Recently in Computer Hardware Category

New storage products usually involve gadgets that are bigger, faster and cheaper as disk drives keep packing in more and more data and prices keep on dropping.

However, EMC's Iomega, well-known for such personal disk storage products as the Zip and Jaz drives, is coming out with new products that are smaller -- yet "bigger" in capacity -- and cheaper.

Iomega recently introduced the StorCenter ix2, a 1TB-capacity network storage drive with a desktop footprint that the company describes as "smaller than a large dictionary." The price: $300.   (Cheap, cheap ...)

The StorCenter ix2 comes in 1TB and 2TB ($479) versions and provides a centralized network storage repository that can be used in the home to share, secure and protect data and files, including databases, photos, MP3 files, videos and financial records.

It's ridiculous how cheap these things are, but it is what it is. It's a great value for the consumer.

The ix2 includes built-in support for Bluetooth, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) and DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified devices; it even sports an integrated iTunes server.

The ix2 includes security software from RSA, also owned by EMC.

More at eWeek.com.

The Mac Mini may be pronounced dead as soon as today's Apple earnings conference call, as two major retailers in Europe have confirmed that they can't order any more of the little doodad.

While this could signal an updated model coming in, the impression is that -- once again -- the Mac Mini may be dead dead DEAD for real, even while you can still order it at the Apple Store.

It would be weird to see it go in this time of crisis, but being their worst-selling computer, it's not that surprising.

The Mac mini was first introduced in January 2005 at the Macworld Conference & Expo. Labeled by Steve Jobs as the "most affordable Mac ever" it was well received by the critic and public. And check out those tiny dimensions for a desktop machine.

Apple positioned it as a cheap alternative to the Mac Pro for every PC user who wanted to switch to the Mac without having to buy new peripherals. 

But guess a lot of PC users didn't want to take any of that old stuff with them ... 

More at Gizmodo.

In the what's old is new again category ...

IMOVIO has launched a smaller alternative to a subnotebook -- much smaller. The new iKIT is about the size of a PDA from 10 years ago, but has a QWERTY keyboard and connects to the Internet at 3G speeds via your cell phone or Wi-Fi.

(Ah the Newton ... Anybody still using that little gadget goodie from Apple?) 

The $175 Linux-based system has a built-in Webcam as well as a range of applications, such as Web browsing, e-mail and IM.

It can connect to the Internet using a standard Wi-Fi connection, or it can use your cell phone's mobile broadband connection via Bluetooth. 

Now are those chicklet keys easy on our big fingers? 

Get more at Computerworld.

Want to run Mac OS X on a PC? Well, Steve Jobs notorious for forcing his loyal fans to run only Apple-approved hardware let the cat outta the bag once he announced Intel support (previous utilized PowerPC processors.). It was only a matter of time before some hacker found a way to run Mac OS X on PCs with Intel processors.

Of course, the version of Leopard sold by Apple only includes drivers for Apple provided hardware and it requires an Apple Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which replaces the traditional PC BIOS. So how do you get around these limitations? Well, using Kalyway DVD, a hacked version of OS X, it removes the EFI restriction and includes many device drivers for common PC hardware.

Want to learn more about running Mac OS X on a PC? Well check out the tutorial here!

Also check out the Kalyway DVD thread in forums.

Let the buyers beware!

You might notice a few extra gamers hanging around your local Best Buy -- Dell has announced it will sell the Alienware Aurora exclusively through 200 Besy Buy locations as well as the store's website.

People are defining themselves by the products they choose and the groups they associate with -- Alienware Aurora lovers are saying "I am a serious gamer and user who demands the best in personal computing."

Designed for the serious gaming crowd, the Aurora has an AMD Phenom X4 9550 quad-core CPU, dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPUs, a 500GB3 7,200RPM hard drive and 4GB of DDR2 memory.

Other features include a multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive, Alien Ice 3.0 cooling and Windows Vista Home Premium.

Price: $1,699.99 (without monitor, mouse and keyboard).

