MiniDock

The MiniDock by Bluelounge looks like a fantastic piece of kit for frequent travelers. I can't tell you how many times I actually do set my iPhone on the floor to charge when traveling.

The Future of MacBooks

When the new MacBook Air was introduced the other day, Steve Jobs stated “we see these as really the next generation of MacBooks. We think all notebooks are going to be like this one day.”

This statement had me pondering yesterday about what I’d like to see in the next MacBook Pro. Some achievable near-term, and some arriving at a little longer outlook.

The things that really distinguish the MacBook Air from the MacBook Pro line, as far as hardware is concerned, are the absence of a hard drive and an optical drive. In substitution, the MacBook Air utilizes a solid-state drive for storage, and forgoes the optical drive entirely, unless you care to purchase a USB-based external optical drive. Apple reduced the price of their external optical drive from $99 to $79 the other day. Also, the MacBook Air (or any recent Mac, for that matter) can also borrow the optical drive from another Mac or PC on the same wireless network, which is pretty neat.

Now, I use a 15-inch MacBook Pro as my computer. It does everything for me. And when I think about it, I rarely use the optical drive. Maybe once or twice every six months. Most software I buy/use is downloadable. Soon that will be the status quo, with the Mac App Store coming soon.

I would gladly give up a built-in optical drive in my MacBook Pro in favor of occasionally needing to plug in an external one. That space in my MacBook Pro could be used for more battery, or even making the entire computer a little thinner and lighter. For the frequency I use it, the optical drive is dead weight.

As for reinstall media, or even new versions of Mac OS X, we’re already seeing the future with the MacBook Air’s USB reinstall drive.

As for the hard drive…that’ll be around a while for MacBook Pros, I imagine. High-capacity SSDs are still too expensive to hedge out a 500 GB hard drive any time soon. But I bet as soon as SSDs are cost-effective at high capacities, the hard drive will get nixed from MacBooks in general.

In the interim, it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple took a “best of both worlds” approach to storage by offering a small SSD on the logic board, along with a hard drive. The idea being that Mac OS X and its bundled apps are stored on the SSD, while user data and other apps are stored on the traditional hard drive. This hybrid drive system would allow for the instant-on advantage for the system, while not sacrificing storage for those that need it. Heck, Seagate already sells a hybrid drive that aims to do such a thing.

The times are changing. I won’t be surprised if Apple retires built-in optical drives from its entire portable line soon. And once SSDs are cost-effective, say farewell to them as well.

I, for one, can’t wait for this future of MacBooks.

Sparrow is a Refreshing Rethink of Mail

I mentioned the other day Bjango’s philosophy of the best method to design a desktop app is to imagine you’re building them for iOS. Well, it looks like there are some like-minded developers out there looking to rethink the Mac email client.

Sparrow is definitely taking cues from not only the iPad’s Mail app, but also a highly popular Mac Twitter client — Tweetie. Sparrow currently only works for Gmail accounts, but it looks like integration with Yahoo! Mail, MobileMe, and other IMAP providers.

Sparrow is a very compelling email client. It has a minimalist approach initially, showing just a Tweetie-style accounts and mailbox sidebar and an iOS-style message list. However, you can click a button and expand the window to show a preview pane.

If you don’t use the preview pane, you’ll notice that the app has a lavish amount of Core Animation. Double click a message and it ghosts in. Close the message, and it fades away with a subtle zoom. Same thing happens when open the app’s preferences.

Even though the app is currently in beta, it really feels like something right out of Cupertino. I would love to see Apple revamp Mac OS X’s Mail app like this.

Sparrow is a free download for now, though the developers would be crazy not to charge for this at the time of final release.

Go ahead and give it a whirl.

Review: Griffin TuneFlex AUX HandsFree

I’ve been a longtime user and fan of Griffin Technology’s products. One area Griffin has always excelled in was integrating my iPod, well, now iPhone, into my car. Shortly after I bought my iPhone 3G a couple years ago, Griffin released the TuneFlex AUX SmartClick. The SmartClick had this super handy remote you could attach to your steering wheel to control playback. This was one of the most useful accessories I ever owned. You can read my glowing review from back in January 2009.

