The "Bring Your Own Devices" trend has a dual-personality problem on its hands.

How can corporate data and personal data exist on a single smartphone? Companies don't want their deep secrets to get out, while employees don't want to be told how to use their precious mobile gadgets that they bought with their own money.

It's a problem that has stumped the BYOD crowd.

"Companies don't trust that information is contained properly" on a BYOD smartphone, says Nanci Churchill, vice president of operations at Mobi Wireless Management, a software and services provider helping companies navigate mobile adoption.

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In an effort to streamline the development of wireless charging technology, Duracell subsidiary Powermat Technologies will merge with the Helsinki-based company PowerKiss.  Together, the two companies are responsible for thousands of public stations used to wirelessly charge mobile phones in the United States and Europe.  Until now, the conflicting systems used by each company have eliminated any benefit wireless charging technology might have for overseas travelers who rely on their smartphones.

The statement released today explains that eliminating those “incompatible standards” is the primary motivation of combining under the Powermat umbrella. With their forces joined, the two pioneers will be pushing forward with Powermat’s “PMA” standard, which has already been accepted by global leaders like General Motors, Starbucks, and Duracell.  Adding Powerkiss’ European presence to the PMA standard may well define it as the unofficial international standard for wireless charging.

Powermat has instituted PMA wireless charging stations in more than 1,500 retail locations including Starbucks and AT&T stores.  Likewise, Powerkiss has enabled wireless charging in more than 1,000 European locations, including McDonalds restaurants.  In a remarkable commitment to the future of the technology, the merging of these two companies will ultimately ensure consistency across international borders. 

This is a huge step for the burgeoning industry of wireless charging.  Our smartphones are heavily burdened with improving nearly every detail of our daily lives.  It’s a difficult task, even with vastly improved battery life aided by the efficient performance of processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon.  For international travelers who already face issues with different outlets and service providers when they’re overseas, the introduction of seamless, consistent formats for wireless charging across the globe will be a big relief.

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Toshiba said it will soon begin mass producing a new type of 64Gbit NAND flash that is the smallest and fastest in its class, though it still lags rival Samsung Electronics in the development of an even denser flash technology.

Toshiba said Tuesday that it will begin mass production this month of a 64Gbit chip with an area of 94 square millimeters that can write data at 25MB per second. The new chips, made using a 19-nanometer process, are the fastest and smallest to use 2-bit-per-cell technology, Toshiba said.

Main rival Samsung is already a step ahead. The South Korean company said last month that it began mass-producing a 128Gbit NAND chip with 3-bit-per-cell technology, also using a process smaller than 20 nanometers.

Toshiba said it is also working on 3-bit-per-cell technology, and aims to begin mass production by September. The company said it would first focus on smartphones and tablet memory with the chips, then expand to notebook PCs.

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New network software from Ericsson is designed to make sure mobile users get the best possible connection when there is both a Wi-Fi and a cellular network available.

The software, which Ericsson introduced Tuesday at the CTIA Wireless trade show, is an enhancement to its platform for mobile operators that use Wi-Fi to supplement their cellular networks. It continuously measures which network will work best for a given subscriber and automatically shifts that user’s connection between the two, the company said.

According to Ericsson, this capability can prevent subscribers from being shifted from cellular to Wi-Fi and then kept on the Wi-Fi network even though it’s slower than cellular in their current location.

Why use Wi-Fi?

Many carriers are deploying or partnering for Wi-Fi networks in order to offload data traffic from their cellular systems, embracing so-called heterogeneous networks. In addition to conserving cellular spectrum and capacity, this can give subscribers better connections when near the Wi-Fi networks, which most often are deployed in crowded areas.

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Vintage: 1982

Original price: $595

Sold on eBay: From $49 for a specimen with damage to $545 for a machine in like-new condition with the original box, cables, and manuals still wrapped

The best-selling PC of all time featured an 8-bit MOS Technology microprocessor, 64KB of RAM, and a 16-color video palette. You could hook one up to a TV and skip buying a monitor. At the C64's peak, 40,000 of these were rolling off assembly lines each month. The C64 maintains a cult following as fans revive the machines for a round of Centipede or Platoon. Old Commodores, however, are among the items the Computer History Museum does not need donated. Don’t expect your old Commodore to pay for your kid's college, unless it’s rare (like this Commodore 65 prototype that recently sold for $7625).

