Technology

Hands-on with the new PlayStation Vita

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 16:03 -- tmnadmin

Sony's PlayStation Vita, which hits stores in the U.S. and Europe next Wednesday, is much more than just another portable gaming device.

With the Vita, Sony is trying to combine the power of its PlayStation home console with the interface, portability and social media features of a smartphone. With its innovative touch controls, OLED screen, motion sensors, social apps, GPS capability and dual cameras, it has most of the bells and whistles that today's gamers could want.

Beware the Facebook 'friend collector'

Thu, 01/05/2012 - 08:38 -- tmnadmin

Perhaps it's the inherently soul-crushing nature of the holiday season, but it seems many of our readers have been beset by quandaries of late. So, being the utterly benevolent souls that we are, we're choosing to devote this week's column to more reader questions. This week we tackle Facebook friend collectors and the eternal query: To tweet or not to tweet? Most times when I get a friend request or if someone accepts mine, I initiate a "thanks for the friend (request/accept)" in a private message, plus a quick update -- one or two lines max.

Fallout continues over smartphone tracking app

Sun, 12/04/2011 - 21:49 -- Anthony Mrx

The Web fallout continued Friday over news that a hidden app could be tracking smartphone users' activity.

Many bloggers and smartphone customers fretted about the privacy issues raised by Carrier IQ, an information-mining app secretly installed on many phones. But at the same time, other tech observers were beginning to say that some of those concerns may have been over the top.

Steve Jobs' e-mail to fan: 'Life is fragile'

Sun, 11/27/2011 - 13:51 -- Anthony Mrx

Steve Jobs wasn't eager to disclose details of his health issues over the years.

That the Apple co-founder contracted a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2003 wasn't disclosed until after his return from surgery more than nine months later. Another health problem, which was innocuously described at first as a "hormone imbalance," turned into a six-month leave during which Jobs underwent a liver transplant.

The way to speed up rail travel?

Thu, 11/24/2011 - 16:26 -- Anthony Mrx

A designer has come up with a unique and futuristic solution for speeding up rail travel: he doesn't want to change the engines, or the tracks -- he wants to get rid of the stations.

Determined to take rail transport into the 21st century, Paul Priestman, director of British design group Priestmangoode, is the man behind the "Moving Platforms" concept, which he believes could potentially revolutionize the rail industry.

$1,499 Apple TV teased in Best Buy survey

Wed, 02/08/2012 - 17:19 -- tmnadmin

Best Buy wants to know if you'd pay $1,499 for a 42-inch, high-definition Apple TV which uses your iPad or iPhone as a remote control.

You know ... hypothetically.

The big-box gadget retailer sent a survey to some customers asking in fairly explicit detail about the long-rumored TV system -- under language that says "Apple finally reinvents what a TV can do."

The survey, first acquired by tech site The Verge, calls the system a "concept." But it goes into explicit detail describing it.

Feds: Megaupload files may be deleted this week

Tue, 01/31/2012 - 01:12 -- tmnadmin

Federal prosecutors who accuse file-sharing site Megaupload of being a hotbed of digital piracy say the site's customer files, presumably including perfectly legal ones, may be deleted starting Thursday.

"It is our understanding that the hosting companies may begin deleting the contents of the servers beginning as early as February 2, 2012," U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said in a letter filed in federal court.

Five Tips for Online Public Relations Success

Sun, 01/29/2012 - 10:24 -- tmnadmin

It's 2012. Advances in the digital world have revolutionized media—and how public relations professionals do their jobs. Are you keeping up? Here are five tips for mastering the digitization of public relations.

One day, when sending a Twitter pitch to a reporter, I thought to myself: "Just seven years ago I was blasting an impersonal fax to a list of 100 nameless reporters and editors, then reporting the campaign's success by sifting through heaps of magazines and newspapers and working my scissoring and gluing magic to create a clip report."

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