July 12, 2012 – The latest Apple rumor making the rounds is that iTunes is getting a major overhaul before the end of 2012. If that's true, it's not a moment too soon. While iTunes has had many updates since its 2001 launch (including the 2003 addition of the iTunes Store), it has felt outdated and clunky for several years, and badly in need of a major facelift. The expected new features include better social network integration (there's really nowhere to go but up in that department), cloud storage for all your music, movies or apps, and sharing features that may rival current gold-standard streaming app Spotify. There is some evidence that Apple knows iTunes is falling behind.

July 10, 2012 – Unlike the movie industry, which churns out one blockbuster hit after another all summer long, the video game biz saves its big guns for the holiday shopping season later in the year. But that doesn't mean your summer has to be game-free, and these are the new releases we've been playing instead of wasting our time enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Spec Ops: The Line 2K Games Dan: I'm a sucker for literary allusions in games, such as the Ayn Rand influences in BioShock or frequent nods to Asimov in the Mass Effect series. This military shooter works as a modern retelling of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (the 1902 novel that was the basis for Apocalypse Now), going so far as to name the seemingly rogue officer you're searching for Colonel Konrad. Beyond that, the game's pacing is excellent, with frenetic shootouts, hostage rescues, and tension-filled sneak attacks.

July 5, 2012 – Microsoft is making tablets now, so why shouldn't Google? The company behind the Android phone/tablet operating system (plus the Chrome web browser, Gmail and a pretty big search engine) is jumping into the hardware game with the Nexus 7, a seven-inch touchscreen tablet that will sell for $199. Dan: With a 7-inch screen, the Nexus 7 isn't really competing against the 9.7-inch iPad, though rumors of a 7-inch iPad are rearing their head again. This is aimed at the Amazon Kindle Fire and, to a lesser extent, the Barnes & Noble Nook tablet. These are all 7-inch tablets that cost $199, and each ties in with a big movie, music, and book ecosystem. Libe: I’m an unapologetic iPad fan, but in terms of the more affordable tablets, I’ve always preferred the Kindle Fire.

June 25, 2012 – On a PC or Mac, Spotify is great. The app is easy to download and install, and the ad-supported free version of the online music streaming service works well enough that casual listeners don't need to shell out $5-$10 per month for Spotify's premium features. The company even recently added streaming radio, similar to what services such as Pandora offer, creating artificially intelligent radio stations on the fly from your favorite artists, songs, or playlists. Until now, the mobile app version of Spotify, for iPhones and the iPad, has only been available to premium subscribers at $10 per month.

June 20, 2012 – Microsoft held a surprise press conference in Los Angeles this week to reveal its new Surface touchscreen tablet. Surface looks sleek and sexy, and hopes to compete against the iPad and even potentially replace your laptop. Of course, in true Microsoft fashion, it starts getting confusing right away. There will be two versions of Surface, which look nearly the same but will work almost entirely differently. Surface for Windows 8 Pro is basically a skinny laptop. It'll run the upcoming Windows 8 OS, work with programs like Photoshop as well as PC games, and act pretty much like a regular computer. So far, so good, but it will definitely be more expensive than an iPad, and won't come out until December at the earliest. The less-expensive Surface RT uses a stripped-down version of Windows 8 for tablets.

June 15, 2012 – I love my 15-inch MacBook Pro. Let's get that out of the way first. It's my main work machine, and I do everything on it from writing articles to playing Diablo III to teaching an online course at NYU. A better all-around laptop would be hard to find. Until, that is, Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro with Retina display at its annual WWDC developers conference — an inside baseball trade event that's become a key conduit for Apple news. Even with that awkward official name, this new system, which starts at $2,199, has made my current MacBook Pro obsolete overnight — at least in the eyes of Apple fanboys/girls, who indiscriminately throw cash at every new product or update. I test drove one of these new laptops this week, and it’s an impressive beast for sure. The biggest talking point is the new screen.

June 11, 2012 – If you've been saving up your pennies for the next big video game console, you've pretty much got one choice, the new Wii U from Nintendo. That's the big takeaway from this year's E3 video game trade show, where tens of thousands of game industry types gathered to show off their latest virtual wares. No new Xbox or PlayStation was announced, even though the current versions are more than six years old, leaving Nintendo's tablet-driven Wii U (check out our hands-on coverage here) as the only new kid on the block. Instead, the focus was on games, and even though there was not a singular blockbuster everyone could agree on, we still saw a lot of new games that are worth keeping an eye on.

June 8, 2012 – Using an iPad-like tablet controller instead of the motion-control wands of the original Wii (although you can still use those as well), the Wii U had its formal coming-out party at E3 2012, a massive trade show for video games and the geeks who love them. We got a chance to play around with several new Wii U titles this week, and it’s safe to say we’re impressed with the technology, but a bit dubious about the long-term commercial appeal. Dan: The first thing you notice is that the Wii U GamePad (that's the tablet’s formal name) feels good in the hand. It’s small enough for younger gamers, and very lightweight, with ergonomic curves around the back. At the same time, its plastic body doesn’t feel nearly as high-end as an iPad.

May 30, 2012 – The eyes of video-game fans turn to Los Angeles each spring for the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Better known as E3, this trade show, running June 4-7, is a launchpad for new video games, game consoles, and accessories, and is anchored by news-making press conferences from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Also, snacks! As longtime veterans of the show, we've braved more than a dozen years of booth babes, unhygienic nerds, and terrible food, and here's what we expect the big stories from E3 2012 to be: Nintendo's new Wii U console Briefly glimpsed at last year's E3 show, this is the official coming-out party for the next generation of living room game consoles. Following a huge hit in the Nintendo Wii, the new Wii U ('cause it's all about you, get it?), hops on the iPad bandwagon by adding a touchscreen tablet as a new kind of controller.

April 30, 2012 – Cloud computing is one of those trendy terms that people throw around liberally these days, even if they don't quite understand what it means. In its most basic sense, an online cloud is a collection of remote computers that are accessible from nearly any location and that can either perform a task or store data. Google's new Drive service is the latest example, but chances are you've been using a cloud for years. Use Gmail, or any other web-based mail system? Then you're already knee-deep in cloud computing. Store files on a service such as Dropbox? Same thing. Keep your photos online in Flickr? You guessed it, cloud again. So, why is the new Google version so important? Dropbox, Microsoft's SkyDrive, and others have offered similar services for years.