to the launch with a $50 deposit. So I went ahead and reserved one. I didn't know if there would be any problem getting one, but considering that all of the online retailers I checked were only selling them in lame bundles with accessory packs that you don't really want, I figured it was worth it to ensure that I got one. There was a couple in line right ahead of me who reserved two of them.

I picked it up this afternoon, and I must say it's very nice. Of course, it's particularly impressive compared to what a lump the original DS is. The original "phat" DS looks more like a prototype than anything, and there are a lot of things about it that don't really make a lot of sense. The main issue, though, is its sheer size. It's a very hefty system. The DS Lite, on the other hand, is pretty slim. It's no GameBoy Micro, but it's definitely a more reasonable size, weight and thickness. And the finish is also much more impressive. It looks much more like something you'd want to show off, and I think it holds its own against the PSP in terms of looks now. Closed, it looks just like a miniature MacBook, and I don't think that's an accident (although the direct inspiration was probably the iPod).

Aside from its size, the main thing I was looking forward to was the screen, and it doesn't disappoint in that area either. The original DS's screens always seemed a little on the dim and dingy side, but you don't realize how bad they are until you compare them with the DS Lite's screens. They are several times brighter at max brightness, and even at minimum brightness, I think they're still brighter than the old DS. The colors are very vibrant and clear. And the battery apparently lasts a lot longer than the original DS as well (haven't been able to test that out yet. Clearly, Nintendo did their best to rectify the flaws in the original design. This is the DS they should have released in the first place.

In the "minor disappointments" department are the fact that the DS Lite uses a different AC adapter than the original DS, which means that you can't share adapters if you have both systems. It also doesn't come with the nifty strap/thumb stick thingy that the original DS came with. Also, GameBoy Advance cartridges stick up about 1cm from the body of the DS Lite, which means that you probably don't want to keep a GBA cartridge in there all the time. You could do that with the original system, and it was kind of nice to have two games available in the system (dual screens and dual games).

Nintendo hasn't announced that they are discontinuing the original DS, but unless they discount it VERY heavily, I don't think it makes any sense to keep both models in stores. I really can't think of any reason to get an original DS now that the Lite is available.

]]> Mon, 12 Jun 2006 01:06:21 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C878209492/E20060612010621/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C878209492/E20060605145228/index.html

I am a freelance Japanese translator specializing in video games. Unfortunately, I don't always get to see the games I am translating before I do the translation. Sometimes the game isn't finished yet and the developer can't be bothered to give us in-progress builds, and sometimes (like with the portable systems) it isn't really possible to play non-final versions without some kind of development hardware, and translators like me don't usually have that. But when I am given the game to play, I have to have a system to play it on, so I have at least one of all of the current video game consoles.

Up until recently, my PSP had been used mostly for homebrew software such as emulators. I absolutely love being able to play all the old 8-bit and 16-bit games that I played years ago on a portable device (what I wouldn't have given for something like that when I was a teenager!). And frankly, there weren't all that many PSP games that appealed to me. Now, those of you familiar with the state of homebrew software on the PSP know that Sony has been doing everything it possibly can to prevent its users from running homebrew software. Each firmware update they put out adds some new features, but often the main reason is to close off a loophole that someone has found that lets them run homebrew software again. I think the main thing they are worried about is piracy of UMD games, and in fact some people have been successful at running copies of games from a memory stick. It's unfortunate that in their crusade to kill off piracy that they're also making it impossible to use a lot of cool software that users have made.

For this reason, my original PSP's firmware is 1.5 and it's going to stay there. While there has been some progress in getting homebrew software to run on later versions, it's a never-ending struggle, with every firmware update from Sony disabling whatever hacks that people came up with. My PSP was able to stay at 1.5 for quite a while, but recently I started the translation of a new PSP game that forces you to upgrade to 2.6 or later in order to play. Although I hate Sony for making me buy two PSPs, I decided that being able to play my emulators was probably worth a couple of hundred bucks, so I plunked down the money for a second PSP.

