Amazon.com adds web services to its offerings

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Critics thought it was over the top when Amazon.com Inc. expanded from books into music in 1998. When the Web retailer let competitors start selling things alongside its own inventory in 2000, they said Amazon had gone nuts.

Amazon.com employees pack books for shipment in July at the company's facility in Fernley, Nevada.

In both cases, Amazon proved them wrong. Media sales now total in the billions each quarter, and third-party merchandise, more profitable for Amazon than its own wares, makes up nearly a third of everything sold through the site.

Now, Amazon is making an even greater stretch -- selling storage, computing power and other behind-the-scenes data center services.

The venture, which Amazon expects will grow into a significant business segment, could help keep the company strong if retailers get hit by an economic downturn.

More broadly, Amazon Web Services, as the business is called, could improve chances for a new generation of Web startups by slashing how much they spend up front on costly infrastructure.

MileMeter Inc., a Dallas-based startup that plans to sell auto insurance by the mile, started out running its own server in a data center. Recently, it moved most of its applications onto virtual computers in Amazon Web Services' Elastic Compute Cloud.

EC2 lets its customers quickly start up a virtual computer in the "cloud" -- industry slang for data centers around the world -- then use it as a Web server or for crunching data and shut it down just as fast.

"I don't need to have a systems administrator or a network administrator," said Chief Executive Chris Gay. "I don't have to worry about hardware becoming irrelevant."

Gay said he also uses Amazon's online payments service and is evaluating its data storage and simple database services. During the first dot-com boom, he said, "It was a badge of strength to have as much as possible in house.

"Now, unless that is your core business ... it's a liability."

Adam Selipsky, vice president of product management and developer relations for Amazon Web Services, said Amazon wants entrepreneurs to focus on their ideas, not on hardware leases and crashing servers.

"We want to let developers innovate and make money," he said.

Amazon is certainly not the only player. James Staten, an analyst at Forrester Research, said Akamai Technologies Inc., Enki and Terremark each offer at least a portion of the Web services Amazon is selling. IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. offer pricier versions aimed at big businesses, while Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are thought to be working on services similar to Amazon's.

Amazon comes closest to utility-style billing, Staten said. Most competitors demand a contract or minimum payments.

Amazon, which gives away the computer code to access its services, bases its fees on how much data is shifted around and stored. For example, the company charges 15 cents per month for every gigabyte of data stored in its Simple Storage Service. Developers pay another 10 cents each time they send a gigabyte into the cloud and 18 cents per terabyte when they pull data back out.

SmugMug Inc., a photo sharing startup, had considered storing its users' digital pictures and movies in the cloud with other services. But "the pricing was out of our reach, and it wasn't simple to engineer" before Amazon Web Services launched, said co-founder Chris MacAskill.

Today, the Mountain View, California-based company keeps more than 400 terabytes of data in Amazon's Simple Storage Service. It also uses up to 750 "instances," or virtual machines, in Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud during peak hours to help turn its clients' high-resolution photos and video files into different sizes for display online.

In the first 12 months it used Amazon Web Services, SmugMug saved $1 million.

"It is hard to get your head around: 'Why is this retailer that ships me toys for my kids for Christmas ... also my supplier of IT services?"' MacAskill said.

Amazon executives would say that's because theirs is a technology company, not just a retailer.

In 2005, it ramped up spending on "technology and content," a catchall expense line that includes data centers and R&D to support its own global growth, Web Services, its third-party seller platform, its digital music and movie download stores and other projects.

In 2005 and 2006, the company dropped $1.11 billion on technology and content, eating into margins and souring Wall Street on its stock. With Web Services, Amazon has a chance to earn back a slice of that investment.

It's too soon to tell if Amazon will be able to turn Web Services into a business with revenue to rival its retail lines. The company declined to say what Web Services brings in, saying only that it had signed up 330,000 customers -- startups, Fortune 500 companies, students, researchers and others -- by late 2007.

"Is it any meaningful percentage of revenue? I doubt it," said Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen. "As far as being a technology company...Eh. It depends on how you want to get into labeling it. It's retail."

It's also not clear how many startups will want to outsource their data center functions.

At Shelfari, a social networking startup for avid readers that is partly funded by Amazon, Chief Executive Officer Josh Hug doesn't intend to use the new Web services.

Having IT staffers to keep a close eye on things is important for a consumer service, Hug said. "It's worth the extra cost."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Scan, deposit checks from home

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Online banking service provider CheckFree Corp. is rolling out technology that could mean consumers will no longer have to go to a bank branch to deposit checks.

