Thunderbolt
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Some Thunderbolt MacBook Pros causing flicker on Cinema Displays, Apple investigates (updated)
In a world of sophisticated electronics these days, there are always risks to being an early adopter. Alas, it appears that our latest victims are owners of Apple's Thunderbolt-laden MacBook Pros. Since launch, a number of frustrated customers have been reporting that their new unibody laptops -- of all three sizes -- are causing random flicker on both 24-inch and 27-inch Cinema Displays when connected via their Mini DisplayPort / Thunderbolt combo port, and now we have video proof to share the pain. Some also confirmed that even replacement machines from Apple are exhibiting the same behavior, though a source of ours says this doesn't seem to be a widespread issue, and that the company's hardware engineers are already looking into this. Either way, we're likely to see a firmware fix for this bug soon -- it's no good having a large monitor constantly blinking at you. [Thanks, Armando] Update: sja3274, the creator of the original video above, informed us that his Cinema Display actually had a faulty connection anyway, but he still saw flicker on a new display -- much like the behavior shown in the second video. As such, we've replaced our first video embed with our second one. Additionally, sja3274 was originally told to expect a software update last Tuesday or Wednesday, but obviously that didn't happen, so perhaps this is a trickier fix than Apple expected.
HTC Thunderbolt hits $175 price point with LetsTalk -- but only for this weekend
LetsTalk has this morning dropped its price for the HTC Thunderbolt from $200 all the way down to the so-far unmatched level of $175. This applies when bought with the obligatory two-year service plan and will be available to all willing customers, whether they be new to Verizon, adding an extra line, or upgrading their current phone. It also betters Amazon's $180 price in one other important aspect: Amazon's Thunderbolts are on back order at present, whereas LetsTalk has immediate stock and will even cover the cost of shipping. All good things must come to an end, however, and this discounted pricing will last only until Monday, at which point the cost will revert to a more sustainable point for the retailer. That said, we'd advise against rushing in unless you're categorically sure -- LetsTalk will ding you for $250 if you don't stick to the contract that goes with this handset for at least 181 days.
HTC Thunderbolt review
At a quick glance, without any background information, your eyes might tell you that the HTC Thunderbolt is little more than a Verizon remake of Sprint's EVO 4G and AT&T's Inspire 4G. After all -- like its contemporaries -- the Thunderbolt features a spacious 4.3-inch WVGA display, 8 megapixel camera, and dual-LED flash. In reality, though, the Thunderbolt is something more: from the Inspire, it borrows a better, crisper display with a wider viewing angle and a newer-generation (though still single-core) Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. From the EVO 4G, meanwhile, it borrows a cool integrated kickstand and the addition of a second "4G" radio, making this a spec Frankenstein of sorts -- the best of both worlds. Of course, instead of Sprint's WiMAX for that 4G radio, the Thunderbolt grants you access to Verizon's LTE network -- a network so fresh, it still has that new-network smell. There's a lot of horsepower here.In other words, the Thunderbolt has a very real opportunity to be the finest 4.3-inch device HTC has ever made -- for the moment, anyway. Let's see how it fares.%Gallery-119310%
HTC talks up its Thunderbolt in four minutes of self-congratulatory oratory
The first LTE smartphone to ever grace Verizon's networks finally got released from captivity yesterday, and its maker HTC has decided to mark the event with a little promo video. You won't find much here that you don't already know about the 4.3-inch Thunderbolt, but you do get to hear from a bunch of HTC's bright lights, including Sense UI designer Drew Bamford, on the motivations behind the company's designs. And hey, there's no harm in seeing that marquee device in the flesh again, is there?
HTC Thunderbolt now available to buy: $250 from Verizon, $180 at Amazon
Another saga put to rest. The question of just when Verizon will release its first 4G LTE handset was answered yesterday with the word "tomorrow," which makes today that day! Verizon Wireless is now taking online orders for HTC's 4.3-inch Thunderbolt, pricing the LTE lubber at $250 on a two-year contract. It comes with Android 2.2 as the OS underlying the HTC Sense 2.0 UI, an 8 megapixel camera with HD video recording, 768MB of RAM, and a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 chip that will have to do its best to keep up with those crazy 4G download speeds. If Verizon's own pricing feels a bit rich to you, shop around -- we've found the Thunderbolt as low as $180 at Amazon, although the online retailer has it on back order for the moment. [Thanks, Justin]
Verizon Wireless stops being coy, confirms HTC Thunderbolt for March 17th at $249.99
We said it'd be coming on the 17th, but you didn't believe us. Why didn't you believe us? No matter, Verizon's finally fessing up and letting us know the good news: the HTC Thunderbolt drops on March 17th for $249.99. In the PR, which is conveniently embedded below, VZW predictably talks up the phone's status as the first 4G LTE device on its network, offering up to 12Mbps down and 5Mbps up, a connection that can be shared with up to eight Wi-Fi devices -- if you pay the extra $20 per month for Mobile Hotspot service. Verizon is generously including a 32GB microSD card, which means you can take video along in a format that will do that 4.3-inch WVGA display justice. In case you haven't looked at a calendar lately the 17th is just two days away, which doesn't leave much time to find pants with pockets big enough for this beast. Update: If you'd like to save 50 bones and are setting up a new account for handset, Emilie wrote in to let us know that you can get a little thunder for $199.99 at Wirefly.
