Technology and other stuff

Apple MacBook: Change is in the Air

The Apple MacBook Air has been a ground-breaking first-generation product (in my opinion). So, what will Apple do to top it when an update comes later this year? There are some telling indicators already. This is what I expect–and hope for–as a user.

First, a disclaimer. I am not an Apple fanatic. The MacBook Air is the first Apple product I have ever used for more than a few days. For well over a decade, I have been wedded to Wintel (Windows-Intel) laptops.

Before I dive into upcoming features, I should also mention that I have been extremely pleased with the Air and have used it almost daily for the last four months. But I would be remiss if I didn’t say it is overpriced, as all subnotebooks are.

• Overpriced but still an amazing design Apple made a very studied decision to exclude certain features. This makes the Air an Air. Apple could have included more ports and a little more of this and pinch of that–but then it would have been just another subnotebook.

So, I expect Apple to maintain the uniqueness of the Air for the next refresh.

But improvements are always welcome. And here are a few things that potential buyers can expect to see when a new Air is rolled out.

Apple has begun to give us hints of things to come. A $500 price cut for the solid state drive (SSD) model is one of the biggest indicators so far.

• A bigger, better solid state drive The next Air will offer drives that range in size to more than 100GB. A likely offering would be 128GB from vendors like STEC. (Samsung supplies the current SSD.) Intel and Micron Technology can’t be ruled out. Their drives will come in 80GB and 160GB capacities.

These SSDs will also likely use multiple-level cell (MLC) technology, in contrast with current drives that use single-level-cell (SLC). MLC allows higher-capacities but presents power and data reliability challenges, which suppliers claim to have overcome.

• Processors Invariably, all notebooks get upgraded with better processors and graphics. I think the Air’s current performance is superb for a subnotebook. I have owned many subnotebooks over the years and anemic performance can render them practically unusable as an everyday machine. But I haven’t had this problem with the Air (see note at bottom).

Intel’s upcoming 45-nanometer “Montevina” (Centrino 2) low-power offerings should make this experience even better. Though an initial Montevina refresh is slated for July 14, low-power versions won’t appear until this fall. Intel refers to these as SFF (small form factor) processors. They will come in high-performance, low-voltage, and ultra-low-voltage variants.

SFF Montevina processors will range from 25-watt (2.4GHz) to 17-watt (1.86GHz) to 10-watt (1.2GHz). The current Intel processor used in the Air is rated at 20 watts at 1.8GHz.

Whether Apple chooses one of these or opts for something not currently on the Intel roadmap of course remains to be seen.

• Graphics Graphics will get upgraded. Montevina will come with Intel’s GMA X4500 graphics, which Intel has said repeatedly will be three times faster than current X3100 integrated graphics.

• Battery Insufficient battery life is a problem that plagues all subnotebooks. It has often been suggested that Apple include a removable battery (for easy replacement), but that could compromise the ultraslim design. Having said that, I have been pleased with the battery life compared with other notebooks I have owned.

Hazarding a guess at other features such as upgraded hard disk drives, better screens, and external extras like a docking station is too speculative (and the latter would also compromise the design), so I’ll refrain from making any predictions.

But the Air shouldn’t change too much. With a simple performance upgrade, it would be an even more remarkable computer.

(Note: No, the Air is not as fast as a 14-inch Hewlett-Packard 6910P, for example, but no PC maker can squeeze that kind of performance into a Air-like form factor.)

Posted in Tech

Confessions of a Bluetooth convert

Thanks to California’s new hands-free phone law, I have been dragged into Bluetooth land. It’s not somewhere I really ever saw myself landing. I never really saw a need; I don’t use my cell phone as frequently as anyone else I know, and my car tends to sit in the garage undriven for days, sometimes weeks.

With the enforcement of laws beginning in California and Washington last week, Bluetooth earpieces have become the rage–even when people aren’t behind the wheel. Sorry in advance if I offend, but this strikes me as a bit odd–maybe not as odd as the Bat Utility Belt look of a decade ago when the “tech savvy” would stock their overstressed belts with pagers, cell phones, and PDAs, but certainly in the same league. So that option wasn’t very attractive.

 

However, about six months ago, I upgraded the stereo in my car to a model that also happened to support Bluetooth cell connections. The stereo I replaced was the factory double-din that came with it when I bought the car 13 years ago. The CD player was skipping like crazy, and my wife was about to give birth to our first child, so this seemed like the right time to spend money on a new stereo for a car I seldom drove and expected to drive even less after the child was born (it’s a two-seat convertible).

So I dove into research models, options, and prices. I ended up buying a Dual XHD6425 off Amazon.com for about $100. An installer at Best Buy said he didn’t think the deck would fit in my car, but a handy tool at Crutchfield.com told me different (guess who was right).

 

This little unit does things I wish my $300 Onkyo TX-SR605 home receiver did: in addition to playing MP3 and WMA CDs, it also receives HD Radio signals, has an auxiliary input for your MP3 player, and a USB input for flash memory drives. It also has a connector wire at the back of the unit that will plug into Dual’s BTM60, a Bluetooth module that transmits voice signals to your cell phone. The audio from the person you are speaking with is broadcast over the car speakers.

Since Dual already sold a module specifically designed for my deck, the choice was an easy one. New modules that used to retail for $99 can be found on eBay for less than $25 if you are patient. Mine was delivered Saturday, and like a kid on Christmas morning, I had it up and running in less than an hour.

 

Installation could not have been easier–it’s practically plug and play. The module itself is about the size of two wine corks and attaches to the visor like your garage door opener (that location is actually much closer to your mouth than anywhere you could place it on your dashboard), and the connection to back of the deck just snaps into place with the guidance of arrows on the ends of each wire.

The most time-consuming part was hiding the wire between those two points. It wouldn’t easily pinch against the windshield, so off came the weather stripping and convertible top anchor to allow access to the driver-side A-pillar cover. After threading and squeezing the wire behind the pillar cover, tying up the wire slack under the dashboard, and replacing the weather stripping and convertible top anchor, it was time for the easiest part of installation: pairing the cell phone to the stereo deck.

 

The phone and module did most of the work for me–I just had to hit a few buttons when prompted.

And it worked from the get go, syncing up my cell phone as soon as I turned the key and delivering audio quality that sounded as good as the cell phone, at least in the comfort of my garage. But how about on the road, with the top down? Just as good, although you may have to adjust the speaker volume on the dash deck to hear your calls better.

When a call comes into your cell, it rings across your car stereo. You simply push the button on the module to pick up the call. You can also use the in-dash deck to place the call, although I think it will be some time before I master that skill.

I saw plenty of people driving around town this holiday weekend with cell phones plastered to the side of their face, so I am not sure how well obeyed the new hands-free law is going to be. After all, the fine if you get caught is only $20, but it can be 10 times that with other court costs factored in. That’s more than my entire stereo upgrade.

So there you have it: Bluetooth functionality without the odd factor–unless you consider that you are talking to your visor and allowing the other drivers stopped at traffic signals to listen in on your phone conversations.

Posted in Tech