When the infamous MacBook Pro was released to the masses back at the start of the year, it was housed in a very fetching aluminium case, gained somewhat from its predecessor. When the MacBook was released recently, that too supported a 'newish' case, which gained popularity thanks to its slimline appearance, and its choice of white and black. We have now learned that the new release of the PowerMac will be housed within a newly designed case.

The new case will be different enough to allow instant distinction between the PowerPC and Intel Core Duo variants. Together with the cases, there will be a few choices on which processors to adopt. The new Intel Core Duo will be available for the PowerMac with 2 chips, A.K.A. Quad-core platform. It is not known whether the PowerMac will adopt the soon-to-be released Core Duo 2 chip, codenamed Conroe. The mobile variant is not expected till Fall.

The MacBook Pro will also have a new case for its range. However rumour has it that this will not be released till the system adopts the Intel Core Duo 2 chip, codenamed Merom. We would hope that issues are fixed in the new case release including heat expulsion.

Buffalo Technologies has just released information on a new series of SD cards with built in USB connectivity. The RSDU cards will be available from mid-July in a variety of sizes. Details that have been provided show these will be available in 256MB, 512MB, 1Gb and 2 GB. Functionality will be like those of normal SD cards and this will be compatible with Windows Me/2000/XP and Mac OS X 10.1.2.

These will be useful for those people who use laptops or desktops and want less fuss by having fewer or no wires at all. There are no more details on data transfer speeds, or prices on release, or even if they will be initially globally available. We'll keep you posted.

          

On Monday, Intel, the largest chip manufacturer, took the sheets off its new dual-core Xeon Processor 5100 series. The chips, codenamed Woodcrest, are high-volume server and workstation chips which are capable of 135% performance improvement, and 40% power reduction over their previous server products. Power consumption will start at 40 watts for lower models, going up to 65 and 80 watts for the faster processors.

This is very important for Apple's view of things, aside from the obvious inclusion in future products, this would most certainly mean cheaper and lower prices for the current range of processors used in Apple machines.

The new Core micro-architecture is being implemented, which is based on the a power sensitive blueprint design. It is expected that this design will be used in two forthcoming chips for the desktop and notebook called Conroe and Merom. These are expected in July and August, but we all know about delays that can be involved. The 5100, will be shipped at speeds up to 3.0Ghz, with 1333Mhz front side bus and 4 MB of shared L2 cache. The chips are compatible with the current Bensley Platform, which means that they can be dropped in with the current pin format. The platform uses faster and more reliable memory technology, FB-DIMMs, Intel Virtualization Technology, Intel Active Server Manager and Intel I/O Acceleration Technology.

"Simply put, the Core micro-architecture is a technical marvel that is driving a new era of power efficiency without compromising on what can only be described as eye-popping dual-core 64-bit performance," said Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group.

Pricing will start at $209 to $851 in 1000 unit quantities, and Intel expect the family of processors to be the fastest-ramping ever. However, they are still loosing ground to the AMD range of processors, and are aiming to rectify things with Woodcrest, Merom and Conroe.

So its been a busy few weeks for Nokia, they've released news of new forthcoming handsets, while at the same time had to deal with the release of some of its N-series handsets. In the past week, we in Europe have seen the N91 release, and after our post of the review for it, I decided to buy one myself.

Anyway, Nokia's recent press releases have included two basic handsets, one of which seems to take its inspiration from the LG Chocolate, or even Nokia's subsidiary, Vertu.

The basic model, the 1110i, is a simple 80g phone that boasts 5 hours talk time, and standby of up to 15 days. It will cost €45/£31/$57 + Tax. Like its predecessors, it has a mono-chrome display, and is dual band equipped. Remember this phone isn't meant to astound you with features, just provide something for those infrequent users.