Called Remote Deposit Capture, the technology has been around for years and lets people scan checks through their home computers and deposit them electronically. But it has been used mainly for businesses.

Customers want to be able to deposit checks without having to go to banks, said Rod Springhetti, CheckFree's vice president of global strategic marketing, and banks want to be able to offer that.

"I think the ability to remotely capture a check will become part of the standard features and functions of online banking," Springhetti said.

CheckFree said the service is available starting this week for any consumers who bank online, as long as their banks offer it.

Recently acquired by Brookfield-based Fiserv Inc. for about $4.4 billion, CheckFree has been in discussions with institutions large and small, though none have committed to using the technology, Springhetti said.

Bob Meara, a senior analyst for research firm Celent, said lots of smaller competitors may follow CheckFree's lead, but it remains unclear how many banks will adopt it and how consumers will react.

"Eventually, it will be a staple element in banks online and the mobile banking platform," he said. "That doesn't mean every consumer is going to pay attention to it."

A recent Celent survey found that about 20 percent of banks had the technology for consumers or planned to get it, and another 20 percent were considering it -- while about 90 percent either use the technology with business clients or want to.

CheckFree's technology already is in the top 150 banks. Springhetti said it is fairly simple to use, and banks can tailor it for their clients.

Customers need a scanner, which is often standard on printers now, a computer and an Internet connection. They'll go to their home banking site, enter the amount of the check, scan both sides, do a quick review and submit it to the bank.

Banks will have the option to add their own fraud protection to make sure bad checks aren't being cashed, he said. Normal processing times will apply, he said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Tax TVs, video games, outdoor group says

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- Dave Gilligan remembers being pushed outside to play baseball and other sports, but feeling it just wasn't for him.

Dave Gilligan plays a video game at the store he co-owns, Gamers Anonymous, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So the 24-year-old business owner is skeptical about a proposal to nudge kids off the couch and out the door by taxing televisions and video games sold in New Mexico. The idea could backfire, he says.

"If you take a kid that's just playing his X-Box or whatever and you take him outside and you make him play baseball, he's going to hate it," said Gilligan, co-owner of Gamers Anonymous, an Albuquerque video game store. "There's nothing wrong with sitting at home playing games. Everybody's doing it now."

But a coalition of groups, led by the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club, is sold on the idea that outdoor education programs can inspire children in a way that video games and television cannot.

The coalition wants state lawmakers to create a No Child Left Inside Fund with a 1 percent tax on TVs, video games and video game equipment. The fund would help pay for outdoor education throughout the state.

Supporters of the tax -- which would be the first of its kind in the nation -- say outdoor programs have been shown to improve students' abilities in the classroom, boost their self-confidence and teach them stewardship and discipline.

"We believe that an outdoor education program in New Mexico could be funded through a tax on the very activities that are divorcing kids from nature, promoting more sedentary lifestyles," said Michael Casaus, Sierra Club's New Mexico youth representative. "One of those culprits is TV and what we call screen time."

Blogs dedicated to the gaming world have been abuzz over the proposal, with critics complaining that they shouldn't have to foot the bill for parents who don't know how to raise their children. Some have seized the moment to talk about gaming's benefits.

Gilligan, for example, says he learned to read at a young age thanks to video games. He also attributes his interest in art to gaming.

"I'm not a very athletic person," he said. "I kept playing video games and eventually my parents accepted that, and now it's my career and I make good money so I'm happy."

Sean Bersell, a spokesman for the Entertainment Merchants Association, said the video game industry has fueled advances in computer technology, such as faster processors and better graphics and sound.

Supporters of the tax are wrong to suggest that such complex problems as low test scores and childhood obesity can be solved by turning off the TV, said Bersell, whose group represents about 125 retailers in New Mexico.

"Targeting a small category of entertainment as somehow a major contributor to these problem is just not justified and frankly it's not supported by a scientific consensus," he said.

The tax would put New Mexico retailers at a disadvantage as they compete with online stores and retailers that offer downloadable games, Bersell warned.

Supporters argue that just as health programs are often supported by excise taxes on cigarettes or alcohol, an excise tax on games and TVs would provide a steady source of cash for outdoor education. Legislative analysts have said the tax would generate about $4 million a year.

New Mexico State Parks already offers outdoor programs, but the funding is just a fraction of what the tax would bring in.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Sangean's HD radio has good looks, sound

(CNET.com) -- HD Radio is the new digital broadcasting standard that has been available in the U.S. for the past several years. While the HD stations are just static-free duplicates of the FM (and some AM) ones you already listen to, the format also offers HD2 (multicast) stations in many markets--digital-only substations that you can't receive on analog radios.

