Artix Entertainment Releases Witty George Lowe Bites App for Android and iPhone

LAND O’LAKES, FLORIDA – Artix Entertainment, the indie game development studio that delivers download-free browser-based RPGs to 130 million users, announced today that its new entertainment app George Lowe Bites is available now on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android. George Lowe is a famous voice actor most recognized for being the voice of Space Ghost from Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Robot Chicken. Artix Entertainment players will also recognize him from previous in-game events in AdventureQuest Worlds, EpicDuel, DragonFable, and MechQuest as Ranger Lowe. George Lowe Bites is a very entertaining app that puts a soundboard full of witty and hilarious phrases voiced by George Lowe right onto your iPhone, Android phone, or iPod Touch. The voice clips on the app consist of bizarre humor that is comparable to the humor found in the TV shows that George Lowe’s voice appears in. With this app, you’ll be able to make any cramped elevator instantly more uncomfortable with the touch of your finger! Here are a few sample voice clips: CheckUnderTheRim, SausageGrenades2, and MamaWerewolf. George Lowe Bites includes over 300 sound bites in eight different categories:

  • …at the Job!
  • DE-Motivational Speeches
  • Evil Products
  • Ninjas & Pirates
  • Quotes
  • Really, um, special… Sound FX
  • Superhuman and utterly bizarre stuff!

The new app also includes the “Magic 8-Ball” feature which helps you make important, maybe-life-changing decisions (for entertainment purposes only). Prepare to inject some of George Lowe’s wisdom into any conversation. whether you’re in a public restroom, dining out, or standing in line at the grocery store, George Lowe Bites has a fun and witty sound bite to make you smile ! George Lowe Bites is currently available in the Android Marketplace as well as the iPhone App Store for $1.99. for more information about the app, please visit aq.com/gamedesignnotes/georgelowebites-1076. Other Games from Artix Entertainment Artix Entertainment offers many RPG and MMO titles, ranging from the fantasy realms of AdventureQuest, DragonFable, and the MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds to the sci-fi galaxies of MechQuest, WarpForce, and EpicDuel. Artix has enjoyed a high success rate in the past eight years with over 130 million accounts created for their games. for more information about our games, please visit: AdventureQuest Worlds at aq.com DragonFable at dragonfable.com EpicDuel at epicduel.com MechQuest at mechquest.com AdventureQuest at battleon.com Artix Entertainment games at portal.battleon.com and HeroMart at HeroMart.com You can follow or friend Artix on… Twitter: twitter.com/artixkrieger/ Facebook: facebook.com/artix MySpace: myspace.com/artixkrieger Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Robot Chicken are trademarks of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. a Time Warner Company About Artix Entertainment Artix Entertainment LLC, is a privately held, game development and publishing studio that specializes in creating online, browser-based, anime-style, role-playing Flash games with a distinctive visual style and high-quality game play. Artix has developed a range of games with storylines that are based in the fantasy, sci-fi, and adventure genre. Content within the games is updated on a weekly basis creating a compelling experience which keeps users coming back frequently for new content and story lines. Artix core offerings are three online RPG games: AdventureQuest, DragonFable, and MechQuest, and two MMORPGs: AdventureQuest Worlds and EpicDuel. Players can visit artixentertainment.com for more information.

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How Sprint tests its phones

Here are typical factors that Sprint might consider when planning its product portfolio. LTE is here only as an example as Sprint has not announced any LTE plans.

(Credit:Kent German/CNET)

When carriers announce exciting new phones, rarely do they also reveal exactly when that new handset will go on sale. We usually hear promises like “summer” or “second half of the year” and then we wait for the actual release date to drop. More often than not, it can take a while and cell phone fans and tech journalists begin to get impatient. “Just what’s taking so long?” we wonder. or even worse, “Could there be something wrong with the phone?”

Of course, you can’t really blame us for always wanting the next best thing. yet, this week I learned that perhaps I could be just a bit more patient. And I owe that realization to a two-day visit to Sprint’s headquarters and testing labs in Overland Park, Kans. Though I had been to Sprint’s “campus” near Kansas City, Mo. before–and trust me that it really looks like a college–this was the first time I saw something outside of a conference room. I joined CNET News Senior Writer Roger Cheng and a small group of reporters for briefings with company executives, including CEO Dan Hesse, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the painstakingly thorough process that Sprint uses to evaluate new devices and ready them for its network.

