Dyson, the makers of the trendiest vacuum cleaners around, have switched modes. Enter the Dyson Air Multiplier, a fan that utilizes the same bladeless technology as the Dyson vacuum. Thing looks like a freaking jet engine sitting on your desk. A jet engine that keeps you cool, that is. John already got to check one out.
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Dell is hinting at a tiny laptop line called Adamo which might be some sort of boutique line or actually be the name of a new, ultrathin laptop that will give the MacBook Air a run for its money. Ashlee Vance at NYT writes:

But most telling of all might have been the reaction of Michael Tatelman, Dell’s vice president in charge of consumer sales and marketing, to my question about whether or not Dell had an Air-like product in store. Mr. Tatelman’s mouth gaped open and his eyes darted away from my face.

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It’s every Mac fanboys wet dream to embed an OS X touchscreen computer inside their ride. When RIDES does a mobile Mac workstation though, it’s more of an Apple Store on wheels with – get this – two Mac Mini’s, a MacBook Air, iPod Touch, iPhone 3G, 20-inch Cinema display, along with a bunch of car audio wares all within the surprisingly sexy Hyundai Genesis sedan. Words cannot do this car justice though. Even if you are on the PC side of things, head over and check out the car anyway; it’s a work of technology art.

Well stuff a finger up my nose and call me stupid. The Apple Store is selling the refurb MacBook Air with 64GB SSD drive for $1,799. Since the laptop once cost a ball-numbing $3,098, it’s pretty clear that the SSD option was pretty much a failure. I just bought the older 80GB Air for reasons I will not go into here, but let’s just say that I’m pissed especially since the refurb models are $1,399 and $1,499 for the 80GB 1.6 and 1.8GHz models, respectively.

It’s just tradition that when a new, hot gadget launches, someone has to tear the sucker apart thus producing what is affectionately called circuit board pr0n. Besides the pretty pictures though, sometimes hidden details are uncovered as is the case with these new Apple notebooks. 

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The MacBook Air, being a newer design than the aging MacBooks and Pros, got little more than a bump in specs today. But it was a good, solid bump! Here are the changes:

• SSD drive increased in capacity to 128GB
• Processor now up to 1.86GHz with a faster (1066MHz) FSB and 6MB L2 cache
• GeForce 9400M 256MB video card (thank god for that)
• Mini Displayport instead of Micro-DVI (probably a smart move)

Very nice. I think people buying the Air are probably pretty Apple-committed, so the new display connector will be just dandy for them. It’s still short on ports, but you knew that. You’ll be able to get them in November.

Is your cubicle located on top of a pile of garbage? If so, you might want this USB-powered air purifier. The product’s manufacturer, Brando, says “We are surrounded by polluted air every day. Wherever you may be, you will be breathing in the nasty polluted air.” Gee, that’s inspiring. So what should I do, Brando? Got any bright ideas?

“This USB Ionizer Fan with Aroma Diffuser is designed to refresh your environment by purifying the air, eliminating odors, particles and pollutants. Just plug it into your computer via the USB port to get fresh air all the day. It can refresh the air at home, office, car, etc.”

Ah, perfect. Thank you. Surely this device costs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, right? Wrong again. It’s $19 and can be powered by three AA batteries or via USB.

Product Page [Brando]

The X300 is official and it’s fabulous. It starts a $2,799 and includes a 64GB of solid-state hard drive space, GPS, and a DVD burner. It’s lighter than the Air, runs Vista, and comes in rich, Corinthian rubber. Road warriors, begin salivating.

Release

Yeah, fine. I’m a sucker for parody.

via CH

Pretentious? Have $29.95 lying about? You’re in luck!

Product Page

“All thin notebooks have compromises,” says Mr. Mossberg and we have to agree. Clearly the Air isn’t for all of us, but folks with a huge, nasty IT-department Dell will think of this as a breath of fresh “air.” Ha! Willie!

Josh just pointed out his original post on the Air. This was back in June, people. Trust us. We’re professionals.

Back on June 20, I reported that there’d be new, slimmer MacBooks coming in October that along with being made from new materials would also feature some “speeds and feeds” updates to the internal components. Today, another “trusted source” told us this was correct and added that the iPhone’s multi-touch technology is theoretically supposed to roll out with all the new laptops, including those coming out in October. The feature will be built into the touchpads, allowing you to navigate through your notebook’s files, applications, etc. the same way you can on the iPhone. (Yes, I know you can already scroll with them, that’s nothing new. I’m talking about all the other finger gestures that can be done on the iPhone’s screen.)

There’s no reason to believe that Apple isn’t capable of adding this functionality and it would definitely be a sweet addition. Just having it for flipping though your iTunes Library and for zooming in on photos or docs or sites would be great. Here’s hoping this comes true.

Multi-Touch On MacBooks In October [CrunchGear]

First, let me just say that the Air is an extremely impressive piece of technology. The miniaturization, the optimization of space, the blatant disregard for current standards — it’s everything a revolutionary machine should be. Except it isn’t one. It’s a flight of Apple vanity that is completely impractical for anyone who needs to do more than the most basic functions with their computer. Find out why inside.
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Unsatisfied with current air filtration methods, French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created this excellent little thing that would look at home in Sleeper or The Jetsons. It’s called the “Bel-Air,” believe it or not, and it uses the natural processes of the plant inside the dome, roots and all, to filter out some nasty household pollutants like benzene and formaldehyde. I know I’ve been trying to get that formaldehyde odor out of my living room since that desiccated corpse came over four weeks ago, so this is just the ticket. But it’s not all French curves – it also has the backing of Harvard “scientist” David Edwards, who is fond of making intelligent statements with “Asiatic” and “Dyson” in them. They’re not expecting to produce them for another year at least, so I guess you’ll have to choke on trichloroethylene until then. Dang, those things do look cool, though.

Bel-Air Filtration System Uses Plants to Purify Our Environs [Gizmodo]