Compatible hardware has been slow in coming to market, but 2007 saw HD Radio being included in more products--and the price for standalone HD Radios finally dipping below $200.

The Sangean HDR-1 falls into the latter group, and competes directly with similar tabletop HD Radio models from Boston Acoustics, Cambridge SoundWorks, and Sony.

Most of the aforementioned radios are extremely similar, so choosing between them often comes down to a matter of personal taste.

With its real wood enclosure and a plastic-louvered speaker grille, the Sangean is perhaps the most genuinely "retro" looking unit of the bunch. If not for the center-mounted LCD readout, you would swear it was straight out of the 1950s--we half expected to hear Red Barber calling a Brooklyn Dodgers game when we powered it up.

Dimensions are about standard for a tabletop model: 4.5 inches tall by 11.5 inches wide by 7.5 inches deep, and the wood casing gives the unit a nice heft.

Controls are limited to a single knob located just below the LCD. It adjusts volume by default, but clicking it brings up a list of other options on the LCD screen, which are further navigated by clicks and spins.

That works great on an iPod, of course, but the Sangean HDR-1 doesn't come close to that legendary Apple ease of use.

After some trial and error, you'll eventually get the hang of it, but we often opted to use the 24-button credit card-style remote instead.

In addition to the stereo auxiliary input and headphone jack, the radio's rear panel includes connectors for AM and FM antennas (both are included, or you can attach your own). While there's no built-in iPod dock, the line-in jack will let you connect the Apple player--or any other device--to the HDR-1's speakers.

With no built-in CD player, satellite radio, or dedicated iPod dock, the clock and alarm functionality represents fully half the value of the HDR-1.

On the plus side, the alarm can be set to wake to any station, the line-in source, or a beeping tone, and the volume can be locked in as well.

The latter point is a nice touch, since it lets you drift off to sleep with the radio barely audible (sleep mode can be set in 15-minute increments up to 90 minutes), but wake up at a suitably high volume to rouse you out of bed.

It's a dual-alarm system, and they can be further customized to go off daily, weekdays only, weekends only, or just once.

On the downside, there's no snooze bar. Also of note: the LCD backlight doesn't auto-adjust to the room's ambient light--but you can manually set it to one of seven levels (including off), so it won't keep sensitive sleepers awake at night.

The radio The clock and alarm functions are all well and good, but if you're buying the Sangean HDR-1, it's to listen to some digital radio. HD isn't a separate band--when you tune to an analog station that has a digital counterpart, the "HD" notation will flash on the display.

After a couple of seconds, the radio will automatically switch from the analog to the digital signal, and the display should show additional data (usually the song and artist information, and station call letters) available on the digital stream. Most digital stations are on the FM band, but a handful of AM stations are also available.

In addition to the digital version of the analog stations you already receive, many stations also offer "multicast" or HD2 channels. These secondary channels are generally digital-only stations that offer alternative programming.

Yes, many of these are available online, and some HD2 channels are merely simulcasts of AM news or talk stations that you can hear elsewhere on the analog dial. But the big selling point here is that--unlike satellite radio--the HD Radio content is completely free. You just need to pay for the hardware. (For a complete list of the HD Radio stations in your area, check out the HD Radio Web site.)

The HDR-1 offers a few other nice convenience touches as well. Analog or digital stations can be stored in any one of the Sangean's 20 presets (10 FM, 10 AM). An HD Seek mode lets you roll through the available digital-only stations. And for analog stations, the HDR-1 supports RDS data, so you can see the text display (song and artist information) on stations that support it.

The HDR-1 can also be set to lock into analog-only mode, which is useful for distant or weak stations that never quite properly "lock in" to digital mode.

In terms of sound quality, the Sangean HDR-1 delivered the same sort of standard performance we found from most of its competitors.

Like nearly any radio or iPod speaker system of this size, there's not much in the way of stereo separation, and Sangean doesn't even offer an "expand" or "3D" mode (not that they usually work anyway).

That's not to say it sounded bad, though: music had ample weight and presence, especially when compared directly with the Tivoli Audio SongBook and even the Boston Acoustics Recepter--though both of those are monaural analog models. And the ability to tweak the Sangean's bass and treble settings to our liking always helps customize a sound that's more pleasing to an individual listener.

