portable

Here's a question for you: Are laptops becoming the ultimate commodity products? And, as such, does sexiness simply not matter anymore?

I say this because of the overwhelming response I got to a piece I wrote on why the 13-inch MacBook Pro needs to go away. I argued in favor of the Air's sleek design and equivalent everyday performance; many readers argued fiercely that the 13-inch Pro has features and functionality--more hard-drive capacity and more robust RAM, not to mention an Ethernet jack--that still make it a strong favorite.

I also say this because, at CES 2012, sexed-up laptops--aka "ultrabooks"--were the Theme of the Day. Everyone seems quick to come up with a New, Cool Laptop.

I've been encouraging forward-thinking laptop design, and yet I understand that laptops, in an age of ever-smaller, ever-cooler smart devices, just might for many be destined for a role as a reliable commodity device. Yes, I've been bored by laptops...and yet, maybe boring laptops are just what many people need. … Read more

Songbird is a free, open-source media player/Web browser. It's built around Mozilla's Firefox browser engine, VLC media player, and SQLite's database engine, with lots of extensions and other capabilities available, and more added all the time. Songbird's capabilities are too many to summarize, let alone describe, but they include dynamic playlists, automatic and manual importing and exporting, integration of Web radio and media streams, CD ripping, song data lookup, feed aggregators, and user-developed extensions of every kind. Songbird Portable is fully portable version of Songbird converted by PortableApps.

As portable freeware, Songbird Portable can be … Read more

The Jawbone Jambox portable Bluetooth speaker is a must-pack item for travelers, but its small size means you're not using it to host dance parties or even as a permanent computer speaker at home.

That may soon change, however, as an FCC excavation from Web sleuths at Wireless Goodness exposed Jawbone's plans for a larger, boom-box-style Jambox.

The code name right now is "Big Jambox," but the filing doesn't unearth much dirt aside from that and its Bluetooth connectivity. Depending on its size, however, the larger speaker will likely compete with larger iPod/iPhone speakers … Read more

If open-source freeware has a weak spot, it's the hobbyist thing, and nowhere is that more evident than in media players. "Wait while it updates what? Font cache? I just want to hear 'Surfin' Bird!'" Many people are more than willing to forgo the advantages of open-source players for something easier to use.

MPlayer is an open-source media player optimized for playing movies, but it has a lot of options and capabilities, with more coming all the time. SMPlayer aims to be a unified front end for MPlayer, simplifying access to basic features such as playing videos … Read more

Inkscape is a popular open-source vector graphics editor that has earned high praise for its powerful features. Inkscape Portable takes these powerful features on the go, letting users store the program on a USB drive or other portable device for access anywhere.

Like its installable cousin, Inkscape Portable is not for beginners, unless you're a beginner who's ready to put some effort into learning about vector graphics. An array of toolbars line three sides of the interface, and they can be overwhelming if you don't already have some idea of what you're looking at. Experienced artists, … Read more

There are many choices when it comes to file-compression tools, but sometimes you simply want to extract some files as quickly as possible. ExtractNow fits the spec. It's compact, portable, and free. You can drag and drop files or batches of files into it, select several options from the context menu in Explorer, or add files and folders by browsing. It offers post-extraction operations, passwords, file monitoring, and external processing.

As portable freeware, ExtractNow can run from just about any folder, drive, or destination without having to be installed. Its compact interface lists files by name, status, and progress (… Read more

Led by products like the Jawbone Jambox and Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker, compact Bluetooth speakers are hot little items these days, and Geneva Lab has placed itself in the middle of the fray with its Sound System Model XS, which retails for $250 and comes in black, red, or white.

In case you've never heard of Geneva Lab, as its name implies, it's based in Switzerland, and has been making high-end iPod and iPhone audio systems since 2006. Most of its speakers--such as the Model L we reviewed back in 2007--are actually quite beefy, so it surprised me to see the company go extra-small with an XS model. However, I'm glad it did because, despite the somewhat inflated price tag, it's a very solid product. … Read more

About 15 years ago, I bought a Neo Geo at an antique store. I paid $1. And I still think I overpaid. But SNK Playmore, an Osaka-based game company, must believe that there's some value left in the Neo Geo name, if the latest reports are to be believed.

According to Japanese gaming site Famicom-Plaza (Translate), as well as U.S.-based game site Kotaku, SNK has developed a portable Neo Geo device that will launch with a 4.3-inch LCD display, 2GB of memory, an SD card slot, and 20 Neo Geo games preloaded.

Those of us old … Read more

Quick housekeeping note: I apologize to those of you who had difficulty on Friday getting the Acronis True Image freebie. When I wrote about the deal that morning, I'd followed the instructions, received my license keys (there were two), and successfully activated the software. I wish I could explain why some of you had a different experience, but I can't.

However, as some commenters noted, there are a number of extremely good backup programs that are always free--not the least of which is the one built into Windows 7. Other solid choices: Easeus Todo Backup and Macrium Reflect Free. … Read more