Tony Talks Tech » Hardware http://www.tonytalkstech.com Hard facts about hardware Sun, 05 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 Getting to know the new MacBooks http://www.tonytalkstech.com/2010/06/29/getting-to-know-the-new-macbooks/ http://www.tonytalkstech.com/2010/06/29/getting-to-know-the-new-macbooks/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:26:21 +0000 admin http://www.tonytalkstech.com/?p=8 With all the hysteria surrounding Apple’s new iPhone 4, it’s a good time to look back at the new MacBooks which released in April. These devices offer many new features to users, and revamp a couple of old ones. Here’s the breakdown:
  • Faster processing speed coupled with longer life
  • Sizes ranging from 13-17 inches, with Core i5 processing chips in the two largest models
  • Also in the 15- and 17- inch models, new technology which switches between graphics chips: an energy-efficient one for web surfing and e-mail and a high-performance one for video editing or games
  • Snow Leopard OS
  • “Inertial scrolling” on the trackpad, allowing users to move easily through large documents and libraries

The new Snow Leopard OS features a completely revised Finder which takes advantage of new features like 64-bit support and Grand Central Dispatch, Mac’s new set of programs for organizing workloads and increasing application efficiency. The redesigned Time Machine and Time Capsule also make it quicker and easier to back up your hard drive.The 15- and 17-inch models contain the strongest chips, the Intel HD Graphics chip and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. Apple has proven its track record to consumers with its long-lasting products, and the new technology for switching between these chips ensures that the new MacBooks will be even more efficient, making them well worth your money. Each MacBook can also be made to run on solid state drives up to 512 GB. Prices range from 1,200 for the 13-inch models (with a 10-hour battery life) up to 2,300 for the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Still available are the basic 1,000 model as well as the Air lightweight models, with prices starting at 1,500.

]]> http://www.tonytalkstech.com/2010/06/29/getting-to-know-the-new-macbooks/feed/ 0 Death of the mouse (and the keyboard, and monitor)? http://www.tonytalkstech.com/2010/06/29/death-of-the-mouse-and-the-keyboard-and-monitor/ http://www.tonytalkstech.com/2010/06/29/death-of-the-mouse-and-the-keyboard-and-monitor/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:22:01 +0000 admin http://www.tonytalkstech.com/?p=6 Hardware developers have created several alternatives which may soon make the standard means of computer input obsolete. The release of a controller-free video game system in November could turn some of these ideas into reality, and make those options already existing even more popular.The system is Microsoft’s Kinect, a system which relies on cameras to read body movements. This allows players to kick soccer balls, tickle tigers, and more. There is also voice functionality, so that saying the words “play movie” will start whichever film the player has chosen.Extensions of this type of computing are already in development. For example, John Underkoffler, who created a futuristic data-processing system for the 2002 movie Minority Report, has developed a real-life system called “g-speak,” in which the user moves through files and data sets by moving their hands. The system is already in use at Boeing and other large companies, but its price range (from 100,000 to the low millions) makes it a little impractical for the home computer. But Underkoffler expects that to change in the next five years.Elsewhere, researchers are looking into brain-controlled and eye-tracking software. Restrictions (other than price) do exist, though. Gesture-based computing can becoming exhausting, especially at a 9-to-5 job, and the gestures can be misconstrued. Robert Wang from MIT has also pointed to the difficulty of moving an object you can’t touch.While most developers see the mouse as on its way out, the keyboard may gain a reprieve, since it is currently the most efficient way to write. The monitor will also likely stick around, although new technology could project information onto walls or people’s hands, taking the world one step closer to Pranav Mistry (MIT’s) goal of “getting rid of computer hardware entirely.”

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