Of course, we can't let a discussion of the Sangean HDR-1 end without listing our major gripe--that the whole HD Radio format doesn't (for most people) deliver a particularly major improvement over the analog radio experience.

To our ears, the HD Radio stations weren't delivering a dramatic improvement over their analog counterparts. And while we welcomed the presence of digital-only HD2 stations on the dial, many of them seemed to be noticeably compressed--more MP3 than CD.

Moreover, the data streams seemed limited to artist, song, and show title information. That's nice, but nothing that can't be done with RDS information on analog stations, and some of the HD stations seem to lack the informational displays altogether.

While the digital stations certainly offer static-free reception, that's only if they're within range; a distant HD station will drop in and out if it's too far away. Even more disturbing is that some nearby HD stations seem to blink out randomly--the cell-phone-like signal meter drops a full six bars to zero and then shoots back up again a few seconds later, even when the radio is completely stationary.

To reiterate, none of these problems are the fault of Sangean HDR-1. The same issues exist on the Polk I-Sonic and Cambridge 820HD, and will continue to exist for any and all HD Radio receivers until the stations decide to offer more bandwidth and better data support.

If none of that scares you off, the question becomes: is the Sangean HDR-1 worth buying? At $200, it more or less matches the price of other namebrand HD Radio tabletops, including the Boston Acoustics Recepter HD, Cambridge SoundWorks 820HD, and Sony XDR-S3HD.

For us, the admittedly attractive retro styling of the Sangean is overshadowed by the control shortfalls: both the single knob nor the credit card remote are more frustrating than intuitive.

By contrast, the controls (just one extra knob makes a world of difference) and the better display on the Cambridge keep that model at the top of the heap.

Those who like the Sangean's wood finish may also wish to check out the Sony, which is similarly styled. In the meantime, a lot of us will continue to wait for HD Radio to simply be a standard feature that's folded into run-of-the-mill AV receivers, audio systems, and boom boxes, rather than something that requires paying a big premium--or the purchase of a whole separate product.

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Razer's unique, frustrating gaming keyboard

(CNET.com) -- Razer's new Lycosa gaming keyboard has several unique features. The rubber coating on the keys provides a soft, comfortable touch. You can switch between three backlight configurations via a touch-sensitive control pad. You can even use Razer's software to program each of the Lycosa's keys to work as a separate macro, either individually or in combination with one another.

We're frustrated, though, by a few things left half-baked. None of the Lycosa's issues are bad enough to make us dislike it outright, and we'd recommend it--especially for confident touch-typing gamers. For $80, though, we expect Razer to follow through on the promises of its features.

Setting up the Lycosa is only a little convoluted. It requires two USB inputs, as well as separate audio inputs if you want to plug in your own headset and microphone. Because the Lycosa has a single spare USB 2.0 jack on its top edge, we understand why Razer relies on two USB outputs; presumably it wants to preserve the pristine data stream for the keyboard itself to ensure typing responsiveness.

Fair enough. Razer still could have added a second USB input, though, since the current one has a dedicated data stream all to itself via the second USB cable.

The software is easy to set up, although hard to navigate because of small type and a less-than intuitive layout. If you don't plan on using macros, you might not even need it. The touch pad's media control and backlit profile button work without installing anything.

The Lycosa's backlighting is its biggest problem. With the blue LED turned off, you're left with an almost illegible keyboard, that's similar to the purposefully blank Das keyboard of a few years ago.

If you're not secure in your touch-typing prowess, the reasonable thing to do would be to turn on the Lycosa's backlighting, which reveals the letters on the keys, along with the touch pad buttons.

The problem is that the lighting is so faint that in a lit room, it gives you only a suggestion of which key is which. Unlike Saitek's Eclipse II keyboards, there's no way to adjust the brightness on the Lycosa's LED, let alone the color.

In a darkened room, however, the lighting is sufficiently bright. The only other option is a third profile that lights up the W, A, S, and D keys (with roughly twice the brightness of the standard lighting scheme), commonly used by PC gamers as direction controls, but keeps the rest of the board unlit.

Assuming you can find the proper keys, typing on the Lycosa is a pleasant experience.

The nonstick rubber coating is soft to the touch, and combined with the response of the low profile keys, we actually like the Lycosa's typing action better than Razer's higher-end Tarantula keyboard.

The Lycosa's glossy plastic housing is also attractive enough, but we're less enamored with the detachable wrist rest. For one, it requires four screws, which seems overcomplicated when surely a plastic clip or two would suffice.

