mac.iLounge

If Apple has proven anything over the past five years, it’s that there’s no reason that computing needs to remain locked into traditional input schemes. Most people still use keyboards and mice, but Multi-Touch is quickly becoming the preferred method for many, and has been improving for complex tasks. Leap Motion is doing its part to shake up the status quo in a different way with limited pre-orders of its Leap ($70). The idea here is motion control; think Microsoft’s Kinect, but a whole lot smaller and supposedly more accurate, too. Read More

Ever wish your cable TV actually came to each room of your house over Wi-Fi instead of coax? The Elgato HDHomeRun ($180) makes it possible. This tiny box sits alongside your router, connecting to your standard cable connection and serving up HDTV over the air. Read More

LaCie clearly knows what it’s doing with hard drives, particularly when it comes to designing enclosures that appeal to Mac users. The newest addition to its lineup is a drive case called 2big NAS, which is available either as an empty enclosure for $299, or pre-filled with 6TB of storage for $649. It’s being positioned as a great solution for small businesses, with remote access over FTP, SFTP, or HTTP file transfer. You can pop in any two 3.5” drives, up to 3TB each, and it comes with support for RAID 1 mirroring. Read More

Rumors (and past history) have strongly suggested that Apple will implement the new and much-improved 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard in its lineup at some point this year. We’re not surprised that this hasn’t happened yet, since the first 802.11ac router has just hit the market. Buffalo’s new—deep breath here—AirStation AC1300 / N900 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router WZR-D1800H ($180) is spearheading the speedy new standard at a reasonable price for the technology. And it’s backwards compatible with 802.11n, operating twin networks so that your current devices can work on one band while new ones work on another. Read More

If the success of the MacBook Air is any indication, there’s little doubt Apple intends to switch over to SSDs as quickly as it can. Solid state drives are incredibly fast and more reliable than spinning hard drives, although they still ring up at a higher price per gigabyte. OWC has been at the forefront of bringing these drives to Macs that don’t already have them, and is now expanding its lineup with Mercury Accelsior PCI Express SSD ($360-$2,096) for the Mac Pro. Read More

As of today, most Macs support a single external monitor—only the 15”/17” MacBook Pros can daisy chain two Apple Thunderbolt Displays at once with their built-in hardware, and iMacs can add a Thunderbolt Display to match their own screens. Since many users would prefer not to spend two grand for twin monitors, say nothing of possibly having to replace their Macs, Matrox has come up with a different solution: DualHead2Go Digital ME ($179). This breakout box connects to Macs with Mini-DisplayPort or Thunderbolt ports, stretching a 3840x1200-pixel desktop across two DVI displays. Read More

It’s still a pretty slow process, but Thunderbolt is continuing to spread. We’ve seen a small number of hard drives and a few other accessories make it to market, with LaCie getting more out than most other companies so far. Now it’s added to its collection with the introduction of eSATA Hub ($199). It’s a smart solution for users who have eSATA drives lying around that they’d like to use with newer Macs at blazing fast speeds. Read More

The last time we showcased a Verizon Wireless MiFi unit, the mobile carrier’s 4G LTE network was still in a fledgling state. Fast forward a year, and quite a bit has changed. Verizon has significantly increased its LTE footprint, bringing the super high speeds to 200 cities, with more on the way. Now it’s also updating its hardware with the introduction of the Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi 4620L ($50 after rebate with contract). Redesigned with a new and detailed status screen, plus buttons to manage connections, the Jetpack retains the same size and shape of the original version—ideal for tossing in any bag or pocket. Read More

Korg is already one of the biggest names in computer music accessories, and it’s expanding that footprint even further today. Just announced are the microKEY-25 ($70) and microKEY-61 ($180) USB Powered Keyboards and MIDI Controllers, joining the ranks of the earlier microKEY-37 ($80). These compact keyboards pack a big punch, and are plug and play with your favorite music software on your Mac.  Read More

Western Digital has the portable hard drive game down pat. Small enclosures, (potentially) fast transfer speeds, nice designs, and now huge capacities make its new My Passport ($130-$250) line well worth checking out. Available in sizes starting at 500GB and going all the way to 2TB—a first for portable drives—these handsome little guys offer an ideal way to carry everything, everywhere. Read More

It’s 0.41” to 0.51” tall. Topped with sandblasted, fingerprint-resistant stainless steel. Square. And adds either between 500GB and 1TB of external storage to any MacBook. Freecom’s Mobile Drive Sq ($150-$200/€109-€159) may come at premium prices relative to other portable hard drives, but how often do you see a sleek 4.7” square accessory like this? Read More

If making music on the go and cool, retro design are your things, you’re going to want to check out Teenage Engineering’s OP 1 Portable Synthesizer ($849). Although the synthesizer features are a big part of this super portable music machine, it also packs a four track recorder, sampler, and even MIDI control functionality when it’s hooked up to your Mac. All of that is packed into an aluminum body measuring in at just 11.1” long, 4” wide, and 0.5” high, fitting perfectly in front of even the tiny 11” MacBook Air. Read More

Just announced and released, Wacom’s Intuos5 Professional Pen Tablets ($229-$469) offer evolutions over previous generations of the company’s popular input solutions. Available in three sizes ranging from 24 to 102 square inches of working area, they’ve undergone a redesign that not only looks better, but adds more features too. The big thing Wacom is promoting is Multi-Touch, and while these aren’t the first tablets from the company to incorporate the feature, it’s clear that gesture-based input has become a major focus for these professional products. Read More

iFixit’s easy to love. Not only does the little repair shop tear apart every new Apple product just to see what’s inside, but sometimes it finds hidden treasures, too. The most recent discovery: mounting points inside both models of the latest generation iMac—even the smaller version—for a second 2.5” hard drive. Naturally, the company has found a way to take advantage of this space. Just as it did for the Mac mini a few months ago, iFixit is now offering Dual Hard Drive Kits for the 21.5” and 27” iMac ($70). Read More

Click click click click click. Hear that? That’s the sound of Das Keyboard’s made-to-be-loud Model S Professional for Mac ($133), which is now available for preorder at a $20 discount. A modified version of the PC keyboard that’s been around for a few years now, this black slate is inspired by IBM’s Model M with mechanical switch keys that ensure you’ll hear every single key press. It’s not designed to look particularly Mac-like, but the glossy black shell does go nicely with the glass bezels of contemporary iMacs. Read More