MBA
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Four-finger gestures hacked into older MacBooks
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Four_finger_gestures_hacked_into_older_MacBooks'; You know good and well you were instantly jealous of the multi-finger gesture support announced for those minty fresh new Mac laptops, and if you're finally ready to ditch that envy you've been harboring and just get even, have a look. Without even resorting to gangsterism, users of pre-October 2008 Apple laptops can get the four-finger Exposé and Application Switching working -- all's that required is the install disc from a unibody MacBook, a little tweak of the registry and a pinch of patience. We can't say for sure how far back this hack will go (we're guessing your PowerBook G3 is out of luck), but we do know that it works just fine with a January '08 MacBook Air. Give it a go if you're a risk taker, but don't blame us if your atoms start to melt. [Via MacRumors]
Apple's refreshed MacBook Air now shipping to giddy buyers
You know those spec-bumped MacBook Airs that were announced around a fortnight ago alongside those shiny (literally) new MacBooks / MacBook Pros? Yeah, well they're shipping. Reports filled with intense levels of joviality are beginning to spring up on Mac message boards the intarwebz over, and within them are proclamations of tracking number receipts. Sure, a new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics system, a slightly speedier CPU and a mini DisplayPort are worth getting jazzed over, but try not to blow a cork while bottled up in that cube of yours, okay?
MacBook Air SSD option gets slightly more affordable
While some of the benefits of SSDs may be in question these days, it looks like those still itching to take the plunge on an SSD-equipped Macbook Air can now at least save a few bucks, as the premium add-on has just received a much needed price cut. At $599 for the upgrade option on the 1.6GHz model and $2,598 for the pre-configured 1.8GHz model, however, it still isn't exactly a no-brainer, especially considering some of the prices we're seeing now for larger drives. Slightly more palatable though, is the 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo upgrade option on the base model, which is now $100 cheaper at just $200.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Mod: use your MacBook Air Superdrive on any machine
If you've got a MacBook Air SuperDrive and you've been hankering to use it with other computers (Mac or PC), tnkgrl over at tnkgrl Mobile has a solution. With a $9 part and some intestinal fortitude, you too can make your MBA Superdrive universally compatible. Using the drive with other computers has been a desire from its inception. After some experimentation, tnkgrl found that simply replacing the IDE to USB bridge within the drive did the trick. Of course, that means removing the daughter-board and relocating the 12 MHz crystal. For an experienced hardware hacker, no sweat. For the average Joe, well, it's quite obviously an at-your-own-risk situation. Check out the post at tnkgrl Mobile for the details.
German users claim MacBook Air can cut through bread, flesh
Now, we know that the MacBook Air is one thin laptop, but some Apple forum members in Germany are claiming that the edge of the laptop is not only sharp -- but downright dangerous. According to "Apple Talk" reader Bajuware, his MBA went kill-crazy all over his elbow while he was cold-chillin' on his couch. The details are a little hard to suss out due to the language barrier (and machine translation), but it would appear the Air's bottom edge made nasty work of the human flesh like someone had insulted its mother. Another MBA owner claims his computer is sharp enough to slice bread, though we assume it's not used for buttering. Honestly, we're not sure what kind of danger an innocent MacBook Air could really pose besides causing you to throw out your back constantly plugging in the AC to charge that not-quite-as-advertised battery.
MacBook Air reviewed... as a Windows machine
There are a lot of reasons to pick another laptop over the MacBook Air -- especially if you're into little things like "useful ports" -- but the comparison to non-Apple hardware isn't even relevant unless you're willing to switch to OS X, right? Well, the crew over at Xbit Labs decided to even the slate and evaluate the MBA solely as a Windows machine, wiping the drive clean of Leopard and installing Vista Ultimate. Although actually getting Vista on the Air was a bit troublesome due to the lack of a built-in optical drive and the Vista installer's refusal to wipe out the OS X partition, once installed the OS performed fine, with Apple-provided drivers activating the media and brightness keys and even the multi-touch trackpad. The only major issues were over-aggressive activation of CPU power-management, which resulted in dramatic slowdowns during some tasks, and the fact that the case got fairly warm during use -- both issues MBA owners using OS X have reported. Overall, while the MBA was a solid if unspectacular Windows machine, the lack of support and nagging issues with running a pure Windows MBA mean you're probably better off going with laptop designed for Vista -- hmm, we can think of one that might spark your interest.
Potential fix for an annoying MacBook Air wireless issue
As much as I love my MacBook Air, it's had one issue in particular recently that has been pretty annoying: it drops wireless network connections seemingly at random intervals and for no particular reason. Not all wireless connections, though, just some and again, with no discernible pattern of access point or type of connection. For example, it works on my home Airport network flawlessly, but with some public Wi-Fi networks, it has a problem. Case in point: I was at a local coffee shop near my house recently that provides free WiFi. Given that the WiFi was free and only had a WEP password, it should have been a simple matter to connect and enjoy the benefits of free Internet access. After being told the WEP password, I was able to enter it, click "Save this password to the Keychain," sign on to the wireless network and was off and surfing. Unfortunately, my wireless connection was short-lived as after only a few minutes, the connection dropped, leaving me with nothing.Not knowing the exact nature of the problem, I connected again by selecting the network SSID in my list of available networks which show up in the Airport menu on the top right of the screen. When I selected the network, I was again prompted for the password I had just entered a few minutes ago and had, as I remembered distinctly, clicked that I wanted the Keychain to remember.
MacBook Air features Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Not a bad turnaround time -- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, ratified just a few months back by the Bluetooth SIG, has found its way into the MacBook Air's unnaturally thin shell. This should lead to improved (read: quicker) pairing, better battery life, and improved security over 2.0. Only trick is to find a few other 2.1 devices, of course.
Apple 6th most desirable employer for new MBAs
According to Fortune magazine, Apple is the 6th most desirable employer for new MBAs. Each year "research firm Universum surveys MBA candidates on where they'd most like to work." The list was topped by Google, with most of the rest of the top ten in financial services or computer related. Interestingly, Microsoft came in 7th right after Apple. Presumably, these MBAs don't actually know that much about what it would be like to work for these firms, meaning this is just a popularity contest. But since it's reasonable to suppose that a lot of them want to be where the action is, this does probably show something about broader perceptions of Apple, Inc. at this time.[via MacNN]
Nintendo's 8-bit power play a staple for MBA courses
Two of my MBA courses this semester include cases on Nintendo, the first of which centers on Nintendo's well-documented tendency to play hardball during the 8-bit era. As luck would have it, we'll be covering the case just before I head to Tokyo to cover TGS for Joystiq. If I'm not too slammed, I'll post a synopsis of the class discussion here. In the meantime, here's a summary of the case, to whet your appetites: "The home video-game industry began in 1972 with the founding of Atari. After riding a dramatic boom and bust in the early 1980s, most players left the business. Nintendo of Japan then rebuilt the industry--establishing a commanding worldwide position by the end of the decade. By 1990, Nintendo game systems could be found in one out of every three households--in both Japan and the United States. The company's stock market value exceeded that of Sony or Nissan. The case describes the steps Nintendo took to achieve this success. Also covers the U.S. antitrust investigation of Nintendo." Wharton bschool profs appear to be hip to happenings in the games industry. Last semester, I had a final exam question on the hot coffee scandal. In an operations management (OPIM) class, we discussed shortages around the launch of the PS2 and PSP. And even the Dean of the school has been touting the benefits of game-like simulations for learning.