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If you want to make time pass more slowly, just buy the wrong mobile device—especially one that comes tethered to a contract. Each day of those 24 months will feel like eternity.

A purchasing misstep like that will sow trouble and hassle throughout your entire mobile ecosystem. You won't be able to buy the apps you really want, you'll be barred from using the services you really need, and you'll feel like a complete doofus when you pull out that white elephant in a crowd and someone asks, with a raised eyebrow, "How's that workin' out for ya?"

We're here to help you avoid the stigma and potential chaos that can come with choosing the wrong mobile product. We've evaluated nearly every device and service on the market and have selected the cream of the crop for your consideration. If a mobile product isn't on this list, you probably don't want it. Trust us.

If you're wondering why the Nokia Lumia 920 didn't make our list, it's because at least one editor was required to have had in-depth experience with a product before recommending it. We didn't require a full review, but hands-on time at a press briefing didn't qualify. No one here had enough time with the Nokia Lumia 920 to meet that requirement before our print deadline.

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Around this time each year, the editors at PCWorld and TechHive gather to recognize the best new tech products—the hardware, software, gadgets, and devices that had the biggest impact on the world. The process starts out casually enough, because editors get to name their favorites from their respective beats, and everything is included in the first pass.

But passions rise when the time comes to winnow what inevitably becomes a very long list to just 100 new products. There’s a fervent back and forth as the editors make their cases as to why their product should remain on the list—and someone else’s should be whacked. Staff alliances form and dissolve as editors strategize how they’ll win the day for their picks.

A list with 100 computers, smartphones, printers, cloud services, and other great products inexorably emerges over the course of a few weeks. But that’s only half the battle, because the editors must now decide the order of importance that each product holds. That came together surprisingly quickly this year—at least for the top 10 products. As for the other 90; well, let’s just say the list was settled only after great deliberation.

And here, without further ado, are our picks for the 100 best products of 2012:

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Wondershare's MobileGo for Android offers almost all of the features found in iTunes—and a few you won't find anywhere in Apple's software. So Android users, you can banish your envy of the symbiotic relationship between Apple’s mobile iOS device and its iTunes desktop software. MobileGo is available in a free version that's available for Windows PCs and a $40 Pro version that's available for Macs, too.

If you can get past the price tag, you'll find MobileGo Pro for Android is an attractive, easy-to-use application. MobileGo Pro's interface has been redesigned in version 2; I found earlier versions just as easy on the eyes, but the new look manages to make all of the applications features accessible within a click or two.

To get started, you install the software on your computer and connect your Android device. You can connect it via USB or, new in version 2, via WiFi. You can establish a WiFi connection by opening the MobileGo app on your phone (it installs automatically once you connect your phone to MobileGo) or by scanning a QR code that the application displays on your screen.

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The new Asus Zenbook UX31A looks like the old UX31E, with a brushed, bronze-tinted, solid aluminum shell that looks slightly dangerous and angular. The weight remains the same, at 3 pounds and an ounce. But our test model arrived with a gorgeous, 1080p IPS (in-plane switching) display and an Ivy Bridge processor, boosting both performance and display quality. Price (as of 08/09/2012) is about $1449.

Points of Improvement

In addition to updating its UX31 Zenbook line with Ivy Bridge CPUs, Asus is trying to bring consistency to its touchpad pointing experience. PCWorld’s review of the earlier Zenbook UX31E was mostly favorable, but the review said that the touchpad wasn’t optimal. One issue that the company itself noted was that it sourced touchpads from two different vendors, and it was a crapshoot as to which one you’d get when you bought a Zenbook.

The UX31A rectifies that, using the same brand and model of touchpad in all systems. Drivers have been tuned a bit as well, and the overall touchpad experience is better. Palm detection has improved, though the cursor still has a slight tendency to overshoot when you use your finger to move it. Multitouch gestures and tap-to-click no longer have excessive lag, either.

You can still get the Zenbook with a 1600 by 900 pixel display, but it’s worth spending a few dollars more for the 1920 by 1080 pixel display, based on IPS technology. The one downside: all those pixels crammed into a 13.3-inch display may make you want to adjust the display's scaling for fonts to improve readability. The 1080p display includes an antiglare filter, a welcome standout in a sea of glossy, too-reflective panels.

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It's interesting that Sony describes the VAIO SVT13114GXS as an Ultrabook that's designed to contain "all the connectivity ports that other Ultrabook laptops may lack," when it contains only two USB ports--both located right next to each other. Sure, it might have VGA- and HDMI-out ports, too, but that doesn't make up for the system’s myriad issues.