Sadly, when the iPhone 4 came out, the SmartClick’s model-specific adapters didn’t accommodate the new shape of the iPhone 4. So I’ve been patiently waiting for a revised TuneFlex.

A couple weeks ago, Griffin released the TuneFlex AUX HandsFree. The main features are an adjustable cradle that can accommodate the various shapes of iPod and iPhone models, even while the device is in a case, and a microphone that will allow you to talk on the phone handsfree. Hence the name.

I saw this pop up on Amazon for $32, which is quite the discount from the $49.99 MSRP, so I ordered it.

In seven years, this is the first time I am disappointed with a Griffin product. Sadly, the HandsFree is four steps backwards in design from the SmartClick. Sadly, I’ll be returning it for the reasons listed below.

1. The new, adjustable cradle doesn’t apply enough tension to keep the iPhone 4 seated well on the Dock connector. The iPhone wobbles around a lot. With the Dock connector providing the only apparent point of stability, I’m afraid either the connector on the TuneFlex will snap, or worse, the port on the iPhone will be damaged.
2. On both the SmarClick and Handsfree editions of the TuneFlex, the point at which the gooseneck meets the cradle swivels to the left and right. On the SmartClick, it had ratchet points to provide resistance in swiveling. The HandsFree has a completely smooth action. Too smooth. A modestly hard turn will definitely cause the swivel point to swing and, combined with the loose tension in the cradle, will likely send your iPhone or iPod flying across the cabin.
3. There is no way to control playback anymore. I do much more listening with my iPhone than talking in the car. Having to fiddle with onscreen controls to skip forward a track or pause is more dangerous. The SmartClick had such an excellent solution to this. The HandsFree offers no solution.
4. Audio on the SmartClick was line-out via the Dock connector. The HandsFree offers only audio out via the headphone jack, so you first have to adjust the device’s volume, then your stereo’s. What a distraction and a mess. Never mind the fact that if you forget to turn down the device’s volume before you plug in headphones you’ll have hurting ears.

I really wish I had better things to say about this product. It actually kind of hurts to lampoon a Griffin product since I have never had a bad experience from them.

It’s a shame they didn’t just release a $10 adapter for the iPhone 4 for SmartClick owners.

WWDC 2010: iPhone 4

Wow. That could pretty much sum up Steve Jobs’ WWDC keynote address for me. This was probably the best keynote from Apple, in my opinion, since the January 2007 unveiling of the original iPhone at Macworld. Steve wasn’t kidding when he said at one point, “For 2010, we’re going to take the biggest leap since the original iPhone.”

Before I delve into iPhone 4, though, it is worth mentioning that Apple gave a recap of iPad’s success, and showed off a forthcoming update to iBooks. 2 million iPads have been sold in three months. When that is averaged out, that is 1 iPad every 3 seconds. To me, that is absolutely crazy. I blows my mind. iBooks is getting an update in a couple weeks that will enable highlighting, notes, and bookmarks, as well as native PDF reading support.

Next, Apple talked about a few highlights of the App Store, detailing some upcoming additions such as Netflix for iPhone (yay!) and Farmville (barf…).

Okay, now that the small stuff is out of the way, let’s get to what you really came here to read about.

iPhone 4

Look at that beauty. And I’ll tell you what, there is a lot going on with this phone to make it that gorgeous. Let’s break it down bit by bit.

All New Design

iPhone 4 is a mere 9.3 mm thick, making it 24% thinner than the iPhone 3G/3GS. This is thanks to the main structure of the phone being harnessed in a stainless steel band, sandwiched between an aluminosilicate glass front and back casing. You’ll notice a couple seams in the stainless steel band. Well, this sectioned band acts as the phone’s antennas, one supporting 802,11n WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS, and the other supporting the 3G/EDGE GSM radio. Apparently, engineers were touting after the keynote to attendees that they found a way to transform the electromagnetic radiation given off by the radios into electric current, giving iPhone 4 the ability to boost its own reception. There is also a second microphone at the top of iPhone 4, right by the headphone jack, to provide noise suppression during phone calls. Amazing stuff. 

