What the MacBook Air needs next

Sarah Tew/CNET

It's a regular ritual now. Apple announces updates to the popular MacBook Air laptop line, sometimes at a major event such as WWDC, sometimes quietly in the middle of the night, as in the case of the most recent spec and price tweaks. Everyone nods and says the laptop is an even better deal now, but that it's still essentially the same machine we've seen for years.

And that's because the current MacBook Air model dates from 2010, and has undergone only minor tweaks since then, mostly to its CPU, networking hardware, and camera. How many other laptops, or even other consumer technology gadgets, can you say the same thing about?

Despite this, the current 13-inch (and even the 11-inch) MacBook Air laptops remain popular, and are the most common computer hardware I see on a daily basis in coffee shops and press conferences in New York and elsewhere. I've even gone so far as to call the 13-inch Air the single most universally useful laptop you can buy.

Sarah Tew/CNET

That said, there are some features and design tweaks a 2014 MacBook Air would benefit greatly from. While the internal configurations of the Air have largely kept pace with new technology, resulting in excellent generation-over-generation battery life and graphics performance, the design that felt so forward-looking and modern four years ago, has been eclipsed since then by newer ultrabooks and hybrids.

Change the aspect ratio

The 11-inch Air is the only MacBook with an industry standard 16:9 display (the same as found on HDTVs), while the 13-inch Air and the Pro models are all 16:10. Some people truly prefer 16:10, but the other aspect ratio has been dominant long enough that it's the established standard. These days, any premium 13-inch laptop without at least a 16:9 1,920x1,080 screen resolution simply feels second-class.

Add HDMI

A minor request, but one the MacBook Pro has been able to add, after years in which it seemed doubtful Apple would ever support HDMI on a laptop. It makes sharing video, photos, and even the cool stuff you can make in iLife apps easier. As more people start to use, for example, Keynote instead of PowerPoint for presentations, you may see more demand for this.

Higher-resolution displays

The Retina MacBook Pro kicked off the current trend towards better-than-HD displays, but this is one area where the Windows crowd has caught on quickly. Today, you'll find laptops nearly as thin and light as the MacBook Air, including the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and Toshiba Kirabook, offering 3,200x1,800 or 2,560x1,440 displays for reasonable prices. It's definitely time for this feature to trickle down to the Air level.

Jump on the touchscreen bandwagon

Another long shot, to be sure, but I can't tell you how many times I've reached for the screen of my MacBook Air to scroll along a Web page to tap a button, or how many times I've heard the same exact story from others. It's because Windows 8, disliked as it may be, has already trained many computer users to expect touch screens on laptops. OS X lacks the tile-based, finger-friendly layout of Windows 8, but I find myself doing nearly all my swiping and tapping in the classic desktop environment anyway.

Some of these ideas may seem far-fetched to regular Apple-watchers, but the MacBook is not as monolithic and unchanging as one might think. The system has added some of our most-wanted features in recent years, including USB 3.0, faster 802.11n Wi-Fi, and a base 128GB SSD in the 11-inch version.

If some of these requests sound familiar, it may be because I've written about this topic before. A quick Google search turns up similar wish lists from 2011 and 2012 (and there may be more...), but I've got a good feeling that 2014 may be the year we finally get a next-generation MacBook Air.

Google, Intel announce Chrome OS press confab

Acer's C720P Chromebook features a Haswell-based Intel Celeron processor and a touch screen.Sarah Tew/CNET

Google and Intel have partnered before on Chrome OS, Google's cloud-based operating system. Now, it looks like they're at it again.

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The two companies will make a joint appearance involving Chrome OS on May 6, Google said in a press invite sent on Wednesday. Google's Caesar Sengupta, vice president of product management for Chrome OS, and Intel's Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of the mobile computing group, will be on hand to make the announcements and take questions from the press.

The two companies collaborated last September when they announced four Haswell-powered Chromebooks from Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Asus, and Toshiba at the Intel Developer Forum. Chromebooks, laptops that run Chrome OS, are a small but growing part of the PC market. Chromebooks, which are often priced under $300, captured 21 percent of US notebook sales and 8 percent of the total PC and tablet market in 2013, according to NPD Group.

There's no word yet as to what the announcements will be.

Intel Education 2 in 1 is a convertible that's making its way to classrooms (hands-on)

The Intel Education 2 in 1 laptop is meant for school use.Aloysius Low/CNET

Intel's Education 2 in 1 convertible laptop doesn't have the most exciting of names, but it's a device that could help change the world. It's not the first time the chip-maker has been involved with education causes -- but perhaps Intel has found the right mix at last with this 10-inch convertible.

Powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3740D processor, the 2 in 1 is made by Taiwanese manufacturer Elitegroup. It runs Windows 8.1 and comes with 2GB of RAM and either 32 or 64GB of onboard storage.

The 10-inch touchscreen features a 1,366x768-pixel resolution and comes with NFC and Wi-Fi connectivity. You can detach the screen from the keyboard to turn it into a tablet, or flip it around to use from the other side. A capacitive stylus is located on the right side of the display.

It sports a USB 3.0 port and Micro-HDMI as well as a micro-SD card slot. A 3.5mm audio jack also doubles as a port for a temperature probe.

The 2 in 1's rear 5-megapixel camera comes with a snap-on microscope lens with 30x magnification. Using the built-in Intel Education Software, it will easily enable you to see snowflakes or the fibres that make up your clothes. There are two LED lights at the side of the camera, which can be turned on to illuminate the samples you intend to look at.

The microscope add-on will let you get really close to your subject.Aloysius Low/CNET

Other software features include motion capture, time-lapse photography, and a kinematics app that tracks moving objects, such as a pendulum, and will display the frequency onscreen.

A built-in handle makes it easy to carry around, the overall package weighs in at around 1.2kg, or 2.65 pounds . The laptop is as thin as an ultrabook with a thickness of 27.8mm (just under 1.1 inches), and in tablet form, checks in at 11.6mm, or just under half an inch.

As the notebook is meant for use in a school environment, Intel has made the 2 in 1 water- and drop-resistant. It's able to take spills on the keyboard and survive falls from a height of up to 70cm (about 27 inches).

If you're thinking of getting one yourself, you'd be out of luck. Intel has no plans to sell the notebook commercially -- instead, it's working with distributors in Australia, India, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines who will sell these notebooks directly to schools.

Some lucky school kids in Australia, India, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines will soon be able to use this notebook in the classroom.

Sony's PC implosion a lesson for Apple?

Sony Vaio Pro. If Sony's PC business can fail as miserably as it has with great designs like the Vaio Pro, it's probably more than just a Sony problem.Sony

This week Sony said its PC business is even worse off than the bleak estimates it made earlier in the year. Is there something going on here that's larger than Sony's failings?

Sony announced on Thursday that net losses will grow to a whopping $1.25 billion in its fiscal year. This is the third time Sony has cut its guidance for fiscal 2013. Once again, slumping PC sales are a major factor -- an additional 30 billion yen ($293 million) in PC-related "restructuring expenses" -- in the wake of the sale of its PC business to Japan Industrial Partners back in February.

Obviously, part of the problem is that consumers and retailers have abandoned the Vaio brand because of the high-profile exit from PCs. But the whole PC fiasco began with Sony pricing itself out of the market. And the flight away from premium consumer laptops is only accelerating.

Michael Dell recalls 'thrilling ride' as PC maker turns 30

Michael DellKimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images

Some 30 years after starting out "with $1,000 and a team of one," Michael Dell recalled Monday in separate notes to customers and employees the "thrilling ride that started in 1984."

"Thirty years ago I made a decision to leave school and pursue my dream. I didn't know the impact we'd have on the world," the Dell founder wrote in a letter sent out today to employees. "We innovated a better way to make, sell and support technology -- and the rest, as they say, is history."

It's been quite a history with its own share of ups and downs.

Dell was one of those luminaries -- most of whom passed from the scene long ago -- who grasped early on the potential for selling computers direct to customers. In the mid-1980s, most PCs were sold through distributors and retailers -- with prices getting marked up each step along the way. But that was the dawn of the modern personal computing age when most people were unfamiliar with technology and retailers could charge for the extra hand-holding which accompanied the sale of the machines.

But if Dell was one of the first mail-order computer makers, he didn't stay by his lonesome very long. Before long, other entrepreneurs, such as Ted Waitt at Gateway and Greg Herrick of Zeos, would help usher in the rapid growth of the direct selling model. Three years after founding his company, Dell changed its name from "PC's Limited" to Dell Computer Corporation. By 1992, Michael Dell earned new fame for becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

The full text of his note to employees is below.

...

Happy birthday, Team Dell!

Thirty years ago I made a decision to leave school and pursue my dream. I didn't know the impact we'd have on the world. We innovated a better way to make, sell and support technology--and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, we're six months into our next chapter as a private company, but with the same extraordinary opportunity to find a better way. We're making technology easier to buy, own and operate so our customers around the world can achieve their dreams.

