When I buy stuff from Apple, I always, always go the refurb route. Know why? Because the company’s refurbished gear is literally good as new, right down to the warranty. The only real difference: you don’t get the same sexy box. Update: Some have suggested that the warranty is only 90 days. That’s not what …

Editors’ note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes’ bio below California Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is preparing a limited Net neutrality law he may introduce as early as Tuesday, with hopes of passage before Congress adjourns for the election season. Washington D.C. newspaper The Hill leaked a draft of the bill …

Picture this: You’re out to dinner and your spouse is giving you grief because you keep glancing at your cell phone. What’s a guy (or gal) to do? Pick up the new Sony Ericsson LiveView, that’s what. Now you’ll be able to sneak a glance at your RSS feeds and text messages on the sly. Announced earlier today, the LiveView …

The BlackBerry Torch may be the only of RIM’s smartphones on the market to currently run the new OS 6 operating system, but that’s not stopping the company from showcasing several handsets running OS 6 at the Developer Conference in San Francisco this week. We took a look at OS 6 powering the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and 9650, the Curve …

Welcome to the 411, my column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have similar queries, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at [email protected]. If you …

3D is nothing if not a cash-cow for companies selling both content and hardware. Despite reasonably modest costs to adapt most TVs to 3D, most manufacturers are charging decidedly immodest amounts for the addition of the extra dimension. Now Virgin has joined the bonanza by offering on-demand movies in 3D, starting with StreetDance 3D, but expanding over time to include …

Panasonic is adding three new Freeview HD recorders to its line-up, including the first to capture telly on to sparkling high-definition Blu-ray discs. The MR-BW880EBK and BW780EBK record to Blu-ray discs, while the DMR-XW380 records free hi-def telly to DVD. The BW880 records to dual-layer Blu-ray discs or 500GB hard drive. The BW780 does the same, but with a smaller …

Think your 50-inch plasma and 7.1 surround-sound system are the pooch’s pods? Unless they’re plated in gold and built into a hot-air balloon, think again. Welcome to our round-up of ten of the most awesome (and occasionally awful) home-cinema installations on the planet. If you want to join them, remember you won’t just need a six-figure budget — it’ll help …

Facebook is leaping from your browser to the big screen with the release of The Social Network, the much-hyped tale of the controversial early days of the site, directed by Seven‘s David Fincher and written by the West Wing‘s Aaron Sorkin. It’s 2003. Harvard student and computer geek Mark Zuckerberg is dumped by his girlfriend for being too much like …

San Francisco–RIM gave developers yet another reason to stick with BlackBerry when it announced its own advertising platform at the BlackBerry Developer’s Conference on Monday. Similar to iAds, the BlackBerry Advertising Service will allow developers to integrate advertising into their applications. RIM will act as mediator and will work with five different ad networks at launch (JumpTap, Amovee, Lat49, Millenial …