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STM Evolution

Ray Aguilera — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:56:35 -0600

Yes, messenger bags are stylish. But after several years of schlepping our MacBooks and their accoutrement around in one, we were ready for something easier to carry. Backpacks--and laptop versions in particular--certainly aren’t known for being particularly fashion-forward, but we are pleased with Evolution’s sporty good looks, as well as its full complement of pockets.

STM sells the Evolution in two sizes, built to fit 13- or 15-inch MacBooks. The outdoorsy styling strikes us as somewhere between one of those ubiquitous hydration backpacks and a trail-running shoe. It’s not necessarily our favorite look, but we have to give STM credit for breaking out of the plain-black-computer-bag mold that reminds us of conventioneers and/or The Man. There are a couple of extra straps on the bag for both compression and stabilization across your chest, but we found them to be more aesthetic than useful or necessary, and they tended to snag on things as we hauled the Evolution around.

Evolution offers some heavy-duty protection for your trusty sidekick(s).

The bag’s main compartment is divided into two sections: a padded sleeve-like cubby for your laptop and a larger section for books, file folders, and the like. There’s also a large-ish rear compartment subdivided into different-sized pockets for power adapters, business cards, pens, and other small items. On the outside are two mesh pockets meant to hold water bottles, newspapers, or umbrellas. And speaking of umbrellas, the Evolution features a rain shell that stows away in a hidden zipper compartment in the bag’s base. While it doesn’t really rain enough where we live for that to be necessary, residents of wetter climes (cough, cough, Seattle) will certainly appreciate it.

The shoulder straps are fairly well padded, and there’s a waist strap that can be stowed away, although the bag’s modest size only allows for a certain amount of extra gear anyway, making the strap somewhat superfluous. That said, the bag’s construction is durable, and it doesn’t scream “Hey! There’s a laptop in here!” which is useful for avoiding muggings on the street. There’s plenty of padding, both in the laptop section and on the panel that rests against your back, but the trade-off is that the bag itself doesn’t compress much when it’s empty.

Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot

Ray Aguilera — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:32:35 -0500

The MiFi puts the Net in your pocket.

Depending on where you live and work, it can seem like the Internet is everywhere. But sadly, a good Wi-Fi signal can be lacking when you need it most--and the days of open home–Wi-Fi networks are mostly gone, as even your mom has figured out how to lock down her network. But with Verizon’s MiFi in your pocket, you can access the Internet from just about anywhere.

At 3.5- by 2.3-inches, the MiFi is about the size of a credit card. It’s less than a half-inch thick and weighs 2 ounces, so it’s easy to carry everywhere. It’s essentially a Wi-Fi access point that connects to Verizon’s 3G network, and it has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Since it’s wireless and rechargeable, it doesn’t require a physical connection to your machine and works fine from inside your bag or a pocket. When used with a single computer, the MiFi’s battery lasts about 4 hours. You can easily share your Wi-Fi with up to five other devices, though battery life will take a hit with the increased data traffic.

The MiFi puts the Internet in your pocket--as long as there's a strong 3G wireless data signal.

Using the MiFi is as simple as turning it on. The default network ID and password are on the bottom of the device, and you can edit settings via browser-based configuration pages. For road warriors, the MiFi can be tethered to your notebook computer, giving you an endless supply of Internet for as long as your laptop has power. The only drawback to this setup is that you can’t directly share your connection with additional devices while it’s tethered--although Mac users savvy enough to set up Internet Sharing can easily get around that limitation by creating their own network. Shhh--don’t tell Verizon you heard it from us.

As you can imagine, instant Internet anywhere is infinitely useful. That said, your experience will vary widely depending on how congested the 3G network around you is. Downtown San Francisco is notorious for being a miserable 3G black hole, due to the concentration of 3G devices. One recent afternoon, our download speeds varied anywhere from 134 to 786kbps. After a short hop across the bay, we were consistently getting download speeds around 1100kbps as we sat on the shore of Oakland’s Lake Merritt and finished this review in the sunshine. The volatility of Verizon’s 3G network certainly isn’t the MiFi’s fault, but it’s worth considering how and where you might use it prior to buying in.

Tablet Rumors Getting Pretty Specific

J Keirn-Swanson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:44:38 -0500

Fatigued of tablet rumors yet? Some of us are. Then something comes along that really jazzes us up.

At first these whispers started out rather vague, with conflicting sizes and hardware specs, but as the year closes out specifics are starting to coalesce. Is it a secret too big to keep or is it the bandwagon of rumor-mongering? Only time will tell. While we wait, let's follow along.

Image Source: Gizmodo

To start with, according to a source with a track record for reliability, iLounge is reporting that the 7" screen is out and the 10.7" version is in. This confirms what others have been reporting for the last month or so and corresponds to Apple's past history of making multiple iterations of a product during development, deselecting versions with time and testing.

