The different epochs of consumer computing are marked by catchphrases that coincide with the great money-making technology of the time. At the dawn of the twenty-teens, we're already well into the generation of "smart devices." Let's take a look at what brought us to this new age of smartness.

In the 8-bit computing era, everything was "micro." From microprocessors were born microcomputers, and from there we had a whole slew of products, brands, and companies using the prefix in their name: Microprose, Microsoft, Microware, Microvision, BBC Micro and its related TV show Micro Live, Micro-Star International (MSI), and Micronics.

They say if you can't beat them, join them. Rather than fight back against enterprising hackers aiming to get the Xbox Kinect motion-sensing controller working with Windows, Microsoft has now announced the availability of an SDK to come this spring.

The news shouldn't be all too surprising, however: CEO Steve Ballmer had made statements that compatibility with PCs was in the works at this year's CES.

The first major update to the Windows Phone 7 software is now being delivered to customers, Microsoft said on Monday. While the update does not include highly anticipated features such as cut and paste, it does lay the groundwork for future updates.

Microsoft has improved upon the software update process in order to make it more efficient. While the company did not give much detail on what exactly the update changes, Microsoft did call the update "important because it's paving the way for all future goodie-filled updates to your phone, such as copy and paste or improved Marketplace search," hinting towards what the company is working on.

Not every photo comes out perfect, and the beauty of image-editing software is that it allows you to rescue those photos that would be perfect but for one or two flaws that render them useless. The trouble is, while image editors give you these options, they're not always the simplest to use. And if you're forced to perform several fixes, say color correction followed by blemish removal, then each fix must be performed in turn, making it more difficult and fiddly to restore your photo.

SoftColor PhotoEQ is a brand new tool designed to make image correction a simpler, less frustrating process. It combines a number of useful tools behind a simple user interface that anyone can understand, and which can quickly and easily lead to vastly improved photos.

If you need to collaborate with others online then you'll probably think first about using email. But while this is a simple way to tell people what you're doing, there are far more powerful options available, and LogMeIn join.me is top of the list.

This one free tool (LogMeIn's replacement for LogMeIn Express) allows you to connect up to 250 people, for instance. They'll all be able to view your screen, while individuals you select can also control your system. A file transfer option makes it easy to share data, while the integrated chat client allows you to keep everyone in touch with what's going on.

Last week, DisplaySearch joined Canalys classifying iPad as a personal computer. Canalys claims that iPad lifts Apple to third place in global PC market share. DisplaySearch puts Apple No. 1 in the United States by similar reckoning. The Apple fan club of bloggers and journalists delighted in the DisplaySearch data, gifting Apple with "its No.1 headlines." I write to correct the record about Macs outselling Windows PCs. They don't, and you can put your wishful thinking back in the draw or closet from whence it came. Apple's tablet is not a PC.

In August 2010, I asked: "Is Apple the real US PC market share leader -- or soon will be?" That could only be if iPad classified as a PC. I write posts like that one to get people thinking, to look at something from a different perspective. Also, based on iPad's functionality and available applications, it was legitimate consideration -- Apple's market share would be so much greater if iPad was a PC.

So much for the $600 WiFi-only Motorola XOOM tablet, gadget geeks pine for. While Moto may have promised the lower-cost model, there are no signs it's coming this week. Best Buy has started taking preorders for the 3G/4G/WiFi model for (cough, cough) $799.99, available February 24 -- that is based on earlier leaked information. The higher-cost XOOM requires (cough, cough) Verizon cellular contract and (cough, cough) one month's service required to turn on WiFi capabilities.

Can you say price gouging? Best Buy isn't taking preorders online. Shoppers must go to stores to cough up 800 bucks. Here, in California, applying 9.95 percent tax puts the price at nearly $880 out the door.

Maintaining skepticism is good practice for consumers, but even moderate consumer skepticism can play serious hell with a company that pushes its product too hard. This is especially true among tech adopters. Betanews' Tim Conneally takes an objective look at Gunnar Optiks and the value of their "digital eyewear" against the skepticism it elicits.

