Stories by Colin Neagle

Ultra-hyped ultrabooks ultra-flopped in 2012

Just 12 months ago, the ultrabook was widely regarded as the PC market's savior. Since then, it's become more of a punch line.

In Pictures: 10 technologies that disappointed in 2012

Here are 10 technologies that fell short of expectations in 2012

How the fiscal cliff affects IT

Since the election, the political news cycle has revolved around the impending "fiscal cliff," a perfect storm of tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2013. Although the IT industry may not have paid much attention, it's just as susceptible to the policy changes as the rest of the economy.

IT industry could be blindsided by fiscal cliff

As Congress continues to debate how it should prevent the federal government and national economy from plummeting off the so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year, many technology companies - particularly smaller businesses and startups - may be unprepared for the ensuing changes.

Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics disagree...over the cloud

When the Brooklyn Nets traveled to Boston to play the Celtics last week, it became apparent that the two organizations disagreed about something - the cloud.

The TV is the new tablet: How gesture-based computing is evolving

Few people watch television alone today, even when they're by themselves. Most are gravitating toward the multi-screen experience, in which viewers keep a smartphone, tablet or laptop close by so they can access the Web while they watch TV. But as televisions become smarter and gesture-based computing evolves, viewers may be able to mount and control everything they need on the living room wall.

In Pictures: 15 people who said no to Facebook

Here are 15 people who have declined an opportunity with the social networking giant.

Teen CEO launches storage startup; catches Facebook's eye

Just a few years ago, Andrew Mayhall had to decide whether to continue his unique education or drop out of school to start his own server company. Now, he's mulling another major decision - whether to continue discussions about potentially selling that company and working for Facebook, or to follow the entrepreneurial path Facebook's founder laid out when he was around Mayhall's age.

Meet Baxter, the huggable industrial robot

MIT kicked off this year's EmTech conference Wednesday with a presentation in which Rodney Brooks, the founder, chairman and CTO of Rethink Robotics, welcomed attendees to an interactive hug from its safe manufacturing robot called Baxter.

Kenya's 'Silicon Sahara' to host inaugural DEMO Africa conference

The first-ever DEMO Africa conference will be held this week in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing a stage with Silicon Valley origins to a city that's quickly becoming its own continent's innovation hub.

In Pictures: 20 cars that drive themselves

Given that MIT in the US is now working on a safer prototype for autonomous vehicles, using communications technology to expand the cars’ field of vision, these vehicles may make the leap from science fiction to reality sooner than previously thought. Driverless cars have already been legalised in California and Nevada, and Google says we’ll see them on the road in five years. Here are the prototypes that have helped the industry get to this point.