2010

Lenovo is hoping to shake up the tablet market with three new devices scheduled to hit its home base of China as early as December.

Ranging in size from 5 to 10 inches, the new tablets will be branded under Lenovo's LePad name in China but will be known as the IdeaPad in other countries, follow-ups to the current IdeaPad K1.

At a mere 5 inches, the LePad S2005 is somewhat of a cross between a phone and a tablet in size, prompting Engadget to dub the device a tabletphone.

Outfitted with Android 2.3, the S2005 is powered … Read more

Several free Microsoft apps will be hopping aboard Nokia's Symbian phones by the end of the year.

As described in a blog yesterday, Microsoft and Nokia will deliver the apps in the form of free updates sometime during the fourth quarter. The updates will only be available to owners of phones running Symbian Belle, the latest update to the Symbian OS, or to those who upgrade from Symbian Anna to Belle.

The mobile apps and updates scheduled to roll out this year include:

WordInn Dictionary 2010 is a free dictionary program that offers definitions and phonetic and spoken pronunciations of unfamiliar words. While you're browsing the Web, communicating with friends, or just using software locally installed on your PC, you're apt to encounter unfamiliar words now and again. You can simply click on them to open WordInn for definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, translations, and more.

During its setup process, WordInn asked us to give a name, e-mail address, and native language, a "one-time" request that supposedly improves our WordInn experience. We're not crazy about submitting an e-mail address to … Read more

Archive utilities, zip tools, and other third-party apps that enhance the native capabilities of Windows have been popular for many years, and they remain popular even as Windows continues to incorporate more of their features, mostly by staying a step ahead of Microsoft by offering many more features and options than most Windows users require. PowerArchiver is a good example. It's a full-featured file compression and management utility that supports a wide range of compression types and file formats, with the ability to add more formats via plug-ins. PowerArchiver 2010 Free is free for personal use, with paid upgrades … Read more

As of Saturday, the price of a new 2010 11.6-inch MacBook Air had fallen well below $900 at Best Buy, in the wake of the release of the 2011 models. And refurbs are now under $750 from Apple.

While other retailers list the low-end 11.6-inch model (MC516LL/A) at just below $900, Best Buy is listing it at $834.99. The 2010 11.6-inch Air is equipped with a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics, 2GB of memory, and a 64GB flash drive.

How long the Best Buy price will last is anyone'… Read more

WinGuard Pro 2010 Lite is a free app that lets you disable and enable certain Windows features via a password without completely preventing access to your PC. It keeps snoops away from your personal data and programs without having to shut down or lock your computer, which lets you keep programs running and files open even as you're locking down your data.

We opened WinGuard Pro, which appeared in our system tray. We clicked the padlock icon, and a small password entry box appeared along with a notice that we needed to set a password. Although there's a … Read more

Microsoft Word is the king of word processing programs, but the market for less expensive, nonproprietary alternatives is burgeoning. DevVicky Word 2010 is a free word processing program that mimics a lot of Microsoft Word's features, but it has several drawbacks that kept us from taking it seriously among the non-Microsoft competition.

The program's interface is attractive and has the usual layout of a word processing program, with the typical toolbars across the top. Since it hews pretty closely to convention, it's not difficult to figure out how to use it; the program has most of the … Read more

The big three video game console manufacturers love to use E3 as a forum to brag, tease, and whet the appetites of gamers worldwide.

An entire year later, where do all of the promises, announcements, and hype from 2010's show stand? We've hand-picked each conference's spotlight moments and detailed the progress in a slideshow.

If you've got a little bit of extra cash lying around, jump on this offer. Porsche today announced that dealerships would be taking orders for the 918 Spyder--and the plug-in hybrid super car will sell for a mere $845,000 in the U.S. (that's 645,000 euros).

The 918 Spyder concept made its debut last year at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show and was also spotted last year at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

The 918 Spyder design was inspired by the 918 Carrera GT super sports car and the 917 and RS Spyder race cars. Like the 2010 concept car, the production version will be made from a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic monocoque. However, the production version will have a manual roof system with removable panels that can be stored in the front luggage compartment, Porsche said.

The speedy hybrid will do 0 to 60 mph in about 3.1 seconds, with a top speed of 199 mph. As previously reported, the 918 Spyder will be powered by a unique plug-in hybrid system that includes a high-revving, mid-mounted V8 engine with a capacity of more than 4.0 liters and producing at least 500 horsepower. Two electric motors--one each on the front and rear axles--together produce additional 218 hp.… Read more