Thunderbolt

The Sony Vaio Z not only bests the Air on portability but--perish the thought--may be showing Apple a thing or two about ultrathin laptop design.

Sony's latest Z series, based on published specifications, easily beats the current MacBook Air on raw specs (not surprising since the current Air was released last year). But that's not all. Depending on how far Apple goes with the impending Air update, Sony may have just slipped past Apple in avant-garde design.

First, a quick comparison between the Z and Air (including some projected Air updates).

13.3-inch Vaio Z:

With more of Apple's Mac line slated to include Thunderbolt and the availability of some Thunderbolt devices, Apple has been releasing Thunderbolt-related software and firmware updates to tackle bugs. In addition, Apple has made available a Thunderbolt cable, which is required but not included with some Thunderbolt devices like the Promise Pegasus RAID drive. Some people may be curious about the need for the special cable, and they may be taken aback by its steep $49 price tag.

When a signal is transferred digitally over an electrical wire, it is done in individual bits (ones and zeros) that are … Read more

It's been a while since Intel announced Thunderbolt, but now the first storage solution based on the new peripheral standard is finally available for purchase, if you can afford it.

Promise, one of the hardware vendors that participated along with LaCie in the Intel Thunderbolt event with demo products, announced today that it is now shipping the Pegasus line of high-performance RAID storage solutions featuring Thunderbolt technology. LaCie, on the other hand, says it will ship its own Thunderbolt device sometime this summer.

The line includes four- and six-bay external storage enclosures that offer between 4TB and 12TB of … Read more

Every now and again, the rules for how to build a personal computer change. One of those moments may arrive next year with a high-speed wireless technology that could let people link tablets with big-screen TVs or dock laptops when arriving in the office.

The technology, which uses the 60GHz band of radio spectrum and is designed to transfer as much as 7 gigabits of data per second, matches what many wired connections provide, either inside a computer chassis or through the profusion of ports that perforate laptop sides. A group called the WiGig Alliance is developing it, and the … Read more

Thunderbolt became more than just a Mini DisplayPort with potential this morning. The iMac and MacBook Pro both received Thunderbolt-related software updates yesterday, and this morning the Apple store has added the first Thunderbolt cable, as well as the first Thunderbolt peripheral in the form of the Promise Pegasus R6 external RAID array.

The cable costs $49 and works for both data and display connections. The RAID drive is a bigger commitment, starting at $1,499 for the 6TB model. Apple has previously mentioned eight Thunderbolt devices, ranging from external storage to video capture hubs, but as of this morning, … Read more

Apple's new high-speed Thunderbolt technology is still in its infancy, and as a result its initial implementations have had a few minor bugs and performance issues. Apple has released a firmware update to address some bugs relating to the new I/O technology.

The update requires OS X 10.6.8, and is for all Mac systems that have Thunderbolt ports, which so far are the latest MacBook Pro line, and iMac systems (21.5-inch and 27-inch models).

The firmware update should be available via Software Update for these systems, but can also be downloaded from the Thunderbolt Firmware Update Web site … Read more

As of Sunday night, all 2010 model MacBook Airs have become unavailable for shipping on Best Buy's site, sometimes an indication of an imminent Apple model update, according to Mac enthusiast site 9to5Mac.

Indeed, a quick peek at the Best Buy site shows the models that were refreshed in October of last year--four models in all--are "not available for shipping". (The only MBA that is listed as available is, oddly enough, an old model announced way back in October of 2008. So, it is not in line to be updated anyway.)

Low stock of multiple models is &… Read more

The decibel level gets higher every day for chatter about the imminent arrival of the updated MacBook Air.

The latest report from Taipei-based DigiTimes says the MacBook Air supply chain will go into high gear in July as Apple ramps up production, supporting earlier speculation from analysts.

Apple's smallest and lightest laptop is also expected to become its most popular this year. Total MacBook shipments for 2011 have been upped from 13 million to 15 million because of the Air's projected popularity, the report said.

Raw production numbers aside, the Air will likely become--if it hasn't already--Apple's flagship laptop, as it embodies Apple's design direction with all of its best-selling products. In short, a small, minimalist industrial design aesthetic, not unlike like the iPad. … Read more

Download.com Associate Editor Jaymar Cabebe stops by to help Antuan Goodwin host today's show. We take a look at CNET's wishlist for the rumored next Nexus phone and, boy, are our expectations great. Leaked photos show that LG is taking aim with a dual-screen gimmick phone at an entry level price. If rumors are to be believed, Antuan will have something to look forward to on his HTC Thunderbolt and so do you Motorola Atrix 4G users. Jaymar helps us figure out what Yahoo is up to with its new Play music app for Android and Antuan … Read more