Top stories

Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

New MacBooks Hit Apple Stores, Get Unboxed

Macbookunboxing

I swung by the San Francisco Apple Store this afternoon, and employees told me that, while old-skool MacBooks were out on the floor, they had the new stuff in the back room and it was all ready for purchase. Resisting the urge to buy one sight unseen, I vowed to come and play with the new collection tomorrow, once the demo units are out.

Joe Russell, on the other hand, went for the early purchase and made it first to unboxing:

First thing I noticed on the trackpad, the entire surface is in fact not a clickable button… but rather the lower two-thirds. And as far as it being glass, it feels more like the original textured surface of the trackpad on the MacBook Pro.

I feel like I’m now rolling w/ a MacBook Air that’s been hitting the gym.

Be sure to check out the full gallery. The spongy tab to pull the machine out is ingenious.

I’ll be back this weekend with a report on unboxing the MacBook Pro, if all goes according to plan…

Flickr via TUAW

About the author

Petemortensen

Pete Mortensen is the communications lead for growth strategy firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

Email the author | Read more posts by Pete Mortensen.

3 comments

    Here’s an interesting point: Looking ahead to Macworld in January, what is there left for Stevo to pull out of the bag?

    If you look at it, 2008 has seen them revamp all three of their main businesses – the Mac, the iPhone and the iPod.

    MacBook/MacBook Pro – done, october
    iPods – done, september
    iPhone next gen (3G) – done (along with ‘accessories’ the app store and mobileme) july
    iMac – done

    Which might point to the focus shifting to their “hobby” – AppleTV – perhaps to become the forth “leg” of their “stool”.

    So my predictions for Macword (early though this is) is a focus on Apple TV (DVR etc) or perhaps a non-smartphone iPhone (what people are dubbing the iPhone nano) or a totally new product.

    Thoughts??

    * assuming snow leopard is still some way off

    Can’t wait to try these out in an Apple Store this weekend. Firewire isnt a big deal for me personally, so I’m eying the high end Al Macbook.

    And as for Macworld johnny, I can has Mac Pro refresh plz?

    Let’s see the ports on the side!

Buy Inside Steve's Brain Buy from Amazon.com Buy from Barnes & Noble