Thunderbolt cables are a fairly new technology that is capable of transfering data via the cable at an amazing 12 gigabits per second. When compared to USB cable transfer, there is a blazingly fast difference between the two. Obviously this is a huge contender to USB 3.0, which aims to transfer data at similarly fast speeds with it’s SuperSpeed USB.

However, previous thunderbolt cables have been expensive and bulky, somewhat dampening the appeal of the super-fast transfer speed. Intel has now showcased new sample products of their revamped thunderbolt cables at CES this year, and claim that prices will be slashed down greatly after volume production starts to pick up pace.

The new Thunderbolt cables also take a large 1.0mm off of the width of the wire, taking it down to 3.2mm, making it much more convenient and portable when compared to the previous version.

Apple has seemed pretty keen on adopting this technology into their new MacBook products, but do you think it’s a possibility Intel will ever replace the current PCs standard of USB?

[ source ]

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That’s not as high a pixel density as the Retina display on iDevices, but the assumption is that your eyes are going to be a little further away from the screen, giving you the same kind of super crisp visual experience. They’ve also ditched the optical drive altogether, slimming the MBP down to 4.5 pounds and 0.71–inches thick.

As far as tech specs are concerned, you get a quad-core i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA Kepler GeForce GT 650M GPU. You also get 768GB of storage, a 7-hour battery, SDXC card slot, HDMI-out (!), USB 3.0, a pair of Thunderbolt ports, MagSafe 2, two microphones, and a headphone jack. Rounding it all off are WiFi-n, Bluetooth 4.0, backlit keyboard, and a multitouch trackpad.

And all this can be yours starting today. The new entry-level MBP gets a 2.3GHz quad-core i7, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $2,199.

[Source]

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While $249 isn’t cheap, it can certainly add some extended features to your Macbook that will make it seem and function more like a traditional desktop. To be honest though, if its just more Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 support you are after, it might be wise to wait for upcoming releases from Apple, perhaps even at the WWDC.

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As you can likely gather from its remarkably descriptive name, this portable drive ditches the conventional spinning platter of a 2.5-inch HDD for the faster memory (and lack of moving parts) offered by SSD storage. Going further, it adds on super-fast Thunderbolt connectivity for an even faster experience. That gives you up to 270MB/s, compared to the 80MB/s of FireWire 800 and the 35MB/s of USB 2.0. Since it’s Thunderbolt, it doesn’t require an external power supply either.

Naturally, the added performance comes at an added price. The 120GB and 240GB versions of the Elgato Thunderbolt SSD portable drive will retail for $429.95 and $699.95 when it ships next month.

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The big release from Apple this week is obviously OS X Lion, but that doesn’t mean the company is done dishing out the goods. If you like thin and light, the MacBook Air is easily one of the most attractive options out there and the line-up is getting some major updates.

Naturally, the new MBAs are going to have Lion pre-loaded out of the box, but they’ll also be rocking that faster Thunderbolt port (up to 10Gbps) too. This is true of both the 11-inch and 13-inch models. Not surprisingly, Apple has also bumped the processors into the Sandy Bridge range, including both Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual core processors.

On the graphics side, you get Intel HD Graphics 3000 for both sizes. On the 11-inch you get a 1.6GHz Core i5 with 2GB or 4GB of DDR3-1333 RAM along with either 64GB or 128GB of flash storage. For the 13-inch, you get a 1.7GHz Core i5, 4 gigs of RAM, and your choice of 128GB or 256GB of flash storage.

Rounding out the specs are a couple of USB 2.0 ports, backlit keyboard, and a glass Multi-Touch trackpad. The 11-inch MacBook Air is $999 and $1199 for 64GB or 128GB of flash, while the 13-inch is $1299 and $1599 for 128GB and 256GB of flash, respectively. Bumping to a 1.8GHz Core i7 comes at $150 premium on the 11-inch and $100 premium on the 13-inch, but only on their respective higher storage variants.