Of course, as long as I had to buy a second PSP, I couldn't just buy another black one. Not when there are Ceramic White models available in Japan. So I ordered one from Lik-Sang.com who got it to me very quickly. It's quite nice looking, and certainly reminiscent of the iPod. I think I prefer the black model overall, but the white certainly has its appeal, and I think its screen is somewhat brighter as well. So now I have a "good" PSP (the angelic white one that will always been updated to the latest firmware version) and the "bad" PSP (the devilish black one that can run all of my emulators and other software). I suppose now I'll have to look into getting a DS Lite...

]]> Mon, 05 Jun 2006 14:52:28 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C878209492/E20060605145228/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1095619386/E20060604081021/index.html

In the days before laptops became so powerful, most people used them as secondary systems. They would have a desktop for "real" work and use the laptop only when they had to, but I have been using a laptop as my main computer for years. My first was a giant black and white screened behemoth with a 286 processor, and since then I've gone through 7 or 8 other laptops (mostly Macs). I never liked desktop computers. I didn't like being tied down to one place (even if I didn't use the computer outside much, being able to move to another room in the house was nice) and somehow laptops seemed more personal than desktops to me. That's why I ordered a MacBook Pro the day after they were announced. My 12" PowerBook had worked well as my main computer, but it was starting to feel a tad slow for a few things, and I also wanted a bigger screen. However, I decided to cancel my order and get an iMac instead. I had decided to go back to the traditional "laptop + desktop" setup, but not for the reasons that you might think. [If you're reading this in a browser, you may need to click "Permalink" below to read the rest of the article.]

First of all, let me explain a little bit about how I had been using my 12" PowerBook. I had it connected to a 23" Cinema Display and used the PowerBook's internal LCD as a secondary screen that displayed only my email and dictionary programs. I did my work on the Cinema Display. The computer was also connected to a keyboard, mouse, a couple of firewire hard disks, an iPod dock, printer, scanner, external speakers, etc. Of course, I had USB and firewire hubs, but still every single port was filled. One of the main advantages of having a laptop as your main computer is that you have all of your files in one place and can (theoretically) just pick your whole system up and go somewhere. But I found that having my computer plugged into so many peripherals made me reluctant to move it. Not only did I have to physically unplug all of the cables, I had to eject the hard disks as well. Plus, going from a 23" display + 12" internal LCD to only the internal LCD meant that my windows would get shuffled around, and I would have to deal with that each time I disconnected or reconnected the computer. I certainly wasn't going to go through all of that just to take the computer into the next room. And I found that I was even a little reluctant to do it when going out. Sure, it was nice to be able to take the system with me when I really needed to, but I felt that I was really missing out on one of the main advantages of having a portable -- portability.

This got me to thinking. Was there any point in replacing my current PowerBook with a MacBook Pro? Sure, it would be faster and the larger internal LCD would be nice, but it didn't solve my bigger problem -- my portable computer wasn't really all that portable. When they were announced, the MacBook Pro and the iMac Core Duo had very similar specifications -- they even used the exact same processor, and the iMac was finally capable of using monitor spanning, so I could use my Cinema Display with it. And the iMac had a lot more hard disk space, more ports, a bigger screen, a dual-layer Superdrive instead of single-layer, etc. Plus, it was a *lot* cheaper than the MacBook Pro. The iMac was $1299 while the high-end MacBook Pro was nearly twice as expensive at $2499. True, the iMac had 512MB of RAM instead of 1GB on the MacBook Pro, but aside from that the iMac had the MacBook Pro beat. So I decided to cancel my MacBook Pro order, get an iMac and keep my 12" PowerBook to use strictly as a portable. Since I was keeping my PowerBook instead of selling it to finance the MacBook Pro, I'm not saving all of this money, but it was still cheaper than the MacBook Pro.

