perspective

Samsung has introduced a 256GB solid-state drive that promises to kickstart the industry with twice the storage and twice the speed of earlier disks while also costing less to manufacture than past models - and having a chance of placing in future Apple notebooks.

Simply called the 256GB FlashSSD, the Serial ATA drive reads in-order data at 200MB per second, or double the rate of Samsung's past 128GB drive. It also boosts write speeds, often a bottleneck on solid-state drives, from 70MB per second to 160MB.

The MacBook Air has become the best example for why companies should use LED (light-emitting diode) backlights in notebook screens, and is driving adoption, according to market researcher DisplaySearch.

LED backlights in display screens are an improvement technology for several reasons, including a stunning picture due to more vibrant contrasts, better power savings, and they’re easier on the environment because they contain no mercury and last longer.

They helped make the MacBook Air a marvel of thinness because they take up less space inside a screen - LED backlights are about half as thick as CCFL backlights.

The only problem with LED backlights is still cost, but prices are coming down.

The MacBook Air didn’t start the trend to using this technology, but its stunningly thin design will probably prompt other companies to put out similar notebooks...

Apple has filed for several patents related to the MacBook Air that cover currently implement technology and hint at future expansion potential for the sub-notebook. Included is a patent for the collapsible port, which apparently was originally earmarked for the rear of the notebook and was to present additional options. The patent reveals that the collapsible port may show up on other Apple devices, with patent writers stating "the present invention may apply to other types of devices, and still remain within the spirit and scope of the present invention."

We are likely to see new MacBook Pros from Apple on any given Tuesday. Those machines are rumored to come in the same 15-inch and 17-inch size delineations as the current models. It also seems that there won't be much difference in the footprint size between the MacBook Air...

The exclusivity of Apple's new multi-touch trackpad to the company's MacBook Air family of notebooks won't last long. The next models to receive the large multi-touch trackpads will be updated 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, the AppleInsider claims.

The processor developed by Intel for Apple's MacBook Air laptop may soon be used by other PC vendors in Windows systems. Two PC makers are going to use the miniature Intel Core 2 Duo processors like Apple in MacBook Air. It means that Windows systems powered by the chips could be soon released.

Only two mass storage options for the MacBook Air are offered now: a traditional 80GB 1.8" hard disk drive (HDD) and 64GB 1.8" solid state drive (SSD) upgrade, that costs $999. Those who are interested in upgrading the capacity of their MacBook Air drives will have to wait as long as 2009 to get significantly higher sizes.

The problem as already being solved in a secret project called MacBook AirCraft. The rumors of it's release by the end of the year have just arrived on the Web.