Is the T-Mobile/AT&T Merger Dead?

AT&T, T-Mobile Aren't Giving Up on Merger

The AT&T Relevant Products/Services move to merge with T-Mobile is entering a new phase. Even with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman and the Department of Justice opposed to the deal, the companies are not giving up.

Google's new ad space: Chrome

Google just found another digital billboard for online ads: its Chrome Web browser. I just started noticing the ads on one of my computers yesterday, and I'm not the only one to see them. The ads don't interrupt ordinary Web browsing by pushing aside Web page content and don't compete with regular Web page ads. Rather, they appear in a yellow-tinted box at the top of the new-tab page in Chrome.

Consumers' interest in Windows tablets plummets

Just a couple months after one study claimed the majority of tablet-buying users wanted a device based on Windows, another research outfit is reporting that consumers are sick of waiting for a true iPad competitor from Microsoft. Consumers’ interest in buying a Windows tablet has plummeted in the past six months, according to a new Forrester Research report on November 29.

Amazon's Black Friday Kindle Sales Quadruple

Amazon reported its best-ever Black Friday sales for the company's Kindle family of e-readers and media tablets, the online retail giant said Monday. Unit sales quadrupled across the board in comparison with Kindle sales the same day last year.

Amazon Kindle Fire: Much more open than I thought

Amazon has been known for locking down the Kindle ebook readers, but all that caution has been thrown to the wind with the Kindle Fire.

Buying an HDTV: Online or in-store?

Every year there are fewer "brick-and-mortar" retailers. Not coincidentally, there are ever more online retailers. The question is: where's the best place to buy an HDTV?

How to buy the right cell phone

Buying a cell phone as a holiday gift is a bit more complicated than buying a television or a camera. It's not that shopping for those products is easy--indeed, one TV can present you with a mind-boggling array of specs--but a cell phone also requires you to select a carrier and choose a service plan.

British Library newspaper archive puts 300 years of history online

The launch of the archive is the first time people will be able to digitally access and search through millions of newspaper articles from the comfort of their homes. Up until now, people have had to travel to the British Library newspaper depository in Colindale, North London, to access the entire collection of 200 local and regional newspapers.

Special Edition–Kindle Fire vs. The Nook Tablet

The hottest new products on the market hit the streets while I was on vacation…the Kindle Fire at $199 and the Nook Tablet at $249. These two products usher in a new product category of sub-$250 tablets. Which is best and how do they compare with the more expensive Apple iPad?

I am going to let you decide by reading some of the best and most in-depth reviews I could find. Trust me, there are many more than are listed here. Because of the interest in this new line of low priced tablets, everyone and their brother has written a review. Do a Google search and see what I mean. The reviews I include here are by experts I respect. I’ve included stand alone reviews of each product and a comparison review. To be honest, it is early days yet and a thorough comparison review is difficult as both products are adding new features and apps, even as we speak.

What is my opinion? Again, difficult for me to objectively analyze for a couple of reasons…one, I don’t own either yet…and two, I am thoroughly involved with the Kindle/Amazon universe as I‘ve owned and loved a Kindle for two years.

Your own decision may be heavily influenced by whether you already own a Kindle or Nook e-reader…which is only to be expected and should be a strong consideration. But, as Kindle user, I am leaning heavily toward the Fire, for more reasons than you might think.

First, the Fire universe is far larger than the Nook. By that I mean that most Android apps are available for the Fire…but not the Nook. There are thousands and thousands of those applications out there…I have some of the best ones on my Android phone and use them regularly. So having access to additional apps is critical to my way of thinking.

Second, the Fire has 8GB of memory and the Nook 16GB. But that number is very, very deceptive. Barnes and Noble reserves 15 of the 16GB for their products, leaving only 1GB available for your apps. The Fire has no such restrictions…so, in fact, you may have more useable memory in the Fire.

Third, the Fire can do most of the same things as an Apple iPad, for about $300 less. It’s nearly 3” smaller than the iPad, but still an extremely usable size at 7”.

On my recent photo expedition, my friend Dave brought his iPad while I brought my small netbook computer. So, I had a chance to use the iPad along side a computer and decide if I wanted or needed a tablet. While I loved what I could do with the iPad, I found it just a little too big for me. But darn…the information we could access was amazing.

