Panasonic develops world’s smallest notebook fuel cell

By Serkan Toto

Panasonic today announced [JP] it developed the world’s smallest fuel cell for use in notebooks, reducing the size of its predecessor by 50%. The new model is sized at 270cc, which makes it as small as existing lithium ion batteries used in notebooks currently on the market.

Panasonic says the fuel cell will be positioned at the underside of notebooks and provides about 20 hours of power with 200cc of fuel. The prototype weighs just 320 grams. The fuel, highly concentrated methanol, can be stored in bottles.

Panasonic also developed a paperback-size fuel cell for use in cellular phones and other mobile devices. The company claims that this model is powerful enough to run portable TVs and that it can charge two devices at the same time. Weighing 350 grams, it measures 360cc.

Both products are to be commercialized in 2012. Panasonic will present the new technology to the general public during next week’s Hydrogen Energy Advanced Technology Exhibition [JP] in Chiba near Tokyo.

Apple’s new MacBook / MacBook Pro get torn down in style

by Darren Murph

Ah, the natural progression of hot new releases. First comes the wow, then comes the hands-on, and now comes the tear down. The masterful gadget surgeons over at ifixit have taken the time to carefully (and let us reiterate, carefully) undo all the hard work done on the assembly line to put these together, and we just know you’re anxious to see what’s really inside the new machines. Have a look below, and don’t forget to pause and appreciate the scenery.

New MacBook / MacBook Pro unboxing and first impressions

We’ve had a chance to spend a little time with Apple’s new laptop offerings, and we wanted to give you a taste of what’s changed — and stayed the same — in the MacBook and MacBook Pro. Included after the break is a rundown of our impressions. We’re going to be doing a longer, fuller, more exciting review in the very near future, but this should give you an idea of what to expect if you’re planning on diving into one of these anytime soon. If you just want to get into the heavy stuff, you can hit the galleries below for a thorough look at the hardware.

If you’re wondering why the color temperature seems to vary in the photos, we shot it at the Revision3 studios while filming a segment for Tekzilla and they kept changing the lights (lovely folks, lighting changes notwithstanding).

Gallery: MacBook Pro unboxing

Gallery: MacBook unboxing

While much of what you see on the outside here is the same as the MacBook Pros that you’re used to, the construction is totally new, and you can feel it. Both the MacBooks and the MacBook Pros feel almost exactly like what they’re made out of: solid slabs of high-grade aluminum. The overall construction feels amazingly tight and secure, and they’ve smoothed some of those hard edges, making them seem sleeker than before. While the MacBook has shaved off nearly a half-pound of weight from the previous iteration, the Pro has fattened up two-tenths of a pound over the earlier model.

Of course, the other big news is that Apple has traded up from the displays we’ve come to know and love in previous models for an iMac-esque super glossy, matted (but not matte — we’ll get to that) LCD screen. The company has also seen fit to remove the button from the trackpad altogether, making the entire surface a Storm-like single button, albeit one that can be tweaked via software for multi-finger gestures. But let’s just get it out right here — four finger gestures may be pushing it a little far.

The screen presents a particularly vexing problem; Steve Jobs has stated that this is the direction which Apple is going in for all new models (ostensibly based on the outpouring of love from consumers Phil Schiller mentioned at the event), and there aren’t plans for non-glossy versions. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for everyone. In particular, users who take their work outdoors, or don’t have full control of every lighting situation they’re in will be left hanging — to say nothing of people who just don’t want to look at their reflection all day. It’s not quite a deal-breaker, but it does annoy to know Apple isn’t concerned with users who would prefer a less reflective surface.

The trackpad, on the other hand, is surprisingly usable. The click feels similar to the traditional button — though slightly more resistive — and you’re able to do right-clicking by either a two-finger gesture or assigning one of the bottom corners. We prefer the latter technique, we just hope someone hacks that to expand the corner size. They tell us it’s made of glass now, but it feels pretty much the way it always has. All-in-all, not a bad execution on something we were fairly worried about. You can see a video of it in action below.

Besides the big cosmetic changes, Apple has killed the Firewire 400 slot (there’s an 800 present on the Pro), swapped the DVI port for a mini Display Port jack (adapter definitely required), and moved all the rest of the ports to the left side of the machines. They’ve also mercifully put that battery level on the side now, thus alleviating the need for flipping your computer over.

