Articles by John P. Mello Jr

There are two schools of thought when it comes to consumer video editing programs One school believes that most videographers want to create their movies with as little human intervention as possible....

To some observers, it may seem like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, but next month a group of high-tech companies -- including leading notebook computer makers Dell, Lenovo, Apple and Hewlett-Packard -- will be holding a summit meeting in San Jose, Calif., to get the ball rolling on manufacturing standards for lithium-ion batteries for portable and handheld electronic devices...

To-do lists have been a staple for software writers since the invention of the personal computer. Maybe that's because we all have things to do and never tire of finding better and faster ways to get them done For many of us, a simple pad and paper, or the rudimentary to-do list in a personal digital assistant, will meet our needs, but when our r...

Persuading a company's brass to buy tools to analyze Web traffic is an easy sell these days, but that's not the case when it comes to hiring bodies to interpret the data produced by the tools Those were among the findings in a report released last week by Forrester Research....

To accommodate the increased use of rich media ads by online marketers, Nielsen//NetRatings is modifying its media intelligence service, AdRelevance Among the changes:...

I've been using Picasa since before Google bought it, and have found the feisty program a gem for managing my growing library of digital photos, as well as a handy tool for quick tinkering with snapshots when launching a full-blown image editor would be overkill I always look forward to each iteration of the software because, unlike many programs, ...

As more consumers discover the benefits of wireless networking in their homes, their eyes will start opening to the perks of network storage. That awareness will fuel some beefy growth in the market over the next five years, according to a report released Wednesday by ABI Research The report, written by ABI principal analyst Michael Wolf, predicted...

While returning to school may only be a fleeting thought for most students at this time of year, it's top of mind for the folks charged with keeping university networks free from a host of electronic nasties "Fall is definitely the worst time for viruses and things wrong with computers on the network," Tim Cantin, IT Director for Wellesley College ...

Trading digital electronics for mechanical parts has given camera makers an opportunity to tinker with the design of their wares in inventive ways, none more so than Kodak The Rochester, N.Y.-based company that brought film photography to the masses -- by making cameras easy to use and film easy to load -- is continuing its friendly photography tra...

Global shipments of scanners that read wireless tags used to track products in business supply chains climbed 14 percent in this year's first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, according to figures released Wednesday by ABI Research, of Oyster Bay, N.Y The research firm also revealed that total scanner shipments in 2005 reached 35,000....

It's getting harder and harder to find a marketable dot-com domain name and that's starting to worry Web developers, according to Dotster The Vancouver, Wash.-based provider of domain name registration and hosting services contends that developers are concerned about running out of marketable dot-com names completely....

Consumer electronics manufacturers looking to expand their reach with their own brick-and-mortar outlets should weigh the risks of such moves carefully, warns a report released on Wednesday The report, "CE OEMs Launch Disruptive Retail Strategy: Their Own Storefronts," published by ABI Research, cites several temptations for electronics firms like ...

Allies have begun taking sides in a court case that has far-reaching implications for the Internet. At stake is a practice at the heart of the Net: linking information between Web sites The case pits search Goliath Google against adult entertainment publisher Perfect 10, and is currently before a federal appeals court in San Francisco where support...

E-mail marketers at Time saw a significant increase in the effectiveness of their campaigns when testing a delivery system that certifies the origin of electronic messages The system, Goodmail, is designed to create a trusted class of bulk e-mail that won't be hampered by spam filters imposed by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For inclusion in t...

A friend of mine once told me he mourned the fading fortunes of point-and-shoot film cameras. It was a momentary lamentation induced by his wife's struggles with her new digital camera Film is simple, he reasoned. You shoot your pictures. You take your film to the drugstore. You get your prints....

While nearly 90 percent of computer users have software on their machines to protect them from malware like viruses, Trojans, worms and spyware, almost two-thirds of those users are reluctant to upgrade the software after it's installed That was the finding in a survey released Monday by security software maker ESET, of San Diego....

A revamping of security standards is being prepared by the major payment card issuers and is expected to be announced within the next 60 days "[MasterCard, along] with other payment brands including American Express, Discover, JCB and Visa, are currently considering potential recommended updates to the PCI Data Security Standard based on feedback p...

When it comes to software, there are two schools of thought about tackling a basket of tasks. You can try attacking each task separately with an individual application, or you can look for a Swiss Army knife software suite to mount a unified assault on them If the all-in-one approach appeals to you, then Nero has a dandy solution. It's the latest v...

Although comparison shopping motivates many a consumer to shop online, it's second fiddle for small businesses shopping on the Net, according to a study released by JupiterResearch last Friday The most significant factor governing purchases on the Web by small businesses is previous experience or familiarity with the seller, said Sonal Gandhi, the...

One in five Americans age 12 or older own a digital music player (DMP), according to a study released last week by a global market research firm The study, which is prepared quarterly by Ipsos Insight of New York City, noted that younger music listeners are driving growth in the DMP market, with some 54 percent of teens and 30 percent of 18 to 30 y...