So far, this solution has worked quite well. I have all the power of the MacBook Pro when I'm at my desk, and I never have to worry about disconnecting peripherals or shuffling windows. Plus, I can have my iMac always available as a music or file server, and I have a second computer to use for my work in case one should fail. And I can finally take advantage of the portability of my 12" PowerBook. In fact, it's worked so well that I doubt that I will ever go back to using just one computer for everything. Obviously, some people will have different needs. If you have to have the fastest portable around, or you need to use a large screen when on the go, then the MacBook Pro is probably the machine for you. But for people like me who were thinking of spending $2000 to $2500 on a MacBook Pro, but who were going to end up using it at a desk much of the time, this is a real alternative.

The introduction of the MacBook (non-Pros) has made this an even more attractive option, even for someone who doesn't have a laptop already. The MacBooks are very very close to the MacBook Pros in terms of performance and features. The main difference is that the MacBooks use integrated graphics, making them not as good for gaming and some pro applications. But if you get both an iMac and a MacBook, you've got this covered, since the iMac has a decent video card.

For less than the price of the midrange 15" MacBook Pro, you can get both a 17" iMac and the low-end MacBook.
For the same money as a 17" MacBook Pro, you can get:

A 17" iMac and a MacBook, and still have enough money left over to max out the RAM on both of them.

A 20" iMac and a MacBook.

A 17" iMac and the high-end black MacBook

I need dual displays for my work, but if you don't you could go even cheaper by getting a Mac mini instead of the iMac.

The only disadvantage that I can see is that you have to worry about transferring files from one computer to the other. If you work on the same set of files on both computers, you have to make sure you are using the correct ones or else you risk losing data. .Mac allows you to easily sync things like Safari bookmarks, iCal calendars and Address Book entries. And I've been using Martian Slingshot to sync some of my files between my systems. This works reasonably well, but there is no good solution for syncing things like your iPhoto library or your iTunes library. Martian Slingshot choked on my multi-gigabyte iPhoto library, for example. But I don't really feel that need to have everything synced. In general, I keep everything on my desktop and only transfer things to my laptop when I need them.

In short, if you were thinking of getting a MacBook Pro but don't really need any of its "pro" features while on the go, consider the desktop + laptop option.

]]> Sun, 04 Jun 2006 08:10:21 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1095619386/E20060604081021/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060527180112/index.html

There has been a fair amount of discussion recently as to the nature of the matte black plastic that makes up the casing off the black MacBook. It has an almost rubberized feel to it, which is quite different from the surface of the white MacBook.

A post on marklemdotcom first brought up the idea that the surface of the MacBook might be coated with something that could easily flake off by scratching it with a fingernail. The discussion in this thread on the MacNN forums (and my own very cursory examination of the black MacBook) seemed to indicate that this was not the case.

But then today another post on the MacNN forums pointed out that someone on Flickr also had problems with flaking finish on their MacBook. The two problems don't really look the same -- the first one looks like a clear coating was being rubbed off, while the second looks like black paint has been chipped off by the user's watchband. The interesting question is, why would the chips reveal what appears to be white underneath? Even if Apple used some kind of coating on the MacBook, wouldn't they have used black plastic underneath? It's possible that it's only the frame surrounding the wrist rest that is affected, but it's a little disturbing nonetheless.

Without more evidence, it's hard to say one way or the other. But I do know that my Pismo PowerBook had no such issues with the finish. I hope this doesn't become the "nano scratch" of the MacBook line.

]]> Sat, 27 May 2006 18:01:12 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060527180112/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1631946779/E20060523211908/index.html

A lot of people (well, a lot of people who post on Internet message boards anyway) seem to be anti-iPod. There are even entire websites devoted to this, such as anythingbutipod.com. As a big fan of the iPod, I find this somewhat perplexing. I've been thinking a lot about this, and I've come up with a few possible reasons. [If you're reading this in a browser, you may need to click "Permalink" below to read the rest of the article.]

