Technology
Gadgets & Tech
Tectonic shift in texting helps after Haiti quake
April 8th, 2010
When disaster struck Haiti, the international community answered the call. Well, almost: They started to text. An enormous amount of money was raised through text messaging initiatives to assist relief efforts in Haiti after a devastating earthquake hit the country on Jan. 12. Read more »
The National Newsroom
The Price of Free
As media companies play with their paywalls, consumers are moving on without them
April 1st, 2010
For the past few years, media buffs have been waiting for the elusive answer to a simple question: When is what’s on TV going to really start acting more like what’s on the Web? It’s a two-part question, really, and the answer isn’t nearly as clear as you might think. The first part has to do with the technology that delivers video signals to the magic box, which is boring unless you’re an engineer, so let’s skip it. The second part of the question is much more interesting, and suggests a world in which TVs behave exactly like the Web—allowing people to browse and share all the videos and music and other bits of information and entertainment that dot the vast digital sea. Read more »
Gadgets & Tech
Speedy smartphone: the talk of phone show
April 1st, 2010
When a phone trade show comes to town, we expect the news to revolve around phones. When the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s annual showcase, International CTIA Wireless 2010, visited Las Vegas recently, one phone in particular—a 4G darling from Sprint—grabbed most of the headlines. Still, there were a lot of other gadgets that I found pretty interesting, too. Read more »
The National Newsroom
The Pursuit of Appiness
As the iPad prepares to launch, it’s time to consider Apple’s strange—and perhaps pernicious—incursion into our psyches
April 1st, 2010
“You want to know one of the dirty secrets of modern life?” said an Apple store employee. “People shoot endless amounts of footage on their fancy video cameras and then they never bother to edit one minute of it. Why? Because it’s too hard.” It was a recent Thursday morning, and the staff member—let’s call him “Bob”—who had a round face reminiscent of King of Queens actor Kevin James, was standing in the spacious auditorium on the second floor of the Apple store in Soho, delivering a tutorial on iMovie, the Apple video-editing software. Read more »
Gadgets and Tech
Catching up with Skype, a darn useful tool
March 18th, 2010
When my sister—12 years my senior—tells me I need to get the latest technology spreading across her social network, I feel somewhat ashamed. “You’re the so-called tech expert,” she’ll tell me. “Why aren’t you using this?” In the world of personal technology, there’s no shortage of what’s new or what’s next. Read more »
The National Newsroom
iPad prepares to step into spotlight
Latest Apple gizmo aims to revolutionize TV, film businesses
March 18th, 2010
No, he wasn’t wearing a black mock turtleneck, but yes, that was Steve Jobs in a tuxedo walking the red carpet at the Oscars. It was Jobs who claimed some kudos for Up, which won two gold statues, and who also marked the night by airing the first TV spot for the iPad, the latest offering from his Apple Inc. Read more »
Gadgets & Tech
Navigating the best deals as GPS prices continue to drop
March 4th, 2010
If you need help getting around town or finding a gas station with the lowest prices, a GPS unit is worth the money. If money’s tight, wait six months, save your pennies, then buy a GPS in the fall. Prices for these useful gadgets are falling—and some bargain-priced units are already available. Read more »
Gadgets & Tech
Google’s new social networking tool: How Buzz-worthy is it?
February 25th, 2010
A maddening array of social media networks has popped up in recent years, targeting your tastes and even your aspirations. They include sites for food lovers (Yelp), music fans (Last.fm), long-forgotten kindergarten classmates (Facebook), spoiled children of wealthy parents (A Small World), job seekers (LinkedIn), Brazilians (Orkut) and lovers of short-form witty banter (Twitter). Then there are the social networks that were once the cat’s meow—MySpace and Friendster—that have fallen so far out of social standing that no one in their right mind would risk their virtual reputation by hanging out there anymore. Read more »
