We’re not entirely sure what this has to do with news about phones, but PhoneNews seems to have managed a bit of inside info with regards to an upcoming MacBook Air revision that many have seen coming for a while now. According  to the rumors, the external design to the ultra-slim lappy will not undergo much of a makeover if any (and why would it?). The guts however, are seemingly in for a good upgrade. Starting things off, the custom Core 2 Duo will be bumped up to a Penryn-class Core 2 Duo and a bigger battery will be feeding it juice. The new model will ship with a 60W power adapter to compensate. The standard hard drive version looks like it will be available in two sizes, 120 GB and 180 GB, but there is no word on the capacity of the revised SSD version though the pricing will likely be in the same ballpark as the current version. According to the article, Apple resellers have already been notified of the impending upgrade which means we could be seeing it hit the market fairly soon.

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Man, that thing looks tiny next to the 17″ Amilo notebook to the right of the picture above! Consider this confirmation that Fujitsu is indeed working on an ultra-portable Asus Eee competitor. The ultra-portable space has been a proven sector of late as more and more companies set their sites on mini laptops, the latest being Fujitsu. The 8.9″ unit pictured above will be its first entry into this space and if word on the street is correct, its success it anything but guaranteed. For starters, the rumored $640 base price will be enough to deter a generous number of potential buyers. There are plenty of decent full-size notebooks that can be had for that price. Does Fujitsu have some secret weapons packed into this puppy that may justify the high price point? We’re not sure yet but with Eee PCs starting in the $300-range and Dell working on a $299 ulrta-portable due out in August, Fujitsu better have something special to bring to the party at that price.

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Well what do we have here? The curious shot above was recently born on a Chinese blog and has since began making quite a trip around the internet. Allegedly picturing a prototype of the upcoming redesigned MacBook Pro case, the first thing you’ll notice is obviously the fact that the case is made of the same sleek brushed aluminum found on the MacBook Air. It has been rumored for months that Apple is working on the next incarnation of the MacBook Pro and that it would feature an all-aluminum case a la MacBook Air. If the image above is to be believed, the next generation MacBook Pro case will essentially be a thicker version of the Air’s - exactly what many Apple fans have been clamoring for. Unfortunately there isn’t much else we can tell from the photo. Only half of the bottom of the case can be seen which means that the bottom of the unit will not be one solid piece like the Air. It also appears that the standard Apple logo on the top of the case has three holes in it (four including the leaf). These curious holes don’t seem very conducive to back lighting but assuming the case is real we hardly want to question an Apple design. If there’s one thing Apple can do, it’s design a stunning piece of gear. The original post doesn’t claim to have any information in terms of specs or a time frame so for those tidbits we’ll just have to sit back and wait.

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If you’re a tablet PC fan that’s a bit overwhelmed by the day’s iPhone madness, this one should brighten things up a bit. Details of Lenovo’s new X200 tablet PC have leaked out, and the specs are pretty impressive. The new machines will feature Intel Core 2 Duo chips running at up to 2.4 Ghz, 12″ display,  optional WiMAX, WWAN, GPS, WiFi, UWB, and Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, a Blu-ray drive option, and a whole lot more. All of this connectivity clocks in at a reasonable 2.93lbs, and the battery should give you upwards of 9 Hrs of operating time. Impressed yet? Yeah, we thought you might be. No word on pricing or availability, but we’re hoping this bad boy drops sooner rather than later. 

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We just got a hold of Dell’s 2008-2009 Latitude notebook roadmap, and there’s some pretty interesting stuff in here! Some of the laptops contained in our slides have been seen before, but it’s always nice to see the release dates for upcoming models. In the roadmap are the following Dell computers: E4300, E4200, XT2, E6500, E6400, E6400 ATG, E5500, E5500a, E5400, E5400a. Check out some of the shots from the presentation in our gallery!

Click on over to our Dell Latitude 2008-2009 roadmap gallery!

