Stories by Jeff Bertolucci

  • Facebook to get voice chat: heaven help us!

    Need another reason to spend more time on Facebook? If so, you'll soon be able to engage in voice conversations with your Facebook friends, talk trash with gaming opponents, or even chat with customer service reps on the popular social networking site.

  • Hey, Apple, why no video camera for the iPod touch?

    Wednesday's Apple Music Event may not have unveiled any astounding or amazing products. But if you're a fan of the iPod touch, as I am, you may have felt a bit miffed that Apple's multi-talented media player didn't get a video camera.

  • E-Readers at $50: A Best Seller, Says Report

    If you don't already own an e-book reader like the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader, how much would you pay for one? For these devices to attain mass-market appeal, they'll need to be priced as low at US$50, according to a new report by Forrester Research.

  • The Skype, eBay divorce: How did it go wrong?

    The future looked bright in September 2005 when eBay announced it was buying Internet telephony company Skype Technologies for $2.6 billion. But after four years of unfulfilled expectations, the marriage between the online auction giant and the upstart VoIP provider came to an end Tuesday when eBay said it was unloading Skype to a group of private investors for $1.9 billion.

  • Blu-ray drives in PCs? Fuggetaboutit

    Blu-ray may have a future in the living room, but its prospects in the PC market appear bleak. A new study by market researcher iSuppli shows that only 3.6 percent of PCs this year will ship with Blu-ray high-definition optical drives, a figure will rise to just 16.3 percent by 2013.

  • Why do teens shun twitter?

    It's conventional wisdom that teenagers are early adopters of tech innovations, including Web-based social networks like Facebook and MySpace. But that apparently isn't the case with micro-blogging site Twitter, which is largely shunned by the adolescent crowd.

  • Can TomTom iPhone app compete with standalone GPS unit?

    TomTom's new GPS navigation application for the iPhone may sound appealing, but it's true cost and capabilities are still a mystery. The app costs $100 and allows the iPhone to function as a real-time navigation device that provides turn-by-turn directions.

  • What backlash? iPhone 3GS users very satisfied

    With all the Apple-bashing lately, you'd think that iPhone users - typically a satisfied lot - might be a little less thrilled with their chosen smartphone. Not so, according to a new survey by RBC/IQ ChangeWave. The market researcher polled iPhone 3GS owners and found that an astounding 99 percent of 200 respondents were satisfied with the device. And 82 percent said they were "very satisfied" with the 3GS.

  • Samsung Reclaim: nice idea, but who recycles phones?

    Sprint's US launch of the new Samsung Reclaim, an environmentally friendly <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/125397/top_10_cell_phones.html">smartphone</a> that's 80-percent recyclable, is getting plenty of media buzz. And while the Reclaim is a step in the right direction, there's a less impressive statistic you should know about: Just 1 out of 10 mobile phones is recycled.

  • Windows 7: How to get it early

    Microsoft released the ready-to-ship version of its Windows 7 operating system to software developers and IT professionals on Thursday, raising the question as to when consumers will be able to get their hands on a copy--be it via download, shrink wrap, or preinstalled on a new PC.