First there are people who just hate Apple. Why? I guess some people view Apple as a company that sells overpriced dumbed-down computers for people too stupid (or lazy or whatever) to use a "real computer." There have been people like this since the Mac first came out. 20 years ago they would have said that a graphical user interface would never be anything but a toy. They love to manually edit their Windows registry or compile their own Linux software. There's not much you can do to change their minds, but Mac OS X is helping.

Other people think that the iPod is an underfeatured overpriced piece of crap compared to other MP3 players on the market. Sure, you can find MP3 players with more features like an FM radio tuner, voice recorder, card reader, or whatever. But the overall package is much less than the sum of its parts. What's the point of having an FM radio if the MP3 player portion of the device is hard to use? And in any case, one of the big draws of the iPod has always been its simplicity. It does a few things and it does them well. And when making these feature comparisons, most people seem to forget about iTunes, the iTunes music store, and the huge lineup of third-party iPod accessories. Surely these count for something.

And what about the price? I really don't understand this complaint. Just try and find a discussion of the iPod versus other players where someone doesn't call the iPod overpriced. But if you compare the iPod to its competitors you'll see that this isn't the case at all. Compare the 30GB iPod to the Creative Zen Vision: M, the Toshiba Gigabeat, or the iAudio X5 (all 30GB players of similar size), and you'll find that they're exactly the same suggested retail price! I suppose if you go for a bargain basement model with a black & white screen you can get cheaper, but that's hardly a fair comparison. Even though their computers are now very competitively priced with their Windows counterparts, Apple finds it hard to shake the image that they are overpriced.

Finally, there are the people who hate the iPod precisely because it is popular. Those white headphones are so ubiquitous. They don't want to be seen as following the crowd and may dismiss the iPod as being too trendy. I've heard a lot of people say that the iPod is only popular because it is "cool." And in fact this idea is the entiire focus of SanDisk's recent iDont marketing campaign.

I'm not really sure where the whole "iPod is cool" thing comes from. Some say it is a result of Apple's advertising, but I'm not sure if that explains it. Apple has never done a very good job of using advertising effectively. Their ads are often memorable, but they fall short in actually getting people to want to buy the product. They've certainly not done a whole lot to sell the Macintosh. While Apple's ads certainly help build an image for the iPod, I think the iPod's initial success had little to do with advertising. Apple was just the first to really get the potential of the MP3 player. Before the iPod, you could either buy a Nomad-style player with a hard disk that was the size of an old CD Walkman or get a smaller flash-based player that could hold one or two albums' worth of songs. The genius of the iPod was that it combined these two types (a large amount of storage in a relatively small package) and made it truly easy to use. They came at just the right point in history to tap into the concept of digital music. Once set in motion, this juggernaut is very hard to stop. For me, the iPod just has the perfect balance of ease of use and features. Unless another manufacturer comes out with something very compelling, there's just no reason to buy anything but an iPod.

]]> Tue, 23 May 2006 21:19:08 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1631946779/E20060523211908/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1631946779/E20060523124659/index.html

As you may know, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple stating that iPod nanos are so easily scratched that their screens can become unusable in the course of normal use. What you probably didn't know was that the Jason Tomczak, the lead plaintiff in the case, was associated with the case completely against his will and without his knowledge. Or at least that's what he says. He has written an open letter to the Mac community saying that the legal firm in charge of the case essentially hijacked his name. From what he says, he's been through some very difficult and expensive problems because of this. If it's true, it makes the whole lawsuit even stupider than I originally thought, and I feel sorry for him.

(The picture above is taken from the Ars Technica review of the iPod nano, in which they discover that the nano is surprisingly sturdy, if not exactly scratch resistant.)