Hoping to stop the downward spiral they’ve been experiencing as of late, AMD has just announced plans for a new line of PCs aimed squarely at business and enterprise clients. The new Business Class line of machines will sport a host of mid-level features, including ATI graphics chips, Phenom and Athlon processors, and more. The components will be rebadged by a number of AMD’s high-level business distributors, including Dell, Acer, Fujitsu, HP, and Lenovo. The systems will come complete with a 2-year warranty, while the processors themselves will be guaranteed for 3 full years. No word on pricing, but we should see the desktop line available in the near future, with a notebook line forthcoming by sometime this Fall. Is it too late, though?

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There is no question that the Pegasus 210 by Rock is a sweet-looking laptop. With a slim case, magnesium alloy chassis and a weight just over two pounds, the P210 is a clear entry into the micro-notebook market. It’s also no slouch in terms of specs, packing a heck of a punch into the tiny 11.7" x 8.2" x 0.6"-1.2" case.

• Intel® A110 Processor 800MHz, 512KB Cache, 400MHz
• 12" WXGA X-Glass Screen (1280 x 800)
• 1GB DDR2 667MHz
• 80GB 4200rpm ATA Hard Drive
• Windows XP Professional or Vista Business Edition
• 802.11a/g/n and Euro-spec 3G / HSDPA
• 3 USB ports
• 6 hour battery life

It also enters the marketplace at $1800, directly in line with the lesser of two MacBook Air models. Provided you’re running XP (yikes, Vista with an 800 MHz processor and 1 GB of RAM?) many would say that this puppy is a clear Air killer. Granted, Rock doesn’t have a presence in the US so don’t expect to see much of the P210 over here. If it packed US 3G though, we’d be all over this thing like white on rice.

[Via Electric Pig]

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It never fails. You finally take delivery of your shiny new Sony / Dell / HP / other laptop and you’re all smiles. You boot it, you rock it, you love it. Then something happens, however. Something starts to wipe that giddy smile right off your face. You realize that you have have to spend the next hour of your life removing all of the annoying crapware, trials and games from your hard drive before you can really enjoy it. Tired of it? Sony is now providing a new option that they call "Fresh Start". We call it "You’ve Got to be &%^*$#% Kidding Me". Long story short, you pay an extra $50 for your laptop and Sony will be kind enough to not install all of that garbage on it. Apparently margins are tight these days and Sony needs the extra dough they get for sullying your experience. How does Sony attempt to spin the new option in such a way that makes them look less slimy? "Free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power while maximizing overall system performance right from the start." Wow, what a bunch of sweethearts. Currently the crap-free option is only available on the VAIO TZ2000 but expect Sony to de-crap other models soon as well.

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The Asus Eee has been a darling of the tech world for the past several months, impressing onlookers with a relatively powerful feature-packed machine built into a tiny, cost effective package. Not content to rest on their current wave of success, Asus has decided to push an updated machine out the door with record speed. The new Asus Eee PC 900 sports a 9" screen and comes equipped with either 12 GB of onboard storage and Windows XP, or 12-20 GB of storage and a pre-installed Linux build. The new machines will start at $499, and should be available to the general public beginning late next month. Anyone excited enough to take the plunge?

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Well, we were half right. This morning’s entirely expected Apple Store downtime was resolved just after 8:30am EST. When the site came back up, some nice goodies came up with it.

Updated MacBooks:

• 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 1GB memory / 120GB hard drive / Combo drive: $1099
• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB memory / 160GB hard drive / Double-layer SuperDrive: $1299
• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB memory / 250GB hard drive / Double-layer SuperDrive: $1499

The lesser two options come in a white case, while the top MacBook comes in black. All models feature the 13" display and pack Intel’s new Core 2 Duo Penryn processors.

Updated MacBook Pros:

• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB memory / 200GB hard drive / 15" display: $1999
• 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB memory / 250GB hard drive / 15" display: $2599
• 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB memory / 250GB hard drive / 17" display: $2799

All MacBook Pro models pack Double-layer SuperDrives and an NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card with 256MB on the $1999 model and 512MB on the other two models. All new MacBook Pros also feature Intel’s new Core 2 Duo Penryn processors and updated trackpads with multi-touch gesture support.

