Hardware
Quick tricks to repair a wireless connection
While we are on the subject of wireless networking (previous post), let me remind you of the trick that often repairs a wireless Internet connection that is slow or inoperative. Sometimes all it takes is to reboot the modem and/or router. Turn the power off for 10 seconds and then turn it back on.
Also, sometimes [...]
Scroll a window with your mouse wheel by pointing
In order to activate scrolling in a window with a mouse wheel, you have to first click in the window. Apparently, this extra step annoys some people so Antibody software offers a free little program that lets you just point your mouse at a window and scroll away without the extra click. It’s called “WizMouse” [...]
Device manager utility
If you want to know the status of the devices you have on your system, you can try using the Windows Device Manager. However, its output is not always the easiest thing to decipher and Nir Sofer has written one of his free little applications to help. It’s called DevManView and this is the description:
DevManView [...]
A new kind of memory
A type of computer technology called phase-change memory has been known about for some time but had not advanced to a possible practical state until recently. Intel has been involved with developing the technology. An advantage of phase-change memory is that it can be miniaturized to smaller dimensions than current flash memory. CNET reports on [...]
List of best products of 2009
I don’t always agree with the selections but PC World has compiled a list of what the editors consider the best products of 2009. It is described:
PC World looked at many outstanding hardware, software, sites, and services this year, evaluating each one on its design, functionality, performance, and impact. Here is the cream of the [...]
Intel getting anti-trust heat
It looks like the US government may join the EU in citing Intel for anti-competitive practices. InternetNews reports:
U.S. antitrust regulators are moving toward filing a complaint against Intel Corp after the European Union fined the world’s biggest chipmaker $1.45 billion for engaging in anticompetitive practices, sources said.
Three of the four commissioners on the Federal [...]
A selection of nettop computers
It’s not a netbook, it’s not a notebook, so what is a nettop? I’ve posted about this class of PC before and I wrote:
Following the success of the netbook, another category of miniaturized PC called the “nettop” is attracting attention. Actually, the nettop is a version of what has been known as an all-in-one, a [...]
Intel slows up USB 3.0
USB 3.0 was looking like it would soon appear but now Intel has put the kibosh on any early expectations. Daily Tech reports:
Those looking forward to the wide rollout of USB 3.0 will be saddened to hear that the specification has been dealt a setback. This summer, expectations were that USB 3.0 devices and computers [...]
The effect of netbooks and the cloud on computing
In his column at PCMag, industry analyst Tim Bajarin writes that netbooks and the cloud are impacting computing in a serious way:
The lower cost and increased performance in these smaller notebooks, or netbooks, could eventually drive growth in the PC industry and if tied to the cloud- and Web-based apps, they, potentially, deliver a computing [...]
The most important tech product is- the Kindle?
If you ask somebody what the most important recent consumer tech product is, the iPhone is the likely answer. However, Don Reisinger has a completely different (and surprising) take on this question. Over at Internetnews.com, he says it’s the Kindle. He did an informal poll and no one mentioned the Kindle but he says:
The answers [...]
Holiday gadget review
Shopping for Christmas starts earlier every year. PC World already has a selection of gadgets to look at:
When it comes to gadgets and gear, smaller is better, high fashion is in vogue, and affordability will be king this holiday buying season. That’s the message from tech firms that showed off their holiday wares at [...]