With the WWDC a few scant weeks away, the updates and rumors posted to cryptomacology blogs have come so fast and furious that some have simply blinked out of our reality, having consummated their union with the Speed Force. Over at Wired's Gadget Lab, Charlie Sorrel has approached the current slate of Apple rumors with a level-head. No surprises here: the most likely new products from Apple will be a 3G iPhone and a new MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in looks as the original PowerBook G4, announced back in January 2001. It's time for a change. We expect a big multi touch trackpad, the new chiclet-style keyboard, an almost bezel-less screen (which should bring the overall size down despite still having a 15" screen) and perhaps some 3G connectivity (Apple has so many deals with cellphone networks now that an international rollout of an always-on connection is feasible). We'll probably see a version without an optical drive, too, perhaps with a second hard drive filing the space. And after all the whining about the MacBook Air being a little wussy in its specs, it could be time for Apple to drive home a powerful, well endowed twelve-incher.

You know, I was hot for the new MacBook Pro, but in a recent conversation with Beschizza, I realized that my current MBP is pretty much the perfect form factor for a serious work laptop. The MBP's exterior still a svelte, sophisticated and attractive chassis... the only things I find myself wanting are silly things like more USB ports. I'm not really sure anymore that the MBP does need an overhaul: how much better could it really look? A bezel-less screen would certainly be hot, a higher resolution would be lovely, and Apple can make pretty much anything thinner, but I'm not sure that a new MBP design is the "must have" for me I was convinced it was a scant few months ago. The MBP's pretty much perfect as is.

What To Expect From Apple At WWDC [Gadget Lab]

Image: Mac Rumors

Fscklog, a German blog that covers Apple, says that Intel's "confirmation" of an Atom-based, larger iPhone is no such thing.

"Intel's press spokesman Mike Cato made clear to me that the statement made by Intel Germany's CEO Hannes Schwaderer is not to be taken as such. Rather, Intel (in this case is Mr. Schwaderer) said the iPhone has been, for a long time, an example of the entire category of Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs)"

Thanks to BBG reader Rudi for spotting the update.

Update: ZDNet.de, the source of the original claim, says that the man was using the word "iPhone" to refer to mobile internet devices in general. We guessed this yesterday, and look forward to the trademark shenanigans that result when people do this.

Nein (translation) [fscklog]

MSI's Wind is a 10" subnotebook coming soon in a $400 512MB linux version and a $550 1GB Windows XP version—you get Bluetooth and a 7-hour battery with the latter, explaining the price hike. The XP model is great, according to Chilean hardware site CHW. Google translates its conclusion like so:

" What we tested, and we are thrilled with the HANDS. The MSI Notebook Wind is all that the EEA is not PC and more. Clearly these teams have a clearly defined and limited niche in the market and it is timely for those seeking one second laptop or a supplement to your desktop computer that is ultra-mobile or for those who do not have high demands for power. If this goal within this segment, CREEN. Fall in love."

I'm thinking it might be slightly too big, with that 10" screen, to quite capture the Eee's portability. At 2.8 pounds with that long-life battery, however, what the hell am I complaining about? Talk about a dark horse: Asus and HP have a real competitor to deal with here.

Translation [CHW via UMPC Portal]

Intel Germany supremo Hannes Schwaderer just slapped his todger on the bar and demanded service, announcing a 720x new iPhone featuring Intel's Atom chip. This is according to the Internet. From ZDNet Germany, as translated by MacRumors:

"As part of an Intel event for the 40th birthday of the semiconductor company at Munich’s BMW World, Germany managing director Hannes Schwaderer confirmed today what has long been a rumor on the Internet: namely, that there is an iPhone with Intel’s new Atom chip. The device is slightly larger than the current version, Schwaderer said. That is not, however, because of the Intel chip, but because of the larger display used in the new iPhone."

Intel's been flashing its MID prototype around at conferences for a while. It's clearly modeled on the iPhone.

