It appears we're just now arriving to that sweet spot where fewer compromises can be made to build fast and svelte machines that are budget-friendly, all at the same time. However, manufacturers are short-sighted if they only focus on building fast machines that weigh 3 pounds or less, without putting design and user experience at the core of their future developments.

The holidays are quickly approaching and like every year you want to find the perfect gift for your loved ones. Before you hit the nearest electronics shop or your favorite e-tailer, check out our shortlist on some the hottest items for tech fans this year.

Twenty-ought eleven is coming to a rapid conclusion and game makers are preparing to cash in on the holiday season by unleashing some of the year's finest titles. In keeping with tradition, we've assembled a list of 16 PC games that should be on your radar for the frigid months ahead.

We've compiled a comparative table with what we consider are the hottest tablets either currently available or announced so far. If you are in the market for a tablet now this should definitely serve as a starting point for narrowing down your purchase.

Whether you are focused on business and productivity or are looking for something designed with multimedia and entertainment in mind, there are so many new smartphones getting released week in and week out that it's hard to keep track of what's hot anymore.

As tech enthusiasts, we pay tribute to one of the most iconic leaders in the history of our industry. Steve Jobs was a visionary who transcended the possibilities of his time.

Contrary to what many were hoping, the iPhone 5 was a no-show this week. Instead, we get the iPhone 4S as a major update to the iPhone 4 that keeps the same design with updated hardware under the hood and a myriad of software upgrades via iOS 5.

There are many reasons why you'd want to check if an unauthorized party is using your wireless network. It may be that you're experiencing a slower than normal Internet connection or you simply don't want anyone getting a free ride while you pay the bill.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg yesterday announced a complete reconceptualization of profile pages on the popular social network with the introduction of Timeline. As Zuckerberg puts it, Timeline is the story of your life.

Earlier this month the original IBM PC model 5150 celebrated its 30th anniversary. We didn't want to let the occasion go by without paying our respects to the legacy that the 5150 brought. Here are some of the most important developments in the industry over the last 30+ years.

To help ease the hassle of going through countless notebook models getting released week in and week out, we've compiled a list of our favorite notebooks available right now and grouped them into six different categories: ultraportables, business & general purpose laptops, desktop replacements, gaming notebooks, budget laptops, and netbooks.

Our smartphone buying guide will help you navigate through the sea of new phone models getting released week in and week out with a selection of the hottest devices out there. You will find all phones listed alongside their feature highlights, specs and prices.

After a relatively simple upgrade to a free third-party firmware, you'll be able boost your wireless signal, prioritize what programs get your precious bandwidth, and do lots of other stuff usually reserved for pro-grade wireless routers.

We've compiled a comparative table with what we consider are the hottest tablets either currently available or announced so far. If you are in the market for a tablet now this should definitely serve as a starting point for narrowing down your purchase.

E3 is known for getting audiences buzzing about the hottest games of the show as trailers and gameplay footage are shown for the first time. With the conference now over we've put together a collection of our favorites.

We've been following the evolution of solid state drives for some time now, highlighting the most relevant offerings at any given time, and noting the impact newer controllers had in improving performance. The last few months have been particularly busy with Intel, OCZ, and Crucial launching their next-gen offerings at different price points and capacities.

Don't disregard Google's operating system without so much as giving it a try, especially since it's available as a free download for you to test on your own hardware. We'll tell you how to create a bootable USB flash drive with Chrome OS or run the it using a free virtual machine.

Dropbox is an invaluable tool for my daily computing needs, but with a little ingenuity you can use it to do much more like autostarting torrent downloads from any location or device, sending and receiving files, or synchronizing application data on applications that don't even have that functionality.

Although we always keep you up to speed by reviewing the latest CPU releases, we've compiled a handy list of what we consider the best processor options right now at several price points between $80 and $225.

It's not too far-fetched to imagine a world where all we need to carry around with us is a single do-it-all device. Near Field Communication (NFC) could allow our smartphone to pay for products as well as act as our personal ID or a virtual ticket for transport and attractions. Say goodbye to your keys, wallet and credit cards.

We've compiled a table with some of what we consider the best graphics card options at several price points between $70 and $200.

We bring you an up-to-date 2011 outlook of our favorite notebooks in six different categories: Thin and light, business or general purpose, desktop replacements, gaming, budget offerings, and netbooks.

Considering that OS X's last major release, Snow Leopard, was not focused on new end-user features, Mac OS X Lion appears to be a more significant release in terms of functionality, user interface and workflow improvements. We've compiled a list with several of the changes and new features disclosed so far.

There are numerous ways to backup your Gmail data and deciding which way to go will largely depend on the level of effort you want to put into it.

To help you navigate through the sea of new smartphones getting released week in and week out we've put together a selection with what we consider are the hottest devices out there. They are listed alongside their respective specs, price, and features from newest to oldest.

Depending on the application jump lists can be used to get 1-click functionality without recalling a minimized window, easily access common tasks or to quickly open pinned and recent documents. In a nutshell, if you are willing to make the most of them, jump lists are a productivity godsend.

We expect 2011 to be another great year for gamers, with most of 2010’s delayed titles finally hitting store shelves and many other highly anticipated ones making their debut. To help you keep track of this year’s upcoming releases we’ve put together a list with nearly 30 titles, spanning a variety of genres, alongside their respective trailers and relevant information.

For the launch of their 2nd-gen Intel Core CPUs (a.k.a. Sandy Bridge), Intel has compiled another interesting list of fun facts in a whitepaper. We have selected the ones we find more amusing and are republishing them with Intel's permission.

Firefox 4 is expected to bring one of the most significant stylistic overhauls that the browser has undertaken since the initial transition from the old Mozilla suite. Firefox 4's UI is simplistic and streamlined but it has also drawn criticism for being too 'Chrome-like.' Here are a few quick UI tweaks you can perform to it.

With the year coming to a close it's time to look back at some of the most relevant stories and product launches of 2010. We’ll do a brief recount of tech happenings in six categories: Desktop CPUs and Graphics, Hardware Devices and Components, Software, Gaming, Mobile Computing and The Web.