replace

If you're not familiar with SwiftKey, it's a Google Play Editors' Choice app, and it won the coveted Most Innovative App award at the 2011 Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain. What sets it apart from other keyboard replacement apps is its capability to understand not just patterns in your typing, but also how words work together. This makes it scary good at predicting the next word you want to type, sometimes even before you begin typing it. What's more, SwiftKey can continue to learn from your e-mail, SMS, and even social media accounts (if enabled), so … Read more

The sudden disappearance of Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop after yesterday's WWDC keynote provoked split opinions on CNET. Photographers and videographers will weep, some said. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display has more pixels and will be a great replacement, said others.

Whichever way you slice it, potential suitors of the 17-inch Pro suddenly find themselves looking for a new partner. Alas, here's what you'll soon discover: most 17-inch laptops on the Windows side are "gaming laptops," built clunky, bulky, and leaning toward power over battery life.

(Note: yes, commenters, I agree. Of all Windows laptops, the HP Envy 17 would probably be the closest match. HP still sells the 17-inch version, and it costs as little as $1,249 on HP's website. However, we haven't reviewed the current 17-incher: for the closest equivalent, see our review of the HP Envy 15.)

Here are the closest equivalents we've reviewed at CNET, but you'll rapidly realize that none of them perfectly match what the Pro offered.… Read more

We've all had moments when we heard a mysterious shuffling in the dark. Or we got news that the in-laws were showing up unannounced. Or the Roomba finally became sentient and set out for revenge. Those moments call for a panic button.

The Panic Button Light Switch Replacement Kit from ThinkGeek will at least make you feel a little better in those moments before your Roomba sucks you into its robotic rotors of oblivion. … Read more

I love the noise-blocking isolation a good set of in-ear headphones provides, but the trick lies in getting the best possible seal. Sure, most headphones come with a selection of three or more silicone, foam, or Comply eartips. I recommend trying on as many tips as you can, and see which set provides the best possible fit. Once you have achieved that, you'll have the maximum isolation from environmental noise, optimum bass response, and the right tip will likely provide the most secure fit, making the earpieces less likely to accidentally fall out. The problem I'm talking about … Read more

What is TV's new best friend? The tablet.

Eighty-five percent of U.S. tablet owners fiddle around on their tablet while watching TV, according to a new report by marketing research company Forrester.

"Analysts and press have paid much attention to the cannibalistic relationship of tablets and PCs," one of the report's authors, Sarah Rotman, wrote in a blog post today, "but there's another screen whose relationship to the TV is worth considering."

According to the report, tablets, like the iPad, Kindle Fire, and Nook, are taking over both laptops and smartphones as … Read more

When you move files from one location to another in the OS X Finder, if their names are the same as existing files or folders, the system will ask you whether you wish to keep both files, replace the existing file, or cancel the move operation. If you replace the file, then the one you are moving should be the only one left in the new location; however, a bug in the Finder in OS X might result in both files being deleted.

Earlier today, Mac OS X Hints posted steps that show the Finder deleting both the original and … Read more

Seeker is a powerful freeware search tool that can replace the built-in Windows search feature. It offers advanced search-and-replace capabilities, regular expression searches, several reporting modes, and superfast, highly targeted searching.

Seeker's user interface resembles Office's design a bit, with expandable sections in its left-side control panel and a main report view with draggable categories. Under Search Criteria, we could enter everything from wildcard searches to highly specific file types, a specific word or phrase in the file, and include or exclude our listed files, as well as telling Seeker to search subfolders, ignore case, or use regular … Read more

A Chinese manufacturing company is producing replacement back panels for your iPhone 4 or 4S that include a thin light strip and a transparent Apple logo that will make your iPhone's logo glow, similar to Apple notebook computers.

K.O Gadget claims the hardware hack can be done in 5 minutes, at home, using the $42 kit it supplies.

Editors' note: At the time of writing, the regular site was downed by heavy traffic; a substitute purchase link was posted on the company's Facebook page.

A hardware hack done in 5 minutes seems a little unreal, but the … Read more

Now that the iPhone 4S is rapidly becoming Apple's best-selling device, the rumor mill turns its attention to the forthcoming iPad 3, widely expected in the first quarter of 2012. Today's rumor offering comes from a part leaked on TVC Mall's site that reportedly is a replacement microphone unit for the iPad 3.

The unit (originally discovered by Cydia Blog), when compared with the iPad 2's current part, shows a major change in the shape of the device. With a change this major, one might assume that the entire interior of the iPad 3 could be … Read more