Filling a slotIt all begins as Sprint reviews its product portfolio and identifies an open “slot” for a certain type of device. this slot could call for just about anything, from a simple messaging handset to a powerful smartphone. the carrier then relays the need to manufacturers, who will in turn offer candidate devices. Meetings with manufacturers can take place throughout the year, but they always happen at big technology trade show likeCES orCTIA.

Related links” Sprint CEO: 4G plans to come in the fall” How long can Sprint keep its unlimited plans up?” Sprint eyes ‘family plan’ for data devices” Smartphones Unlocked: a closer look at software updates

Building the deviceOnce it selects a device for the portfolio, Sprint then will work with the manufacturer on design and testing. as the candidate device is just a prototype at this early stage, it will undergo many external and internal changes before it’s unveiled to the world and sent to stores. Heck, at this point the phone may not even turn on. the entire process can take anywhere from one year to 18 months, during which thousands of tests are run both by both parties. the manufacturer typically focuses on the durability of the hardware and the reliability of the software, while Sprint tests network compatibility, audio quality, battery life, and the performance of features like GPS, streaming video, and multimedia.

Running the testsAs the above slideshow will demonstrate, there’s a lot to do and it can take as little as a few weeks or as long as a few months. as Ben Bellinder, Sprint’s handset director, reminded us, a typical smartphone has millions of lines of code and 1,000 components from 150 suppliers. Ensuring that all of those parts work efficiently and properly on Sprint’s network is what Bellinder’s team hopes to accomplish. so, go ahead and continue to clamor for those new devices. But now you might understand why it can take so long.

Hitachi Touro portable drive review: More sex appeal than capacity

The Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro external hard drive looks very much like an extra-large iPhone 4.

(Credit:Dong Ngo/CNET)

Capping at just 750GB, the Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro portable hard drive is rather disappointing in terms of storage space when compared with the 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable. But what it lacks in capacity, it more than makes up in sexiness. The eye-catching portable drive looks very much like aniPhone 4 with black top and bottom and aluminum at the edges.

As an external hard drive, the Touro features USB 3.0 and is backward-compatible with USB 2.0. On the inside, it’s based on a 2.5-inch internal hard drive that spins at 7,200rpm (as opposed to the 5,400rpm of most drives) and offered very good performance in CNET Labs’ testing.

The Touro Hitachi comes with bundled backup software called Hitachi Backup that works with both Macs and PCs. The software facilitates backing up both to the drive and to Hitachi’s online backup service. Purchasing the drives gets you 3GB for free.

At its street price of around $95 for the 750GB version (or $75 for the 500GB version), the drive will make a very good companion for those who travel with a laptop, especially one that’s USB 3.0-ready. For more information check out the full review of the Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro portable hard drive.

The Week in iOS Accessories: Come fly with me!

Belkin’s Keyboard Folio

Belkin: The accessory-maker wades into the crowded Bluetooth-keyboard-case market with its $100 Keyboard Folio for iPad 2. Belkin says the case has a “suede-like feel,” while the keyboard itself provides 60 hours of active battery life and 2,000 hours of standby battery life. The function-specific keys let you copy and paste text, as well as control the iPad’s sound volume and several other features.

Bluelounge’s MiniDock

Bluelounge: If you want to charge your iPhone or iPod, but hate having wires strung all over the place, Bluelounge’s new MiniDock is a possible solution. The $20 device plugs directly into Apple’s iPhone’s AC charger, letting your iPhone sit upright while it charges sans wires. The company pitches the product as being great for travel, or for use in space-deprived areas such as the kitchen. MiniDock comes in three versions—one each compatible with Apple’s AC adapter for the U.S., the U.K., and the European Union.

The iHelicopter

iHelicopters: If you were a nerdy child in the 1980s, you’ll be excited to know that your iPhone can now give you a small taste of the Airwolf experience. iHelicopters.net is offering four different remote-controlled helicopters, each $60 and controlled by an app for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Just plug a transmitter into your iOS device, open up the free i-Helicopter app, and start flying your missions. a full charge lets the helicopter fly for up to 45 minutes, but the remote transmitter must stay within 8 to 10 meters to retain control. (Jan-Michael Vincent not included.)

