Nicholas Kolakowski

Apple has filed a patent application for technology that would restrict unauthorized users’ access to a mobile device such as an iPhone. Application number 20100207721 can be found on the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s database, where it was apparently published Aug. 19. It describes a method for detecting unauthorized users, locking down a device […]

Google has been testing a new feature that provides instant results for whatever the user types in the search box. Search-engine optimization consultant Rob Ousbey has been widely credited with spying the Google test first. Ousbey posted a video on his blog, showing Google’s search results shifting dynamically on the page as he types terms […]

Apple will launch the iPhone on another carrier in 2011, according to a new research note. That note, from Shaw Wu at Kaufman Bros., suggests that the iPhone could arrive on both T-Mobile and Sprint, which in turn would possibly delay the device’s long-expected arrival on Verizon until 2012. AT&T currently holds exclusive rights to […]

Samsung Epic 4G Is Fast and Bright, but No iPhone Killer by Nicholas Kolakowski Bigger and Bulkier With its built-in keyboard, the Samsung Epic 4G (right) is both thicker and heavier than AT&T’s Samsung Captivate (middle) and T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant (left), two other phones based on the Samsung Galaxy S model. Android 2.1 As with […]

Pop quiz, smartphone users: Do you prefer a physical QWERTY keyboard on your device? For some, the experience of pressing thumbs to actual keys is an essential part of the text-messaging experience. Others either have no objection to using a virtual keyboard, or are willing to sacrifice the physical-keyboard experience in order to own a […]

Microsoft’s progression toward a larger presence in the cloud and mobile spaces continued this week, with announcements related to Windows Phone 7 and the release of a new server build for SMBs (small to midsize businesses). The latest preview of Windows Small Business Server, code-named Aurora, is now available for download. In addition to support […]

Hewlett-Packard confirmed during its Aug. 19 earnings call that a device running its recently acquired Palm WebOS operating system will ship sometime in early 2011. Although the company executive who confirmed the “product” offered no other details, the general assumption is that HP will load WebOS onto a tabletlike device. “You’ll see us with a […]

Hewlett-Packard and Dell both offered quarterly results Aug 19, and their numbers offered some of the clearest signs that the business arena is in the midst of an IT tech refresh. At the same time, however, sales of consumer PCs seem to be weakening, in a possible signifier of the anemic economic recovery. Overall, HP […]

Microsofts Internet Explorer Turns 15: A Look Back by Nicholas Kolakowski No Title Microsoft rolled out Internet Explorer 1.0 with its Windows 95 Plus! Pack, with the browser installed as part of the Internet Jumpstart Kit (subsequently replaced by the Internet Connection Wizard). No Title Internet Explorer 1.0 allowed users to browse the Web but […]

Hewlett-Packard announced strong results for the third fiscal quarter of 2010, even as the company wrestled with the sudden departure of former CEO Mark Hurd. Those results included net revenues of $30.7 billion, up 11.4 percent from the same quarter in 2009. Its Services, Enterprise Storage and Servers, HP Software, Personal Systems Group, and Imaging […]

Oracle seems determined to take the proverbial gloves off in its fight against VMware, hosting an Aug. 19 online event designed to demonstrate the differences between the two companies. Oracle’s primary argument is that its virtualization products work in conjunction with a corporation’s entire IT stack-“from the desktop to the datacenter,” in the company’s parlance-to […]

Microsoft and Intel have a long-standing partnership. Microsoft Security Essentials competes with McAfee’s portfolio of security products. So will Intel’s $7.68 billion acquisition of McAfee affect the chip-maker’s relationship with Microsoft? Not really, said representatives from Intel. “McAfee will be a wholly owned subsidiary, so there will be little change from today,” an Intel spokesperson […]