Stories from All Things D - Personal Technology
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For iPad And Mobile Devices, a 'Port' out of the Norm
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Feb 9, 2012
Walt reviews a special flash drive that can transfer and stream files to popular mobile devices without standard USB ports. Full Story »
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Topics:
- iPad
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Working in Word, Excel, PowerPoint on an iPad
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Jan 12, 2012
Walt reviews an app that brings the full, genuine Windows versions of the key Office productivity apps -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- to the iPad. Full Story »
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Topics:
- iPad
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Ultrabooks Bring Speed and Light to Windows
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Dec 15, 2011
If you envy Apple's sleek, speedy MacBook Air laptop, and yearn for something like it that comes with the Microsoft Windows operating system, your wish has been granted. It's a new type of Windows laptop called Ultrabook. A handful already are available, and more are likely to arrive in the new year. The Ultrabook concept, which is being driven by giant chipmaker Intel, is governed by a set of specs covering everything from thinness to battery life to start-up times. But it is basically an effort to emulate the MacBook Air, which has been… Full Story »
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Solid Keyboard Elevates This Tablet, Though Software Lags
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Dec 8, 2011
One of the biggest things that deters people from relying on tablets is the lack of a convenient physical keyboard. Now, Taiwan-based Asus is attacking this issue with a new Android-based tablet and accompanying keyboard dock, due on store shelves in the U.S. on Dec. 15. This 10-inch tablet, called the Eee Pad Transformer Prime, starts at $499, the same price as the market leader, Apple's iPad 2. But it has twice the memory-32 gigabytes-at that price. The keyboard dock, with an additional battery and added ports, is an optional extra for $149. The new Asus has another notable feature:… Full Story »
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Digital Music Meets Its Match in Apple iCloud
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Dec 1, 2011
One of the more interesting ideas in the new wave of cloud-computing services is the music locker. This is a service that lets consumers store their music collections on a remote server and access them from any device, either by streaming the tunes or downloading them. Amazon and Google offer such locker services. But they have a big downside: You have to upload all your music to your locker first. If you have a collection of several thousand songs or more, that can take days as most home Internet connections have slow upload speeds, even if their download speeds are… Full Story »
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A Guide for PC Buyers Not Looking for a Tablet
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Nov 10, 2011
If you're shopping for a laptop this autumn, you'll find most of the capabilities and prices in the sluggish market unchanged. You'll still likely be considering whether it's time to get a tablet instead of a new laptop. But if you're focused on a Windows machine, and you look carefully, you'll see that a new class of portable PC is beginning to appear. It's called the "ultrabook," and is essentially the Windows version… Full Story »
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Cameras Act Like a Pro, but Are as Easy as Pie
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Oct 26, 2011
Every time I lug around my camera, which tips the scale at three pounds with its zoom lens, I feel as if I am swinging a fragile barbell on a strap around my neck. For years, hobbyist digital photographers had two options: heavy SLR cameras that can capture creative effects, and pocket-sized point-and-shoots that take pedestrian photos. Now, camera makers are exploring a genre of cameras that seeks a happy medium between size and capability. Necks can relax now. Nikon and Sony recently have introduced… Full Story »
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Grid 10 Tablet Hides Android Under Its Own Radical Design
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Oct 6, 2011
Makers of tablets based on Google's Android operating system have had trouble both in making inroads against Apple's popular iPad, and in differentiating their products from one another. But the tablet market is young, and companies are still tinkering with ways to alter the template laid down by Apple. I've been testing a new, 10-inch Android-based tablet that tries to make a splash with a radical new software design and a dramatically lower price. It's called the Grid 10, and comes from a small, privately held, Singapore-based company called Fusion Garage. The Grid 10 has demoted Android to just an… Full Story »
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Now Fits Into an App
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Sep 29, 2011
The Encyclopaedia Britannica has been the most prestigious general encyclopedia in the English language for what seems like forever. But it has always been expensive, and a bit stodgy. Today, when people need to look up information, they're likely to just do a Web search, or to consult the free, community-written, online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. The Britannica, however, isn't going away, or ignoring the digital world. It has long had a paid website. When it comes to school research, it is often trusted by many teachers and parents over less rigorously vetted sources. And now, it is about to… Full Story »
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A Galaxy S Sequel With Big-Screen Ambitions
All Things D - Personal Technology &bull Sep 22, 2011
In the crowded and sometimes confusing market for smartphones based on Google's Android operating system, Samsung's Galaxy models have been among the best and most popular. Launched last year on multiple carriers, the Galaxy S models made the Korean electronics giant a serious rival to Apple's iPhone as well as to Android competitors like Motorola and HTC. Now, Samsung has introduced the second generation of the Galaxy S in the U.S., after the company reported selling five million of the new devices in Europe and Korea in 85 days. I've been testing the first of… Full Story »