What seems to be its older brother, appears to have been taken to town on its looks. It has an unusually black and gold appearance, something that makes many feel it got its looks off the LG Chocolate or its much fancier relative, the Vertu range. Its called the 6080 and is triband equipped. It handles 65'536 colours on a 128 X 160 display. It'll weigh 91g and is mainly aimed at sales in Asia. Smaller details include a blinking light to indicate missed calls and messages. Battery life lasts 3.5 hours for talking, and up to 12 days in standby. Music wise it has a MP3 player and built in radio. Its price will be around the €180/£123/$228 mark, and is expected to ship in Q4.

Some may remember a while ago when Dell had some shocking things to say in an email and a Fortune article. The famous lines were "If Apple decides to open the Mac OS to others, we would be happy to offer it to our customers' and also 'Mac OS X will only run on Macs. Apple has no plans to sell Mac OS X software to run on PCs".

Well it seems that we've stumbled upon something that furthers Dell's want for Mac OS support. If you head down to Dell's support page, or alternatively the screenshot, you will see that Apple Mac OS has been included in the added options for the operating system for each unit. Either this has been included by accident, or possibly something is stirring that we don't know about yet.

Obviously the transition, and also attempts by groups to put Mac OS on Intel based chips and PC's, means that possibly there is a window of opportunity for Dell to gain a few extra customers, at the expense of Apple Laptop sales.

One thing that troubles me is the above quote stating that Dell would be happy to use Mac OS. Dell are renowned for sticking to particular suppliers and parts, namely Microsoft Windows and Intel, besides many more. It would be interesting to see reactions and plans if Dell, the worlds biggest custom computer manufacturer, decides and manages somehow to implement Mac OS.

Dell being as popular as it is, any new line that is released will be closely scrutinized. Some of you may remember my post a while back about Dell's concept M2010. Well, D-day - or maybe that should be M-day - has come and Dell have released the details and specifications of their new lines.

M2010

This laptop, set to begin a new style of semi-portable desktops, has one hell of a feature list, but with a hefty price to boot. The starting mark is set at $3500, with three units having base prices up to $4000. For your bucks, you get some of the best hardware to hit large scale computer manufacture.

Take note that the unit does have a battery, which means that for those that want to try, you can lug your 20.1", 20 pound, system around. Another impressive feature is the gyroscope enabled remote, possible idea from Wii?:

• 20.1" High Definition WSXGA+ Truelife screen, capable of 1680X1050
• Fully detachable and rechargeable keyboard linked by bluetooth, with touch pad and numeric pad
• Bluetooth remote control with gyroscopic mouse control, with integrated LCD screen
• 802.11a/g WiFi options
• Dell MediaDirect technology, allowing you to reach media without having to boot Windows up
• 13-in-2 media card reader
• 8 X 4-ohm speakers and 12-ohm Subwoofer
• Optional TV tuner
• up to 4GB RAM 667MHz DDR2
• Dual harddrives for performance and security
• ExpressCard slot for future technology
• 7.1/5.1 surround sound ports
• DVI-I ports
• S/PDIF, USB, IEEE 1394 ports
• Integrated 12-cell lithium-ion battery
• Base weight of 18.3 pounds
• Expected Dell warranty & care services

More of Dell's XPS series after the jump!

 

Designer Andre Minoli has designed what is being dubbed, the beginning of 'Crank Call' phones. This unit, called the Motorola PVOT is designed for use in developing countries, however its design could become a common place in MEDC's (More Economically Developed Countries). Essentually what this is, is a wind-able phone which proves 1 minute of call time with every 25 turns of the handle. The display is a simple 125 x 125 one, which can display large numbers. The Keypad looks equally stylish, with a 'honeycomb' style. There is no word on whether this will enter production or possible costs etc.

So you've just been called to active duty abroad, and you have a bit of time to cancel your financial obligations. Thanks to Federal law, leases on houses, apartments or cars can be cancelled within 30 days. However like most people, you have a cell phone, but this isn't covered under the law. What this means you can be stuck with a very expensive contract while serving abroad with no knowledge on when you're coming back and you are sure you never use your minutes or texts.

