You can tell a lot about the future by studying the not-too-distant past. The megapixel war is officially over, as 8 to 10 megapixels has become the default resolution for even the lowest-end pocket cameras. Instead of racing to add resolution, camera makers will be rushing to capitalize on some of the big developments of the past year. …mehr
I used to own a copy of National Geographic magazine from 1911. It was packed with black-and-white photographs of "natives" and village ethnic minorities in various countries posing awkwardly in ceremonial costumes. The issue was part of a larger collection that included most copies of National Geographic published in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and several dozen copies from the 1920s through the 1950s. It took up two rows on my bookshelf. …mehr
Designers, writers, and other independent and/or indentured laborers will soon be able to get more things done on the road. Actually, to be more specific: they'll be able to keep track of what they've done and bill their employers for it, now that from Marketcircle has arrived. …mehr
LG Electronics has developed handheld terminals compatible with the U.S. mobile digital TV format and will show them at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show, it said Thursday. …mehr
It's that time of year again when the endless, and always entertaining, year-end lists come out. The search engines have already had their say with , the most , and the . But no series of year-in-review articles would be complete without the hottest selections from the iTunes Store--one of the most popular retail stores on the planet. …mehr
Apple will report selling another record number of Macs in the final quarter of 2009 when it unveils its financial figures later this month, a Wall Street analyst said Thursday in a note to clients. …mehr
Thanks to a lively market of third-party Web browsers, it's not at all uncommon for Mac users to move back and forth between different browsers. For example, I regularly switch between and over the course of the day, using each for different tasks--and occasionally open any of ten or so when I want to use one of the features it excels at. …mehr
Words from the world of technology and social media are among those identified as the "Words of the Year 2009" in a list commissioned by Oxford University Press. …mehr
I use OS X's Screen Sharing a lot--with five Macs scattered about the house, it's often the easiest way to work on another machine. In Snow Leopard, Apple changed the handling of certain "special" keys--Command-Tab for the application switcher, Command-Option-Escape for the force quit dialog, and others--in Screen Sharing. …mehr
It’s easy to complain about the soul-eroding tyranny of badly-created, ungodly-overused fonts. In restaurants in some parts of San Francisco, “There’s Comic Sans on my menu!” has taken the place of “There’s a cockroach in my salad!” as plausible explanations to the cops about why you freaked out and did a dine-and-dash. The management should definitely comp you a dessert, at minimum. …mehr
(Image Caption: Pioneer's BDP-320) Pioneer's sends gorgeous pictures to an HDTV, but it lacks the Web streaming multimedia capabilities of even lower priced Blu-ray Disc players. …mehr
Sony's not only delivers terrific high-definition images, but also excels at upconverting DVDs, too. And it does so in a Wi-Fi enabled model. But this Blu-ray player lacks the streaming media extras that competing players offer. …mehr
Today's rumor has an optimistic zing to it--and maybe that's a great way to close out a dreary 2009. According to a blog post by former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee, Apple plans to produce in the still-unannounced product's first year. Lee worked for Apple more than ten years ago and left Google earlier this year, according to published reports. …mehr
As 2009 becomes 2010, remains the most interesting technology company. Google is involved in so many--probably too many--things and the regulatory environment, if not competition, has begun to heat up. …mehr
Any reminder application for the iPhone or iPod touch has one simple hurdle to clear: Does it remind you to remind you? It doesn't matter whether the or your mortgage was due yesterday. It doesn't matter how pretty the app looks, or how user friendly the interface may be. If you don't remember to use the app to check on what you're supposed to be doing, the app is, shall we say, . …mehr
When it comes to royally derailing IT, nothing trumps the stupidity of those whom IT is meant to serve. And though the verdict's still out as to whether humanity is devolving toward , it's certain that folks are continually finding innovative ways to screw up IT's operations. …mehr
As celebrates its rover Spirit’s sixth anniversary the red planet it is hunting for a way to keep the machine, which is mired in a sand trap, to see a seventh year. On its Web site, the space agency this week noted there may indeed be such an option. …mehr
Remember, back in the day, when cell phones had the same dimensions as bricks, laptops were unheard of, and Windows 95 introduced that newfangled Start menu? Back when parents got mad at their teenagers for tying up the phone line ("landlines," I believe they were called), people bought music on CDs, and "Google" was a misspelling of ? Ah, yes, the good ol' days. …mehr
