Gadgetory

this week on the CNET tech review gift ideas for the grads in your life mobile streaming apps get tapped our picks for the best laptop buys this spring and Acura goes futuristic it's all coming up right now hey everyone I'm Hollywood and welcome to the CNET tech review the show where we run down the hottest videos of the week and tell you which are good which are bad and offer some sage bottom-line advice let's get started with the good in the next few weeks millions of kids will be graduating from high school or college now just imagine how many people have to decide what gifts to buy for them here's Tom Merritt with our top 5 gifts for grads to help you decide welcome to CNN top five or each time we meet we count down another hot seat at list I'm Tom Merritt graduation it's a time of promise a time of endless optimism of hope a time when rotten gifts ruin a young person's respect for their elders don't be that elder take our advice get them one of these hot tech products it could change their life at least keep you in their good graces let's count them down at number five the Logitech Squeezebox radio it has been proven that music makes the worker more productive so whether your grad is going to college or the workplace set them up to get the highest quality music from the internet and the stylish squeeze box will impress their friends - coming in at number four the canon powershot s95 sneed snapshots - right for their facebook page the s 90 is all the rage in an excellent compact camera for advanced amateurs aka grads up to number-3 the sony ps3 now this just isn't about rewarding their hard work with games this thing will stream movies and TV shows - thus saving money on their cable bills you're looking out for their future be sure to sign them up for that Netflix disc sliding in at number two the HTC Droid Incredible our editor's choice smartphone and your grad is gonna need one to stay connected in this cold cold world this phone is sleek and filled with top-notch features like Android 2.1 and an 8 megapixel camera before we get to number one we thought we'd give you some guidance on what not to get your grads these are the top 5 worst tech gifts for grads don't get them these unless you hate them alright let's get to our number one the top gift for grads at number one it's the iPad in fact you can almost replace all the other gifts on this list with this one it plays movies games music and checks emails surf the web you can even do calls over voit plus that Apple fan they've had their eye on will now speak to them you have to think of these things well that's it for this edition of CNN top 5 don't forget to visit our dads and grads gift guide for more great suggestions at grads cnet.com I'm Tom Merritt see you next congratulations graduates now it's time to take your laptop down to your local coffee shop and use their free Wi-Fi to start looking for a job what's that your old laptop got wrecked during your last beer pong tournament well luckily Dan Ackerman is here with a buying guide that will help you find a brand new one I'm Dan Ackerman and is never a bad time to update basic laptop buying advice but now is an especially good time because even though laptops today pretty much looked like they did six months or a year ago the components inside have really changed a lot in 2010 so it's really a perfect opportunity to update our basic laptop buying advice now netbooks today are as popular as ever and that's because for about $2.99 you can get a pretty easy on the go computing experience however the components inside the netbooks have changed a lot starting in 2010 we've got the new Intel Atom n 450 processor now least new netbooks that have that n 450 they're not a heck of a lot faster than last year's models but the battery life is a lot better we're seeing six seven even more hours of battery just from a basic netbook like this now we're also seeing netbooks that try to jack up the price a little bit going from $2.99 to maybe 3 99 or $4.99 by adding some premium upscale features sometimes like in the case of this Toshiba NV 305 you're gonna see a bigger touchpad in a nicer keyboard other times you're going to see Windows 7 premium instead of Windows 7 starter or you're gonna see a higher resolution screen and maybe if you're lucky some basic graphics options like Nvidia Xion ship that'll let you play HD video and even some basic games on a netbook now the mainstream laptops those 14 and 15 inch models that you find in your you know your den or your home office well those have gotten a pretty good under the hood upgrade as well they've all got Intel's new series of core CPUs a core i3 Core i5 and core i7 what you're going to find is improve performance and improve battery life over last year's Core 2 Duo version in some cases it's pretty dramatic in other cases less so are you gonna find a lot of really good mainstream systems like yeah the Dell studio 15 basic 15 inch laptop once you add that core i5 to it you're gonna get better performance and better battery life over last year if you try something like the toshiba e 2 o 5 it's going to have stuff like intel's new wireless display technology what that does is it takes signals from your laptop screen sends it to your HDTV just plug a little adapter into the back and it's great for watching movies tis a bit of a fraction of the second place of not great for gaming or web surfing but you play a video on here and then you can watch it on your big-screen TV and of course if you're more business-minded let's say you're running a small business out of your home or you're a freelancer well then Lenovo course has a ThinkPad line those have those core series ships too and here's a great bargain hunting tip if you look for something with the Intel