Personal Tech November 5, 2015 Like water for phones: Best waterproof phones tested Like oil, electronics are not supposed to mix with water. But a growing array of smart phones is designed to handle the rough and tumble realities of people using their handsets on the beach and in the bathroom. And thank goodness for that.
Personal Tech November 5, 2015 Copyright Alert System lets content providers monitor your traffic, penalize illegal file sharers Last week, the Copyright Alert System was officially launched. Created by the recording and film industry, it essentially deputizes copyright holders who stealthily monitor peer-to-peer networks for illegal sharing of movies, TV shows, and music.
Personal Tech November 5, 2015 AT 2013 CES, every gadget is connected -- even your fork The theme (or meme) of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week can be summed up as “the Internet of things”--or thingys. Just as no one on the Internet may know you're a dog, soon, no one on the Web will know whether you're a TV, watch ... or even a fork.
Personal Tech November 5, 2015 Thanks to decades-old law, your email is far from private Your e-mail is nearly as public as the words you are now reading. As it currently stands, government authorities can download and examine all your e-mail, store it, search it, and never inform you—with virtually no oversight or fear of violating any laws.
Personal Tech November 5, 2015 Are Verizon's Anti-Apple Ads Fair? Verizon's latest ads create a clever twist on Apple’s slogan ("There’s an app for that"), firing shots across the bows of both Apple and AT&T. But few things grow stale as fast as puns — even very clever ones.
Personal Tech November 5, 2015 How to stop distracted drivers -- once and for all Now that the driving season is upon us, it's time more people saw flashing lights in their rear view mirrors. Let's make it open season on distracted drivers.
Personal Tech November 4, 2015 Apple iPad owners' dilemma: Buy, sell, or hold? Tomorrow, Apple is expected to announce a new iPad, generating gigabytes of giddy speculation about what CEO Tim Cook may reveal -- and inspiring current iPad owners to see what they can get for their about-to-be antique tablets.
Personal Tech November 4, 2015 Carrier IQ Not Alone: Most Smartphones Will Track You Cell phone surveillance is all fun and marketing until they start following you -- and Carrier IQ isn't alone. We're all being followed to one degree or another by our fancy smartphones.
Personal Tech November 4, 2015 Local Radio Is Getting Tuned Out. Thanks, Internet Online services have wiped out innumerable businesses and forms of media. Are local radio stations next?
Personal Tech November 4, 2015 Neer: The First Location-Aware App for Grown-Ups The biggest tech boogieman today has to be location-based services, a.k.a. please-rob-me apps. But are they all really as creepy as they seem? Neer cuts the creep factor -- and proves surprisingly useful.
Personal Tech November 4, 2015 Microsoft Wants You to Wave Hello to the Future Remember the Clapper? Think of Microsoft's Kinect gaming device, which the company will release on Thursday, as a Clapper on steroids. And it could transform video games.