Showing 31 - 40 of 98
The year of living technologically
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 08/01/2012
» It's been quite the year for technology news, with gadgets, apps and lawsuits stealing the headlines, not to mention the death of the great Apple leader, Steve Jobs. But as the news gets more interesting, so does the quality of gadgets being made available to consumers. For a start, smartphones have become larger and cheaper, and almost every manufacturer now has a tablet of some sort on the shelf (except for HP, which pulled its TouchPad just six weeks after its July release).
Torch or Fireball?
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 25/12/2011
» It's been a tough year for RIM. This week, it quashed rumours about a possible buyout by Amazon, but its fortunes in 2011 haven't turned around and the manufacturer finishes the year with the theft of 5,200 PlayBook tablets in the US. In an attempted resuscitation of its BlackBerry line, RIM has come back strongly with some tempting new releases sporting a new OS (see Brunch, Oct 9, for the Bold 9900 review), with the Torch 9860 being part of that batch.
Terminal or Everlasting?
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 18/12/2011
» It's hard to believe, but my tech friends have declared HP's prognosis terminal. But while the other sectors of the multinational diverge, the company's PC manufacturing arm seems to be ticking over. HP continues with its Pavilion notebooks, the middle-class compatriot of the snazzy Envy range, with a new series of PCs. The specifications look impressive on paper, but do they deliver anything new to the series that is starting to become a little long in the tooth? Let's see if HP's persistence with the Pavilion series can increase the manufacturer's longevity.
Ready ... Aim ... Fire!
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 04/12/2011
» Just when the tablet war was beginning to look like a foregone conclusion, online retail giant Amazon has emerged with a new tablet in an attempt to steal some of the attention away from the Apple iPad. The company's pitch is transparent enough _ get its product in everyone's hands and control the content flow from its online store. But it's an effective strategy, and a win for consumers too.
Style Wars
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 20/11/2011
» Not to be left behind by the wave of Android popularity and the force of the iPhone, Nokia has stood up again with an enticing new smartphone release _ the N9. Following in the footsteps of the N8 of late last year, the Finnish manufacturer is once again proving its worth at the top end of the market.
iPhone, Therefore I am
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 30/10/2011
» The two biggest items of tech news this month both came from the Apple camp in the US. Firstly, we lost visionary Steve Jobs, who was in worse health than anybody realised. Secondly, we gained a new iPhone model, the 4S, which seems to pre-empt the much-anticipated iPhone 5 that has been running on the rumour mill for months.
3D Showdown
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 23/10/2011
» Although the recent bout of 3D hype has tapered off a little in other arenas, phone manufacturers have begun loading their releases with the technology. All the Asian manufacturers seem to be interested in at least testing the waters, and following the (surprising) lead of Sharp last year, HTC, LG and now Samsung are all in the game. But the longevity of the technology is questionable. While phone screens are bigger and brighter than ever, do people really need such technology in their pockets? Let's look at some of the new releases to see if it's just another terminal phone gimmick, or really the future of the game.
A real rockin' Box
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 16/10/2011
» Wireless speakers are not new, and come in just about all forms, sizes and price ranges. Decent Bluetooth connectivity is not new either for such devices. So what's so special about Jawbone's Jambox? The company has a solid reputation for its headset devices, but this is its first step into the world of dedicated speakers. Will it be able to compete with less costly peers already on the market? Let's take a look at the beat box to find out if it will survive.
BOLD but beautiful
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 09/10/2011
» Just when it looked like RIM had bowed down to the smartphone competition, the manufacturer reasserts itself with five new models, two of which give the old Bold a makeover. BlackBerries are famous for their business leanings, but were catapulted into the crossover market when a certain celebrity was snapped with one by the Thai paparazzi.
High-end sony lite
B Magazine, Richard Mcleish, Published on 18/09/2011
» The ultraportable market has become the pinnacle of notebooks _ cramming all you can into a sleekly designed and light offering. So it's no surprise to see so many models on offer. Sony's designers, like many Japanese, are spatial geniuses, and have traditionally been very good in this area. The manufacturer has revamped its Vaio Z series to take on the competition from Apple, Samsung and Toshiba, among others.