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Looking to get a little portable HD content into your life? Acer seems to making some decent steps in that direction. The company is reportedly working on two separate Blu-ray capable portable machines, one with a 16.4" screen and one with a massive 18" screen. The displays on these computers will display HD content in its natural aspect ratio of 1920×1080, trumping most currently available laptops. These computers won’t be cheap, ranging in price from $1,900 to $2,240 depending on screen size and options, but for an easy to transport HD-capable machine, we think is is a pretty reasonable price point. No word on specific release dates, but we should have these in our grubby little hands by Spring of this year. Just don’t go thinking you can fit that 18"-incher in a manilla evelope, okay?

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Tomorrow is Tuesday and we all know what that means… Apple Store goes down, new stuff pops up. This formula has held true since the start of the new year and we can only hope that Apple can keep it up. So what might be in store for us tomorrow? Word on the grapevine is that we might just find ourselves with three new MacBook Pro models! Rumor has it that three new part numbers have been spotted in inventory management systems across the country. Both brick and mortar Apple stores and channel distributors reportedly show the new part numbers, and one location reported that a delivery may be due as early as Friday, February 29th. Part number details are as follows:

• MA402LL/A - $1999
• MA403LL/A - $2499
• MA404LL/A - $2799

Details beyond the part numbers and prices are scarce, but we can expect the new MacBook Pro models to sport an updated multi-touch trackpad a la MacBook Air. We can also expect Intel’s new Core 2 Duo Penryn processors to make a debut. You’ll know more when we know more…

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Oh noes! Just when we thought the MacBook Air couldn’t get anymore cooler, Colorware goes and throws on their special colorization techniques! Not content with the aluminum base on it? Well, you’ve got over 35 colors to choose from now, and that won’t stop you from getting custom logos or designs on it either. Colorware — we’re waiting for our BGR edition. Athankyou.

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It’s that time of the day, folks! We just have to say wow! Over 8,500 comments — that’s serious. Are your ready? Lauren H. is the winner of the brand new MacBook Air! You should already have been contacted by a member of our staff to arrange delivery. Enjoy! Many, many thanks to everyone that entered. We’ve got some really exciting giveaways coming up so stay tuned!

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• MacBook Air 1.8GHz, SSD, 2GB RAM
• MacBook Air 1.6GHz, 80GB HD, 2GB RAM
• 24" iMac 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM
• (2) 20" iMacs, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM
• (2) 15" MacBook Pros, 2.33GHz, 3GB RAM
• 15" MacBook Pro, 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM
• Powerbook 17", 2GB RAM (forget CPU speed, PowerPC)
• MacMini 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM
• G5, dual 2.7GHz, 4GB RAM. (PowerPC)

That’s all I can remember off the top of my head, and I’ll put this out there right now…The SSD Macbook Air launches most applications faster than anyone of those computers. I’m not talking about Final Cut necessarily, I’m talking about iChat, Safari, Firefox, iTunes, etc. Will you be recording Mariah Carey on your 1.8GHz MacBook Air with one USB port? I highly doubt it, but that’s not the point. The point is that the SSD is certainly worth it as long as you can afford it. In fact, I think a whole lot of people sprung for the SSD model that wouldn’t have, or didn’t plan to have bought one. That’s a good thing. Enjoy your SSD MacBook Air and don’t let a benchmark test make you upset you dropped a little more coin on something. The SSD drive, in my opinion, certainly makes up for the slow processor on the MacBook Air, and puts it on par with it’s brother, the MacBook Pro, in most normal usage. I’m not saying its the fastest Mac by any means, I’m just saying from real world usage, it’s pretty damn fast. Screw the benchmarks. Oh, battery life! Got around 4 hours last night managing the site, ordering from Amazon, playing iTunes music, and random madness. Not scientific, but I certainly wasn’t by a power supply and unless Daylight Savings hit twice and my clocks rolled back, it was a good 4 hours of battery life.

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Well, we’re giving away a MacBook Air! That should make your travels a little lighter, eh? To enter, it’s pretty easy. Just drop a comment in the original post, and we’ll pick one lucky winner. Official rules below.

