-
5 days ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
Vision Pro. Apple launched its shot at a mixed reality headset early last year. While it bristled with advanced technology unmatched by competitors such as Meta’s virtual reality products, the Vision Pro also came with a painful $3,499 price tag. At its unveiling in mid-2023, Apple executives conceded it was aimed at the earliest of adopters, but sales reportedly fell well short of company expectations.
-
1 week ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
The day after I reported about Comcast’s stealth rollout of the latest cable modem standard in parts of Houston, the company announced new plans that promised no price hikes for 5 years, no charge to rent its latest internet gateway, a free year of mobile service and, happily, no data caps. The latter was included as a simple bullet point, but it’s actually a big deal. Comcast’s data cap is currently set at 1.2 terabytes per month.
-
2 weeks ago | 
spacecityweather.com | Dwight Silverman
It’s another just-in-the-nick-of-time edition of the Space City Weather Q&A. If only we could get a few more days added to each month, maybe we’d get this out the door sooner. Or maybe April’s edition would just end up publishing on April 33. Who knows? Anyway, let’s get to it. As always, if you have a question for next month, drop it in the comments below or hit the Contact link on the blog home page. Q. I’ve been noticing over the last few months.
-
3 weeks ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
Deciding when to buy new tech often is not easy. If a phone, laptop, tablet or other bit of kit is working just fine but new capabilities are out of reach, battery life is declining or storage space is dwindling, the equation gets complicated. Big price hikes due to oversized tariffs by the Trump administration levied against China, where most electronics sold in the U.S. are made, add another confounding factor. At the moment, that category is on hold, but that’s not expected to last long.
-
1 month ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
Comcast and other cable internet providers started talking up the next generation of cable modem technology in 2022, technology that would bring their internet access offerings up to speed - pun intended - with purveyors of fiber optic internet. That standard so far has been mostly MIA. DOCSIS 4.0, as it's called, has remained just over the horizon. "By the end of this year" became "by the end of next year." And as the calendar rolled over, that cycle would repeat.
-
1 month ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
Apple has gotten a lot of grief over Apple Intelligence, the company's drive to catch up to competitors in the AI category. On Monday, it released what was supposed to be the final layer of that cake with a series of updates to its operating systems. The centerpiece is iOS and iPadOS 18.4, along with macOS 15.4, watchOS 11.04 and tvOS 18.4.The biggest disappointment, as I wrote last month, was the company's failure to deliver on a beefed up version of Siri.
-
1 month ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
It's been more than four years since Apple released its first computers built around processors it designed in-house. Apple Silicon has dramatically changed the Mac lineup, and not just because it walked away from Intel's inefficient and often overheated platform. Its M-series chips are similar to those that power iPhones and iPads, and that has given the company's complete lineup capabilities its competitors can only dream of.
-
1 month ago | 
spacecityweather.com | Dwight Silverman
Welcome to the March SCW Q&A, where we tackle your questions about the weather, climate and how things work around here. You can submit your questions via the Contact link on the blog home page, or by leaving a question in the comments below. Let’s get to it!Q: Can you settle a bet for me? My friend and I have been arguing about whether it has been getting warmer sooner in Houston. He’s lived here 30 years, I’ve been here 20 years, so we both think we know what we’re talking about.
-
2 months ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
Longtime users of Instagram, the photo- and video-focused first cousin to Meta's Facebook, know it isn't what it used to be. What began as a simple, fun way to share pictures with friends has turned into a Frankenstein's monster of features lifted from competing platforms, sandwiched between incessant and often intrusive ads. But just as changes at Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk and called X, triggered an exodus there, the same thing is happening at Instagram.
-
2 months ago | 
houstonchronicle.com | Dwight Silverman
When routers that use the WiFi 7 protocol appeared more than two years ago, they were painfully expensive and few devices were available to take advantage of their advanced features. Things have changed in 2025, and if you need a new wireless router and you have compatible smartphones, tablets or computers - or plan to buy them - WiFi 7 hardware is now reasonably priced and can future-proof a home network. That said, there remain plenty of caveats.
