Isaiah's Tech

At Apple's "Back to the Mac" event today, they introduced something that we knew was coming. Yes, the MacBook Air is now official and there are two models! The first model will be just 0.68-inches thick and 2.9 pounds so it's definitely portable. It's sporting the good ol' unibody construction so it'll be quite durable. The first model they introduced features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display (1,440 x 900 resolution), a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, Nvidia GeForce 320m GPU, a full-sized keyboard, a multitouch trackpad, a built-in webcam (for FaceTime / iChat), 2GB of RAM, WiFi 802.11n support, and, of course, doesn't have an optical drive. It has instant-on connectivity along with 7 hours of real-time battery life and 30 days of standby.

Apple also went on to introduce the 11.6-inch MacBook Air and this one's just 2.3 pounds. It has a smaller footprint with the same unibody design so this one's even more portable. The specs are just about the exact same for this notebook except the LED-backlit display sports a smaller 1,366 x 768 resolution, the C2D CPU inside is clocked at just 1.4GHz, and the battery will last just 5 hours in the real world (still 30 days of standby time though). They're both available right now! Prices are below, those are flash storage options by the way. No hard drives inside of these.

They've also given us a sneak peek at their next version of Max OS X and it'll be called Lion. "Mac OS X meets the iPad" they say. This new version will have multitouch capabilities (on screen), the App Store, a Launchpad (gives you a grid of all of your apps - like the iPad), and things that you'd naturally find in iOS. It really brings the best of both worlds (including Expose and Spaces), so this is actually looking pretty good right now. Look out for touchscreen MacBook's and iMac's next year. Mac OS X Lion will be available in the Summer of next year. And in 90 days the App Store for Mac will be available, yes, on Snow Leopard!

At the event Apple also introduced iLife 11, but you can always read about that somewhere else because it wasn't all that exciting to be honest. iLife 11 is available right now and comes free with every new Mac; you'll also be able to upgrade for $49 if you're interested. Furthermore, they've also introduced FaceTime for the Mac, so that's a pretty big step. FaceTime should be integrated with iChat which would make a bit more sense, but it's not. It's available right now in beta form.

[Engadget]

Apple has already confirmed that they'll be holding an event on January 27th and while they'll likely be unveiling their tablet that's not all they have up their sleeve. According to the latest rumour, Apple will also be unveiling iPhone OS 4.0 and even iLife 2010, which will likely involve touch-based gestures. We don't know what iPhone OS 4.0 will bring to the table so it's definitely just a rumour right now.

[Mashable]

I lied, sorry. As of right now, there will be at least 3 blog posts today. Just because i love writing blogs. =D.

First off is the MSI gaming laptop, dubbed the GT627. This laptop will be packed with a six-cell battery, "an optional Blu-ray drive and a Core 2 Duo CPU." Along with these features, the laptop itself will have a 15.4 inch screen with a 1680 x 1050 resolution. "It's also the first MSI laptop to feature the 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS GPU, and there's even a 320GB HDD, 4-in-1 multicard reader, twin USB 2.0 ports, HDMI / VGA outputs, gigabit Ethernet, a two megapixel webcam and an ExpressCard slot to round things out." To end the epic spec sheet off, this laptop will weigh around 5.8 pounds. This MSI gaming laptop is packed with a bunch of good features, as you can see. The red outline on the laptop is kind of annoying though (visual-wise), for me at least. I like the Dell Adamo's looks better than this, but that makes sense, since the Adamo is all about the looks.

Internet Explorer's RC (Release Candidate) 1 is now available for download. If you follow my blog, you will know that i'm not too fond of this so-called Internet Explorer. But, just because i'm in a good mood today, i'll summarize PC World's review of Internet Explorer RC 1. Basically, RC 1 fixes all of the bugs in Internet Explorer Beta 1 and 2. Internet Explorer RC 1 is pretty much the code for the final release and it runs faster than Beta 2. If you are going to download the RC 1, just remember that the normal precautions apply, much like anything else pre-released. Just download Google Chrome or Firefox, seriously.

If you have a Mac, you should mark tomorrow on your calendar. iLife '09 is going to be available tomorrow. iLife '09 was presented at the slightly boring Macworld 2009. iLife is "Apple's bundled application suite that brings facial recognition to iPhoto and piano and guitar lessons to GarageBand." "A new license will set you back $79 [USD], unless you bought a new Mac after January 6. New user upgrade's are going for $10 [USD]." So, iLife '09 tomorrow. Go get it, if you want to.

If you are waiting for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the Nintendo Wii and DS / DSi, i have the release date for you. It's not too far away. It's release date is actually under 2 months into the future. March 24 will be the release date. "Echoes allows Wii and DS gamers to play alongside one another with a bit less hassle than the original Crystal chronicles."

Just in case you wanted to get EA's 'The Sims 3' it may be delayed. The Sims 3 was scheduled for a February 20 release date, but on its official web site, the date now says "TBA." A recent EA statement also hints at a possible delay. The Sims 3 is "already so close to complete it's hard to imagine the company delaying it for very long." So, it may be delayed, but you probably won't have to wait too long. On the other hand, Starcraft 2's release date still hasn't been mentioned.

MSI Gaming Laptop (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/26/msi-gets-official-with-gt627-gaming-laptop/
Internet Explorer RC 1 Now Available (and picture): http://lifehacker.com/5139534/internet-explorer-release-candidate-1-now-available
Internet Explorer RC 1 Review: http://www.pcworld.com/article/158337/explorer_8_rc1.html?tk=rss_news
iLife '09 (and picture): http://lifehacker.com/5139331/ilife-09-hits-shelves-tomorrow
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/26/final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-echoes-of-time-clocks-in-march/
The Sims 3 Delayed? (and picture): http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172467