Anyone who spends enough hours on the Web will eventually learn to recognize targeted marketing; but people who follow cutting edge technology face an especially large amount of product marketing and sales pitch hyperbole.

Ookla Net Metrics' free network speed test speedtest.net is so widely used that even the federal government has recognized it as a reliable tool for measuring wireless network conditions. Friday, the company published results of some 57,000 user-initiated iPhone speedtests in the U.S., which showed users on the AT&T network getting average speeds substantially higher than iPhone users on Verizon Wireless.

After publishing the data, the story got some good coverage pitting iPhone against iPhone. But it should have come as no surprise to anyone who knows wireless technologies that HSPA was faster than EV-DO rev. A. On paper, HSPA's theoretical max speed is 7.2 Mbps, and EV-DO rev. A's is only 3.1 Mbps. It's pretty widely accepted.

There are close to 90 different tablets announced for 2011 delivery. Some of the hottest models, like the Motorola XOOM, are weeks away from availability. Meanwhile, hype continues as fervently as ever about iPad 2. In such a competitive market, with overwhelming number of choices, there are going to be losers -- and lots of them. Is there a formula for success?

Earlier today, I asked Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, three things tablet manufacturers/retailers need do to be successful. One of the three I most expected didn't make the list (more on that later). Baker is unusual among industry analysts for his no-nonsense common sense about retail. Tablets aren't just tactile in how they're used. People will want to touch and hold them before buying them, which means retail distribution. Besides something new needs to be seen before purchasing; it's retail marketing 101 stuff.

Kenyan coder John Paul Chacha has made his Chasys Draw IES image suite completely free with its latest release, creating a rival to other popular free image-editing tools such as Paint.NET and The GIMP. Chasys Draw IES consists of four components, the main being Chasys Draw Artist, a full image editor with powerful feature set. There's also an image viewer (Chasys Draw Viewer), batch conversion tool (Chasys Draw Converter) and tool for processing RAW digital camera image files (Chasys Draw raw-Photo).

Chasys Draw Artist is a fully functional image editor, with a powerful set of features to rival both commercial and other free applications. It promises a radically different approach to image editing, and is also capable of creating images, icons, CD labels and other useful designs.

Popular microblog Twitter has blocked third-party mobile Twitter apps Twidroyd and UberTwitter on Friday, citing unspecified policy violations.

"Every day, we suspend hundreds of applications that are in violation of our policies," the Twitter Help Center blog said Friday. "Generally, these apps are used by a small number of users. We are taking the unusual step of sharing this with you because today's suspension may affect a larger number of users."

Make no mistake, smartphones and tablets are disrupting typical PC behavior. The real question: Will changing behavior slow PC sales? It's among the questions to ask, following the release earlier today of NPD report "Evolving Technology Trends: PC Activities on Non-PC Devices."

According to NPD, about 35 percent of US smartphone owners use email less on their PC now. Similarly, about 30 percent of US tablet owners say they email and browse the Internet less on the PC; 28 percent don't use PC social networking services as much. Welcome to the post-PC era, or at least it's beginnings.

Opera software has taken a cue from Ubuntu and will be giving its browser builds "more exciting" public code names starting this year. Thursday evening, the company released a snapshot of the browser formerly known as Opera 11.10, now known simply as "Barracuda."

This version updates the browser core to version 2.8.99, which adds the implementation of the Web Open Font Format (WOFF) to the browser's current list of supported web font formats which includes: TrueType/OpenType TT fonts (.ttf), OpenType PS fonts (.otf) and SVG.

When Google's Chrome browser moves up the ladder in the public beta channel, the dev channel gets an upgrade too, but a full generation ahead of what the public is playing with. So with Chrome 10 beta now available in public beta, the Chrome 11 developer beta (11.0.672.2) can now be downloaded as well.

Download Chrome 11 in Fileforum now!