The back is no longer plastic. It is glass, just like the front. With my iPhone 3G, I have never worried about the glass front. It’s super durable. But, prior to my iPhone being switched out under AppleCare, the plastic back had suffered many small scratches and even developed hairline cracks around the headphone jack and dock connector, and even lost a small chunk of the plastic around the dock connector. The glass used in the iPhone 4 is different from the glass used in previous models. It is aluminosilicate glass, which makes it comparable in strength to sapphire crystal, 30 times harder than plastic. And since the glass used in previous models was virtually impossible to scratch, this new glass should make the back even more durable.

There’s a neat thing about the glass on the front of the device as well. Previous models of the iPhone suffered from a knack of getting dust between the glass and the display (my iPhone 3G went through this quagmire twice). Apple is using a new process of laminating the display to the glass, which should take care of this problem. John Gruber elaborates:

Apple had a demo area for the media after the keynote, so I got to spend some time hands-on with the iPhone 4. The resolution of the “retina display” is as impressive as Apple boasts. Text renders like high quality print. One thing that Apple didn’t mention in the keynote, though, is that the LCD pixels are much closer to the surface of the touchscreen. On existing iPhones (and iPods, and iPads), there is not a lot of distance between the glass surface and the LCD, but there is some. There’s also a very narrow amount of air between the touchscreen glass and the underlying LCD. If you’ve ever got a bit dust under your display, that dust is in the air between the glass and LCD.

It’s mentioned briefly in Apple’s promotional video about the design of the iPhone 4, but they’re using a new production process that effectively fuses the LCD and touchscreen — there is no longer any air between the two. One result of this is that the iPhone 4 should be impervious to this dust-under-the-glass issue. More importantly, though, is that it looks better. The effect is that the pixels appear to be painted on the surface of the phone; instead of looking at pixelsunder glass, it’s like looking at pixels on glass. Combined with the incredibly high pixel density, the overall effect is like “live print”.

It also improved the field of view for the display — you can view the display from an oblique angle and it looks great. Again, like print. It’s like a glossy magazine come to life.

To me, iPhone 4 looks to be solving the design problems of previous models. Check out Apple’s great video of the design.

Retina Display

Apple is moving from a 480x320 pixel display to a 960x640 pixel display. This will provide 4 pixels in the same physical space that one pixel occupied on previous models. Whereas previous iPhone models had an already impressive 163 pixels per inch, iPhone 4 has 326 pixels per inch, which provides the same quality as a page printed on a laser printer. Around 300 ppi, the human eye can no longer distinguish the individual pixels, some this display renders like print to our eyes, hence the “Retina” moniker. The display also has an 800:1 contrast ratio, which is 4 times better than before, and like the iMac and iPad, is employing In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology for greater color accuracy and an extremely wide viewing angle.

A4

I remember back in January of this year when Apple announced they were using a custom designed system on a chip, I sat back and hoped it would find its way to the next iPhone. Well, it did. iPhone 4 is powered by the same chip that runs the iPad, the Apple A4. Since the A4 uses very little energy, it is boosting the iPhone’s battery life up to 7 hours of 3G talk, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music, and 300 hours of standby. That, my friends, is great for a smartphone, and amazing for one of the iPhone’s caliber.

Gyroscope

Apple pioneered, to my knowledge, the use of an accelerometer in a mobile phone. This allowed the original and subsequent iPhones to sense when you held the phone sideways, and would adjust the orientation of photos, as one example, appropriately. The accelerometer also found its way into gaming apps, being used for apps such as driving games. Now, Apple is adding a gyroscope in addition to the accelerometer, giving iPhone 4 6-axis motion sensing, pitch, roll, & yaw, and rotation about gravity. I can’t wait to see what developers do with this handy piece of hardware.

Camera, Now with Lights & Action!