This business-oriented Ultrabook is pretty and light, but if you're thinking about purchasing it, you really need to know what your priorities are. It has below-average general performance, a dim screen, and a clean-but-quiet headphone jack, but it also has an excellent keyboard and trackpad. So what's really important to you?

Our review model, which costs $849 as configured, has a third-generation Ivy Bridge Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive with a 32GB SSD as a hard drive cache. This VAIO Ultrabook also sports a 13.3-inch screen, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0, and runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional.

Performance

The VAIO SVT13114GXS (Sony really needs to work on its model names) performs a little below average for its class. In PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the VAIO scored a decent 126, meaning the system is 26 percent faster than our testing model, which has a second-generation Intel Core i5 desktop processor, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti discrete graphics card.

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Moborobo's client sports a non-Windows look, with a muted gray background and a large monochrome icon for each of its seven tabs. When you run it, it pops up a UAC elevation prompt asking for Administrator privileges. Then, it lets you connect to your Android device using a USB cable or over Wi-Fi, as long as the device and your computer are connected to the same network. Moborobo marks the USB connection as Recommended, and after trying both connection modes, I agree. For Wi-Fi connectivity to work, you must install a separate Android app, Mobo Daemon, which requires root access. And even then, the wireless connection was flaky and dropped out several times while I was working with Moborobo.

The Home tab also shows basic statistics about your phone's storage space, contacts, messages, apps, images, and more. The Data tab lets you browse the contacts on your phone, as well as your text messages and call log. Next comes the Apps tab, which lets you install apps onto your device. When you pick an app to install, Moborobo downloads it and then sends it to your phone for installation.

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If you're like a lot of folks, today's still-shaky economy is pushing you to live more frugally—including keeping your car on the road as long as possible. And with gas prices bouncing around $4 a gallon in many areas, the last thing you need is to get hit with pricy repairs, traffic tickets, or other unexpected auto-related expenses.

Help is as close as your smartphone. Dozens of mobile apps are available that can help you stay on top of basic auto maintenance, find the most reputable repair shops, avoid traffic backups, track your fuel efficiency, and generally keep your car on the blacktop and your bank account in the black. Here are a few examples.

RepairPal (for Android and iOS, free): RepairPal provides estimates for common repair jobs and helps you find the best shops in your town to do the work. For example, when the Check Engine light lit up in my 2000 Honda Odyssey, RepairPal advised me that the light indicates a fault in the emissions system and that it would likely cost between $97 and $123 to diagnose. The app recently added a feature called "Top Shop" that lists local repair shops that are highly rated by consumers and that promise to match RepairPal's price quote; some also offer warranties for their work. RepairPal also offers roadside assistance for breakdowns, maintenance advice and checklists, and repair history logs for multiple vehicles.

Car Minder Plus (iOS, $3): Doctors and car mechanics agree: a little preventative maintenance can go a long way. This app stores a maintenance and repair log listing details like oil changes, tire rotations, and tune-ups to help you keep track of what needs to be done when. You can also monitor your fuel efficiency for fluctuations, which could help identify potential problems early. All data is backed up to your computer, and you can email customized reports as needed.

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App2Card is a service aimed mainly at mobile app developers. It invites them to reimagine their app icon as a physical object and use it to drive more traffic to their app online. In other words, apps have not killed business cards…they're helping to make them. App2Card charges $30 for 100 cards.

Although it's optimized for mobile app developers, App2Card can also be used to create custom business cards. You can upload an image for the card's front side, and specify a URL for the QR code and some text for the card's back. This works nicely if you have a compelling personal website on a service such as Flavors.me or About.me.

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Vodafone’s revenue dropped 4.2 percent for its fiscal year to March 31, because of tough economic conditions, particularly in Southern Europe.

The operator’s group revenue dropped to £44.4 billion (US$67.8 billion) for the year ended March 31, and net profit fell sharply from £7 billion to £673 million.

Behind those numbers are Vodafone’s problems in Southern Europe where revenue was down by 16 percent. The effects of “severe macroeconomic weakness were intensified by strong competition,” according to Vodafone said. Revenue rose 2.7 percent in Northern and Central Europe but fell 2.9 percent in Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Operators today struggling to balance falling revenue from voice and messaging services with growth in revenue from data. In Vodafone’s case, revenue from the first two decreased by £3.8 billion, while data revenue grew by just £469 million.

