SmartNews – IT news and product updates for business

Apple today announced that the Mac mini is now faster, offers more storage and comes standard with double the memory. Starting at £499 inc. VAT, the entry level Mac mini features a faster 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, a 160GB hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a SuperDrive®. The £649 inc. VAT Mac mini features a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory and a larger 320GB hard drive.

Apple now offers a £799 inc. VAT Mac mini that is specially configured with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard® Server. Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server features two 500GB hard drives for a total of 1TB of server storage in the tiny 6.5-inch square by 2-inch tall Mac mini enclosure.

Top features include

• 2.26GHz or 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• 2GB or 4GB of memory
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
• 160GB or 320GB Serial ATA hard drive
• Dual 500GB Serial ATA hard drive on server version
• 8x-speed SuperDrive (not on server version)
• Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter
• Five USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 800 port
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1

Visit the Apple website for full information.

Promise today introduced the SmartStor DS4600 delivering blistering performance and robust data protection in a compact, ultra quiet design.

An ideal complement to the new Mac mini server the SmartStor DS4600 requires no configuration; simply unpack and connect your power cable and Firewire 800 or USB 2.0 cable, to complete your installation. With four 1TB 7200-rpm drives and a powerful hardware RAID engine, the SmartStor DS4600 is the perfect solution for small servers, creative pro workstations, photographers and users that need fast external storage with great capacity. Perfect for protecting your valuable data of any type – photography, music, video, data files. In addition, audio/video enthusiasts can utilise its fast data transfers for media content editing.

The SmartStor DS4600 4×1TB RAID System is expected to be available in the UK in the next 3-4 weeks and cost £649 incl. VAT.

Top features include

• 4-bay RAID Enclosure
• Four 1TB 7200-rpm SATA drives – 4TB raw capacity (2.7TB in RAID 5 formatted HFS+)
• RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 1 with hot spare, RAID 5, RAID 5 with hot spare and RAID 10 modes
• One Firewire 400, two Firewire 800, one High Speed USB 2.0 and one eSATA 3Gbits interfaces
• Ultra quiet design
• Hot-Swappable Bays for effortless replacement of failed drive
• Supports Time Machine in Mac OS X

Visit the Promise website for full information.

Today Apple introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch technology. Pioneered on iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface. Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and will be available as a Mac accessory at just £55 incl. VAT.

Visit the Apple website for full information.

Apple today updated its popular MacBook with a new, durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring a brilliant LED-backlit display, a glass Multi-Touch trackpad and Apple’s innovative built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life. Inheriting technology and design features from the MacBook Pro line, the new MacBook is an ideal consumer notebook for students and new Mac users, and is available immediately for as little as £799 incl. VAT.

Top features include

• White polycarbonate unibody enclosure
• Built-in up to 7-hour battery
• 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
• Glass Multi-Touch trackpad
• 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
• 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory
• 250GB 5400-rpm hard drive
• 8x double-layer SuperDrive
• Built-in iSight camera
• Built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and Gigabit Ethernet
• Mini DisplayPort video output
• Only 4.7 pounds
• Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife ’09

Visit the Apple website for full information.

Earlier today Apple released Performance Update 1.0 for both Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard.

This update addresses intermittent hard drive-related stalls reported by a small number of customers and covers the following products:

• MacBook Air (Mid 2009)
• MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009)
• iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009)
• MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)
• MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)
• MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)
• MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)
• iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)
• iMac (20-inch, Early 2009)
• Mac mini (Early 2009)

Visit this support page for full details about this update.