And speaking of the battery, Apple now puts it in an easy to access covered section along the bottom / back. This definitely makes it easier to pop out your drive, but the RAM is actually a little harder to get at (you’ll need a screwdriver). It works, though we wish they’d made changing the memory as easy as changing the drive. And in case you’re wondering, the batteries aren’t transferrable between the two systems. As before, MacBooks with MacBooks, and Pros with Pros.

Under the hood, there’s been spec bumps galore, including faster CPUs for both (up to 2.8GHz for the MacBook Pros, up to 2.4GHz for the MacBooks), DDR3 RAM is now in play with both systems, and on the Pro you’ll get that pair of NVIDIA graphics chips, the GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT. You can switch those up depending on your needs, but you’ll have to logout to make the changes stick. The MacBooks just sport the 9400M, but if you’re looking for a powerhouse, you’re probably looking towards the Pro anyhow.

The software obviously remains the same besides new trackpad options, graphics chip switching, and other minor changes (that we’ve seen so far), though there are some odd tweaks. According to Jason Snell from Macworld, you can use your iPhone earbud button to control iTunes (pause / play, back and forward), and the microphone can be used as a… microphone. It’s a strange but nice touch.

Overall, this is evolution, not revolution, but there are some very welcome updates here. We’re still wishing for a few things, like EV-DO or HSDPA built-in, but we’re not at all let down by what Apple is showing off. We’ll tackle these in a longer review later, but for now you can enjoy these pics and the details we scraped together.

Thanx to Engadget for providing this “backstage pass” to the New MacBook / MacBook Pro.

Why Macbooks matter

iPods and the iPhone may capture most of Apple headlines throughout the year, but the Macbook remains the single most important contributor to Apple’s bottom line at this time. By any measure, we believe that Apple introduced solid upgrades for the notebook yesterday and if uniqueness attracts buyers, then Apple should have a good shot at extending its market share in this segment. As it is the case with all system vendors, Mac notebook sales are growing faster than desktops – more than half of all Macs sold are notebooks and Macs overall are growing six times faster than the industry average.

The numbers: Dollars and market share

Apple claims it owns 17.6% of the retail PC market in the U.S. Wall Street analysts estimate that Mac sales contribute 47% to an estimated $32.7 billion in Apple revenue this year, up from 40% of $19.3 billion in revenue in 2006. In other words, Macs may rake in $15.37 billion in revenue this year.

Whereas sales of Mac desktops and notebooks contributed 45% and 55% to total Mac sales in 2006, this year Mac notebooks are estimated to contribute a whopping 61%. This translates to 29% ($9.38 billion) of the firm’s estimated 2008 revenue, up from 22% in 2006. Apple has done a fantastic job positioning itself for the trend of growing notebook sales and a demand for much more stylish products. It is one of Apple’s fastest growing businesses that accounts for almost one of every three dollars the company receives.

Apple’s take in the U.S. notebook market: $1 on every $3 spent

Market data provided by NPD shows that one in five laptops sold in the U.S. retail during July and August carried an Apple logo. If we look at the total revenue, Apple’s share of notebook market in the same period was 35%. In other words, Apple took in more than $1 on every $3 spent on a notebook in U.S. retail. Of course, this trend means that average selling prices of Apple notebooks are much higher than those of PC notebooks and allows Apple to rake in fat margins.

NPD believes that Mac notebook sales grew 30% in revenue and 35% by units year on year between July and August. In the same period, Windows notebooks fell 1.5% and 10%, respectively.

Mac sales are growing six times the industry average

Gartner estimates Mac U.S. market share at close to 10% in September, with an estimated 1.64 million Macs sold in the current quarter and unit shipment growth that exceeds the industry average by 6x. Net Applications’ operating system web share usage trends suggest that Gartner may be right. For example, the September survey of 40,000 websites that represent overall Internet usage indicate that OS X hit a new record of 8.2% of the operating system web share, a gain of almost 0.4 points gain over the preceding month.

With that in mind, it is easy to see that notebook space is Apple’s market to lose. Having said that, yesterday’s Macbook and MacBook Pro refresh is critical to Apple’s fortunes and the Macbook position in the notebook segment. Some feel that the refresh is underwhelming just as the iPod event did last month. Yes, we expected upgraded hardware such as Montevina Core 2 Duo processors, more hard drive capacity and more memory. We also hoped for reduced price points, but a month ago no-one would have put their money on a high-tech manufacturing process, a redesign, a glass trackpad and an Nvidia chipset move.

