November 2011
1 post
Amazon Lights the Fire With Free Books →
Amazon is giving away books, including New York Times bestsellers, for the Kindle if you’re an Amazon Prime member. It is a delightful surprise to people who signed up for Prime.
October 2011
1 post
An Android App's Answer to Siri →
SpeakToIt for Android phones works as an alternative to Siri. Sort of. She’s slow and a little bit mentally challenged. She’s less convenient than Siri, less capable, less comprehending, less…
September 2009
7 posts
Pogue Addresses Common Complaints About Tech →
My e-mail box overflows each day with reader comments and questions, and most express some form of discontent: complaints about how they’ve been treated, critiques on columns, gripes about a product,…
Taxi Tidbits and Techno-Tales →
David Pogue hosted a panel on the future of taxi technology at annual conference of the International Association of Transport Regulators. Here’s what he learned.
Apple's New Nano: Now The World's Smallest... →
Among the iPod Nano’s new features: a microphone, a speaker, an FM radio, a voice recorder, a pedometer that counts how many steps you walk or run, and a camcorder.
AT&T Relents, Drops Paging Instructions from... →
AT&T bows to public pressure and shortens its prerecorded voicemail-instruction message.
Your Favorite Uninvented Gadget →
Have a gadget that no one’s ever made? Share your genius here!
Amazon Does the Right Thing on Orwell Mess →
Amazon belatedly offers replacements for the George Orwell books it deleted from Kindle devices, or gift certificates.
Got a Burning Question? Ask the Net →
Until recently, David Pogue has been relying on Twitter for all his obscure-question-answering needs. Last week, he stumbled upon a new, better way to harness the Net for answers.
August 2009
6 posts
Tools for Twitter →
Twitter has published the specs for accessing its service so that outsiders can write their own Twitter programs - and create Web sites that access the stream of posts and add all kinds of features.
A Better Way to Manage Receipts for Business... →
I know Neat Receipts is years old, and I probably should have covered it long ago. But people, I’m willing to come right out and say it: this thing has changed my life
"Take Back the Beep" Campaign: An Update →
It’s been two weeks since I started “Take Back the Beep,” a campaign to flood the four big wireless companies with complaints. Has it had any effect on the carriers?
Is Google Voice a Threat to AT&T? →
Why would AT&T care? Because of those free text messages and cheap international calls, of course. If these apps became popular, AT&T’s revenue could take a serious hit.
Take Back the Beep 3: The Search for Justice →
Take Back the Beep continues—here’s where you can send your righteous anger to get those inane voicemail instructions eliminated.
Take Back The Beep, Part II →
The people have spoken, and spoken loudly: More reaction to the campaign to eliminate asinine voicemail instructions.
July 2009
12 posts
'Take Back the Beep' Campaign →
You don’t have to sit there, waiting to leave your message, listening to a speech recorded by a third-grade teacher on Ambien.
How to Bypass Stupid Voicemail Instructions →
Stuck listening (and paying for) inane instructions about how to leave a voicemail? Here’s how to skip past that nonsense.
The Cellphone Industry Strikes Back →
The chief executive of Verizon Wireless takes issue with my criticisms of the cellphone industry.
Goodbye Grogginess? A Watch Tries to Reduce Sleep... →
To reduce grogginess, the Sleeptracker watch tries to gently wake you up with its alarm-window concept, but its wake-me-at-the-perfect-time system won’t work for everyone
Some E-Books Are More Equal Than Others →
Amazon removed purchased e-books from Kindles when a publisher had second thoughts about online distribution.
Updates to Google Voice →
Google has taken Voice out of its private beta-testing stage, and the company is continuing to refine the service.
Making the iPhone Icons Speak →
The iPhone 3GS, which has no physical keys at all, is one of the easiest smartphones in the world for a blind person to use, thanks to an app called VoiceOver.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due (Yes, to... →
No sooner did my review of Microsoft Bing appear on the Web yesterday than the hate mail began pouring in. In general, I liked the new search service. But here’s the beefs.