• You may enter once and only once. Entering more than once will disqualify you
• The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only. Sorry.
• Entries close on Sunday, February 10th at 11:59 PM. We’ll announce the winner on Monday, February 11th.

P.S. Remember to post a comment in the original post, not here. Posting here disqualifies you.

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We dropped a couple hints about it, but we’re going live with it today! We’re giving away a brand new MacBook Air (1.6GHz, 80GB) to one lucky reader. How do you like them Apples? We never ask for much in our giveaways, and that doesn’t change now. All you have to do to enter is drop a comment below, and we’ll pick one lucky winner at random. That’s it! Official referee with a whistle rules below.

• You may enter once and only once. Entering more than once will disqualify you
• The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only. Sorry.
• Entries close on Sunday, February 10th at 11:59 PM. We’ll announce the winner on Monday, February 11th.

We hope you didn’t think we were going to forget about this! Apple’s MacBook Air gets the unboxing treatment here at BGR, and we have to say, this thing is pretty hot! Sleek, slender, impossibly thin — it’s hip. We heard about the tinny-sounding mono speaker but it actually wasn’t that bad. The screen? Awesome! The keyboard is obviously completely functional, and the speed of the 1.6GHz isn’t going to blow any Final Cut users away, but it should get the job done. Any questions? Drop a comment and we’ll answer ‘em.

Click on over to our MacBook Air unboxing gallery!

Not that this is the biggest deal in the world, but for those hopin’ and wishin’ and prayin’ to get a MBA as fast as possible, you’ll be able to run down to your local Apple store to grab one on Tuesday! Here’s the deal: stores have them, no question because they arrived Friday / Saturday. But, since Steve-O said “2 weeks,” it’s 2 weeks, ok? Product banners and visuals will go up on Monday night in all Apple stores for the official “launch” on Tuesday, and the Genius Bar employees get their official training tomorrow. Wait, didn’t we practically say this? Oh, yeah, we did!

UPDATE: Looks like it might be Wednesday now!

Remember the days when "going green" was a huge inconvenience? Even today, many people still believe that making an effort to conserve energy will always have a negative impact on quality of life. While this is true in some cases, green technologies are improving with each passing day and we’re fast-approaching a time where conservation will be trendy again. Green isn’t just for hippies anymore. Take the Voltaic Generator by Voltaic Systems, for example. There will come a time when all laptop bags will tout solar-cell technology and this spring you can get yourself ahead of the pack. The Voltaic Generator features an integrated 14.7 watt solar panel and a built-in battery pack that can hold enough juice to fully charge a standard laptop battery after a day in the sun. In fact, it’s one of the first bags of its kind with a solar panel powerful enough to charge a laptop. It doesn’t end with laptops, though. Voltaic includes a variety of common adapters for use with phones and other handheld devices.The bag itself is big enough to hold a 17" MacBook Pro or Sony AR-series, and is manufactured from 100% recycled materials. Forget for a minute that by using this bag you’re conserving energy and therefore helping the environment and sticking it to Big Oil; you’re packing a device that lets you easily juice up your gear on the go. It even sports an integrated indicator light in the handle that shows you when the panels are working. The Voltaic Generator will set you back $600 when it becomes available in the spring, but all things considered that’s not a terrible price point. Now if only Louis made something like this…

[Via Bornrich]

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Have you been holding off on purchasing that new Apple laptop to wait and see what Steve pulled out of his hat at Macworld? You won’t be disappointed. Apple today introduced an ultra-light version of their popular MacBook laptop. Dubbed the MacBook Air, the new computer is being billed as "the world’s thinnest laptop." Based on the images coming out of the Keynote, we’d have to agree with that claim. The little bugger is 0.16-0.76 inches thick, depending on where you take the measurement. It sports a full size 13.3" display, multi-touch gesture track pad, full-size back lit keyboard, integrated iSight, 1.6GHz / 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo chip, 2GB of RAM, 80GB 1.8" hard drive (64 GB SSD optional), and built-in 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. All told, this is one crazy little machine. It even fits inside a manila envelope! Expect to find this on Apple store shelves in about two weeks for $1,799…the question now is can we wait that long? Hit the jump for some more shots

