Hasta La Gadget!

Perhaps the touch revolution will extend beyond tablets and smartphones and onto our traditional computers. A new patent application shows how Apple might build an iMac or a MacBook with a touchscreen.

It’s a lot more than simply slapping a multitouch screen onto an iMac. Filed earlier this year, the patent application portrays an iMac-like computer that can transition from being used as a traditional mouse- and keyboard-controlled PC into a touchscreen computer. It’s a convertible desktop tablet, so to speak.

The invention described would switch between input modes detecting the position of the screen with an accelerometer or a rotation hinge inside a flexible stand. One input mode would be a high-resolution interface controlled with a mouse and keyboard, and the other method would be a lower-resolution tablet mode for touch controls.

Moving on to notebooks, the patent application says a notebook-like device could transition into a touch-based UI by folding the display, face up, against the keyboard.

To be clear, convertible tablets are nothing new. We’ve seen a handful of convertible tablet notebooks and “kitchen” PCs equipped with touchscreens. However, I’ve had hands-on time with a bunch of them at the Consumer Electronics Show, and they’ve consistently failed to impress, because they’re just touchscreen devices running Windows — a UI designed for keyboards and mice, not ideal for touch controls. Duly, these convertible computers haven’t been popular sellers.

With Apple’s patent application, it sounds like the transition method would involve switching between two operating systems: the Mac OS for PC input and iOS for tablet usage (though they’re technically one OS since they’re carved out of the same core). That important UI transition might actually make a convertible touchscreen computer make sense.

Indeed, Apple appears to be eyeing touchscreens for Macs. Fan blog Patently Apple recently discovered a collection of 10 patent applications covering display technologies, which also allude to a touchscreen display for notebooks. Also, a few rumors emerged earlier this year that Apple was developing a touchscreen iMac.

From Patently Apple

See Also:

• Rumor: Apple to Launch MacBook Touch?
• Review: Modbook Tablet Is a Designer's BFF
• Macworld 2009: Wozniak Demos MacBook Mod

Last of today’s Apple updates are the new 27-inch Cinema Display and a new 12-core Mac Pro. The display is essentially a super-sized version of the 24-inch monitor already available. Here’s what you get:

The display hooks up to any Mac with a Mini DisplayPort connector, which is every late-vintage model. The cable combines a power-cable and a USB-connector, and this last will pipe the sound from your MacBook to the display, as well as send back data from the screen’s built-in iSight camera and microphone. It also has a 2.1 (sub and “satellite”) speaker system (50 watts) and, most important of all, Apple new favorite display tech, IPS (in-plane switching) for an almost 180-degree viewing-angle.

The 16:9 widescreen aspect-ratio panel sports a 2560 x 1440 resolution, and the panel now has an ambient light sensor to automatically dim the display. If it works as well as it does in other Apple products, you’ll probably want to switch it off. The display will be shipping “soon” for $1,000.

The new Mac Pro also beefs things up. Apple’s heavy-lifter now comes with 12 processor-cores, faster graphics and SSD options and, well, did I say it has twelve cores?. This monster begins at $5,000, but you can have the 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” for “just” $2,500. Add to this an ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and a couple of those fancy new 27-inch Cinema Displays, and you’ll have a pretty mean setup (and a very light wallet). The new range of Mac Pros will be on sale in August.

LED Cinema Display [Apple]

New 12-core Mac Pro [Apple]

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Continue reading Acer rolls out space-saving Aspire X3, M3 series desktops

Acer rolls out space-saving Aspire X3, M3 series desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IFixit is first on the scene yet again with a teardown of the new unibody Mac Mini. Kyle Wiens and crew popped into the Apple store and bought the non-server version of Apple’s tiny desktop Mac and opened it up. The results come up short of surprising, but do show the clever thinking that went into cramming everything inside the solid aluminum shell.

The journey begins with popping off the plastic baseplate, an easy task involving a quick twist. RAM comes out easily (you can fit in up to 8GB) and then you get to the juicy bits. The fan has rubber damping on the screws and is set at an angle to fit it in. Kyle says that it won’t have much work to do as the Mac Mini fairly sips power, taking just 7 amps at 12 volts compared to the 27-inch iMac’s 25.8 amps at 12 volts (although it also has to power that giant screen). This is why the power brick has shrunk and disappeared inside the machine.

The other neat touch is in the placement of the antennae, which are at either end of the rear plastic plate that holds the I/O ports. This is similar to the plastic window on the iPad 3G.

Fully disassembled, the new Mac Mini looks almost as minimal (and pretty) as it does when whole. Thanks again iFixit, for saving all of us curious souls from having to void our warranty. More pictures below.