The wrist rest is also made from a nonvented matte plastic that seems to induce sweating. This is gross, especially if, like your reviewer (he swears), you're not normally prone to sweaty palms.

If you do go so far as to install the software and can figure out how to use it, you'll find that you can make any key perform the work of several via the macro software.

Razer also promises the ability to press more than three keys at a time. For gamers especially, we can see how this might be useful for executing a complicated series of moves.

Unlike the Tarantula, the Lycosa has no dedicated buttons for macro hosting. The benefit, though, is that with no macro keys, the Lycosa has a much smaller footprint than the 20.25-inch wide Tarantula or Logitech's 21.5-inch wide G15 keyboard. At its widest, the Lycosa comes in just under 18.5 inches, smaller than even the Saitek Eclipse II.

Finally, in addition to the Lycosa's scaled-down size, we also like how well it holds its position on your workspace. It's not an overly heavy keyboard, but the rubber feet gripped our desk firmly. You can also elevate the Lycosa via two drop-down feet on the underside.

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MacBook Air revisited

(CNET.com) -- Apple's new laptop, the MacBook Air, may not be the true ultraportable that many had hoped for, but it still easily breaks new ground for small laptops.

Mimicking the 13-inch silhouette of the current MacBook line, it's only 0.76 inch thick at its thickest, and Apple calls it the "world's thinnest notebook."

Some nitpickers say an obscure Mitsubishi laptop from 1997 was a hair thinner, but two of the smallest current ultraportable laptops, the 11-inch Sony VAIO TZ150 and the 12-inch Toshiba Portege R500, are both slightly thicker, and neither tapers to 0.16 inch as the Air does along its front edge.

As we've come to expect from Apple, the design and engineering that went into the MacBook Air is extraordinary, but it's certainly a much more specialized product than the standard 13-inch MacBook and won't be as universally useful as that popular system.

The biggest compromises, which have been well-documented, come in its connectivity: The MacBook Air finds room for only one USB port and doesn't include a built-in optical drive, FireWire, Ethernet, or mobile broadband. And like with its other laptops, Apple refuses to outfit the Air with a media-card reader or an expansion card slot.

Offsetting its sparse connectivity are genuinely useful new features including new trackpad gesture controls and the ability to wirelessly "borrow" another system's optical drive.

Choosing the Air over the cheaper, faster standard 13-inch MacBook, or the comparably priced MacBook Pro, will depend on your needs. Travelers who want minimum weight, maximum screen real estate, and who live their lives via Wi-Fi hot spots, with little need for wired connectivity, will find the $1,799 starting price a reasonable investment for owning one of the world's premier bits of high-tech eye candy.

And while the MacBook Air's specs are inferior to those found on the cheaper MacBook, they compare more favorably when you look at other ultraportables, where a price premium is always exacted. For instance, both the Sony VAIO TZ150 and Toshiba Portege R500 cost hundreds more than the MacBook Air and feature slower CPUs and half the RAM as the Air.

Although it shares a desktop footprint with the standard black and white MacBooks, the first thing you notice about the Air is its aluminum chassis--similar to the one found on the MacBook Pro, and much more fingerprint resistant than the standard MacBooks.

Picking it up, the MacBook Air feels a little heavier than you would expect from looking at it, even though it's only 3 pounds. At the same time, it feels very sturdy and solid, thanks in part to the aluminum construction, and we'd have no qualms about carting it around with us all day.

By way of comparison, the VAIO TZ150 features an 11.1-inch screen and weighs only 0.3 pound lighter than the Air, and the Portege R500 is 0.6 pound lighter than the Air with a 12.1-inch screen.

The MacBook Air includes an iSight camera and mic, and an LED-backlit display that works with an ambient light sensor to adjust the screen brightness in response to the light in the room.

The keyboard--the same full-size version found in other MacBooks--has backlit keys that are also controlled by the ambient light sensor, although we had to adjust the room lighting a good deal to see any difference.

The revamped trackpad is large, measuring nearly 5 inches diagonally, and it works with new multitouch gestures. Other MacBooks let you do things like use two fingers to scroll through documents--this one lets you use three fingers to go forward and back in your Web browser history, and use your thumb and forefinger to zoom in and out of documents and photos--much like on the iPhone.

The three-finger forward/back gesture was immediately useful, and we're already missing it when using other laptops. Apple tells us these new gestures won't be available on older MacBooks as a firmware upgrade, as the hardware behind the new trackpad is different.

Another noteworthy new feature is the remote disc function. Since the Air lacks an optical drive, you can instead remotely use the optical drives of other systems, PC or Mac, as long as they're on the same network.

