July 2 - 9:05am EDT   Many of the Windows PC makers building ultraportable notebooks based on Intel's low-cost CULV platform are learning first-hand that their cheaper case designs aren't enough to sustain the systems, a research note from AmTech analyst Doug Freedman says. Many of the companies design the systems with plastic shells to keep their prices down but are discovering that the cases are cracking, often forcing major replacements. Which companies are affected aren't mentioned, but Lenovo and MSI are some of the first making systems in the category with the IdeaPad U350 and X-Slim line respectively. [full story]

June 29 - 8:20pm EDT   Apple on Friday released a System Management Controller (SMC) firmware update for its MacBook Air devices. The latest version expands compatibility for newer service-replacement batteries. Users can download the updater, close any open applications and follow the installation steps before restarting the machine. [full story]

June 27 - 1:55pm EDT   Apple's online store is currently offering a selection of refurbished Mac mini's at discounted prices. Starting at $419 is the 1.83GHz Mac mini with 1GB of RAM and 80GB hard drive. Next up is the 2.0GHz model with 1GB of RAM and 120GB hard drive for $469. Lastly is the 2.0GHz model with 2GB of memory and 320GB hard drive for $699. Other refurbished Mac models include the 2.0GHz unibody MacBook with 2GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive for $949. The 1.6GHz MacBook Air with 2GB of RAM and 80GB hard drive for $999 and the 20-inch, 2.66GHz iMac with 2GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive also priced at $999. [full story]

June 26 - 4:40pm EDT   The new high-end MacBook Air is paradoxically slower than its predecessor, a review of the system is said to expose. While the updated low-end Air has been made faster, as expected, the new 2.13GHz high-end is actually said to score lower on tests than its older 1.86GHz equivalent. The last-generation model wins out in 11 of 18 Speedmark tests, for an overall score of 179 as compared to 175. [full story]

June 26 - 11:10am EDT   Microsoft is considering offering Windows 7 on USB flash drives to make upgrades easier for systems without optical drives, a source claimed on Friday. The unnamed contact explains to CNET that the company is looking at the move to make it easier to upgrade netbooks in particular, which currently need either an external drive or else the elaborate creation of a bootable USB drive. Whether this would involve copy protection beyond a CD key isn't known. [full story]

June 13 - 5:05pm EDT   Dell has had a long history of ultraportables, but when Apple released the MacBook Air in early 2008, it underscored a wide gap in terms of design: while Latitudes have always been functional, they've rarely been alluring to home (or simply design-centric) users in the way the Air was. The Adamo 13 is Dell's attempt to rectify this with an ultra-slim profile and attention to quality. But is it a case of improving on what's come before or just a Latitude in better packaging? Our full Adamo 13 review hopes to settle this question once and for all. [full story]

June 12 - 4:35pm EDT   Wall Street firms may be missing out on the true significance of Apple's MacBook price cuts, claims Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Prices have fallen several hundred dollars in some cases, which Munster argues should mitigate some of the predicted sales decline for the June quarter. Updated MacBooks could push the month of June's growth up as much as 5 percent year-over-year, according to Piper figures. [full story]

June 10 - 3:20pm EDT   Apple is pushing hard to get rid of older MacBooks still sitting in inventory, a company memo indicates. While having introduced new MacBook Pros on Tuesday, a number of outdated systems continue to be stocked at Apple Stores. "Our Macbook Family has been updated and all current stock of Macbook and Macbook Pros need to be sold," the memo tells store representatives, and various groups supplied by Apple. "All current in store computers are on a first come first serve basis." [full story]

June 9 - 3:30pm EDT   ASUS vice chairman Jonathan Tsang today said in an interview that his company intends to beat Apple in design in the US. Even though the Eee PC line has been successful in the country, Tsang tells the New York Times that ASUS has little recognition in the US and that it plans to rely on engineering to boost its name, with Apple's MacBooks as the conspicuous target. The company's focus on product design reportedly leaves little room for a marketing budget and thus gives it little room to depend on advertising. [full story]

May 27 - 2:05pm EDT   Apple may push the cost of the MacBook Air downwards while also extending its feature set, a rumor asserted on Wednesday. Unnamed sources for SiliconRumors claim that an entry-level model will push the price down to between $1,300 and $1,500, or at least $300 less than the current model. Whether this would be a smaller model or just a price reduction isn't certain. [full story]

May 27 - 12:20pm EDT   Apple has won four new patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office, covering a range of technologies. Among these are ones for riser card housing in the Mac Pro, and a Mac OS-related concept called Computer system with graphical user interface including drawer-like windows. Important however is one for a touchpad surface, covering the multi-touch trackpad in the MacBook Air, and in a minor fashion the iPhone touchscreen. [full story]

May 19 - 2:20pm EDT   Apple's online store is currently offering a variety of Mac models starting as low as $849. Two Mac models are priced at $849, the 20-inch 2.4GHz iMac and 2.0GHz white MacBook. MacBook Airs are available for as low as $999 for the 1.6GHz model with 2GB of memory and 80GB hard drive. The 24-inch, 2.66GHz iMac with 4GB of memory and 640GB hard drive is available for $1299. Unibody MacBook models start as low as $1099 for the 2.0GHz model with 2GB of memory and 160GB hard drive. The 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB of memory and 250GB hard drive is priced at $1699. Save $400 on the 2.8GHz Mac Pro with 2GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive, now priced at $2399. [full story]

May 14 - 7:45am EDT   MSI this morning claimed a further foothold in ultraportable PCs by providing early details of two larger X-Slim notebooks. The 14-inch X400 and 15-inch X600 are meant to improve not only on the 13-inch X340 but to offer a still-larger alternative to systems like the MacBook Air; despite their sizes, both are less than an inch thick and weigh far less than other systems in their class at 3.3 pounds for the X400 and 4.6 pounds for the X600. Both also use Intel's Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processors to provide better performance than a netbook but with less cost and battery use (as well as less performance) than the Core 2 Duo S used in Apple's system. [full story]

May 5 - 9:00am EDT   ASUS has fleshed out the details of its designer U series notebooks. Ostensibly based on the shape of a butterfly, the systems share the same tapered shape of the MacBook Air and are also faster, larger versions of the Eee PC 1008HA. The 12-inch U20A, 13.3-inch UX30 and 15.6-inch UX50V are all based on the basic processors expected to be part of Intel's Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) effort and attempt to bring ultra-thin designs to larger systems, ranging from the entry 1.2GHz Celeron M in the U20A to the 1.3GHz Pentium, 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo and 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo in the UX30 and UX50V. [full story]

April 30 - 12:00pm EDT   Apple may be toying with the notion of introducing carbon fiber into future products, a newly exposed patent application reveals. Carbon fiber is extremely durable, and when mixed with plastic can also result in a very lightweight material. The difficulty, Apple suggests, is that even in many alternative methods of forming a carbon fiber shell, the result is a black surface with visible fibers that can dictate how a product will look. [full story]