The early results show building momentum and Dell on the rise. Our PC share is up worldwide for the fifth consecutive quarter. We're leading the industry in enterprise flash deployments, and leading with our security and cloud integration solutions. Our Services business is rapidly acquiring new customers and huge deals in key verticals like healthcare and finance. With 7+ billion medical images, our Unified Clinical Cloud Archive is one of the largest in the world. We are quickly bringing to market new and differentiated enterprise solutions built for the future-ready data center. And we're doing it the right way as was evident earlier this year when we were named a World's Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute.

It's been a lot of fun to take a fresh look at the business and implement changes swiftly that make us more competitive and allow us to better serve our customers. It reminds me a lot of the old days, and it energizes me to work even harder and move even faster.

Whether you've been a Dell team member for days, years or decades, I want to thank you for your contributions to our first 30 years. We have a heritage we can all be very proud of. But let's not spend too much time in the past because the future is full of promise--for Dell, for our customers, and for each of us. We've got work to do. So here's to the next 30!

Please celebrate with your team members by joining or watching the global town hall tomorrow.

Michael

Glow-in-the-dark 'Space Vader' debuts on May the 4th

Acme Archives

Look up in the sky. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a 

Look up in the sky. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a glow-in-the-dark Sith Lord!

Acme Archives and geek-goods purveyor Super7 Store are teaming to release new, limited-edition numbered "Star Wars" prints that debut on May 4, Star Wars Day, starting with "Space Vader" -- an ominous constellation of a certain Sith Lord.

Silkscreened on black 16x20-inch heavy archival stock with light gray and glow-in-the-dark inks, 200 "Space Vader" prints will be available Sunday, May 4, at noon PT online at Super 7 Store for $50 each.

The limited-edition "Star Wars" series continues with a "Tauntaun Cuts" silkscreen print that shows off the choicest cut of meat on a creature that smells bad inside and out, and is always Luke warm. It's also priced at $50, but the release date has yet to be determined.

The third print in the series pays homage to the "X-Wing Fighter," which connects the classic "Star Wars" Galaxy with an era of gaming from long, long ago. Again, this one's priced at $50, with a release date yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, fans who happen to be in San Francisco can stop by the Super7 Store at 1427 Haight Street from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a May the 4th Be With You celebration. Stormtroopers from the local 501st garrison and other "Star Wars" characters will be on hand to take Imperial selfies. There will be a "Star Wars" mini-arcade, a photo booth, and more.

52 percent want quitting their job to be viral event, survey says

A scene from Marina Shifrin's famous video.Marina Shifrin/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Privacy? It's for losers.

Respect for your boss? Oh, shove it.

Fame? Now that's what I'm talking about.

This seems to sum up the cultural ethos that Web has engendered and accelerated. And it's one that seems to be seeping into every aspect of what they used to call real life.

It's so prevalent that it can even be seen in research. I have before my eyes, for example, an exclusive viewing of research that examined how much people trust social media platforms for product recommendations.

This was, with hearty coincidence, sponsored by Shoutly. This is not a company that tries to help loud people assert themselves even more upon society. Although, in a way, it is. Its concern is paying people to recommend products to their social media followers.

Naturally, this research is brimming with astounding insight, such as that 84 percent of these 500 American respondents find online ads to be annoying. And, please prostrate yourself, 82 percent just adore personal recommendations for their shopping.

Buried, however, in the bowels of this barely digestible data roughage is something quite fetching: 52 percent of Americans "plan" to quit their jobs with socially shareable style.

This is understandable. People don't merely want to be famous. They need to be. Never has there been a time when you are either known for something, or good for nothing.

So these respondents, their souls clearly dimmed by their working experience, "plan" to quit their jobs in a style to make them famous.

7 percent want to follow in the footsteps of Marina Shifrin, the famous YouTube quitter who filmed a video resignation late at night from her Taiwanese animation company and surged to fame.

Another 7 percent "plan" to quit with the help of a musical band.

" Hey, boss, here's Mick Jagger and he'd like to sing about my satisfaction."

A further 7 percent insist they "plan" to quit "in a blaze of glory." A socially incendiary prospect, that.

You must, though, bathe in the thought-processes of the 5 percent who insisted they "plan" to quit by "sending a pornographic Tweet from the company Twitter handle."

I am troubled, as I'm sure you are, that there wasn't greater specification of what this pornographic tweet might entail.

Would this tweet be accompanied with a picture of them in flagrante and the epithet "f*** this job"? Might it entail an image of some popular porn star with the caption: "I'm tired of faking it"?

You might have some sympathies with the 3 percent who "plan" to quit "in an open letter posted online with my grievances." That would surely have viral impact.

I will close by focusing your attention on the 5 percent of these respondents who claimed that they "plan" to quit while in drag.

In this world, the filmic, dramatic and eminently shareable possibilities know no bounds.