Open Letter To The Mac Community

]]> Tue, 23 May 2006 12:46:59 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1631946779/E20060523124659/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1676663544/E20060522130753/index.html

The Times Online has an interesting article detailing the story behind the fall of Gizmondo, the startup that claimed to be releasing a handheld to challenge the likes of Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP. By all accounts the Gizmondo device itself was a flop from the very beginning. It was overpriced even if you chose the questionable "ad supported" service and game support was lacking. But the really interesting thing is how the company's founders (who were later discovered to members of the Swedish mafia) managed to blow through hundreds of millions of dollars with very little to show for it. They bought millions of dollars worth of jewelry, watches and exotic sports cars with company funds. You really have to wonder what was going on. Was it a scam from the beginning? Did Gizmondo really think they could make a go of it, or did its founders realize early on that they were doomed and just decide to milk the company for everything they could? Was it a real-life Brewster's Millions? We may never know all the details.

The company that blew it all in two years from the Times Online

]]> Mon, 22 May 2006 13:07:53 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1676663544/E20060522130753/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1676663544/E20060521062521/index.html

This video is simply amazing. I've spent more than my share of time playing Super Mario 64 and Super Mario DS, but this guy knows tricks I never dreamed of and seems to be able to jump with godlike accuracy. If you've ever played this game, you owe it to yourself to watch this. I'm just speechless.

Super Mario 64 Speed Run on Gamespot.com

UPDATE: Well, this isn't actually a video of someone playing. It's a tool-assisted speed run, which is something that I had never heard of. As I understand it, they use an emulator and some software tools to enable the player to redo certain parts over and over, and to play at less than full speed. Sometimes they play at 5% normal speed, or even frame-by-frame. Why anyone would want to do this is an interesting question. I guess some people really love these games and want to try and come up with the "ultimate" run-through. Still, many of these moves aren't possible for actual human beings to perform, so in some sense they don't reflect what the game is actually supposed to be like.

NESVideos

]]> Sun, 21 May 2006 06:25:21 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1676663544/E20060521062521/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1095619386/E20060518210137/index.html Here is a short piece I wrote a while back about Keita Suyama, the Japanese modder who I mentioned in yesterday's news.
__________________________________



TOKYO - You might say Keita Suyama is obsessed with modifying Macintosh computers. His office is strewn with various tools, electronic parts, and partially disassembled computers. He grinned sheepishly as he talked about his most recent project - a black flat-panel iMac. [If you're reading this in a browser, you may need to click "Permalink" below to read the rest of the article.]

"I'm not entirely satisfied with the way it came out," he said, but his face was that of a proud parent. Turning the white iMac black entailed disassembling the entire computer, removing the paint on the inside of the clear plastic shell with paint thinner and repainting it - a technique that Suyama perfected when creating blue and orange versions of the new iBook. "I can't really recommend doing it - it was really tough," says Suyama.

In fact, once he had put the machine back together, it wouldn't start up. "Actually I don't think it was my fault," he explains. "This kind of thing has been known to happen with some of the first flat-panel iMacs, but you can't exactly send in a black iMac for warranty service and say it just stopped working." Since spare parts for the iMac were not available at the time, he had no choice but to buy a second machine for parts in order to fix the first.

He started innocently enough -- upgrading hard drives and memory on desktop machines - but then found himself taking apart his PowerBook 520c and then his PowerBook 2400.

"At first it was a little scary - like I was doing something I wasn't supposed to. But luckily I work near the electronics district in Tokyo, so I was able to practice with some used computers, and I found it wasn't as difficult as I had thought. Eventually I started modifying new machines as well."

Suyama works at his father's company designing and fitting hearing aids, but he spends much of his time using, writing about, and modifying his Macs. His tendency to work on his projects at the office has earned him the nickname "Japan's least hardest working man." In reality his job demands that he spend long hours at his office, and he works on his projects whenever he has free moment.

His company web site only occasionally refers to hearing aids - Suyama uses it mostly to display his recent projects and Mac related news. He regularly travels to the US - sometimes for trade shows or symposiums in his field, but more often than not it is to attend the two annual Mac Expos. He posts detailed reports about the shows on his web site, but the real center of attention is usually his latest modification.

