Paul Taylor

I am the FT's personal technology columnist and this blog is about gadgets, gizmos, software and services. It is a place to ask personal technology related questions and hopefully get answers in plain English. It is also a home for short, sometimes sharp, reviews and observations about the personal tech industry. Comments and criticism are welcome. For a bit more on my background, see my columnist page.

Paul Taylor Steve Jobs, Apple and the FT

October 6, 2011 8:04 pm by Paul Taylor

On reflection.

When I first arrived in New York as a junior reporter for the Financial Times in 1982 we used to write our copy on a set of pale blue teleprinters. Then when it was time to file – and often later – we would switch the teleprinters into ‘online mode’ and pressed the ‘send’ button.

The teleprinter then spewed out a yellow punched ribbon tape and at the same time magically transmitted the copy over a leased Reuters data link to a printer that sat on the FT’s foreign desk in London and was affectionately called the ‘hot line.’ Read more

Posted in Personal technology |

Paul Taylor Moto’s Bionic smartphone

September 7, 2011 9:17 pm by Paul Taylor

One of the biggest challenges for Android-based smartphone makers is to differentiate their products from their rivals. With the Motorola Droid Bionic designed to run on Verizon’s high speed LTE wireless network, Motorola Mobility is seeking to outpace its rivals in three ways – hardware specs, battery life and accessories.

The Bionic’s basic specs are reasonably impressive beginning with its big 4.3 inch qHD screen manufactured using Corning’s scratch-proof Gorilla Glass. Other features include a dual-core 1GHz processor with 1GB of dedicated Ram, front and rear facing digital cameras and 32GB of memory including a 16GB micro-SD card. Read more

Posted in Mobile, Personal technology, Smartphones, Tech, Telecoms |
From FT.com February 17, 2011

Sony Xperia Play

Martians – at least the popular science-fiction kind – might have felt quite at home at the annual Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona this week. Google’s green Android robot was everywhere and almost all of the new smartphone and tablet devices that I came across were running one of the Android family of operating systems. Read more

Posted in Personal technology, Smartphones |

Paul Taylor Kyocera Echo:Twice as nice?

February 8, 2011 4:00 am by Paul Taylor

Smartphones – except the iPhone until relatively recently – have always had the capability to ‘multitask’ – run more than one application at the same time.
This comes in useful if you want to switch between applications quickly, or if you want to jump from one to another without having to close the first down. Read more

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Posted in Personal technology, Smartphones |

Paul Taylor iPhone:The good news and bad news for Verizon

February 4, 2011 11:24 pm by Paul Taylor

Verizon iPhone 4The enthusiastic initial response Verizon Wireless customers have given the CDMA version of Apple’s iPhone 4 – Verizon had to halt pre-orders just 17 hours after they began – is a double-edged sword for the largest US mobile network operator. 

That is because the hefty subsidy Verizon pays Apple for the iPhone – estimated at about $400 per unit – could depress earnings at least in the short term, if Verizon Wireless sells more iPhones than expected.  Read more

Posted in Hardware, Telecoms |

Paul Taylor BlackBerry PlayBook up to tablet challenge

January 8, 2011 1:26 am by Paul Taylor

The BlackBerry PlayBook, Research in Motion’s forthcoming entry into the dynamic tablet PC market, will face some tough competition when it finally launches in the next few months. But based on my hands-on experience with the device during CES this week, the PlayBook is up to the challenge. Read more

Posted in Personal technology |

Paul Taylor Ballmer dismisses Goldman’s ‘nutty’ idea

October 21, 2010 7:59 pm by Paul Taylor

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was in fine (fighting) form on stage at the annual Gartner Symposium in Orlando today, punching his hands for emphasis and positively bristling at the suggestion that Microsoft should split its consumer and corporate businesses.

He described a recent Goldman Sachs idea to spin-out the consumer unit as “nutty” and  “the second most crazy idea I have ever heard.” Unfortunately he did not tell his audience of about 5,000 senior IT executive what was the craziest. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Mobile |

Paul Taylor Apps will decide success of Windows Phone 7

October 14, 2010 5:02 am by Paul Taylor

Windows Phone 7 is probably Microsoft’s last chance to remain relevant in the increasingly competitive smartphone operating system marketplace.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the chance to test out several of the new handsets based on Windows Phone 7, including models from Samsung, the Korean electronics group, and HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker, which has been a longtime Microsoft handset partner. Read more

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Posted in Personal technology, Smartphones |

Paul Taylor Panasonic’s drip-dry drop-proof Toughbook F9

August 27, 2010 11:59 pm by Paul Taylor

How well do you look after your laptop? Never dropped it or spilt coffee on it? Keep it safe in a neoprene sleeve?

The Panasonic Toughbook F9 might not be for you then,  but this ruggedised laptop reviewed in the Personal Technology column of the FT’s Business Life section is also exceptionally light considering its wide screen and has excellent battery life. Read more

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Posted in Personal technology |

Paul Taylor Your home network, anywhere

August 24, 2010 1:46 pm by Paul Taylor

Network-attached storage (NAS) is more familiar to IT departments than consumers, but the benefits can be enjoyed in the home if providers can explain the concept better to individual users.

In the latest Personal Technology column in the FT’s Business Life section, we look at the efforts of Dane-Elec with its MyDitto device,  which it claims is the world’s first true “plug and play” home server. Read more

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Posted in Personal technology |
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