In early battles for dominance of the PC market, Microsoft’s component-based platform crushed Apple’s end-to-end model. But in today’s post-PC era, where the focus is on music players, game consoles and cellphones, the end-to-end model is the early winner.
Verizon’s new Chocolate cellphone is designed as a music player first and was crafted to look like an Apple iPod. But it’s burdened by a ham-handed user interface and other failings, Walt Mossberg says.
LG’s new combo player can handle both new formats vying to replace DVDs — Blu-ray and HD-DVD. At $1,200, it’s only for videophiles with deep pockets, but Walt hopes it’s the start of a trend that will end the DVD format war.
Walt Mossberg tests out the new smart phone from Helio. He finds the Ocean has an elegant solution to the common design problem of how to optimize smart phones both for making voice calls and for email and Web surfing.
Walt reviews Linux’s relatively slick Ubuntu variation and finds the alternative operating system too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users. (Video)
Forrester Research imagines the Apple products of 2013 in a new report. Their conclusion: While much of Apple’s great successes have been mobile products, the company will seek to colonize rooms throughout the home.
Guest columnist Nick Wingfield is filling in this week for Walt Mossberg, who returns June 5.
Hewlett-Packard is rolling out a new TouchSmart, a desktop computer with touch-controlled software. The hardware and software are better. It’s attractive, more versatile and fun to use. But the latest effort still has some problems.
Edited by Walt and written by Katie Boehret, this is a guide to gadgets, web services and other consumer technologies.
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