The setup was a little cumbersome for the "host" PC--requiring us to insert the OS X disc that came with the Air, run a small setup program, and then find and turn on "CD and DVD sharing" in the Windows control panel (the documentation could have been a little clearer on what you need to do to on the Windows side).

Once we set it up, however, it worked like a charm. You won't be able to stream DVD movies or music CDs via remote disc, but it's fine for getting files and installing apps. A matching external USB DVD burner is available from Apple for $99, but any USB DVD drive should work.

The display offers the same 1,280x800 native resolution as the standard 13-inch MacBook, but the Air's LED-backlit screen means its lid is thinner with an image that was somewhat brighter, at least with both systems set to max brightness.

The real key to finding out whether the MacBook Air is right for you lies in its stripped-down set of ports and connections. Those who regularly use more than one USB device, or need FireWire, an SD card slot, or an Express card slot will find the single USB jack too limiting.

Likewise, we often say the telephone modem jacks and S-Video outputs on most laptops are a waste of space, but the MacBook Air goes even further, removing the Ethernet jack (a USB-to-Ethernet adaptor will run you $29) and offloading video output to a pair of included dongles (one VGA, one DVI).

If you live on Wi-Fi hot spots, use Bluetooth for your external mouse, and only need a USB port to occasionally sync and charge your iPod or iPhone, these limitations may not be a deal-breaker for you.

While most hardware vendors offer a choice of mobile broadband options, Apple continues to offer none, which is disappointing for a system so clearly meant for life away from home and office.

Without an Express card slot, your only option would be a USB mobile broadband modem, but with the sole USB jack under a tiny flap on the right side of the system with limited clearance, you may need a small USB extension cable to get a bulky USB mobile broadband modem connected (similar to the problems people had with the iPhone's recessed headphone jack).

While the 80GB hard drive included in the base $1,799 model may be smaller than you're used to, the only other option is a 64GB solid state hard drive. With no moving parts, and advantages in heat, power consumption, and reliability, SSD hard drives are certainly the way of the future.

The future may have to wait a few years for prices to come down; however, swapping the 80GB platter drive for the 64GB SSD drive is a whopping $999 upgrade. The only other internal hardware option is a CPU uptick, from 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz for $300. With the upgraded CPU and SSD drive, the $1,799 MacBook Air suddenly becomes a $3,098 laptop.

We are pleased to see that the MacBook Air comes standard with 2GB of RAM, but with a processor that runs at a much slower clockspeed than the standard MacBook (2.0GHz or 2.2GHz), plus a 4,200rpm 1.8-inch hard drive (as opposed to the standard 5,400rpm), it's not surprising that the MacBook Air is not as fast a performer as the $1,649 MacBook we reviewed in December 2007. Do note that the baseline $1,099 MacBook features a slower processor and half the memory of our MacBook review unit.

And as we often point out, any modern dual-core CPU is going to be more than adequate for Web surfing, multimedia playback, and productivity tasks, and we were able to surf the Web, play videos, and work on a document at the same time with absolutely no slowdown or stuttering.

We're currently conducting additional benchmark tests and will update this review with new results as they're available.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the MacBook Air is the lack of a user-replaceable battery. While most laptops will be obsolete before their batteries wear out, we are sensitive to the desire to occasionally carry an extra battery for extended field use.

We're still conducting our standard DVD battery drain test on the system, and will report those scores shortly, but in anecdotal testing, the Air lasted for nearly 4 hours of mixed use, including video playback, software installation, Web surfing, and productivity tasks. That's reasonably close to Apple's 5-hour claims, but may not be enough for a full day of off-site use.

We're still not fans of Apple's nearly obligatory extended warranty upsell (so much so that we've simply copied this complaint from our last MacBook review).

The default warranty for the MacBook is one year of coverage for parts and labor, but toll-free telephone support is limited to a mere 90 days--well short of what you'd typically find on the PC side--unless you purchase the $249 AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends phone support and repair coverage to three years.

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ThinkPad crams tons of features into lightweight laptop

(CNET) -- We're not even two months into the new year, and we've already seen Apple's remarkably slim MacBook Air and Toshiba's update to its featherweight Portege R500.

Both were very strong contenders for the top spot on our list of favorite ultraportable laptops--until this week, when we got our hands on the Lenovo ThinkPad X300.

