list

Instagram expanded into video Thursday, letting users record and share short clips with one another, a feature designed squarely to compete with Twitter's Vine.

The new feature, which is built into an updated version of the app on both iOS and Android, lets users shoot up to 15 seconds of footage and tweak the look with filters. Instagram's added a few other goodies, like a camera mode that can stabilize your shot on newer mobile phones.

The company is not the first to offer such features. There's been a long string of successful, and rather unsuccessful, attempts … Read more

Apple's opening up iOS 7 like nothing before it, allowing and even encouraging the use of game controller hardware that will finally bring physical buttons to iPhones, iPods, and iPads.

This has been done before, of course, but not with Apple backing those efforts. Companies like Ion Audio and its iCade have brought hardware add-ons, though they required developers to tweak their games in order make those things work. This new option from Apple also requires that, but aims for a standardized set of controls that developers can plug into their software, and that come baked into Apple's … Read more

For the past couple of months, prospective MacBook buyers, especially those looking for a slim MacBook Air, have been holding off on purchases, waiting to see what Apple had in store for its annual WWDC keynote.

While the new 11-inch and 13-inch Airs look and feel a lot like the previous couple of generations, the internal components have been upgraded with new, and incredibly energy efficient, CPUs, leading to battery life scores in excess of Apple's estimated 12 hours for the 13-inch version.

Because of that great battery life, you can bet that plenty of new MacBooks were ordered … Read more

For some users who are torn between switching from iOS to Android, the downside of giving up some iCloud features such as Calendar and Reminders (especially if there are shared calendars or reminder lists with other iCloud users) is too much to overlook.

Last July I covered an app called SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar that provided a solution for Android users to still have two-way sync with iCloud calendars. The app has been updated several times since last summer, with each update improving reliability, but until recently the option to sync Reminders was still missing. If you had set up … Read more

I covered the best-sounding new digital recordings last Sunday; this time it's the choicest new vinyl.

'The White Stripes' Most tracks are stripped down to the basics, just Jack White on vocals and guitar, and Meg White's minimalist drum kit. An amazing debut record, not exactly an audiophile classic, but it wins points for emotional honesty. It feels right, and White's analog loving roots are on full display.

The Pastels, 'Slow Summits'A beautiful new record from an old band. These pretty, melodic, but definitely not pop tunes unfold one after another before your ears. The thing … Read more

Turns out, I've been giving you bad advice. Or at least outdated advice. In my post on this topic from last year (in the heady days of iOS 5), I showed you how you could simply swipe on an app on your purchased list right on your iPhone to hide it. For no good reason at all (at least any that I can see), iOS 6 did away with this functionality. Perhaps iOS 7 will bring back the ability to cull your purchased list from your phone, but for now, it requires a trip to iTunes. *sad trombone*

Open … Read more

Great-sounding albums are becoming increasingly rare, so when I find noteworthy efforts I'm happy to share the news. The goal is highlighting new stuff -- or at least newly recorded/remastered music, and this time I'm going to make separate digital and analog lists. This one covers digital standouts on CD and SACD; next weekend I'll cover LPs.

The list is based on music that I played at home, so I'm sure I've missed some great albums. Share your finds in the comments section.

Doug MacLeod, "There's a Time" (CD)

Bluesman MacLeod … Read more

Once or twice a week a phishing scam eludes my mail services' filters and lands in one of my inboxes. Usually a familiar name appears in the From field and something like "Take a look" or "What do you think of this?" is in the Subject line. In the body of the message is a strange link. (Don't click it!)

In one of the phishing messages I received recently, my sister's name is listed in the From and "Reply to" fields, but when I hover over the name, two unknown addresses appear.… Read more