More at Electronic House.

Image a MacBook with the screen already open when you pick it up and without any hinges.

Well, the description doesn't do it justice, but that's what you got with the Axiotron Modbook.

It's the first and only Mac-based tablet computer on the market.

Geared specifically for use by the design community, it seamlessly integrates a state-of-the-art Wacom pen-enabled display and the Apple MacBook computer's legendary ease of use and design sensibility. It gives artists and design-oriented professionals enhanced onscreen drawing and sketching functionality when they need it most.

But while it looks "touch screen," it's not. It does not respond to hand/finger touch for the reason that it is made for artists and design professionals whose work would be inhibited using a touch screen device because their hand rests upon the gadget as they draw or design.

In any case, a cool product, really neat for graphics and design -- and maybe a harbinger of what's to come when there is a touch-screen Mac?

Prices start at $2,199.

www.axiotron.com
 

Hewlett-Packard (HP), aiming to boost its personal computer sales against arch rival Dell (and Lenovo and Apple, too), is increasingly turning to touch-screen technology.

HP is now developing a consumer notebook with a touch screen that will debut before year end. It will include special software that supports the touch screen, but other details, such as pricing, remains unclear.

The new laptop is the latest in a series of touch-oriented devices, including an upcoming line of cellphones, that will become a priority of HP.

HP began promoting touch screens last year with a big-screen desktop computer called the TouchSmart (see photo above). A revamped TouchSmart debuted this year, with new software and a new external design. The touch-sensitive screen allow PC users to move items around, surf the Web or open files with their fingertips, replacing functions normally performed by a mouse and keyboard.

But tablet PCs, or touch-screen laptops, haven't done that well in the past. Will the future be any different?

More at the Wall Street Journal.

Mac enthusiasts have been transfixed lately by the mystery product, code-named "brick," that's due for release later this month.

Some bloggers and pundits have suggested it might be a new iteration of Apple TV or an updated Mac Mini. But according to a report on 9to5Mac.com, "brick" refers not to what it is, but how it's made.

The Web site, which cites an anonymous source, says the code name has to do with a manufacturing process for Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro lines of laptops. Apple will build the notebook out of a single piece of carved-out aluminum -- a brick.

A radically different production method might well boost costs, at least at the outset. But there could also be savings from the change, says market research firm iSuppli. If you're working with one single unit of metal, you're reducing a lot of the materials costs and also a lot of labor time on assembly.

Using a single piece of metal would also provide the opportunity for the kind of design flourishes that distinguish Apple and its chief executive, Steve Jobs (at left in photo above with Woz, right).

Screws might be minimized or eliminated entirely. Seams joining different pieces of metal would disappear. In short, these notebooks would be unlike anything else on the market in appearance and design.

Apple has been known to push the envelope on notebook design over the years. Its metallic MacBook Pros have inherited a distinctive look and feel that dates to 2001 when Apple launched its PowerBook G4 product line. Since then, there has always been a metal notebook, sometimes boasting a titanium shell, sometimes one of aluminum. 

Much more at Businessweek.

The MSI Wind netbook will go on sale at Best Buy priced at $399 and equipped with a 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM; it also coms with Windows XP pre-loaded. 

The netbook comes in just one configuration at the store. So much for choice, but how about that price?

Best Buy is one of the few major U.S. CE retailers to stock the Wind, which keeps its price lower partly by using a less powerful battery pack -- a three-cell battery rather than the larger six-cell pack.

More at Electronista.

Lenovo is celebrating sixteen years of continuous ThinkPad innovation (most of them of course under the Big Blue of IBM) with -- what else? -- a sale.

Lot of fun to look at the "Legends of ThinkPad" to see some of the amazing feats this little gadget has been through.

You can take your choice of "melted," "sunk," "crunched," "trekked" and "stolen."

Actually some stuff you won't believe!

And of course there are many awards ...

Reminds me of all of TPs I've owned -- T20, A Series, etc. -- some still in fact ticking still!

See the Legends here.

Get the sale here.