timing

The Nintendo 3DS has already been through a lot. The first-ever glasses-less 3D portable console didn't have the most glamorous of launches when it hit the market more than two years ago. Tainted by an underwhelming batch of debut software, controversial 3D effect, and a disappointing battery life, the 3DS didn't have a whole lot going for it out of the gate.

If that wasn't enough of a burden, the 3DS was also forced to follow up the original DS, a predecessor that is approaching worldwide sales of 154 million units combined. It's the best-selling portable console of all time.

But in the 25 months since its release, the 3DS has made significant strides. A focus on the platform's online store and a hardware refresh with a much bigger screen and better battery have begun to right the ship. Most importantly, a bevy of compelling software has been made available -- though some have criticized the company's continual recycling of classic games. … Read more

With the use of time-lapse photography one can capture weather, traffic, or other slow-moving action and create amazing videos. Time-Lapse Lite for Android allows the user to capture entertaining videos but does not deliver the high-quality images generally seen on today's mobile devices.

At less than 1MB Time-Lapse Lite for Android is a very small application. It installs instantly and the user is able to take videos without the hassle of an advanced setup or registration. The user interface is well designed and easy to read. Intuitive controls are highlighted in white while the background remains in a dark … Read more

Though Time Warner Cable's free Wi-Fi hot spots are nothing new, there is something perhaps more than coincidental about the timing of their launch in Austin, Texas.

Did someone say Google Fiber?

Well, actually, Time Warner itself did. In its announcement Thursday that it's bringing free Wi-Fi hot spots to its Austin customers, the company said it was Google launching its superfast Internet and TV service in the Texas capital that gave Time Warner momentum.

"We've been rolling out our free Wi-Fi network across our footprint for some time now, as part of our larger strategy … Read more

Technology luminaries have once again found a home in Time's "100 Most Influential People In the World" series.

The list, which this year includes everyone from artist Jay-Z to Pope Francis, is filled with technology big shots including Jens Bergensten and Markus Persson, the creators of wildly popular PC title Minecraft; Perry Chen, CEO and co-founder of Kickstarter; and Google Ideas director Jared Cohen.

Technology leaders have always been staples on the Most Influential list, and such giants as Steve Jobs have made their way into the listing. This year's selection, however, appears to be a … Read more

YoWindow for iPhone is a miniaturized version of the highly-praised Windows counterpart; it's a full-screen weather app complete with animated visualizations of "real time" weather.

The iPhone version comes with five main animated landscapes, each with their own distinctive look and feel. Each animated landscape comes with subtle yet dynamic features that evoke an incredible sense of calm. Stare at a landscape long enough, and you'll notice trees swaying in the background, birds flying off in the distance, airplanes taking off, and more. It's one of those apps that makes your phone a perfect desktop … Read more

Time Warner Cable subscribers soon will be able to watch certain live channels on their Apple's iOS devices -- even when away from home.

The network, which is the second-largest cable company in the U.S., today announced plans to add both live and on-demand content viewing to its iOS app, which will work even when users are away from their designated home Wi-Fi connection.

The updated service, which launches Wednesday, expands upon one that allowed viewers to access both live and on-demand content but still required the user to be at home.

Not all live TV is available … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about whether it is possible to install Windows on an external hard drive for use in Boot Camp, how to set up Time Machine to back up home folders stored on secondary drives, and how to disable the yellow tooltip popups that appear over URL links in many OS X applications. I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Using Windows 7 … Read more

Apple's iMessage and FaceTime networks are once again experiencing outages.

The outage, which is the second this week, began just before 8 a.m. PT, and once again affects "some users," according to Apple's system status page.

Both services experienced a similar outage this past Tuesday that lasted more than five hours.

iMessage is Apple's proprietary messaging platform that works between iOS and OS X users. FaceTime is the company's live video chat service, also for those two platforms. In January, Apple said that iMessage users were sending more than 2 billion messages a … Read more

There have been days recently when I would have liked to have been taken out of the present.

Anywhere would have done. Greece 2012. The moon 2034. The entrails of a whale, to chat with Jonah, the eighth century B.C.

Science seems to have been very slow to take us out of our place and time, despite the best efforts of Michael J. Fox.

I can reveal, however, that progress has finally been made. For an Iranian scientist has invented The Aryayek Time-Traveling Machine. Or, at least, he says he has.… Read more