If this is for real, it's either the dumbest intentional leak of all time, of a gaffe of monumental proportions. If it isn't, it could be a use of "iPhone" as a generic reference to its class of device: a linguistic development that can render trademarks unenforceable and which will displease pharaoh.

iPhone kommt mit größerem Display und Intel Atom [ZDnet.de via MacRumors]

There's a new Get a Mac ad. Just assume that this post has gone through the necessary preliminaries to posting a new Get a Mac ad: a lede inoculating the post against criticism by admitting that it's not funny, followed by a finger-steeply remark about how Apple's homing in on Vista, and finally some self-conscious mumbling about Hodgman.

I like the puppy.

I've just broken all the rules for buying a Mac; my colleagues think I'm dumb. I grabbed a relatively unpopular high-end model, the 17" MacBook Pro with the 133dpi 1920x display, within weeks of an expected replacement from Apple. But it fulfills my sole requirement, to immediately replace a 24" iMac with the nearest portable equivalent. Moreover, I got a fair deal on a refurb, paying a little over $2k instead of the $3k I'd be paying if I waited for the new one and bought it fresh.

MacWorld has its own shakeup of the rules today, declaring that the Mac Pro is unnecessary for all but extremely specialized purposes ("for most mainstay applications, the high-end iMac and MacBook Pro models are plenty fast") and that no, you do not need an upgrade path. It says the performance difference between MacBooks and iMacs are negligible, so get a laptop unless you want to save money. Accordingly, you don't need a desktop for the desk and a laptop for travel. The higher CPU options aren't worth it, either—spend the dough on more RAM instead. And while Macs are expensive, you shouldn't use price as a guide to performance, as "the differences between the various Mac lines have diminished."

The upshot of it all is, funnily enough, that power users should "buy a 17" MacBook Pro" if they're not anchored to a desk. Bravo! To which I will add: but you really should wait a few weeks, unless you're cheap.

The new rules for buying a Mac [Macworld]

VIA's tiny Pico-ITX motherboards just got a bit more Pico, losing the bulky CPU fan. The new fanless models will accordingly fit easier into whatever weird thing you're trying to make into a PC case. Compromise? Oh, yes: the EPIA PX5000EG is even feebler than the standard model, with a VIA C7 CPU clocked at 500Mhz instead of the standard 1GHz.

I always sign off Pico-ITX posts with a remark about my vague plans to make a MAME machine inside an old Dreamcast Arcade Joystick. Maybe it's time to get cracking.

The coolest ever Pico ITX board [Technovoyance via Engadget]

MSI have just released pricing details for the Wind, and it's looking very good. Americans will get the 10" Wind on the 3rd of June, featuring a 1024x600 LCD, an 80GB HDD, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and a six-cell battery specced for 5.5 hours of life, along with Intel's new Atom processor. If you want the Linux version with 512MB of RAM, the price will only be $399. You'll pay an astonishing $150 premium for XP and an extra half-gig of RAM though for the Windows flavor, which costs $549. Just slap Ubuntu on the damn thing and save yourself a couple bills.

Despite its gauche white plastic shell, the MSI Wind subnotebook may have just ripped the lashing, fluid-spurting spine out of the Asus Eee's market share and become the subnotebook to beat. A subnotebook that costs less than $400 and has six hours of battery life? Sold.

MSI unveils pricing, launch date for Wind laptop [Tech Report]

Image: Crunchgear

The handheld PC fail crusade just took Jerusalem! The first mobile internet device (MID) was announced to be more expensive than than the bloated, unusable ultramobile PCs for which this new class of gadget is supposed to be a cheaper, cleaner consumer replacement.

At $1,119 in Australian dollars, the M528 3G will shift at the equivalent of about $1,050 USD. UMPC Portal's updated its post already to soften the blow, reporting that it hopes it'll be only $750 when it comes to the U.S., but the rationale -- "It appears that we might have stirred the sales and marketing groups into a re-think" -- doesn't quite add up. While the point that Aussies and Europeans just get screwed on consumer electronics is true, they're putting this thing out to bat in a pricing league way over what's expected for something supposed to occupy an intermediary spot between cell phones and subnotebooks/UMPCS. It's almost as if they've chickened out on the high-volume, thin-margin model that MID seems to imply, in favor of cashing in on the buzz by trying to sneakily rebrand UMPCs, devices with a reputation for overburdened hardware and wretched battery life.

