A Scanner for All Seasons

For serious scanning needs, Xerox’s Mobile Scanner beats a smartphone app or pocket-sized scanner.
SlimScan1 copy_ccrop

Tablets Quickly Becoming the Portable PC of Choice

By 2017 NPD expects tablet shipments to hit 424.9 million units, exceeding notebook PC shipments — for the second year in a row.
crystal_ball_prediction

Are Macs More Secure?

Walt answers a reader’s question on whether Macs are as vulnerable to viruses as PCs.

Voices

Despite Crackdowns, Sina Still Winning the Weibo Game

Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo may be in the midst of its most aggressive crackdown yet following an explosion of political rumors among users, but it is still beating Tencent in the microblogging race in China, according to a McKinsey & Co. report released this week.

Voices

Musings on Malware (Comic)

Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site.
trojan

CrowdStar No Longer Developing Social Games for Facebook

Crowdstar’s CEO Peter Relan said in an interview that the longtime social games maker is no longer developing for Facebook.
crowdstar_mobile app

Sound Kick: Solid Sound, but a Shaky Speaker

How does a $99 Bluetooth speaker stack up next to the popular Jambox?
SFQ-04 Sound Kick ANGLE iPhone Black table

Did PC Sales Just Bounce Off the Bottom? Not Quite.

After the second-worst year in the history of the PC industry, PC shipments grew slightly worldwide, but that growth depended on where you looked.
bouncing_bunny

News Byte

I’ll Take “PC Disruptors” for $500, Alex. (What Is “a Tablet”?)

More evidence pointing toward tablets disrupting the PC industry: According to a new Forrester Research survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults, 35 percent of tablet owners say they use their laptops less frequently since getting a tablet, while 45 percent have no plans to buy an e-reader now that they own a tablet. The television set is faring better, however, with just 12 percent of those surveyed saying they use their TV less frequently since getting a tablet; likely because 85 percent of tablet owners cop to using their tablets while watching TV.

HP Envy Spectre 14: A Premium Ultrabook, at a Premium Price

HP’s Ultrabook, the Envy Spectre 14, is a good-looking, fast laptop. Is it worth $1,400?
HP Envy Spectre PNG6

Apple Sold More iPads Than HP Sold PCs