The iPhone has always had a fairly small camera sensor compared to competing devices, but has always produced fairly decent shots due to its superior software. Believe me, I have a shot of my son, taken with my iPhone 3G, that looks as if I took it with my Canon EOS 40D (I admit that it was taken under a perfect storm of natural light). Apple had upgraded the camera system in the iPhone 3GS with a 3 megapixel camera, tap to focus, and even included support for standard definition video.

iPhone 4 introduces a larger lens, and bumps the camera sensor to 5 megapixels. Most competitors are including 8 or even 12 megapixel cameras in their phones. Megapixels are not the end all be all of digital photography. In fact, what really matters with any digital camera, is light sensitivity. To accomplish that, the light-capturing pixels need to be able to soak up as much light as possible. Other phones are shipping cameras with sensors the same physical size as iPhone 4’s. However, by including 8- or 12-megapixels, those light-capturing pixels are smaller, meaning they soak up less light. 

iPhone 4’s light-capturing pixels are the same physical size as those in the 3GS’s camera, but the overall sensor is larger and the lens is larger than the 3GS’s. Also, Apple is using a backside illuminated sensor in iPhone 4 to bring even more light into the camera. Overall, iPhone 4’s camera should be fairly light-sensitive even in low-light situations. But, in those low-light situations, you can employ the use of iPhone 4’s LED flash.

The camera’s software continues to have Apple’s innovative tap to focus system, and introduces a 5x digital zoom.

The camera now also records 720p HD video at 30 fps. It also introduces tap to focus video. Apple also announced that they will be shipping iMovie for iPhone for $5 on the App Store. You can record HD video, edit it with themes, music, & transitions, and export it all from your iPhone.

iOS 4

Apple announced a name change to iPhone OS 4 because it runs on iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads. It is honestly a welcome name change. This section of the keynote was basically a recap of the developer preview back in March, which you can read my coverage of. One new thing worth mentioning is the addition of Bing as a search engine to Google and Yahoo!. Google will remain the default.

iOS 4 will be shipping to customers via iTunes on June 21st. 1st generation iPhones and iPod touches will not be receiving it. iPhone 3G and second generation (2008) iPod touches get everything except Multitasking, Custom Homescreen Wallpaper, and Bluetooth Keyboard support, and iPhone 3GS and 3rd Generation (2009) iPod touches get everything.

iBooks

In addition to the PDF, notes, and highlights enhancements to iBooks on the iPad, Apple announced the addition of iBooks for iPhone. iBooks on iPhone will have the same abilities as the iPad (in fact, it will be a universal app). Apple also said it will be providing free redownloading of book purchases to all of your iOS devices,a nd will sync wirelessly sync your place, bookmarks, highlights, and notes across your devices for free.

iAds

Apple recapped and demoed iAds, its in-app advertising platform, which will be debuting in apps on July 1 in apps that developers code them into. Honestly, I don’t mind ads in free apps. I am always about supporting the developer for their work. And if ads are the way to support a developer, iAds looks to provide a nice experience, especially since you can dismiss an ad at will.

FaceTime

Finally, Apple introduced FaceTime, which utilizes a front-faced camera on iPhone 4 to do video chats (this camera can also be used for self-portraits in the camera app). FaceTime is currently restricted to being WiFi only in 2010, as Apple works with carriers to bring support for it over 3G. Another restriction, one which I am sad to see, is that FaceTime only works from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4. I hope a future software update brings video chat from iPhone 4 to iChat on the Mac.

One thing that may help in that is Apple’s pledge to make FaceTime an open standard, so apps like Skype may possibly use it. 

Apple put together a touching video to demonstrate FaceTime as it will apply to people’s lives. I know I’d love it right now as my wife is traveling for a week. 

Pricing & Availabilty

iPhone 4 will be available for preorder on June 15th, and released on June 24th. It will come in black or white (the white model is white on both the front and back, and looks reminiscent of the first iPod). Capacity is 16GB or 32GB and price is $199 and $299, respectively, with a 2 year contract, subject to eligibility. The iPhone 3GS will have an 8GB capacity and sell for $99 with the same carrier commitments. The iPhone 3G has been discontinued.

