cuts

Big on service

If you have tax prep needs, chances are H&R Block has you covered. The company is offering a total of eight options for the 2010 filing year: four software packages and four online prep services.

Like most other solutions on the market, H&R starts with a Free Edition as its entry-level product. This version, which is only available online, offers basic federal filing as well as a number of other free services, such as free advice and audit support. Moving up from there you have the $19.95 Basic Edition, which adds the ability to import … Read more

Cover Orange: Best game since Cut the Rope?

Last October I called Chillingo's Cut the Rope the best game since Angry Birds. And it appears the world agreed with me, as evidenced by its current number-three spot on the iTunes Top Paid Apps chart.

If you're looking for the next big thing in Cutesy Physics Puzzlers (or CPPs, as I like to call them), look no further: it's Cover Orange.

Weird title, I agree, but it's the literal explanation of the gameplay. In each level, you must shelter (i.e. cover) one or more oranges against the "poison rain" that pours in … Read more

Sony Ericsson swings back to black but sales slip

Sales of its Android phones and internal cost-cutting helped Sony Ericsson returned to profitability in its fourth quarter. But overall sales were down, and results missed analysts' expectations.

For the quarter ended December 31, the Swedish mobile phone maker saw its net income hit 8 million euros ($10.8 million), a healthy swing from 2009's final quarter, which was hit by a loss of 167 million euros. Results were similar for all of 2010 as net earnings reached 90 million euros following a loss of 836 million euros in fiscal 2009.

Seeing 2010 as a turnaround year, the company … Read more

California to nix cell phones for half its employees

The newly elected governor of California wants to cut state spending and has starting by calling for the shut-off of half of the state-issued cell phones, some 48,000 devices, by June 1.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who will also be returning his own state-issued phone, said that the move will save the financially strapped state $20 million. In a statement, Brown said:

It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with tax-payer-funded cell phones. The current number of phones out there is astounding.

Of course, the push to cut the number … Read more

Clean cutting with UV-cleaned cutting boards

Kitchens aren't the cleanliest of places. Oh, sure, we like to pretend they are, but in reality they are populated with more than the eye can see. However, just because kitchens are breeding grounds for harmful germs, it doesn't mean we all must go running into the night. All it takes to make those kitchen surfaces we use every day to be as cleanly as we need them to be is a little common sense and precaution. Oh, and a bright UV light doesn't hurt, either.

The Germ Killing Ultra Violet Cutting Board System, which will run … Read more

Rumor: Apple to release new Final Cut Studio this spring

Apple is rumored to be preparing for a spring release of Final Cut Studio 4, the latest version of its professional video-editing suite of applications for Macs. The rumor, from French Web site Hardmac, says the Final Cut Studio software should be announced in March or April of this year.

The rumor also states that the update may not be what many of Final Cut Studio's longtime professional users are hoping for. Earlier mentions of the new version of Final Cut Pro said the user interface would take a dramatic turn toward the pro-sumer level, echoing Apple's iMovie … Read more

Are 1 in 4 of you really going to cut cable, switch to Web video?

May as well kick off the new year by restarting the cord-cutting debate: are people really dropping their cable subscriptions in favor of the Internet and some combination of Netflix/Hulu/iTunes/YouTube, etc.? Or is it something that will happen?

Or (and this is the cable guys' favorite answer) is it something that people like to talk about, but won't really do?

Today's installment comes from JP Morgan's Imran Khan, whose 2011 forecast is chock-full of interesting data (see these amazing Facebook numbers--and plan on getting at least one more of these today or tomorrow). … Read more

Top 10 iPhone games of 2010

With 2010 coming to a close, it's time to look back at some of the greatest games to hit the iOS over the course of the year. I have many more favorites than I've listed in this slideshow, but I guess I have to make a cutoff somewhere. In any case, many factors have contributed to the iPhone becoming one of the greatest gaming platforms yet, and I think it will continue to get even better in 2011.

There's no question that the popularity of the iPhone made game developers see an opportunity to create something special … Read more

Recap: Diary of a cable TV cord cutter

My wife, eBeth, and I decided to disable our Verizon Fios TV service to save roughly $100 per month, and I chronicled the good, the bad, and the ugly in the diary entries indexed below.

At the end, I reconnected TV for what amounts to $35 per month (and $50/month the following year) for the TV portion of my new Fios bill. After a few days back on the cable TV pipe, including an amazing Knicks almost-win versus the Celtics for me and lots of "Watch What Happens" for eBeth, we're both happier, albeit somewhat poorer, … Read more