Inside the Navy's next-generation destroyer

PORTSMOUTH, R.I.--As someone interested in the cutting edge, one of the best things about Road Trip 2010 has been getting a rare look at the U.S. Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier and the world's most advanced submarine.

But that wasn't enough for me. I also had to see where the Navy is going with destroyers, and that's why my visit to Raytheon's Seapower Capability Center here was such a good investment of time: I got a chance for a lengthy discussion on the next-generation, Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer, which the Navy expects to be … Read more

Report: Motorola, Verizon prepping media tablet

Motorola and Verizon are working together to produce a tablet specifically for watching television content, according to a report in the Financial Times on Tuesday.

The tablet is said to have a 10-inch screen and will use Google's Android operating system. The premier feature of the tablet will be the ability to access Verizon's FiOS cable service from it, according to the FT's anonymous sources. The tablet is said to be "thinner and lighter than the iPad," and will allow tethering. It will also support Adobe Flash, according to the report. There will also be … Read more

iPhone jailbreak could double as security hole

The jailbreak for the iPhone released over the weekend may have exposed a flaw in the iPhone's mobile Safari browser.

Unlike previous jailbreaks, which required the iPhone to be connected to a computer to run the software update, the latest jailbreak, posted by the iPhone Dev Team at Jailbreakme.com, is accomplished via the Safari browser loaded on the device.

But the fact that it can be performed just through Safari, and the way it's done, points to a larger problem, as several CNET readers and listeners wrote to us to point out Tuesday. It means potentially anyone … Read more

New iMac, iLife coming soon?

The 27-inch iMac is playing hard to get for some customers, which could mean that an updated version of the desktop Mac is on its way.

MacRumors reports that at several Apple stores, some models of iMacs are no longer available for in-store reservation and pick-up, suggesting that Apple has let the supply run out. It follows a rumor last week that Apple is gearing up to introduce a fresh update to the all-in-one desktop. Apple hasn't released a new iMac since October 2009.

Apple could be unveiling a new wide-screen (16:9) Cinema Display soon as well, according … Read more

HP: WebOS phones only, no Win Phone 7

Hewlett-Packard confirmed Friday that it will not build phones with Microsoft's latest mobile software.

HP Senior Executive Todd Bradley told CNBC that the company will use WebOS, the mobile operating system acquired when it purchased Palm, on smartphones. HP will not be selling any Windows Phone 7-based devices, Bradley said.

It's not a huge surprise that HP wants to push its own software over Microsoft's after it spent $1.2 billion to get it. But, HP is Microsoft's biggest customer, and it's somewhat of a setback for Microsoft not to have the full backing of … Read more

LG overwhelmed by iPad display orders

Apple isn't the only one caught off guard by the demand for its iPad. The company that makes the displays for the touch-screen tablet is too.

On Thursday, LG's CEO Kwon Young-Soo said his company is having trouble filling orders for iPad displays, even though his factories are running at "full capacity."

"Demand (from Apple) keeps growing and we can't meet it all," Kwon said, during a call to report the company's quarterly earnings.

LG last year secured a $500 million contract to supply Apple's LCD displays.

Apple has sold almost … Read more

Blend portrait, landscape pages in Word docs

The company I work for creates very technical reports. Many of the Microsoft Word documents I edit are loaded with complicated tables, charts, and other figures. The pages frequently switch between portrait and landscape orientation, so I have to relocate the page number and remove the other header and footer information on the landscape page and then add it back to subsequent portrait pages.

You might think a sophisticated program like Word would make it easy to reformat a single landscape page and revert to the original formatting afterward, but it isn't.

In Word 2003, the steps required to … Read more

Unmanned stealth plane may pick its own targets

Britain's Ministry of Defence recently unveiled an unmanned stealth attack aircraft that redefines "autopilot"--it's designed to fly halfway around the world and choose its own targets without human intervention, according to a report in The Globe and Mail.

Named after the Celtic god of thunder, the Taranis is designed to fly much farther than conventional drones, which typically support troops or carry out air strikes in a limited area. Controlled by ground-based human operators, Taranis is supposed to be able to hit targets on other continents; it's unclear when the target-picking AI skills would … Read more

How to update your GPS maps: TomTom edition

We're back with another installment of our How to update your GPS maps series. This week, we're taking on TomTom's Ease, One, XL, and XXL models. The process is the same for any model in TomTom's line up, and  thankfully, it is much simpler than our last update was.

The relative ease with which you can update a  TomTom's software can be attributed to the TomTom Home software, a one-stop shop for updating map data, grabbing new firmware, downloading custom voices, and syncing Map Share, and IQ Routes data. Garmin could stand to … Read more