polls

What would you have done with lost iPhone 4G?

You know the story by now. Some Apple guy leaves his iPhone prototype in a bar. Some guy finds it. A few weeks go by. He then leaks photos of the thing to both Engadget and Gizmodo. Then he sells Gizmodo access to it for $5,000.

It's a good story, with a lot of ins, outs, and what have-yous, as Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski would say. But while a lot of attention has been focused on whether it was, like, cool, for Gizmodo to have paid for information, man, the real question is what would you … Read more

Friday Poll: Got a name for HTC's next phone?

This week, on its Facebook page, Taiwan-based handset vendor HTC asked fans for help naming its next phone.

Since the Razr and the iPhone, manufacturers are thankfully giving their handsets real names instead of monikers like the T4-839i or the 4Fgi0s319zl3 or the EIEIO.

Instead, we get names like the Glide and the Touch. Much better.

Now it's your turn to help. To the right are the names HTC fans can vote on (Jovi, Zeal, Wildfire, or Festi), and we encourage you to go do so. But just for good measure, we've thrown in a few ideas of … Read more

Touch-screen cameras: Yea or nay?

I just wrapped up reviewing Canon's second go-round using a touch-screen LCD on a compact camera, the PowerShot SD3500 IS. Unlike its first one, the SD980 IS, this model has few physical controls for operating the camera, so it relies almost entirely on pokes and swipes with your fingers. While I liked the camera overall, the touch-screen interface doesn't add much to the experience of using it and ends up feeling unnecessary. About the only benefit is the ability to tap on your subject for focus and exposure--something all touch-screen cameras do.

Other touch-screen models from Sony, Samsung, and Nikon … Read more

Poll: What iPhone OS 4 feature do you want most?

Tomorrow's the big day: At 10 a.m. (PT) Thursday, Apple will give the world a sneak peek at iPhone OS 4. Exciting, no?

Earlier today, CNET's Erica Ogg offered her take on what's in store for OS 4, including both expected additions like multitasking and longshots like Flash support.

Once you've digested all that, think about the one new feature you really, really want: the thing you're wishin' and hopin' and prayin' for. In other words, if Apple announced only one big improvement to the OS, you'd want it to be...this.

I … Read more

Poll: Buying an iPad? What's your excuse?

Ignore what I said previously about consumers not buying tablets. As a consumer focus group of one, I have reversed that position and am picking up my preordered iPad today.

My excuse? I'm a tech writer; I need to understand this stuff. Press me further, and I'll say that with Evernote on the iPad (the app was just updated for the platform), I should be able to take notes on this device in meetings in a way that's less disruptive than opening up a laptop and typing on it.

The real reason? I couldn't tell you. … Read more

Friday Poll: Got your eye on an iPad?

iPad Day, as you've surely heard, is almost upon us. When Apple stores around the country open their doors Saturday morning, those who have preordered the much-hyped tablet, yours truly included, can finally get their hands on one. Those who haven't preordered the device can also get one at Apple stores starting at 9 a.m. local time, as well as at most Best Buys.

It's been reported here and elsewhere that iPad preorders are numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and you, being Crave fans, perhaps count for one of those. Or at least you're … Read more

Poll: Do you spend more on Starbucks than hi-fi?

It's no surprise we spend money on the things we value. So the question is, how much would you invest in a decent hi-fi or sound system? Bear in mind that a good quality system will last a long time, so amortizing the investment over a period of five or even 10 years should be factored into the expense. The coffee's gone in a matter of minutes.

Let's see, at $4 a day, a $20-a-week Starbucks expense works out to $1,000 a year. You're not going to stop anytime soon, so Starbucks, or any daily … Read more

Friday Poll: How do you view proprietary 3D glasses?

We've been talking a lot about how the next big thing in TVs is 3D tech. But one problem, as my CNET's Erica Ogg points out, is that the sets we've seen all have proprietary glasses, meaning that one brand's glasses may not work with another brand's TV.

This might be a minor problem for some, but it could be a deal breaker for others. Since most households have multiple TVs these days, there may soon be a time at which someone has a Toshiba upstairs and a Samsung downstairs, each with their own pairs … Read more

Friday Poll: What else should iPhone OS 4 get?

Right now the Interwubs are all a-flutter with rumors about the forthcoming version 4 of the iPhone OS. Chief among these tittle-tattles is that it will include the ability to multitask, something other advanced phone operating systems can do that the iPhone can't, much to the chagrin of its users.

Other rumors include an updated interface with widgets in addition to apps; speed improvements; and a lock screen that displays texts, e-mails, and other alerts.

There are more things Apple could do to the OS within the constraints of the current hardware, and we'd like to know what … Read more

Friday Poll: Gimme me some skin, man!

When we learned about an experimental technology earlier this week that turns your skin into an interactive surface, our collective skin crawled with delight. Skinput, developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft, is an acoustic bio-sensor armband that picks up sound patterns created when tapping a forearm or palm.

Specific acoustic signatures from different areas on the hand or forearm can be linked to functions like dialing a phone, operating an MP3 player, or playing Tetris. Pinching and flicking gestures can also be used for commands, and adding a pico projector to the armband can display menu selections … Read more