As photographers, weather and light conditions are very important to both of us, and we had those kind of applications on the tablet. Yes, those things are available on a computer as well, but harder to get at in the field. Tablets are up and running the instant you turn them on, not so with a computer. So, the functionality of a tablet became very apparent to me on this trip.

As for reading, I still prefer the e-ink screen of a regular Kindle, but I don’t have any of the other functions a tablet offers. I look forward to reading a book on a tablet.

The other thing to remember when buying a tablet is they are a consumption device and not very useful for production. In other words, I would find it extremely difficult to write this blog very easily on any tablet…unless I had a plug-in keyboard. But I can read books, watch movies and surf the Internet quite easily.

I hope I ‘ve given you something to think about if you are considering a tablet, but I encourage you to read the articles below to see which might be right for you…or you might want to wait a bit as tablet computing is still in its early days. I’m sure the best is yet to come. -JRC

Amazon Kindle Fire Review & Rating

The Amazon Kindle Fire puts the Apple iPad on notice. The Fire is the first small tablet that average users can pick up and immediately use, with a simple, clear interface. Then there's the price: Android along with amazing specs for just $199.

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet Review & Rating

PCMag got our Kindle Fire review unit a few days before we got the Nook Tablet, so it was tough to do side-by-side comparisons. We ended up giving the Kindle Fire our Editors' Choice for 7- inch tablets and I will confess I was a little worried that the Nook may come out as the superior device. In the end, I think we got the call right. The Nook tablet is a fantastic reading device, but the Fire makes a better overall media tablet.

Amazon Kindle Fire vs. B&N Nook Tablet: Is there a clear winner?

If you want a low cost tablet for media consumption (music and videos), games, web browsing, and more with the ability to also read books then the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet are two solid devices to consider. I have been using both for a couple days and am having a tough time choosing just one.

Amazon Kindle Fire Review

The Kindle Fire is not an "iPad killer" because it's not a 1:1 replacement for Apple's far more expensive and complex device. But it is in fact an excellent iPad alternative, because it does exactly what most people want and it does so at a price that is ridiculously low. But price aside, the Kindle Fire is an excellent piece of hardware.

Nook Tablet review

With a new dual-core processor, 16GB of memory, improved app store, and a few more multimedia features, this year Barnes & Noble is hoping that the Tablet can capture the hearts of those out there looking for an iPad alternative that's more than just a color e-reader. But will it? Does the Tablet live up to its name? Can it extinguish the Fire? Read on to find out.

Kindle Fire first impressions: Wow!

I have the new Kindle Fire from Amazon in my hot little hands and I’m not letting go. It’s going to take the tablet market by storm.

Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet: Not quite as open as we thought

Amazon and Barnes & Noble want you to buy only their content on the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet respectively, and new owners are finding out the companies are serious about that.

Bigger Kindle Fires may be coming in 2012

Amazon may be launching at least one larger version of the Kindle Fire in the first half of 2012. According to DigiTimes, the Taiwanese blog with deep connections in manufacturer supply chains, Amazon is preparing to release the device in new 8.9-inch and 10.1-inch screen sizes. The 8.9-inch size is said to be prepping for launch first.

I’m Back and Better than Ever

Hello again from beautiful and warm Tucson, AZ. I am back from my photographic adventures in southern Utah and ready to resume my blog editor duties. It was a great adventure and I took several hundred photos in Bryce and Zion National Parks as well as side trips to the Escalante and Red Cliffs wilderness areas. You can see some of these photos on both my Postcards blog and up on Flickr. I only have a few up so far but am working my way through them. I am really pleased with what I took. The Autumn colors in Zion were spectacular and I got my first ever snow photos of Bryce Canyon. It was a great, but exhausting time.

Back to technology…the biggest events that took place were the rollouts of both the new Kindle Fire and Nook tablets. There are so many stories and reviews on the subject that I am putting out a special edition of this blog, hopefully by tomorrow. There you will get tons of info on which one you may wish to buy. Be sure and stay tuned.

But, for today, I have some interesting news and features which you hopefully will find of interest. –JRC

Chase Rolls Out Credit Card with Chip Technology

Chip-based credit cards are already used throughout most of the industrialized world, but the U.S. still primarily uses credit cards with magnetic strips. Now, Chase is offering a card with smart-chip technology that aims to reduce fraud and traveler hassle. Increasing concerns over fraud could mean chip-based cards soon become more common.

