PCWorld Staff, Tim Moynihan

Illustration by Neil StevensMake Your Gmail Work for You

Your time is valuable. On the Gmail team, we work hard to offer a user ex­­perience that won't bog you down. But we also want to share some tips for be­­ing even more productive with Gmail.

Alex Gawley, Gmail Product ManagerFocus on search, not folders: Google was built on search, and we've aimed to bring that same search experience to Gmail. Studies show that users save time when they search for an email instead of categorizing it into a folder. In Gmail, you can quickly find the exact message you want by typing keywords into the search box, or you can rely on the program's search autocomplete to specify the attributes you want (try typing 'from:[sender]' or 'has photos').

For a pocketable camera, the 14-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20 ($350 as of May 15, 2012) is about as loaded as they come. The trait that will jump out at you--literally, if you're facing the camera--is the Lumix ZS20's 20X-optical-zoom lens (24mm to 480mm). Like that zoom lens, the Lumix ZS20's laundry list of features keeps on going and going.

It's a good pocket megazoom option for manual-minded shooters, thanks to aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and full manual exposure controls. It has excellent video options, as it shoots full 1080p video at a clip of 60 frames per second. It's a touchscreen camera, but it also provides traditional buttons and dials for accessing some in-camera features more efficiently.

Sony Alpha NEX-F3 Today, entry-level interchangeable-lens cameras got a little bit more interesting. Sony unveiled the latest entry-level models in its Alpha SLT and NEX lines, and both cameras offer unique features for the money. The two new models will be available starting in June for $600 as a kit, each with an 18-55mm lens.

The 16-megapixel Alpha SLT-A37 is the new lowest-cost model in Sony's translucent-mirror SLT line, replacing last year's Alpha A35 and sitting below the Alpha A57 and Alpha A77. It has a smaller-than-most DSLR-like body with a front-mounted scroll wheel for shutter and aperture adjustments. In addition to having an ISO range of 100 to 16,000, the A37 comes with body-based stabilization, a phase-detection autofocus system that reacts quickly in burst-shooting and video-capture modes, and both an eye-level electronic viewfinder and a tiltable 2.7-inch LCD screen.

If the results of a new PCWorld/Macworld survey are any guide, the forthcoming iPhone 5 with LTE is going to be a big hit.

Large numbers of people plan to buy or upgrade to the first 4G iPhone, many of them citing the new LTE wireless technology as a main reason, the survey suggests.

Usually, ruggedized cameras make a few compromises when it comes to optics and shooting modes. Underneath that hard, durable shell, they're commonly ho-hum cameras otherwise.

PC owners know that every computer has a unique assortment of components, applications and peripherals. Nevertheless, certain things--including a host of common PC problems and mysteries--are part of the shared experience of computer ownership. The editors at PCWorld have seen and solved hundreds of PC mysteries, ranging from balky printers to diffident video players to persnickety file attachments. Most of the answers to these tech questions are simple and straightforward, so we've taken the liberty of compiling some of the most frequently encountered PC mysteries into a single list that we'll update regularly. Following each question we provide a short response that summarizes what we know. For a more detailed explanation and some helpful tips, click the links in each answer.

Why is [Program X] always running when I start my PC?

Windows maintains a list of programs that automatically run every time you boot up your computer. Some of these startup programs (such as antivirus utilities) are beneficial, but many of them are not necessary and can slow your PC as they run automatically in the background. Speed up your boot time by disabling Windows startup programs.

One of three Wi-Fi-enabled Samsung cameras announced at this year's CES, the WB150F ($230 as of April 26, 2012) brings connected features into the realm of pocket megazooms with an 18X-optical-zoom lens that ranges from 24mm wide-angle to 432mm telephoto. Unlike many Wi-Fi-enabled models that we've seen before, the WB150F is a versatile camera outside its wireless features, with full manual controls, a generous array of postshot filters and editing tools, and that long zoom lens to go complement its ability to upload photos and video to social-networking sites and email content directly from the camera.

Unlike most current-generation cameras, the Samsung WB150F packs a CCD sensor, which means that its 14.2-megapixel imager tops out at 720p-resolution video capture and doesn't support high-speed burst modes and exposure-bracketing HDR and low-light modes, as its CMOS rivals do. Taken as a whole, the WB150F is a versatile pocket megazoom with a lot of shooting and sharing options, but with shortcomings when it comes to quick adjustments and performance.

Nikon D3200Priced at $700 as a kit with an 18-55mm stabilized lens, the APS-C-sensored Nikon D3200 will be available in April for prospective entry-level DSLR buyers. The new camera builds on the specs found in last year's Nikon D3100, adding a much-higher-resolution 24.2-megapixel sensor, a high-ISO bump up to 6400, and a newer Expeed 3 image processor that adds an extra frame per second (to 4 fps) to the camera's burst mode.

To help novice shooters, the D3200 will include a revamped version of the Guide Mode found in the D3100, adding in-camera tutorials for shot composition, manual controls, and shooting modes. Like the D3100, the new DSLR will use an 11-point autofocus system with automatic scene recognition, and it will offer a fixed 3-inch LCD screen in addition to a through-the-lens optical viewfinder.

Pocket-megazoom cameras have been around for a few years now, but you probably haven't seen one as small or as simple as the Canon PowerShot Elph 520 HS ($300 as of April 7, 2012). In a way, it represents a new breed of basic compact camera: Rather than cramming more megapixels into a tiny sensor, the 10-megapixel PowerShot Elph 520 HS keeps the pixel count relatively sane and jacks up the optical zoom to 12X (28mm to 336mm), an impossible-sounding level for a camera of this size.

This tiny little camera can fit comfortably in a shirt or pants pocket; at just 0.76 inch deep, it's the size of a deck of playing cards, and it's a pocket megazoom that's even smaller than many of today's 3X-optical-zoom cameras. The trade-offs for the tiny size start with the camera's manual controls for shutter and aperture--there aren't any--but this model does offer Canon's latest auto-exposure functions, scene modes, and in-camera effects.