We're supposed to be reasonable about these things, but by God, how can they keep cocking it up generation after generation? The lesson of the Eee, or, indeed, the iPhone, has simply not been learned: a handheld computer should be low-priced, with limited but productive functionality, not yet another dumb run at trying to get people to pay a grand for a bloatware-crippled shit trinket.

First Intel MID pre-order/pricing. Sit down before reading. [UMPC Portal]

Spot the difference! Granted, it's not the most flattering of photographs. But the journey from Maya to the material plane is clearly one of compromise. Engadget puts it bluntly: The Eee desktop looks "noticeably worse than the concept preceding it."

The Eee Box, as it shall be known, is still prettier than the smaller Dells and HPs. At 2.2 pounds, it has Intel's Atom CPU, a gig of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. It'll run Linux, and, if they want to sell any of them, be a lot cheaper than the Mac Mini.

ASUS Eee Box B202 desktop gets pictured: we like the concept better [Engadget]

Royal Pingdom has a few images from the inside of portable data centers, the sort used by Sun and Google to drop massive computing power anywhere they can send a shipping container. I would like to hang a hammock inside and make one my new nest.

What the inside of a container data center looks like [Royal.Pingdom.com]

Previously • illy's Shipping Container Cafe [BBG]

The nut: The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is a no-compromise ultra-light laptop that weighs just 3.3 pounds (or less if you ditch the optical drive), but the famous ThinkPad industrial design is getting a bit long in the tooth.

What a difference just a couple of pounds can make. I regularly hold my 15-inch MacBook Pro with one hand as I carry it around, but there's always a bit of nervous mindfulness necessary. Drop two pounds, from 5.4 pounds to the Lenovo ThinkPad X300's 3.3 pounds, and suddenly moving the laptop around with one hand is no longer an exercise is risk management. There's no worry that the X300 will slip out of a sweaty grip, especially since its matte plastic surface is easier to hold than Apple's aluminum.

Unlike the MacBook Air, its closest rival, the X300 includes an optical drive and a higher resolution 1,440-by-900 pixel LED-backlit display. If weight is a factor, you could even ditch the six-cell battery for a three-cell (which is what my test unit had) and leave the optical drive out entirely, taking the weight down to 2.9 pounds. Or the best option for those who spend lots of time away from power: the six-cell internal battery coupled with an additional battery that fits into the optical drive bay.

The X300 is priced to move...into your stately manse. Depending on configuration, the X300 costs around three grand. All that engineering wasn't cheap, it seems, putting a fully kitted X300 at almost twice the price of the MacBook Air.

But the target buyer for the X300 is the same business traveler at which previous ThinkPads have been aimed. As the diesel Mercedes of the laptop world, ThinkPads have never been the low-cost option. Yet while the X300 is a marvelous bit of engineering — there's not only a touchpad but the infamous ThinkPad pointing nubbin around the full-sized, extremely typeable keyboard, for instance — the slapdash industrial design of the ThinkPad line is showing its age. The big blue Enter key, the garish diagonal "ThinkPad" logo in the lower right corner, the chintzy Windows and Intel badges, the exposed case latches when opened — all of these add up to make the X300 feel like a ThinkPad, which was of course the intention, but I can't help but question if it's time for Lenovo to start phasing out the anachronisms of the IBM era. (Their upcoming U110 laptop looks more like a modern ThinkPad than the modern ThinkPads, to my eye.)

As for a computer to take camping, the X300 is a great solution in most ways. It's light. Its built-in EVDO modem got a signal from what was probably at least a couple of miles away from the nearest tower despite no external antenna. (I'm guessing on range, be warned.) It had great battery life even with just the three-cell battery, chugging through 1xRTTT (and sometimes EVDO, depending on which way the wind was blowing) and standard web browsing, photo editing, and chatting for almost three hours. Its case, however, didn't take to being thrown in a bag along with other plastic and metal fear very well, netting several scrapes and even some chipped plastic near the front edge. That was surprising, but understandable — a properly ruggedized laptop would weigh several pounds more than an ultra-light business portable. And fortunately, it's all cosmetic.