Pioneer’s SC-57

Pioneer Electronics: looking to get the best sound experience out of your iOS device? Pioneer has launched two new models in the line of Apple-focused AV receivers Macworld told you about in March. both the $2,000 SC-57 and the $1,600 SC-55 include AirPlay for streaming music from your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Open up the Pioneer Air Jam app on any iOS device to wirelessly control each receiver. The receivers are designed to deliver audio for Blu-Ray discs and other high-fidelity formats. The SC-57 provides 10 different speaker configurations; the SC-55 offers seven.

Targus’ Lap Lounge

Targus: If you’ve ever enjoyed the comfort of a padded lap desk for doing homework, writing, or reading, you might like Targus’ $50 Lap Lounge for iPad 2. The device has a bean-bag-filled cushion as its base, the foundation for a viewing stand that lets you prop your iPad at various angles for optimum viewing. a zippered pocket lets you store the device’s handle or your other tablet accessories. The Lap Lounge is listed as “coming soon.”

USBFever’s Table Mount

USBFever: looking for a handy way to keep your iPad off to the side, but still in view? USBFever’s $76 Table Mount system functions much like an adjustable mic stand, but clips onto a desk or nearby shelf to give you full view of the tablet.

Verizon iPhone activations still trail those of AT&T

The Verizon iPhone was greeted by many analysts as a major-league game changer – the device that could put the AT&T iPhone, and its notoriously spotty service, in a world of hurt. But according to new sales figures from both AT&T and Verizon, the AT&T iPhone has managed to retain its place atop the market. in the second quarter of this year, Verizon reps said the company activated 2.3 million iPhones, shy of the 3.6 million activated by AT&T.

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Still, it’s worth noting that the playing ground here isn’t totally level. "AT&T has an advantage over Verizon in that it sells the previous-generation iPhone 3GS as well as the current iPhone 4," Peter Pachal writes over at PC Mag. "The carrier offers that model at a $49 discount rate (with a standard two-year contract). if customers are willing to buy a refurbished model, that cost drops to an ultra-cheap $9."

Moreover, as Pachal points out, Verizon actually beat AT&T in terms of overall activations. So yes, AT&T is leading in iPhone activations, but Verizon is winning the race: The network added 2.2 million subscribers last quarter, well over the 1.1 million netted by AT&T. Meanwhile, Verizon now counts 106.3 million subscribers, compared to the 98.6 million total subscribers on AT&T.

So what does it all mean? well, on the one hand, it means that the Verizon iPhone hasn’t doomed AT&T sales. (Yet.) Verizon is gobbling up shares of a market that once belonged exclusively to AT&T, and at a particularly bad time – the next iPhone (the iPhone 5, or the iPhone 4S, or whatever the thing is called) will be the first new iPhone to simultaneously launch on both Verizon and AT&T networks. which could diminish AT&T’s iPhone superiority even further.

Last time we checked in on the (as of yet mythical) iPhone 5, the device had reached the final stage of testing, and was already being hauled around by "high level Apple and carrier executives." So said the tech site 9 to 5 Mac, which put the launch date of the iPhone 5 at September of this year. There are also plenty of rumors about possible NFC technology on the iPhone 5, and even a new teardrop shape.

Westfield Simplifies In-Mall Shopping with New Product Search Feature on Free Westfield Mobile App

LOS ANGELES, Aug 10, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Westfield Group has set out to simplify the shopping experience in each of its 55 malls throughout the U.S. with the launch of the first-of-its-kind product searchfeature, now available via the free Westfield App. this exciting new feature incorporates the leading edge technology of Google Commerce Search, allowing shoppers to browse the merchandise offerings of retailers located in Westfield shopping centers.

The new product search capability makes shopping in a Westfield mall even easier as shoppers can now browse by keyword searches. With so many retailer and product choices available at each mall, Westfield has made looking for specific products from its brick and mortar locations simple and efficient. for example, a Westfield shopper looking for gold sandals would enter that term in the search bar of the free Westfield App and within seconds, the shopper would see a list of gold sandals available from the various retailers located in his/her preferred Westfield shopping center. Product results can then be sorted by relevance, retailer and price. Additionally, Westfield App users can choose to limit results to a particular store, view larger images of products, read detailed descriptions and compare prices. They can also add items to their shopping list within the Westfield App or call individual stores for more information and to check on local availability with one click.

“Google Commerce Search provides an amazing experience to Westfield shoppers because it allows them to find and discover products in the mall more easily than ever before,” says Nitin Mangtani, Group Product Manager for Google Commerce. “With this mobile application Westfield shoppers can expect fast and relevant product results, just as they expect from Google.com.”

