Sonnet announces 15-port Echo Thunderbolt dock with built-in HDD/SSD & optical drive options

Jordan Kahn

Sonnet-Echo-15-Thunderbolt-dock-station

The much-anticipated Belkin Thunderbolt Dock appears to be delayed once again unfortunately, missing its planned Q1 launch, despite taking pre-orders for the device in February after missing its original September launch date. While we’ve been recommending the popular Matrox Thunderbolt Docking station in the meantime, today Sonnet announced a new competitor in the space with the Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock.

The 15-port dock includes many of the ins and outs you’d expect: Two thunderbolt ports, four USB 3.0 ports, 3.5mm audio in and out (front and back), FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, and two eSATA ports. However, there are two features this 15-port Thunderbolt docking station has that most others do not: extra space to install a 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD and your choice of a built-in DVD or Blu-Ray drive:

the Echo 15 Thunderbolt dock has you covered—it includes your choice of DVD±RW drive, or Blu-ray Disc™ player (BD-ROM/8x DVD±RW). If you are a Mac user, you’ll also find that the included Blu-ray player software for OS X® is very handy, enabling you to watch Blu-ray movies on your computer or attached monitor.

The fast 6 Gb/s SATA interface supports an HDD at its maximum speeds, and an SSD at up to 380 MB/s… Best of all, the drive sits inside the Echo dock, so you don’t have to clutter your desk space with an external hard drive and its power brick and cable clutter to add more storage. Don’t feel like adding a drive yourself? Sonnet also offers the Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock equipped with a 2TB HDD, available exclusively through the Sonnet online store.

The Sonnet Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock is available to pre-order now in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico starting at $399 for a DVD drive and no built-in drive. The next model up comes with a built-in 2TB HDD for $499, while a Blu-ray drive and 2TB HDD brings it up to $549. Other options are also available through Sonnet’s website, and most models are expected to ship in Summer 2013.

Breathometer breathalyzer brings real-time blood alcohol readings to iPhone, available for preorder now

Jordan Kahn

Breathometer-device-and-appAvailable to preorder through a new project on crowd funding site Indiegogo, Breathometer, Inc. today announced what it claims is the “World’s First Smartphone Breathalyzer”. While we have seen other solutions in the past, the Breathometer is a smaller, thumb drive sized device that connects to your iPhone’s 3.5mm audio jack and provides reliable, real-time blood alcohol readings.

The company said it already has a working prototype but is counting on raising its $25,000 funding goal in order to kick the Breathometer into full production. It also plans to implement additional features in a companion app before the Breathometer’s launch, such as a “a push of a button cab service.”

Breathometer is the next generation breathalyzer that provides an accurate BAC measurement that enables smarter decisions… By using Breathometer, you now have the ability to help prevent accidents. We’re also building some other amazing features like a push of a button cab service.

Early bird pledgers will be able to get a Breathometer when it ships (by January 2014) for just $20, while bids ranging from $50 to $500 will get you a unit as early as July of this year in addition to some bonus gifts.

CEO and founder of Breathometer had this to say about the announcement: Read more

Leap Motion controller shipping May 13, Pre-order now at Best Buy

Alex Allegro

Leap, creators of the Mac and PC 3D motion-tracking device, announced this morning that it will begin shipping its Leap Motion on May 13. Last May, Leap announced it would open up pre-orders for the device for $69.99.

With today’s announcement, Leap raised the price of the controller $10 dollars; $79.99 is the new retail price. Leap also announced that starting today Best Buy would take pre-orders for the device with a May 19 delivery date…

Read more

Apple removing delivery dates for LTE iPad mini preorders

Jordan Kahn

When Apple originally announced the iPad mini, it said the LTE model would ship two weeks after the Nov. 2 launch date set for the Wi-Fi only models. It didn’t take long for Apple to extend estimated shipping dates to “2 weeks” following selling out of initial supplies. One lucky iPad mini user received their preorder already, but it appears Apple is facing major shortages leading up to the holidays. Especially for the cellular models…

As noted in the tweet below, several readers have noticed Apple has now removed the shipping date for their iPad mini LTE preorders. Previously, Apple provided a shipment date of November 23rd for many who preordered LTE iPad minis on day one. That date was already a week longer than Apple promised during the unveiling. Since providing that date, orders have now been updated to read “mid-November”, indicating Apple could be running into more delays than expected in manufacturing. Whatever the source of the shortage is, it looks like preorder customers might not receive their orders until after the 23rd. Read more

Feature

Apple unveils 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display starting at $1,699, ships today

Jordan Kahn

We had many of the details for the 13.3-inch Retina MacBook Pro ahead of today’s unveiling, but Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller just confirmed the device’s specs and pricing. As we told you earlier, the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro comes in two base configurations (with a third 2.9GHz dual-core i7 upgrade option available) and gets many of the enhancements that the 15-inch version received. Schiller noted that the device is 20 percent thinner than the previous generation 13-inch MacBook, and it includes a 2,560-by1,600 Retina display with 29 percent higher color contrast and 75 percent reduced reflection.

Apple also announced that the device would start at $1,699 for the base configuration, and it will start shipping today. Apple also showed a second configuration would be offered for $1,999. Both options below are configurable to a 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7.

  • 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache
  • 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache

Some of the device’s specs—that Apple is now listing on its website— are below: Read more

Modbook Pro: Pen-based OS X tablet returns as a converted 13-inch MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion

Jordan Kahn

Almost three years before Apple launched the original iPad in 2010, a company by the name of Axiotron unveiled the first “Mac tablet” with the launch of the Modbook—a stylus-based tablet running OS X that is made from a converted MacBook Pro. Today, the Modbook is officially returning thanks to one of its original developers and designers. Former co-founder of the now-defunct Axiotron, Andreas Haas, and his new company LA-based Modbook Inc., today announced the new Modbook Pro- “the world’s most powerful and largest-screen tablet computer.”

Like past generations of the Modbook, the Modbook Pro uses the guts of one of Apple’s new MacBook Pros. The company will offer two configurations, both with a 13.3-inch, 1,280-by-800 flush-mounted display, based off the specs for the recently refreshed non-Retina MBPs running Mountain Lion:

The Modbook Pro’s configurable base system includes a 2.5GHz dual core Intel® Core™ i5 processor or 2.9GHz dual core Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, a 2.5–inch SATA drive (up to 1TB HDD or up to 960GB SSD), an 8X SuperDrive® DVD burner, an Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless connectivity capability

The company is promising seven hours on a full charge from a built-in 63.5-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (Modbook will also utilize a 60W MagSafe adapter). As for the digitizer and included stylus, Modbook will once again use Wacom tech:

Read more