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If you're like me, and thousands of other Android users (or any smartphone user, for that matter), you've experienced how frustrating it can be when your phone rotates the screen on you at an unexpected time. Luckily, there is a way to turn off, or disable, screen rotation on your Android device.

On most Android devices you should be able to open the Settings app and navigate to Display. There you will find a check box to enable or disable auto-rotate. Tapping on the box will remove the check mark, which will then lock the screen to portrait … Read more

It's trendy at this year's E3 to trash the Wii U. Nintendo's next-gen console has its work cut out for it: strange tablet-like GamePad controller, the challenge of making games for its dual-screen potential, the unknown price, and the looming question of whether Nintendo's core casual-gaming crowd has moved on to Apple's iPastures.

What if the Wii U were to succeed?

Nintendo has had a way of pulling rabbits out hats with strange hardware. I remember hating the Nintendo DS when it first was released; it became my favorite handheld. The original Wii was mocked for its name, its lack of HD, and its games-for-everyone mantra. It only became a household name.

If these things come to pass, I think the Wii U could succeed, too. … Read more

In the annals of computer history, no two keystroke combinations have done more to boost worker productivity than Ctrl-C to copy to the clipboard whatever you've selected on the screen, and Ctrl-V to paste the contents of the clipboard to wherever you've placed the cursor.

What often follows the paste is the laborious process of reformatting the pasted material to match the look of the destination document. Microsoft Word lets you apply the formatting of the destination document when you paste, but by default Ctrl-V retains the original formatting of the pasted text.

Back in 2007 I described … Read more

There's a lot of widget apps, so for one to stand out it has to offer something others don't. Slider Widget - Volumes & more is definitely one of the best-looking volume widgets, and if you need your volume controls at your fingertips, this app is for you.

Instead of offering a simple toggle for each volume setting on your Android device, Slider Widget gives you a pop-up sliding bar that lets you adjust notification, alarm, phone, and system volumes. There's also an option for brightness, which is always better adjusted with a sliding bar.… Read more

Google announced today that it's aiming to help users control their settings to more easily avoid answering those pesky anonymous callers on Google Voice. Be it an unknown, restricted, or blocked number, the Web giant says users can now fit those callers into one specified group.

"Many users have asked us for controls aimed at people who are NOT in their address book," Google software engineer Tom Ford wrote in a blog post. "So today, we're adding two groups of callers for Google Voice users."

Besides grouping anonymous callers into one group so users … Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook dodged a handful of questions about whether the company is at work on a TV set, while making the argument that it's still an activity Apple is trying to improve.

During a live interview at the D10 conference tonight in Palos Verdes, Calif., Cook was asked how the company was looking to "change television," a question he dodged.

"Very uncharacteristically of us, we're staying in the Apple TV business," Cook said, adding that Apple was "not a hobby kind of company."

Cook added, however, that Apple has already … Read more

In today's show, we're putting filters on Facebook, paying with our phones and watching the networks get hoppin' mad:

A battle is brewing in court between the major television networks and Dish Network's commercial-skipping Hopper DVR. The fight centers around a feature in the Hopper DVR called Auto Hop, which lets users instantly skip commercials for a show recorded the day prior from a major network during prime time. (No need for a fast-forward button!) Fox, NBC and CBS are suing Dish, arguing that commercial skipping violates copyright. And Fox added another layer to it, saying that … Read more

This is an update of a deal I posted last year.

Google TV: doomed product or stealth Apple TV/Roku competitor? Probably the former, given that the set-top box never really caught on, even after Logitech slashed the price from $299 to $99.

And now it's even less. Newegg has the refurbished Logitech Revue With Google TV for $73.99 shipped. That's the lowest price I've seen on this Internet-meets-TV appliance. Doomed? Maybe. Deal? Definitely!

In case you're not familiar with the Revue, it goes above and beyond Apple TV- and Roku-style media streaming by offering … Read more

If you own an iPhone, you're pretty likely to buy Apple's much-rumored TV set, according to the results of a new study.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics today released findings from its 2012 ConsumerMetrix survey, which says "nearly half" of those who already own an iPhone would be "very or somewhat likely" to buy an Apple TV set.

The survey, which took place in March, was limited to the U.S. and Europe, and consisted of about 6,000 individuals, most of whom were located in Europe.

According to Jia Wu, a Director at … Read more