Products

What’s Google Glass worth without apps that make use of its technology?

Microsoft developed the Xbox One to be the future of the living room. Instead, we got a Google TV that we'll actually want to use. And it even plays games.

The Khronos Group has announced plans to create an open and royalty-free application programming interface for controlling mobile and embedded cameras and sensors, giving developers access to features such as burst modes and flash.

Australian energy retailer, AGL Energy, said it has realised cost-savings, improved cost control, and simplified email support through its move to Microsoft’s subscription-based Office 365 service, a transition which was completed in April 2012.

Intel worldwide reseller channel organisation general manager and sales and marketing group vice-president, Steve Dallman, has acknowledged the company is "behind and playing catch-up" in the tablet and smartphone space, and said it must crank up its activity across the product segment to become more competitive.

The BlackBerry Q10 is a solidly built piece of hardware that will please those who've waited for a new physical-keyboard BlackBerry, but its small screen and limited app support will keep many away.

IBM is 102 years old. At its height, it was almost a cult, with employees dressing alike, speaking a unique language and earning benefits that took care of them for life. Today's tech companies aren't built to last, as Apple's recent earnings report shows all too well.

It's over between me and my file cabinet. Six drawers full of dead trees. Total weight: a gargantuan 194.7 pounds of paper. I can't think of any less useful way to utilize home office space, especially when most of the contents, once filed, will never be touched again. I'm also gearing up to move, and the thought of packing, unpacking, and refiling all that stuff made me even more eager to end the relationship, pronto.

We've had about six months to play with Windows 8 (like it or not) and with the first generation of hardware designed for the new OS. So now, with PCs based on Intel's Haswell CPU poised on the horizon, it's time to take stock of the best Windows 8 hardware available today. You may be able to snap one up for a bargain-basement price as the industry clears out inventory in anticipation of second-gen machines.

This post is in no way saying the BlackBerry Z10 is "better" than the iPhone, but here's a list of 10 BlackBerry Z10 features that you will not find in any iPhone.

When HP first announced it was retrenching more than 25,000 staff worldwide and the depth of its financial problems, Nermin Bajric spoke exclusively to the HP PPS South Pacific vice-president, Robert Mesaros. Now, six months later, he and Mesaros met again to discuss what has happened at HP since.

Day two at Microsoft TechEd 2012 was all about Windows 8. CIO.com caught up with Windows corporate VP Antoine Leblond, who discussed why CIOs should test Windows 8, why developers should love it, and why we'll all be touching our laptop screens sooner than we think.

Hewlett-Packard has gone through a rough spell lately, what with weak PC sales, declining profits, an embarrassing CEO scandal involving sex harassment claims and dubious expense reports, and another CEO (Leo Apotheker) getting the boot after less than a year on the job.

Considering the enormous webcam market and the number of products available it's hard to believe that anyone could come up with anything new, novel and useful but, impressively, that's just what Logitech has managed to do with its Broadcaster Wi-Fi Webcam, a really well-designed webcam for OS X and iOS only.

Google wants you to know that Glass, the company's wearable computing technology, is here.

We're in our post-holiday, post-CES cleanup (pre-spring!) in the Cool Tools offices, so here are some rapid-fire reviews of things we've been toying with over the past few weeks:

Shaw reviews HP's Passport 1912nm Internet Monitor and AOC's Portable USB Monitor.

I get to meet a lot of interesting companies in my capacity here at Network World, some of them newcomers, some more established. Here's a roundup of a few that are addressing common problems.

Toshiba's new KiraBook ultrabook offers a sleek, rich look along with high-end components, including a fine display and great speakers. The question is: Can you afford it?

Acer got a few things right and a number of things wrong with the Predator (specifically, Predator model AG3620-UR12). On the "right" side of the ledger, it has one of Intel's better processors - a 3.4GHz Core i7-3770--and 32GB of DDR3/1600 memory. With those components, the asking price of $US1299 is very reasonable.

Plenty of specialized companies out there sell PCs with Linux, but Dell is one of the very few mainstream contenders to have done so over the years. After some spotty initial offerings, it's taken a different approach with its latest Linux PC. Rather than try to sell Linux hardware to the masses, which the company has said typically requires support, it's focusing instead on developers, a savvy group that tends to need less help.

The HTC First is one of the more intriguing Android phones I've had the chance to review. The result of a collaboration between HTC and Facebook, the First is the first phone to ship with Facebook Home preinstalled--doing away with the traditional Android home screen in favor of a continuous Facebook news feed. Apps such as Gmail and Maps are hidden away, while the official Facebook and Messaging apps take center stage. The phone is aimed at fans of the social network, but the First's unassuming design and modest $100 price tag (with an accompanying 2-year contract on AT&T) should prove enticing to anyone looking for a smartphone on a budget.

Taking photos with a full-frame camera is an amazing experience. Shots just look so much wider and more fulfilling thanks to the bigger sensor. It used to be that you had to pay big bucks to get yourself a full-frame camera, but thanks to Canon, you can now get a model like the EOS 6D for about $2400.