Microsoft Looks to the Future of SkyDrive

While Google and Apple are getting a lot of press these days about their respective cloud services initiatives, Microsoft of course has its own cloud solutions, some of which are surprisingly low profile despite their usefulness. One such service is SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage solution, which has undergone a number of important improvements in recent months. But today, the company announced plans to address users' changing needs and, I think, offer something that is more compelling.

What you can do about soaring hard-drive prices

Floods in Thailand — and an ensuing worldwide purchasing panic — have pushed the price of hard drives to nosebleed heights and left us all with fewer choices. Here’s what you need to know about the crisis, the fallout, and what you can do about it.

Everything you need to know about buying a smartphone

Smartphones are like cars - there's no single "best car" for everybody, and there's no "best smartphone" for everyone, either. Just like walking into a car dealership without doing your research on prices and features is a recipe for getting overcharged, walking into your local Verizon or Sprint store without knowing what you need is a recipe for future unhappiness.

Google Music debuts, letting users share tunes via Google+

The service takes advantage of Google search technology as well as its ability to tap the tastes of a user's friends to recommend songs. With three of the four major record labels now participating in the service, users will also be able to buy music.

Which music service should you use?

At this point, music lovers and listeners now have 10 scrillion ways to listen to music online. But where to start? Do you patiently upload all your music to Google Music? Do you check out what your friends are listening to on Spotify? Rdio? Mog? Pandora? Which ones are free, and which ones cost money?

Browser Wars: Chrome vs. IE9 vs. Firefox

You really can't go wrong with any Web browser choice these days. Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari, all are fast, standards compliant, and feature rich. A lot boils down to what you're comfortable with and which features are most important to you.

Tech Turkeys of 2011 (Video)

It's time to talk turkeys. No, not what you're cooking for dinner Thursday; we're talking tech turkeys today. In this video, CNET counts down the biggest fails in tech this year. Who gave us 12 long months of meh? Whose strategy was so bad it will be studied in business school for years to come? A fun video to watch.

MediaMonkey Standard 4.0.0.1459 (Windows-Free)

MediaMonkey is the media manager for serious collectors. It catalogs audio and video files and can be customized to the needs of different 'collections' (e.g. contemporary, classical music, audiobooks, home movies, tv, videos), whether they're located on a hard drive or a network.

US Internet Security Threatened–Outside and Inside

Our first two stories explain this headline…the first is how cyber crooks are threatening us from both hostile and friendly countries. The second story is about our Internet and First Amendment rights are being threatened by our own Congress.

There are also two interesting stories on e-books, one of which is when digital books will surpass printed books. As an avid e-book reader, I found both stories very interesting. While I still do read the occasional paper book, I actually prefer reading on my Kindle…and the number of books I have read has skyrocketed since I got my first Kindle.

Finally, this will be my last tech blog for a couple of weeks. I am leaving in a couple of days on one of my photo expeditions…this time to photograph the autumn colors in Zion National Park and the Escalante region of Southern Utah. But have no fear, I will be back and continue on with my computer tech stories for all us non-nerds.  Until then…JRC

Cybersecurity: The Cybermugging of America

A recent report from the U.S. National Counterintelligence Agency warns that cyber crooks in all corners of the globe are increasingly targeting U.S. Interests. The perpetrators are intelligence services, private sector companies, academic and research institutions and private citizens in dozens of foreign countries, some of which are our allies, the report claims.

New House of Representatives bill may strangle the Internet or nerf the First Amendment

Let me be clear. If you love your Internet, you must read this article. Congress is once again mucking around with our rights, and it ain’t good.

How to find out if your email address has been compromised

An enterprising group of security researchers has created a massive list of 'pwned' email addresses and user names. Take a minute to see if you're on it. I hope you are not.

Amazon launches free e-book borrowing for Prime members

In an interesting twist on e-book lending that's sure to rile competitors, Amazon has launched the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, which allows Amazon Prime members to check out up to one e-book a month for free with no due date.

eBooks vs. Print Books

The question about ebooks is not if they will pass print, but when. The short answer is ... not yet, but we'll have a much better idea in January.

