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The Streak 7: Bargain Tablet From Dell Is No Real Deal

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on February 9, 2011 at 6:01 pm PT

Dell’s Streak 7 is the least expensive tablet from a major manufacturer and claims to be the first capable of 4G cellular speeds, but the compromises made to get the price down make it impossible to recommend.

Motorola Goes After Apple’s iPad in Super Bowl Teaser Spot for Xoom Tablet

Ina Fried in Mobile on January 31, 2011 at 2:34 pm PT

Aiming to turn the tables on Apple, Motorola is trying to pitch its upcoming Xoom tablet as an alternative to the dominant computing culture–the same tactic Apple once used against IBM.

Tablets Flying Fast and Furious at CES

Ina Fried in Mobile on January 5, 2011 at 5:00 pm PT

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show figured to be the year of the tablet, and so far it hasn’t disappointed. Motorola, Samsung and LG all announced new slates on Thursday, adding to a growing list of aspiring iPad rivals.

Google TV: No Need to Tune In Just Yet

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on November 17, 2010 at 6:07 pm PT

Google TV, the latest attempt to integrate Web video and regular TV, is a bold effort, but it is ultimately too complicated for mainstream use.

Google Open Sources VP8 Video Codec. Will Apple, Microsoft and Intel Use It?

John Paczkowski in News on May 19, 2010 at 10:36 am PT

Google’s plan to open-source the VP8 video codec has been rumored ever since the company acquired its developer, On2, in August 2009. After all, in the press release detailing the acquisition, Google clearly stated that “video compression technology should be a part of the Web platform.” So it’s no surprise that the company announced an open-source, royalty-free video format based on VP8 at its I/O conference Wednesday. What is surprising is the level of industry support Google has already rounded up for it.

Cisco's SlideHD Debuts: A Video Encounter of the Flip Kind

Kara Swisher in News on April 12, 2010 at 9:01 pm PT

Tonight, Cisco unveiled the latest version in its popular and innovative Flip digital video camera line, the SlideHD. The new device, which can record up to four hours of HD video and store up to 12 hours of content, has a dramatic slide-up touchscreen and a slide navigation bar. Here’s a video of BoomTown’s old Flips meeting the new kid in town.

Windows Phone 7 Series Even More Impressive Than Previously Thought

John Paczkowski in News on March 15, 2010 at 10:55 am PT

Microsoft added a bit more to its Windows Phone 7 Series story at its MIX10 event this morning, revealing some of the mobile operating system’s features and detailing how developers can write software for it. While it’s obviously far too early to make any big declarations about it, the OS certainly seems competitive–and compelling.

The Entire BoomTown Video of the Mossberg-Jobs Chit-Chat at Apple iPad Launch!

Kara Swisher in News on January 29, 2010 at 9:03 pm PT

A video BoomTown posted earlier this week–following around my All Things Digital partner, Walt Mossberg, at the launch of the Apple iPad–has gotten an awful lot of attention, due to a little over two minutes of him kibitzing about the device with CEO Steve Jobs. Since that section of my longer video was in the middle, I decided to put all the Jobs clips I had together, all done in my usual shaky spycam style.