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MacBook Air rivals, past and present

The MacBook Air focused global attention--for the first time with prolonged intensity--on a small, thin notebook. Until now, this kind of design simply wasn't on many users' shopping lists. (Particularly Americans who choose performance over portability.) Here's a brief look at this notebook category, both past and present.

A few prefatory notes: Because I use a MacBook Air, the topic of ultraportables has taken on more importance for me. But the impact of this category of notebooks goes much further than personal interest. Ultraportables now contain fast Core 2 Duo processors, snappy solid state drives (SSDs), and better … Read more

Revisiting Apple's iPhone strategy

In the post I wrote about Rich Miner of Google saying that the Android mobile software stack will gain more users than the iPhone, several people commented. The general consensus is that Apple is the BMW of the personal computer industry and is the standard for innovation that its competitors, with far more market share, follow. Android is a non-factor.

The challenge for Apple is to keep coming up with proprietary products that fuel its business model, which is based on innovation and R&D around both hardware and software. Since Steve Jobs returned to Apple, the company has … Read more

This week in laptops

We're a little more than 48 hours out from that great holiday whose sacred rites (for me, at least) include tucking into a Dublin Coddle and washing it down with a perfect pint of Guinness. (For strict Catholics, the holiday comes even sooner.) So that you can head out for your preholiday warm-up drinking, here's a summary of this week's laptop-related news. Just remember: Friends don't let friends drink green beer.

Speaking of green, Asus has greened its laptop cases by offering an eco-chic bamboo finish. Also, the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool released a list … Read more

Gadgettes 81: The I Love You Episode

Our listeners are so supercool. They do things like create Web sites based on things we talk about on Gadgettes. They make us laugh. And for that reason alone, this episode is for you, you awesome-heads. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 81

Dedicated to Dave from Denver http://jackmythingie.com/

Pandigital debuts kitchen TV with extra perks http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9893490-1.html

A digital culinary recipe for the futuristic cookware http://www.gizmodiva.com/home_improvement/ a_digital_culinary_recipe_for_the_futuristic_cookware.php

Lego-touch for iPhone and iPod Touch http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/ legotouch_for_iphone_and_ipod_touch_9199.asp

Monster felted handbag http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/12/ monster-felted-handb.html… Read more

iTunes profitable, Billboard estimates

iTunes is the No. 2 music retailer in the United States (behind only Wal-Mart Stores), and it passed the 4 billion download mark in February, but nobody knows how much money Apple's actually earning from the service.

In Apple's earnings reports, iTunes revenue is lumped into a category called "other music-related products and services," alongside licensing revenue from iPod peripheral makers, and the company doesn't break out expenses or operating profit by segment.

So some Billboard reporters decided to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations, using Amazon.com's expenses as a benchmark for a large-scale e-commerce … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 681: Pi Not Pie

EPISODE 681

Happy Pi day! http://www.piday.org/

Trend Micro’s Web site hacked in massive attack http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9894181-7.html

Verizon embraces P4P, a more efficient peer-to-peer tech http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080314-verizon-embraces-p4p-a-more-efficient-peer-to-peer-tech.html http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-P2P-Verizon.html

Sweden pursues illegal file-sharers http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080314/ ap_on_hi_te/sweden_file_sharing

Music industry proposes a piracy surcharge on ISPs http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/ 2008/03/music_levy

Google exec: Android will outsell iPhone http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20080314/tc_cmp/206903637

What if Apple really opened up … Read more

Behind Google's FUD campaign against Apple

Forgive my flippancy, but I'm trying hard not to bust into giggles after reading about Rich Miner's prediction that sales of Android-based devices will outstrip sales of the iPhone.

"Once you have devices out there from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and so on, there's a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone," he said during a conference held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. He later added, "There are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can't … Read more

Where Jeff has the clap

EPISODE 56

Randall and Wilson talk today about crazy Apple lawsuits handwritten on notepads, 90210 could be returning from the grave, plus dolla-dolla-bill-y'all, the purple $5 bill hits the streets, and Mark the Intern kicks some ass. All that, plus Jeff is on the phone and 404 best buddy Demetrius Wren joins us in studio. Listen, or else you'll get the clap, too.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

The Macalope senses a great disturbance in the Force

Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software was just informed that he was denied acceptance into the initial round of iPhone developers (more reaction on his Twitter feed).

It's worth pointing out that this could just mean Apple's restricting admission to the beta program for reasons of scale, but let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Because these "things" would not be "good things".

UPDATE: David Chartier has more. Short story: it does appear that this is a temporary situation to keep the size of the beta program manageable. Probably … Read more