Core i3 CPU you're gonna find those in less expensive mainstream models you're gonna get almost the same performance and battery life as you do out of the more expensive Core i5 models but save a couple bucks in the process whenever we see the core i3 listed on the laptop we think you're probably gonna find a pretty good deal and of course Apple's MacBook laptops pretty much in a category by themselves they actually just did a bunch of updates to the MacBook Pro line what they did was they ended the core i7 and Core i5 chips to the 15 and 17 inch models the 13-inch MacBook Pro model didn't get the same level of upgrade but it's still pretty much the same really good system it was last year you also get in the 15 and 17-inch systems discrete graphics by default now and even better instead of having to go into a menu and switch those discrete graphics off and on it just turns on automatically when you need it like when you start a game or you start a video editing program so you'll save yourself a little hassle that way and you probably get better battery life because it'll turn off the extra graphics when you're not using them just automatically by itself of course these are still super premium laptops are you definitely going to pay for the privilege of having a MacBook Pro but if you're doing stuff like video editing and photo editing there are very few other go-to choices out there so of course our last category is something that may or may not be a laptop at all people argue whether it's a netbook with the keyboard missing or whether it's a portable media player that also does word processing an email it is Apple's iPad tablet and the reality it's probably somewhere in between those two it really is a hybrid device it plays all those apps obviously and there's a lot of movies and games really well but it also does basic word processing it does really great web surfing and you can even do email on it now is this going to replace your regular laptop or desktop definitely not is it gonna replace your netbook that you take with you on business trips well probably not that either but if you're going to the coffee shop or you're taking a plane trip somewhere or going on vacation you might take the iPad with you instead of a netbook because you can do web surfing on it and you can do some basic word processing and basic email just the basic messages that you want to send and worth while you're on vacation or something they're just out for the day but no matter what you call it or what category you put it in there's one thing we've figured out and that's people seem pretty crazy about the Apple iPad so far so hopefully this guide has given you a good head start in your next laptop purchase don't be afraid to ask questions do your research and of course always check out the latest laptop reviews on cnet.com I'm Dan Ackerman thanks for watching so there you have it you'll need a laptop a netbook and an iPad hope you've been saving up moving on in the good we have a new show here at CNET TV that you may not have seen it's called tap that app where Brian Tong is scouting out the best apps out there on all kinds of mobile devices this week video streaming on your phone cool stuff welcome to tap that app i'm brian tong and this is the show we cover the hottest apps in the mobile space now this week we're showing off apps that enable you to stream live video from your phone and then to your friends anywhere you are now there are really three mobile apps to pay attention to the first one is quick live it's free and it's available on almost all platforms but limited to specific phones when it comes to blackberries Symbian phones and windows mobile phones and there is no Palm Pre support in fact palms webOS has no live video streaming solution at all with the quick app you'll need to create an account press record and your streaming live to the web with an easy to remember link now this is streaming video but the app probably has the best audio and video quality overall people logged onto the site can interact with a live chat and you'll also be able to share your videos and announce them to the world on Facebook Twitter and YouTube now the next app is Ustream broadcaster it's also free but only available on the iPhone and Android platforms for streaming live video this also requires an account setup but press the go-live button and your stream is up the unique feature here is the ability to ask a question on your stream and have a live poll where viewers can respond and you'll see what they think and like quick people can also interact with a live chat that appears on your phone screen - and you can also share your video with Facebook Twitter and YouTube friends the third app is knocking live video it's free but it only runs on iPhones and Android phones and it's a little different because you need to sign up and your friends need to sign up for you to both use the service to watch your stream invite a friend that has to be in the app sure it makes it more private but then there's no audio on the stream and it's only done through phones it's also linked to Facebook and Twitter to let people know when you're using it but it's really a private way to stream video so what do I think about these apps well quick is the most universal of the group and has the best video quality so I'm given that a good tap you stream broadcasters unique polling feature on top of its ability to match all the features that quick has like real-time chat and video uploading make it tap worthy but knocking live video is only on two platforms it's a pain to set up friends need to be in the app and there's no audio no thanks alright that's it for this week's show if you guys have any questions send them to tap that a patsy Netcom i'm bryan song next to me