screens

Power Downloader knows one of the most difficult things about studying and writing papers is staying focused. When he received a stressed out e-mail from Kitty Kilobyte recently saying she was trying to write a paper for school, but kept getting distracted, Power knew all too well what she was talking about. Even when Power Downloader needs to get to work, he will sometimes find himself surfing the Web or checking e-mail, so he knows how easy it is to get distracted. Over time, Power is sure Kitty will develop the skills necessary to focus on her work, but for … Read more

Every computer user needs a good screen capture utility at one time or another. Whether doing a Web research project, getting a slick new desktop background, or just adding to an image collection, the flexibility of these utilities make them much more useful than the full-screen capture in Windows. As a reviewer of software, I often need to take screenshots of programs I'm reviewing. A screen capture utility lets me capture the whole program, or just a section of the screen depending on what I want to call out.

Windows comes with the Print Screen function which saves a … Read more

When people get a chance to try out Microsoft's Surface touch-screen tabletop computer, they often wish they could take one home.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday that the company is trying to speed up that process after getting a lot of demand for a consumer version.

When Microsoft announced its plans for Surface last spring, the stated plan was to bring the technology to consumers eventually, but the company warned that it could be five years before a version of the products would be on shelves at the local Best Buy.

But the company got a lot of … Read more

Some people (not us, of course) might think that this is the best invention since the "StealthSwitch." That ingenius device, as you'll recall, has a foot-operated switch that instantly hides whatever is on your screen when your boss happens to walk by at the most inopportune times.

The "Phantom Mouse" improves that concept by doing the same thing with a red emergency button that sits directly above the scroll wheel, according to Newlaunches. That way you won't have to frantically stomp around under your desk looking for a switch.

It's being marketed in … Read more

Here at CNET Car Tech, we make our living fiddling around with evaluating in-car displays designed to show everything from GPS navigation maps to DVD video to rear-view camera input. Fortunately for us, a report out today from Research and Markets on the production of in-car TVs in China suggests we'll have plenty of work for a long time to come. Citing "overseas demand and an expanding domestic market", the report suggests that exports of in-car TVs are set to increase by 20 percent in the coming months. According to the report, growth is expected in all … Read more

Here's a new twist in the ultramobile computer concept.

The Redfly Mobile Companion from Celio is a mini notebook-size device that effectively serves as a hand- and eye-friendly shell for Windows Mobile smartphones. It has a larger, relatively standard keyboard so you don't have to thumb type and an LCD screen measuring 8 inches in diameter. Connect the Redfly to the smartphone and the data going to and from the phone shows up on the larger screen instead.

You can also type e-mails or surf the Web while talking at the same time, explains CEO Kirt Bailey. Thus, … Read more

With all his computer experience, Power Downloader gets a lot of calls and e-mails from friends and family who want advice with computer issues. Always happy to oblige, Power tries to find the easiest way to explain how to use various types of software and computer functions, but sometimes words alone are inadequate for complex computer tasks.

To make his explanations a little easier, Power Downloader found a program to make simple screencasts. Screen2Exe lets Power make little demo movies so his friends can see exactly what he's talking about. Screen2Exe leads him through a step-by-step process to record … Read more

It's rare to see a 22-inch LCD for less than $200, so I'm quite excited to find the Acer AL2216WBD on sale for just $179.99 (after a $50 mail-in rebate). This is a new unit, not a refurb, and it has a stellar pedigree.

For starters, check out some of the specs: a 700:1 contrast ratio, 5 milliseconds refresh time (ideal for games and movies), and DVI and VGA inputs. Better still, the AL2216WBD earned a five-star rating from more than 200 TigerDirect customers and a 7.1/10 from CNET. (Readers gave it an even … Read more

From the moment I played with the iPhone and Microsoft's Surface tabletop computing technology, I have been waiting for pinch-zooming and other motions to make their way into mainstream PCs.

The wait is essentially over.

Although it's the MacBook Air that's been getting all the ink for adding such gestures, Synaptics announced at the Consumer Electronics show last week a version of its touchpad for Windows notebooks that will also support a range of gestures, including methods for continuous scrolling, zooming in and out, and trackball-like movement.

And that's just the start.

"There will be … Read more