Thoughts

I am absolutely enamored with the new iPhone. As I am at the end of my current iPhone 3G contract, I will be upgrading to iPhone 4. I would have preferred to see the capacities at 32GB and 64GB, but seeing as I have 16GB right now, 32GB will be a nice step up. I’ll just have to make sure to leave a few gigabytes free for that HD video recording.

Otherwise, I am looking forward with great anticipation to the new design, the Retina display, and the improved rear camera. Also, as I’ll be receiving it on June 24th, I may use it as my camera for a wedding I am attending on June 25th, seeing as how my DSLR would be inappropriate and awkward to handle. Casually snapping some shots at a wedding and reception should be a good gauntlet to put the camera through the paces.

Look for my hands on review around that time.

The Great iPhone Kerfuffle of 2010

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past week and a half-ish, you’ve no doubt heard about Gizmodo getting their hands on a prototype iPhone. Not just any prototype iPhone, but almost certainly the next iPhone. I’ve held off on writing about it for a couple reasons:

1. My tongue was hanging out for a long time on the floor.
2. I wanted to see how this played out for a little while.

I’m not going to waste too many pixels of typography discussing the circumstances of how Gizmodo acquired the iPhone or what the legal ramifications of all that may be, other than to say that I was genuinely disappointed for how Gizmodo outed the name of the Apple engineer who misplaced the iPhone. That was a tasteless act that had no relevancy to the overall story. All we needed to know was that an Apple engineer misplaced, not the name and face of the actual person. It disturbs me how Gizmodo can take such sociopathic glee in attaching that man’s name to this story for the rest of his career via search engine.

There, I am finished ranting and chastising.

Now, onto the meat of the story — the prototype iPhone. This was by far the biggest tech/gadget scoop I’ve ever seen. It may be the biggest tech/gadget scoop ever. It is so strange that we’ve actually seen the next iPhone before Steve Jobs has shown it to us.

Much to the dismay of iPhone case manufacturers, who last year were given a reprieve of redesigning their products due to the 3GS having the same body as the 3G, the next iPhone has a brand new design. I think it is safe to say the design of the prototype is close to what will be in customer’s hands. To quote John Gruber:

According to Gizmodo, one of the barcodes attached to the unit read “N90_DVT_GE4X_0493”. According to several sources (of mine) familiar with the project, “N90” is Apple’s codename for the fourth-generation GSM iPhone, slated for release this June or July. “DVT” stands for “design verification test”, an Apple production milestone. The DVT milestone is very late in the game; based on this, I now believe that this unit very closely, if not exactly, resembles what Apple plans to release.

So, given what Gizmodo showed us, I want to weigh in on the hardware.

I love my iPhone 3G overall, but one thing that is an overall flaw is the plastic shell. It feels cheap. My iPhone 3G doesn’t feel like it is constructed nearly as well as my wife’s iPod touch or my iPad. But more than anything, the plastic back isn’t very durable. A few days ago I had my iPhone replaced under warranty. I took it in to have the screen replaced, as I had dust built up between the glass and LCD. But the Genius pointed out that I had many stress fractures around the headphone jack and dock connector. She replaced the whole unit on that basis. Let’s face it, the iPhone should suffer from stress fractures on the only two ports, which are meant to be used often.

So that brings me to the point of the next iPhone’s case. It appears to be two pieces of glass with a band of aluminum sandwiched in between. The band of aluminum surrounds and supports the headphone and dock connectors — that’s a good thing. The really interesting part is the back of the iPhone. Gizmodo said it felt like glass, like the front. But Apple holds a patent for making a case out of ceramic. Polished ceramic would definitely have the feel of glass. It’s also very durable and completely RF transparent, which is very important for a mobile phone. To put durability into perspective, the M1 Abrams tank used by the United States military uses ceramic in its armor. Tough stuff.

Next is cameras. Yes, plural. Let’s start with the rear camera we know and love. It was noted that the lens itself is larger than what is found on the 3GS, alluding to the possibility of a 5 megapixel camera. This would be a wise move as many competing phones sport 5 megapixel cameras. There is also a little LED flash. This will probably be the only kind of “flash” to be on an iPhone. Yes, that was a dig at Adobe.