writes producer Arielle sure has been getting a lot of screen time lately yeah we should give him his own show all right it's time to take a break but when we come back it's happy stabbing robot time hey guys Brian song here and if you're looking to see the top dogs in tech face-off then you need a watch see that's prize fight we'll throw touchscreen phones in the ring reignite the console wars battle web browsers and more so you can find it all as cnet.com / - and i'll see you there welcome back to the CNET tech review now to kick off the bad this week here's Tom Merritt with a how-to on creating custom keyboard shortcuts keyboard shortcuts are fantastic they make you faster more productive and can impress your friends and potential mates but even more impressive than knowing things like control X and Windows D is making your own shortcuts that no one else has creating shortcuts is easy to do in Windows 7 and they can save you a lot of time you'd otherwise spend hunting for a programs icon start by finding the program you want to make a shortcut for I'm gonna make one that will launch paint.net right-click on the program icon and select properties then select the shortcut tab click in the shortcut key field and type the hotkey combination you want I'm gonna use ctrl alt P press ok and now try out your new keyboard shortcut just hit ctrl alt P and there you go now go try and press your friends if they're impressed you have the right friends hope that saves you some time at least I'm Tom Merritt Cina Darko so what's so bad about that video well as some of you already know this is Tom's last week with us here at seen it and that means this will be his last how-to video bad but don't worry you'll still be able to find all of his great tips from over the years at CNN tv.com we'll miss you Tom and speaking of bad news this Monday is loaded was full of it from new FCC regulations to pesky IM viruses there was a lot of bad stuff going on take a look the FCC gives Hollywood permission to control your set-top box Sony is updating the VAIO P with an accelerometer and a robot in Germany can stab you with knives and screwdrivers it's Monday May 10th I'm Natali del Conte and it's time to get loaded the FCC is giving Hollywood the power to remotely disable the analog outputs on your set-top box to prevent you from watching newly released movies in an analog format this control is called selectable output control the Motion Picture Association of America said that the studio's in the group would not authorize early release of movies until it had this capability because analog syndication can be easily pirated understandable but I'm not at all comfortable with Hollywood reaching in and controlling any part of my home electronics nevertheless the FCC granted this power last Friday Sony launched a new line of the VOP notebooks these are the small clutched looking machines that are ultra-thin and portable the new machines are 8 inches they come with an accelerometer that you can use to navigate websites pictures or PDFs by tilting them right or left they will also go into portrait mode when they are tipped on the side they also have 3G built-in we don't have information about a u.s. release date but they'll launched in Japan for over $1000 beware of a new virus that's finding its way onto Windows machines over yahoo instant messenger or Skype it arrives as an IM that asks you to look at a photo with a link the link looks like it leads to a JPEG or an image file but then it asks you to download a zip file don't do that it's malware if you download it we'll try to spread itself to other people in your IM contacts overseas apple lovers won't have to wait much longer for the ipad pre-orders for international shipments are available now the ship date is May 28th for customers in Australia Canada France Germany Italy Japan Spain Switzerland and the UK they can buy either the Wi-Fi or the 3G version in 16 32 or 64 gigs Nokia filed a new series of patent infringement suits against Apple for patents on the iPad and the iPad 3G the patents have to do with the technologies related to enhanced speech and data transmission Nokia and Apple have been suing each other over patent infringement since last October though so this is just the latest in that tango if you're afraid of robots you're really not gonna like this one it can stab you a German researcher named Sammy Haddad Ananta to see if his collision avoidance program worked so he equipped his robot with a knife a scalpel and a screwdriver he had it stabbed at a ham some silicon and finally his own arm the collision avoidance program worked and his arm was unscathed but the point is that he was willing that's commitment to your research those are your headlines for today I will see you tomorrow with more and thank you for watching I'm Natali del Conte bosina TV and you've just been loaded stabbing robots are you serious I know there's a rule about robots not injuring humans but it seems like you're pressing your luck if you actually give them knives let's turn our attention to happier thoughts shall we like this week's bottom line cars are changing big-time you know the funny-looking concept cars of the future well they're the funny-looking cars of today now let's have a look at the Acura ZDX shall we it's got the lines of a concept car buckets of tech and a blind-spot big enough to hide the u.s. deficit just don't ask me to tell you what type of car it is it's just the 2010 Acura ZDX Advance let's check the tech so this is an Acura ZDX you know it's one of those coupe UVs that are all the rage these days notice the lines and notice the packaging biggish wheels but more like a coupe that got big then an SUV that got swoopy and i say that because the interior packaging is much more now shall