Wirefly: 'no Skype' on Thunderbolt, but simultaneous 3G voice and data is a go; ships on March 17th
Wireless retailer Wirefly is pushing ahead with pre-orders for the beleaguered HTC Thunderbolt starting at midnight Pacific Time this evening with the promise that they'll start shipping this Thursday, the 17th; that lines up with a whole lot of noise we've heard recently, so we can't really argue with it at this point. They're also confirming a couple rumors that have been floating around since the phone's January debut: first, they're saying "no Skype," which we're taking to mean that the promised Skype video calling app won't be installed out of the box. We're also assuming (or at least hoping) that you'll be able to install the standard voice-only version. Secondly, they're saying that the phone definitely does simultaneous voice and data over 3G, a feature that was just recently made possible on Verizon's CDMA network through software upgrades -- and the Thunderbolt, it seems, will be the first retail device to have the pleasure of taking it for a spin.
HTC Thunderbolt tipped to launch March 17th, again
Well, it looks like the seemingly unending saga of the HTC Thunderbolt launch could really, finally be drawing to a close. Following up a fairly solid hint earlier today, we now have some actual tangible evidence that the 4G-equipped smartphone will indeed be launching on Thursday, March 17th courtesy of some helpful tipsters. Of course, that's still not completely official, but HTC has promised that an announcement is coming "soon," so we should be hearing more from both it and Verizon any day (or moment) now if it the 17th really is the launch date. One more shot after the break.
HTC's Thunderbolt coming March 17th: survey says... yes!
After being jilted on Valentine's Day, you'd think we would learn. But having tasted the goods, we couldn't help but get suckered in by every HTC Thunderbolt launch date rumor -- only to have our hopes dashed each time its release was inexorably pushed further and further back. Now, a leaked email and an HTC regional sales manager's tweet (whose account has subsequently been deleted) claim our lust for Verizon's first 4G handset will finally be quenched on March 17th. HTC posted on Facebook that the official launch date will be announced "soon, " and four days from now would certainly qualify. We just hope Best Buy and Big Red realize they face a legion of disappointed (and drunken) St. Patty's Day revelers should they delay Thunderbolt delivery day yet again. Let's hope the luck of the Irish finally gets us our LTE.
HTC Thunderbolt granted conditional approval by Verizon, could be on sale soon
The drama-filled timeline of rumors leading up to the HTC Thunderbolt's release on Verizon is a tale whose final chapter has yet to be written -- we still don't know when Big Red's first LTE handset is actually going to be on shelves, after all. That fateful day is drawing a little closer, though, on word from one of our trusted sources today that the device has received "conditional approval" from the carrier. Theoretically, that means the phone could be released any minute now -- but first, the retail launch is dependent on HTC agreeing to Verizon's requested changes and fixes for the first and second firmware maintenance releases. We're told that process typically takes two to four weeks -- so realistically, we're looking at a launch within a month. Stay strong, folks! [Thanks, HTC Kid]
Canon 'excited' about Intel Thunderbolt I/O, makes no promise to support it
Would you like a Canon professional video camera that blasts footage to an editing rig at up to ten gigabits per second? How about a consumer-grade camcorder that transfers files to your home computer at the same blazing speed? Such things might be in the pipeline at Canon, but we can't really say for sure. Today, the Japanese camera company came out in support of Intel's Thunderbolt I/O, saying how "it will bring new levels of performance and simplicity to the video creation market," but without so much as a formal press release -- nor, in fact, a pledge to work towards any of the ultra-speedy optical gear of which we've been dreaming. Oh well, there's always next week.
