Double the goodness with X-mini Capsule Speaker Gen2

There's never a good time to announce anything round about when Apple's high priest of innovation Steve Jobs starts to unveil the goods at Macworld. More so if it's a bitsy device by a brand that's a little under the radar.

Still, we've a soft spot for the X-mini Capsule Speaker, which blew us away with its mighty volume back in August last year. Now Singapore-based XM-I Company has unveiled the X-mini Capsule Speaker Gen2, which addresses a shortcoming of its older sibling. Namely that it's now stereo.

Part of the charm of the X-mini series lies with its patented technology which mimics the resonance of a sub-woofer; the capsule's resonance chamber acts like a loudspeaker...
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Made-in-Singapore 12.1-inch notebook due out in March

Singapore isn't just known for its chili crabs and cheap electronics, it will soon be known for making notebooks. Homegrown company Axioo today provided a sneak peek to journalists of not only a lineup of laptops, but also its upcoming 12.1-inch portable. While the press didn't get much in the way of information, a company representative did reveal that the machine would be categorized under its TFJ series. Unlike the colorful Axioo Zetta TEN and TEC laptops, the TFJ machine will be offered only in white.

Based on the prototype unit on display, the notebook appears to be powered by a Core 2 Duo processor and comes with a built-in 2-megapixel Webcam, keyboard with blue backlight and a fingerprint sensor. We expect more details from Axioo closer to its March 2008 launch.

MacBook Air missing more than an optical drive

The new MacBook Air is svelte-as-can-be, but it's also missing some key, traditional Mac functionality that might leave some users disappointed or in a lurch. First off, the battery is apparently not user-replaceable. This means you can't swap out batteries to extend operating life, and you'll likely need to seek authorized service to get the battery replaced when it inevitably loses capacity or if it fails altogether.

Since the MacBook Air lacks an optical drive, you can't boot from an inserted DVD like the Mac OS X Leopard install disc unless you purchase the optional, S$158 (US$114.15) external SuperDrive. It's not yet clear whether the MacBook Air can boot from an optical drive in another Mac via the "Remote Disc" function, but we doubt it. Further, if you can't boot from an installer disc, how will you be able to install the next major iteration of Mac OS X? Traditionally, Mac OS X installers have required the system to boot from a disc.

There's no built-in Ethernet port. This means you can't (apparently) network-boot unless you purchase the S$48 (US$34.68) USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

The MacBook Air also lacks a FireWire port. This means you can't use FireWire target disk mode--an invaluable troubleshooting tool and data transfer tool. In addition, some peripherals (including a host of digital video cameras) that are FireWire-only will be left out in the cold.

Finally, you can't upgrade the MacBook Air's RAM (you're stuck with 2GB, the default) and there is no audio input port, though a built-in microphone is included.

Via CNET Crave

Apple flies in the MacBook Air

With Macworld kicking off today, that tangled web of rumor, innuendo, and outright fabrication known as the Internet has been abuzz with all kinds of supposedly inside top-secret documentation, downloaded directly from Steve Jobs' frontal lobe.

Naturally we didn't believe a word of any of the oh-so-fake "leaked" Steve Jobs keynote addresses and product spec sheets, but one area where most of the speculators were at least partially right was in Apple's latest laptop, the MacBook Air.
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Video of exploding LG notebook

Update: LG has responded to our queries and says that it is in possession of the laptop in question. According to its official statement, it is investigating the incident with LG Chem (part of the LG group), the maker of the battery, as well as a "third-party organization to provide an outside, independent assessment of this issue."

A reader sent us this video of a notebook exploding in Korea. According to the title, it is an LG Xnote notebook, though the brand has blurred out in the video. In the clip, the notebook was already emiting smoke when the camera started rolling. It then burst into flames spectacularly, part of it flying off and hitting an adjacent wall.

It's all a little suspicious considering that you can't see the notebook brand on the video image at all. But when we scoured the Web for more information, news sites like the Wall Street Journal had already reported on the company's drop in stock value due to the incident. Read on for the full story and video.
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