The newest addition to the ThinkPad X series incorporates the best of the MacBook Air (13.3-inch display, full-size keyboard, thickness less than one inch) with the best of the Portege R500 (solid-state hard drive, thorough selection of ports) while also adding its own great features, such as a built-in DVD burner, WWAN connectivity, and GPS. The X300's ThinkPad DNA is evident in its instantly recognizable black, square-edged case, but at 0.73 inch thick and weighing anywhere from 2.9 pounds to 3.5 pounds (depending on your battery and optical drive choices), it's simply the sleekest ThinkPad yet.

The biggest criticism of the ThinkPad X300 is its price: the base configuration costs $2,476 and goes up from there. But innovative design, thorough features, and cutting-edge components don't come cheap, and the ThinkPad X300 is truly unique in its balance of portability and usability.

Aside from the laptop's dimensions, the design changes with the ThinkPad X300 have been incremental. The ultraportable still features a rectangular black case built around a magnesium chassis. There's still a blue ThinkVantage button above the keyboard, a fingerprint reader below it, and a keyboard light on the top edge of the display.

However, ThinkPad fans will notice small changes that make the X300 a bit more attractive. The lid and wrist rest feature an appealing soft matte finish; the ThinkVantage, power, and mute buttons glow when pressed; and the front edge is devoid of any ports or switches.

In addition to the keyboard light, the ThinkPad X300's display bezel includes a 1.3-megapixel Web cam and a noise-canceling digital microphone for Web conferencing. The matte-finish display itself features a 1,440x900 native resolution that's sharper than that of the MacBook Air and other similarly sized screens, resulting in text and icons that are a bit smaller than you'd expect.

The sharper resolution doesn't cause tremendous problems, though we did find ourselves pumping up the font size on a newspaper's Web site so we could read a lengthy article. We also zoomed in a bit when working on documents and spreadsheets. The trade-off: more screen real estate for multitasking and, when it's time for a break, beautiful video.

Given the amount of typing the typical executive does through the course of the work day, a keyboard can make or break an ultraportable. The ThinkPad X300 actually uses the same keyboard found on Lenovo's 14- and 15-inch models--which is to say, not the condensed keyboard found on previous X series models and many ultraportable laptops from other manufacturers. After conducting an entire morning's work--and writing this review--on the ThinkPad X300, we still don't feel like we've been typing on a laptop. We love it.

Lenovo decided to include both the red eraser-head TrackPoint pointing stick and a touch pad on the ThinkPad X300. The decision is understandable: many ThinkPad users are viscerally attached to their TrackPoint's, while other users can't stand it, so why not include both methods? However, the double sets of mouse buttons seem to run counter to the overall theme of simplification that the ThinkPad X300 embodies.

In order to make room for the TrackPoint's buttons, the touch pad is placed rather low on the wrist rest, with its buttons near the laptop's front edge. Fortunately, the ThinkPad X300 is thin enough that we could use the touch pad with our wrist resting on a desk surface--or on our leg, when the laptop was in our lap.

Of greater concern is the fact that, during our lazier typing moments when our wrists dropped to the wrist rest, we were likely to graze the touch pad and accidentally misplace the cursor.

The ThinkPad X300 is an interesting exercise in minimalism. The laptop lacks some features that would be considered standard on an ultraportable, such as an expansion card slot or multiformat memory card reader, both of which are found on the Toshiba Portege R500. But it adds features that will likely be of higher value to mobile workers, such as WWAN, wireless USB, and even GPS.

More notably, it incorporates many features that the MacBook Air does not, including two more USB ports, an Ethernet connection, and a built-in DVD burner. These additions make the ThinkPad X300 a realistic choice for use as a primary computer, which is a major advantage over its Apple competitor, especially given the price.

The base model of the ThinkPad X300 costs a hefty $2,476. Much of that price can be attributed to the laptop's 64GB solid-state drive, which promises faster application launch and boot times as well as a longer lifetime than a traditional hard drive with moving parts. (Unlike the MacBook Air, which comes in a low-cost configuration with a traditional spinning hard drive, the ThinkPad X300 is available only with a solid-state drive.)

Our review unit included a few upgrades--twice as much RAM as the base configuration, plus WWAN, GPS, and an extended-life six-cell battery--that brought the price to $2,936. That's a bit high, even for an ultraportable, but still below the cost of a MacBook Air equipped with a solid-state drive.

Like the MacBook Air, the ThinkPad X300 incorporates Intel's new small-form-factor Core 2 Duo CPU, though with a slightly slower clock speed. That slower speed is at least partly to blame for the ThinkPad X300 trailing behind the MacBook Air on the multimedia multitasking portion of CNET Labs' performance benchmarks.