The new product search feature builds on Westfield’s commitment to make shopping convenient, easy and fun, including existing Westfield App features which include a directory and map for all 55 centers in the United States, special retailer offers, movie show times, shopping hours and the ability to remember the location of a shopper’s parked car.

“Whether the shopper is looking for a very specific product or general back to School merchandise, the ability to search retailer products effortlessly is of real benefit,” says Gary Williams, Senior Executive Vice President, Management and Marketing, Westfield.

The Westfield App, which was developed by Simplikate, a leading developer of state-of-the-art mobile applications, is available for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Product search is available now for the iPhone and will be available for the Android and Blackberry mid-August.

Demo Video: westfield.com/uscentres/mobile/productsearch.html

Broadcast (HD): m3-creative.com/dropbox/westfield_app_v3-1_hires.zip

Download Westfield Mobile App:

for iPhone: itunes.apple.com/us/app/westfield-malls/id397494939

for Blackberry: appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/34001 *Product Search Feature Available Mid-August 2011

for Android: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.simplikate.westfield&feature *Product Search Feature Available Mid-August 2011

The Westfield Group (asx:WDC), is an internally managed, vertically integrated shopping center group undertaking ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing and marketing activities and employing approximately 4,000 staff worldwide. The group has investment interests in 119 shopping centers in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, with a total value of assets under management in excess of A$58 billion. in the U.S., the Group has a portfolio of 55 shopping centers that are home to more than 9,000 specialty stores and compromise approximately 63 million square feet of leasable space in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington. for further information, please visit: westfield.com .

SOURCE: Westfield Group

for Westfield: The Lippin Group 323-965-1990 Alexandra Lippin or Cassy Salyer alippin@lippingroup.com or csalyer@lippingroup.com

Copyright Business Wire 2011

Nuvel Launches Android Version of vSOS Personal Emergency Response Service for Smartphones — CAMPBELL, Calif., Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

     

CAMPBELL, Calif., Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Nuvel announced today that it has released the Google Android™ version of vSOS™, its personal emergency response application for smartphones.  Designed with advanced, patent-pending technology, vSOS provides people of all ages with 24/7/365 response to any emergency—health, accident, assault—at home or on-the-go—with one touch on their smartphone. Available now, vSOS can be downloaded from the Android Market and the Nuvel website. the vSOS subscription fee of $12.99 per month includes both the application and the personal emergency response services.

People who can benefit from vSOS range from children with allergies, asthma or diabetes to college students who worry about their safety when on campus at night, people who hike or jog alone, and people who want help fast if they have a heart attack, stroke or accident.  

With Nuvel’s partnership with GEOS Alliance, vSOS provides emergency response services in North America, South America and Europe, so even travelers who don’t speak the local language can be confident knowing they have a team of dedicated people ready to respond to any emergency.

Nuvel’s new vSOS for Android users leverages the success of the vSOS for the Apple® iPhone™, which was released in April.  By including HIPPA compliance and the ability to input personal medical information such as allergies, health conditions, medications, etc., both versions have set themselves apart from the competition. there is nothing extra to buy, nothing extra to carry, nothing technical to learn.  

“The emergency response features, mobility and simplicity that vSOS delivers make the market for this application virtually unlimited,” said Randy Hagin, Nuvel Senior Vice President of Sales. “According to a recent IDC report, the market for smartphones is growing exponentially.”

IDC estimates that vendors will ship a total of 472 million smartphones in 2011 compared to about 305 million units shipped in 2010, and that the Android, the leading operating system worldwide in Q4 2010, will grow to more than 40 percent of the market in the second half of 2011.

When an Android smartphone is enhanced with vSOS, users send a distress alert simply by pressing down on the red vSOS emergency alert icon for three seconds.  This triggers the vSOS HIPPA-compliant server to automatically send a distress alert to the GEOS IERCC.  Mission Coordinators at IERCC can then contact the user to verify the emergency.  

If a user does not answer the call from GEOS, certified emergency response professionals will contact the closest 9-1-1, or similar dispatch center when outside the US.  Leveraging GPS technology, vSOS provides the user’s physical location to the responders to guide emergency personnel.  Access to the user’s personalized health information and the user’s name, mobile phone number and address is also included with the alert.  in addition, vSOS will send a text or email message to alert up to five contacts (physician, family, friends) listed in the user profile.

