A MacBook is one beautiful slice of technology, and it deserves only the most stylish accessories. With its graceful curves, the BookArc stand from TwelveSouth sleekly holds and displays your MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air while also reducing its footprint on your desk to only 10×4 inches. Most laptop stands we’ve tested are built to raise your open notebook’s screen up to eye level for a more ergonomic experience. But Mac laptops have that ingenious “lid-closed” mode, which lets you connect an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, then close the lid and wake the Mac back up by tapping a key. This setup can actually speed up your Mac too. With the lid closed, all of your graphics card’s video memory is used for the external display, instead of being split between the external and the notebook display. In fact, we attached our 2.4GHz MacBook Pro to a 23-inch Cinema Display and tested this with graphics-intensive Photoshop CS4. Our Photoshop Actions test was 22 percent faster with the Mac’s lid closed versus using the open laptop as an extended display. But aside from those speed gains, the well-made BookArc simply looks great on our desk. It even inspired us to de-clutter the rest of our workspace, which–if you consider how many products move through here in a given week–can be classified as a minor miracle. It comes with three silicone cushions to fit a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or slim MacBook Air, and the rubber feet keep the whole BookArc from sliding around. Occasionally, the act of sticking our MacBook Pro in the slot would dislodge the cushion a bit, so we had to straighten it with one hand while holding the ’Book with the other, but that’s a minor quibble since it didn’t happen very often

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TwelveSouth BookArc

The National Trust is one of the UK’s national treasures – a charity that looks after all manner of old and ancient pieces of British heritage. That means owning and maintaining miles of coastline, acres of woodlands, heaths, mountains and gardens, and quite a few stately homes. The Trust is much loved, but it has something of

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UK Heritage Charity Opens Up, Releases iPhone App

Despite last-minute hang-ups on getting content onto the iPad, Apple has sold “hundreds of thousands” of the tablet devices since the Cupertino, Calif. company began taking pre-orders a week ago. The report seems to mirror a Venezualan blogger and analyst who predicted Thursday Apple will reach the 200,000 mark sometime today. Apple could sell more iPads

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Report: ‘Hundreds of Thousands’ of iPads Already Sold

The April 3 release date for the iPad is fast approaching, and a new report finds that Apple is starting to temper their own expectations for the device as they struggle to get content deals inked. MacRumors has the details on the new report from The Wall Street Journal , which finds Apple backing off of their previous high expectations as they rush to finalize deals with content providers for the April 3rd launch of the iPad. The report finds that Apple is setting aside television content and iPad-specific content such as newspaper, magazine and textbook deals to focus on what they can lock by the deadline. “Yet the company is still negotiating with media companies for a price cut on TV shows that people can download onto the device, said people familiar with the matter,” the report reads . “Apple also hoped to work closely with newspaper, magazines and textbook publishers on new ways to digitally present print content on the iPad, but has for now put the effort on backburner in favor of focusing on other content, said one of those people.” As previously reported here and elsewhere, many potential content partners have been reluctant to sign up under Apple’s terms — as much as they want to bring their content to new devices such as the iPad, they’re wary about risking future revenue streams under Cupertino’s terms. MacRumors notes that e-books have likely received most of Apple’s immediate attention, since the iBooks app will debut alongside the iPad — or rather, be available to download as soon as new owners boot their device. The new iBookstore is surely one of the key focus areas for Apple in their race against time. The good news for Apple, if reports are to be believed, is that the company is rumored to have already sold “hundreds of thousands” of iPads since the preorders began last Friday — that means the device has the potential to outsell the original iPhone in the first three months of sales. Not bad for a device that many were quick to dismiss when it was unveiled in late January, eh?

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With iPad Content Deals Up in the Air, Apple Begins to Temper Expectations

After being promised several months ago, Amazon’s free Kindle for Mac has finally arrived in beta form — right as Apple’s iPad and its accompanying iBooks app looms large over the horizon. Kindle for Mac joins a vast array of available options for Amazon e-book buyers. In addition to the company’s own $259 Kindle 2 and $489 Kindle DX hardware options, e-books purchased through Amazon can also be read on the iPhone or iPod touch, Blackberry, Windows PC and now Mac — and presumably an updated iPad version is yet to come as well. According to AppleInsider , Kindle for Mac allows users to purchase and download from Amazon’s ever-expanding catalog of more than 450,000 e-books and read them on the device of your choice. Amazon’s Whispersync technology is featured on all versions of the software and hardware, which automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and the last page read across devices. For instance, you can start reading an e-book on the new Mac version, then open the same tome on your iPhone and pick right up where you left off, on the go. "Kindle for Mac is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX," said Amazon Kindle director Jay Marine. "For those customers around the world who don’t yet have a Kindle, Kindle for Mac is a great way to instantly access and read the most popular new releases as well as their old favorites." Of course, Amazon would probably prefer that e-book buyers still favor the hardware Kindle over the software options, but ultimately the company has done the right thing by making it available on every possible platform — especially given that Apple will likely have its own iBooks for iPad in its own walled garden as usual. Kindle for Mac isn’t quite feature complete yet — Amazon plans to add more new features, such as full text search and the ability to create and edit notes and highlights. The free beta version is available for download now and requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 or greater and an Intel processor

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Amazon Kindle for Mac Beta Now Available

