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Signs may point to a refresh of Apple's popular MacBook Air. Possibly next month.

AppleInsider said Friday that at large online retailers like MacConnection, stock has vanished for the popular 13.3-inch Air with a 1.8GHz processor and 256GB solid-state drive.

That said, Best Buy has stock, but it's the "only reseller on AppleInsider's Mac Price Guide that is currently advertising available inventory," according to the Apple-centric site.

Dwindling inventory at authorized Apple outlets is usually an indication that a product refresh is imminent.

And what, pray tell, will Apple deliver with the next … Read more

At least one Microsoft executive believes that Apple designs are good enough to cite as a yardstick.

After revealing that Windows Blue would officially be called 8.1 at the JP Morgan Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference on Tuesday, Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Tami Reller moved on to the topic of tablets, convertibles, and detachables.

"The HP envy x2 is a classic example of a beautiful detachable. When the tablet and base are together it looks like a MacBook Air competitor," she said.

How good is the Envy x2's design? "This 11-inch ultraportable laptop is cute, … Read more

Douglas MacArthur famously said that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. Some old aircraft take a different route: they go digital.

Boeing announced Tuesday that it has received a $76 million contract that will enable the company to start upgrading the U.S. Air Force's aging but still potent fleet of B-52 Stratofortress bombers with Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) systems. CONECT is designed to let B-52 aircrews send and receive information via satellite links, meaning they'll be able to change mission plans and reset weapons targets in flight. Pilots also will be able to interact … Read more

The U.S. Navy's X-47B is one step closer to being ready to start making test flights off of aircraft carriers after completing its first-ever arrested landing.

According to the Navy, the X-47B, also known as the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS), successfully grabbed hold of a special arrester cable with its tailhook, quickly stopping the aircraft during the May 4 test. That marked an important milestone in the development of the UCAS program.

The jet-powered X-47B is a prototype meant to fly autonomously, unlike many drones such as the Predator, which are usually flown remotely by ground-station-based pilots. … Read more

It's official. Intel's fourth-generation core "Haswell" processor will arrive on June 3. Expect a crush of desktops, laptops, convertibles, detachables, and tablets to ensue.

"In approximately 3,337,200,000,000,000 nanoseconds, Intel will reveal all there is to know about the highly anticipated 4th generation Intel Core processor family," Intel said in a statement Friday.

That's June 3 in the U.S. and June 4 in Taiwan, where it will be rolled out at Computex.

Haswell is mostly about better battery life and, to a lesser extent, about improved graphics performance. … Read more

Is there a Kindle TV box on the horizon?

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the answer is yes. Amazon is said to be readying its own streaming-TV box to take on the likes of the Roku, Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation -- and every TV manufacturer that now builds smart-TV apps like Netflix and Vudu directly into televisions.

The Seattle-based e-tailer already has an ambitious home video strategy. Amazon Prime customers get thousands of free movies and TV shows (in addition to free shipping of real-world goods) with the $79-per-year membership, and the company is ramping up production of original series as … Read more

The expected iPhone 5S will see an extended delay in delivery, while iPad Mini demand is softening, according to a research note from Citigroup Capital Markets. The note also claimed a Retina MacBook Air is coming.

"We have previously written that iPhone5S, despite an accelerated design phase, was modestly delayed from June to July," wrote Citi's Glen Yeung in a research note Sunday. "With input from Citi's Taiwan-based technology research team...we now believe that a further 1- to 2-month delay (from July to August or September) is possible, likely stemming from volume production issues.&… Read more

Don't bother plunking quarter after quarter in your local arcade to play your favorite puck-flinging game. Air Hockey lets you take on a friend or more challenging computer in a fun take on the arcade favorite. It's a little heavy on the ads, but the game is plenty of fun if you can get past that.

The game lets you choose from multiple paddle, puck, and tabletop designs to play your game. The four difficulty levels -- from easy to "insane" -- start off relatively challenging and get ridiculously difficult if you don't know what … Read more