Listening to him talk, you can tell he loves what he does. Even the smallest detail can be the source of a project or a section for his web site. He spent weeks trying out various possibilities for cooling the new iBook, even going so far as to use a thermographic camera and scientific thermometers to obtain accurate readings. He tried out a variety of third-party external fans, as well as ones of his own design. Suyama's love of detail and precision shows up in many of his projects. To see how loud the fan in the new flat-panel iMac was he took it to an Eckel Industries soundproof chamber (the result was a quiet 36db).

Suyama gives a variety of reasons for why he does what he does. "Part of it is just a desire to make things more convenient and more personal," he explains. "Once you buy something, it's yours. If you can change it to make it work better for you or look more attractive, then why not do it? I suppose part of me also likes to surprise people and to do something that has never been done before." After thinking a bit more, he continued. "The truth is that I'm not really sure why I do it, but I can't seem to stop."

]]> Thu, 18 May 2006 21:01:37 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1095619386/E20060518210137/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060517203359/index.html

Japanese Mac modder Keita Suyama has joined the growing ranks of people who have taken apart the MacBook. I met and interviewed Suyama several years ago about the phenomenon of "Mac modification" in Japan. At the time, he had just finished a black version of the iMac G4. He's taken apart just about every Mac that's come out in the last few years and has done some pretty impressive modifications as well.

The pictures are on his main page (in Japanese) at the moment, but this will change as he adds new content.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2006 20:33:59 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060517203359/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060517080120/index.html

Update: Lookinsideit.com has what is probably the best set of take-apart photos.

Kodawarisan (the webmaster of which I met once at MacWorld Tokyo) has these pictures of the MacBook being taken apart.

And this Chinese site has some good close-up pictures of a white MacBook, including many shots of it being completely disassembled.

You can see the user-replaceable hard disk, which is a first for an Apple consumer portable.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2006 08:01:20 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060517080120/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060517032751/index.html Some people are already starting to get their hands on the new MacBooks, so I thought I would collect a few of the better photos I've seen.


Flickr user andrson has some pictures of a white MacBook box opening.


Flickr user fullgl has the same for the black MacBook.


Flickr user jaydon34 has some shots of his white MacBook.

Finally, this MacWorld First Look article has some good photos and a nice write up about the new models.

Of particular interest is the shot of a 12" PowerBook on top of a MacBook:


And a closeup of the MacBook keyboard:

]]> Wed, 17 May 2006 03:27:51 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060517032751/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/denkinews/C1170113765/E20060516095156/index.html

This morning Apple released their new consumer portable, the MacBook. The rumor sites were mostly right about this one. They sport 13” glossy screens with 1280 x 800 resolution. The low end model is $1,099 and has an 1.83Ghz Intel Core Duo processor, 512MB of memory, a 60GB 5400 rpm hard disk, and a combo drive. The middle model goes for $1,299 and ups the processor to 2.0Ghz and swaps the combo drive for a SuperDrive. Finally, the high-end model goes for $1,499 and ups the hard disk to 80GB and gives you a spiffy black shell instead of the white of the other two models.

About the only thing you can really complain about in this lineup is the fact that the MacBooks use GMA integrated graphics and not stand-alone graphics cards. That will certainly hurt them to some degree when it comes to gaming. But otherwise they are quite impressive, even featuring the extended desktop feature that has long been crippled on the iBooks. While it’s true that paying $200 for an additional 20GB of hard disk space and a black case may not make the most economic sense, I’m sure they’ll sell plenty of the black models. A lot of people have been waiting for a black portable from Apple ever since they discontinued the venerable Pismo (the last PowerBook G3).
 
I for one will be very interested to see some actual photos of these machines “in the wild” and not just Apple’s CG-like renderings. Things to watch for include: how the glossy screens will look and how they will affect usability, and how the “latchless” lids will work.

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