Source: TGdaily

Intel: MacBook Air sheds custom CPU for 45-nm Penryn "S"

by Thomas Ricker

We can finally bring an end to all the fuss made about the custom, 65-nm processor dusted-off special for use in the MacBook Air — it’s gone, although still available inside the Voodoo Envy if you’re feeling nostalgic. Intel confirmed its replacement by the smaller, off-the-shelf, 45-nm Penryn-class 1.6GHz and 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo procs which go by the product names SL9300 and SL9400, respectively. So while those clock speeds are identical to the first generation MacBook Air, the bump from 4MB to 6MB of L2 cache in the new Core 2 Duo “S” processor should give the processor access to more information, faster, while providing less drain on the battery thanks to a drop in TDP from 20W to 17W. For the record, while Intel laments the loss of Apple’s laptop graphics business to Nvidia, an Intel spokesperson says it’ll “work hard to win back the business.” Hmm, we talking Larrabee by any chance?

Mr. Blurrycam reveals the updated MacBook Pro, $899 laptop model shows up in Apple inventory systems

Well, maybe — we’re not calling it official until Steve pulls the cloth off himself tomorrow morning . Still, there’s no denying the similarities between this image and all those other case leaks we’ve seen, and the list of specs we’ve been given matches up as well — that “metal and glass” enclosure now houses an NVIDIA GPU, but no FireWire 400, and video-out is apparently through a connector “more compact” than MicroDVI. We’ll find out soon enough — oh, and just to amp up expectations, Boy Genius says he’s confirmed the existence of an $899 part number in Apple’s retail systems. Counting down…

Our source just hit us again to say that it’s two full-on NVIDIA GPUs — sounds like a hybrid SLI setup to us, which is pretty wild. Wilder still, they say the MacBook and 17-inch MacBook Pro aren’t getting refreshed tomorrow, which we find hard to believe, but we’ll see when we see.

Source: Engadget

New MacBook Case Leak Rumors

Apple’s next-generation MacBook design has been all but confirmed, courtesy of leaks from both Apple itself as well as those with access to the casing in China. The Mac producer has posted a technician manual (PDF; since pulled) that discusses replacing an AirPort card in the display assembly of a “Late 2008″ MacBook or MacBook Pro, effectively proving that these two systems will receive an update this coming Tuesday with equally new internal hardware designs. No technical features aside from the already likely existence of Wi-Fi are directly shown in the two-page document. Separately, however, a Chinese Mac enthusiast site has posted additional case leaks that show the top halves of both the MacBook and MacBook Pro. Both line up with recently confirmed designs for the new notebooks and show a new, consistent design across Apple’s whole portable line that includes a seamless border, magnetic lid closure, and the trayless keyboard that first appeared with the original MacBook in 2006. The bottom is absent from both systems but has been reported in past rumors as an at least partly tapered design versus the near-flat surface of current models.

Either also shows a reduced number of ports versus today’s systems; in the case of the MacBook Pro, the shift is believed in part to stem from moving the slot-load optical drive from the front to the side for unknown reasons. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro now appears to have dropped its FireWire 400 and regular DVI connectors in favor of the lone remaining FireWire 800 port and a more compact mini-DVI jack.

Notably, the regular MacBook has dropped its one FireWire 400 port and now appears to depend exclusively on its two USB ports for external peripherals. The move would signal one of the first times a non-professional Apple portable has shipped without FireWire since 1999, when the original iBook carried just one USB port. The company’s incentive to do so outside of space concerns isn’t known.

No leaks have yet to surface of a redesigned 17-inch MacBook Pro or a revised MacBook Air, though Apple is now widely believed to be using a new NVIDIA platform for some or all of its portables that would improve visual performance on some systems and shrink the components inside.

Source: Electronista.com

Apple to Launch New Laptops on October 14

Apple is going to unveil new laptop computers at a special event in Cupertino on October 14.

“The spotlight turns to notebooks,” reads the invitation sent to media yesterday.

Details of the new laptops are currently unknown. According to rumors, Apple will launch an $800 model at the event. It is crafted from single pieces of aluminum using a laser and water jet process known by the code-name “brick” reportedly.

Source: Engadget