There is something in the Air

I was starting to do a long detailed blog post about the new things that Apple came out with, but then got tired going over all the details that no-one that reads my blog really cares about.  So here it is in brief…

  • New airport base station that has a hard drive in it for wireless backup and storage.
  • New components on both the iPhone and iPod Touch.  From mail on the Touch to location triangulation in the map feature on both devices.
  • Movie rentals from all major movie labels via iTunes.  Movies cost 3.99 for new titles, 2.99 for old titles, and add a dollar to each if you want it in HD on your apple TV.
  • Apple TV interface redone adding the movie rental option, flickr photo viewing, .mac photo viewing, and other features I’m not too sure of.
  • Finally the thing that people were most interested in….. The new Macbook Air.  This new laptop is the thinest laptop in the world. Weighing in at only 3lbs.  The thickest part of the laptop is only .76 inches.  The thinest point is .16 inches.  It has a 13.3 inch screen, a full size backlit keyboard, standard 2 GB Ram, 80 GB HD (option to upgrade to a 64 GB SSD HD for 1000 dollars) and a 1.6 Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 5 hours of battery life.

The movie rentals I feel are a little too expensive.  You are given up to a month to watch the movie after renting, and once you start playing you have 24 hours to finish it.  You can watch it more than once, but it has to be in that 24 hour time period.  You are able to transfer to your ipod, laptop, or Apple TV.

The Macbook Air’s battery is built into the computer like they are in the iPods.  So if you are flying you can’t take an extra battery with for additional computing time. It does not have an optical drive built in.  You have the option to buy an external super drive for 99 dollars, or they also give you the option to use other machines optical drives on your wireless network both mac and pc.  The Macbook Air only has one USB port, no FireWire ports, no line in, and the line out is not optical.  So if you are a power user that needs these functionalities then the Air is not for you.  If your looking for a super portable laptop then this is the one for you.   They retail at 1799.