For added value, the GEOS Search and Rescue (SAR) feature is included at no additional cost.  with the SAR feature, if the official emergency services need to be supplemented to ensure the user’s safety, the GEOS IERCC will authorize additional personnel and equipment (including private aircraft/helicopter charter, private search teams, etc.).  

Availability, Price

Google approved, Nuvel’s vSOS personal emergency response software and service is $12.99/month.  vSOS for the Google® Android™ platform is available for download from the Android Market and the Nuvel website.  Apple® iPhone™ users can download vSOS at the iPhone App Store.  Downloads for other smartphone platforms will be available soon.  Volume licensing is available directly to OEM partners as well as corporate and institutional customers at a discount price based on volume.

About Nuvel, inc.

Headquartered in Campbell, CA, Nuvel delivers software and hardware solutions that enhance productivity, provide exciting new capabilities, and improve the experience for all internet users including enterprises, individuals, and underserved communities. Nuvel dramatically increases the speed and performance of the Internet, significantly improving last-mile connectivity and the user experience for all computing and mobile devices.  for more information, visit nuvelinc.com.

vSOS is a trademark of Nuvel inc.  All other trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are the property of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.

SOURCE Nuvel, inc.

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RELATED LINKS nuvelinc.com

New Mac minis deliver serious performance

With the Mac mini (Mid 2010), released in June 2010, Apple gave its smallest Mac an aesthetic overhaul, replacing the chunky, aluminum-and-white-plastic 2009 model with a sleek, aluminum-unibody model that was easier to upgrade, felt rock-solid, and sported an SD-card reader and an HDMI port (the latter pleasing AV buffs immensely). But while the design of the 2010 mini was a dramatic change, that model received mainly modest upgrades on the inside: a moderately faster processor and a better graphics chip. it also came with a higher price tag: the least-expensive 2010 mini clocked in at $699.

The latest version of the Mac mini, officially called the Mac mini (Mid 2011) and released along with Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), sticks with last year’s design, but it gets a price cut while overhauling what’s inside. Though the iMac is clearly Apple’s flagship desktop, the 2011 Mac mini is quintessential Apple: beautiful, well-engineered, forward-looking, and powerful enough for most, with at least one design decision that will leave some people wondering, “Why?” Which is to say that, like most Apple products, the new mini is compelling, but it won’t appeal to everyone.

Lightning and Thunderbolt

In a nod to the 2009 line, the Mac mini is again available in two models, with the less-expensive mini starting at $599. This gets you a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor (last year’s model used the older Core 2 Duo), 2GB of RAM, a 500GB 5400rpm hard drive, and an integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor that shares 288MB of main memory. for $799, Apple ups the processor speed to 2.5GHz, the RAM to 4GB, and the graphics processor to a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6630M with 256MB of dedicated memory. (The Mac mini is also available in a server version starting at $999. We’ll be reviewing that model separately.)

Both models replace last year’s Mini DisplayPort port with a Thunderbolt port that supports both video (resolutions up to 2560 by 1600 pixels) and data connections, as well as Mini DisplayPort displays. you still get a dedicated HDMI port that supports both video (up to 1920 by 1200 pixels) and multi-channel audio. As with other current Macs, you can connect DVI and VGA displays with the appropriate adapters—only an HDMI-to-DVI adapter is included—and the mini supports both dual-display and video-mirroring modes when two displays are connected. If you’re feeling especially adventurous, the Radeon HD graphics processor in the $799 mini can drive two Thunderbolt displays, daisy-chained, while still handling a third display on the HDMI port, although you shouldn’t expect amazing performance.

The 2011 mini’s ports and connections are otherwise identical to last year’s: one FireWire 800 port; four USB 2.0 ports; a gigabit (10/100/1000BASE-T) ethernet port, an SDXC card-reader slot, and auto-sensing analog/optical-digital audio input and output minijacks (both of which support Apple’s current iPhone headset with remote and mic). As with the 2010 model, the location of the SDXC card-reader slot on the back is at best inconvenient; depending on where you place your mini, the slot may be effectively useless.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Mac mini still gives you 802.11a/b/g/n wireless, but Bluetooth has been upgraded to Bluetooth 4.0, which includes a new low-power mode. the mini also includes a built-in mono speaker and an Infrared receiver for the Apple Remote (not included).

