Recent reports by the folks at AT&T indicate the upcoming 3G iPhone could come with a new $199 price tag. Normally priced starting at $399, the touch phone and iPod combo released by Apple nearly a year ago has proven to be a major success. If Apple does indeed lower the phone’s price to $199, expect the device’s already high sales to explode.
Personally, I don’t see the price drop happening. Maybe a cut down version of the iPhone similar to the iPod nano will be released for $199, but why would Apple release something they can barely keep in stock at a $399 price point for half as much? Doing so would not only jeopardize sales for the less expensive iPod Touch and traditional iPod Classic, which start at $299 and $249 respectively, but how could Apple even meet the heavy demand that would likely result from such a price decrease?
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the last month, you’ll know there’s a Miami outfit by the name of Psystar that has made the news recently for its offering of Mac clones. Dubbed the Open Computer, the machine is sold with your choice of Windows, Linux, or OS X Leopard. This has raised some heads, as not only may the installation of OS X on non-Apple hardware violate anti-trust laws, but other doubts have been raised about the company’s legitimacy. Now, PC Fastlane has found evidence that the Psystar headquarters shown on their website may not be same building as the one at their reported address.
With the increasing popularity of Apple computers, numerous third party accessories have sprung up across the Internet. Up for review today is one such accessory, the LowKey Stand by Macessity, a California-based company that makes a wide range of Mac accessories aimed at professional users. The stand, which is designed specifically for the iMac and Apple Cinema displays, is small enough to fit on any desk, but at the same time large enough to provide a stowing place for the new slim Apple keyboards. To top it off, the product also comes with an integrated USB hub, making up for the lack of front USB ports on the iMac. Read the Editor Daniel Foster’s take on the product after the jump.
With the increasing popularity of PC Fastlane, the site has been targeted by more and more spammers as of late. While some of the spam has been coming from bots, it’s clear that a good majority of it is human-based. Most spam is simply deleted on the spot, and the IP of the spammer banned. This not only takes up a few minutes of my time, but also wastes your time. To prevent this from happening in the future, please take a few minutes out of your spamming rampage and read the following guide. Read the rest of this entry »
Intel is currently working on what it calls the Rural Connectivity Platform, or RCP. The RCP involves intense modification to traditional 802.11 wireless technology to allow a wireless router to transmit data over a 100km span at speeds up to 6.5 mbps, providing Internet to remote areas or other places where the geography makes laying fiber optics or copper cable counterproductive.
The company is planning to begin sales later this year in India. At $500 for each wireless router and a requirement of two routers, the whole setup costs $1,000. This is more than the average yearly wage in India, but is much cheaper compared to running traditional cable. An entire village can share a single Internet hookup, and hopefully this technology will further increase the number of computer users out there, though I doubt a village in the middle of nowhere with no electricity will be getting computers any time soon, even with the availability of Wi-Fi. Though Intel hasn’t said so yet, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had plans to work with the OLPC or a similar low-cost laptop project to bring computing to the masses. If all goes well in India, Intel plans to make its new technology available to everyone. Many places could benefit from this technology, especially large countries with numerous remote villages like Russia.
With the increased popularity of Apple products over the past few years, especially the iPod, I have noticed my local Apple Store has been full of all kinds of PC-using smut as of late. While these undesirables may seem harmless to some, they are in reality a pestilence that needs to be dealt with accordingly. Consequently, I, Logan Harrison, have written my own rules for visitors to the Apple Store.
Have a love for running and technology? In a press release issued earlier today by Nike, the company announced their latest and greatest piece of exercise tech, the Nike+Sportsband.Slated for an April 10 release date, the armband hopes to make training easier for runners by displaying such information as distance traveled, calories burned, pace, and time. Though it is designed specifically for runners who do not use iPods in their exercise endeavors, it would make an excellent substitute for someone who preferred not to use the Nike+iPod setup.
There’s no word yet on pricing from the corporate shoe giant, and there is no word yet if Nike plans on making a similar device to track the productivity of its child laborers in Vietnam.
Gateways Into Electronics by Peter Caroll Dunn provides a good introduction of electronics to undergraduate students interested in engineering. A recommended read at PC Fastlane, it is considered to be one of the best introductory books to electronics out there, though it isn’t very well known. The book has been praised by many for the detail it is able to provide while still maintaining clarity. Anyone with a bit of physics knowledge and basic calculus can learn from Dunn’s book. With more than 500 figures and a variety of examples and exercises, this book is also makes a good reference as well as learning tool.
Some of the topics in Gateways Into Electronics include circuit theory, linear systems, operational amplifiers, feedback systems, semiconductors, and digital circuits.
In a stunt fit for the likes of our own Logan Harisson, a woman decided to call the Apple Store to see if they would host her wedding reception. Why? It turns out she and her husband first met there.Source
As the new comes in, don’t forget the old. Here are a few of our most popular stories from years gone by. Some of our more seasoned readers may be familiar with them, while new readers may have never seen them before.
PC Fastlane is a technology blog that keeps up-to-date with the latest happenings in the world of bits and bytes. The brain child of computer enthusiast Daniel Foster, the site has been around for more than two years and has been viewed by hundreds of thousands worldwide.
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Intel is currently working on what it calls the Rural Connectivity Platform, or RCP. The RCP involves intense modification to traditional 802.11 wireless technology to allow a wireless router to transmit data over a 100km span at speeds up to 6.5 mbps, providing Internet to remote areas or other places where the geography makes laying fiber optics or copper cable counterproductive.
Gateways Into Electronics by Peter Caroll Dunn provides a good introduction of electronics to undergraduate students interested in engineering. A recommended read at PC Fastlane, it is considered to be one of the best introductory books to electronics out there, though it isn’t very well known. The book has been praised by many for the detail it is able to provide while still maintaining clarity. Anyone with a bit of physics knowledge and basic calculus can learn from Dunn’s book. With more than 500 figures and a variety of examples and exercises, this book is also makes a good reference as well as learning tool.
