Portable GPS navigation devices aren’t just for car drivers and hikers anymore. An increasing number of cell phones are adding turn-by-turn navigation services and location-related capabilities. (See: "Cell phones that tell you where to go.") The latest of these is the recently announced iPhone 3G (Click on image), due out on July 11. Our colleagues […]
Month: June 2008
The creep of convergence—that is, of devices that take on extra tasks once done by separate, standalone units—has now reached the digital photo frame, with mixed results. Yesterday, we blogged about the Sony DPF-V700, $189, a decent-performing 7-inch frame that’s also a fine slide-show player for your HDTV. Today’s post covers two more attempts to […]
If you’ve ever fed images from your digital camera to your HDTV, you’ve probably been disappointed at how they looked on the big screen. That’s because most cameras can’t output images in high-definition. Enter the Sony DPF-V700, $189. (Click on the image, right, for a closer look.) In our latest tests of digital photo frames, […]
The new iPhone 3G, announced yesterday and available next month, costs $200 less to buy than its predecessor. But the new version (click on the image for a closer look) will actually cost a little more to buy and use in the long run than its predecessor, due to higher service costs. The new phone […]
Well, we got some of our wishes, at least. The new iPhone 3G, announced today at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, will indeed use a connection to a high-speed 3G network, one of the attributes on our top 5 wish list for the new phone, posted a few days ago. Apple chairman Steve […]
We tested 14 of the first digital converter boxes on the market, and the preliminary results are in: The models we tested—all of which are approved for use with the government’s $40 coupon and thus have a basic set of features in common—didn’t differ significantly in performance. And, pricier models aren’t necessarily better than those […]
Verizon, one of the biggest national cell carriers, today announced plans to swallow one of the smallest, Alltel. For consumers, the possible merger raises promise. And, like many such deals, it also raises a number of issues and questions. Despite their differing size, the companies share a number of attributes that bode well for consumers […]
With the one-year anniversary of the iPhone nearly upon us, rumors of a refresh for Apple’s category-defining smartphone are swirling through the blogosphere. Apple is mum, as usual, but the bloggers’ best intel suggests a new model will debut this Monday at the Apple Developers Conference in San Francisco. If and when a new iPhone […]
A pilot recycling program launched this week in 117 Best Buy stores is turning the company,s outlets into free drop-off centers for your old gear. If successful, it might help boost recycling services as a point of competition among electronics retailers. The program, at stores in the Baltimore, San Francisco, and Minnesota markets, allows visitors […]
Digital converter boxes that allow older analog TVs to receive digital signals—soon to be the only type of over-the-air TV signal, after analog broadcasts are discontinued next February—have been slow to arrive. But there are now at least 25 models available, at prices ranging from just under $50 to about $80, and we’ve tested 14 […]