Profile of Thomas Claburn

Editor-at-Large Member Since: 11/15/2013
Author
News & Commentary Posts: 4085
Comments: 974 Thomas Claburn has been writing about business and technology since 1996, for publications such as New Architect, PC Computing, InformationWeek, Salon, Wired, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. Before that, he worked in film and television, having earned a not particularly useful master's degree in film production. He wrote the original treatment for 3DO's Killing Time, a short story that appeared in On Spec, and the screenplay for an independent film called The Hanged Man, which he would later direct. He's the author of a science fiction novel, Reflecting Fires, and a sadly neglected blog, Lot 49. His iPhone game, Blocfall, is available through the iTunes App Store. His wife is a talented jazz singer; he does not sing, which is for the best.

iCloud Apps Welcome Windows, Not Android

2/28/2015
Pages, Keynote, and Numbers are now accessible to Windows users, even if they don't also have an Apple device.
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Net Neutrality Rules Pass, FCC Readies For Fight

2/26/2015
The decision to reclassify ISPs under FCC regulations represents a triumph for open Internet activists.
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Google AI Teaches Itself Atari Video Games

2/26/2015
Using a single learning algorithm, Google's AI agent has developed its video game skills to the point where it can beat most human players in dozens of different games.
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Android For Work Brings Google To The Office

2/25/2015
The company aims to make Android better suited to the demands of businesses.
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Pebble Sets Kickstarter Record As Apple Watch Approaches

2/25/2015
A crowdfunded startup aims to hold its own amid an increasingly competitive smartwatch market.
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Mobile Apps Remain Vulnerable For Months

2/24/2015
Developers are failing to respond quickly to reports of security flaws, Trojans are infecting corporate devices at an alarming rate, and even mundane data about your device's power consumption could threaten your privacy.
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Google Inbox Goes To Work

2/23/2015
Google Apps for Work customers will soon be able to try Inbox by Gmail.
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Apple Car: Drive Different

2/21/2015
Apple is serious about entering the auto market. Here's our less-than-serious take on what the press release might look like announcing this magical vehicle.
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Lenovo Superfish Adware Excuses Are Lame

2/19/2015
Lenovo is downplaying the installation of Superfish adware on its notebook PCs. Here's why we think business and consumer users deserve better.
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Tesla Battery Looks To Disrupt Home, Office Power Consumption

2/19/2015
Tesla Motors' plans to introduce a battery that can be used for home and office energy storage lends credence to a burgeoning industry that is transforming the way we consume power.
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Sony Smart Glasses: Not So Smart?

2/18/2015
Google Glass flopped as a consumer product. Sony's take on smart glasses doesn't look much different.
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Obama, Tim Cook, Others Debate Sharing Cyber Security Data

2/14/2015
The Obama White House wants more effective sharing of cyber security data between the public and private sectors. Despite some snubs, Apple's Tim Cook spoke at a special summit on the issue.
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Apple Watch: 11 Sweet Gadgets To Buy Instead

2/9/2015
The Apple Watch is coming soon. Lovely though it may be, there are other nifty devices to consider instead.
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Ubuntu Smartphone: Small Player Debuts In A Big Game

2/7/2015
Following a failed crowdfunding effort, Canonical is ready to release the first smartphone based on its popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. Can it compete against the likes of Apple iPhone and Android devices?
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FCC Net Neutrality Salvo: Reclassify Broadband Providers

2/4/2015
Wheeler's proposed rules would classify broadband providers as common carriers, meaning they would be subject to the same open access rules that currently regulate telecommunications companies.
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White House Revises Rules For Intelligence Gathering

2/3/2015
Intelligence agencies like the NSA face data-retention limits and privacy training.
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The Value Of IT In The 'We Economy'

2/2/2015
Accenture sees the boundaries between industries dissolving as connected devices proliferate. How will this change the value proposition for IT in your organization?
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Social Media Betrays Your Credit Card Activity: Study

1/31/2015
Using time and location data culled from social media posts or other sources, researchers say they can identify your purchases from amongst anonymized transaction data.
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Artificial Intelligence Will Put Us Out Of Work

1/30/2015
Forget killer robots. Widespread unemployment is the worst case scenario for humans in the AI future.
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Spire Readies Satellite Swarm

1/29/2015
To bridge an anticipated gap in weather satellite coverage, Spire intends to launch 100 satellites the size of wine bottles.
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FCC: Stop Blocking Personal WiFi

