Google to conquer e-mail overload

Google has updated Gmail with a feature that aims to reduce information overload in e-mail inboxes.

Called priority inbox it automatically grades e-mail into four categories: important, important and unread, starred items and everything else.

Xbox 360 New controller unveiled

Microsoft will be offering up a new Xbox 360 wireless controller starting this fall that features an adjustable directional-control pad (D-pad).

Six Things Google's Free Phone Service Can't Do (and One It Does Very Well)

Google began rolling out a new feature on Wednesday to users of its browser-based Gmail service that lets them make phone calls over the Internet directly from their computer.
If they already use Gmail, an enticing Call Phones button will appear onscreen when they check their inboxes. All they need to do is click the button.

Apple Mac Pro MC560LL/A

Amazon.com: Apple Mac Pro MC560LL/A: Computer & Accessories

Scheme to 'pull electricity from the air' sparks debate

Tiny charges gathered directly from humid air could be harnessed to generate electricity, researchers say.

Google Call phones from Gmail

Google entered a new business beyond Internet search on Wednesday with a service within Gmail to make phone calls over the Web to landlines or cellphones.

Apple's 99¢ iTunes TV rentals

In a move that could further popularize online and mobile video, Apple's iTunes store this fall may begin renting TV programming to viewers for 99 cents per episode, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone Price: $0.01 & eligible for FREE Super Saver

Amazon.com: BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone (AT&T): Cell Phones & Service

How to 'undo' an ill-advised Gmail message

Ever have that sick-to-your-stomach, "Oh crap!" moment after sending an e-mail?

Did you get immediate second thoughts about that e-mail rant to your ex? Was that blistering message supposed to be about your boss -- not to your boss?

An Easy Way to Share iPhone Photos Online

Picplz, a low-profile photo sharing start-up from the founders of Imeem, expanded its reach Monday with the introduction of an iPhone app.

Picplz is like a visual Twitter. People can post cellphone photos that are tagged with location and create a stream of photos and optional short captions. The photos appear on Picplz.com and people can also post them to Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.

Data on Demand Is an Opportunity

The real-time Web is a bit of a chaotic mess.

Each minute, hundreds, if not thousands, of tweets, links, likes, status updates and their ilk stampede through our collective feeds.



Of course, that isn’t to say there isn’t valuable and timely information embedded in that deluge – if you’re lucky to catch it. The constant churn makes it challenging to store and sift through the bits and pieces of information worth remembering.



Is there a better way to harness it?



If so, Brian Ascher, a partner at Venrock, a noted venture capital firm in Palo Alto, Calif., wants to invest in it.



“The whole point of social media is that we trust our friends, our network for answers to questions, recommendations, information needs,” he said. “Social media can contain the answer. There is value in all the stuff being shared, if you can find it.”



In short, he said, the key concept is data on demand:



“I think its going to be more appealing to a mass audience wondering why do I care where you check-in or what you’re doing. It might yield the answer to a question you have about where to go three months from now.”



For example, it’s great to read a tweet or see a status update that one of your tech-savvy friends loves his or her new digital camera. But it’d be even more handy to have that information when you’re wandering around in Best Buy looking at cameras or browsing Amazon online.



So how does one go about building such a service?



“We haven’t seen the answer yet,” admitted Mr. Ascher. “It’s a technology challenge to source those bits of information back to the user using the social graph.”



The idea was first floated before entrepreneurs at Chirp, a conference for Twitter developers, by a colleague of Mr. Ascher’s.



Though they still haven’t come across the ideal right-time upstart to invest in yet, “a bunch of people are chipping away at it,” said Mr. Ascher.



“It’s still not clear whether or not this will all be useful to people,” he said. “Even if you could individually save the good stuff, your perception of what is good changes constantly. It also puts all the work on you.”



Even so, “the challenge of matching the right information to people has gotten a lot easier,” he said. “It’s a very powerful new area of technology.”





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How to create a 'super password'

(Want to keep your online data secure? You may need a
12-character password, researchers say) 

Say goodbye to those wimpy, eight-letter passwords.

The 12-character era of online security is upon us, according to a report published this week by the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Learn how to deploy iphone in your business.

Integrate, secure, and deploy iPhone within your enterprise. Connect seamlessly to Microsoft Exchange and standards-based servers for corporate email, calendar, and contacts.

How to Automate Your Twitter Follower List

By Paul Boutin

If you have a Twitter account, you’ll inevitably begin getting notices from the service that you’re being followed by people you’ve never heard of. Should you follow them back?

A Chip That Digests Data and Calculates the Odds

Complex as they may seem, traditional computers deal in a simple art. They rely on tiny switches that turn on and off, producing the streams of ones and zeros that software eventually translates into something meaningful to a human.

Chinese iPod gadget aims to skin Apple

Have you ever wished that your iPod Touch was an iPhone? Now it can be, thanks to a new device called the "Apple Peel 520" and created by a Chinese company.

Pretenders to the iPad throne

Pretenders to the iPad throne, the return of an anti-hero and jargon translated.

• Apple's iPad has done quite well. But its time in the sun is about to be over-shadowed by the pullulating mass of tablets soon to be unleashed on unsuspecting gadget fans.

5 'persuasive' technologies to help you be good

Information is power, but does information -- by itself -- actually make people change their behavior?

Not often, says BJ Fogg, director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University.

Star Trek Online: Free Download for PC

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Apple - iPhone - Learn about apps available

The apps that come with your iPhone are just the beginning. Browse the App Store to find hundreds of thousands more,
all designed specifically for iPhone.