Mac Mini Mid 2010 Teardown [iFixit. Thanks, Kyle!]

See Also:

• Punked: iFixit Tears Down 'Apple Tablet'
• Photos: iFixit Rips Open iPad 3G
• What's Inside? MacBook Pro Stripped Bare by iFixit

After 3-D movies and 3-D TVs, it’s time for computers to go into the third dimension.

Companies such as MSI and Asus will be showing 3-D PCs at Computex, a huge trade show for manufacturers of PCs and PC components held every year in Taipei, Taiwan. This year, Computex runs from June 1 to 5.

MSI plans to introduce a 24-inch 3-D net-top: a desktop computer with its internals built into the display case, similar to an iMac.

“We can run 3-D movies, games, photos and TV,” says Clifford Chun, product manager for all-in-ones and desktops at MSI, “and by just pressing a button you can switch between 2-D and 3-D modes.”

MSI’s rival Asus will debut a 3-D laptop with a 15.6-inch display and desktop similar in screen size to that from MSI. The 3-D PCs are expected to be available in the third quarter of the year.

“People may choose a 3-D PC because it is a less expensive way to get 3-D content,” says Rob Csongor, vice president of marketing for Nvidia, which makes graphics cards that power the 3-D PCs. “Companies are coming out with some beautiful devices that are going to be a higher-end product initially but they will be very attractive to consumers.”

With Hollywood’s success in films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, the 3-D format has made a big comeback. And it’s not confined to just the big screen. The 3-D TV was one of the biggest stars of the Consumer Electronics Show this year. Almost every major TV maker, including Sony, LG, Panasonic and Mitsubishi, plans to offer big-screen 3-D TVs, while broadcasters such as ESPN and Discovery have promised 3-D channels by the end of the year or early next year.

Meanwhile, amateur 3-D content is taking off as consumers use 3-D cameras or homemade 3-D rigs to shoot photos. In a sign that homemade 3-D videos could soon be ready to hit mainstream, YouTube has started offering a 3-D display option.

Makers of 3-D PCs hope to step into this world. “3-D PCs are for consumers who see the 3-D stuff everywhere and wonder, ‘How can I get this home?’” says Csongor.

Close to a million 3-D PCs will ship in 2010, predicts Jon Peddie Research, and annual sales could reach 75 million by 2014 as 3-D PCs become ubiquitous.

With a powerful graphics card, most PCs are 3-D capable — in principle. But critical to the 3-D experience is a 120-Hz monitor and special glasses. PCs with 3-D have stereoscopic displays, which means their screens can present a rapidly alternating set of images for the right and the left eye so the brain can fuse them together into a single image that includes depth.

MSI’s 3-D desktop, called ‘Ripple,’ has an Intel Core i7 860 processor, an ATI Radeon HD 5730 graphics chip, 4 GB of memory, a 1-terabyte disk drive, a Blu-ray player, 1.3-megapixel webcam, and Wi-Fi capability. The 24-inch multitouch display has a refresh rate of 120 Hz and will come with its own pair of active-shutter glasses.

“With active-shutter glasses you don’t lose transparency or contrast as you do with the polarized versions,” says Chun. “We think its the best way to experience the 3-D feeling.”

If you are wondering what you will use your 3-D PC for, there’s plenty of 3-D content already out there, assures Nvidia’s Csongor. Nvidia’s graphics chips, which are embedded in Asus machines, can support any of 400 3-D-enabled video games already on the market. Of course, they can also show 3-D photos, streaming video from sports such as golf tournaments, and Blu-ray 3-D movies.

And if you get tired of all that 3-D, just switch the display back to the old-fashioned PC mode, suggest MSI’s Chun.

“Since we can move between 2-D and 3-D, you can see clear images even if you don’t wear the glasses,” says Chun. “No blurring or fuzzy images in 2-D.”

The 24-inch MSI desktop will cost $2,200 — not exactly cheap, but just a little more than what most users would pay for a high-end multimedia machine. For many, it will also be easier to buy a 3-D PC rather than a 3-D TV.

“Not everyone wants a 3-D TV when they are ready to buy their next TV,” says Csongor. “But a 3-D PC for their next laptop or desktop is something that may be willing to go for.”

See Also:

• 3-D Goes DIY With Amateur Photos, Videos
• 3-D Tabletop Display Gets Rid of the Glasses
• 4 Things That Could Keep 3-D TV Out of Your Living Room
• Why 3-D Gaming’s Future Is Still Blurry
• Wired Explains: How 3-D Television Works

Photo: (bigchus/Flickr)