Oct 13, 2016 | Android, Chrome, Chromebook, Google, laptops
Chromebook sales are steadily increasing. In the third quarter, Windows PC sales were down 5.7% and Mac PC sales plummeted by 13%, while Chromebooks dominated back to school shopping and continued their long-term climb. Chromebooks now outsell Macs in the US. Part of...
Oct 6, 2016 | Amazon, Android, Apple, Chrome, Cortana, Google, hardware, search, web_services
You have a vague idea that Google knows a lot about you. You’re right. Google has nothing to hide. It’s prepared to show you everything it has collected about you. Are you sure you want to know? It’s a bit . . . creepy. A few months ago Google created a tool named “My...
Sep 21, 2016 | Apple, Google, Microsoft, phone, Politics, security
It’s not your imagination: robocalls are on the increase. The volume of robocalls has risen sharply in 2016. Complaints are up. The government and big companies are taking new steps to try to rein in the scammers and perhaps tame the “legitimate” telemarketers. It may...
Sep 11, 2016 | Android, Chrome, Google, IE, Microsoft, WinXP
As we move quickly into a post-Microsoft world, Google Chrome is the program where we spend most of our time on our computers. Last week Chrome was updated in a couple of small but significant ways, with a cleaner look based on Google’s “material design” aesthetic,...
Aug 21, 2016 | Android, Apple, audio, Facebook, Google, Google+, Microsoft, mobile, phone, Skype, video
Google introduced a new app for video chats last week. Google Duo makes one-on-one video chats as easy as possible, with nothing required except a phone number and someone on the other end who’s running the app or willing to install it. Google Duo doesn’t even require...
Jul 7, 2016 | Android, Apple, business, Chrome, Chromebook, computers, Google, laptops, Microsoft, Windows10
I’m not good at predictions. Tim Cook, the CEO of the largest company in the world, called me a twit during a global presentation a few years ago because I made a poor prediction. (Seriously. Here are the details.) I made a commitment then to avoid sweeping...