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Samsung stops teasing, brings SpinPoint M6 500GB Stateside
We know you've been sitting on your hands since January, waiting for Samsung to ship this SpinPoint M6 500GB, 9.5mm laptop drive wonder. That whole "released in France" thing was just rubbing it in your face, and we apologize, but it looks like your wait is finally over: OWC's Woot! shop has the drive for sale as of now. You can't buy one sans enclosure, but the $310 USB 2.0 + eSATA version or the $350 FireWire 800 / 400 + USB 2.0 version (there's also a $320 model) should prove useful in housing an old 2.5-inch drive, or perhaps an ant farm.[Thanks, Dan C.]
OWC reveals 500GB Mercury On-The-Go portable HDD
OWC's Mercury On-The-Go family of pocket-lovin' hard drives has been around for quite some time, but the group is getting an all new leader courtesy of the recently announced 500GB edition. Packing a half-terabyte of space on a 5,400RPM, 8MB of cache drive, the unit even includes FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 to ensure compatibility with pretty much whatever rig you're dealing with. You'll also find a copy of Prosoft DataBackup III for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup for Windows bundled in, but you won't be getting any closer to this bus-powered unit than the photo above without laying down $359.99 to call one your own.
OWC crams 2TB into Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual RAID HDD
Nearly two years ago we all stood in awe of OWC's 1TB Mercury Elite Pro Aluminum Dual RAID, and just a few days after the company announced its multifaceted Quad Interface variety, now its upping the ante again. The 2TB edition of the external HDD presumably packs a pair of Hitachi's 7K1000 drives into an enclosure no bigger than any other twin-stuffed unit, and provides data transfer rates of over 80Mbps. The RAID 0 array is reportedly "designed to meet the performance demands of video and audio production," and while it's not exactly implied, to put a solid dent in your wallet as well. The drive connects up via USB 2.0 or FireWire 400 / 800, and can be snapped up now if you're willing to hand over $1,099.99.[Via MacMinute]
OWC's Mercury Elite-AL Pro "Quad Interface" 1TB external drive
We're pretty impressed by OWC's "gotta plug 'em all" collection of ports on this new external drive, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro, which features a "Quad Interface" and 1TB of 7200RPM storage in a Mac-friendly enclosure. The drive can handle FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA, and OWC is claiming speeds up to 80MB per second on FireWire and 150MB/s on eSATA, thanks to the Oxford 924 chipset. The $600 pricetag is a wee bit steep, but OWC is nice enough to include FireWire, USB and eSATA cables in the box, along with various backup softwares for Mac and Windows. We're getting a little tired of the Mac Pro-style cheese grater look, but you can find 1TB drives with a whole lot more ugly, that's for sure, so we won't complain too much. The drive should be available now, in capacities on down to 250GB if you're not quite ready to make the 1TB plunge.
TUAW Show Floor Showoff: OWC's ModBook
There wasn't too much that was truly new and exciting on the Macworld Expo showfloor this year. Don't get me wrong, there was a ton of neat stuff but nothing huge. Nothing that is, other than the ModBook. We've covered it before, and now we have a video tour of the hottest item (other than the iPhone) on the showfloor. A little birdie tells me that OWC got lots of preorders for this baby, and I know their booth was packed for most of the Expo.Update: Some folks are complaining about the Netscape player, and the video quality. For all of these videos, if you head over to the Netscape page you can download the video in iPod format, or the original uploaded version. Here is the iPod version, and here is the original version (.mov) of this particular interview.
ModBook Unveiling Gallery: First Looks
OWC this afternoon unveiled its answer to a Macintosh tablet. Going by the moniker of ModBook, the device was specially engineered by OWC and Axitron (a company created just for this purpose). When all is said and done, the ModBook is essentially a MacBook with a Wacom Graphire digitizing tablet built over the screen, a few select shareware titles to better the tablet experience, and for some reason foreign to this blogger, integrated GPS. The ModBook is available in multiple configurations starting at a special Macworld Expo discount of US$2199.Check out the gallery for more pics.
Axiotron's ModBook: distributed by OWC, tolerated by Apple
Since Apple is a bit too busy making teh sexay phones, OWC and Axiotron are taking up the slack with their new ModBook, which hacks up MacBooks and turns them into glorious slate-style tablet computers. The duo didn't cut many corners, either, since their MacBook mods hold onto most of those original specs, plus add in an optional built-in GPS module, and of course that Penabled Wacom digitizer. Pen input runs at 20x display resolution, with 256 pressure levels and zero battery use, and the MacBook's LCD is protected with some Chemically Strengthened glass, complete with a paper-like texture and anti-reflective coating. The ModBook is also shielded by aircraft grade magnesium alloy, with a copper and nickel layers for scratch resistance. Thanks to that slot-loading MacBook drive, the ModBook is apparently the only slate-style tablet computer with a built in CD/DVD drive, making it a nice option for portable DVD playback use. The ModBook is relying on Apple's Inkwell technology and other OS X enhancements for tablet functionality. Naturally, they're not exactly giving these things away, but the prices still seem reasonable for what you're getting: $2199-$2699 pre-order pricing for the "Good," "Better" and "Best" options. The latter two feature GPS, but if you pre-order now you can get it tossed into the low-end version as well. No word on an exact ship date, but it sounds like it won't be until March, April or later.
