Daniel Eran Dilger in San Francisco

Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Apple’s new MacBook and MacBook Pro models contain more innovation than just their case design, graphics, and the improved accessibility of their internals. Here’s a look at other details related to FireWire, USB, and the new NVIDIA-based controller that replaces Intel’s chipset.

Inside the new MacBooks: FireWire, USB, and the NVIDIA Controller

Prince McLean, AppleInsider

In one of his characteristically terse email replies, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has reportedly told one Mac user that changes in video camera technology have reduced the need for FireWire on his company’s 13-inch MacBooks.

Jobs responds to outrage over MacBook’s missing FireWire

Prince McLean, AppleInsider

While Apple didn’t make mention of it at the time, the MacBook Air silently debuted the start of a new unibody MacBook line. The new 15“ MacBook Pro and its 13” MacBook sibling have managed to carry out the same lines and execution, harmonizing the plastic MacBook and the now half decade old Aluminum Powerbook design carried forward by the MacBook Pro. Here’s how the two models compare.

High-quality photo comparison: the new unibody MacBooks
High-quality unboxing photos: late 2008 15“ MacBook Pro
High-quality unboxing photos: late 2008 13” MacBook
Apple’s new MacBook and MacBook Pro torn down

Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Apple’s new MacBook and MacBook Pro models contain more innovation than just their case design and graphics. Here’s a look at other details, from LSIs to battery, hard drive and RAM features.
Inside the new MacBooks series

Apple details new MacBook manufacturing process
A closer look at Apple’s move to NVIDIA chipsets, DisplayPort

Inside the new MacBooks: LSI, Battery, HD, and RAM

Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Apple’s graphics options on all new MacBooks are substantially improved due to the use of NVIDIA chipsets over the Intel graphics provided on earlier models; we examine the significance of this and the choice of DisplayPort as the foundation for Apple’s video output future.
A closer look at Apple’s move to NVIDIA chipsets, DisplayPort

Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Apple’s new MacBook and MacBook Pro feature precision unibody enclosures milled from an extruded block of aluminum, allowing them to get even thinner while retaining rigid durability and a stronger, cleaner, and more polished design. Here’s a detailed overview of the process, illustrated with photos.

In a press release touting the new manufacturing process, Steve Jobs said, “Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum.” (Watch the video)

Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of Industrial Design, noted that, “Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we’ve replaced all of those parts with just one part—the unibody. The MacBook’s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminum, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we’ve never even dreamed of before.”

Continues: Apple details new MacBook manufacturing process

Prince McLean, AppleInsider
Years-old rumors that Apple will roll out a line of Internet-connected displays have resurfaced in reports that suggest the company will bundle its Apple TV product within a new line of HDTVs.

In a report referencing a rumor floated by Mahalo chief Jason Calacanis, who claims that he knows “first-hand” that Apple is working on what’s described as a networked television, CNET writer Nate Lanxon noted that the assertion “isn’t surprising” given Apple’s 30-inch Cinema Display.

Back in January 2007, American Technology analyst Shaw Wu supported such rumors with a research note stating that the company was working on “large screen” technologies within its development labs. “We are not certain on timing but our analysis indicates that AAPL is beyond prototype on large-screen technologies (for a larger monitor or possibly Apple-branded HDTV),” he advised clients at the time.

However, that was nearly two years ago. Since then, Apple has continued to sell video projectors from Epson and NEC in both its online and physical retail stores but does not sell HDTVs in either, indicating that the company hasn’t exactly rushed to enter the HDTV market. A number of cost and usefulness factors have likely come into play.

Continues: Apple HDTV rumors resurface

Daniel Eran Dilger
Research in Motion, the Canadian company behind the BlackBerry, has served as the smartphone industry’s darling ever since the company emerged from years of research to set two-way pagers in motion around the new millennium.

As a proprietary platform, RIM offers the closest parallel to Apple in the smartphone business. But will RIM and Apple remain in isolated independent market niches or battle each other over sales? Will RIM check Apple’s growth or be left shattered in the wake of the iPhone? Here’s a look at what’s involved.

iPhone Myths
Five More iPhone Myths
Myth 6: iPhone Developers will Flock to Android
Myth 7: iPhone Buyers will Flock to Android
Myth 8: iPhone will lose out to Steve Ballmer’s Windows Mobile 7 in 2010
Myth 9: iPhone Unable to Penetrate Europe Due to Symbian Dominance
Myth 10: RIM’s BlackBerry Will Contain iPhone Expansion
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
Scandalous accusations are so hard to process without a smattering of numerical context. Here’s a look at brewing scandals by the numbers for each ticket in the 2008 Presidential Election: Barack Obama and Joe Biden vs. John McCain and Sarah Palin.
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
After hearing about the “brick,” supposedly an Apple code-name for an unreleased something, the web has gone wild with pundits trying to attach their personal visions for the future with Apple’s capacity to deliver them. These visions make it clear why Apple does not use focus groups to create its products.
[Read more →]