Every so often, a technology company sticks its neck out and creates a product beyond its repertoire. Dell Inc., known for its computers, began offering television sets four years ago. In 1998, printing titan Hewlett-Packard Co. started applying its imaging expertise to digital cameras. And when Apple Inc. introduced the iPod in 2001, the computer [...]
Just when you think technology has turned you into the laziest person possible, another invention comes along to cater to your every whim. This week, I tested just such an invention and a dream come true for the ultimate TV fanatic: television on your cellphone.
MobiTV, from MobiTV Inc., www.mobitv.com, gives people a way to watch [...]
BlackBerry users are a stubborn bunch, almost as fond of their device’s familiar features — scroll wheel, full minikeyboard and big screen — as they are of constantly checking email. So when I directed all of my work and personal email from my current BlackBerry to the newest BlackBerry 8800 for this column’s testing, I [...]
Once you get addicted to Sudoku, you’ll want to work on these number puzzles whenever you have a few spare minutes. So, rather than scribbling in a newspaper or carrying around a Sudoku book, some people use electronic versions on gadgets they carry around every day.
As a steadfast fan of the pen-and-paper method, I resisted [...]
Since it was popularized by America Online in the 1990s, instant messaging has changed the way people communicate. In the office, IM lets colleagues chat with faster responses and fewer formalities than phone conversations or email. Casual users can keep tabs on one another’s lives. Friends who haven’t spoken in years easily strike up IM [...]
A few weeks ago while riding the subway, I unintentionally discovered the musical talents of a fellow passenger. With iPod in hand, eyes closed and earbuds in place, he bobbed his head while listening to one of my favorite new songs, Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable.” I recognized the song because he was singing the chorus loud enough [...]
In most homes, the kitchen is the center of family organization, the place where people mark calendars with choir practices, office parties and first dates, and post notes and family photos on cork boards and refrigerator doors.
For many years, the computer industry has tried to build a “kitchen computer” or “kitchen software” for regular computers, [...]
It’s easy to get carried away with taking digital photographs. Thanks to memory cards with lower prices and higher capacities, people have their cameras at the ready for every vacation, family get-together, birthday, night out, night in, snowfall, fallen leaf, school play, play date, new dress, full moon and half moon. It’s no wonder computers [...]
The whole point of using a digital video recorder is convenience. Rather than arranging your schedule around television shows, you watch what you want when it’s best for you. But you may be running out the door for a weeklong trip, forgetting to plot out which shows will air while you’re gone. Or you might [...]
Listening to music has always been a social activity: going to concerts with friends, playing favorite tunes on a jukebox in a bar or restaurant, slow-dancing with a special someone to “your” song. But as music has migrated from record players to CD players to the hard drives on our computers, we often find ourselves [...]
As many of us return from summer vacations, we’re anxious to gather our digital images and videos to share with friends and family. But it doesn’t always happen as quickly as we might hope. Even the most diligent photo sharers can become easily frustrated by the time it takes to upload multiple images to a [...]
Edited by Walt and written by Katie Boehret, this is a guide to gadgets, web services and other consumer technologies.
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