GADGET SLOWDOWN

Nov 15, 2006 | audio, hardware

It briefly looked as if we would be awash in a sea of new gadgets for the holidays, but the flood turned into a trickle – and a pretty disappointing trickle, too. Two missteps stand out.Microsoft released its handheld audio player, the Zune, to reviews that were...

APPLE IPOD SERVICE

Oct 30, 2006 | Apple, audio, hardware

When my iPod stopped working correctly, I did all the troubleshooting I could before turning to Apple for support.The experience was brilliant. Apple has a well-designed web site to answer support questions and to begin the return process. Two days after reporting the...

CREATIVE REMOVES FM RECORDING FROM DEVICES

Oct 17, 2006 | audio, DRM, hardware

The RIAA shows no sign of slowing down in its campaign to be the most wrongheaded and evil organization of our time. The latest sign of “copyright”-driven madness will hit owners of Creative Zen MicroPhoto and Zen Vision:M devices who install a firmware...

WIRELESS USB ON THE HORIZON

Oct 17, 2006 | hardware

We’ve all used wireless devices – maybe a wireless keyboard or mouse, maybe a wireless network in the home or office, maybe a Bluetooth headset. It’s all wonderful technology but almost everyone discovers that it’s just not quite troublefree...

NEW LIGHTWEIGHT DELL NOTEBOOK

Sep 29, 2006 | computers, Dell, hardware

Here’s a complimentary review of the new Dell Latitude D420 – a full-featured laptop with the sturdy feel of the other Dell Latitude models, but weighing less than four pounds. It’s got a 12.1 inch widescreen and a full-size keyboard, but the CD/DVD...

THE NEVER-ENDING SONY BATTERY RECALL

Sep 28, 2006 | hardware

IBM and Lenovo announced a recall of 500,000 Sony lithium-ion batteries used in Thinkpad notebook computers, following a widely publicized Thinkpad explosion at Los Angeles International Airport last week. Here’s an article with more details about the Thinkpad...