Hasta La Gadget!

Globetrotting Mac users looking to slightly condense their cable packing will no doubt be happy to learn that the outlet-obsessed folks at Twelve South have announced the launch of the PlugBug World. The latest version of the hybrid charger adds five international plugs (US / Canada / Japan, UK / Hong Kong / Singapore, Continental Europe, Australia / New Zealand and China) to the combo MacBook / USB charger. Interested parties can pick one up now through Twelve South’s site for $45 — or £39.99 / €44.99, depending on which part of the world you’re in at the moment. The domestic version of PlugBug, meanwhile, will run you $35. There’s a press release after the break for your perusal.

Filed under: Laptops, Apple

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Source: Twelve South

Remember when people decried the MacBook Air as a dumb idea when it first launched? Well, given the amount of Ultrabooks that are now floating around the world, we bet they’ve not shared that opinion publicly too often. The most recent vintage of the unit gained USB 3.0 ports, Ivy Bridge chips and, well, not the one thing that would have made the unit unbeatable — a retina-class display. No, instead that feature was reserved for a different line, letting rivals like the Zenbook Prime beat it in the resolution stakes. But aside from that notable (and for Apple, lucrative) omission, how have you found these machines? Tell us what you’ve loved, hated and, most importantly, what would you change?

Filed under: Laptops, Apple

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We’ve seen all sorts of vending machines before, but this vending machine installed in Drexel University might take the cake. In case it’s hard to tell from the image above, this vending machine actually dispenses Macbooks to students for free! Of course this doesn’t mean students get to take them home, but we can imagine that these will come in handy for students whose laptop runs out of battery mid-study or assignment and they don’t have a charger handy, or if they need a computer but forgot to bring one that day. There is also the safety angle which allows students to use computers in the library late at night and who don’t want to bring their own for fear of getting robbed.

This vending machine was installed last December and at the moment dispenses only 12 Macbooks. Like we said earlier, the renting of these laptops are free and students can borrow them for up to five hours at a time, after which students will be charged a late fee. To rent one of these laptops, students will need to go to the machine, sign in with their student card and they’re good to go. In between borrowings, the vending machine will actually charge the laptops for the next use and at the same time completely wipe the hard drive to prevent it from being cluttered with random files from students. At the moment this vending machine is a trial and depending on how well-received it is, and how well the University’s finances are, additional vending machines could be installed around the campus.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: MacBook Air And MacBook Pro Rumored For Refresh In June 2013, Apple I computer sells for $640,000 in auction in Germany,

Apple is planning to give the 802.11ac wireless networking standard a big boost in 2013, according to a new report from TheNextWeb. Sources tell the blog that Apple will partner with Broadcom to bring the next-gen Wi-Fi tech to new Macs. 802.11ac is the successor to 802.11n, but it has yet to make its way to many shipping notebooks.

802.11ac “Gigabit Wi-Fi” offers theoretical maximum networking speeds of roughly  three times those currently offered by 802.11n. The standard is still in Draft, which means that it hasn’t received final approval by the IEEE, and isn’t likely to until at least later in 2013. Still, Apple has shown itself willing to ship products using draft versions of wireless standards in the past, and it’s a fairly common practice among consumer device makers. Routers have also already been brought to market which offers 802.11ac networking speeds, although so far, Apple’s own AirPort devices don’t boast those capabilities.

TNW reports that the Wi-Fi chip being developed by Broadcom for inclusion in Macs is still in development, but that if all goes according to plan, they will make their way into new Macs shipping this year. As with Thunderbolt, it may take a little while for consumers to see the added value of the inclusion of 802.11ac as mobile devices, routers and other gadgets catch up. Ionically, 802.11ac support was rumored for inclusion in Apple’s AirPort base stations, Apple TV and even potentially mobile devices around the same time last year, but that never materialized. This new report suggests that in fact, notebooks could be where we see it pop up first among Apple’s hardware lineup.

If you’re reading this having not braved the absolute insanity that is waking up in the middle of the night to purchase a good you don’t need, good on you – here’s your reward: Apple Black Friday sales. The folks at Apple are keeping it all clean and tidy today with online sales – as well as retail store sales, but still – allowing you to purchase everything from the warmth and safety of your own home. It all begins with the iPad 4 (re-named “iPad with Retina display” here for the foreseeable future) and the iPad 2 – the iPad mini you’ll have to purchase for full price, lucky you!

The iPad with Retina display you’ll be able to pick up for a starting price of $458 USD – that’s $41 USD under the price you’ll have payed earlier this week and starting again on Saturday. The iPad 2 will cost you $368 USD, that being $31 under the standard price of $399. Both of the most recent iPod touch models – both the 4th generation and the newest iPhone 5-esque colorful 5th generation units are similarly discounted with $31 off the new model and $21 off the outgoing edition. The iPod nano (that being the newest model) is discounted by a fabulous $11 USD.

The MacBook Pro, the MacBook Pro with Retina display, and the MacBook Air have each been price-cut by $101 USD. The AirPort Express Base Station has been cut by $11 while the AirPort Extreme Base Station has been slashed by $21 USD. The Apple Time Capsule has been reduced by $21 USD. Each of the standard-sized Apple-made iPad covers and cases have been price cut between $11 and $21, while the Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic as well as the new Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic have been discounted $11 USD and $7 USD.

Finally there’s the Apple Magic Mouse, the Magic Trackpad, and the Apple Wireless Keyboard, each of them getting a price-cut of $11 USD. Each of these items will be discounted until 11:59 PM PST, after which they’ll be bumped back up to standard pricing – good luck!

Apple Black Friday deals keep you out of harm’s way is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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