Verizon CTO: 'working through issues' with LTE phones, still on track for first half launch
No blockbusters here -- nothing that's going to give you much insight into an exact launch day for the Thunderbolt -- but Verizon CTO Tony Melone made a few comments about its LTE handset launches at a financial conference yesterday that border on the interesting. Asked whether the company was facing any challenges in getting the phones solid and ready for commercial consumption, Melone responded by saying that they're "facing is what you would expect, and that is a new technology, you are working through issues. And [they] anticipated that, and [they] are pleased at how [they] are working through issues." In the same breath, he reminded the audience that Verizon had said the phones would be coming in the first half of '11 all along and that hasn't changed -- so they're not late by a long shot. Pressed on whether battery life specifically was a concern for the Thunderbolt, Melone said that he thinks the juice "will be acceptable to consumers." Considering what we've been hearing about recent firmware revisions on the test units, we're hopeful he's right -- Verizon has a reputation for testing the crap out of devices prior to release, after all.
Switched On: Back from the Mac
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Last week's Switched On discussed Nokia's quest to help Microsoft create a third mobile ecosystem alongside those of Apple and Google. That word – ecosystem – has clearly passed into the pantheon of buzzwords, leveraging many synergies from purpose-built paradigms. And yet, building and maintaining ecosystems is something few companies really understand. True technology ecosystems are more than just successful platforms or throwing many products together simply because they are owned by the same company. They are characterized by strategically implemented nurturing. One concept that Apple seems to have adapted from natural ecosystems is the concept of the water cycle you probably learned about in grade school. Apple turns up the heat on the life-sustaining water of innovation that passes between the well-grounded Mac market and the soaring growth of the iOS market. Apple alluded to this cycle in its Back to the Mac event. After inheriting many technologies from Mac OS X, iOS began offering Mac OS X launch screens, full-screen apps, app resuming, and document autosaving. This week's announcements, though, show that the cycle may soon be heading again in the other direction as Apple showed off two Mac technologies that may well wind up strengthening the iOS ecosystem.
HTC Thunderbolt said to have terrible battery life, might explain delay?
We're hearing from... well, let's call them "people familiar with the matter" that HTC's Thunderbolt -- a phone that's supposed to be Verizon's first with LTE -- is experiencing positively miserable battery life that's making it difficult for testers to avoid carrying a second phone around as a backup. How bad? Two to three hours from full to empty in some cases. Of course, we wouldn't be surprised if battery life was really bad with the LTE radio left on -- the EVO 4G wasn't much different at launch with WiMAX lit up -- but the word on the street is that the power situation is largely responsible for the delays we've been seeing. In fact, our source tells us the phone is currently working on its sixth retail delay at the moment. More on this situation as we get it. Update: We've just heard from another trusted tipster that there's definitely a new firmware in the works to address battery life and signal issues (which -- you guessed it -- are interrelated). Thanks, HTC Kid!
Motorola Xoom and Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro get torn down
The Xoom's big attraction may be the ethereal Honeycomb that oozes within it, but it's still a gadget made of metal, silicon and plastic, so we're as keen as anyone to see what its insides look like. iFixit has dutifully performed the task of tearing one down to its constituent components and found an Atmel touchscreen controller capable of picking up 15 inputs at a time, a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip capable of 14.4Mbps HSPA+ speeds, some Toshiba NAND flash memory, and of course, NVIDIA's beloved Tegra 2 dual-core SOC. The conclusion reached was that the Xoom is relatively easy to repair, though you should be aware there are no less than 57 screws holding the thing together, so free up a nice long afternoon if you intend to disassemble one yourself. Aside from Moto's flagship tablet, iFixit has also gotten to grips with Apple's latest MacBook Pro, the one that can do Thunderbolt-fast transfers with as yet nonexistent peripherals, though discoveries there were predictably few and far between. The wireless card now has four antennas instead of three and there are some changes made to the cooling systems, but the real reason you'll want to see this is the quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU lurking within -- it's as big and imposing as the performance it promises to deliver.
