Apple's Lighting to micro USB adapter is finally available in the United States.The $19 accessory is in stock and connects to iPhone 5s, iPad minis, 5th-gen iPod Touches, 4th-gen iPads, and 7th-gen iPod Nanos.The Cupertino-based company drew criticism from techies and customers alike for abandoning the traditional micro USB model and leaving countless accessories obsolete without an adapter. Apple, however, justified their decision by noting that it was a necessary step forward and that more efficient technology must replace the status quo.According to Slash Gear, "the adapter showed up in Europe last month due to a legal issue where all European devices had to be compatible with micro USB in some fashion, and finally, a month-and-a-half later US users are greeted with a viable solution to their surplus problem of micro USB cables."
The $49 Lighting Digital AV Adapter has also been released by Apple, but is currently out of stock with a 2-3 week ship date. The company's official listing reads, "Put your slides, movies, photos, and everything else on your iPad with Retina display, iPad mini, iPhone 5, or iPod touch (5th generation) screen on an even bigger screen: your HDTV.
mobile phone accessories we have on our wish list.The Lightning Digital AV Adapter mirrors exactly what you see on iPad with Retina display, iPad mini, or iPhone 5, so that everyone in the room can enjoy it on your widescreen TV, video projection screen, or other HDMI-compatible display. The Lightning Digital AV Adapter also supports video out for iPad with Retina display, iPad mini, iPhone 5, or iPod touch (5th generation)."
One of the nicer side effects of going with an ARM SoC is that the new Chromebook is completely fanless. As someone whose 2010 MacBook Air is routinely running its fans at full-tilt, I can say that a fanless system is conspicuously (and pleasantly) quiet by comparison. Its bottom does get a little warm during heavy use, but no warmer than most smartphones or tablets do, and certainly not enough to feel dangerous.Like the Chrome browser, Chrome OS is being steadily developed, though changes tend to be gradual and often subtle. The biggest change to Chrome OS since its introduction was probably the Aura interface, which introduced true windowed multitasking back in April. Since then the changes have been mostly gentle touches and adjustments. The interface should be pretty simple to grasp for anyone who's used to the Windows 7 desktop, and the "Get Started" app (new since the last time I used Chrome OS) that launches automatically the first time you sign in should be enough to familiarize newcomers with Chrome OS' features.