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It’s that time of year again, folks. With Macworld quickly approaching and the promise of new Apple products looking heavily in the air, the rumor mill is hard at work. The most consistent rumor is that Apple will be releasing some sort of sub-notebook computer (but you already knew that). We’re not going to throw our hat in the ring on this one just yet, but a number of different sources are reporting that Apple is going to unveil a miniature MacBook known called the MacBook Air. There are banners up already at the Expo site that sport the phrase "There’s Something in the Air." There’s even mumblings around the web that this new Macbook could sport wireless charging and wireless peripherals. On top of that, 9to5Mac is reporting that they’ve managed to uncover a Google Cache record of a computer labeled as…you guessed it…MacBook Air. Smoke and mirrors or a sign of things to come? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Think about what you could do with a terabyte of storage. Hundreds of thousands of photos and audio files, weeks of p0rn, the possibilities are endless. The upcoming M70 from Asus will make your mobile-pirating fantasy a reality and cram all of that hard disk space into a multimedia-centric notebook PC. Hitachi GST has announced that the upcoming Asus M50 and M70 laptops will feature their Travelstar 5K500 hard drives. The latter of the two models will be available with a dual-drive configuration totalling 1TB of space. Asus’ new multimedia notebook series will be aimed at HD audio / video and there is no question that they’ll have the room to for it. Other features will include a full-sized keyboard and dual-mode touchpad, a high-quality LCD cover made by exclusive ASUS Infusion technology and premium integrated speakers to allow for a better multimedia experience. Don’t worry about the speaker vibration harming your hard drives as the 5k500 make use of Hitachi’s Rotational Vibration Safeguard (RVS) technology to "mitigate any adverse impact on system performance from unexpected vibrations or shocks to the system enclosure." That’s right, your p0rn is safe…

[Via I4U]

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Beatsmiths and wanna-be rockstars were surely in the back of designer Prashant Chandra’s mind when he drew up his latest concept. pcRocks stuffs a powerful computer and a high-definition mic with integrated pop filter into a compact portable case. Perfect for recording on the go in any surroundings, this compact unit could be an ideal solution for musicians and producers on a budget. Even small private recording studios can cost a small fortune once you factor in the hourly rates, engineers, rehashing and everything else that goes into recording a track. A solution like this could be a perfect alternative for aspiring musicians of all kinds. pcRocks owners from around the world will also be able to network with each other while working on a project and record in real-time, eliminating travel costs entirely. This concept has some lofty aspirations and we’re curious to see how exactly Chandra plans to combat surrounding noise, vibrations and other audio disruptions that soundproofing techniques such as floating and acoustical paneling eliminate in a professional studio. Even still, the portability and versatility of a product like pcRocks has some real potential to make professional-quality recordings much more accessible.

[Via Yanko Design]

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Leave it up to our music industry spies (Ok, well, Just Blaze really) to set the record straight! Apple will 100% be announcing a new laptop at MacWorld. We’ve also heard the laptop will go on sale a week after MacWorld, too. What laptop is this? The much-rumored ultra portable one? Well, we’d guess so, but do not have a firm confirmation on the details of the new unit. Once again, completely without a doubt confirmed Apple will be announcing a new sort of laptop at MacWorld. How do we know this? Apple had a recent holiday event where they had artists perform (some really big names, too), and they all did it for free! Why did they perform without being paid? Apple promised to give every performer and band member one of the new laptops they are coming out with at MacWorld! That’s all, folks!

Yeah, we’re not sure we know anyone that still uses a tablet PC, but if you happen to be one of the dying breed, you should pay attention. Dell is getting ready to unleash a new tablet on the scene, and the specs don’t look half bad. The new Dell Latitude XT Tablet sports an available Dual-Core Intel ULV CPU, a WXGA LED-backlit touchscreen, 3 USB ports, 802.11n, Bluetooth, and available on-board HSDPA or EV-DO Rev. A. We’re not sure of the projected price point, but with an expected drop date of December 11th, we suppose all should be revealed soon enough.

