Jason has written professionally about technology and video games for almost 15 years. His goal in life is to figure out how complicated technology works and explain it in a way anyone can understand. More by Jason Cross
If you've ever wanted to stream music or video around your house—say, from your laptop or your smartphone to your HDTV—you know it can be a bit of a pain. It's often complicated enough that we have to write articles to help you, say, move audio around the house. Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if it moving media around your home network were standardized?
It turns out, it sort of is standardized. At least, there's a dominant standard to allow digital devices to talk to one another for the purposes of streaming video and audio around your home network. That standard is DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance.
[In our Three-Minute Tech series, we tell you everything you really need to know about a technology in three minutes or less.]
Speakers—sometimes referred to as loudspeakers—are everywhere. Just looking around my office, I find them inside my iPhone, IP telephone, Apple Cinema Display, headphones, and laptop. Even my alarm clock and my microwave have speakers, not to mention the speakers connected to my stereo. But how do they work?
A lapsed musician, Michael is passionate about home and personal audio. He uses his home as a real-world test lab for evaluating consumer electronics and home control technology. More by Michael Brown
The first thing you need to know about IEEE 802.11ac—the latest wireless networking standard—is that the standard isn’t actually finished. Today’s 802.11ac routers are based on a second draft. Early 802.11n hardware was likewise based on a draft IEEE standard, but those products were certified to assure consumers they would be compatible. Although this first generation of 802.11ac routers isn’t certified in the same way, no compatibility problems have surfaced to date, so it’s unlikely you’ll encounter problems if you buy one now.
The second thing you need to know is that no manufacturer is selling an 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi adapter today, so your existing laptop computer won’t benefit from the speed boost the new technology promises to deliver. The new 802.11ac routers are backward compatible with the older 802.11n standard, however, so you’ll still be able to connect your existing wireless gear to the new routers, but you won’t gain any performance boost (unless you’re upgrading from a very old router).
Loyd Case first started writing about PC technology for Computer Gaming World, giving him a creative outlet for his obsession about PC performance. The PC industry -- and Loyd -- have never been quite the same since. More by Loyd Case
[In our Three-Minute Tech series, we tell you everything you really need to know about a technology in three minutes or less.]
For about a year, Macs have been shipping with a fancy new port on the side called Thunderbolt. We're just on the cusp of seeing this new port on Windows-based PCs, too. What exactly is Thunderbolt, and should you make sure your next computer has it?
Jonathan has been covering the tech industry since 1998. He loves watching TV shows on his iPhone while exercising, and has already indoctrinated his young twins in the ways of the Apple TV. More by Jonathan Seff
[In our Three-Minute Tech series, we tell you everything you really need to know about a technology in three minutes or less.]
Kicking back on the couch to watch a game, enjoy a movie, or lose yourself in the latest episode of Game of Thrones is a great way to relax. However, shopping for an HDTV can be baffling. LED or plasma? 120Hz or 240Hz? HDTV specs are as numerous as they are confusing, but here’s what a few of the most-common terms mean.