New to the next iteration of the iPhone is a front camera, presumably for video chat. I’m not exactly sure how much I would use this. The idea seems awkward to me as it requires holding the iPhone out in front of your face. We’ll see.

Lastly, Gizmodo thought the screen looked as if it had a higher pixel density. 960x640 would be a good assumption. It’s exactly double the current pixel count. If Apple couples that with the IPS technology they’ve put in the latest iMacs and the iPad, that will be a great looking screen. (IPS allows the image to remain fairly free of color distortion at extreme angles.)

And that’s about all we know or could reasonably assume from Gizmodo’s observations, as the iPhone’s software had been remotely wiped.

What else would I like to see? Well, I’d like to see the iPhone gain storage up to at least 64 GB. I’d also like to see Apple use a custom chip like their A4 chip that resides in the iPad. And if they can swing it, 512 MB of RAM would be great, especially with all the multitasking apps in the background in iPhone OS 4. (I was surprised that the iPad only has 256 MB RAM. I thought 512 MB was a shoe-in.)

Since that camera is thought to contain more resolution, I’d love it if the iPhone shoots 720p HD video instead of the current 640x480. Then I could get rid of my Kodak Zx1, which doesn’t see a great deal of use since I rarely carry it with me. I carry my iPhone with me at all times.

Overall, the physical design of the new iPhone is very appealing to me. It looks more in line with the machined aluminum bodies of the MacBook Pro, iMac, and iPad. The iPhone 3G/3GS really stick out as odd compared to many of Apple’s other products. 

I really can’t wait to get the next iPhone. After all, I bought the iPhone 3G on day one. I’m due for a new one.

The Little Blue Bird Becomes a Reality

If you’ve been around twitter for a while now, I’m sure you’ve seen Ollie in many places (though it should be noted, he’s used quite often without consent from his creators). Ollie is the mascot and icon of Twitterrific, the popular twitter client for the Mac and iPhone from The Iconfactory.

Twitterrific pioneered twitter clients on the Mac (where it has unfortunately stagnated, but I’ve been told by Ged from Iconfactory that they are diligently working on a stellar update). It was also one of the first native iPhone twitter clients, and won an Apple Design Award.

Ollie has branched out from software in the past year, as he now adorns a t-shirt (which I own) and now the above pictured collectible figurine. Ollie is made of vinyl and comes in two flavors — straight vinyl or flocked. The flocked version is fuzzy. I opted for the straight vinyl Ollie as I figured he will likely sit on my desk, and the flocking may attract dust.

Overall the build quality is fantastic. It’s neat to see a 2D icon become a 3D figure. And hey, now I have my own Ollie to stare me down with his beady eyes until I check Twitterrific.

You too can have your very own Ollie at the Iconfactory Store. The regular Ollie is $19.95 and the flocked Ollie is $26.95 (you’ll also find that Ollie t-shirt there).

Igniting a Passion to Read

Before I started college, I read a lot of books. I remember one time I was so engrossed in a book that I read all 1,000+ pages in two days. But then, when I began college, my passion for reading books faded as I needed to read more and more dull textbooks.

(Seriously, textbooks are rather dry.)

Sad to say, I haven’t read many books for fun in the past 6 years.

Naturally, I had been intrigued for quite some time about eBook readers. But I’d been leery of dropping so much money on something I had never seen in the real world. I’d read plenty of reviews of folks praising their Kindle, but I wasn’t even sure if it would inspire me to read. So I put it to the back of my mind.

Things were stirred up again when Barnes & Noble announced their Nook eBook reader. I thought the industrial design was superior to the Kindle, and it actually looked like something that may come from beloved Cupertino. But once reviews of the Nook started rolling in, well, things didn’t look as pretty as the pictures. But everyone still loves their Kindle.

For Christmas, my parents gave me a Kindle. (Okay, it’s also for my wife, too.) (But it’s mostly for me.) I have to say, I’ve read nearly every day since then. It’s easy on the eyes, easy to navigate, light yet sturdy, and overall just a great experience.

