Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

home

Windows Home Server: The ideal home backup solution?

I recently had the opportunity to meet with two Microsoft officials to discuss Windows Home Server. According to Microsoft officials, this new solution could solve all of your backup problems and help you immediately restore your entire system to an earlier day if your hard drive dies suddenly. Could this be the saving grace we have all been waiting for? Read on and decide for yourself.

Although the product is still in development, the Windows Home Server (WHS) is very much a new category of home products. Accommodating almost 15 million households in the U.S. alone, WHS is designed … Read more

Microsoft to 'Bring it Home' again at E3 '07

During last year's E3, Microsoft allowed Xbox 360 owners to download exclusive content from the show as a part of "Bringing it Home"--a campaign designed to get gamers as close as possible to E3 without actually being there. A great deal of buzz was generated from the huge Lost Planet demo that allowed gamers to play two near-finished levels of the game.

Sticking with what works, Microsoft has wisely decided to continue offering E3 content from this year's expo in the form of downloadable goodies. The Gamerscore Blog reports that beginning July 10 and running … Read more

Sweet dreams of sweeter breakfast foods

We could all use these pillows. Think about it: you're dreaming of something fantastic, maybe Steve Jobs showing up at your front door to give you an iPhone with a year's worth of service as well as all the Apple product development secrets you could possibly want to hear.

But then your alarm clock goes off, and there you are in a sloppy bedroom in a cramped apartment, with nary an iPhone in sight--just that scratched three-year-old Razr that still smells like beer from the aftermath of last St. Patrick's Day and has a contacts list full … Read more

Plastic packaging, initial setup waiting times and a few other things that annoy me at home

We all have them, and we wish we didn't: annoyances that just don't seem to go away. For some they come in the form of husbands or wives. For others, annoyances come in the form of technology. Sadly (or is it gladly?), mine are the latter.

My fight against plastic packaging

Sure this point may have been belabored before, but it needs to be said again: hard plastic packaging is awful! Just yesterday I made my weekly trek down to my local electronics stores and decided to buy a few tech products for my home. While it would … Read more

Hawking and Z-Wave let you automate your home remotely

So I've been working on a review of Hawking's HomeRemote wireless home automation system, but I'm stuck right now, waiting for a firmware upgrade. But I thought I'd give you a preview of what I've seen so far, because it's pretty interesting stuff. We first got wind of this Home Automation System at CES 2007, in the Z-Wave Alliance booth. The Z-Wave Alliance is a consortium of companies committed to making interoperable, wireless home automation products that are based on Z-Wave, a wireless remote control standard. Z-Wave-based products use a low-frequency radio signals to … Read more

Bike-mounted speaker for mean streets

Even in this day of permanently affixed earphones, some people insist on enjoying their music the old-fashioned way, in the open air. And cyclists are no exception.

The only problem is that some speakers created specifically for bike frames are, as colleague Jasmine France would delicately put it, fugly. iHome, however, is trying to remedy that with its "Bike to Beach Bicycle Speaker" for the iPod.

The sleek design of the $100 " iH85," as it's also known, makes it look something like a rifle scope. But MobileWhack says it's supposed to add brawn to … Read more

T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home lets you makes calls via WiFi

T-Mobile has just rolled out a service called HotSpot @Home that allows you to use a WiFi-enabled cell phone to make calls via a wireless network. You'll still use the phone with regular cellular airwaves while on the move, but once you're in range of a T-Mobile Hotspot or a pre-configured WiFi access point, the phone will know to automatically switch over. The best part? Call minutes made via WiFi aren't deducted from your plan. That's right -- as long as you're within range of a wireless broadband network, you'll have unlimited calls. An … Read more

What Is The Digital Home and What Does It Mean to You?

As it's Saturday here on The Digital Home and not too much is going on except sun bathing and lemonade sipping, I thought I would ask you, the loyal electronics lover, what you believe the Digital Home really is and what it means to you.

So, without further ado, fire away in the comments and let's try to get a discussion going. My favorite comments will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks!

Future Implications On The Digital Home: Adults Only Video Games

Each Thursday here on The Digital Home, I will be discussing a current topic of interest that may have serious implications on your home in the coming days, months or years. The topics may range from groundbreaking new products to government legislation to adults only video games -- our topic of interest today.

In a setback for Take-Two Interactive, the company's Manhunt 2 video game has been banned from sale in the UK because of its ESRB Adults Only rating. Even worse for Take-Two, Best Buy and Wal-Mart -- two significant video game retailers -- have historically banned Adults … Read more