roundup

NFC: The Apple rumor that just won't quit

What a confusing week it's been for iPhone rumors. On Monday, a report by The Independent said that Apple was holding off on bringing near-field communication (NFC) technology to the next version of the iPhone, and then a story posted last night by Forbes claims that the effort is still on track.

The source on that newer report is said to be "an entrepreneur who is working on a top-secret NFC product," who has a buddy working at Apple. That's compared to The Independent's multiple sources on the matter, which were "several of the … Read more

Holiday 2010 laptop review roundup

With the holiday season upon us, many laptop shoppers are looking for a new system as a gift for either a lucky recipient or themselves. To assist you in this noble endeavor, we've been tracking the most promising laptops from the second half of 2010, from entry-level systems starting at well under $500 to $1,000-plus high-end multimedia and gaming rigs.

Unlike our previous review roundups, our net is cast a bit wider this time around, and includes both retail-specific systems as well as laptops you can order directly from the manufacturer. Additionally, we've decided to focus on … Read more

Exactly how much back-to-school laptop can you get for $799?

In our current roundup of retail laptops for the back-to-school season, we noticed that the most common price was $799. Halfway between the bargain basement single-core systems and the high-end desktop replacements, there was a surprising amount of variety, with Intel Core i3 and i5 CPUs, and screen sizes from 13.3 inches to 15.6 inches.

At that $799 sweet spot, you can get a very capable mid-range system that should be fine for any kind of schoolwork, plus reasonably heavy multitasking and HD video playback. Harder to find are features such as Blu-ray or discrete graphics, although we did find a couple of models with these high-end extras.

Two of the standouts were the HP Pavilion dm4-1065dx, which was one of the top performers in the category thanks to its Intel Core i5 CPU; and the Toshiba Portege R705, a slim 13-inch model that includes Intel's Wireless Display technology.

The picture is muddied somewhat because several of these laptops were originally listed at $799, but within the past few days, they've been bumped up to $829. But because they were (and may be again) widely available for $799, we're including them here.

Besides the Toshiba R705, two other notable laptops that hover between $799 and $829 are the Sony Vaio EA24, which adds a Blu-ray drive, and the Samsung Q430-11, which offers discrete graphics for gaming.

Note: Also see our roundup of retail laptops in all price ranges.

Check out details of each system below:… Read more

Back-to-school 2010 retail budget laptop roundup

The budget category of our back-to-school 2010 roundup collects retail-specific laptops on the lower end of the price scale, and should be of particular interest to students looking to upgrade their tech without spending too much.

Compared with previous years, and with the other categories in this year's back-to-school roundup, the budget-priced selections seem a little thinner than we'd like, with only one all-around standout. Part of that may be the economic climate, in which PC makers are less generous with features and components for budget systems, and have a desire to move buyers accustomed to $300 Netbooks into more mainstream-priced systems.

The Asus K501J-BBZ5is probably the best all-around deal, with a decent design and usable Intel dual-core processor (but not the current Core i3 found in more expensive mainstream systems). Battery life was good, but the Asus oddly lacks an HDMI output, so it probably won't be your dorm room media center.

Most of the other laptops in this category had either single-core Intel processors or dual-core AMD processors, which generally were not as fast or had especially weak battery life or annoying design flaws. HP's Pavilion dv5-2035dxmakes good use of its AMD Turion II processor, and was one of the more upscale-looking budget laptops, but some users hate its redesigned touch pad; we'd suggest test-driving one in a retail store first.

Note: Check out our roundup of retail laptops in all price ranges.

Check out details of each system below:… Read more

Tech's results are in (earnings roundup)

Overall, quarterly earnings have been pretty positive for tech companies. Stay tuned for more results.

Amazon revenues jump but miss expectations Things are pretty good with Bezos and company. So good, in fact, that Wall Street overestimated Amazon's performance for the second quarter of the year.(Posted in The Social by Caroline McCarthy) July 22, 2010 1:35 p.m. PDT

Microsoft beats Street with $16 billion in revenue Its fourth-quarter revenue is 22 percent better than the same quarter a year ago, and staying just ahead of rival Apple.(Posted in Circuit Breaker by Erica Ogg) July 22, … Read more

Back-to-school 2010 retail Netbook roundup

In our back-to-school 2010 roundup of retail-specific laptops, we've divided our 25-plus systems into four different price categories, from sub-$600 budget models to high-end ones that cost more than $1,000.

In the "Netbook" category, we looked at three off-the-shelf models that cost between $349 and $399. In terms of hardware and components, they stuck with the standard Intel Atom N450 CPU (except for the HP Mini 210, which has a variation called the N455, allowing for newer DDR3 RAM), along with 1GB of RAM and 250GB hard drives.

Though we applaud the Dell Mini 10 … Read more

CNET's back-to-school 2010 retail desktop and laptop review roundup

With the back-to-school season upon us, many laptop and desktop shoppers are looking for a new system suitable for dorm room living or high school homework. We've hit the well-stocked store shelves of brick-and-mortar retail stores to find boxed versions of popular PCs, from entry-level systems starting at less than $300, to $1,000-plus high-end multimedia and gaming rigs.

These specific retail models are similar to those you'd be able to configure online from companies such as Dell and HP, but they may have slightly different names and features. Also worth noting, thanks to frequent retail discounts, they … Read more

Windows desktop: Go 3D

Just over a year ago, we took a close look at a Windows app that was supposed to turn the way some of us interact with our desktop on its head. And that was three years after the product's demo video debuted. Now it's back. BumpTop reimagines the desktop as a 3D surface where you can fling, fan, or even stack your desktop files. While we haven't heard much about the app's development since then, Google's sure been paying attention. The company gobbled up the conceptware over the weekend. There's no confirmation yet, but … Read more

Battle Royale: Five smartphone screens face off

With the recent release of DisplayMate Multimedia Edition for Mobile Displays, a battery of tests to measure the quality of portable screens--and apparently because I'm a glutton for punishment--I thought now would be the perfect time to bring five popular smartphones back to CNET Labs for a down-and-dirty comparison of their screen performance.

The five phones I chose to put through the ringer (ahem) are the Samsung Behold II, the Motorola Droid, the Apple iPhone 3GS, the HTC Nexus One by Google, and the Palm Pre Plus. These five were chosen because of their relative popularity and similar feature sets.

We used three different types of tests to evaluate each phone:

Scientific measurements: We used the Konica Minolta CS-200 ChromaMeter to test the maximum brightness, black level, and contrast ratio of each phone and reported numbers for each of these three tests.

Test pattern screens: We used several DisplayMate Mobile test patterns to test for color-tracking errors, 24-bit color, and font legibility, among others.

Real-world: Finally, we conducted real-world anecdotal testing using 3D games, photos, and a little tool I like to call "the Sun" to test the diffuse reflectance of each display.

All test screens were viewed within each phone's native gallery application. Some phones may handle pictures differently--and even improve them to some extent--outside the application. That said, we believe that testing within the respective gallery applications is still a viable test as this is where most users will view pictures on their phones.

In order to diminish potential repetition, I'll dive right into the details of how each phone performed; if you'd like to know more about our tests, you can binge off nerdy details in our "How we tested" section at the bottom of this article. Please note that this is an evaluation of each phone's screen performance and nothing else. Check out the full reviews of these phones to determine which is right for you. Also, DisplayMate recently conducted a more technically focused evaluation of the iPhone 3GS' and the Nexus One's screens that I recommend you take a look at.

The bottom line… Read more