High Technology Product Reviews | Trends and News

A two-headed calf might cause a sensation at the State Fair, but two-headed antivirus tools are more and more common. The concept makes sense. By integrating two antivirus engines into a single product you get better detection without the potential conflicts from using two separate antivirus tools. TrustPort Antivirus 2011 ($34.10 direct) integrates two well-known antivirus engines, but doesn't demonstrate any real benefit from the pairing. Double Anti-Spy Professional v2 ($29 direct, 4 stars) another twin-engine antivirus, labels its two engines "A" and "B" (though it's no secret that A comes from Sunbelt and B is a combination of Agnitum and VirusBuster). TrustPort clearly identifies its engines by name. One is the engine behind AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011 (Free, 3.5 stars), and the other powers BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 ($39.95 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars). Specifications Type Personal OS Compatibility Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows...

Affordable, feature-rich, and easy to use small and mid-sized business network management applications are hard to find, but they do exist. Case in point: The free Spiceworks, which has enjoyed popularity in the SMB network management crowd thanks to its vendor independence and ease of use. Cisco's Network Magic does a lot of what Spiceworks does, but we found it worked a bit buggy with non-Cisco networking products. More than a tool, Spiceworks is a portal comprised of network management, help desk, purchasing features, and a community of over 1,000,000 helpful users—mostly IT professionals—deemed "Spiceheads." The software is as useful as ever, but it's hampered a bit by new features that could've used more time in the oven. Specifications Type Business, Enterprise, Professional Free Yes OS Compatibility Windows Vista, Windows XP, Linux, Windows 7 Interface and Setup Spiceworks' interface has been updated since we last took a look at it. The Device ...

It seems as if Google is concerned, once again, about developing a social network which will enable it to compete with Microsoft's conjunction with Facebook. This is going to be the comedy act of the year. Numerous articles floating around seem to promote the idea that Google may be unable to compete with the likes of Bing once the great social network of Facebook opens the kimono to Microsoft. The argument states: because there is so much personal information about me on Facebook (I actually don't have a Facebook account), that when I search for something on Bing, a cloud of personal information can be analyzed to improve search results. However, nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, it doesn't make any sense. If I am looking for a schedule of events in San Francisco, what does my Facebook data have to do with it? If I am trying to find the exact date Thomas Jefferson was born, then what does Facebook have to do with it? This entire gambit is unfort...

Windows Phone 7 is a brand-new thing. Microsoft's total mobile OS reboot is bold and fresh. It's also definitely a Version 1.0. Zune fans will be immediately impressed, but for everyone else, buying into Windows Phone 7 is taking a gamble that Microsoft will sand away the rough edges quickly. For now, Windows Phone 7 is arriving on six phones in the U.S.: the Samsung Focus ($199.99, 4 stars), HTC Surround ($199.99, 3 stars) and LG Quantum on AT&T; the HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro on T-Mobile; and the HTC 7 Pro on Sprint. Verizon has said it may support the OS in 2011, but hasn't made any clear commitments. All the initial Windows Phone 7 models have a lot in common. They run on the Qualcomm QSD8250, 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 chipset. They all have 800-by-480 screens, 5-megapixel cameras, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM radios. They vary in terms of hardware keyboards, phone performance, camera quality, preloaded software, and available storage. The Basic Interface Windows Phone ...

Arthur C. Clarke postulated that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," and every new release of Adobe's industry-standard bitmap image-editor, Photoshop, comes closer to proving that true. The newest, Photoshop CS5 ($699 to $999 list, $199–$899 list for upgrades), implements features that aid in selection, painting, and high dynamic range (HDR) photography, as well as a new capability that's as close to digital prestidigitation as we've yet seen. Photoshop CS5 may not be a must-have revision for every user, but it's an outstanding, easy-to-use, and—yes—magical release that shows Adobe isn't yet done changing the game. Specifications Type Business, Personal, Enterprise, Professional OS Compatibility Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS, Windows 7 Photoshop's Content-Aware Fill The most eye-popping of the changes here is Content-Aware Fill. Sound familiar? It should—Photoshop CS4 ($700 - $1,000 street, ) added Conten...

It's hard to believe that two years has passed since my last look at Carbonite, one of the two leading online backup services, along with Mozy ($4.95/month/PC, 3 stars). Since then, Carbonite has come a long way, redesigning its application for version 4. Key to the new version are improvements to the restore functionality, which gave me problems when I last tested the app. Unfortunately, the new Carbonite lacks many capabilities you'll find in competitors like SOS Online Backup ($9.95/month/5 PCs, 4 stars), and I still had trouble performing full restores in my testing. Specifications Type Business, Personal, Professional OS Compatibility Windows Vista, Windows XP, Linux, Mac OS, Windows 7 Setup You can try out Carbonite for yourself using its free 15-day trial. No credit card is required, but after the trial period the service will cost you $54.95 a year for unlimited back up storage of one PC. The pricing is in line with the rest of the industry, but competitors like ...