Appletell

Are you looking for a way to extend the battery life of your MacBook Air? QuickerTek might have the solution. QuickerTek is rolling out a new product called Apple Juicz, which will charge your MacBook Air through thin-film solar cells in as little as five hours.

Since Apple Juicz extends the MacBook Air’s battery life, you won’t have to worry about running out of power while you are working on your projects. There is an LED status indicator that lets you know what is going on. Also included is a modified MacBook Air MagSafe charger (which uses military-spec parts) that provides a more powerful charge—and yes, it will still work with the stock MacBook Air.

Details after the break.

MORE »

Although the image that originated on this Chinese website that reveals the new MacBook design has been floating around for a while, AppleInsider now says they can confirm that it is real. They have been told by “people familiar with the ongoing development of the new 15- and 17-inch professional notebooks” that this case was an old prototype, but that it is also nearly identical to the final cases. Some key differences in the case are a thinner form factor as well as more tapered edges, making it more like the MacBook Air case.

Another interesting change in this new case is that the battery cover will now also provide access to the machine’s hard drive. This could mean that Apple will be allowing users to swap their stock hard drives with new ones (maybe even solid state drives). It will be interesting to see if these images turn out to be real, as Apple is usually really good at keeping secrets and new designs under cover.  What do you think, real or fake?

Via [AppleInsider]

Marware doesn’t just give the iPhone 3G some love with their cases, they also share it with the iPhone’s thin sister, the MacBook Air. This time around they have two new cases for you to decide between. The first is called the Sportfolio Deluxe and is available for $79.99. The strap on this case is easily adjustable and it comes with plenty of room for your accessories. It is made with black neoprene on the outside and a plush liner on the inside, giving your laptop ultimate protection.

Details and images after the break.

MORE »

Looks like it might be time to invest in a Macbook Air, that’s if you’ve been holding of. Apple quietly, and without explanation, has slashed the price of the 1.8GHz model to just $2598 which is $500 than it’s previous price at $3098. Adding the solid-state drive to the 1.6GHz model will now cost just $599 from its previous $999 and will reduce the price of upgrading the 1.6GHz processor to the faster 1.8GHz model from $300 to $200.

Apple hasn’t officially noted the price drop, but it’s obvious that the increase in SSD production has led the to the cheaper price points. All the Air needs now is a larger storage capacity (and more power), but the wait shouldn’t be too long as Samsung, which currently produces the SSDs for the Macbook Air, have said they could be delivering cheap 256GB SSD drives later this year, as well as a 128GB model.

Product [MacBook Air]

The Apple 1490 laptop case is for all you Mac owners who value your machines so much that you are willing to spend some extra bucks for extra protection. The laptop case was made by Pelican specifically for the MacBook Pro, and will fit both the 15-inch and 13.3-inch MacBooks.

What makes this laptop case special is the fact that it will protect your MacBook Pro from water or sand, as it is watertight and airtight. What makes this possible is the custom polyurethane foam with an egg crate foam lining that covers the case’s lid. In addition, the case is custom molded to protect the MacBook from shock, impact and vibration.

Weighing only 8.7 pounds and bearing a lifetime guarantee, this laptop case for the Mac doesn’t have a published price yet. But, we’re looking at a possible price tag of more than $160 which is how much the Pelican universal 1490 cases cost.

Via [I4U] Product [Cases By Pelican]

A group of over 60 owners believes it does. A recent blog details the trouble, which seems to be a persistent blank screen problem.

After a reboot, or on wake from sleep, the machine refuses to acknowledge the presence of a display, either internal or external. From that point on, the computer never regains its displays—not after a reboot, etc. Subsequent debugging indicates that the machine is misidentifying its NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card as the MacBook’s Intel X3100 card. This issue is known to affect at least 50 people—a group of affected users has formed a Google Spreadsheet in order to document and organize cases.

Apple recommends users replace the logic board, but doing this isn’t solving the problem for some users. And, of course, the problem seems to surface shortly after the expiration of the computer’s default warranty, meaning those inflicted are paying about $400 for a fix that may not actually fix anything.

If you’re noticing similar behavior, we recommend you join the Apple discussion forum to gather/offer possible solutions, or, at the least, to be counted. If this does prove to be a widespread problem, the more people who join the discussion, the sooner Apple may address the issue.

Via [apad.sytes.net]

DisplaySearch, an online market research firm, has reported that Apple’s sales of notebook computers are up 61% from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008. In that time, Apple has shipped over 1.4 million notebooks, compared to almost 900,000 the previous year, which places Apple just behind Asus in terms of growth from year-to-year, as the Taiwanese company saw a slightly higher 67% growth rate. Most other notebook manufacturers saw growth rates in the 20 - 40% range.

However, the bad news is that Apple is still in seventh place in overall notebook market share at a mere 4.6%, behind leaders HP (20.8%), Dell (15.1%), and Acer (14.7%), but still ahead of Asus (4.3%) and Sony (4.2%). It is believed that Asus is seeing huge increases due to its Eee PC subnotebook, which has been extremely popular amongst those who want tiny computers that are capable of running Windows or Linux. If trends continue as they currently are, Apple’s notebook market share numbers should continue to increase throughout the rest of 2008.

Via [DisplaySearch]

Orbino thinks the MacBook Air is a classy notebook. Classy notebooks need classy cases. That’s why they’ve created the Aria case for the MacBook Air. Available for pre-order with a $529 price tag, this case sports a hand folded leather exterior, as well as a durable aluminum frame. It comes with a padded shoulder strap and a removable accessory pack, and is available in four separate colors. It will begin shipping in July.

Orbino is no stranger when it comes to cases. With hand crafted, fine leather cases for iPods, laptops, and Palms, it seems like Orbino takes great pride in their work.

They also have an Arista MacBook Air case that is more like a bag, featuring a nice, long strap. It, too, comes in various colors and offers full protection, but this one only costs $349. These both seem a bit expensive for me, but if I spent $1799+ on a laptop, I sure would want it protected.

Product Page [Aria Case, Arista]

If you’re in need of a new notebook and are considering the Macbook Air, then you should probably consider some key points first. Is the Air worth spending your money on? Should you go for a cheaper alternative such as the Macbook? And just what could the future bring for the Macbook Air?

The Macbook Air is the newest addition to Apple’s notebook line, and it’s arguably the best looking, but there are many reasons why a Macbook Air probably isn’t right for you...yet.

Reasons after the break.

MORE »

I really enjoy the two finger scrolling gesture on the Apple laptop trackpads. It’s smooth, and it works exactly how you would expect, unlike some of those other built in scroll bars.  However, this technology is only available from Apple on newer models; so, what about the older ones? Enter iScroll2. This preference pane software is “...a modified trackpad driver that adds two-finger scrolling capabilities to supported pre-2005 PowerBooks and iBooks on OS X 10.3 and up.” It looks great.

Simply download and install this program, tweak the settings to your liking, then put those fingers to work.

However, if linear scrolling isn’t your style, iScroll2 also supports a circular scrolling option. This option is just like the scroll wheel on an iPod, except you use two fingers in a circular motion instead of one.  That’s a pretty neat idea, if you ask me. It’s nice to see someone cared enough to make this product, because I’m sure a lot of people are benefiting from it.

Product [iScroll2]