Fortunately the ThinkPad's 2GB of RAM helped it keep up with the MacBook Air on our Photoshop test, where it also scored well ahead of the Toshiba Portege R500. As with any Core 2 Duo system, the ThinkPad X300 proved more than adequate for typical business productivity tasks, including Web surfing, media playback, and running office applications. We were able to conduct a full morning's work while streaming music over the wireless connection without any stuttering or noticeable performance issues.

In anecdotal testing of the ThinkPad X300 with the six-cell battery, we were able to get between 3 and 4 hours of battery life, depending on our usage and screen brightness settings. On CNET Labs' DVD battery drain test, the ThinkPad X300 died out after 3 hours, 43 minutes, just 20 minutes before the MacBook Air. That's obviously not enough juice for a full day of work away from the desk, but it is nearly an hour longer than the Portege R500's battery life.

Here's another place where the ThinkPad X300's built-in DVD is an advantage: you can purchase an additional three-cell battery that fits inside the drive bay to extend your mobile computing time. Also an advantage: the ThinkPad X300's removable battery, which is remarkable only because users cannot replace the battery in the MacBook Air.

As Lenovo has moved toward offering built-to-order systems, the company has dropped the baseline warranty for ThinkPads to a single year. Extending coverage to three years costs $119; other reasonably priced upgrades add coverage for accidental drops or spills and LCD damage. The preloaded suite of ThinkVantage applications helps users troubleshoot problems, and Lenovo's support Web site includes the expected troubleshooting topics, driver downloads, and user guides.

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Pre-Inca temple uncovered in Peru

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at a famed fortress overlooking the Inca capital of Cuzco, according to officials involved with the dig.

Archaeologists say the temple could predate Inca structures.

The temple on the periphery of the Sacsayhuaman fortress casts added light on pre-Inca cultures of Peru, showing that the site had religious as well as military aims, according to researchers.

It includes 11 rooms thought to have held mummies and idols, lead archaeologist Oscar Rodriguez told The Associated Press.

The team of archaeologists that made the discoveries believes the structures predated the Inca empire but were then significantly developed and expanded.

"It's from both the Inca and pre-Inca cultures; it has a sequence," Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, told the AP on Thursday. "The Incas entered and changed the form of the temple, as it initially had a more rustic architecture."

Archaeologists are still waiting for carbon dating tests, but Camacho said their calculations about the facilities' age are supported by historical references such as ceramics and construction style.

Previous carbon-14 dating of Sacsayhuaman revealed that the Killke culture constructed the fortress in the 1100s, said Peruvian archaeologist Luis Lumbreras, former director of Peru's National Culture Institute and an expert on Cuzco's pre-Incan cultures. He was not involved in the dig.

The Killke occupied the region from 900 to 1200 A.D., prior to the arrival of the Incas.

"These recent discoveries add to our knowledge of Sacsayhuaman, confirming again the aggregate nature of the fortress," Lumbreras told The Associated Press.

The Inca empire, based in the ancient city of Cuzco, flourished along the western edge of South America during the 1400s, prior to the arrival of the Spanish.

Today, Cuzco is Peru's main tourism hub and a launching point for visitors to the jungle-shrouded ruins of Machu Picchu, 40 miles northwest.

The temple lies a little under a mile from zigzagging walls of the Sacsayhuaman fortress, alongside an enormous rock formation believed to be one of the fortress' burial mounds.

"The temple is one of the most important in the Sacsayhuaman site," Camacho said.

The discovery of the temple reveals "the sacred ceremonial nature of the Killke," Lumbreras said. "Previously we thought Sacsayhuaman was simply a military fortification, but we now see it was a very complex ceremonial center.

Lumbreras, now working with Peru's Institute for the Study of Cultural Patrimony, has extensively studied and excavated sites from the Wari culture, which flourished in Peru's southern highlands from 500 to 1200 A.D.

Part of the temple was destroyed by dynamite blasts in the early 20th century, when the site was used as a stone quarry.

The roadway, buried for hundreds of years under about three feet of soil, is believed to have formed part of a network connecting Sacsayhuaman's buildings, according to Camacho.

Archaeologists are also busy unearthing an advanced hydraulic system, which may have been used to supply water to Cuzco during the Inca empire.

The team also believes the Killke built the irrigation system, later used and expanded by the Incas. Remnants of Killke ceramics are scattered throughout the site.

The new excavations, directed by Cuzco's National Culture Institute, began in June 2007 and will continue for another five years, Camacho said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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