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Apple today updated its MacBook Pro line of notebooks with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, memory up to 4GB, and high-speed graphics in a lightweight, aluminum enclosure that is just one-inch thin. The new MacBook Pro is available in 15-inch models with a new mercury-free, power-efficient LED-backlit display and a 17-inch model with an optional high-resolution display. All models include a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. "With...

Out of curiosity, has anyone with a Mac iBook been presented with this message, when powering up in a different location than where you normally connect to the internet: "None of your trusted internet connections can be found, would you like to join the internet connection jdnetwork?" I'm posting this message for a friend who clicked "Yes" to that prompt and immediately the following happened: The pointer/hourglass locked upThe whole screen frozeHe had to power down by removing/reinserting the batteryUpon trying to turn on the iBook, no (green) power light was present. Not sure what to do next. The computer...

When Apple Computer introduces its new line of Intel-based consumer notebooks this spring, the company may once again offer buyers a fashionable option it phased out of its iMac product line nearly half a decade ago: colored enclosures. Like the Cupertino company's current PowerPC-based line of iBook G4 notebooks, the upcoming Intel "MacBooks" have been described by the few people who claim to have seen them as "fashionably clad in iMac white." iMac white is the glossy shade Apple introduced on the face and under-compartment of its original iMac in 1998. Eventually, the popularity of the iMac amongst consumers drove...

Analysts have begun to speculate on what "fun" products may be introduced by Apple its forthcoming special event in Cupertino on February 28th. Analyst Shaw Wu of American Technology Research believes that Apple will announce a new wide-screen consumer notebook and an entry-level Mac mini, both of which will include a remote control and Front Row software, saying "we believe Apple will take the opportunity to round out its Intel Mac portfolio 6 - 9 months ahead of plan." Wu also expects the much anticipated native versions of Apple's Pro applications--Universal Binary versions of Aperture, Final Cut Pro, and Motion,...

Apple plans a special invitation-only event to introduce new products next week. The event happens on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. The invitation gives away precious little about what Apple has up its sleeve for the event. “Come see some fun new products from Apple,” says the invitation received by Macworld. The e-mail features a large rendering of an iCal-style icon with the date set to February 28, 2006. The event takes place at Apple Town Hall on Apple’s Cupertino campus.

Macworld.co.uk reports on Needham & Co analyst comments about what they expect from Apple in the coming months. While some of the information appears speculative, the analyst claims that a video iPod will indeed arrive soon: According to our sources, the screen on the video iPod will occupy the entire front of the current iPod with a touch-activated scroll wheel. Assuming the same form factor as the current iPod, this move will increase the size of the screen three-fold. This corresponds to recent rumors that a touch-screen iPod is in the works. This technology would also tie in recently revealed...

Apple is planning to release its first entry-level iBook laptops with Intel processors next January at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, highly reliable sources have confirmed to Think Secret. It is not known exactly what processors or price points the new models will debut at, but it is thought Apple will expand the iBook line with one additional model and will lower prices—in some cases possibly $200 or more—to entice current Windows users and prove to the market it will be more competitive with the likes of Dell, Gateway, HP and Sony.

Along with its transition to Intel processors, Apple Computer in the first half of next year will introduce new eye-catching industrial designs for both of its laptop offerings, AppleInsider has learned. Although the Mac maker has only gone on record in saying that the first Intel-based Macintosh systems are due by the middle of 2006, information passed on by extremely reliable sources indicates that the company is on track to begin introducing its first Intel machines much sooner. With the initiation of the Intel Power Mac project last month, all five of Apple's Intel Macintosh projects are now said to...

VAIL, Ariz. - Students at Empire High School here started class this year with no textbooks — but it wasn't because of a funding crisis. Instead, the school issued iBooks — laptop computers by Apple Computer Inc. — to each of its 340 students, becoming one of the first U.S. public schools to shun printed textbooks. School officials believe the electronic materials will get students more engaged in learning. Empire High, which opened for the first time this year, was designed specifically to have a textbook-free environment. "We've always been pretty aggressive in use of technology and we have a...