CD or not CD

On the outside, the 2011 Mac mini looks nearly identical to its predecessor, with an enclosure that’s 7.7 inches square, 1.4 inches tall, and made from a single piece of aluminum. a black-plastic panel on the back hosts the computer’s ports, and a circular, black-plastic door on the bottom provides limited access to the machine’s insides. like last year’s model, this mini feels rock-solid, and an internal power supply—you just connect the included thin power cord—means that it’s entirely self-contained.

But there’s at least one difference in the 2011 mini’s exterior that’s immediately noticeable: it looks like last year’s Mac mini Server. And by that I mean the front of the new mini is missing the familiar opening of a slot-loading optical drive. That’s right: like the MacBook Air, the Mac mini doesn’t have a SuperDrive.

For those who still frequently use DVDs and CDs, this may be a deal-killer. while many people view the Air’s lack of an optical drive to be an acceptable compromise that results in a thinner, lighter laptop, many of those same people will wonder why such an omission was necessary on a desktop computer that’s already among the smallest on the market. the cynical answer is that omitting an optical drive reduces Apple’s costs, both in production and shipping (the new Mac mini is about a third of a pound lighter than last year’s). And in case you haven’t gotten the hint yet, Apple would prefer that you download your movies from iTunes.

But it’s just as true that Apple sees optical discs as today’s floppy drive—an aging media format that’s quickly being replaced by USB thumb drives, broadband Internet connections, and other technological solutions. And for some people, that may be true. after all, between iTunes, the Mac App Store, Lion’s electronic distribution, iCloud, Lion Recovery (discussed below), Target Disk Mode, CD/DVD Sharing, and ripping movies on another Mac, many Mac users would be able to get along fine without an optical drive.

Leaving out the optical drive also gave Apple more space to work with inside the Mac mini—room the company put to good use by adding features (four-channel Thunderbolt and, on the $799 model, a discrete graphics processor) and options (a dual-drive setup, discussed below, and, on the $799 model, an i7 processor).

Still, dropping the disc was a bit of a surprising move for this particular Mac model, given that a good number of Mac mini owners use the tiny computer as part of a media center. If you do truly need an optical drive, Apple’s $79 MacBook Air SuperDrive works fine with the new Mac mini—it’s actually a built-to-order option on Apple’s online store. And even with the external SuperDrive, the $599 model is still $21 cheaper than last year’s mini.

Core i5 produces

Though some people will consider the mini’s loss of an optical drive to be a step back, few will argue with the other changes to the 2011 line. while last year’s Mac mini offered modest performance increases, the 2011 line’s Core i5 processors provide huge speed gains. We’re currently revamping our benchmark suite, Speedmark, to account for Lion and the latest Mac hardware changes, so we don’t yet have our traditional Speedmark scores. however, we did run 10 updated components of Speedmark to get an idea of how the latest Mac mini models stack up.

In CPU-intensive tests, including our Cinebench CPU test and HandBrake MP4 encode, the $799 2011 Mac mini with the 2.5GHz Core i5 processor was more than twice as fast as last year’s 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo model; the new $599 2.3GHz Core i5 mini also left last year’s model in the dust, clocking in at approximately 45 percent faster in the same two tests. for the other CPU-intensive tests, the new models were between 30 percent and 50 percent faster than last year’s, with the $799 2011 model slightly faster than the $599 2011 model across the board for CPU-intensive tasks.

Unfortunately, the Mac mini’s stock hard drive is still a 5400rpm, 2.5-inch laptop model. despite being up to twice as fast as last year’s mini in processor-intensive tasks, the 2011 mini models were only slightly faster in tests that involve reading data from, and writing data to, the hard drive. for example, there was little difference between the models in our iMovie-import test, and the $799 2011 Mac mini was only 15 percent faster than the 2010 model in our folder-duplication test. although we haven’t yet had a chance to test the new Mac mini models when booted from a FireWire 800 drive, we suspect that, as with last year’s models, this could provide better drive-related performance. We’re also interested to see how an SSD or a Thunderbolt drive (see “More options than ever,” below) will affect overall performance.

When it comes to graphics performance, our benchmark results were mixed. Thanks to its discrete graphics chip, the $799 2011 mini was nearly twice as fast as the 2010 model in our Cinebench OpenGL and Portal 2 tests; it was roughly 50 percent faster in our Call of Duty test. But the $599 model, with its integrated graphics processor, was roughly even with the 2010 model in our Cinebench test and only 12 percent faster in Portal 2. (The $599 2011 model was actually slower than the 2010 model in our Call of Duty 4 test, although Call of Duty is an older game that was never optimized for Intel graphics. Newer games, such as Portal 2, perform much better with Intel integrated graphics processors.)