This is the problem that, for one soldier, is causing problems, and he's an example of alot of other similar stories. Pfc. Dane Gabrielson on the Wisconsin National Guard is unable to cancel his contract under the clause set for other contracts. His network, Sprint Nextel, won't cancel his contract causing alot of hassle for the soldier, who is probably short on funds for a contract he doesn't use. His mother said, "Dane is over there risking his neck, and he shouldn't have to deal with a cell phone company."

This isn't the case for some wireless providers who will accept that as a reason to cancel their contracts. To try and help lawmakers are setting about to provide a clause to include wireless providers. "These guys are going over to Iraq ... and we've got them worried about how much they're paying for their cell phones," said state Rep. Mark Gundrum, whose bill is up for a vote in the Assembly.

Adobe's CEO, Bruce Chizen has hinted on the arrival of its flagship product, Photoshop, and Creative Suite to the Intel based Mac. He has stated that they should be with us in the first half of next year. Photoshop Elements was out in February at version 4.0 however due to time constraints, it was impossible to code it in the Universal Binary needed for it to run on Intel machines. “We are working very hard on making our products Mactel (Mac Intel) compliant,” Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen said at a Tokyo news conference. “When we ship the new product Acrobat 8 this fall it will be Mactel (Mac Intel) compliant. When we ship Photoshop and the Creative Suite products next spring they will also be Mactel compliant.”

The problem being at the moment, if anybody wishes to use older PowerPC software on Intel Mac's, they have to do so while running the emulator environment called Rosetta. This causes problems as it seriously degrades the Mac's advantage of performance. Software such as Photoshop is a staple for many Mac users, and in such, when it arrives we should expect to see the take up of MacTels to be much higher. On commenting about other software from Adobe, the outlook wasn't so bright. “However there are some products that we have today that we have not been able to afford to continue to develop to makeavailable on the Mac. A great example being FrameMaker. The majority of FrameMaker users use Windows as an OS but there is a small percentage that want to use FrameMaker on the Mac so they can use Boot Camp.”

Next year is a long time for many of us, unfortunately its the best Adobe can do.

Nvidia has just released details on two new additions to its portable GPU product list, the GeForce Go 7900 GTX and GS. What set these apart from the pack is that they are designed to offer full HD gaming to notebook users. The specifications within these models are pretty impressive as shown below when compared to their little brothers, the 7800's.

The main model, the GTX is meant for full on extreme gaming, however the GS is meant to match this performance but for slimmer notebooks. As it stands Dell and Toshiba will be using these GPUs, but more manufacturers are expected to follow.
Features include support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and film quality high dynamic range (HDR) lighting, H.264 hardware accelerated support, advanced power management and dedicated 3D architecture support for Microsoft Windows Vista.

"At XHD screen resolutions of 1680x1050 and 1920x1200, games have up to 65% more image detail than games viewed on common 1024x768 notebook screens," said Jeff Fisher, Senior Vice President of the GPU Business at Nvidia. "These powerful GPUs are designed to blaze through games at extreme HD resolutions with state-of-the-art 3D graphics effects. The result is a greatly enhanced level of realism and immersion for gamers on the go."

Expect take up of these GPUs to be greater as people realise the true potential of notebooks for power performance and gaming. No more details have been released and we are still awaiting how much these would set you back with your new laptop purchase.

	GeForce Go 7900 GTX	GeForce Go 7900 GS	GeForce Go 7800 GTX	GeForce Go 7800
Graphics Bus Technology	PCI Express	PCI Express	PCI Express	PCI Express
Memory Interface	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)	38.4	32.0	35.2	35.2
Fill Rate (Billion pixels/sec)	12.0	7.5	9.6	6.4
Vertices/Second (Millions)	1000	656	800	600
RAMDACs (MHz)	400	400	400	400