"The cheaters won," a hot and bothered Linda Dunn of Henrico County said as she stalked away from yesterday's iBook melee at Richmond International Raceway. She and her son, Colt Reynolds, had been among the hopefuls who came before dawn, seeking a $50 ticket to the Information Age. But they and many others found themselves thrust back into the Stone Age by late-coming bullies who ran them over in a rush to lap up the laptops used and abused by Henrico County high schoolers since 2001. "The one thing it shows you is human nature," Colt said. "There are people...

(Excerpt)PHOTOS as it happened: SlideshowMore Photos: SlideshowUPDATED: 8:08 p.m.Chaos erupted this morning at the Richmond International Raceway as thousands of people stampeded through the gates in a rush to buy used iBook laptop computers for $50 each.There were several minor injuries and one person was taken to a hospital with a leg injury, fire Battalion Chief Steve Wood said during a 1 p.m. news conference. In all, 17 people were treated, the majority for heat- or diabetic-related problems, he said.Thousands of Henrico County residents and/or taxpayers stood in a half-mile-long line as dawn broke while others waited in cars parked...

RICHMOND, Va. - A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far as to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line. ¡°This is total, total chaos,¡± said Latoya Jones, 19, who lost one of her flip-flops in the ordeal and later limped around on the sizzling blacktop with one foot bare. An estimated 5,500 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old...

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line. http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/computer.frenzy.ap/index.html

There was pandemonium in Henrico County Tuesday morning at Richmond International Raceway as thousands crammed in trying to get an iBook. Henrico schools are selling them for $50 to Henrico residents only. But the sale quickly escalated when the gates opened at 7 a.m. and people raced in. Several people were reportedly injured and emergency crews had to be called to the scene. Although officials said camping was not allowed, some Henrico residents got to the gates just after midnight Monday. Officials estimated thousands of people were fighting the crowds at RIR, but Henrico plans to sell only one thousand...

A deal between Apple and Georgia’s Cobb County School District that could ultimately result in 63,000 iBooks has been stopped cold because of a lawsuit filed by a former county commissioner. Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram ordered the iBook deployment to stop on Friday. Heralded as the largest ever “one-to-one” computing initiative, Cobb County’s “Power to Learn” program used money earmarked from a special tax fund Georgia taxpayers in individual counties can request called Special Purpose Location Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST. How this tax override was represented to voters is central to the judge’s decision, according to the...

Henrico County Public Schools have announced that its used Apple iBooks it has been using in a four-year laptop program will be sold off in a one-day sale, Tuesday, August 9. Mychael Dickerson, director of media relations and safety for Henrico County Public Schools, said 1,000 iBooks will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis for US$50 each at the school warehouse in Richmond, Virginia from 9 am to 3pm ET. The warehouse is located at 361 Dabbs House Road beside the Eastern Government Center. Only cash or checks will be accepted. The 12-inch iBooks were part of a contract...

Former Cobb County commissioner Butch Thompson filed a lawsuit earlier this week to stop in its tracks a program that would put thousands of Apple iBooks in the hands of Georgia schoolkids and teachers. At issue is how the funds for the program have been allocated and how voters were informed. The iBook lease plan was approved by the Cobb County School District early last month. The first phase of the “Power to Learn” program puts 17,000 iBooks in the hands of teachers across the district and at four “demonstration site” high schools. The rollout to teachers has already begun....

On Monday Apple announced an agreement to lease more than 17,000 iBook laptop computers to the Cobb County, Ga. school district. Heralded as the largest ever “one to one” computing initative, Apple’s deal could net as many as 63,000 iBooks if it’s successful. It’s part of Cobb County’s “Power to Learn” program. The iBooks will be distributed to all teachers in Cobb County’s public schools, from pre-K through 12th grade, over the summer. Sometime after the 2005-2006 academic year begins, more than 8,000 Cobb County high school students at four “demonstration site” schools will also get the new systems. Authorities...

Ignoring threats of a lawsuit (or perhaps encouraging the publicity), an Apple Computer-focused Web site called PowerPage reported Tuesday that the maker of the iPod Mini and Mac Mini is prepping a diminutive laptop. Saying it has received "details of a secret development team planning specifications for the release of a new mini laptop," PowerPage reports that the machine will run a skinny version of Mac OS X, which includes handwriting-recognition capability. Such a product would not be out of step with Apple's direction. Not only has the company previously produced a similar product, the Apple eMate 300, but it...