1/28/2015
Great news for travelers: Hotels and other businesses cannot interfere with your personal WiFi hotspot.
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Apple iPhones Drive Record Earnings

1/27/2015
About 74.5 million people bought iPhones during the last three months of 2014.
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FTC Seeks Internet Of Things Rules

1/27/2015
More responsible business practices and new laws are needed to make the Internet of Things viable, the FTC says.
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Cablevision's Freewheel Promises Inexpensive WiFi Calling

1/26/2015
By bypassing cellular networks, Cablevision aims to woo budget-conscious mobile customers.
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Ford Opens Palo Alto Research Center

1/24/2015
The company's focus on mobility has led it to expand its presence in Silicon Valley.
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BlackBerry CEO: Net Neutrality For Mobile Apps

1/22/2015
CEO John Chen is asking legislators to expand the definition of net neutrality to ensure an open mobile app ecosystem. Irony, anyone?
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Ford Mobility Plan Searches For Growth Beyond Cars

1/22/2015
The automaker has 25 experiments aimed at "enabling mobility," anticipating cities that become too crowded for more cars.
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Password Fail: Are Your Workers Using 123456?

1/20/2015
The 25 worst passwords of 2014 demonstrate once again that people just can't be bothered to take responsibility for their online security.
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Google Glass Killed: For Now

1/16/2015
The Google Glass Explorer Program is shutting down for now, but this isn't the end of the company's plans for Glass or wearable computing.
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Verizon Wireless Customers Face 'Zombie Cookies'

1/15/2015
Cookie files placed on the phones of Verizon Wireless customers by the ad company Turn return to life even after they've been deleted.
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Google Project Ara: 8 Dev Conference Images

1/14/2015
Do people want modular smartphones that let them swap out components as they break or become boring? Google's Project Ara is banking on it.
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Google Domains Service Opens For Business

1/14/2015
US residents can now purchase and manage Internet domains through Google.
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Apple Is Not Charlie

1/14/2015
Apple seems blind to the irony of selling an app that supports free speech when it does not do the same.
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Microsoft Protests Bug Disclosure By Google

1/12/2015
After Google discloses Win 8.1 vulnerability two days prior to planned patch, Microsoft argues in favor of vulnerability publication schedules.
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CES 2015: 11 Peeks Into The Future

1/10/2015
Motorized skates, 3D-printed food, e-socks: The future, whether we need it or not, is here.
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Google Experiments With New Spectrum Opportunities

1/8/2015
Google's research on Citizen Broadband Service Radios could change the competitive landscape for Internet service providers.
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CES 2015: Internet Of Things Not All Shiny

1/6/2015
As CES 2015 gets underway, the Internet of Things takes center stage. Or should we say the Internet of Monitoring?
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10 Threats Worse Than Artificial Intelligence

12/30/2014
Killer robots and malicious computers may keep technical geniuses up at night, but we need more artificial intelligence to keep natural stupidity in check.
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CES 2015: Year Of The What?

12/29/2014
Will 2015 be the Year of the Outrageously Expensive TV, or just another Year of Incremental Improvements in Technology?
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Microsoft Gains Allies Against US Data Demands

12/15/2014
Several dozen companies, trade groups, and computer scientists agree that Microsoft should not have to provide data stored in Ireland when presented with a US search warrant.
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Web Becomes Less Free

12/12/2014
Censorship, lack of privacy, and other ills threaten the health of the Web, says World Wide Web Foundation.
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Google News Will Shut Down In Spain

12/11/2014
A Spanish law that takes effect in January will require payments for including article snippets in Google News, and Google says the price is too high.
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Intel Launches Internet Of Things Platform

12/10/2014
Chipmaker wants to shape the way Internet-connected devices are designed, deployed, and managed.
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Forrester: Wearables Interest Businesses More Than Consumers

12/10/2014
Companies see wearables as tools to improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience, Forrester report says.
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Google In 2015: 11 Predictions

12/10/2014
Forget "peak Google." The year ahead will bring slower but continued expansion and diversification.
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Amazon Invites Haggling Over Some Prices

12/9/2014
Amazon's "Make an Offer" option lets potential buyers of collectibles negotiate how much they will pay.
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Google Android Studio 1.0 Packs Appeal

