>> Apple and Toshiba released new laptops. Barack Obama's campaigning on the Xbox, and we take the Schwinn eBike for a spin in Central Park. It's Wednesday, October 15, I'm Natalie Del Conte and it's time to get loaded. ^m00:00:13 [ music ] ^m00:00:18 Tuesday's Apple event while exciting, did not have a whole lot of surprises. There's a new 24 inch display that's quite lovely, a new line of aluminum MacBooks, and a price cut for the low-end white MacBooks at 999, there's also a new line of MacBook Pros with a new multitouch track pad that doesn't have a mouse which is cool, and Apple is going to go with Nvidia for its graphic processors now. Take a look at some highlights.
>> Both the MacBook and MacBook Pro models will be housed in sleeker and lighter aluminum bodies.
>> I really think that aluminum MacBook is gonna appeal to a lot of people who aren't necessarily looking for the cheapest laptop they can buy, but like a quality premium product and I think that that MacBook is gonna fall right into sweet spot for them.
>> Here are a couple of hardware features that you know consumers are going to love. First of all we've got this touchpad made of glass, that functions as one big button. Also you'll notice these really beautiful shiny LED screens. In the Q and A, Steve was asked if they're ever gonna do mat screens again and the answer was 'no'. They've definitely switched over to these shiny, beautiful LED screens on their new laptops.
>> And we've added some 4 finger gestures now. So Expose, a great way to get in and out of Expose ...
>> Also all new Apple Notebooks will include chipmaker Nvidia's graphics card.
>> G force, 9400 M, 5 times faster graphics.
>> The switch between integrated graphics, which will conserve battery life, and the dedicated graphics which will give you better graphics performance that may be eats a little more battery.
>> For the first time ever Steve Jobs announced that entry level white plastic MacBook will be available for less than a thousand dollars.
>> But we're gonna reduce the entry price today to 999; make them a little more affordable.
>> Jobs also announced small modifications to the MacBook Air and a 24 inch LED monitor that smoothly connects with any Apple laptop.
>> Apple's not the only company releasing new laptops. Toshiba announced an entire line of notebooks. There are more choices than I can really go through within the confines of this broadcast, so I'm sum up. There's a new line of Portege which they're calling ultra portable although they aren't exactly netbooks because they're 12 inch machines. There's also a new line of Tecra machines which are between 14 and 15 inches, so more suited for desktop use. These laptops have just about every option you can want including fingerprint authentication, they're aimed at the business computing market rather than home computing. Okay, so they're not as sexy as the new Macs but I still care. To explore for yourself visit explore dot Toshiba dot com slash laptops. Warner Brothers has decided to release movies in DivX. DivX is a high quality video format for download that has been typically popular among bit torrent users. These days it's becoming more mainstream though. Warner Brothers will begin offering titles in DivX standard def this month and in high def next year. The collection of titles will include both new releases and back catalogue movies and TV shows. You can play them on DivX certified devices like DVD and Blu-Ray players along with gaming consoles equipped with the software. Barack Obama is campaigning in the Xbox 360. GigaOM has confirmed with Electronic Arts that the Obama campaign purchased in game advertising space in Burnout Paradise. The Xbox racing game features an Obama for president billboard. Without getting too much into my own political affiliation, I gotta say the Obama campaign leaves no stone unturned when it comes to technology. He launched My Barack Obama in January of 2007, and don't forget his text message BP candidate announcement then the iPhone application and now an Xbox billboard. Whatever you think of him, you've gotta give him points for ingenuity. You may not want to look at your 401K right now, but you can with Mint, the personal finance site has gone out of beta and added a few features such as investment tracking, 401K management, and budget sheets. I used to use it to track my checking, savings, and credit card accounts. The addition of investment accounts makes it a lot more helpful in tracking my personal finances, although I'll be honest - I added my 401K to may Mint account yesterday and nearly broke out in tears. AT and T really wants you to keep text messaging. The company announced a new line of phones which they're calling messaging phones because they have a full keyboard. The Matrix is a slider phone that you slide up for a number pad and sideways for a keypad. It's only 79 dollars with a 2 year contract. Their Propel has a full keyboard that slides out from the bottom and is also 79 dollars with a 2 year contract. The Slade is being called the thinnest full keyboard phone and it's Blackberry style with no slide ability whatsoever. It's 49 dollars with a 2 year contract. And the Quick Fire has a keyboard that slides horizontally and is 99 dollars with a 2 year contract. They all come in a variety of colors and will be available sometime this month. You can tell your parents they were wrong - the internet will not rot your brain. According to a study by the University of California, people who use the internet to search and find information are actually exercising portions of their brain responsible for higher cognitive abilities. They placed 2 groups, one with internet experience and the other with minimal computer experience and an MRI machine, and essentially just made them use Google. Researchers say this is m ore proof that to stay mentally fit you have to push yourself just the same way you do at the gym. So if you want to keep the noggin greased up properly, learn a new language or try Google. A few weeks ago Schwinn lent us their Tailwind eBike to try out. We had a gorgeous weekend here in New York so we took it for a spin in Central Park. Take a look.
>> We finally got a sunny day here in New York so we're taking the Schwinn eBike out for a ride, and we thought we'd give it a little competition. This is Justin. He's gonna be riding his road bike, and this is Mark and he's going up against Justin with the Schwinn eBike. So gentlemen, start your engines. ^m00:05:46 [ music ] ^m00:05:54
>> The Schwinn Tailwind eBike has 8 speeds and uses a removable battery pack. The bike can go for about 25 to 30 miles on a single 30 minute charge and can be ridden with or without the battery motor on. You can control the power settings between low, medium, and high and the motor runs off of 180 watts of continuous power and 250 watts at peak power. So the eBike, a clear winner. How was it?
>> It was very cool.
>> You kind of just have to pedal a little bit. It's a nice easy push, you don't really have to do any work and ... I beat Justin hands down.
>> I think so. Were you pretty humiliated?
>> I'm pretty humiliated. That thing really takes off ... couldn't keep up, pretty tired right now.
>> Maybe you should switch and see if it's ability or skill. ^m00:06:37 [ music ] ^m00:06:47
>> We think the bike is ideal for college campus or suburban settings. New York City streets are just a little to stop and go to really make it worthwhile, but it was really fun to test out and I want to thank Schwinn for letting us give it a go. The Palm Centro got a little makeover this week; the messaging phone that's so popular with the teeny-boppers now comes in olive and rose - not to be confused with pink. Besides new colors it also comes with more RAM, 128 Megs to be precise, and a micro SD card slot. As always it's 79 dollars with a 2 year contract for Sprint customers. A Canadian company called Aegis has come up with a way to make sure your kids don't use their cell phones while they're driving. The software works with the cell phone carrier to detect when the phone is traveling at car speeds. If it is, the program will ask your carrier to hold all calls and text messages until the drive is over; because sadly we cannot be expected to do that for ourselves. This software works with Windows Mobile or Zambia phones; it uses the phone's GPS system to detect the speed of travel. Aegis is not available just yet, the company hopes to officially launch next year and it will cost between 10 dollars and 20 dollars per family. I know teenagers will absolutely hate this, but if I've said it once I've said it a million times - it's for your own good. Those are all your headlines for today, but I will be back with more tomorrow. Thank you for watching. I'm Natalie Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been loaded. [ music ]