A new 'indie' genre: iPhone 4 filmmaking

Ryan Gonzalez really wanted to make a music video for his first solo album -- but like many independent artists, he had no budget.

Docks for Apple Gadgets Help a Business Thrive

In the 1950s and 1960s, Realtone Electronics made transistor radios, one of the must-have gadgets of the era.

Ezra S. Ashkenazi, the president of SDI Technologies, with the iA100, the company's first product compatible with the iPad tablet computer. It is to go on sale later this year for $199.

Executive Leaves Apple After iPhone Antenna Troubles

Mark Papermaster, the Apple executive in charge of hardware for the company’s flagship iPhone, has left the company in the wake of widely reported problems with the antenna of the recently introduced iPhone 4.

Electronics Designers Struggle With Form, Function and Obsolescence

Sorry, Steve Jobs, I owe you a new iPhone.

For the past few weeks I’ve been using a loaner iPhone 4 from Apple. As most reviewers have pointed out, the silky smooth glass front and back makes the phone an object that is a pleasure to hold.

BlackBerry releases touchscreen phone

Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) officially unveiled its latest smartphone Tuesday, a new touchscreen model with a slide-out keyboard designed to challenge Apple's iPhone, but analysts questioned whether the Torch is innovative enough to woo consumers.



(RIM releases new BlackBerry Torch, but is it enough to compete with the iPhone?)



The new BlackBerry will be released in the United States next week for $199 on a two-year contract, while Bell (TSX:BCE), Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) and Telus (TSX:T.A) all say they plan to offer it in Canada. Rogers was the most specific about its plans, saying a release will take place "in the coming weeks."



The phone is packed with consumer-friendly features, including built-in links to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to appeal to users who have been frustrated by typing on touchscreen keypads.



The Torch is the first BlackBerry to operate off RIM's new operating system, software that modernizes how the phones connect to the web and handle multimedia. The latest web browser supports tabs to view multiple sites and is designed to automatically format text for easiest reading. A new multimedia feature allows users to wirelessly access their iTunes library over Wi-Fi and download songs to a BlackBerry.



The new operating system will also work with some BlackBerrys already on the market, including the Bold 9700, Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G.

Analysts say Tuesday's news is a significant step forward for the company and keeps alive hopes to compete in the consumer smartphone market. But Research in Motion wasn't able to go a step further than Apple and really "wow" with its announcement, said Mark Tauschek, research director for Info-Tech Research Group.



"The actual device I think looks pretty good, and from a functionality perspective I think BlackBerry OS 6 has nice improvements - basically mixing the touchscreen capabilities of a BlackBerry Storm with a traditional BlackBerry will be compelling to some," Tauschek said.



But he questioned whether it's good enough to really stand out in a crowded market.



"I think time will tell but my inclination is it maybe is not. It's a tough row to hoe for RIM to keep up with the iPhone 4 and some of the pretty compelling Android devices we're seeing as well."



Ian Lee, MBA director at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business, is a self-professed BlackBerry user and said he too had mixed feelings about the announcement. He acknowledged RIM has made good progress in making the BlackBerry appeal more to consumers but said it's still at risk of being left behind.



"Today's product launch was absolutely crucial in trying to turn around the decline in the market share that's occurring right now," he said.



"I'm sure it's bigger and better and faster and more powerful but at most they caught up today to Apple's iPhone and I'm not sure they even caught up."



Lee had hoped the Torch would be as awe-inspiring as the original BlackBerry devices.



"It was cutting edge when it first came out and it grabbed everyone's attention, it was the 'it' technology. But they've ceded that title - really, to be brutally blunt - to Apple's iPhone and the BlackBerry is no longer seen to have that aura about it.



"When BlackBerry came out you thought it was magic, and it was magic, but Apple has raised the bar on the magic quotient."



A study released Monday by the Nielsen Company suggested that while Research in Motion still leads the way with market share in the United States - with 35 per cent of smartphone subscribers, versus 28 per cent for Apple, 15 per cent for Microsoft Windows Mobile phones and 13 per cent for Android phones - customer loyalty was a growing issue.



About 90 per cent of iPhone users had no intentions of switching, but 29 per cent of BlackBerry users were considering an iPhone and another 21 per cent were thinking about an Android phone. Only 42 per cent were leaning towards sticking with another BlackBerry.



Lee has a contract about to expire and isn't sure which phone he'll buy next.



"I'm sitting on the fence right now and I do not know yet which way I'm going to go," he said.



"I've been very pleased with my BlackBerry in the past because of the instantaneous email, I've used it around the world - I used it in China and Europe roaming and in Dubai - but there's so much more functionality with Apple.



"There's a lot of neat features with Apple that I don't have."



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The Canadian Press

Windows 7 passes Vista – Can it challenge the iPad?

It has been a matter of when, not if, Windows 7 would pass Vista in usage market share, and that day has arrived (see below). Windows 7 has been somewhat redemptive for Microsoft.

Mobile SEO Tips

With the increasing use of mobile and non-traditional browsing among consumers, a unique opportunity exists for brands to interact with customers in more ways than ever.

Google Vs Bing: Who is winning?

Google is one of the smartest, most innovative companies in the world, but in its core business -- online search -- it's being routinely shown up by Microsoft's third-place search engine, Bing.

Microsoft to releases security patch for shortcut bug

Microsoft is issuing an urgent security update to fix a flaw in the way Windows handles shortcuts.

The bug means that attackers can craft booby-trapped shortcuts that allow them to take over a target computer.

Apple: Antenna Design and Test Labs

Every smartphone has a cellular antenna. And nearly every smartphone can lose signal strength if you hold it in a certain way. To make sure our antennas work as well as they possibly can,