macbook

Intel creates $300 million Ultrabook Fund

What's an Ultrabook? According to Intel, it's a superthin MacBook Air-like laptop with great battery life and a solid-state drive, which is less than .8 inch thick. Most people couldn't tell you that, though. It's not surprising then, perhaps, that Intel Capital has created a $300 million Ultrabook Fund to drive continuing growth in the category. It is, however, significant news.

According to the press release sent today, Intel's Ultrabook Fund will "invest in companies building hardware and software technologies focused on enhancing how people interact with Ultrabooks such as through sensors and touch, … Read more

Promise Pegasus R6 review: Thunderbolt is here

If you're looking for a storage device that only a few deserving computers can handle, Promise Technology's Thunderbolt-enabled Pegasus R6 external hard drive is for you. It's a storage device like no other.

And it was hard to review it. For one thing, as it's the first storage device with Thunderbolt, we needed to think of a new set of tests for it while still comparing it with existing storage devices in a way that makes sense. However, the hardest part was not the logistics but how to rate the drive.

As Thunderbolt currently offers 10Gbps … Read more

Core i7 MacBook Pros kernel panicking with NVRM read error

A number of people with 2010 MacBook Pro systems configured with Core i7 GPUs and Nvidia graphics cards are reporting an issue where the systems periodically crash with a kernel panic. The screen shows the classic kernel panic message instructing users to hold down the power button to restart the system, and when the panic log is shown it mentions an error stating something similar to the following:

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff7f809a52bf): NVRM[0/1:0:0]: Read Error 0x00000100

In addition, the kernel extensions that were loaded and being accessed when this error occurs are aspects of the … Read more

Apple OS woes: The Lion ate my laptop

When a new Apple OS locks up the laptop of a CNET writer, it's in the United Nations charter that he or she must document the problem and relay the story.

Last week, the new Apple OS X Lion stopped my Macbook Pro in its formerly reliable tracks, so it was time to do a bit of first-person reporting.

I turned to Lion in my 2009 Macbook Pro exactly one week ago and experienced no complications during the download and install process. I was a few days into learning the ins and outs of the new OS when I … Read more

11-inch Apple MacBook Air (Summer 2011) review: Thunderbolt and lightning-quick

Last October, Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air debuted. The tiny, slim ultraportable was the smallest laptop Apple had ever made. Its combination of size and power earned it a four-star review, with caveats: it had a last-generation Core 2 Duo processor, lacked a backlit keyboard, and omitted an SD card slot. We're glad to find the newly released, back-to-school-timed 2011 MacBook Air update fixes two of our three complaints, while keeping a $999 starting price.

Both 11- and 13-inch MacBook Airs have been updated with new, faster second-gen Core i5 processors. The new Air also, finally, has a backlit … Read more

This Day in Tech: Apple updates Mini, Air; opposition to AT&T, T-Mobile merger

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET (and elsewhere) for Wednesday, July 20.

Apple has updated the Mac Mini and MacBook Air. Here are the specs along with plenty of pictures. The major upgrades to the MacBook Air include a next-generation processor, Thunderbolt port, and a backlit keyboard. TechCrunch's MG Siegler writes about how he loves the MacBook Air and why he thinks the MacBook is dead.

Nokia's second quarter is not looking too shabby, but the real question on everyone's mind is: Can … Read more

Can the MacBook Air replace the White MacBook? Maybe it's not trying to.

Is the MacBook Air the new mainstream MacBook?

The White MacBook is dead. The cheaper, plastic $999 legacy to iBooks and PowerBooks of old has finally been removed from the spectrum of Apple laptops, and suddenly the decision spectrum has narrowed to two choices: the MacBook Pro, and the thinner MacBook Air, updated this morning with a faster processor and preinstalled with OSX Lion.

The MacBook Air has walked an interesting path since 2008, first as a high-end executive plaything, then a more attainable but still specialty interest ultraportable. Last year's MacBook Airs debuted in October, well after back-to-school shopping.

This year, however, the new Airs have emerged in late July, perfectly timed for students planning their computer purchases. The MacBook Pro, meanwhile, last saw an update back in February.

A $999 MacBook still remains; the 11-inch Air's base model costs the same as that older white MacBook. Its 1.6GHz Core i5 processor feels far zippier than last year's Air, but its limited storage (64GB of flash memory) presents a limit to hold-everything-on-your-hard-drive people. On first boot-up, 48GB of drive space was free to use, which limits what you'd permanently keep on your computer. That 64GB of storage can be expanded up to 256GB at the time of purchase, but that drives the price up, too, by several hundred dollars.

Or, does that matter anymore?… Read more

The 404 864: Where there's Lion pie in my eye (podcast)

Wilson's especially giddy today because Apple just released two new MacBook Airs and a pair of new Mac Minis that all feature a data port for high-speed Thunderbolt peripherals. On today's episode, we're also talking about Rupert Murdoch's pie in the face, a social network for Anonymous hackers called AnonPlus, and the proper way to teach your parents how to use modern technology.

The 404 Digest for Episode 864

Apple updates MacBook Air, Mac Mini. Anonymous unleashes social network AnonPlus.

Episode 864 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

MacBook Air rival could be coming from HP

Comments from Hewlett-Packard's CEO and a report out of Asia indicate that HP may have a design that rivals the MacBook Air in the works or even ready to go.

At last month's D9 conference, no one other than HP's chief executive, Leo Apotheker, dropped hints about a newfangled laptop design. Responding to a question about the iPad, he said, "If you use a state-of-the-art laptop it is as sleek, as slim as [an iPad]"... Then, after being challenged about whether HP actually had such a laptop, he quickly followed up with, "There's a whole new product refresh coming out."

A report may be adding some flesh to that statement. Today, Taipei-based DigiTimes said HP is expected to launch "two or more" Ultrabooks.

What is an Ultrabook? In a word, thin. Intel, the main proponent, describes the Ultrabook as combining the performance of a laptop with "tablet-like features" in a "thin, light, and elegant design."

More specifically, the maximum thickness for an Ultrabook is pegged at 20 millimeters, or about 0.8 inches, with most designs eventually expected to fall below that. … Read more

Report: MacBook Air slated for updated storage tech

Apple's upcoming refresh of the MacBook Air will get more than just new Intel processors. A Japanese report says the flash drives will get updated storage tech too.

Apple's flash drives--also referred to as solid-state drives or SSDs--in the upcoming MacBook Air will use a technology called "Toggle Mode Double Data Rate NAND Flash" 2.0 (Toggle DDR 2.0) according to Macotakara, a Japanese-language Apple enthusiast Web site.

The standard is supported by Toshiba and Samsung. Both companies currently supply flash drives for the MacBook Air.

Here's how Toshiba describes the technology: "Toggle … Read more