Still, that does bring up a noteworthy point: at this size and weight, the X300 is just the sort of computer you'll want to toss into a backpack or shoulder bag without concern. (The greatest selling point of the Asus Eee is its nigh-on disposable nature.) But at three large, the X300 costs too much to be handled roughly. You'll want to keep it in a soft wrap or separate compartment, typical care-and-feeding for larger laptops, but a bit of a disappointment for something this lightweight.

A couple of final thoughts: The built-in Verizon EVDO modem worked well — I especially liked Verizon's decision to activate the EVDO without a subscription to allow remote sign-up for service — but I wonder why Verizon still hasn't implemented a day- or week-long pass for a fee. Well, I know why: the want subscription money, still caught up in the cellphone model. But for integrated EVDO modems that can't be transferred to other devices, I don't feel comfortable signing up for two-year contracts. Instead, Verizon should offer a reasonably priced pass system that lets mobile users buy a day or a week at a time. I'd gladly spend $30 for a week of EVDO service each time I went on a trip rather than buying Wi-Fi service piecemeal.

Perhaps my favorite feature of the X300 is one that won't matter to most: its screen can be cocked back flat [pictured!], making it possible to put the keyboard on your keys while lying in bed but still face the screen head on. I wish all laptop manufacturers would add a few more degrees of incline to their designs. It really gives you quite a bit more freedom in how you hold and use the laptop, which makes moving around and staying comfortable much easier over long computing sessions.

Laptop case makers Proporta have developed a case for the Asus Eee PC. Constructed of shatter proof and shock-absorbent polycarbonate plastic, the Eee Crystal Case has a secure closure catch and a 360-degree double hinge, which allows you to open the Eee at any angle. For me, though, I see little point in vigorously protecting an Eee: it already comes with a little fabric case, and the entire idea is to just be able to have a tiny, cheap laptop you can sling around and not really worry about breaking or having stolen. It also only comes in clear ("ideal for use with GPS navigation" claims the website, though I wasn't aware that the Eee had GPS) which won't help you camouflage your Eee's garish white default casing. If only it came in whore red!

Asus Eee PC Series Crystal Case [Proporta]

Digital filmmaker Dennis Liu has produced a video for the The Bird and the Bee's lovely single "Again and Again," in which the lyrics, melody and vocals unspool in surprising ways across his Mac's desktop in a beautiful visual harmony... ending in an artfully delightful pimping of the band in question that makes buying the track on iTunes almost hypnotically compulsory.

This is the sort of video that would drive you mad if you had to experience it endlessly looped on the big screen of your local Apple store, yet Liu's film is far, far more brilliant and joyful and effective than any ad campaign Apple's ever done... a wonderful zen fusion between one filmmaker's uncynical enthusiasm for his platform of choice and an adorable little pop song.

Rather unexpectedly, leaked images of the next batch of Dell Inspirons are somewhat exciting. Is that an actual stab at aesthetically pleasing design we're seeing here? A stab, yes. Even more impressive: is Dell actually thinking of building a laptop that will not weigh so much as to be capable of crushing a large wharf rat when dropped upon it from a height of a few inches? We can hope.

The Inspiron 1435, 1535 and 1735 will taper from a svelte 1-inch thickness to a more robust 1.5, making it MacBook Pro thin. Additionally, the three laptops will sport slot-loading drives (including a Blu-Ray option), WWAN support and processors up to Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz. Not too shabby. According to Engadget, the 1535 will be dropping on May 26th and we should see the 1735 by June 9th.

Let's all give Dell the slow clap for coming up with a laptop design that does not immediately make me want to horf.

Dell Inspiron 1435, 1535 and 1735 leaked [Engadget]

Someone once described G.K. Chesterton as a man who could rediscover the magic of a lamp post every time he encountered one. He would experience it with a fresh mind, delighted by the post's rigid contours or the magical glowing of the electrically-charged bulb. As much as I love Chesterton, I have to admit, I always thought this description of Chesterton was not meant kindly: hang out with the sort of giggling man-child constantly rediscovering the "magic" of salt shakers and mailboxes and I guarantee you'll want to karate chop his thorax within a few minutes.

