Personal Technology

Real Bonding With Family Around the TV Via Skype

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on January 25 at 6:03 pm PT

Tely Labs’ telyHD turns Skype video chats into room-size experiences, involving whole families or groups of friends on each end—seeing each other, chatting and sharing photos in high definition using TVs instead of computers.

Talk Is Cheap and Reliable on Nokia’s $50 Phone

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on January 18 at 6:03 pm PT

Walt reviews Nokia’s Lumia 710, the $50 device that gets the most common smartphone tasks done for a bargain price.

Working in Word, Excel, PowerPoint on an iPad

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on January 11 at 6:04 pm PT

Walt reviews an app that brings the full, genuine Windows versions of the key Office productivity apps — Word, Excel and PowerPoint — to the iPad.

Diabetic Tester That Talks to iPhones and Doctors

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on January 4 at 6:10 pm PT

Telcare’s new diabetes meter offers built-in wireless technology to transmit readings to an online database.

Year of the Talking Phone and a Cloud That Got Hot

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on December 21, 2011 at 6:04 pm PT

Important new products and services—including Ultrabooks, cloud computing and Android devices—raised questions and anticipation for the year ahead.

Ultrabooks Bring Speed and Light to Windows

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on December 14, 2011 at 6:03 pm PT

The Ultrabook combines low weight with good speed and battery life.

Solid Keyboard Elevates This Tablet, Though Software Lags

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on December 7, 2011 at 6:03 pm PT

The Android-based Transformer Prime tablet has a sturdy keyboard and dock, and is the first tablet to use a potent new processor called the Tegra 3. But it is weak on software and offers limited apps.

Digital Music Meets Its Match in Apple iCloud

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on November 30, 2011 at 6:03 pm PT

Apple’s iTunes Match is a cloud-computing service that stores all your song files in a high-quality format without making you upload them first.

Kindle Fire, A Grown-Up E-Reader With Tablet Spark

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on November 15, 2011 at 3:28 pm PT

The Kindle Fire adds a multifunction color tablet to Amazon’s popular line of monochrome Kindle e-readers. It is a good value. It doesn’t just add color to the Kindle, it adds a robust ability to store and stream music, TV shows and movies—and a weaker ability to store and display color photos.

A Guide for PC Buyers Not Looking for a Tablet

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on November 9, 2011 at 6:02 pm PT

Walt’s annual fall laptop buyers’ guide offers tips for wading through the technobabble involved in buying a computer.