12/9/2014
Android developers have a new integrated development environment for creating apps.
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9 Implausible Tech Products For 2015

12/9/2014
Technology sometimes pushes the boundaries of usefulness and good taste. We're pushing back with these nine outrageous (and bogus) products due out in 2015.
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Google Cloud Platform Supports Windows Workloads

12/8/2014
By opening up to Windows workloads, Google Cloud Platform becomes an option for businesses committed to Microsoft software.
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Senate Bill Prohibits Government-Mandated Backdoors

12/5/2014
Bill represents a response to government officials who want a way to bypass encryption in technology products.
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Google Gives Raise To Top Partner Companies

12/4/2014
By revising its partner program, Google hopes to better accommodate the needs of business customers.
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Google Gets Better At Spotting Humans

12/3/2014
Google's revised reCAPTCHA test promises to help website users solve security puzzles faster -- unless they are using a browser's private mode or some other privacy measure.
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Google Glass With Intel Inside: Form Must Trump Fashion

12/2/2014
Glass ultimately deserves to be deconstructed. Google's biggest mistake was fusing several technologies that should be separate clip-on hardware modules into a single, inflexible form factor.
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Google Breakup: Wrong Answer To EU Antitrust Concerns

12/1/2014
Market forces will achieve better results than the European Parliament's proposal to separate Google Search from the rest of the company.
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Americans Flunk Internet History

11/26/2014
Pew Research finds gaps in what people understand about the technology they use daily.
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T-Mobile To Disclose Skewed Speed Tests

11/25/2014
Following an FCC inquiry, T-Mobile plans to be more transparent about how it alters the way its network appears in certain speed tests.
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Drones Fitted For Regulatory Collar

11/24/2014
Federal Aviation Administration rules reportedly will require pilot certification to fly unmanned aircraft systems for commercial purposes.
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Ghostery Makes Privacy Marketable

11/24/2014
Service that blocks Web tracking code turns out to be good for business, too.
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Marketers Should Look Beyond Facebook, Twitter

11/21/2014
Build social engagement around your own website, Forrester recommends.
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Tweets Tell Whether You Have A Job

11/20/2014
Twitter data mining could provide governments with an alternative means of measuring unemployment, researchers say.
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Firefox Drops Google For Yahoo Search

11/20/2014
Mozilla takes up with new Firefox search partners that it believes are better aligned with its values of choice and independence.
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Apple WatchKit: 6 Facts

11/20/2014
Apple's WatchKit, the initial software development framework for the Apple Watch, is focused on ways to present data from iPhones.
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BitTorrent Sync Plans Pro Tier

11/19/2014
BitTorrent Sync 1.4 enters general release, and the company unveils plans for Pro version of its software.
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The Web Isn't Dying, But Control Is

11/19/2014
In a renewed debate about the health of the web and the dominance of native apps, let's not gloss over the issue of user control.
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Tech Heavyweights Push For Surveillance Reform

11/18/2014
AOL, Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo ask the US Senate to limit mass surveillance.
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10 Techies We'd Invite To Thanksgiving

11/18/2014
Guess who's coming to dinner. Do robots need their own place settings?
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TRUSTe Not So Trustworthy

11/17/2014
Privacy certification company has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle FTC charges that it deceived consumers.
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Heating Your House With Cloud Computing

11/13/2014
Is it time to get serious about recycling the radiant heat from servers into heating for other buildings large and small?
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Americans Doubt They Can Protect Their Privacy

11/13/2014
A Pew Research Center study finds broad concern about government and corporate data gathering, along with a desire for more government regulation of data gathering.
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Google's DoubleClick Suffers Outage

11/12/2014
For a brief time, ads and revenue stopped flowing.
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Google Fiber For Small Businesses Debuts

11/12/2014
Small companies looking for fast, affordable Internet access now have another option, at least in Kansas City.
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Net Neutrality: Let There Be Laws

11/12/2014
Telecom companies insist they already comply with the precepts of net neutrality. So what is the harm in codifying their behavior?
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Google Inbox: 7 Reasons To Say Yes

11/8/2014
Google's experimental email client Inbox will change the way you look at email.
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Amazon Echo Awaits Your Command

11/6/2014
Echo microphone and speaker system lets you talk to Amazon's cloud and get answers, news, and music.
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Google Drive Can Launch Local Apps

