CES 2015: SVALT Launches Stylish Cooling Dock for Apple MacBooks [Mac Blog]

SVALT today announced the launch of a new cooling dock designed for Apple MacBooks and select PC laptops, which the company promises offers a 12x improvement in cooling, 129 percent improvement in CPU power, and 53 percent improvement in CPU Turbo Boost by eliminating CPU throttling due to heat issues.



Created from solid aluminum and designed to match up with the style of Apple's MacBooks, the two-pound SVALT D is compact and holds a closed MacBook vertically in a dedicated ledge. A 12-volt fan sends air through the laptop's closed screen to reduce system temperatures while allowing GPU resources to be used for an external display.

Transform your laptop with a level of performance and functionality previously limited to the highest-end desktop computers. Heat buildup in the laptop negatively impacts performance and long term durability. Anchored by the passive cooling capacity of a highly engineered 2 pounds of aluminum, SVALT D enhances cooling with a 12-volt 80x25mm fan to drive airflow through the laptop's closed screen position air vent. Airflow is directed over the internal electronic components and bottom panel, feeding cool air into one or more of the laptop's fans and driving waste exhaust air out vents, flushing out heat.

The company says that real world results using the SVALT D will depend on the laptop used, the workload, and ambient temperatures, but it detailed testing on a 2012 11-inch MacBook Air:

- Fan: Red 1600-1700RPM

- Environment: 21 Celsius +/-1 and 50dB +/-5 office standards

- Cooling: 13C increase without SVALTTM D verses 1C increase with SVALTTM D

- Power: 0.748W increase with SVALTTM D verses -2.616W reduction without SVALTTM D

- Turbo Boost: 1.000GHz increase and sustained max Turbo Boost with SVALTTM D verses a throttled 0.653GHz increase without SVALTTM D

- Noise observation: slightly louder than background noise at 2ft from front

The dock ships with a power supply and it can be used with the fan on or off. There are two fan options -- a higher-powered red fan that runs at 1700RPM/15 dBA and a quieter Yellow fan that runs at 1200RPM/12 dBA.



The SVALT D works with current-generation MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro computers, including 11, 13, and 15-inch models. The SVALT D is currently in production, and the company plans to begin taking orders in February. The dock will be priced between $130 and $150.

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Posted in 2015 at 09:46PM, January 08

Nest Teams Up With Automatic for Energy Saving Temperature Tweaks Based on Vehicle Activity [iOS Blog]

During CES 2015, Nest announced a number of new partnerships, including one with auto accessory maker Automatic. For those unfamiliar with Automatic, the company produces an easy-to-use OBD port accessory that plugs into a range of different vehicles to provide at-a-glance car information on the iPhone.



Automatic's Connected Car Adapter is now capable of interfacing with the Nest Thermostat, letting customers create new interactions that will allow the Nest Thermostat to be adjusted based on vehicle activity.



For example, users can create a setting in the Nest app that wakes the Nest up when the car gets near to the house, or set it to Away mode when leaving to save energy. The Nest and Automatic integration allows the thermostat to detect the location of the car, so it's possible to set the Nest Thermostat to adjust house temperatures as a user is driving towards their home.



A wide variety of rules can be created through the new integration between the two products, using filters for location, time of day, day of the week, and more, for more precise control over temperature when away from the home.

The Automatic integration offers customers a chance to maximize potential savings through intelligently chosen rules that give the Nest thermostat a more timely understanding of when heating or cooling is needed--and when it's not needed.



"At Automatic, we've focused on saving people money from the very start with our fuel-efficiency coaching, which has saved many users hundreds per year on fuel costs. Now we're thrilled to extend the connected car's benefits into people's homes, to make life more automated, convenient, and efficient," said Thejo Kote, CEO of Automatic. "The home and car are people's two most expensive budget items. The Automatic and Nest platforms now work together to make those less of a burden in every way we can."

Both Nest and Automatic have been working hard to build partnerships to connect their products to a range of other devices. Automatic, for example, also integrates with the Jawbone UP, select Ford vehicles, and app IFTTT .






The Nest Thermostat now works with an even wider range of products, including Whirlpool washers and dryers, Philips hue lights, Kevo Smart Lock, Dropcam, Rachio sprinklers, August Smart Lock, and more.



The Nest Thermostat can be purchased from the Nest website for $249.



The Automatic connected car adapter can be purchased from the Automatic website for $99.95.

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Posted in 2015 at 09:05PM, January 08

App Store Rings in 2015 with New Records

The first week of January set a new record for billings from the App Store. Apple customers worldwide spent nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases, and New Year’s Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history. These milestones follow a breakthrough 2014, in which billings rose 50 percent and apps generated over $10 billion in revenue for developers. “This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion.”

