Consumer electronics

Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 digital camera

The Lumix GF2 is a good compact interchangeable-lens camera, but its touchscreen interface is inefficient

Kobo Wireless eReader

The Kobo Wireless eReader offers better performance, but screen refresh and speed remain issues

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consumer electronics in pictures

The seven coolest PC cases at Computex 2015

Desktop PCs may be yesterday's technology, but that doesn't mean they can't be slicker than the latest smartphones.

Once again, Google I/O was held at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, May 28 and 29. As Google's annual confab for third-party developers, engineers from across the world attended the show to hear about Google's latest products and services. This year, Google revealed, among other services, Android Pay, a new way to purchase items in brick-and-mortar stores using Android smartphones; a developer preview of "M," the next version of the Android operating system; Brillo, a new OS based on Android to control devices in the home and let them talk to each other; and a new photo sharing app called Google Photos.

In Pictures: The wacky side of Ceatec

Sandwiched between the IFA and CES electronics trade shows, Japan's Ceatec is fighting to stay relevant. But while the number of vendors at this year's Ceatec was down to 547 from 587 last year, with the notable absence of Sony, there was no shortage of unusual sights and exhibits. From sign-language androids to smartphone-controlled dinosaurs and table tennis robots, here's a look at the wacky site of the technology expo just outside of Tokyo

Who is Xiaomi? A pictorial look at China's hottest smartphone maker

The 'little rice' that could

News about consumer electronics

JB Hi-Fi reaches $2bn revenue mark for 2016 half-year results

Consumer electronics retailer, JB Hi-Fi (JBH), has reported a revenue of $2.12 billion for its 2016 half-year results ending December 31, 2015. In a statement on the ASX, the company said its net profit after tax (NPAT) comes up to $95.2 million for ...

News Feb 08
Toshiba rolls out activity trackers for seniors

Toshiba is rolling out two activity trackers that can help caregivers monitor seniors remotely.

News Aug 17
Puerto Rico is out as Project Ara's first test market, but Google isn't nixing the program

Google has scrapped plans to use Puerto Rico as the initial test market for its Project Ara modular-smartphone initiative, but interested developers and DIYers need not despair. The company apparently intends to continue to develop the program.

News Aug 15
Court denies Samsung request for rehearing in Apple patent case

A U.S. appeals court has denied Samsung Electronics' request for a rehearing in a smartphone patent infringement case that awarded rival Apple US$548 million.

News Aug 15
Consumers win as Android vendors struggle

Staff cuts at Lenovo and HTC, a failed patch from Google, and Samsung's latest flagship smartphones all highlight how tricky selling Android smartphones has become.

News Aug 15

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Tutorials about consumer electronics

How to change the voice on your Android phone

Changing the voice used for navigation on an Android phone from robotic to something more natural is easy, but buried in the menus.

Tutorials May 14
How to jailbreak your iPhone

Jailbreaking--the process that enables you to install unauthorized-by-Apple third-party apps and additional features on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad--has been in a largely dormant state since the release of iOS 6. But it's back again.

Tutorials Feb 19
Bugs & Fixes: iPhone fails to pair to Bluetooth device

Last September, a new thread in Apple Support Communities briefly noted that a user was unable to get his iPhone 5 to pair with other Bluetooth devices. As it turned out, he was not alone. Cut to the present: this thread is now 29 pages long, with se...

Tutorials Feb 15
iPhone speaker not working? How to fix glitch in iOS 6.1

The iOS 6.1 update fixes some bugs, but also introduces brand new ones, like potentially crippling your iPhone’s built-in speaker.

Tutorials Feb 05
Control your TV with your smartphone, tablet

Using your smartphone or tablet to control your Tivo box is easy and offers a lot of flexibility in recording shows and channel surfing.

Tutorials Jan 22

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Features about consumer electronics

What's the future for Windows Phone?

Despite rumors that Microsoft is about to kill Windows Phone, some industry observers say that's unlikely for several reasons, especially the expected gains from the rollout of Windows 10, which will run on smartphones and other devices.

Features Jul 01
5 reasons you're going to want Apple's next iPhone

Apple is cooking up such an iPhone upgrade path, with a wave of rumors warning the next iteration will be faster, thinner, and possibly even curvier than before.

Features Jun 23
The LG G4: Three things right, three things wrong

This week the G4 smartphone from LG Electronics starts shipping outside its home country, with arrivals in the U.S. and Europe expected in a couple of weeks. While the smartphone has a great screen and camera, it doesn't get everything right.

Features May 19
What happens when computer science conferences go Gangnam Style

Those who hand out the Ig Nobel prizes, awarded for the most outlandish scientific research, would do well to check up on CHI.

Features Apr 25
6 things Galaxy Note 4 does that iPhone 6 can't

I'm a two-smartphone kind of guy. My current smartphones of choice: The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Apple iPhone 6.

Features Nov 06