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Posts Tagged ‘Aluminum’

HTC Legend review

After four three flavors of the HTC Hero, the Taiwanese mobile giant has finally brought back the chin with the additional lick of aluminum and a similarly quirky name — the Legend. If this alone isn’t of much interest to you yet, just bear in mind that this is HTC’s first Android 2.1 device with Sense UI. It didn’t take much for us to fall in love with this Android phone at MWC — HTC convinced us of its unibody toughness by banging it against the wall, and needless to say, the vibrant AMOLED screen caught our eyes, too. However, there are still some questions to be answered before we can decide whether the Legend lives up to its name, especially on battery life, wireless reception, camera quality and software performance. Unless there have been major tweaks, we’ll try not to bore you with features already seen on the Hero — so please, won’t you join us?

Continue reading HTC Legend review

HTC Legend review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iBuyPower Battalion Touch laptop lid draws blood, prompts replacement

iBuyPower Battalion Touch laptop lid draws blood, prompts replacement originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ViewSonic’s new VNB131 ViewBook Pro puts an attractive spin on the 13.3-inch ULV laptop

Viewsonic isn’t quite our go-to for excellent PC design just yet, but its new VNB131 ViewBook Pro is a surprisingly decently attractive alternative to the usual ULV fare from the likes of Acer and ASUS. Maybe it’s just that touch of “1999″ in the aluminum curves and accents that we’re finding ourselves suddenly drawn to. Outside of the looks, the VNB131 is mostly pretty stock ULV: there’s an Intel ULV SU7300 Core 2 Duo processor, 320GB HDD, 2GB of RAM, a DVD burner, HDMI, VGA, 802.11n and a 7-in-1 card reader. Interestingly, however, you can swap out the DVD drive for an extra 3 cell battery, which in conjunction with the stock 6 cell should offer up to 12 hours of battery life. We’re sure you sacrifice a bit on weight and thickness for that luxury, and the price isn’t best-in-class either at $949. Still, it’s not bad for a company that’s still thinks it’s pulling one over on people by trying to rip the “MacBook Pro” below-screen lettering. It’s available now, wherever ViewBooks are sold. Check out another shot of the laptop after the break, along with some fancy PR.

Continue reading ViewSonic’s new VNB131 ViewBook Pro puts an attractive spin on the 13.3-inch ULV laptop

ViewSonic’s new VNB131 ViewBook Pro puts an attractive spin on the 13.3-inch ULV laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW review and giveaway — Bookarc from Twelve South

Filed under: Accessories, Macbook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air

It’s no surprise that TUAW bloggers like the products from Twelve South. They’re made only for Macs, they have excellent quality and the company always sends us items to give away to our readers. We’ve previously had giveaways for the BackPack, BassJump, and now we’re giving away a stylish Bookarc.

The US$49.00 Bookarc takes advantage of the ability of Apple’s MacBooks (Air and Pro included) to work as a desktop machine when the screen is closed and the computer is connected to an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor. You could just lay your MacBook on the desktop, but then it takes up valuable real estate. How about if you could just position your laptop vertically so it takes up a minimum amount of your desktop? That’s what the BookAac is all about.

Like the other products from Twelve South, the Bookarc is attractively packaged, so it makes a wonderful gift for your favorite MacBook owner … or yourself. After opening the box, you see the aluminum Bookarc with one silicone insert installed, and deeper inside the box are two more inserts. These inserts grip and cushion your MacBook, so you’ll want to make sure you have the correct one installed. Not to worry — they’re easy to install and remove. There’s not too much more to say in terms of a review, other than the Bookarc looks great and it does its job well.

If you’re not familiar with how to use your MacBook with the display closed, TwelveSouth thoughtfully provides a link to an Apple Knowledge Base page that has instructions.

Now, it’s time for a TUAW reader to win a Bookarc. Here are the details:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter, leave a comment telling us what kind of MacBook you’re going to use with the Bookarc.
• The comment must be left before Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One Twelve South Bookarc desktop stand for MacBook ($49 value)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Good luck! Check out the gallery below for some shots of the Bookarc you may soon be using.

TUAWTUAW review and giveaway — Bookarc from Twelve South originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Space Bar sleekly covers up your grimy keyboard, adds a few USB ports to boot

Let’s face it — there’s at least an 89.4 percent chance that you’d be utterly embarrassed to let your mother, SO or inner neat-freak inspect your keyboard. Years of wear and tear have cleared the way for minuscule portions of delicacies, follicles and all manners of foreign objects to make their home just beneath the vowels you smash on a daily basis, and considering that cleaning said keyboard or buying a new one is far too difficult, the Quirky community has a better solution. The Space Bar ($42 in a 3-pack) is an aluminum keyboard cover that can slip right over ‘boards that measure 18-inches wide and 1.5-inches deep; aside from covering things up, it also provides six easily accessible USB 2.0 ports. Too bad there’s no germ-nixing UV light on the underside, but there’s always hope for v2.0.

The Space Bar sleekly covers up your grimy keyboard, adds a few USB ports to boot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flickr Find: MacBook Generations

Filed under: Apple, Macbook Pro, MacBook, Retro Mac

• Unibody 13″ 2.53Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro
• 15″ 400Mhz G4 Titanium PowerBook
• 15″ 1.25Ghz G4 Aluminum PowerBook
• 15″ 2.5Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro

Amazing stuff — think of the engineering, manufacturing work, and design arguments that went into those little bands of metal, and all of the good work and art that has since been created with them. Beautiful.

TUAWFlickr Find: MacBook Generations originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Santa Fe WiFi foe strikes again: sues neighbor for using wireless devices, lives in a car

No, this isn’t him, because the real Arthur Firstenberg (with or without a cat) would probably need more than an aluminum helmet to cure his “electromagnetic sensitivity.” In fact, this man — an active member of the anti-wireless group in Sante Fe — has taken one step further by suing his bewildered neighbor 25 feet away for refusing to switch off her wireless devices, which he claims has forced him to stay at friends’ or live in a car. We’d say just chill out, find some place in the middle of an African desert, and then fly out. Oh, wait.

Santa Fe WiFi foe strikes again: sues neighbor for using wireless devices, lives in a car originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Southwest builds first ‘green plane,’ Ma Earth shows her gratitude

Southwest Airlines may not own a plane with a headrest infotainment system, but it’s still far and away the most enjoyable commercial flight you’ll find in the US of A (save for Virgin America, naturally). Granted, we’d like to see in-flight WiFi offered on a few more of its flights (read: 100 percent of them), but hey, we’ll take free checked bags and friendly employees any day of the week. We’ll also take fuel savings and environment stewardship, both of which Southwest is aiming to give us by creating the planet’s first “green plane.” By utilizing recyclable InterfaceFLOR carpet, weight-saving seat covers and life vest pouches, a lighter foam fill in the seats and aluminum (as opposed to plastic) seat rub strips, the newfangled Boeing 737-700 ends up some 472 pounds lighter than a conventional one. The savings? 9,500 gallons of jet fuel per year. We’re not sure when the bird is expected to take her first voyage, but here’s hoping a few others are hatched in the near future.

[Via DailyFinance]

Read – Southwest press release
Read – China View’s fuel calculations

Filed under: Transportation

Southwest builds first ‘green plane,’ Ma Earth shows her gratitude originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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