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Posted in 2015 at 07:06PM, January 08

Intel is ready to put a Windows 8.1 PC on your dumb TV with this tiny device

The extremely small Curie processor for wearable devices isn’t the only interesting tech product Intel unveiled at CES 2015, as the company also announced a tiny device that’s powerful enough to bring PC powers to any TV, including dumber models, and even run Windows 8.1 apps. The Intel Compute Stick is in a way a Chromecast contender, only Intel’s device can do a lot more things than Google’s streaming solution.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:35PM, January 08

Watch the intro to ‘Evolve,’ the most anticipated co-op shooter of 2015

The past few weeks have been a bit of a breather for gamers as the release schedule slowed to glacial pace, but now that 2015 has begun, we have a whole new slate of huge titles to look forward to. Most notable are a few multiplatform releases scheduled to hit in the first quarter of the year, including Evolve , which just went gold this week.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:00PM, January 08

Upcoming Ultra-Thin 12-Inch MacBook Air Design Imagined in New Renderings

Following a set of artist renditions that gave fans a basic look at Apple's long-rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air earlier this week, well-known 3D modeler and designer Martin Hajek has created a set of realistic renderings of the unannounced notebook on his blog.





Hajek follows details found in previous reports of the machine, creating the model with an edge-to-edge keyboard relocating the on-board speakers to grilles above the keyboard. Though the display will be 12 inches diagonally, the new MacBook Air will keep roughly the same footprint as the current 11-inch model thanks to slightly narrower bezels surrounding the screen.





Apple's further attempt to thin out the next generation of MacBooks continues in the Retina MacBook Air's alleged lack of a USB and MagSafe ports, amongst other traditionally expected inputs. The new MacBook will reportedly have just two ports: a headphone jack and a USB Type-C Port, alongside a pair of microphones lining the sides of the device.





Hajek's renderings also mirror rumors suggesting the Retina MacBook Air will come in multiple color options that include the same Space Gray, Gold, and Silver colors the company has used since the iPhone 5s. Apple has yet to comment on the rumors swirling around the device, though supply chain sources believed the 12-inch MacBook could enter production sometime in early 2015. The full suite of Hajek's renderings can be found on his blog.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:41PM, January 08

Evernote Offering Automatic Document Scanning With New 'Scannable' iOS App [iOS Blog]

Evernote today released a new iPhone and iPad app that adds scanning to its repertoire of available services. The new Evernote Scannable app debuted last year as a beta service and is now publicly available in the iOS App Store.



Similar to competing scanning apps, Evernote Scannable includes an automatic scanning feature that allows users to scan a document simply by launching the app. Upon launch, the app will locate the document in the camera's field of view, initiate the scan and sharpen the contents to improve image quality.





Once scanned, the document can be uploaded to Evernote in a format that makes it searchable. Alternatively, scans can be uploaded to iCloud or shared via AirDrop, text messaging or email. If the scanned document is a business card, the Evernote service will automatically associate the scanned information with the contact's LinkedIn account. The new Scannable app also will serve as a controller for the ScanSnap Evernote Edition Scanner.

Scannable moves paper forward. Scan contracts, receipts, business cards, and any paper that comes your way. Save or share documents instantly and move on.



Automatically capture high-quality scans anywhere

- Scan fast: Point your camera at documents, Post-it® Notes, or whiteboards. Scannable immediately captures them.

- Save time: Scannable automatically rotates, crops, and adjusts images so your scans are clear and easy to read.

- Share or save: Send documents to colleagues via email or text, or save them to Evernote and other apps.

The Evernote Scannable app is available for free from the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

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Posted in 2015 at 06:33PM, January 08

The funniest thing you’ll see all day: How video games cost Jimmy Fallon a date with Nicole Kidman

We’re used to seeing The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon do plenty of funny tech-related bits, some funnier than others, so it’s not surprising to find out the star sort-of chose video games and other distractions over actually paying attention to Nicole Kidman when the two first met.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:10PM, January 08

Apple Celebrates Successful Year with Record-Breaking App Store Sales, Strong Job Creation

App Store customers worldwide set a new record in the first week of 2015, Apple announced today. According to the company, customers spent nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases in the first week of January, with New Year's Day marking the biggest day ever for App Store sales.



As noted by Apple, this opening salvo for 2015 follows in the footsteps of a successful 2014 that saw billings rise 50 percent to generate over $10 billion in app revenue for developers, pushing total developer earnings since the App Store's inception to over $25 billion. The steady climb of user acceptance for iOS 8, along with the strong success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and App Store specials like the (Product) RED Holiday Campaign, undoubtedly contributed to the company's App Store success of the App Store over the past few months.

“This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We're so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion.”

The company points to innovations like the new programming language Swift, graphics technology Metal, beta-testing program TestFlight, and the introduction of HealthKit and HomeKit as major reasons behind the flourishing of App Store development in the past year. Outside of the U.S., the addition of UnionPay as a payment option for App Store customers in China was a significant move by the company in establishing an overseas presence in the country.



Apple Pay's growing popularity in the U.S. has also been a factor in the App Store's success, especially with its added integration in popular apps like those from Target, OpenTable, and Ticketmaster.



Apple isn't just celebrating a successful monetary year, but a job-creating one as well. The company has created or supported 1,027,000 jobs in the U.S., 627,000 of which are directly related to the inception of the iOS ecosystem and the App Store. Apple directly employs 66,000 employees in the United States.

We’re proud to create 1M+ US jobs in all 50 states and ring in another record-breaking year for developers globally. http://bit.ly/1BEojGP

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 8, 2015

Beyond the App Store ecosystem and Apple's own employment, the company calculates it supports 337,000 jobs at other companies resulting from Apple's own spending and growth through the years. And with Apple Campus 2 under construction, the company expects to continue employment growth, supporting 41,100 jobs in the area upon its completion.

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Posted in 2015 at 05:12PM, January 08