I have the 6-inch Kindle with international wireless. The text on the e-ink display is crisp and extremely legible. The battery life is amazing. Page turns take no longer than if you were turning a physical piece of paper. I also find it to be a great size for holding while relaxing in a chair or lying on the bed. I actually prefer it to holding a paperback book. Or hardcover, for that matter.

In the “Welcome to Kindle” letter on the device when I turned it on initially, CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos said that one of Kindle’s goals was to get out of the way and let you experience a book. I believe the Kindle does exactly that, and it has, pardon the pun, re-kindled my enjoyment of reading.

If you decide to give Kindle a shot, there’s a handy link in the sidebar to go buy one. Using that link fills my pockets with filthy lucre. So buy a couple, okay?

A Touch of Magic

A week and a half ago, Apple refreshed some of its product lineup for the holidays. The changes included new unibody plastic MacBooks, gorgeous 21.5” and 27” iMacs, updated Airport Extreme and Time Capsule base stations, an aluminum Apple Remote, and the multitouch Magic Mouse. The Magic Mouse instantly became the object of my desire, and I placed an order for one as soon as the store was updated with the new merchandise. Today, it arrived.

This is purely a thing of beauty.

This has to be one of the sleekest designs to ever come out of Cupertino. The bottom is aluminum and the top is a curved blade of plastic. The top shell does depress physically for button clicks, but otherwise buttons do not exist.

The top surface is multitouch enabled. It detects when you want to perform a primary click or secondary click (aka right click) by how your fingers naturally interact with other mice. This function can be reversed via software if you mouse with your left hand.

Scrolling is achievable with a soft flick along the surface. The new software for the Magic Mouse even gives scrolling the visual feedback of momentum, much like the iPhone. (Please, Apple, enable momentum when I scroll with the multitouch trackpad built into my MacBook Pro!)

Swiping two fingers left or right allows you to move backward or forward, respectively, between web pages in a browser, or pages within a document, or items in Cover Flow view in Finder or iTunes.

Inevitably, comparisons must be made to the Magic Mouse’s predecessor, the Mighty Mouse. First of all, the Magic Mouse is only available with wireless bluetooth, whereas the Mighty Mouse had wired and wireless varieties (Apple still sells the wired Mighty Mouse, yet it has been rebranded as the Apple Mouse).

The Magic Mouse is much lighter and thinner than the Mighty Mouse. In fact, even though both contain two AA batteries, the Magic Mouse is on par with the light weight of the wired (thus without batteries) Mighty Mouse.

One stupendous benefit is the lack of the dreaded scroll ball. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the function of the scroll ball, but only when it actually functioned. Due to a poor design decision, there was no way to clean the scroll ball, and it would often gum up and stop working. I managed to sort of clean it with a cotton ball and some water, but cleaning it was at least a twice-weekly event. Scrolling with a touch sensor is much nicer.

Speaking of the scroll ball, here is one nagging difference where the Magic Mouse is lacking. On the Mighty Mouse, depressing the scroll ball acted as a third button, which I had set up to activate Exposé. Also, there was a fourth button on the side that you could squeeze, which I had set up to enable Spaces. The Magic Mouse lacks these buttons, or even a way to access any tertiary function. Perhaps Apple will be able to add in more gestures through software updates. One can hope.

Honestly, I rarely used the squeezable fourth button on the Mighty Mouse, but I used the tertiary button under the scroll ball a lot.

Thankfully, if you have a Mac notebook manufactured since late 2007 or any of the aluminum external keyboards, there is an Exposé button on the F3 key.

All in all, I am actually enjoying the lower profile of the Magic Mouse, as my wrist doesn’t have to bend at all for my hand to conform to it. Clicking is easy, and scrolling feels more natural than ever. The two-finger swipe is a bit tricky yet, but I think I just need to develop the muscle memory for it, like I did with the multitouch trackpads.

The only things lacking are the ability for at least a tertiary function, and I kind of wish the pinch/zoom gesture were available.

I highly suggest giving the Magic Mouse a try at an Apple Store. If you currently use a Mighty Mouse, I’d say overall it is an upgrade.

I’ve embedded some “unboxing” photos in the slideshow below.