Benchmarks aside, I found the $599 model to play Portal 2 well enough to be enjoyable, although there was noticeable choppiness at the automatically selected resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. If you plan to play games more than occasionally, the $799 model, with its discrete GPU and slightly faster processor, is a better bet. on the other hand, one area where the $599 model’s integrated GPU doesn’t seem to hamper it is in video playback. the lower-end mini had no problem playing 1080p video when connected to an HDTV.

We haven’t had a chance to test a $599 model upgraded to 4GB of memory, but based on real-world use of the two 2011 models, I suspect that more RAM will result in better performance in some of our more-memory-hungry benchmark apps. it will certainly help if you tend to run many applications simultaneously.

Despite their performance increases, the new minis are roughly as power-efficient as last year’s model, which used just over 9W when idle and less than 1.5W when sleeping. (The $799 model’s discrete graphics processor ups the overall power usage to a still-low 13W when idle.) the new models are also just as cool and quiet—which is to say that they rarely get warm under general-purpose use, and they’re nearly silent. even when the fan was running full-tilt, during an extended gaming session, the $599 mini was no louder than the fan on the external hard drive I use for Time Machine backups.

More options than ever

When it comes to the Mac mini line, the biggest questions have always focused on options and upgradeability. As with most recent Macs, your build-to-order options for the entry-level model are limited: you can upgrade the $599 model to 4GB ($100) or 8GB ($300) of RAM, and you can opt for a 750GB 7200rpm hard drive ($150). for the $799 model, you can increase performance by upgrading to a 2.7GHz Core i7 processor ($100); 8GB of RAM ($200); a 750GB 7200rpm hard drive ($150); a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD; $600); and, thanks to the absence of an optical drive, a combination of the 750GB hard drive and the 256GB SSD ($750).

Yes, this means you can configure an $1849 Mac mini—and that doesn’t include a keyboard, mouse, or display. (As with previous Mac mini models, you bring your own peripherals.) To be fair, few people are going to max out their Mac mini with all these options. But for those who actually need this kind of performance in a tiny package, it’s nice to know you can.

Unless you tend to work in only two or three applications—and even then, depending on the programs—I recommend upping the $599 mini from 2GB to 4GB of RAM. in testing the stock model, I regularly saw memory-related slowdowns once a number of applications were running; the $799 mini’s 4GB offered a much better experience.

(Image Caption: Upgrading the Mac mini’s RAM is surprisingly easy these days: just twist, pop, and snap.)

Of course, as with most Apple RAM upgrades, you’ll get a better deal if you buy from a third-party vendor—making sure to get RAM that meet’s Apple’s specifications—and install it yourself. for example, reputable third-party vendors are currently selling 4GB of memory for the new mini for roughly $45, with 8GB around $65. you can also get more RAM in your mini from third-party vendors: while Apple’s official specs say the Mac mini maxes out at 8GB, accessory vendor OWC is already selling a 16GB upgrade—for a whopping $1400—that the company says is fully tested and compatible.

As with last year’s mini, memory installation is surprisingly easy: you just rotate the computer’s plastic base a few degrees counterclockwise and lift it off, pop out the two stock chips, snap in the new chips, and replace the base.

While Apple still doesn’t consider the Mac mini’s hard drive to be a user-upgradeable part, iFixit’s teardown of the 2011 model shows that replacing the stock hard drive is a relatively simple task. (Apple’s general policy with the Mac mini line has always been that as long as you don’t break anything during the process, upgrading the hard drive won’t void your warranty.) Which means that if you’re looking to increase the performance of the mini, or get more storage, you can save a few bucks by skipping the build-to-order options and instead shopping for a 9mm, 2.5-inch laptop hard drive. for example, at the time of this review, a 750GB 7200rpm drive is just $85 to $100 from Newegg.com, and a 1TB 5200rpm drive is just over $100.

In other words, while bumping the $599 Mac mini to 8GB of RAM and a faster, bigger hard drive through Apple will set you back $450, going the DIY route will cost as little as $150.

