Pointlessly, Imperfectly Portable
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The Portable Media Center -- a new, Microsoft-conceived handheld device that presents video and photos as well as music -- would be a decent idea if there weren't such a thing as lampposts. Or street signs. Or trees. Or other cars.
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Portable Media Center -- a new, Microsoft-conceived handheld device that presents video, photos and music -- would be a decent idea if there weren't such things as lampposts. Or street signs. Or trees. Or other cars. -Rob Pegoraro
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Amazon's Kindle is a precocious little device. But wait till you see what comes next.
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Purchasing a permanent license to its pioneering OS is a shrewd move.
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Don't get too attached to your widescreen TV -- it'll soon be obsolete.
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This little OQO  machine is certainly pretty cool.  The biggest problem though is that it doesn't run Linux.  This leaves you with a device heavier than your PDA and all the insecurity and bloat of Windows and with a price tag of only sub $2000.  People don't care what OS their PDA/Handtop runs.  It can run an alternative OS and for the most part consumers don't care.  WinCE hasn't exactly been a stellar market success.  While Microsoft does have significant market share PalmOS, Symbian, and Linux are doing just fine.  Also most of the WinCE devices never have the fit and finish of their Palm and Symbian counterparts.  I don't know where OQO thinks they are going to fit in.  If they were to  ...
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From the "luggable" Apple IIc and Commodore SX-64 to today's Asus Eee PC, portable computers have gotten ever smaller and sleeker. Here are some favorites from days past.
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Windows beats Linux in total cost of 'ownership.' Hold on, that's not a good thing.
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This miniature budget notebook may not be preloaded with Windows, but it ably serves most on-the-go computing needs.
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This beautifully designed media player is like a slim iPhone sans phone--but it's marred by some early hardware and software issues.
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Devices have remained stubbornly irrelevant to many mainstream users, despite the benefits they might offer and the hype they often get in the press. -Rob Pegoraro
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Massachusetts-based start-up has come up with a way to print photographs or documents without ink or an ink cartridge. And that means smaller devices.Photos: Teeny tiny printers
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This device both plays multimedia files and plugs into a USB port to boot Linux on a PC.  It's undeniably handy, but does have some annoyances.
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How far is too far when it comes to the freedom of software? Plus: Palm slipping, Windows sliding.
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Hoping to get some work done on a recent train trip to New York, I kicked back, opened my laptop, and clicked on Microsoft Excel. Up popped a prompt asking for the original program disk. Same thing with Word and PowerPoint. Nothing would run.
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A cordless phone borrows a trick from its cellular cousins, shrinking toward the vanishing point.
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Remember a couple of weeks ago when Steve Jobs took the stage and announced a $200 cheaper iPhone. That was pretty bad. And an iPhone that's just an iPod. Who needs that! The new Nano sure is cute, but cute insn't enough. I have a 1.5 year old 60GB video iPod that still works (sorry Steve) and I never use the video, so the $300 I have burning a hole in my pocket for my monthly Apple impulse buy (above and beyond the new Mini I bought last week) is going to (drum roll please) Nokia!  Yup, my next iPod/iPhone-alike thingy isn't even from Apple and it runs Linux, and comes highly recommended by geeks everywhere. I just put in the order on Amazon, I'll let you know how cool it is in a few days.  PS: This is my way of thanking Ben Bernanke for the huge windfall I got in the stock market yesterday and today. I think the 1/2 percent drop in interest rates is supposed to make us go out and buy stuff to stimulate the economy. Just doing my part Uncle Ben!