Still, I'd like to impart at least some tincture of that world view into my day-to-day life. After all, why do things always look like the things they look like? That may seem like a question only grammatically clever and in actuality pretty stupid, but bear with me: why must a stereo look like a stereo, or a computer look like a computer? Their appearances are only casings for the jumble of guts within. And, in truth, designers do seem to experiment with gadgets that eschew the traditional design motifs of, say, a "computer" or "stereo..." but ultimately, people don't really want a G.K. Chesterton experience when they walk into a room. They don't want to have to rediscover the magic of a computer or a stereo when they walk into a new room: they just want to be able to use it. Usability will always trump design in importance, and the truth of the matter is that 9/10ths of usability is through familiarity.

Anyway, just some early morning navel gazing, prompted by the Suissa Enlighten Computer... a wooden cased PC containing a quad-core Intel processor, a 1 TB drive and 4GB of memory and which looks absolutely nothing like a PC. You can't buy it, only commission it, so it doubtlessly costs gobs. That's fine: if it was more attainable, it might become popular, and if it became popular, it would be emulated, and then it'd lose its real appeal (at least to me): it'd start looking like a PC again.

Suissa Enlighten Computer [Official Site via Red Ferret]

Here's a perfect example of why support staff need to receive exhaustive training before they are permitted to represent a company. In trying to avoid covering under-warranty repairs for a laptop, a HP staffer claims that Amazon "probably" sold her counterfeit HP equipment.

'I said "There is no way that my laptop is not a brand new. It's HP Sealed and sold by Amazon.com. Are you telling me the HP seal is a fake one too?" He said "Probably." I asked, "With my laptop serial number, does my laptop match every specification on your HP database?" He said "Yes." I said, "That's what HP built and sold to me. As a customer/consumer, who will take their laptop apart and check if there's a serial number on the motherboard before they buy?" He argued, "But HP will not ship anything without a serial number."'

Underneath it all is a less ridiculous but far more evil claim, repeated several times—according to the customer—by HP's myriad organs: that its warranty does not actually cover what HP manufactures, only the software it installs on it.

On the other hand, if Amazon really is selling fake HP gear, that's just super.

HP Denies Your Warranty, Accuses Amazon Of Selling You A "Fake" Laptop [Consumerist]

Granted, the Hell's Illusion Mini PC is a mod that only a lifetime Fangoria subscriber could love. Luckily, I am that subscriber. Who needs a Mac Mini when you can drive your home media center with a computer powered by the frickin' Lament Configuration? Utterly ridiculous, but I don't care. Truly, a computer for explorers in the further regions of experience... demons to some, angels to others, Vista users to all. Jesus wept.

The Hell's Illusion PC [Techeblog]

Dell is now selling their Inspiron 1525 series of laptops with designs by artist Mike Ming. They're designed to be "attuned to youth culture," which is one of those artfully clueless turns of phrase that could only be put earnestly on paper by a press release writer secretly mystified by these crazy kids today with their Dinosaur Comics and their LOLCats and their Substance D.

One Ming Inspiron will set you back about $699, although from my mother's anecdotal experience ordering what Beschizza might have called a "whore red" laptop from Dell, I wonder if the Ming design is just a sticker, in which case you're probably better off just going to Gelaskins. Hell, Dell should just team up with those guys: they're awesome.

Mike Ming Inspirons [Dell via Crunchgear]

Sony's UX UMPC is certainly powerful enough to run Unreal Tournament 2004, but with a four-inch arrangement of QWERTY chiclets for a control scheme, it's certainly not going to be playable. Modder Dan Middle decided he wanted to transform his UX into the ultimate portable fragging device, so he hacked a USB gamepad to fit the UX. The mod is simple — it's basically a foldable mini USB gamepad that slots into the UX's compact flash port with a dummy CF card for stability while plugging into the USB port just beneath. I doubt you'd want to jump online with this configuration, but it's good enough to instagib on the road.

DIY gamepad attachment for Sony UX UMPC [Slashgear]

Wonder: tiny motherboards from Via Technologies which fit inside anything from bottles of whisky to hollowed-out books. Dismay: They're not very powerful and tend to be sold to the people who make cash registers. Refresher: Intel's Atom and Via's Isaiah high-performance, low-power chips to be added to Mini-ITX 'boards.

