The price of the 11-inch model underlines a problem Samsung has had in getting the price of the Series 9 in line with that of Apple’s alternative. A starting price of $1,599 is set for the 13-inch model, or $300 more expensive than the MacBook Air equivalent device. There is no explanation for the premium, but it is not believed to have anything to do with the processor choice, as they are more or less drop-in sequels to the Core 2 Duo processors that equipped Apple’s computers that are now six months old already.

Although Apple is known for setting high prices for its models, it adopted a low-price policy in the ultraportable area. A very important factor is setting lower prices would be Apple’s access to large-scale deals related to flash memory. Toshiba is Apple’s preferred partner that provides the SSDs for all MacBook Air models.

The number could drop to 700,000 during the winter quarter which ends this month, but this is not supposed to affect Apple’s sales numbers, said Kuo. Despite the usual post-holiday calm, the researcher has reasons to believe that Apple would sell about 4.5 million Macs, which represents the best Apple ever had in a quarter. The much faster new model of MacBook Pro is partly responsible as it rekindled sales of the most popular line of notebooks.

Kuo suggests that this growth is supposed to make Apple the single major computer builder to have its shipment figures grown in the quarter. The company has usually had to face growth of fast-moving manufacturers like Samsung and Toshiba, but these ones are sometimes vulnerable to the last part of the holidays. Large companies like Acer are supposed to have faced a significant effect from the iPad in December and have viewed their low-end notebook and netbook shipments decrease.

Although Kuo’s estimate has not explained the huge success of the Air otherwise than having a new design, truth is that the ultraportability of the 11-inch model and the lower starting price are believed to have made the difference. Apple has always aimed to transfer something of the iPad’s portability and its instant responsiveness to Mac models. It probably has reached an audience that under normal circumstances would not choose to buy ultraportables or even the Mac itself.

The information appeared on the Japanese site Macotakara, which claims that stock availability has diminished over the course of two-three weeks and would affect local resellers. There is a general opinion that the MacBook Pro would be due for a refresh, especially since Intel has launched the Sandy Bridge platform that includes considerably improved and deeply embedded graphics technology. It is not at all clear so far whether problems with certain Sandy Bridge chipsets would have an impact on Apple’s plans.

Only a slight change in the design is expected for the MacBook Pro, but it could be among the first notebooks of Apple to ship with Mac OS X Lion since the beginning, as the component makers say. As recent rumors claim, the new MacBook Pro would use AMD graphics on its high end version, Radeon HD 6000M series being most probable.

Both the MacBook Pro and iMac would be made by Quanta and Foxconn. Quanta is a traditional manufacturer for the iMac, but sometimes uses other contractors to help when demand is too high. The company is expected to depend in a high degree on Apple’s popularity since the Mac’s share in its revenue would increase from 20 percent in 2010 to 28 or even 30 percent next year.

A significant contribution for Apple is expected from MacBooks this year, according to unofficial estimates. Apple would have no problem to ship ten million of the portable device in 2010, while the redesigned MacBook Pro with Mac OS X Lion is supposed to boost Apple’s shipments to30 or 40 percent more notebooks in 2011.

The rumors do not corroborate directly evidence, but Apple has seen a revitalization in desktop production headed by the actual iMac design and may want to increase its popularity with a more value-loaded or more accessible version than the previous ones. Since the unibody redesigns, MacBook Pro computers, and especially the 13-inch model, were Apple’s most important sales drivers.

This data repeats similar results of higher-performance MacBook Pro computers in the past. Regular checks of browsing performed by Anandtech with or without Flash have revealed negative effects in running time every time that Flash was a significant component in the scenario.

Adobe has tried to lessen earlier concerns about reducing battery life by adding GPU acceleration to the Mac, but it still depends on the processor for video and animation rendering on all platforms. Although this was not given as an official reason for taking out the default install of Flash on the desktop, resource usage and battery life have been serious reasons for Steve Jobs to insist for the removing of Flash on the iPhone. As for Android phones with Flash, they can run some sites in good conditions but have difficulties in running large-format video content and a major drop-off of the battery life can be noticed when Flash usage is frequent.

Adobe has not responded to these battery life issues.

The SDN (Starbucks Digital Network) and its content have been optimized for mobile devices and laptops and is built and supported by Yahoo. There will be six channels of options which will include, besides a personalized Starbucks channel, content related to business, careers, entertainment, health and wellness as well as local listings. Among the expected providers, users will find New York Times, LinkedIn and Zagat, together with health magazine content.

Options for social networking will not miss and it will not be necessary to leave the portal in order to use them. Tracking users’ habits will help to improve offerings. Only a limited number of ads will be presented by Yahoo. Over thirty million Starbucks customers logged into the free internet service last month. It was offered at stores and was revamped in July. The service does not require a Starbucks loyalty card anymore.

The entire Starbucks Digital Network will use HTML5 to display its content and video will be included.

The Threadless designs are available for Studio 15 notebooks, as well as for Inspiron Mini netbooks. These designs add an extra $85 to the price of the device; ship dates are also delayed by up to four days more.

The first to arrive on the market will be the 1.60GHz Core i7 configuration, benefitting from 4GB of RAM and a standard 500GB of hard disk storage space. The new system will be available straight from Lenovo and other retailers, being priced at $1500.

Lenovo will most likely expand its customization options in the near future; for a start, the company may offer Core i3 and up to a 1.86GHz quad Core i7. The IdeaPad Y560d will be available with a Blu-ray drive and the manufacturer’s hybrid storage system (the RapidDrive); the latter joins a quick-booting 64GB SSD and a classic 750GB disk drive.

If Dell adopts Chrome OS, it would be a serious blow for Microsoft. Dell is already using Ubuntu Linux on a number of netbooks. The new platform is supposed to offer a higher-profile operating system which could significantly determine a reduction of the Mini netbook’s price. Although Chrome OS requires SSD storage, it has a quite small footprint and is depending on web applications and therefore can use cheaper drives than the conventional hard drives. It also uses less memory as most tasks occur within a single application.

As a justification of Dell’s leap to Google, Midha invoked a new stage of computing. He said that unique innovations are expected in the next two or three years, which would involve new forms of computing. The company is committed to be on the forefront and to be a leader whether it entails Chrome or Android.

Amit Midha also suggested more China-native Android-based phones would arrive. For example, a 3G phone for the native TD-SCDMA format of China Mobile is expected to appear sometime later this very year.

There are three models with 14-inch, 15-inch or 17-inch displays and Core i3 or i5 processors. Standard graphics can be upgraded to a 1GB Mobility Radeon high definition graphics or Wireless Display of Intel. Internal memory can reach 8GB of RAM while a hard disk drive of 640GB is also included.

The minimum configuration is expected to cost only $449 although Dell has not given detailed specifications. The Inspiron models 14R, 15R or 17R are available to ship within a business day.