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Alienware has consistently pumped out some of the most powerful purpose-built gaming machines on the market. They have recently launched a bit of a cryptic marketing campaign to signal the impending arrival of two new portable computers. Named the Area-51 m15x and Area-51 m17x, these will be 15" and 17" computers that sport what Alienware is referring to as a brand new, designed-from-the-ground exterior. They won’t be revealed in full until next Monday, but the company has dropped a couple of teasers shots. The photos depict a typically radical design. Some actual specs would be nice, but Alienware is playing the mystery card until next week’s official release. Patience, patience, patience.

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Have you ever seen something so hideously unattractive that it makes you want to lose your lunch? If not, take a gander at the Dell XPS M2010 "notebook" computer. This beast is, quite honestly, one the least attractive computers we’ve ever seen. To be fair, it’s got quite a feature set, sporting an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of on board RAM, up to a 500GB hard drive, 8 speakers plus a sub woofer, 20.1" widescreen display, a 256MB ATI^®  Mobility^TM  RADEON^TM  X1800 Graphics Card, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and much more. Unfortunately, specs are not everything in this game, with visual appeal accounting for a significant portion of consumer decision making. If Dell hopes to compete in the "uber-laptop" game, then they need to run, not walk, to the drawing board and re-hash their design strategy. Brace yourself for more hands-on shots after the jump.

Toshiba has one of the biggest setups here at Digital Life (The Guitar Hero main stage notwithstanding), and we’ve been generally impressed with what they have to offer. We got a chance to play around with one of their Qosmio G45 flagship laptops this morning, and came away with a favorable impression. First things first, the Toshiba G45 is not your momma’s OQO 2. Whereas a lot of companies are moving towards lighter, more streamlined designs, Toshiba seems content to churn out massive, hulking bits of metal and plastic. If you’re in the market for a desktop replacement, though, then the portability aspect isn’t of the utmost concern. Feature-wise, the G45has you covered. It sports a gorgeous 17" High Definition 1080p WUXGA screen which really has to be seen in person to fully appreciate. It’s stunning, powered by a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card. There’s an on board HD-DVD-R drive, allowing for archiving and HD-DVD movie burning. It also sports an Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 2.0 GHz, 2GB of RAM, and 320 GB of standard storage. There are a couple of illuminated circular controllers on either side of the keyboard that allow you to manage whatever media files you’d like, and the touch sensitive strips worked quite well. All told, if you need an incredibly powerful desktop replacement computer, the G45 is an excellent bet, though with a base price of $3,099 it’s not the most affordable machine on the market. Hit the jump for some more shots!

There are a ton of new and exciting products here at Digital Life, but the overwhelming focus clearly seems to be on gaming. Toshiba’s entry into the mobile gaming market is a pretty solid one. Their Toshiba Satellite X205 SLI Ultimate Gaming Console is very elegant looking and it still brings some serious 1-2 gaming punching power to the table. It’s a laptop (but we don’t recommend toting one of these beasts around) that sports a number of impressive features. For starters, it rocks an HD-DVD ROM drive with an HDMI output to enjoy your favorite Hi-Def movies and games on an external display or HDTV. The graphics card…impressive! It s an NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8600M GT card with 512MB of on board RAM and native DirectX 10 support. At the booth, Toshiba actually had this laptop hooked up to an external TV and we were extremely pleased with the resolution, clarity, and frame-rate we saw. If you’re not privileged enough to have an HDTV worthy of displaying greatness, it really isn’t a big deal. Your picture on the actual laptop will look great thanks to a 17" WSXVGA+ TruBrite display. You’ve also got not two, but four Harmon/Kardon speakers on here to bring the bass and thunder, a built-in web cam, fingerprint scanner so your roommate can’t play Command and Conquerer when you’re not there, and an external HDTV tuner to finish things off. Not bad at all, guys! While Toshiba was mum on pricing, it seems as if the Satellite X205 SLI Ultimate Gaming Console is already available from a number of online retailers, including Best Buy for a little less than $2,000. One more shot after the break!

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