Two Tips to Help Find What You Are Looking For in a Web Search

Do you ever do a search with Google or other search engine that turns up a promising (but long) page where you can’t seem to find a mention of your search terms? The page looks like it might be what you are looking for but you don't see where your particular subject is discussed. Here are two ways to deal with this common frustration.

Clip, crop, wow: 7 tips on using photography in PowerPoint

We put together a series of free, short, training videos to help you. Lesson 1 deals almost exclusively with adding and manipulating photos in PowerPoint.

How to Buy an MP3 Player

Even though many of us have ditched our MP3 players in favor of cell phones or tablets that can play our digital music, the dedicated portable media player (PMP) market does still exist.

How To Reduce Memory Usage in Firefox with MemoryFox

Do you use Firefox? Most of our readers do and we all know that 10 open tabs can be highly problematic for our system memory. There have been times I have seen my Firefox get close to 1.5 gigs of memory. That is just unacceptable!

Hollywood’s Attempt to Control the Internet

News stories about Hollywood interests trying to control our lives through their bought-and-sold lackeys in Congress always pushes my buttons. As always, Hollywood wants to change our fundamental rights to suite their purposes.  This bill is so controversial (the Electronic Frontier Foundation calls it "disastrous") because it would force changes to the Domain Name System and effectively create a blacklist of Internet domains suspected of intellectual property violations. Read the story and you decide.

Another interesting article in this edition is on the history of Microsoft’s major mistakes and how they have changed how the giant corporation operates. It is one of the most read articles on ZDNET in quite a while and was written by a man who knows all about the Redmond giant, Ed Bott. When he writes, I read.

There are also some helpful tools in this edition so read on and enjoy. JRC

Copyright bill controversy grows as rhetoric sharpens

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, introduced last week in the House of Representatives to the applause of lobbyists for Hollywood and other large content holders, is designed to make allegedly copyright-infringing Web sites, sometimes called "rogue" Web sites, virtually disappear from the Internet.

Google Presents Gmail, Redesigned

Gmail is getting a makeover. On Tuesday, Google announced updates to its popular e-mail service, which will be rolled out to all users but can be optionally chosen now. The changes include streamlined conversations, displays that adapt better to the screen size and type, new high-definition themes, and better navigation and search. A link in the bottom right of Gmail allows users to "switch to the new

iPhone 4S owners report dramatic battery drain

Apple's new iPhone 4S is running through its battery at a prodigious rate, according to reports on the company's own support forum. A long thread dedicated to the problem now has more than 2,300 messages, runs 160 pages and has been accessed more than 160,000 times, all huge numbers for an Apple support discussion.

A decade's worth of Windows mistakes that changed Microsoft (for better and worse)

As a longtime Microsoft-watcher, I’m as fascinated by the company’s missteps as I am by its successes. Anyone who worked at Microsoft in the first decade of the 21st Century knows the impact that those wrong turns had on the company and its culture. How the company responded to those mistakes had an indelible impact on products that are on the market today and those that are planned for the future. (A Great Article!)

How to Find Help at Microsoft for Your Computer Problems

f you want help with a Windows problem, the ultimate source is Microsoft. There is a vast accumulation of information on the Microsoft website. Unfortunately, the site is huge and keeps changing. Finding anything can be like the proverbial hunt for a needle in a haystack. To help find things on Microsoft, I have put together a short list of some Microsoft links that may make it easier to get answers when help is wanted.

Run Check Disk from Windows Explorer

Run Check Disk from Windows Explorer to Check for and fix Disk Errors. Data Corruption, no matter how up to date your OS or your hard drive is, can still occur. So you should not be one to believe that data corruption is a thing of the past. It isn’t. To address that you should use the Check Disk tool periodically to check the integrity of disks.

The 10 Best Digital Cameras

The problem with buying a digital camera is not only that there are hundreds of models for sale at any given point in time, but you also need to figure out which type of camera is right for you. The good news is that we review lots of cameras—and these 10 are among the best we've tested.

7stacks - A Free Grouping App for Your Taskbar

7stacks is an easy to use, free app that lets Windows 7 (and Vista and XP) users have “stacks” of icons in their Taskbar (in 7) or QuickLaunch Toolbar (in Vista and XP). By using stacks, users can reduce icon clutter, and combine a group of related icons into a single icon.