When People Go M.I.A. on Twitter →
How to find people who seem to have vanished from Twitter.
The Wattage Riddle →
Why do the labels on many electronic products omit the wattage?
The Kindle DX: Bigger, but With a Lot of Footnotes →
If you weren’t thrilled by the regular Kindle, then the new, supersized Kindle DX isn’t going to change your mind.
Why Do Adobe Flash Videos Slow Down? →
Web videos played on Adobe’s Flash player have a weird tendency to slow up during playback. What’s that all about?
June 2009
9 posts
What's in Pogue's Travel Bag? Literally. →
I travel a ridiculous amount, so I’ve thought a lot about, and spent a lot of time refining, what I carry and how I carry it. It starts with a Timbuk2 bike-messenger bag.
Pogue's Productivity Secrets Revealed →
David Pogue writes two columns, a video, and several blog posts per week; he churns out five books a year, and dozens of speaking engagements. Here aresome of the tools he uses to help manage his…
How Much It Costs to Upgrade to an iPhone 3G S →
AT&T has put together a plan to let existing iPhone 3G owners upgrade to the new 3G S. It’s complicated, but it’s not—as some have suggested—nonsensically evil.
Sharing a MacBook's Internet Connection →
It looked as if a smartphone was out of range and out of luck, until inspiration struck.
How They Shrank the Mac OS →
The new version, code-named Snow Leopard, is all about fine-tuning and optimization.
Snow Leopard Takes a Page From the App Store... →
Apple intends to charge current Leopard owners $29 for the Snow Leopard version. The company sells millions of copies of Mac OS X. So why on earth would it leave so much money on the table?
Pogue on the Latest From Apple's Big Show →
Lots of little things out of Apple’s big industryshow-and-tell today. Here’s what it all means for consumers.
Questions From Readers About the Palm Pre →
I’m already being bombarded by questions for further information about the Palm Pre, from You, the Readers.
Another Pre Innovation: The Touchstone Charging... →
Palm’s optional Touchstone charging stand takes the cables and jacks out of a daily ritual.
May 2009
13 posts
The MP3 Experiment →
Last Saturday, Improv Everywhere staged its sixth annual MP3 Experiment, and it was open to anyone who wanted to play along. My son and I did.
Flatten the Raised Numbers on Credit Cards? →
Tell us please, credit card issuers, why are the numbers on the cards raised and illegible?
Typing-Expansion Software →
Over the years, as I recognize more words that I type often, I’ve built up quite a list with hundreds of abbreviations.
An Update on How I'm Liking My Honda Fit →
After several months of ownership, David updates his assessment of his latest car, the Honda Fit.
Online, Meter Is Running, But How Would You Know? →
Why isn’t there a simpler way to see how much data you’re sending over the Internet?
Personal Hotspots →
The CradlePoint PHS300 Personal Hotspot may have been first to the battery-powered Wi-Fi racket - but it’s been lapped by the MiFi in size, price, battery life, simplicity and beauty.
Great Videos in Any Language →
Videos from the TED conference now feature an ingenious crowd-sourced translation tool.
Plasma's Prospects →
Taking a second look at the premise that plasma TV is on the way out.
More on Verizon Wireless' MiFi →
Continued discussion about Verizon Wireless’ MiFi portable Wi-Fi hotspot.
The Culture of the Internet →
What, exactly, is the syllabus for Internet culture? What are the videos and memes do you have to know to qualify as a Web-savvy person?
A Product Manual Actually Worth Reading →
T-Mobile’s quick-start guide has an interesting and compelling new feature: humor.
You Can't Spell "Bad" Without Spelling "Ad" →
Why do some Internet advertisers think that that best way to get our attention is to annoy and deceive us?
Free Wi-Fi for Cablevision Subscribers? Yep. →
Subscribers to Cablevision’s Optimum Online service can access various Wi-Fi hotspots for free.
April 2009
14 posts
Panasonic's Lumix GH1: The Footnotes →
More on Panasonic’s Lumix GH1, the second Micro Four Thirds camera - a format intended to place an S.L.R.-sized sensor into a smaller body.