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A big shortcoming of powerline adapters is the fact that they tend not to interoperate across vendors. For example, the adapters made by Cisco are unlikely to work with products made by Netgear. This is because the powerline market has been fragmented and does not have a common standard. However, this is about to change.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance announced Tuesday that an initial sponsor ballot was passed for the IEEE P1901, the working group that develops the global standard for high-speed powerline communications. This is an important step toward establishing a global standard for powerline (PLC) networking.

According to … Read more

Many professionals need accurate, specific word counts in a wide range of document formats. Technocom's Word Count 'N' Invoice is a word-counting application optimized for professional-quality transcription in medical, legal, secretarial, and similar settings. It counts words, lines, pages, and characters and calculates billing rates in single documents or batches of thousands of files in more than 15 document formats. It generates professional-quality reports and invoices, too.

This tool opens with a nag screen and a compact but busy interface. A button hides or shows the Settings at a click, though, which cleans up the layout. Tabs let you … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--I have to admit, in the six weeks since I got back from covering the Winter Games, there has been a bit of post-Olympic letdown.

So, when British Columbia tourism officials set up a zip line in San Francisco and brought a few Olympians to town, I decided I had to check it out, even if the tech angle was a little weak (as my editor was quick to point out).

For the Canadians, it was a chance to show San Francisco some of what Vancouver has to offer. In addition to the zip line, British Columbia has filled … Read more

H&M Systems' StudioLine Web is a full-featured Web site solution that doesn't require knowledge of HTML or a programming background to use. It combines all the tools needed to create, post, and update professional-quality Web sites in one package that also bundles the developer's Photo Classic 3 Plus image editing software.

This large program's download manager offers useful options such as installing minimal features, which you can add to later. We chose to install the recommended templates and samples. A nag screen politely tracks the software's trial period. We started with the program's … Read more

NEW YORK--Greg Packer's dedication to Apple is under scrutiny.

Packer may be best known to the Apple community for waiting more than 100 hours in front of Apple's Fifth Avenue store in 2007 to ensure he would be first to buy the iPhone. On Thursday evening, he was out there again. With lawn chair and duffel bag in tow, he was amid his latest marathon line-standing campaign to be first to own the iPad.

And unless the poor guy keels over from exhaustion, sometime after 9 a.m. EDT on Saturday, when iPads are due to go on sale, … Read more

Choosing the right inkjet printer is a daunting task with several brands and printing technologies to choose from, each one suited for different needs. Inkjets come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny travel companions to workgroup workhorses; some are geared toward photographers, others are for multitaskers. The brand and model you buy should reflect your printing habits and the features that will ultimately make things easier for you.

To facilitate your online shopping, we've compiled a brand-by-brand rundown of each line from top-tier printer manufacturers, starting with HP's Photosmart printers. From $70 for the basic C4680 All-in-One … Read more

Online videos used to be pretty rare, unless you were prepared to spend a big chunk of time waiting for video files to download. With the advent of high-speed Internet and Flash, it's now hard to imagine life on the Internet without video; it's become a pretty significant part of our online experience. OnLine TV Live is one of many programs that attempt to organize and provide quick access to online video content. Unfortunately, we didn't find much to like about this application.

OnLine TV Live's interface somehow manages to be both visually sleek and somewhat … Read more

Powerline networking adapters tend to suffer from slow speeds, especially when compared with regular wired Ethernet connections. However that's about to possibly change with two new products from Netgear.

The company announced this week at CeBIT two new HomePlug AV-certified Powerline kits, including the Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit (XAVB5001) and the Powerline AV+ 500 Adapter Kit (XAVB5501).

Powerline networking kits allow you to expand your local network via the electrical wiring, sparing you from having to run network cable to a far corner of the house. This is especially helpful when the corner is so far away … Read more

Today we whittle down my focus on the recently passed Detroit auto show earlier this month. We started this examination with an overview video featuring the many highlights of this auto industry's annual event, and then focused the view onto the BMW product that was unveiled there. Today we're gonna take a close look at a very specific BMW concept vehicle that was "the talk of the town" at this year's party: the BMW ActiveE.

The ActiveE is a landmark in BMW history as its very first electric automobile, and though it is still simply … Read more