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Episode 25: Le Web and the iPad Mini tortured in Paris

At the Le Web conference in Paris in December, the theme was a phrase I wish I'd thought of: the Internet of Things. The show was all about our connected present and future, a world in which all our devices are connected to each other, to us, and to the great Data Cloud in the sky. I interviewed entrepreneurs, futurists, designers, and big company names about what that future will hold and when it might come about for a special Future Tech package in this episode.

The most interesting thing to come out of those interviews, to me, was … Read more

Always On Torture Test Giveaway Extravaganza! iPod Touch, ThinkPad Carbon X1, and Kindle Fire HD

It's been a while since we had a good gadget giveaway here at Always On, so in honor of the holiday season, we're having a giveaway extravaganza! Enter in the comments for a chance to win one of three devices we've recently put through the wringer.

First up, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop. This one boasted rugged construction, but had trouble with our torture gantlet: mainly the heat test and the part where I spilled a cup of hot coffee on its otherwise outstanding keyboard. It comes on, but the keyboard and touch pad are unresponsive. … Read more

Episode 21: Unboxing Google's Nexus 4 phone and Nexus 10 tablet

We're back, and just in time for the holiday shopping season! Welcome to the pre-Black Friday episode of Always On: the unboxing extravaganza.

This episode alone features Google's two new pure-Android Nexus devices -- the LG Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 tablet. I so wanted to love the Nexus 4, since I'm definitely in the market for a pure-Android device, but I'm skeptical (as is our CNET reviewer, Lynn La) about the lack of 4G LTE in the unlocked model. Then again, I don't have to sit around worrying about it since the phone … Read more

Torture-testing the Nexus 7, iPad, and iPad Mini

I think I might need a support group -- I seem to be hooked on gadget snuff films.

The latest one from my hookup, the device warranty outfit SquareTrade, sees a third-generation iPad, the iPad Mini, and the Google Nexus 7 being methodically abused to see which holds up best.

The real development in this latest in a long series of face-off videos is the use of a new "drop-bot" that helps ensure a more fair drop of each device. In the past, the fate of each tortured device seemed to depend on a randomly determined point of … Read more

Always On torture-test giveaway: One iPhone 4S (bricked)

I hear a lot of geeks make jokes about "really pretty paperweights." Even some Android fans have been known to refer to the iPhone that way, just for amusement. In this case, it's ... kind of true.

We put the iPhone 4S through the normal battery of tests back in season 1, and it was relatively tough, despite a nasty purple line on the screen after being dropped. But its unibody construction meant we could never dry it out enough to save it from a spin in the washing machine.

But I believe in miracles, and I'm … Read more

Episode 18: The Galaxy Note 2 and a ThinkPad torture test

When Samsung debuted the Galaxy Note last year at CES, the phone met with, well, a mountain of mockery.

It was inexplicably huge, it came with a stylus, hallmark of the hopelessly unhip, and worse, pundits took to calling it a "phablet" -- half phone, half tablet. It appeared to be a product in search of a market it could never, ever hope to find.

We were wrong. The Note found a following, and Samsung reportedly sold 20 million of the funny little things. That's pretty good for a tweener device with no known purpose.

And here … Read more

Episode 17: Kindle-palooza!

Last month Amazon.com's CEO Jeff Besos, unveiled the new Kindle line, complete with new updates to the current Kindles and an 8.9" Fire. Naturally, Molly bought all of the new kindles, including the "revolutionary" Paperwhite!

We unboxed the 7" Kindle Fire a few episodes back, and now it was time to enter it into our torture chamber. That Kindle Fire really took a beating from us, and we were all shocked to see it survive. I personally would be using it right now, but agree with Molly. It's just too WIDE to … Read more

Episode 16: Torture-testing the iPhone 5

Everyone else is excited about this being the episode where we torture test the iPhone 5 -- and believe me, I get that, it's pretty exciting. And it was a pretty dramatic test, to be sure, I think you'll be surprised at the combination of tough and not tough displayed by that phone.

But for me, this episode is all about the America's Cup piece! That's just selfish, though; it's because I had such a great time riding on that catamaran -- and I do think the broadcasting tech is fascinating. America's Cup racing … Read more

Always On torture test giveaway: MacBook Air (slightly damaged)

... it only comes on when it's plugged in. Hey, but I'm pretty sure it's just a battery issue, so I bet it's a pretty easy fix, and you'll have yourself a really tough-looking MacBook Air! Me, I'd enter to win it, for sure. And it's not like it's our Nexus 7 or anything. That's coming later.

So, if you'd like to be the proud owner of the Always On Collector's Edition MacBook Air, just enter to win in the comments below! In our last giveaway, we proffered the iPad … Read more