Brad Moon

One of the more popular Windows Ultrabook options in recent years has been the ASUS Zenbook series. Thin and lightweight, with instant visual appeal, Zenbooks offer a premium portable computing experience at a reasonable price. ASUS sent me their latest, the Zenbook UX303LN—with its ultra high resolution 3200 x 1800 pixel display—and a powerful Core i7 CPU. This is one handsome Ultrabook with features and performance that ensure it stands out for more than just looks.

Best Buy—along with tech expert Marc Saltzman and representatives from Microsoft and Intel—held a Twitter party last week. The purpose of the #SpringTechChat Twitter session was to give people the opportunity to ask the questions that will help them make the best choice possible when they buy their next laptop. I sat in on the event and was blown away by the volume, scope and quality of questions that came firing in during the hour. For those of you who missed out, I’ve done my best to capture some of the themes I spotted among the conversations along with some of the more interesting topics

If you’re excited about the pending arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with its curved display, you aren’t alone. But it was only a few months ago that Samsung released the Galaxy Note Edge, the flagship phablet that paved the way for the Galaxy S6 Edge. I spent several weeks putting Samsung’s curved display phablet through its paces. It does take some getting used to, but the curved glass looks great, feels great and bodes well for the Galaxy S6 Edge—which puts that curve on both sides instead of Note Edge’s one.

Yesterday I posted details about Dell’s award-winning XPS 13 Ultrabook. It’s a great little ultraportable with a beautiful display. What if you want a premium Windows notebook with that same Quad HD+ resolution, but a 13-inch display is just too small? No worries, Dell also released the XPS 15, a full-sized, premium laptop that boasts a fantastic 3200 x 1800 touchscreen display.

Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge stole much of the spotlight at Mobile World Congress 2015, but there was another big Android smartphone reveal that has people talking. HTC unveiled the successor to its popular One M8 flagship smartphone, the HTC One M9. The beautiful aluminum design, BoomSound speakers and everything else that made the One M8 such a great smartphone remain, while the few complaints from users have been addressed in the new model. Now the wait is over, the HTC One M9 is available for pre-order in Best Buy stores as of today.

One of the hottest new laptops at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was the Dell XPS 13. Even now, three months after CES, the XPS 13 is still in the spotlight, frequently referred to as one of the great laptops of 2015 and Dell’s MacBook Air killer. With the XPS 13 now available at Best Buy, it’s worth taking a deep dive to learn what all the fuss is about.

Not a fan of the iPhone 6 or iOS 8? Find Windows on a mobile device is a little “meh” and have no use for BlackBerry’s physical QWERTY keyboard on your smartphone? You’re not alone. Google’s Android operating system powers somewhere in the neighbourhood of 85% of all smartphones and it’s closing in on 70% of all tablets. Android fans have a lot to look forward to in 2015. Lollipop is rolling out to more devices, Android 5.1 just made an appearance, Android Wear smartwatches are gaining steam and some pretty amazing looking new Android smartphones made their debut a few weeks ago at Mobile World Congress.

March 5th marked the final day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. While most of the splashy announcements (like that Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge) took place early in the week, through the rest of the show some definite trends became clear. And given that MWC 2015 is the world’s biggest exhibition of mobile technology, trends there are likely to set the pattern for what we see here in terms of smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and other mobile gear throughout this year.

My home office is what I consider to be a pretty good computer room. It has everything I need, including the computer, an ergonomic chair, stereo, colour laser printer and a LEGO General Grievous perched on the desk (not everything in a computer room needs to be functional). It’s a pretty good setup. But it’s not the ultimate computer room. To get to that stage, you have to plan well and invest in some top notch gear. If you happen to be planning your version of the ultimate computer room, I’ve put together a list of things that I’d consider must-haves.    

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is the world’s biggest event for mobile technology. Want to know what smartphones will be the “must have” devices this year? Look to the MWC 2015 reveals to find out. Monday was officially the first day of the conference (it runs until March 5), but there were some major media events on Sunday, too. Here’s what you need to know after the first full day of Mobile World Congress.