thick

If leaks are true, a feature Apple is sure to tout on its next smartphone is thickness. But just how will Apple's latest compare with iPhones of yore?

We got some idea of that from French blog Nowhereelse.fr, which stacked it up against an iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS in photos last week. Today online repair site iResQ, which has provided numerous photos of what it says are pre-release components, has a fully assembled iPhone 5 (minus a few pieces) right next to an iPhone 4S.

Three of the four side-by-side shots show a definitive difference in thickness, … Read more

There are a few troubling technical aspects of the new iPad that give me pause about the post-Jobs Apple.

I'll skip the obligatory praise of the new iPad's Retina display. And for those readers who want to call me a whiner, idiot, or Apple hater, go ahead, take your best shot.

On launch day, while I was pleased to find that the new iPad was only slightly thicker than the iPad 2, this raised the first red flag for me.

Dilution of Jobs Doctrine? The design decisions that led to a chunkier iPad are a little worrisome and … Read more

I was very pleased to get the world's shortest demo a few days ago of ThickButtons, a new smartphone keyboard technology that's made by a small Ukranian company. All this little tool does is dynamically re-size buttons on an on-screen keyboard. It makes the letters you're most likely to want to press bigger. For example, if you want to write "Funding," after you've typed "Fun," the "d" would be slightly bigger than the "s" and "f" on the on-screen keyboard, making it easier to press.

The … Read more

Our friend Gary Merson, aka the HD Guru, got his hands on some early pricing for certain Panasonic HDTVs--and now he's got some numbers for Panasonic's 1-inch thick plasma, the 54-inch TC-P54Z1. Not surprisingly, the "Z1" will set you back a pretty penny when it comes out this summer. Six grand to be exact.

Now, we love Merson, but we're not so sure his statement declaring the Z1 potentially "the hottest HDTV for 2009" is all that accurate. Yes, Panasonic's loaded the Z1 with lots of features and high-end specs--and it should … Read more

Like many other commentators, I greeted last month's SlotMusic announcement from SanDisk with befuddlement. I don't understand why a consumer would pay $14.99, which is almost the same price as a CD, for a tiny MicroSD card preloaded with digitally compressed audio. Yes, the attached USB dongle gives you compatibility with any computer with a USB connector. But still, a CD gives you higher sound quality, compatibility with billions of devices, and much less chance of misplacement between the couch cushions.

Today's announcement that SanDisk will also release a SlotMusic player for $19.99 changes my … Read more