Voodoo Envy 133 Laptop vs MacBook Air

It is a well known rule, that every successful product will have its followers. Whether they are direct replicas or strong competitors, they certainly will cause much less impact than the original. Apple knows this for sure, because every now and then their products are replicated and followed by other companies. Let us not mention Chinese HiPhones and other cheap parodies, and try to concentrate on real and interesting competitors offered.

MacBook Air, when released, was a huge success. While it was pricey, it offered a unique experience of owning a world's thinnest laptop with Mac OS X inside. Of course, no other company has a chance to offer Mac OS X in their laptops; however the title of "world's thinnest laptop" will no longer be associated with Air. This title goes now to Voodoo Envy 133, new laptop from the HP. It beats its competitor in thickness, being 0.15 cm thinner that the MacBook Air. However, will it overcome Apple laptop in other domains? Let us see.


This new gadget from Voodoo certainly has its style. It definitely does not even try to copy MacBook Air design, it looks completely unique. While it seems not as slick as Air is, it definitely deserves a plus on this side. Its body is made completely from carbon fiber with custom micro-weave design, and looks very attractive. It comes in two different colors, black and white, with inner part always remaining black. Design is a very subjective thing, but it will be fair to say that Envy 133 has not failed at this point.

Envy's internal hardware does not fall behind MacBook Air either. It is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo SP7500 / SP7700 processor, has 2 GB of DDR2 RAM and 80 GB HDD (which can be replaced by the 64 GB SSD for additional price). Display resolution and size is the same as on MacBook, 1280 x 800, 13.3". Same as Air, it does not have any internal optical drive, so you can use external one that comes together with the laptop. As an answer to the Air's multi-touch touchpad, Envy 133 has large touchpad with multiple finger tracking and gestures support.

In terms of connectivity, Voodoo Envy 133 seems more powerful than MacBook Air. First, apart from wireless capabilities, Envy has Ethernet port, which gives you possibility to connect it to any wired networks available. Second, one of the very interesting features is Envy's integrated wireless personal access point, so you can use laptop as a Wi-Fi Access Point for all Wi-Fi capable devices - all thanks to the Voodoo Aura PowerConnect feature. It also has 2 USB 2.0 slots instead of one on the MacBook Air, so if you have external optical drive connected you will always be able to connect another gadget in remaining USB port without having to buy USB hubs. However, one of the slots is e-SATA, so you will have to use an adapter to connect USB devices there.

On the software side, it could be almost completely similar to other Windows based laptops, but it is not. There is one feature that makes this laptop unique in some sort: Voodoo IOS, Instant On Solution. It gives you the ability to boot up almost instantly in a special mode, where you can browse Internet, chat in IM or talk via Skype - without booting up Windows. It only takes 4 to 5 seconds to be completely usable - very interesting feature for those, who do not want to wait until Windows boots up. Of course, IOS offers only limited amount of programs, so if you want more you can press the button with Windows logo on it to boot directly to Windows Vista.

According to info on the Voodoo page, Envy 133 laptop can work 3 hours on one battery charge. Of course, battery time will depend on how intense you use laptop, so maybe it will be possible to increase this time a little. The biggest difference from Air is that the battery on Envy is replaceable, so you can always buy another one if you feel that one is not enough.

Does this newcomer from Voodoo (or is it best to say, from HP?) will overcome Apple's MacBook Air, but it certainly is a very interesting device. It offers a bunch of new features that are completely unique to this model, and it is definitely thinner that Air. Its price is 2099 USD, which is a bit more that the price for Air, but it seems reasonable for all the features Envy 133 has.

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Intel Centrino 2 announced

Intel is the world's largest CPU producer, that's why each new technology they invent influences the whole computer market. Today, it is good news for laptop users. Many of us know about Intel's Centrino technology, which saves power and gives us a better performance for less energy. Intel has officially announced an upgrade to Centrino line - Centrino 2. It will be even more advanced, promises Core 2 Duo performance with WiFi-N or WiMax wireless capability and faster speeds. Let's look more precisely, what offer us this Centrino upgrade.