"With Intel restricting its Atom processor to only be used with mini-ITX-based motherboards, mini-ITX chassis are expected to see a surge in demand in June, according to sources in the channel. ... In order to make a clear separation between nettop products and traditional entry-level PCs, Intel only allows Atom processors to be used with mini-ITX motherboards, limiting the platform with a lack of PCI Express and only a single DIMM slot for up to 2GB DDR2 memory."

It's not really clear to me if the "limitation" here is really a specified restriction from Intel or merely inherent to the small motherboards' lack of features. A company called Arbor, for example, makes a Mini-ITX motherboard with a PCI-Express x16 slot--let's see if it's got plans for an upgrade.

Intel Atom to boost mini-ITX chassis [DigiTimes]

HP Mini-Note vs. Eee PC vs 2Go PC: WPM Fight!

"Based on the average words per minute among our contestants, the HP Mini-Note easily conquered the Eee PC and the 2Go PC. Our typists produced an average of 53.25 wpm on the Mini-Note, despite concerns about its lack of tactile feedback. The 92% full size keyboard certainly provided the advantage over the child-sized keys on the Eee PC and the 2Go PC. Our traditional touch typists, ESC Artist and Key Crusher, found the extra real estate on the Mini-Note to be vital to their success."

I'm in the market for a small, cheap laptop; picking between the nine-inch Eee and the HP is going to be a tough one.

Mini-Notebook Typing Madness Part I: Eee PC [Laptop]

There are two technological Steves in Time's 100. Apple alum Guy Kawasaki praises Jobs for the mindshare, but when it comes to the money, there's no competition.

"If you want 95% of the wallets of every market that you're in, then you want this Steve. If you want 95% of the mind share of every market that you're in, then you need the other Steve (Jobs).”

Sage words. Moreover, Ballmer's thrashing Jobs in the reader's poll, too:

Of course, the winner of that poll is a video game designer, and the runner up a pop star few outside of South Korea have even heard of, but hey, Internet!
Steve Ballmer [Time]

Moon-mad steampunk engineers have constructed Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 from the master's original plans. It is now on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., after being completed last month.

"The first complete Babbage Engine was completed in London in 2002, 153 years after it was designed. Difference Engine No. 2, built faithfully to the original drawings, consists of 8,000 parts, weighs five tons, and measures 11 feet long. We invite you to learn more about this extraordinary object, its designer Charles Babbage and the team of people who undertook to build it. Discover the wonder of a future already passed. A sight no Victorian ever saw."

Online exhibit [Computer History]

Novatel's U727 EVDO Rev. A USB cellular modem is small, fast and works seamlessly with Windows PCs and Macs.

Though an improvement over earlier models like the U720, it's still larger than most thumbdrives and those looking for something super-tiny will be disappointed. Joel bought one and sent it back, disappointed by its size, but I have no problem with it at all. It's one of the few things of its type that even fits in a MacBook Air.

Setup is easier on Windows: plug it in, and the software autoruns and configures it automagically. On OS X 10.4, instructions are provided, but they didn't quite match up to reality, and you have to find your way to Internet Connect and punch some stuff in manually. Not a major problem — especially for anyone who has ever hacked a WiFi or WWAN stick to work on OSX — but this flashback to the dial-up era may give delicate Mac fans the vapors.

Throughput was excellent in my location: 1.3 Mbps down and 500 kbps up on either platform, though it seems quite sensitive to location: moving a laptop just a few yards halved that.

The stick's antenna is attractive enough, flush with its geometry when closed and not unattractive when up. There's also a tiny connector for connecting an external antenna.

One untested bonus is the MicroSD card slot; it works as a card reader for cards up to 4GB.

I've been using this all week as my iMac's sole internet connection, and haven't noticed much difference at all between it and Comcast cable internet for everyday browsing. Sprint's EVDO service is fine, assuming you get a decent connection: the iMac's web server is not accessible with the stick's global IP address, however, so perhaps there's some sanitization of connections going on. There's no noticeable degradation of images or other suggestions of "speed-boosting" proxies.

The U727 costs $280 outright or is $80 with a 2-year contract subsidy with Sprint, on whose network it was tested. You'll need the $60 unlimited plan, as EVDO will eat the $40 40Mb plan in a few minutes.