11/6/2014
New Chrome extension Application Launcher for Drive lets Google Drive open files in local applications.
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Amazon Prime Gains Unlimited Photo Storage, With Caveats

11/5/2014
Prime subscribers can now store an unlimited number of small photos in Amazon Cloud Drive.
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Google Cloud Cuts Prices Again, Adds Services

11/4/2014
Google continues to advance its cloud business with better virtualization, flexibility, speed, and affordability, but won't catch up to giant Amazon Web Services anytime soon.
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Nixie Nabs Intel Wearable Prize

11/4/2014
Intel contest judges are won over by a wearable, flying drone, award it $500,000.
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HomeAway Sues San Francisco Over Home Sharing Law

11/3/2014
Vacation rental service claims new home-sharing law is discriminatory and unconstitutional because it bans second-home owners from short-term property rentals.
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Facebook Adds Tor Support

10/31/2014
Facebook wants to allow people to use its service without being watched or censored. Is that some kind of privacy oxymoron?
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HP's 3D Future: Sprout Visual Tour

10/31/2014
Take a look at HP's unusual "immersive PC," Sprout, and Multi Jet Fusion, a bold foray into 3D hardware.
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HP Debuts Sprout Immersive PC, 3D Printer

10/30/2014
HP shows it can still innovate with a novel PC designed to scan physical objects and a printer designed to create physical objects.
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Ad Clicks To Protest Online Tracking Surveillance?

10/29/2014
AdNauseam, an extension for the Firefox version of AdBlock Plus, clicks on blocked ads to throw bad data in path of online tracking.
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Google Developing Disease Detection Pill

10/29/2014
Google X scientists hope to create a pill laden with nanoparticles to non-invasively identify diseases like cancer.
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Dear Elon Musk: AI Demon Not Scariest

10/29/2014
Elon Musk sees AI as a threat to our existence. I see more immediate problems.
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Amazon's Fire TV Stick Challenges Google Chromecast

10/27/2014
Amazon offers its latest streaming device for just $19 to Amazon Prime members for a two-day period.
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Samsung Knox Is Weak, Researcher Says

10/24/2014
Samsung's Knox security software for Android devices handles passwords in a way that undermines encryption, an anonymous researcher says.
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Facebook Rooms App Allows Any Identity

10/24/2014
An email address is all that's required to create a user account. Hello, retro chatrooms?
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Twitter Debuts Fabric SDK For Mobile Developers

10/23/2014
Offering ads, analytics, and authentication, Fabric aspires to be the backend platform for mobile apps.
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Apple Launches Maps Connect For Small Businesses

10/22/2014
New mapping service aims to improve accuracy of Maps data.
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Google Buys Firebase, Fills Cloud Apps Hole

10/22/2014
Bolstering Google Cloud Platform, Firebase service helps developers create mobile and web apps that store and sync data in real-time.
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Magic Leap Lands Google Funds

10/21/2014
Virtual reality startup collects $542 million in first round of financing, plans to create images in the air similar to R2D2's projection of Princess Leia in Star Wars.
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IBM Lays Internet Of Things Foundation

10/21/2014
IBM is offering a set of APIs and cloud services through its BlueMix platform to simplify development for networked devices.
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China Accused Of Attacking Apple iCloud

10/20/2014
Media freedom group GreatFire.org claims Apple's iCloud is being subject to a man-in-the-middle attack by China's censorship apparatus.
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Apple SIM: Not Quite A Revolution

10/18/2014
The Apple iPad Air 2's inclusion of a SIM card that lets users choose among cellular data plans won't change the mobile industry all that much. Here's why.
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10 Elegant Product Designs, Not By Apple

10/17/2014
Apple has made elegant design its calling card, but other companies can create gorgeous things, too.
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Apple Updates iPad, iMac, OS X, iOS

10/16/2014
iPad Air 2 gets slimmer and more powerful, while iMac gains a 5K Retina display.
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9 Tech Companies As Ben & Jerry's Flavors

10/15/2014
Get ready for Amazon Rainforest Crunch and IBM Big Blueberry Bonanza.
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Google Adds Chat Help For Tech Support

10/14/2014
Google addresses the IT gap among its small business customers by expanding Google for Work support options.
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Mac OS X Yosemite: What's Missing?

10/13/2014
Mac OS X Yosemite is in beta, and we're not seeing everything we'd hoped for. Here are 10 improvements we wish Apple would include in its next operating system.
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