The Razer design team has manage to outdone itself and release another stylish cool device. This time is the Pro|Type keyboard that is more than a good looking accessory to any computer.

The $129.99 keyboard includes the usual volume controls, programmable keys but audio I/O connectors are also present together with 2 USB ports (one of them being gold-plated). However that is not all as the Razer Pro|Type also can serve as an an iPod dock, and two dock adapters are also provided.

- Marius TRUSCULESCU -

Apple confirmed today a rumor regarding the delay in the development of the future Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) operating system. Apparently the blame is put on the much awaited iPhone, which, according to Apple, needed extensive work from the Mac OS software team.

In the announcement today Apple confirmed late June as the shipping date for the iPhone and its even more clear that the company is putting a lot of work into this device.

However the next operating system for Macs will not be available at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June. At the WDC only a beta version will be offered and the new launch date for the Leopard is now set for October.

Earlier today we’ve noticed that the Apple website is now offering the Mac Pro computers with 8 core or quad core Intel processors.

Apple customers can now chose an eight core system with two quad core “Clovertown” Xeon processors clocked at 3.0 GHz or an 4 core system with two dual core Xeon processors. As good as this may sound the performance gain of the new Mac Pro comes at a cost. And for $2,499.00 you can buy the Apple recommended system:

• Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” processors
• 1GB memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory
• 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
• 16x double-layer SuperDriveHowever

However you can add up to 3 TB of storage, 16 GB of RAM, as well as a 30″ LCD screen. But the price for such an Mac Pro will easily pass the $10,000 and depending on some of the extra features it can even exceed the $15,000.

Apple is creating a new market of devices, accesories or desks for their products. Rain Design Inc. is producing desks for Mac computers. They are called iGo, for the reason you can place them anywhere without disturbing the environment. The iGo desks are in two models - one for sitting and the other for standing. I find the desks very interesting. Nevertheless the $333 price is a little higher for my tastes. Both iGo models have lamps, digital hub panel, cable compartment and gel wrist rest.

[via RainDesignInc]

Lately, Apple has grown quickly. The brand is getting bigger every day. Their products are sold very well. For example, the iPods series are the best in the domain. Furthermore Apple’s Mac computers are a great alternative to PCs. It’s known that Macs are a little expensive, but when it comes to data security or system stability, the Mac computers are more reliable than PCs.

Because PCs are widely using Microsoft Windows, there are a lot of programs and games suited for Windows. They are not very stable however, and you can get a lot o viruses, spyware, adware, malware or other bad things. On the other hand, the Macs are becoming more and more searched, but there are a few disadvantages with not much software created for Apple’s OS. However, some software companies are producing Mac games and programs. We found a website which offers free Mac games and also reviews, articles or news about Mac computers. In my opinion, the battle between Apple and Microsoft is about to begin. As we will get many and many programs and games for Macs, the Microsoft myth is going to pale.

[via Mac Games]

… according to a report by MacScoop. Apparently the software that allows running both Windows and Mac OS X on an Apple computer will require a fee of $29 as soon as the beta testing is over, at the same time with the launch of the next version of Mac OS X Leopard.

This is the second bad news for Apple customers in just a week, and both of them are about spending money for things they thought were free. The first bad news was regarding the fee of $1.99 required for downloading a patch which enables the wireless 802.11 “n” protocol in certain laptops.

Is the success starting to cloud the judgment of Apple’s marketing staff? The availability of the Boot Camp software was a major boost in rise of Apple’s computers sales as people were reluctant to change the Windows operating system and they had the option of having both Microsoft’s OS and the Mac OS X. A fee for Boot Camp and the price of the actual Windows OS will make people think twice before buying a Mac and that won’t be good for the sales.

With all the Apple related coverage focusing on the new iPhone that is to come this summer, all the other products have been neglected by the press. This is a great injustice as Apple has top of the line products so I will try rectify part of this injustice by writing a piece on the notebook series.

Macs have always been some kind of iconic products that everyone wanted and for the laptop version this statement is pretty much the same. The switch to Intel processors had the potential to change this perspective as there was no hardware difference anymore between the Macs and the other computers. This was not the case as Apple has continued to deliver top quality and there buyers base has broadened covering people who never considered changing their Windows OS for the Mac OS X.

The reason for the migration from non-Apple to Apple laptops is the ability to run both OS X and Windows on the same MacBook. The Macs were now using processors compatible with Microsoft’s OS and Apple made available a program that allowed Windows XP to install on the computer together with their own OS. As a consequence, people who wanted to have a taste of the Apple but missed Windows applications had a workaround for this situation.

But the software was not the only reason for the increase in the MacBook sales so let see the hardware specs of a $1999 MacBook Pro. The Intel Core Duo is a great processor and the 1 GB of RAM is enough even for the most demanding applications available today. The ATI graphics card will flawlessly display the latest eye-candy functions and the 120 Gb SATA hard drive can store thousands of pictures, videos or music files.

All of this sound pretty impressing, but (almost) all the producers offered the Windows OS pre-installed on their laptops and the hardware is pretty much the same as with the Macs. So why is the Mac so desirable? Well, the truth is Apple’s products are (almost) flawless as they don’t offer entry-level solutions, but they offer solutions that will work (apparently this policy is paying off). However, this comes at a cost as the Macs are very expensive products and the number of people willing to spend so much on a computer is small.

The press has its own influence in this perception of Apple and its products as the number of good reviews clearly outnumbers the number of less favorable ones. Mainly because many of the reviewers are proud owners of such products and they are satisfied with them. So the quality comes back at a strength twice in Apple’s favor.

I myself would not pay as much as $2000 or more on a laptop because I consider I don’t need all that power, but still I want a MacBook Pro one because is a sexy product, both in design and in features.

Yesterday at the MacWorld the NewSoft Presto! BizCard Reader 5 for Mac OS X was released. It is a product dedicated to those that need data all over the world, that can access the contacts database at any time and to be able to add anything to it easy and fast, with language barriers set off.

You may be disoriented not knowing what this product is about and what can it really do. Well, think of a scanning device that would read your business cards using the Smart Field Identification Technology (SFIT) and would allow you to send each text to the needed column to create your complete contacts database. Using the OCR engine, the NewSoft Presto! BizCard Reader 5 features a smart Search Manager tool that would help you find your information in a matter of seconds.

System requirements are 128MB ram, 80GB hard-disk space, Mac OS X 10.2 or later and the USB port. For the $130 you will get a software CD-Rom, the USB cable, the scanning device and a calibration card.