Walt reviews the hotly anticipated BlackBerry Storm, the first BlackBerry model without a physical keyboard. Typing and navigation require tapping on glass, just as users do on the iPhone. Verizon will be selling the Storm for $250 with a two-year contract, though a $50 mail-in rebate can bring the price down close to the $199 that Apple charges for the base model of the iPhone.
Netflix was a pioneer in the business of movie rentals — getting consumers to rent DVDs online and mailing them out in cheery red envelopes. Recently, it has put a lot of effort into a service that delivers movies digitally over the Internet to subscribers, preparing for a day when getting movies on a physical disc will become outmoded.
Palm’s Pre is smart, sophisticated and will appeal to those who want a keyboard. It could give the iPhone and Blackberry strong competition — if it fixes its app store and can attract third-party developers.
Apple’s new iPhone 3G S and OS 3.0 offer plenty of new features. But the software may be enough of a boost to keep many users from buying the new model, Walt Mossberg writes.
More electronic products are being designed with their rechargeable batteries sealed inside. Walt Mossberg tests two new Apple laptops with higher-capacity, sealed-in batteries.
Cake Premium may be a helpful tool in confusing times. But its limitations make it an incomplete solution that’s no threat to a really good, honest investment adviser, writes Walt Mossberg.
Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system improves upon its predecessor, writes Walt Mossberg. But it isn’t a big breakthrough for average users, and it isn’t a typical Apple lust-provoking product.
Edited by Walt and written by Katie Boehret, this is a guide to gadgets, web services and other consumer technologies.
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