The idea that the tablet might be a large scale iPod touch is also bolstered by this source who claims that the machines will run a modified iPhone OS, will appear in 3G and non-3G models, and will resemble the iPhone in design details even down to the curved back.

Where the rumors from iLounge get interesting is when the source claims the tablet is NOT designed to compete with netbooks, but is instead a "a slate-like replacement for books and magazines." Add this to sources at Gizmodo and an idea is beginning to coalesce as to what this machine is envisioned to be.

According to Brian Lam, two people "related to the NY Times" have spoken to him about contacts between Apple and the news org for delivery of their print and media content through iTunes. Stir in his contact, a "VP in textbook publishing" who claims that McGraw-Hill and Oberlin Press are working with Apple to move textbooks over to iTunes. Toss in a story about several magazine publishers visiting Cupertino to discuss the future of magazines, replete with some interactive mockups of titles. Add Andy Ihnatko's report of rumors that "trucks loaded with books would arrive at a loading dock on the Apple campus, and offload big, big, big, big, huge load of books, and then the trucks would leave empty."

Now we're getting somewhere. Not only have the rumors begun to solidify into definitive hardware ideas, but also a marketing plan appears to be shaping up that make the tablet not only viable but a game changer. Apple wants to have titles ready to roll out the moment the tablet hits the street, but there has to be something new to bring to the table rather than just larger screen viewing of media content. Too large to serve as just a phone and mp3 player, the tablet essentially melds the best aspects of the Kindle, its size and book catalog, with the best aspects of the iPhone, basically everything.

One can easily see Apple shaking up the entire print industry, much in the way its upended the music industry. Textbooks with additional multimedia content, newspapers and magazine subscriptions through iTunes, and, best of all, full-color comics not delivered panel by panel or scrunched down into a format requiring a day's worth of pinch resizing.

Last thing: rumors seem to be settling down on 2010 as the release date with an announcement in the second half of January. Most sources suggest January 19th as an announcement date with a summer release. We can hardly wait.

Survey Says....Tablet! (and Other Mac Products)

J Keirn-Swanson — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:42:15 -0500

According to a recent RBC IQ/ChangeWave survey, a cool quarter of those who bought a computer in the last 90 days bought a Mac laptop. The back-to-school push, along with some Mac price cuts, and a new operating system, as well as the iPhone 3G S, are expected to be behind Mac's best showing since last year.

Source: RBC Capital Markets/ChangeWave

Of the 3,100 respondents, almost as many, 21%, expressed an interest in a Mac tablet in the roughly $700-900 range despite only having a hypothetical machine to base their interest on. That's over double to the 9% who expressed interest in the iPhone a few years back. Now the stores struggle to keep the 3G S in stock, as demand outstrips supply by a good clip.

In a companion survey of smartphone customers, RBC is reporting a five percent growth in users from last quarter's 25% and research analyst for the firm, Mike Abramsky, is predicting higher fourth quarter sales. His prediction puts Apple on track for a 4% share of the global smartphone market by 2011.

As Apple has proved themselves adept at timing and positioning, an early next year release of a tablet, with all the hype and all the interest, could prove another shot in the arm as electronics sales begin inching their way higher. As the iPod buoyed the company on a wave of success, followed by the iPhone, the tablet could be the next very big thing.

New Tablet Rumor: It's Not What You Think

J Keirn-Swanson — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:00:16 -0500

While Microsoft isn't known for their hardware -- cough, cough, Zune, brick, cough, cough -- they have had a large format touch screen computer out there for a bit. The Microsoft Surface, a big, boxy product sporting a 30" touch screen retailing for around twelve grand, isn't really designed for mass consumption or popularity, though. More of a device for commercial uses, casinos and the like, it does point in some interesting directions.

Something a bit smaller and definitely at a lower price, however, could be in the works as leaks here and there on the internet point toward something cooking over at MS. Could the recently revealed intellectual property patent Microsoft seeks for something referred to as a "MAGIC WAND" be part of the user interface? To read its description, it certainly sounds like the kind of device you'd want with a decent sized tablet.

Codenamed "Alchemy Ventures" (which ties in neatly with the magic wand theme), the theoretical tablet is said to be a project with some involvement from the Surface team. Specifics are thin on the ground and can be seen more as murmurs and tealeaf reading speculation. As well, anonymous "insider" sources claim that Microsoft is merely waiting to see what Apple has cooked up before releasing their tablet.

And so we've come to this: a rumor based upon the possibility of another rumor coming true. While this doesn't necessarily square with reports that Microsoft is looking to get out of the hardware business, dropping “at least” one more iteration of the Zune before they're done, it does put additional pressure on Jobs and Co.

