May 16 - 3:20pm EDT   Accessory and peripheral maker FastMac has announced a new external battery charger for Mac notebooks, the U-Charge. The unit is a 45W adapter that bridges from an AC outlet directly to a battery's terminals, eliminating the need to have the notebook itself present. As a result the U-Charge also consumes less energy than some adapters, having no need to power the computer at the same time. Indicator LEDs mimic those of Apple's, and safeguards are installed against overcharging, overheating and power surges. [full story]

May 16 - 7:55am EDT   Two panel makers are evenly splitting orders for new LCDs to be used in upcoming consumer MacBooks, according to a story in Taiwan's Commercial Times. The newspaper claims that two of the island's more prominent display makers, AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics, are being tapped by Apple to produce the screens for mainstream systems that will be launched sometime during the summer. The Times doesn't mention screen sizes or other characteristics of the LCDs. [full story]

May 13 - 8:10pm EDT   Algoriddim on Tuesday unveiled Djay 2.1, a major update to the company's digital turntable software that adds compatibility with Apple's multi-touch trackpads on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Djay uses different sets of finger gestures to control the interface, allowing users to scratch tracks, apply effects, and crossfade between the two virtual tables. Algoriddim is selling Djay 2.1 from its website for $50, and is available now. [full story]

May 2 - 4:15pm EDT   Accessory maker Contour Design has released a new version of its notebook sleeve, the rE-versible. The new edition is specifically tailored to fit Apple's MacBook and MacBook Air, and takes its name from an alternate appearance option; while a checkered pattern faces outward by default, the case can be flipped inside-out to reveal a solid version of the same basic color scheme. Either side uses polychloroprene to protect against scratches and impacts. [full story]

May 1 - 11:50am EDT   Apple will remain fairly conservative in terms of who it targets in future, but should continue to expand on technological possibilities, says the analytical firm Piper Jaffray. In spite of the iPhone's forthcoming enterprise support, and some continued efforts at business outreach, Piper notes in a list of "unanswered questions" that Apple insists it is primarily a consumer-focused company, and will continue to focus on related products like the iMac and the iPod. Apple realizes that "every consumer is likely [a] PC user at work," according to Piper. [full story]

April 25 - 8:00pm EDT   iSkin today announced its ProTouch silicone keyboard covers are now using Microban antimicrobial protection, which helps to inhibit odor and stains from surfacing on the products from sweat and dust. The Protouch line of protectors for the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air, as well as for the aluminum and older model Apple keyboards all contain the protective substance. ProTouch skins are available ranging from $25 to $35, depending on the model. [full story]

April 25 - 1:55pm EDT   The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is launching the "Digital Backpack," which will allow visitors at the Freedom Center to utilize social networking technology, digital media production, and wireless computing in ways that empower them to create, "distribute and access a shared vision for freedom." The company has chosen Apple products to power the project: each pack contains an Apple MacBook Pro notebook computer, iPod classic with voice recorder, digital camera, HD digital camcorder and tripod. These perspectives are then captured as a digital movie, archived at the Freedom Center, and published to an iTunes channel that the Center is launching in May. [full story]

April 24 - 2:05pm EDT   VMWare Fusion 1.1.2 has been released, adding enhanced support for the MacBook Air. The new release also enables Time Machine backup of virtual machines, adds support for Windows XP SP3 Boot Camp partitions, and is now available in Simplified Chinese. In addition, VMWare can now properly disconnect USB devices connected to the virtual machine when shut down, making the USB devices available again to the Mac. It also addresses problem with wireless bridged networking in some cases not being able to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server. [full story]

April 18 - 5:40pm EDT   Mactracker 5.0.2 (donationware) database of Mac models. The latest Apple hardware has been added along with numerous improvements to the "My Models" category in the main window. New specification entries include "Brightness" and "DPI" information (where available) for the built-in display on MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models. The maximum supported resolution for an external display is now detailed for Mac mini, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and PowerBook G3/G4 models. This release also fixes an issue with creating new Smart Categories. [Download - 20.8MB] Graph Paper Maker 1.9 ($20) lets you create your own custom sheets of graph paper. It is ideal for students, ... [full story]

April 14 - 12:05pm EDT   The latest Apple MacBooks are suffering from serious graphical issues, according to widespread reports. Both the basic MacBook and the MacBook Pro are said to be suffering from instances of visual corruption, in which text duplicates, documents fail to scroll completely, or animations and videos flicker; the last problem seems to primarily affect Flash or Quicktime clips viewed in a web browser. Critically, the issue appears to be independent of graphics hardware, given that basic MacBooks use integrated Intel chips while Pros use GeForce 8600M GT cards by NVIDIA. [full story]

April 10 - 8:35pm EDT   Due to stronger-than-expected MacBook shipments, J. P. Morgan Securities today raised its second quarter estimates for Apple, saying that the above factor made up for slower iPod and iPhone sales. Thanks to the boost in portable sales, J.P. Morgan raised both Apple's second-quarter and 2008 yearly profit estimates from $1.05 and $4.94 per share, to $1.09 and $5.04 per share, respectively, according to Reuters. Mac shipments for the quarter are also estimated to be higher, at 2.11 million units, versus the earlier prediction of 1.97 million. [full story]

April 9 - 6:45pm EDT   In brief: We have a review of the LAbeace Classic 13" MacBook shoulder bag, the iLEVL holder for iMac has debuted, a Desktop Transporter unlimited license has been unveiled, VMware Fusion is holding a video contest, a Desktop Transporter unlimited license is available, and we've postd a MacFamilyTree review ... We have posted a review of the LAbeace Classic 13" MacBook shoulder bag from French company, Be•ez (be easy). It's a less expensive, but fine looking bag. The quality construction combined with its unique design makes it a good fit for students and others with lightweight needs. From the outside, it looks remarkably similar to Booq bag products, but that's as ... [full story]

April 8 - 6:30pm EDT   Apple today released a number of updates, including firmware updates for its MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro as well as firmware for its iMac. The Mac BookAir EFI Firmware Update 1.0, MacBook EFI Firmware Update 1.2, and Mac Book Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5 fixes several issues to improve the stability of the notebook computers, while the iMac EFI Firmware Update 1.3 fixes several issues to improve the stability of iMac computers. Apple's Firmware Restoration CD 1.6, for its Macs, can restore the firmware of an Intel-based Macintosh computer and the company notes that restoring the firmware will reset some of the computer's preferences to defaults. [full story]

April 7 - 3:50pm EDT   Both the consumer MacBook and the performance-minded MacBook Pro will receive a major overhaul with their next updates, say sources speaking with AppleInsider. Either design has remained largely unchanged but will now allegedly receive visual cues from the aluminum iMac and MacBook Air, including an all-aluminum design, traces of black, and more tapered edges. The trackpad is also likely to switch to the extra-large design found in the Air, though whether the 13-inch MacBook will gain multi-touch is unknown. [full story]

April 4 - 7:30pm EDT   Primate Labs has published new benchmarks for MacBooks and MacBook Pros released in early 2008. The models show marginal speed gains over their predecessors, in some cases exhibiting performance slower or roughly equal to previous models. The MacBook Pro Early 2008, for instance, shows a gain of just under three percent over the Mid 2007 MacBook Pro -- scores of 3323 and 3236 respectively. The Early 2008 model uses a Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6 GHz, while the Mid 2007 model uses a Intel Core 2 Duo T7800 2.6 GHz (2 cores) [full story]