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01/07/03 |
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Happy New Year, Buzz lovers. To start 2003, you CNET readers are looking
for tools to get organized, do taxes, and make new friends. You're
also searching for faster wireless and Apple's latest. |
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Tax software
Another year, another W-2, and of course, more tax-preparation headaches.
Is it any wonder tax-prep software is so incredibly popular? It's not
surprising to see you all already searching for our new reviews of the
latest tax package updates. As of this first full week of January, CNET's
editors have reviewed only the free TaxAct
2002 Deluxe Edition, which we found to be too short on features to be
helpful. Look for reviews of the new TaxCut later this week and Intuit's
popular TurboTax by the end of next week. |
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Canon S820
Judging from the number of folks reading up on digital cameras before the
holidays, I'm going to guess that a lot of you CNET readers gave and
received digicams as gifts. If so, you newly camera-ed will want a handy
way to print those great digital photos. Is a photo printer at the top of
your current wish list? Perhaps that explains the surge of interest in the
highly-rated Canon S820 inkjet, which rings in at less than $200 (with
rebate) and boasts beautiful, high-quality photo prints--especially on good
paper. If you want more ideas on the right photo printer, check out our
editors' roundup of the best inkjet printers for every price range. |
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PalTalk
PalTalk is an audio/video chat client that can be downloaded free, but so
what? What's so special about this chat client that makes all you readers
jump into searching for it? Maybe this story from CNET's
News.com can explain it. Turns out, starting in late November, PalTalk
opened up an area of its chat community to people looking for companionship
called PalTalk Personals. Users can meet others for 10 minutes at a time in
a chat session to decide whether they would like to get to know each other
further. While our editors haven't tried out this new "insta-dating"
service, we have taken PalTalk's
client for a whirl and were less than impressed. But if you're looking
for that special someone for 2003, maybe this service is one place to start. |
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802.11g
Just as most folks were getting used to 802.11b and starting to learn
about 802.11a, along comes a faster wireless standard, 802.11g. If you're
not already in the know, 802.11g offers the high speeds of 802.11a and the
longer range of 802.11b. Plus, 802.11g devices are all backward-compatible
with 802.11b, making it more flexible than 802.11a products. And it's
popping up all over the place as wireless networking gets increasingly
popular. Linksys has already started rolling out its line of products,
which our editors will be reviewing in the coming weeks. Plus, Apple
announced at this week's Macworld 2003 that its new networking products and
wireless-ready PowerBook G4 will use the 802.11g standard. |
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Apple
No great mystery why so many of you were hunting for news about Apple this
week. With Macworld on the horizon, you Mac-curious were most likely
sniffing around for rumors about this week's show, especially regarding CEO
Steve Jobs's big speech. Well, the wait is over. At his keynote on January
7, Jobs unveiled two new PowerBooks: an expansive, feature-rich 17-inch
model and a compact 12-inch model. On the software side, he
announced Apple's very own Mac Web browser, Safari, and a PowerPoint-like
app called Keynote. Finally, he introduced the speedy 802.11g wireless
networking hub, AirPort Extreme. Check out our summary of Jobs's keynote
here. |
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Xbox
The appearance of Xbox in searches this week actually has very little to do
with gaming and a lot to do with hacking. First, there was Lindows CEO Michael
Robertson's admission that he was the anonymous donor who put up
$200,000 in a contest to translate the Linux operating system to
Microsoft's gaming console. Next came the Neo Project and its bid to try to
crack the Xbox
encryption code and win the prize using distributed-computing
techniques. But as of January 7, the group posted a message on its Web site
saying it was no longer
working on the project "due to legal reasons." Guess Gates and Co. put
the screws to them. But the contest carries on. See the Xbox Linux Project's Web site for more details. |
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Nokia 3650
By now, you've seen dozens of ads for the new Nokia 3650 camera phone; you
know, the one with the snowboarder laid up at home while his pal snaps and
e-mails photos of her boarding trip back to him instantly. While this model
isn't
actually available yet, it's expected to debut in early 2003 and sell
for $450. The 3650 uses the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
phone standard. Curious about what else Nokia is up to? Check out our
review of the sleek new Nokia
7210, also a world phone and chock-full of high-end features. |
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Gateway plasma
OK, you guys, the holidays are over, but I'm guessing all of you who were
wishing for a plasma TV didn't get what you wanted. And seeing all the
searches for Gateway's very affordable plasma TV, I'll venture that most of
you may pick one up for yourselves this year. If so, you'll be treated to a
quality plasma display that suffers only from slightly poor black-level
performance. But if you're willing to spend a bit more than Gateway's
bargain-basement $3,000, check out the other
plasma monitors we've reviewed recently, including our Editors' Choice,
Panasonic's
PT-42PD3-P 42-inch display. |
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Firewall
This final buzz term brings up another great New Year's tech resolution:
making your system more secure. Most of you are old antivirus veterans, but
are you ready for online attacks? If you're a broadband user, you can't be
without personal firewall software. Not only do these packages protect you
from potential hackers, many also include ad-blocking and cookie-management
tools to keep your privacy safe, as well. Our editors' top choice is ZoneAlarm
Pro 3.1, but if you need antivirus included with online protection, go
for Norton's
full-featured Internet Security 2003 suite. |
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