Pictures of the ModBook Mac Tablet in the wild
We got a tip that some pics of the ModBook, the Macbook-based tablet product from OWC and Axiotron, have surfaced on the MacResource Forums. How convenient for us!Just one pic that I can find and it's a rendering, not an actual product shot. From the looks of it, it's a "clamshell" mod that essentially flips the display over on the MacBook/MacBook Pro. I'm thinking it won't come cheap, but I bet many people will probably still salivate over it.Now pardon me while I go wipe the drool off my chin...
Why a Mac tablet from Apple doesn't make sense
Laurie posted OWC's announcement of their upcoming ModBook Mac tablet just as I began rounding up commentary from some Mac notables as to why a tablet from Apple simply doesn't make sense. OWC's announcement indeed makes things a bit more interesting, but I think some of these thoughts from Steven Frank (of Panic, Inc. fame) and David Sobotta, one of Apple's own former sales managers, can shed some light on why Apple is likely to stay away from this market. Mr. Sobotta tells a longer story over at The Guardian of his 20 years of experience at Apple, and Steven Frank more or less rounds up the bullet points in a Macworld rumor call-out post. To sum things up: the idea of a tablet Mac is cool - really cool - but the fact of the matter is that the tablet PC market sucks. And by 'sucks' I mean "it's downright horrendously dismal." Steven also reminds us that Apple hasn't really been making products for unidentified markets for about a decade now. Sure, there are a big handful of Mac Photoshoppers that would love to be able to craft their next Fark submission with a Mac tablet on the couch, but the unfortunate reality is that Apple - already a niche company - would need a *lot* more interest in an über-niche product like this to make it profitable. To make matters worse, already established industries (like the medical field) *still* aren't touching the tablet PC products that have been on the market for over two years now. Steven lists a lot of other good obstacles that simply don't seem ripe for Apple to tackle anytime soon, and Mr. Sobotta certainly offers some commentary from behind Apple's well-guarded veil as well. Which brings me back to the intriguing ModBook announcement from OWC. Apple hasn't made the idea of a tablet Mac work just yet (though who knows: maybe next week could prove everyone wrong), but OWC apparently has. Next week should be a very interesting one, to say the least.
Mac tablet at Macworld -- it's not what you think
Who knows what Steve Jobs and co. have in store for us next week at Macworld, but we'd be pretty damn floored if they trotted out a Mac tablet for the awaiting hordes. But never fear, it looks like OWC and manufacturing partner Axiotron are stepping in to fill the void with what they dub the "ModBook, the first ever Mac® tablet computer solution." While we'd have to take issue with the claim of first, since resourceful hackers have been modding up their own Mac laptops into tablets for years now, but the fact that these two companies are bringing the slate-style notebook to the masses for what we presume is a high but attainable price point is plenty noteworthy. The touch input comes courtesy of WACOM, and thanks to Apple's Inkwell technology, there's already plenty of pen-based interfacing available in OS X. Axiotron and OWC also managed to stuff a GPS option into their ModBook, for even more good times, but unfortunately that's all the info we've got so far. We'll be finding out more when the computer is officially unveiled on January 9th at Macworld.[Via TUAW; thanks Matthew H]
OWC and Axiotron announce the ModBook, a Mac-based tablet computer
A Mac Tablet? Seriously? Seriously!OWC is well known for their iPod solutions, Mac CPU upgrades and Firewire hard drives, but they will now be known as the folks who brought us a real Mac tablet solution. On Jan 9th they, along with their manufacturing partner Axiotron, will unveil the ModBook, a "high-end slate-style notebook computer solution" featuring WACOM Penenabled hardware that is fully compatible with Apple's Inkwell handwriting and gesture recognition technology, allowing you to write and draw directly on the screen. There's even a built-in GPS option available!Full details won't be available until their press conference at Macworld Expo on Jan 9th, but here's the official teaser to hold you over: "Engineered in the U.S. by a renowned team of German and American designers, the ModBook's condensed form factor and integrated pen-based user experience makes it the ultimate solution for applications and situations where a keyboard only gets in the way. Ideal for: Mobile Users, Business Professionals, Artists, Students, and Technology Leaders!"We will be at the unveiling, of course and promise to have lots of pics and details as they unfold! And if you're attending Macworld yourself, you can stop by Booth: S2218 for a hands-on trial!UPDATE: We hear from OWC that the ModBook will initially be offered as a turnkey solution., but it will be offered fas an after-market mod solution at a later date (TBA). The turnkey ModBook will come standard with a 1 Year Warranty similar to Apple's and with a similar Applecare like extension program offered as well.[obDisclaimer: I have close ties to OWC, but my excitement about this product is quite sincere!]
Powerlogix bought by OWC
Well I think I found one of the reasons why no one replied to my recent plea for help with my PowerLogix card. It seems that PowerLogix has just been acquired by OWC. Other World Computing is a company that sells a mix of its own gear and third party hardware (including PowerLogix and other manufacturers). OWC will acquire the "exclusive rights to all PowerLogix proprietary hardware designs and software code, as well as copyrights, logos, brand names, and web domains." I hope that this means older PowerLogix hardware will continue to be supported after the buy out, if not I am really out of luck.[via MacNN]