As for other upgrades, the inclusion of Thunderbolt is a Really Big Deal, despite the fact that there aren’t yet many Thunderbolt peripherals on the market. As our benchmarks of Thunderbolt performance show, Thunderbolt is dramatically faster than even FireWire 800—we’re curious to see how the 2011 minis will fare when booted from a Thunderbolt drive or RAID array. And Thunderbolt’s flexibility means that the new mini will have more expansion options than ever, including many of the same high-performance upgrades that will be available for Apple’s “Pro” computers. (It’s even possible for vendors to adapt PCI Express cards for Thunderbolt. Maybe the new mini is Apple’s answer to years of pleas for a mythical midrange Mac minitower?)

Road to Recovery

Given the lack of an optical drive, the new Mac minis obviously don’t ship with a system-restore DVD. But they also don’t get a system-restore flash drive, as the 2010 MacBook Air did. instead, if you ever need to reinstall Lion, you use Apple’s new Lion Recovery feature. As I explained in our hands-on article, the Mac mini’s hard drive includes an invisible partition called Recovery HD. If your main startup volume is having trouble, you can boot from Recovery HD (by holding down Command-R at startup) and then repair the startup volume—or even erase it, reinstall Lion, and restore your data from a Time Machine backup. (To reinstall iLife ’11, which is preinstalled on the new Mac minis, you use the Mac App Store.) Of course, this means Lion Recovery requires an Internet connection.

As it turns out, I had an opportunity to use Lion Recovery while testing the new Mac mini. When I tried to use Migration Assistant to transfer data from a 2010 MacBook Air to a new mini, the procedure would stall—for hours—at the “under a minute left” stage. I eventually gave up and restarted the Mac mini…which left it in a non-bootable state. I rebooted into Lion Recovery and tried to repair the hard drive using Disk Utility, but that didn’t fix the problem, so I erased the drive and reinstalled Lion. As noted in the aforementioned article, Lion Recovery doesn’t include the full Lion installer—that data must be downloaded from Apple on the fly. over a cable-modem connection, using ethernet, the process of downloading and installing Lion through Lion Recovery took just over an hour.

But what if your hard drive has hardware or partition-map problems that prevent you from booting from the Recovery HD partition? the Mid-2011 Mac mini and MacBook Air models—and any new models of Apple’s other lines that are released going forward—include a special feature called Lion Internet Recovery. these Macs can boot directly from Apple’s servers, at which point the software tests the computer’s memory and hard drive to make sure there are no lingering hardware issues. Assuming those components are fine, Lion Internet Recovery downloads, and boots from, a Recovery HD disk image, at which point you get the standard Lion Recovery options. I haven’t yet had a chance to test Lion Internet Recovery, but I’ll be doing so for an upcoming hands-on article.

Lion Recovery and Lion Internet Recovery are welcome features for troubleshooting, but the requirement to download nearly 4GB of data in order to reinstall Lion adds quite a bit of time to any system restore. It’s still worth keeping a bootable Lion-installer drive handy.

Macworld’s buying advice

When I reviewed the Mid-2010 Mac mini, I called it Apple’s most versatile computer for those who didn’t need workstation-level performance. Without an optical drive, the 2011 mini may not be quite as versatile, but Core i5 processors mean that, for the first time, the mini is a serious performer—nearly twice as fast as its predecessor and comparable to some of Apple’s latest MacBook Pro models. And with FireWire 800, Thunderbolt, and a reasonably accessible hard drive, even good storage performance is an option. Of course, it’s also great to see Apple bring the price back down to $599.

On the other hand, those who need great graphics performance won’t find it here, and the loss of an optical drive is likely to scare off some buyers, especially those looking to use the Mac mini as part of a home-media center (though the lack of a Blu-ray option anywhere in Apple’s product line already made this a moot point for some).

If you’re in the market for a mini, which model should you get? This year, the question has an easy answer: If you need the best performance—graphics or CPU—the $799 model is a nice step up, especially for games; it’s also the only mini available with a Core i7 processor. for everyone else, I think the $599 model with an inexpensive RAM upgrade is the better value.

As with previous Mac minis, perhaps the bigger question is one of relative value: How does the Mac mini stack up against Apple’s other desktops? If you’ve already got a decent display, keyboard, and pointing device, the cheapest iMac is $400 to $600 more than a mini. But if you plan to buy new peripherals, the iMac starts to look more appealing, especially compared to the $799 mini: the $1199 iMac (Mid 2011) gives you a 21.5-inch display with a camera, significantly better performance (thanks to a more-powerful processor, a better GPU, and a faster hard drive), 4GB of RAM, an optical drive, stereo speakers, a keyboard, and a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad in an uncluttered, all-in-one package.

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