When the word came, it was like news that an old friend had died, albeit an old friend I hadn’t seen for years. A small camera shop in Kansas the last Thursday in 2010 turned off the last machine in the world capable of processing Kodachrome film. The best color film ever made is now gone, probably forever, a victim of the digital revolution.
So, you received a new Mac for Christmas – you are probably going to want some sort of office suite for writing letters or papers, creating presentations and so on. There are a number of respectable choices out there, including Apple’s very good iWork suite. Nevertheless, Microsoft’s Office has long held the status of the gold standard of suites and its components have a long history on the Mac. In this review we investigate whether it deserves a place on your computer.
It was a good year for mice. The headline in Medical Daily last week is typical: “Reproductive scientists create mice from 2 fathers.” It seems that through impressive scientific jiggery-pokery in the lab, researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center were able to extract a cell from each of two male mice, combine their DNA, put the results into a surrogate mouse mother, and produce a mouseling that was not genetically related to the mother at all. (What has this to do with cancer research? Good question.)
Last week, we looked at some of the most recent and interesting Android phones available this Christmas. But, of course, Android is not alone when it comes to smart phone platforms and today we have excellent contenders from the Windows Phone, BlackBerry and iOS camps, along with a handy little 4G Wi-Fi router from Clear.
Cell phones are always amongst the items that show up on Christmas wish lists. But, amongst the vast array available, how can you pick the right one to give? Over the next few days, we will look at some of the most interesting phones of the year, starting with four current Android models today, highlighting just whom they will best serve.
Hours before Verizon officially unveiled its LTE service plans last Wednesday, I was invited to a preview event that the company held at the Kemp Auto Museum here in St. Louis. At the event, I was able to see the new network, which officially launches today, in all of its glory. With other networks having laid claim to 4G service for months or even years now, is the hype around Verizon’s new network justified?
The concept of an “app store” in which normal, everyday people easily download applications for their devices vaulted to the public consciousness two and a half years ago with Apple’s iPhone App Store. The store shook up the way people view and use mobile phones. The Mac App Store announced on Wednesday appears poised to be just as big of a seismic shift. This is not an attempt to simply make a little revenue on Mac software sales; it is Apple’s plan to translate iPhone and iPad momentum into a full-fledged attack on Microsoft’s Windows stronghold.
Some of you may remember when it was a very big deal to make a long-distance telephone call. I have actual photographs of my grandparents, on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary in 1956, at the telephone, the notes on the backs of the pictures saying that they were receiving calls from Dallas and Nebraska. This was thought remarkable at the time.
Since Motorola’s Droid first arrived last year, the Droid fleet has been expanding at a dizzying pace. Now, just months after the excellent HTC Droid Incredible showed up, Verizon and Motorola have unleashed the Droid X and Droid 2. Over the last few weeks, we put the Droid X through a grueling variety of tests to find out if this mammoth phone has what it takes.
It was a test of will power. When Apple unveiled the impressive iPhone 4 a few weeks ago, I said that I wasn’t going to buy one. I have last year’s model and that is quite good enough. I remained unconvinced.