Man, Apple’s been coming down pretty hard on third party vendors lately. First it was the sexy apps, then the WiFi sniffers, then the book-only apps. In the latest round of purging, Apple takes it to the physical world. Whether it’s just because they want more store space for their own products or they’re cooking up their own screen films or they really think their oleophobic glass screens are all that tough, Apple has told screen protector vendors that they’re quits as far as the Apple Store and the website goes. Whaaat? Rumors are abounding that Apple has contacted vendors and told them they won’t be stocking anymore screen protectors. 9To5Mac links to Dan Frakes at Macworld who says he’s heard from multiple vendor sources about the heave-ho. And it’s not even confined to straight up screen protection. Even sleeve protector products that contain cling films are being asked to step outside. Image Source: iphone-products.com Personally, we don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a screen protector for their iPhone. In fact, we bought one the day we got our iPhone and put it on the moment it was registered, and the handy little cling film has never been off since. While we go out of our way not to put keys or any other hard metal objects in the same pocket with our iPhones (and many women we know have a dedicated pocket for it in their purses), we’d still never go without our screen protector. Even worse, we’d never even think of picking up an iPad with its four times as large screen without some serious cling action to protect our baby from scratches. So far, as is typical with everyone’s favorite computer company, Cupertino’s being a bit tight lipped about the whole thing

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Apple Thinks Their Screens Are Plenty Tough

Filed under: Apple We’re only days away from the release of the iPad , and that means analysts are doing crazy business — they’re laying out as many predictions as they can before theory becomes actual numbers. Our friend Gene Munster is first — he says that despite the introduction of a brand new category, Mac sales will be even better than investors expect this quarter, with a whopping 26% to 31% year-over-year growth. Apparently retail data suggests that Macs are flying off of the shelves , and that Apple should end up with almost 3 million Macs sold in the March quarter. PC sales in general are also expected to increase , with the iMac carrying a whole quarter of all desktop growth this year. Desktop sales are finally headed upwards for the first time in a few years, and along with bigger sales numbers in terms of netbooks and notebooks, Apple’s iMac platform is leading the charge. International sales are also expected to drive the PC market — if the numbers are right, this will be the first time ever that sales internationally take up 50% of the desktop PC market. Interesting predictions, all. There’s no question, I think, that Apple will make plenty of money this quarter. The question going forward will be whether the iPad steals sales that would have gone to the iPhone or to a MacBook. But if the past numbers with the iPhone are any indication, big interest in the portable devices actually drives Apple’s desktop sales as well. Analysts: iMac to take over 25% of PC sales, Mac to see 31% growth originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

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Analysts: iMac to take over 25% of PC sales, Mac to see 31% growth

It was bound to happen, sooner or later. Steve Jobs is simply too important, too impressive, too easy a target not to base a character on him and turn it into a sitcom. And that’s what might very well be happening, if the pilot currently in development in Hollywood gets optioned for a series. Yesterday, Media Rights Capital released a statement on its website describing how, working with cable channel EPIX, they have green-lit a pilot episode for a proposed sitcom series entitled — what else? –  iCON . From MRC’s website: EPIX and Media Rights Capital have made a team for iCON, a comedy series pilot that will be developed by Larry Charles, the Emmy-winning TV writer/producer, and the director of the Sacha Baron Cohen features Borat and Bruno. Charles will oversee development of the script and will direct the half-hour pilot of a series written by Dan Lyons. A technology consultant for Newsweek, Lyons created the Fake Steve Jobs blog and wrote the novel Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs—A Parody. Yes, you read that right. Fake Steve himself is penning the script (it’s most likely he already has , given how sporadic the updates have been in recent weeks on the Fake Steve Jobs blog .) If you’re a fan of Fake Steve, this is exhilarating news; Lyons is not only an insightful author but is in possession of a Sahara-dry wit, to boot. In addition to his Fake Steve sideshow, Lyons is the author of Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs – A Parody . You might say he really knows the subject matter. And then there’s Larry Charles.

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New Sitcom Pilot to be Based Not-So-Loosely on Steve Jobs

Take a gander at the clip up there. It’s been forty-odd years since Bobb Goldsteinn coined the term “multimedia,” but I think — and maybe you’ll agree with me — this is the first time I’ve felt that I could easily apply the word and think “yeah, that’s exactly what it is.” In the clip, Alexx

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Stunning Glimpse Into The Future Of Magazines

An Australian tech website has started running ads featuring Mac Pros and MacBook Pros whose entry-level prices are noticeably higher than those in the current Mac lineup. So what, right? The ads are probably incorrectly labeled, or something. But the word on the street (well, the word on Engadget , anyway) is that these might predict the much-anticipated Mac refreshes that we’ve been waiting for. From Engadget: Apple’s Australian online store lists the most affordable versions of the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Pro at A$1599, A$1999 and A$3599, respectively, but the ads show significantly higher “starting at” prices of A$1899, A$2399, and A$4499. Following the ads to Apple’s Australian online store reveals the same Mac models at the same old prices, so either these ads are terribly wrong or they’re been released a little early… It has been over a year since Apple released a major update to its high-end Mac Pro computer. I know very well because I bought one last April at an astronomically high price, and as such, guard it with my life. (No one else is allowed near it. No one!) If history has taught me anything, it is that I am not allowed to have the best and brightest kit for long. Therefore, an update is imminent. As for the MacBook Pro, we can probably expect to see Apple upgrade it with Intel’s powerful i7 Chipset

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Australian Website Hints at New Macs, Higher Prices