Hasta La Gadget!

They say Apple updates its products like clockwork, releasing something new at the same time in the same place every year. Not so with MacBook Airs anyway. The outfit’s gone and freshened up its 13-inch and 11-inch ultraportables — the second such update in nine months. Although the industrial design hasn’t changed much since the last generation, both models step up to Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, Thunderbolt ports, backlit keyboards, and, of course, OS X Lion.

The 11.6-inch flavor starts at $999 with 64GB of solid-state storage, 2GB of memory and a 1.6GHz Core i5 processor. The higher-end of the two configurations costs $1,199, with the extra two hundred dollars doubling your RAM and storage. The 13-inch Air, meanwhile, starts at $1,299, with a 128GB SSD, 4GB of RAM, and a 1.7GHz Core i5 CPU. Step up to the $1,599 model and you’ll get a 256GB SSD instead. Regardless, you’re looking at Intel HD 3000 graphics across the board, along with FaceTime webcams, two USB ports (plus an SD slot on the 13-inch version), 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. The two differ when it comes to resolution and battery life: the 11-incher has a 1366 x 768 panel and is rated for up to five hours of battery life, whereas the 13-inch model has a 1440 x 900 screen and promises up to seven hours of juice. As for that 1.8GHz Core i7 CPU, it’ll set you back an extra $100 on the 13-inch version, and $150 for the 11-inch version. Whichever size you choose, it’s only an option for the higher-end configuration. Hit the source link to peep the specs and buy one, if you’re so inclined.

Continue reading Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards

Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Apple  | Email this | Comments

And so it begins. The Apple Store has been taken down for updating and it probably won’t reappear until it’s rocking the hotly awaited $30 Mac OS 10.7 upgrade. We’ll have a full review of Lion later in the week, but if you can’t wait that long check out our hands-on preview. There’s a chance we’ll see some MacBook Air action today too, so we’ll keep you posted. Oh yeah, and this store is the real deal.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

Apple store goes down, all is quiet before the Lion roars originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

If you’ve been waiting for Apple’s earnings to come in shy of analyst estimates, you’re about to be disappointed yet again. Cupertino just reported its best quarter ever, with earnings of $7.79 per share, revenue totaling $28.57 billion, and a net profit of $7.31 billion. We know you’re probably more interested in sales figures, however, and as you might expect, Apple’s continued to ship iPhones and iPads at a steady pace, with 20.34 million smartphones and 9.25 million tablets sold last quarter. It’s also shipped 3.95 million Macs — a 14 percent jump over Q3 2010’s numbers. Fewer iPods made it out the door this quarter, however, totaling 7.54 million compared to the 9.41 million Apple sold in Q3 2010. As always, the company seems to be mum on future product announcements, though we wouldn’t be surprised to see new MacBook Air and Lion sales figures factoring into next quarter’s results. Meanwhile, rumors are stirring in Silicon Valley that Apple’s board has begun looking for possible replacements for CEO Steve Jobs, following a Wall Street Journal article by Yukari Iwatani Kane, who has a history of being eerily accurate with Apple rumors. This news hasn’t had an effect on Apple’s stock price, however, which topped $400 per share during after-hours trading today.

Continue reading Apple’s Q3 earnings exceed estimates: $28.57 billion revenue, $7.31 billion profit, 20 million iPhones sold

Apple’s Q3 earnings exceed estimates: $28.57 billion revenue, $7.31 billion profit, 20 million iPhones sold originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Apple, Apple (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Talk about a sting to start the weekend. The International Trade Commission has just made an initial determination in the ongoing patent infringement case between HTC and Apple (not to be confused with yet another, similar case involving Apple and Samsung), and it’s not looking great for HTC. The judge ruled that HTC had infringed on two of the ten patents in question, and if this ends up flushing through, it’s possible that select HTC products would be banned from ever arriving in the US. More likely, however, is a settlement between the two at war, with HTC forking out untold quantities of greenbacks in exchange for Apple backing away from the blockade trigger. ‘Course, it’s hard to say how negatively this will impact other Android handset makers, many of which may run into the same sorts of legal hurdles. Naturally, HTC’s already saying that it’ll appeal the ruling, while Cupertino’s legal team is remaining mum. And, you know, grinning slyly.

Update: All Things D is reporting that the two patents in question are 5,946,647 and 6,343,263, the former of which is said to be “fundamental to Android.” It’s also worth nothing that said patent is one that’s being argued over in a separate Apple vs. Motorola battle. That said, we aren’t passing judgment just yet. HTC general counsel Grace Lei stated the following: HTC will vigorously fight these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC Commissioners who make the final decision. We are highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible.”

[Thanks, Stephen]

ITC finds HTC guilty of infringing two of Apple’s patents, appeal expected in 3… 2… originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  CNET, Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

Wondering why Google+ ran out of disk space? Looks like it might be a casualty of growth: in today’s earnings call, Google CEO Larry Page revealed that since its launch, more than ten million people have joined Google+, sharing some one billion items every day. Those numbers not big enough for you? Then chew on this: that little +1 button? It gets clicked 2.3 billion times per day in its own right. It’s still a far cry from the 750 million users actively addicted to Facebook, but still, that’s a heck of a start.

Page: growth on Google+ has been great, over one billion items shared originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments