Hasta La Gadget!

Thunderbolt, you were a tech with near unlimited promise when first introduced, but what have you done with all that power? Since my first Thunderbolt-equipped Mac, I’ve essentially been using the ports as straight up Mini DisplayPort replacements, and using them exclusively for powering external screens. But now the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock has arrived, and Thunderbolt finally makes sense. Pricey, $300 sense, mind you.

• 2 Thunderbolt ports, with daisy-chain capabilities to connect up to 5 additional Thunderbolt devices.
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• 3 USB 3.0 ports
• 1 FireWire 800 port
• 3.5mm headphone output and mic in ports

The Belkin Thunderbolt dock’s design is understated, and will fit with the rest of your black and aluminum standard Mac kit. It’s basically just a box with rounded edges, a cable management channel running through the middle underside of the device, and a row of ports at the back, but it works and it can tuck nicely under your MacBook if you’re using a desktop stand, or underneath the screen of your iMac. There’s even a pair of flashing indicators for network traffic on the Ethernet port, which makes me nostalgic for the days of desktop PC towers that told you everything you needed to know with just a series of blinking lights.

If anything it’s a little bulky, but considering everything it’s bringing to the table, that’s not really all that surprising. Note that this also requires an AC adapter to work, so you’ll have to clear up space on your office power bar.

Computer makers don’t tend to be looking for more ways to fit extra ports in their hardware designs, and the Retina MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines are perfect examples of where things are headed. As a result, I find myself with only two USB ports on an $1,800 computer, no Ethernet port, a single input for both mic and headphones, and no Firewire 800 for my legacy devices, like portable hard drives. The Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock fixes all those things.

The three USB 3.0 ports are possibly the best part of the arrangement, as they more than double to total load-out of USB ports on your average lightning-equipped MacBook Pro. Even with an iMac, you get 7 USB ports total instead of just three, turning it into a dream machine for someone like a video, design or audio professional who probably has tons of accessories they need to connect and/or switch out at any given time. The first time you don’t have to decide which crucial USB accessory to unplug in order to charge your iPhone, the Dock proves its worth.

The Thunderbolt daisy-chaining also means I can still attach my 27-inch iMac as an external monitor, though that means the chain ends there. But if I had a Thunderbolt drive with two ports, I can easily slot that in between the two, and still use the display as the terminal end of the chain. Finally, the return of Firewire 800 and the Ethernet provide some much-needed tools for using more old-school, but still very effective technologies, including the various Firewire 800 external drives I have sitting around.

All of these ports and additional bits worked flawlessly in my experience, and the headphone jack actually seems to operate as an external sound card to some degree, boosting volume levels and giving you more flexibility in terms of playback options.

If you ever feel like your Mac doesn’t have enough hardware input/output options, then the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock is for you. It took long enough to get here, and it’s pretty expensive at $299 (plus the price of Thunderbolt cable, which ships separately). The Matrox DS1 is another option at $249, but it only has one Thunderbolt port and just one USB 3.0, though it adds both an HDMI and DVI-D output. For my money, the Belkin is the way to go, especially if you use your Mac as your main workstation.

When you think of Apple, what’s the first thing you think of? For the company’s fans, it’s undoubtedly Steve Jobs, Macs, the iPhone, and iPad. For the company’s haters, it’s typically issues they have with its control over its products, high prices, and its fans, who think their favorite company is superior to all others.

But what most people can agree on is that Apple truly understands hardware. For years now, the company has been delivering the most innovative hardware designs in the industry. And its success in the marketplace has largely been a result of that.

Still, I’m suspect of claims that Apple still holds the crown as the world’s best hardware designer. Yes, the company’s products are nice-looking and I’ll freely admit that the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro with Retina Display have rightfully earned Jonathan Ive his place in the spotlight. But when we take the entire industry as a whole, is it not possible for us to accept the idea that maybe – just maybe – Apple’s design cred has been hurt a bit?

“Is it not possible for us to accept the idea that maybe – just maybe – Apple’s design cred has been hurt a bit?”

Looking at Apple’s products, I’m not all that impressed any more. Although the iPhone 5 came with some design improvements, it’s basically the same device we’ve been seeing for years with a few changes here and there. And since so-called “major” updates only come out every other year, I sit and see nothing that’s so revolutionary that I’d commend the company on design.

Moving to the iPad, I think we can say the same thing. The iPad is certainly nice-looking, but is it really so much better looking than any other device on the market right now? Samsung, Google, and Amazon are all offering tablets that have similar designs, and they’re no less appealing.

But it’s in the notebook space that I think we need to seriously reconsider the idea that Apple is the world’s best hardware designer. Sure, the MacBook Pro with Retina Display is nice-looking, but is it really any better than any Ultrabook on the market right now? And when it comes to innovation, who can really take issue with what Lenovo is doing with half-tablet, half-notebook IdeaPad Yoga? It appears that Apple is the company that now likes to stay the course, and it’s allowing other companies to deliver the truly interesting products.

“Apple fans will instinctively say that it hasn’t.”

So, I pose this question: has Apple officially lost its credibility as the technology industry’s leading hardware designer? Apple fans will instinctively say that it hasn’t. But perhaps it’s best if we take a step back and evaluate what’s really going on in the marketplace. Apple is by no means a design slouch and its products are good-looking. But can we stop pretending like it’s the only company that truly understands what design is all about?

It might have taken competitors longer to catch up to Apple on design, but catch up they have. And it’s high time we accept that and give credit where it’s due.

Is Apple Losing Its Hardware Design Cred? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When Apple released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion last year, it was a further step in decreasing the gap between the desktop platform and iOS. However, it looks like the next version of OS X will take it even further. OS X 10.9 is rumored to come with a handful of iOS-like features, including a multitasking panel similar to iOS, as well as the ability to pause background apps.

According to 9to5Mac, OS X 10.9 will cater towards more power users, but will still keep features that also cater towards everyday users. However, it’s said that OS X 10.9 won’t be a complete overhaul like OS X Leopard or OS X Lion was, but we can still expect some new features in the upcoming OS that will see the the platform taking baby steps to closing the gap with iOS.

Furthermore, both Finder and Safari will be getting some updates that will cater towards those power users, including tabbed browsing in Finder, as well as a redesigned backend in Safari for improved page loading and overall efficiency of the browser, which should put the web browser in the running up there with Chrome and Firefox.

Of course, there are plenty of third-party utilities that offer these kinds of features, including tabbed browsing in Finder (and much, much more), but it would be nice if OS X came with these features by default. Finder has always been a stubborn file browser, and it seems third-party apps are the only way to truly experience a great file browser. Internally, OS X 10.9 is said to be codenamed “Cabernet,” but we’re guessing that won’t be the final name for the OS, as Apple has always been naming OS X after various wild cat names.

[via 9to5Mac]

OS X 10.9 tipped to further close gap with iOS features is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Etsy stickers adorning your MacBook’s lid, oft making a cute play on the presence of that glowing Apple? That’s so 2012. Uncover, a Dutch company showcasing its talents here at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam this week, has crafted a new method of customizing one’s MacBook lid. And, perhaps most importantly, it involves the seamless removal of the Apple logo altogether. In essence, these guys use a specialized laser cutting process that can etch out anything your brain can muster — from band logos to company mantras. And, as you’ll see in the gallery below, the Apple logo doesn’t have to be a part of the equation.

The outfit will take in any aluminum-faced MacBook from around the world, and once it lands in Holland, you’ll typically see it headed back to your domicile within four to five days. If you’re selecting one of Uncover’s designs, you can have your machine tweaked for as little as €249 (around $325), while completely custom work starts at €599 ($780). (And yes, you can just buy a totally new Mac from Uncover as well.) We spoke to Jasper Middendorp, the company’s CEO, and he confessed that only MacBooks are being accepted due to Apple’s unique backlighting arrangement. They’re obviously keen to offer similar work for PCs, but to date, every one he has seen blocks or covers the backlight in some way. For those looking to get it on the fun, allow the source link below to be your guide.

Filed under: Laptops

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Source: Uncover

Just minutes ago SlashGear announced the on-sale marker for Apple’s developer conference WWDC 2013 – now they’re all sold out. Having literally hit refresh ourselves from the moment the tickets went on sale, it’s appearing from here that Apple sold tickets out from start to finish in under 2 minutes. You’ll find sources across the web suggesting 3 minutes and even 1 minute – stay tuned for official word from Apple as well.

This sale is a record, one way or another. Back in 2012 tickets sold out in right around two hours after they went on sale, that time working with an on-sale time that wasn’t announced in advance. The same situation occurred in 2011 where ticket sales took around 12 hours.

Here in 2013, the release of tickets was pre-announced and pinpointed for Apple developers, this allowing the masses to be on-point with clicks and credit cards. This event should prove to be an important one in Apple’s history as it will reveal not only a new iteration of their desktop operating system, but their mobile operating system as well, both of them with new leadership behind the scenes.

Have a peek at our still short history with WWDC 2013 in the timeline below and prepare for the big set of events starting on June 10th and lasting until the 14th of June, 2013. We’ll be live in-effect from start to finish, especially in regards to the major keynotes which have in the past proven themselves to be significant moments in the Apple road of events.

Apple’s WWDC conference sells out in 2 minutes is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.