Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
I finally got my hands on a Kindle. Here's what I like about it -- and what needs to be fixed.
The Kindle is amazing and awful, grand and terrible. It's a groundbreaking device that's in need of an overhaul. I like it and it annoys me all at the same ...
Posted in Gadgets, Reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
A handful of tools attempt to turn the humble ink pen into a digital recording device--with varying degrees of success.
(This post originally appeared in PC World magazine.)
As I've gotten older, I've developed a terrible case of CRS (can't remember stuff). I can't tell you how many times my lovely but ...
Posted in Gadgets, PC World, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, June 9th, 2008
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) In case you've been living in a cave, today marks the first day of the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference and Steve Jobs' keynote, which Apple watchers have declared will be the venue where Jobs unveils iPhone 2.0 -- ...
Posted in Apple, Cringley, Gadgets, Infoworld, Lists, Steve Jobs, iPhone | 3 Comments »
Friday, May 30th, 2008
Wireless, multiroom home audio is here, sort of. But wireless HD video is still mostly a pipe dream.
(An edited version of this originally appeared in the June 08 issue of PC World magazine.)
Two things really irritate me. One is the miles of wire that you can see strung behind and ...
Posted in Gadgets, Music, PC World, Video | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
In the next decade, we might not whiz around in jet cars or own personal robot servants, but we will whiz around in 3D virtual worlds and have access to the Internet from everywhere.
(A version of this story appeared in the March/April issue of Consumer Digest magazine, which has no ...
Posted in Future Tech, Gadgets, Lists, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.)
by Robert X. Cringely
A Mexican press attache walked off with "six or seven" Blackberries belonging to US officials at a summit between the presidents of Canada, Mexico, and some guy named Bush in New Orleans last week.
Press officer Rafael Quintero ...
Posted in Cringley, Gadgets, Infoworld, National insecurity | No Comments »
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Front-projector TVs can be the least expensive way to get the big picture in high definition--but read this before investing your hard-earned cash in one.
(This originally appeared in the May 08 issue of PC World magazine.)
by Dan Tynan
You can have your plasmas and LCDs, your CRTs and rear-projection DLPs. When ...
Posted in Gadgets, PC World | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Often, even great new technology needs a partner to really change the world. Here are 10 marriages of technologies that have shaken the digital world over the last 25 years.
(This story, or something like it, originally appeared on PCworld.com.)
by Dan Tynan
If there's one thing the digital revolution has taught us, ...
Posted in Da Web, Gadgets, PC World | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 10th, 2008
GPS, electronic compasses, and new software will soon let our phones show us around town.
(This article originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of PC World, and also on Washingtonpost.com, where once again they lopped off my byline -- those incompetent twits.)
By Dan Tynan
The United States leads the world in ...
Posted in Gadgets, PC World | No Comments »
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
(My review of the Chumby finally posted on PCworld.com. And here it is again.)
by Dan Tynan
Until now, most Internet appliances have been too hobbled (3Com's Audrey), too limited (the Ambient Weather Beacon), or just too weird (the Nabaztag rabbit). But the clock-radio-size Chumby might actually find a home on your ...
Posted in Da Web, Gadgets, PC World, Reviews, Things that don't suck | No Comments »
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
For this year's cars, personal navigation and search services will be in the driver's seat.
(This entry originally appeared in my Gadget Freak column in the February 2008 issue of PC World. Washingtonpost.com also ran it -- and this time they managed to include my byline.)
by Dan Tynan
You may drive ...
Posted in Future Tech, Gadgets, PC World | No Comments »
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
The Chumby is the latest in Internet appliances -- and unlike most gizmos that use this term, this one really is like an appliance. This of it as a WiFi-powered clock radio that also does photos, video, news, and games, among other things.Plug it in, activate it online, and ...
Posted in Gadgets, PC World, US Airways Magazine | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
This pricey remote is innovative, but it's not without flaws.
(This story originally appeared on PCworld.com)
by Dan Tynan
Forget world peace or love sweet love. What the world really needs now is a simple, easy-to-program universal remote. Acoustics Research's ARRU449 Universal Wi-Fi Remote comes closer than most.
What's different about this $399 handheld ...
Posted in Gadgets, PC World, Reviews | No Comments »
Saturday, February 16th, 2008
VACUUM PACKED
The latest in digital devices is part room cleaner, part robotic buddy.
(This article originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of US Airways Magazine.)
by Dan Tynan
iRobot’s Roomba is more than a vacuum cleaner: It’s a cultural phenomenon. More than two million have been sold since it was introduced ...
Posted in Gadgets, Reviews, US Airways Magazine | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
(A slightly altered version of this article appeared in the February issue of PC World magazine.)
My iPod Mini was dead. It had shuffled off its mortal coil and joined the choir invisible. It had ceased to be. It was an ex-iPod.
Well, the screen still worked. But the battery wouldn't hold ...
Posted in Gadgets, PC World | No Comments »
