Opinion - SlashGear

‘opinion’ Stories

Columns

Gender’s Role in Facebook and Google+

Philip Berne, Jun 29th 2011 Discuss [37]

I’m going to tell you absolutely nothing about myself that should matter to you. I am a male human. I was born with XY chromosomes, and my body parts hew to the genetic norms of a human male. I am heterosexual. My ex-wife was a female human, and I will seek out new partners who are also female humans (‘how romantic,’ I know). I prefer female humans to male humans when it comes to love and its various accoutrements. I am mostly masculine, though I do have some decidedly feminine qualities about me. In the traditional ideas of masculinity, I fit into some norms, though I also like some traditionally feminine colors and design aesthetics, I participate in many activities that are considered more feminine than masculine, and I reject certain masculine traits as unappealing.

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Columns

In Pursuit of Brand Me

Chris Davies, Jun 27th 2011 Discuss [2]

We are a social animal. That doesn’t exactly demand a psych degree to figure out. Yet we’re also a private one; there’s a little of the Gollum about us, clutching close our “precious” secrets and inside-knowledge. It’s no surprise that one of the recurring entries on the periodic “top ten ways to annoy people on social networks” lists is the “mysterious update.” You know the sort: “Big changes afoot…” or “Oh ffs, not again!” leaving readers curious and goggle-eyed (you hope) or simply frustrated (more likely) over what exactly it is in your interesting, exciting life that you’re teasing about today.

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Columns

Making the Case for $20 Console Video Games

Don Reisinger, Jun 25th 2011 Discuss [24]

Over the last week, I’ve been thinking about the console market and how games are priced nowadays. Currently, new games on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 cost $60. Those who want the latest and greatest titles on the Nintendo Wii will be set back $50.

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Columns

I Refuse to Use A Smartphone or Tablet As A Remote

Don Reisinger, Jun 23rd 2011 Discuss [18]

Later this summer, Vizio will launch an 8-inch tablet that will come with an IR blaster. According to the company, that device will support 95-percent of the consumer electronic devices currently available in the U.S.

I’m sure there are many out there that are excited by Vizio’s news. Those folks like the idea of being able to use a single device to surf the Web, check their e-mail, play with applications, and control their televisions.

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Columns

Why Nokia’s N9 leaves me confident about Windows Phone

Chris Davies, Jun 21st 2011 Discuss [62]

Two big smartphone announcements this morning, and two considerable insights into the prospects of an ailing cellphone giant. Nokia’s new N9 could, with its MeeGo OS, easily have been the Finns fiddling while Rome was burning; the technical previews of Windows Phone 7.1 Mango, meanwhile, could have shown up a platform desperately lagging behind its rivals iOS and Android. Make no mistake, today we’ve seen the biggest glimpse so far of Nokia’s future.

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Columns

Good Companies, Bad Products, Part II

Avi Greengart, Jun 19th 2011 Discuss [16]

In my last column, I talked about some of the reasons good companies make bad products – and how sometimes, the products are fine, we’re just biased. Or that the product was made by engineers for engineers. Or that the CEO personally pushed for it and no one was willing to contradict him.

Sadly, there are several other reasons why good companies make bad products.

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Columns

Blu-ray is a Must-Have Feature in Next-Gen Consoles

Don Reisinger, Jun 18th 2011 Discuss [52]

Nintendo made a surprising announcement recently that neither DVD nor Blu-ray will be making its way to the company’s upcoming Wii U console.

As expected, fans on both sides of the debate jumped on the story. Some said that Nintendo’s decision to nix Blu-ray in the Wii U proved that the company just didn’t know what it was doing in the gaming space any longer. Those who came out in defense of Nintendo said it makes perfect sense, since streaming is the future, and the console will likely support Netflix and other similar services.

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Columns

Nokia Rebooted: Apple lessons, HTC threats & Symbian’s last stand

Chris Davies, Jun 17th 2011 Discuss [22]

Leaner, tighter-lipped and very much aware of what’s at stake. Nokia may be a lot of things, but naive isn’t one of them. With a share price gutted by dreary financial predictions, and a quarter or two before the first Windows Phone devices are expected to do anything to change that, right now the only headlines tend to be bad ones: redundancies, reductions and generally biding time. SlashGear met with Nokia’s new UK team at what – though they were careful not to bill it as such – was in effect a corporate reboot, to talk lessons learned from Apple, the threat to HTC and why Symbian won’t go quietly into the night.

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Columns

Are DVRs Good or Bad for Us?

Don Reisinger, Jun 16th 2011 Discuss [15]

As someone who have been covering the technology industry for years, I sometimes get caught up in the idea that everyone sees the same value in tech as I do. I believe that when a new product launches, the average person loves it as much as I do. And when a device I love has been updated, I fully expect to see the same level of excitement from my friends that I feel after hearing the news.

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Columns

Facebook’s Project Spartan: An HTML5 Trojan Horse for Apple

Chris Davies, Jun 16th 2011 Discuss [16]

Deep in the Facebook bunker, socially-networked software engineers are cackling evilly about the downfall of Apple’s App Store. It’s probably not quite like that in reality, but I find the somewhat dry world of tech often benefits from a dash of B-movie style melodrama. If ever anything deserved an ironic chuckle, though, it’s the thought that the Cupertino-backed HTML5 could end up – at the hands of Facebook and their “Project Spartan” – presenting the biggest challenge to Apple’s mobile software dominance to date. You have to ask yourself, does the world really need another app store, and why am I leaning toward saying yes?

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Columns

So You Want A Tablet?

Chris Davies, Jun 15th 2011 Discuss [31]

Scan the headlines, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that everybody had a tablet these days. The iPad broke the market open, and since that point we’ve seen a torrent of rivals each trying to take the touchscreen crown. It’s a tricky segment to judge, and even harder if you’re trying to take your first steps into tableteering. Get up to speed with your options – and advice on which slate to select – after the cut!

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Columns

My Five Tech Buying Mistakes

Chris Davies, Jun 14th 2011 Discuss [22]

You read all the reviews, you ask all the right questions of all the right people, and you still sometimes come unstuck when it comes to tech shopping. Even the biggest geeks can make stupid mistakes, so I’ve picked five of my gadget goofs to show how simple it is to get things wrong. And, just so that this isn’t one long self-flagellatory pity party, I’ve slotted in the five tech shopper lessons that I’ve learned along the way.