“A computer manufacturer is set to produce Intel’s Metro ultraportable concept, according to sources in touch with BusinessWeek. The magazine claims that an unnamed builder will turn the prototype into reality later in the year. This would mark a radical departure from the company’s traditional concepts, which are often shown at the company’s in-house Developer Forums solely as inspirations for other manufacturers rather than direct blueprints,” Electronista reports.
“Extra details about the Metro notebook have surfaced, the publication says, that may hint at its ultimate manufacturer. Created by the Oregon product design firm Ziba, the Metro achieves its record 0.7-inch thickness (slightly thicker than the Motorola RAZR V3) by using an entirely flash-based, solid-state hard drive in place of the conventional hard disk, freeing room for other components inside. The change would also improve battery life and would combine with a magnesium housing to weigh less than 2.3 pounds without an optical drive,” Electronista reports.
Full article with many images here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, Apple would need to lose the god-awful champagne with gold accents color scheme. Yuck. Notebooks shouldn’t look like a Camry from Great Neck. Come to think of it, in a perfect world, Camrys from Great Neck shouldn’t look like Camrys from Great Neck, either. Less is more, people, less is more.
astoundingly thin…
I hope the storage capacity is high enough to make it useful!
And we’re proud to introduce Steve Jobs to show us the new Macbook, the picano!
Doesn’t seem like Apple would produce something they didn’t design in-house.
However compared to typical PC laptops, this one is quite sleek. At least it doesn’t have all the extraneous buttons and tailfins most PC laptops seem to have.
And what is the HD capacity again? Seems they failed to mention that.
Eliminate the cd/dvd drive, some ports, matte screen instead of glossy and it could be as thick as two iPod Nano’s. One if it’s a tablet.
Remember the keyboard on the iPhone right?
Note how the display hinge is like that of Apple’s portables.
Ziba, scmeeba. They’re just a front group for Apple. Maybe Jon Ive owns it.
It certainly looks like a small form factor MacBook Pro (still want to type “Powerbook”!) – make a 12″ Powerbook G4 thinner with a wide screen aspect ratio and it would look very similar.
It might now be a huge revenue source, but it would enhance Apple’s increasing growth in the laptop market and would quickly become a favorite of travelers. Could you imagine traveling light with a combination of an Apple ultra portable and an iPhone
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MDN MW “required” – Apple is required to produce an ultra portable MacBook
If true, i hope its sturdier than the alum powerbooks (is magnesium stronger?) or they will be bent out of shape easily or damaged.
LOL, I know two people with gold colored Camry’s with garish gold lettering and trim. Neither are from greatneck though…
No optical drive? No way.
Great Neck, Long Island, New York here.
We take offense…
Aw, no we don’t. Forget it. You’re right.
hmmm. doesn’t this coincide with Apple’s patent application for new form factor technology? (the article that was posted here a week or so ago?)
Please let it have two mouse buttons like the photos
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I want one that I can roll up and stuff into my back pocket.
Can I slice bread with it?
mm,
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Thin is good, but my experience with the Aluminum PowerBook taught me that ruggedness with laptops that undergoes years of daily use is more important that being ultra thin.
Time will tell if the new material in mac laptops will hold up.
Then again, if your the type of person that gets a new laptop every year, it won’t mater.
Hot damn, I’ll take one.
OK… out on a limb here… I have an “old” 80 gig iPod that I can power with a little attachement with 4 AA batteries and I can use an USB connector to connect to the iThin so that all the battery life of the iThin is for oboard processing and hardwired memory only. I can have the files I need to access the net, make presentations, and “work” while travelling. The iThin would be so sweet!
%20-%20on%20a%20plane%20-%20while%20driving%20down%20the%20motorway%20(heeh)%20-%20and%20while%20beaching%20it%20on%20some%20island!!!%20Just%20think%20of%20the%20social!!!%20img%20src=http://www.macdailynews.com/images/smileys/raspberry.gif)
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MDN – island. As in “no iThin is an island”…
Great Neck? Don’t you mean Great Nose?
Doesn’t seem like Apple would produce something they didn’t design in-house.
Take a gander at that article again.
“…which are often shown at the company’s in-house Developer Forums solely as inspirations for other manufacturers rather than direct blueprints.”
Nice when I hold my mouse over those god awful ContentLinks on the work Hard Drive it gives me helpful links for “Hard” Pretty funny.. Maybe it links to some good porn
i want one, i use only need an optical drive once a month or so.
the only problem is running games that need the original protected DVD to be present.
If they make one out of organic materials, replace the battery with integrated photosynthesis a starch fuel cell, and make it flexible enough to fold and put in my front pocket, I’m in. Can you imagine Steve Jobs delivering his keynote, then uttering the famous, “One more thing…”, pulling out of his front pocket the new MacBook Pro, and unfolding it to a deafening applause. But because the auditorium will be too dark, he will pull out a few bread crumbs and sprinkle them in the cracks of the keyboard and poof! Instant boot.
Okay, in all seriousness I think if this computer is indeed going to be built it will be by Apple. Combine this article with the recent patent application about Notebook case manufacturing techniques, the rumors about an ultra portable with no optical drive, and the rumor that Apple may include 3G wireless in upcoming laptops. The stars are aligning.
Ha, ha, ha, the Great Neck comment is GREAT!
Actually, I think it applies to all 5 boroughs and lower Westchester.