we say tight or at least sporting and stylish than it is utilitarian and nowhere is that more obvious than back here in the cargo bay and I use the word cargo rather generously this is really small in terms of carrying space for the volume of the vehicle but see the point of this thing is not to carry a whole lot of luggage the point is to carry four people in style with just enough luggage it's your ultimate weekend Wine Country golf trip vehicle and one other thing I want to point out is a very strong carryover of a design theme throughout this vehicle back here you've got this kind of descending V pointed chin you see it again inside the cabin here it's the main dominant design of the center stack where the controller is and its really strong up here in the front where the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger face is the new look for Acura now as you can imagine we've got an estimable load of tech in this Acura it's a high-end car we have the tech package in the advanced package and there's plenty to look at starting on the head unit screen this is the new ish Acura Honda unit which has been revised somewhat it's still a little crunchy looking but it's way better than the really stale unit they used to be sticking in their cars for ages as you can see we've got live traffic in there via XM satellite radio okay now moving on to the audio functions we've got a whole lot going on you got the usual am/fm but no HD radio standard or available on the ZDX that's you know contentious at this point in history XM as I mentioned is our satellite radio flavor here's our CD drive it's right down here single slot because we have a hard drive and you can rip to that now under the USB aux button comes the fun stuff here's Bluetooth audio which stream stereo music off of your phone our next choice of course is the iPod connector and I like this one it lives here inside the center console it's actually a USB pigtail into which I can connect my standard white Apple iPod cable charges gives me readout of data and of course plays audio now on the output side of this thing we've got an Els system 435 watts 10 speakers around the cabin pretty well geared up the usual bass treble balance fader but here you get to your subwoofer your speed control Dolby pl2 you've also got DTS read on this guy so a lot of different coatings can be read our transmission is a one choice only 6-speed automatic with a super stubby shifter down here in the console you don't shift with this guy you've got paddles up here on the wheel to do manual shifting of course I've got a backup camera which is going to give me some distance indicators before I go crunch and it's also got a view change I can look down at what I'm going to hit or I can look back to what I'm going to hit which is a damn good thing because this car gets the coolie award for biggest effing blind spot in automotive production this is the first year I've granted it because I didn't have to until now you can't see over the back of this car period it's like driving a tank they should have a periscope on the option sheet it's actually terrifying to make a lane change in this vehicle IDs is there adaptive suspension technology and it's got two modes a comfortable one and a sport mode now the suspensions adaptive at all times and this comes on the advance package in this car this doesn't turn adaptivity on or off it just changes the curve and the contour of how it responds and for those really bad days there's optional collision mitigation braking system which sounds an alarm tightens the belts and eventually crams on the brakes when you don't realize you're about to rear-end someone ok behind the pointy schnoz on our ZDX lies a relatively garden-variety Acura Honda 3.7 liter v6 single overhead cam nothing really clever going on here lots of variable valve timing which they've done so well for so long you're getting 300 horsepower out of this guy 270 foot-pounds of torque fun 16:23 are your epa estimates on the mileage 0 to 60 s about a six and a half second affair so you know it gets out of its own way but it's not going to be in the same classes let's say a BMW x6 of the same type all ZD X's have super handling all-wheel drive which can bias power to the wheels front and rear and left and right between the rears there's also cornering ji logic in the transmission to prevent an ungainly upshift when you're powering through a corner but leave the hood and get on the road and I'm not a huge fan of this power train I like it I don't love it not a lack of power and you've got paddle shifters you've got a sport mode I still feel like the cars caught in too high a gear too many times I've changed this IDs knob from comfort to sport in a lot of different conditions and I don't feel a whole lot of difference it's pretty subtle maybe it's more of a open road hard driving thing and the handling and cornering is quite good in this car it doesn't feel as tall as it looks from the outside okay let's price of 2010 ZDX and do it seen that style that means you buy it with the tech package that's $51,000 but includes basically all the toys in the cabin now what you would add on top of that your choice would be the advanced package six thousand more that gets you adaptive cruise control collision mitigation braking system that IDs adaptive suspension and that adds the blind spot detection system don't even drive this car a foot without that the bottom-line this week it doesn't matter what's behind you man it's what's ahead of you that counts and that's our show for this week everyone tune in next week when we'll have a complete first look at the new HTC EVO 4G from Sprint and a whole lot more in the meantime get more great seen that video at seen at tv.com see you next time and thank you for