Stories by Alex Wawro

Why smartphones are the rightful kings of social media

Part two of a two-part series. For a contrarian view, see "Why PCs, not smartphones, are best for social media sharing."

In Pictures: The 21 PC games that matter most, right now

Spring (southern hemisphere) is here, and PC gaming is about to heat up. Starting with Borderlands 2 (pictured here), there's a bevy of new games coming to PCs this fall, and many of them look good enough to merit serious attention. From complex tact...

32 iPad tips and tricks

You know that your new iPad will let you easily watch movies, browse the Internet, or play games on the go, but plenty of advanced features hidden beneath the surface of iOS can improve your tablet computing experience even further.

Sony PlayStation Vita handheld games console

When the Sony PlayStation Vita arrives in North America on February 22nd, it'll face stiff competition. Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have become powerful, cheap and ubiquitous. And with great, inexpensive games readily available on a d...

How to boost your smartphone battery life

Do you know where your smartphone is? Unless you're using it to read PCWorld.com, your phone is probably plugged into an outlet somewhere to charge, because the battery stinks.

Better run your business from a tablet

Getting work done with just a tablet is hard. Many of us carry Android or iOS tablets to stay connected while we’re away from our PC, but without a proper keyboard or mouse it’s difficult to do much more than answer a few emails or play Angry Birds.

How to build better passwords without losing your mind

Your e-mail password is your last line of defense when it comes to online privacy and security; if a hacker cracks that, they could potentially reset the passwords of and gain access to your social networks, your bank account and even your identity b...

Diaspora: An antidote for your Facebook privacy problems

Our social networks say a lot about us. When you register with a Website like Facebook, you voluntarily give up personal information like your name, photo, and phone number in exchange for the privilege of access to a network that makes it easy to ke...

Steps to secure your smartphone against data theft

You may already know the basics of Internet security and keeping your personal data private while browsing the Web: Use a firewall, don't open attachments you aren't expecting, and never follow links from strangers. But what about your smartphone? Th...

Five ways Cloud printers will make your small business soar

A new wave of Web-connected printers from the likes of HP and Lexmark are changing the way we dole out documents. Instead of dumb single-purpose devices, a modern multifunction cloud printer can print any document from nearly any device, anywhere you...

Norton mobile security apps seek to stop smartphone theft

Early Tuesday morning Norton announced results of a Strategy One survey conducted last September that suggest one in three U.S. citizens have had their cell phones lost or stolen.

MacBook Air performs poorly in laptop comparison tests

Recently, after testing two MacBook Air models running Windows 7, we published results that showed the thin and light Apple laptops outperformed most Windows-based netbooks and ultraportable notebooks. Hundreds of readers commented on the article, wi...

First Look: Facebook Single Sign-on

Facebook is getting serious about on-the-go social networking with a suite of new features announced during the Facebook Mobile event on Wednesday.

How to install and play Duke Nukem 3D on your PC

After 13 years in development, Duke Nukem Forever is finally coming to consoles and PCs in 2011. What better way to celebrate than by playing through Duke Nukem 3D? You won't be able to just pick up and play a game from 1996, though--here's how to us...

Lab notes: Kingston vs. VelociRaptor storage smackdown

It's time for a storage upgrade, but your budget won't bear the burden of both a blazing new VelociRaptor hard drive and an extra injection of Kingston RAM. Decision time: if you're looking to improve general performance on the cheap, do you shell ou...