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Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

Survey: Consumers Planning To Spend Less On Gadgets In 2009

More than half of consumers say they plan to spend less on gadgets in 2009, according to a survey released Monday by a research firm.

Forrester Research announced 51 percent of consumers say they plan to spend less on gadgets this year with just five percent intending to spend more this year. The findings are part of an online survey of around 5,000 U.S. residents over the age of 18.

The news could interest exhibitors at Macworld Expo 2009 and CES hoping to lure buyers with the latest gadgets.

Some 63 percent of those surveyed indicated they may not buy a smartphone, possibly impacting sales of Apple’s iPhone.

Additionally, 45 percent of consumers that took part in the survey said they may not buy a PC as soon as planned.

About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

Email the author | Read more posts by Ed Sutherland.

2 comments

    This title is misleading and incorrect. 51% intend to spend less…. not a 51% drop in sales.

    “51% drop in Gadget Spending” — That was an incredible piece of percentage-of-what carelessness in the title. I almost wish it hadn’t been pointed out. A 51% drop in gadget spending is a lot more disastrous than just “spending less” and makes for a more exciting headline! (On the other hand, its good to see that bad headlines can be corrected).

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