Intel refutes Apple exclusivity for Thunderbolt I/O, LaCie and Promise detail first Thunderbolt peripherals
We can think of a pretty good reason why Apple might have a head-start when it comes to Thunderbolt-capable machines, but Apple doesn't actually have a timed exclusive on the technology, at least according to Intel PR. The company told us that while it's currently targeting an early 2012 launch for Thunderbolt with other OEMs -- whereas the new MacBook Pro has Thunderbolt right now -- there's nothing stopping other manufacturers from launching machines with the 10Gbps interconnect a good bit earlier if they so desire. In related news, the first Thunderbolt peripherals have just been formally announced -- the Promise Pegasus RAID array we saw spitting out 800MB / sec video streams, and the LaCie Little Big Disk. The former will come in four-bay and six-bay variants, topping out at 12TB of magnetic storage when it arrives in Q2, and the latter will boast a pair of Intel 510 Series SSDs -- which, by the way, have yet to be formally announced -- in RAID 0 for 500GB of storage in total. PR after the break. %Gallery-117530%
Intel Thunderbolt: a closer look (updated with video)
So what's this Thunderbolt stuff, and why is it in your new MacBook Pro? Intel just broke it down for us, and now we'll do the same for you. Simply put, Thunderbolt's a familiar-looking port, a brand-new chip, and a cord, which allows devices to pipe two data streams simultaneously -- in both directions -- over a single cable at up to 10 gigabits per second to start, primarily using PCI Express x4 for data and DisplayPort for video. The Thunderbolt controller chip -- required for the system, but Intel says it's hardware-agnostic and doesn't require an Intel processor or chipset to use -- acts as a miniature router of sorts that rapidly switches between the two bidirectional channels of data. Sounds great, but why would you want to buy into yet another copper cord? Intel defends that Thunderbolt will be backwards and forwards-compatible depending on the cable used. Representatives explained that the basic system can work with any other PCI Express 2.0-compatible I/O system with, say, a FireWire or eSATA adapter doing the dirty work --Intel wouldn't specifically comment on USB 3.0 -- and that the port you'll find in new MacBook Pros and storage devices can actually take an optical cable when those are cost-effective enough to roll out, because Intel will eventually bake the optical transceivers into the cables themselves. In the meanwhile, you can get up to three meters of range out of a basic cable, plus a fairly generous 10 watts of power over the bus, and since Thunderbolt devices are designed to be daisy-chained, you may be able to get another three meters for each device you add on that sports a pair of the ports. Though Intel wasn't talking about likely prices for the chips or cables in even the most general terms, Promise and LaCie had prototype devices on hand headed to the market soon -- get a peek at them and a closer look at the cable in our gallery below, and we'll have video up in a little while too. Update: Looks like LaCie's product now has a name and vague release date: it's the LaCie Little Big Disk, coming this summer, with a pair of solid state drives inside. Update 2: Video after the break -- get a load of Thunderbolt streaming four 1080p clips from a MacBook Pro and attached Promise NAS simultaneously! %Gallery-117530%
Intel promises native USB 3.0 support someday
So, now that Intel's fully revealed its proprietary high-speed interface technology and shoehorned it into Apple's new MacBook Pro, wither the fate of barely-incumbent USB 3.0? Intel says the two ports will co-exist in the market, and not just because third parties will obviously continue to roll SuperSpeed devices out -- Chipzilla's actually pursuing a native solution itself. "Intel fully supports USB 3 and plans to integrate it in the future," said the company's Jason Ziller, which sounds like a fairly potent promise to us. Still, considering how long Intel's been dragging its heels, we have to wonder if eventual support will be more than a token move -- Intel could wait until Thunderbolt not only has a foothold, but also a dozen pitons and a nice big rope securing it to a mountain of peripherals.
HTC Thunderbolt delayed until March 4th, says a Best Buy store with a Twitter account (update: or maybe March 10th?)
Wondering why the Thunderbolt isn't in stores yet? Hard to say -- apart from the reeling HTC and Verizon employees might be doing in light of the Apple / Intel news -- but a Best Buy in California spilled the bad news on Twitter last night that it's now expecting Big Red's first LTE phone on March 4th. As Android Police points out, the store appears to have confused the day March 4th falls on (it's a Friday, not a Thursday), but we're figuring it's far more likely the date is right, not the day of the week. And if Best Buy has a launch exclusive on this thing, that means it could be another week or two beyond that before the phone shows up in Verizon retail locations and elsewhere. Bummer, eh? Update: We just got an image (you can see it for yourself after the break) that seems to set the ThunderBolt's Best Buy arrival date even later than March 4th. According to the Best Buy Mobile document, it will be on sale on March 10th. We're assuming the timing keeps being adjusted, but we think it's pretty fair to say things keep getting pushed back.
Engadget goes hands-on with the new MacBook Pro
If you thought today couldn't get any more hands-on, you were wrong. The folks over at our sister blog, Engadget, just received a review unit of the new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt technology and posted lots of delicious photos for us nerds to enjoy. (Note that unlike many other Apple-branded technologies, there's no InterCap-styled 'B' in "Thunderbolt.") Unfortunately, even though the model has Thunderbolt connectivity, there aren't any peripherals yet available that use the new I/O tech. This means that we won't be seeing any speed test demos in the immediate future, however much of a thrill it would bring. But it will work out of the box with all Mini DisplayPort connectors. The model itself is nearly identical to the previous family of MacBook Pros from a visual standpoint (the only change is a Thunderbolt port vs. the Mini DisplayPort), but it's still fun to watch an unboxing. On an already-busy day, this is a must-check-out for any major Apple geek. Corrected editing error, the trackpad is identical to earlier version.