With competitors beginning to hunt the elusive magic tablet as the "next big thing," Apple might feel the pressure to move to market. On the other hand, the iPod wasn't the first mp3 player on the market, just the best one. As long as that mentality guides the process, Apple's probably not sweating this particular bit of industry gossip.

Sweet Bigger Tablets -- New Rumors!

J Keirn-Swanson — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:04:55 -0500

It's the perpetual motion machine of rumors, the neverending rumor mill. The latest -- and greatest -- new factoid coming down the pike is that Apple's possibly developing a 13-inch and a 15-inch tablet, as well as the 10-inch one. Sweeeeeet.

The source of these rumors is described as "100 percent reliable," and quite frankly, how else would a source be depicted and be expected to be taken seriously? What's described are two aluminum body touch screen tablets, in a 13-inch configuration and a 15-inch as well, one of which is described as running Mac OS X 10.5.

While most previous rumors have operated on the idea of the tablets running on the iPhone OS, this is the first mention of the tablets operating on Leopard. It certainly makes more sense to push for the full-fledged operating system, or at least a bare bones version of the Mac OS rather than just the iPhone iteration.

Such sizable devices are considered by some to be Apple's Kindle killers or perhaps the mainstreaming of handheld medical records devices or Apple's attempt to enter, up-end and completely dominate the low-price netbook market. Such a device, in any of the sizes now up for considertation, would likely operate as all three if positioned properly.

While these may be no more than prototype modules Apple is taking to completion for testing purposes or whether these are the next great product line is anyone's guess at this point. Heck, these rumors may be just as much smoke as so many previous ones, but one thing is definitely certain: these kind of rumors are too fun to ignore, and we'll be waiting eagerly for the next one coming down the line.

Double-down on iPad Rumor

J Keirn-Swanson — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:58:50 -0500

Unless there's a supreme head-fake in the works, don't count on any major Tablet announcements on 09/09/09. Despite that, though, the rumors persist and in this case, multiply to the point that at least one person is claiming that there's not just one iPad in the works, but two models of different sizes.

While this idea is in tune with other Apple offerings such as the different capacities for the iPod and iPhone, Richard Doherty, a director at Envisioneering Group, a market research firm, claims in a recent Business Week article that two prototypes of the iPad are in the mix and merely await the say-so of Steve Jobs.

Doherty claims that there is a smaller, six-inch screen version, something like a bigger version of the iPod or iPhone in the mix and an even larger version as well. This goes against both one claim that Apple has a plan for a ten-inch screen tablet, as well as confirmed reports of ten-inch touch screens being ordered by Apple.

While these ten inch screens could be the purported larger version, there haven't been any confirmed reports of the smaller sized touch screens shipping anywhere.

From a market perspective, two sizes does make a great deal of sense, offering something pocket-portable that hits the gaming market and a bigger tablet that can take on the e-reader market of the Kindle while both continue to offer all the great App Store apps as well as Mac computer reliability. Of course, the hotter the rumor mill churns, the better the rumors sound, the greater the disappointment the longer nothing happens.

At this stage, Apple almost has to release a tablet of some kind. If not to slake the rumors, then to scoop the other handheld manufacturers who, urged on by the constant drum beat of Mac rumors, rush to beat Cupertino to the punch.

haul RON Sleeves

Ray Aguilera — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:38:10 -0500

Obviously, we’re big fans of MacBooks. We take them everywhere. And while Apple makes pretty sturdy gear, we’ll admit that we still like to give our machines a bit more protection. There are tons of laptop sleeves on the market, but unfortunately, a lot of them strike us as a bit—well, blah. Haul’s line of MacBook sleeves, on the other hand, are anything but boring. Made from recycled billboards, each is a one-of-a-kind piece that can transport your laptop in singular style.

Haul’s RON laptop sleeve is designed to fit a 13-inch MacBook, and there are JOHN and DIRK models sized for 15- and 17-inch ’Books. The sleeves feature a full zipper along three sides and are lined in soft black neoprene to cushion your Mac as you schlep it along during the day. There’s also an internal flap, which you tuck the computer into, to protect the long edge from being scuffed up by the sleeve’s zipper.

We'll probably never know what this billboard once said, but the giant letters left us with a cool striped pattern.

As nice as the inside is, it’s the outside that sets haul’s sleeves apart. They’re made from heavy-duty vinyl recycled from billboards. So rather than a standard array of colors, you can choose a one-of-a-kind sleeve in a wide range of strange and funky colors and patterns. Billboards are printed using dithered patterns to create full-color images from a limited number of inks, so the patterns can be quite abstract. While we were mesmerized by the thousands of dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks on our review model (and plenty of others you can choose in haul’s online store), control freaks and persnickety-types might not take as well to their nonstandard designs. But for folks with a certain design sense, haul’s sleeves are useful, eye-catching conversation starters.