I'm looking forward to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/tags/Microsoft+Corporation.html">Microsoft</a>'s <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/168277/office_2010_most_innovations_are_online.html?tk=rel_news">browser-based edition of Office</a>. While the company isn't leading the trend to cloud-based apps, it's certainly in the middle of the movement. Microsoft's suite will be released next year, but you can save money by accessing online office-style apps right now. In-browser productivity suites are typically free. Plus, I like them for lightweight systems, such as netbooks, where Microsoft's desktop suite feels too bloated for even typing.
We've worked long and hard to come up with the best tips and tricks for your PCs, smartphones, cameras, game controllers, music players, and the Web. Let's start with PC, laptop, and networking tips.
You can bookmark a Gmail message, track stocks in Google's search box, quickly estimate a taxi ride's cost in Google Maps, and do much more. We tell you how.
Control 7 different devices with your iPhone, play Internet radio on your BlackBerry, and more
Smartphones are intelligent, but with the 14 tips and tricks in this story, they could approach genius territory. We'll show you how to run seven separate devices from your iPhone, how to play Internet radio (mostly for free) on your BlackBerry, how to make free phone calls from an iPod Touch, and how to revive a dead cell phone battery (if it's detachable) while you're in winter weather.
<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/tags/Google+Latitude.html">Google Latitude</a> is a useful--if slightly <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/158985/privacy_lobby_slams_google_latitude.html">creepy</a>--way to track your location on a mobile phone or GPS laptop. But you can get roughly the same sense of fleeting privacy on any old Wi-Fi PC; Google Latitude automatically pegged me within about 100 feet of my ground-floor office on GPS-free laptop.
VoIP (voice over IP) calls cost less than traditional phone systems, while adding additional features. <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/tags/Skype+Ltd..html">Skype</a> says that about 35 percent of its customers are using the service at work, so the company has tailored features to help that audience manage Skype and save money. Especially with the recent <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/162183/at_last_skype_set_to_launch_iphone_application.html">iPhone</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/162353/skype_shows_blackberry_iphone_applications.html">BlackBerry</a> clients, Skype could cut your business costs. <br/>
Hacking isn't just for geeks anymore. In this era of ubiquitous gadgetry and free information, anyone with a screwdriver can do a little unauthorized tinkering. Sure, the word hacking has negative connotations. But hacking is really about being a do-it-yourselfer. That means opening a Web browser rather than your wallet to get more functionality from the products you own.
If blogging is all about self-expression, why do so many blogs look so blah?