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Today, Apple released three new models to their MacBook Pro line, including that Light Peak Thunderbolt port that can transfer data at 10Gb/s. So for those that say Apple information doesn’t get leaked, our news of yesterday closes that discussion. The processing speeds have obviously gotten a bump, and a new HD camera for 1080p FaceTime action is in there. The three models are 13, 15 and 17-inch with the same size and weight as its predecessors. They’re running dual-core and quad-core Intel processors, AMD Radeon graphics HD 6490M/6750M graphics and Intel HD Graphics 3000.

The 13-inch model with a 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 320GB hard drive will run $1,199, or $1,499 with 2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 500GB hard drive.

The 15-inch model with 2.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6490M and 500GB hard drive is is $1,799, or bump it up to a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive for $2,199.

The 17-inch beast is still here with a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive, it can be had for $2,499.

[Apple]

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Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat. Nothing about any Apple product is ever official until someone in a black turtleneck and blue jeans walks across the stage and tells us that it’s official. Even so, the rumors can be awfully juicy and, sometimes, they really do come true.

That appears to be the case with the upcoming refresh of the MacBook Pro line. This leaked photo is showing off a new port with a lightning bolt symbol next to it. That symbol is new to the Apple iconography and people are saying that it could be Intel’s Light Peak technology.

Light Peak is supposed to be a replacement for ports like USB and FireWire, offering faster speeds and all that. The USB and FireWire ports are still in tow in this supposed MBP, but that doesn’t mean it’s not Light Peak behind the bolt. According to some leaked docs, Apple is referring to the tech as “Thunderbolt.” Not to be confused with that other thing, of course.

Whatever the case, we’ll be finding out soon enough. Sandy Bridge is pretty much in the bag. Light Peak, we’re not as sure.

[Charaval, SlashGear]

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The lightning fast rumored HTC ThunderBolt appears to be confirmed by way of a full page ad in none other than Rolling Stone magazine. This is HTC’s first LTE phone period, and it’s headed to Verizon. HTC Mecha and Droid Incredible HD names were floating around, but it seems ThunderBolt is it and its an electric choice considering its pushing the fastest data around.

Another leak to the right of the 4.3-inch displayed ThunderBolt is the Inspire 4G for AT&T. With HSPA+ being pushed to the edges, it’s not exactly clear what AT&T is doing with “4G” with this offering. Stay tuned for more as we’re sure CES will bring out the best of em, and perhaps we can find out what’s really under the ThunderBolt’s hood.

[Android Central]

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So, now that we’ve gotten a really good look at the upcoming HTC Thunderbolt smartphone with its Verizon-happy 4G LTE connectivity, we want to take a closer look at the spec sheet to see if it really is all it’s cracked up to be. Some hearsay has revealed some new specs for the phone and, more likely than not, they’re probably too good to be true.

For starters, it has more or less been confirmed that the Thunderbolt will only have a single-core processor when it gets formally announced at CES. German blog HTC Inside, on the other hand, says that the Thunderbolt will have a dual-core Snapdragon 1.2GHz (MSM8960) CPU under the hood. The trouble is that this processor won’t really be ready for “sampling” until the middle of 2011. That means it won’t actually show up in consumer-ready devices until early 2012 at the earliest. The good news is that, when it does pop up in phones, it will be capable of PS3-level graphics.

HTC Inside also goes on to mention a five-megapixel front-facing camera and expandable storage up to 128GB. I don’t see why HTC would want such a high resolution cam in the front, at least for now, but the expandable storage could be a real possibility with the increasing affordability of microSDHC cards.

And for the record, Qualcomm is still having some trouble with its dual-core Snapdragons anyhow. That could be why Google is opting for NVIDIA Tegra 2 as its reference platform for Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

Update: HTC has run an ad in Rolling Stone, the ThunderBolt is confirmed.

[Android and Me]

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