The Centrino 2 specs are very promising. It features an upgraded Intel graphics processor, Intel CPU with chipset and Integated Graphics. It includes WiFi-N (the fastest) adapter with optional WiMAX wireless networking adapter and Gigabit Ethernet (vPro model only). It will also support HDMI, Blu-Ray, DisplayPort and CrossFire Dual GPUs for laptops. However, it is not mentioned with what types of GPUs, NVIDIA or XTi will it be compatible. The WiFi capability will come courtesy of a 300Mbps Intel Wi-Fi Link 5150 or 450Mbps Intel Wi-Fi Link 5350.


This new technology will mostly influence laptop users, because it is targeted at increased power managing features. With Intel Centrino 2 inside, specs promise the ability to watch a full-length Blu-Ray movie without need of an AC adapter. This was made possible by hundreds of power management improvements, such as Low-power CPU, DDR3 RAM and many more features, which lowers laptop's power needs by 25%.

Of course some time must pass before we will see first "Intel Centrino 2 inside" laptops, and the price will vary, however, prices on new CPUs are already known: 209 USD Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26Ghz, 3MB cache, 25W TDP to 1 Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 3.06Ghz, 6MB cache, 44W TDP.

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New iPhone 3G will be cheaper

iPhone 3G is one of the most frequently discussed gadgets on the web. And after Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, that took place in San Francisco in June we have even more speculations about it. Modified iPhone announced there provides discrepant feeling and yet leaves some questions related to its upgrades. But we sure appreciate tendency to not increase gadget's price.


Steve Jobs introduces new Apple iPhone 3GAbout iPhone's price let us appeal to Shaw Wu's words. This American Technology Research analyst said before the conference that integrated virtual keyboard, for example, is only one of the ways to the price reduction and presumed more others. He also mentioned Apple's overall orientation to concentrate on dealer network for making iPhone even more accessible all over the planet.


Apple has sold iPhones to the sum of 5.4 millions which is not much to global market of mobile phones That is why they didn't delay sales for too long (new iPhone 3G is already available in Europe, North, partly South America and in the most other primary markets). Another bait for clients is a free phone for most "talkative" users. If your tariffs per month are higher than 75 pounds, you are up to get a free mobile phone.

How all the introduced modifications will work together, we will find out later, when more gadget lovers examine 3G in everyday use. And while they do, let us get back to some kind of wishlist for previous iPhone 3G:

* More operator networks available
* Better camera and accustomed video recording mods, video calling option
* Synchronized Bluetooth
* while Internet surfing some additional options like cut/copy, paste text or any other info in SMS, MMS or in file storage
* Keyboard switchable to normal and landscape mods mods

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Olympus 360 degree lens camera

Olympus brand new gadget is about to appear. The announced device claims to be a break-through in world digital camera production. New model of 360 degree lens camera is being developed by engineers for more than half a year and now pre-production models are under close consideration.

The idea is not new, and we have seen a lot of prototypes (Kaidan 360 OneVR, etc), but the Future Creation Laboratory, Olympus’ subdivision which is in charge for development of the 360 degree lens, is the first to advance so well at the moment. Their know-how is three centimeters in diameter glass. Its composition is patented and for some time will be kept in secret. Other tips about its components are yet unknown.


The advantages are obvious: small and light gadget is able to cover the whole horizontal spectrum, which has 360 degrees and 180 degrees in vertical platitudes, and, no doubt, ultimate resolution picture area. Such a way Olympus offers redoubled possibilities for security systems. For needs of video conferences the camera can be equipped with a directional aiming microphone. This one helps to reduce unnecessary noise and improve quality of sound. The list of application spheres will be practically endless as soon as the gadget gets a reasonable price.

However there are still numerous difficulties Olympus’ engineers have to cope with. Those may probably drag gadget’s release up to long-term outlook. One of the problems developers face is proper software development for users, which will correspond to all camera’s advantages. Any way we expect to see first handy prototypes in autumn, though no terms are revealed.

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