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The European Union may be trying to protect its telecom equipment industry with its recent threat to investigate China over networking equipment imports. But the move could end up hurting the chances of Western vendors intent on supplying technology to China’s upcoming 4G services launch, according to analysts.

Last week, the EU set off fears of a trade war with China after it said it could resort to probing the nation’s sales of mobile networking gear for anti-competitive practices. In response, China has warned the EU against taking “protectionist” measures that would damage economic relations between the two governments.

“If the EU insists on starting the investigation, China will follow WTO [World Trade Organization] rules and Chinese law to take resolute measures to protect its rights and interests,” said China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang last Thursday. “The EU, which started the friction, will have to take full responsibility for the resulting consequences.”

The EU has yet to launch its investigation, and wants to first negotiate with China over a possible resolution. But the trade tensions risk affecting the tendering process to build China’s 4G networks, said Matt Walker, an analyst with research firm Ovum.

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Exciting news for Android and Google lovers came out of the annual Google I/O developers conference yesterday.  The keynote speech from CEO Larry Page, which lasted more than 3 hours, announced a new variant on the Samsung Galaxy S4.  The new Google version of the popular smartphone will run on a stock Android operating system, a potentially appealing prospect for a lot of tech geeks.

The Samsung Galaxy series has built a huge following due to its impressive hardware.  On the S4, a 1080p screen with 441 ppi, a 13 megapixel camera, and a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon processor are among its most impressive pieces of hardware.

The stock Android Jellybean 4.2 OS on the upcoming Google S4 eliminates the Nexus branding that other Galaxy devices have held and comes with a completely unlocked bootloader.  The themes and skins that have identified Galaxy software will be replaced by a basic and direct Android interface, and it will have no preinstalled apps bogging it down.  That will make for a cleaner and more customizable phone, ideal for developers who seek the capability to modify their devices (hence its announcement at the developers’ conference).

Perhaps because of Google’s backing or perhaps because of the lack of Nexus branding, the stripped-down, unlocked Google S4 will carry a lower price tag than other Galaxy iterations.   When it hits the stores June 26, AT&T and T-Mobile members will be able to pick up this developer’s dream device for a relatively light $649.

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We all love our smartphones, and rely on them for a lot of daily tasks.  But we’re all left with the same frustration when they run out of power in the middle of an important call or while watching a video.

Fortunately, there are some easy steps you can take to extend the life of your battery.  Here are nine of the best.

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Not long after rumors that Nokia’s new Lumia 928 would lead Verizon’s upcoming lineup, Nokia has announced details on their new Lumia 925, which will be debuting with T-Mobile.

The new Lumia 925 boasts an aluminum and polycarbonate body that’s both lighter and thinner than its predecessor, the 920.  The 925 delivers a 4.5 inch 1280x768 display and runs Windows 8 with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.  Its design specs are an undeniable improvement on Nokia’s current offering, giving it a higher-end feel and appearance.  It will also have an improved software experience, particularly with camera operation.

T-Mobile made waves in March when they announced a shift to no-contract mobile plans, in addition to offering unlimited data.  These offerings disrupted the normal 2-year-contract and capped-data model.  Although they have the fewest number of subscribers amongst the top four carriers, T-Mobile’s no-contract mantra has gotten them a lot of attention.  The addition of a hotly anticipated, high-end smartphone like the 925 to their lineup may serve to reinforce their foothold.

The Lumia 925 is expected to carry a $600+ price tag when it lands in stores this summer.  Typically, no-contract cell phone plans offer minimal - if any - reductions on hardware costs, although they do provide financing plans which allow customers access to new smartphones without the extreme up-front cost. 

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Foxconn’s Hon Hai Precision Industry posted a 19.2 percent year-over-year decline in revenue for the first quarter, with sales likely affected by weak demand for Apple’s iPhone 5, according to an analyst.

The Taiwanese contract manufacturer said on Wednesday its revenue for the quarter was NT$809 billion (US$27 billion), although net profit was up 8.4 percent year-over-year, reaching NT$16.4 billion.

Hon Hai Precision Industry is the main manufacturing arm of Foxconn Technology Group, which is best known as a supplier to U.S. tech giant Apple. The partnership between the two companies has helped fuel Foxconn’s rapid growth in recent years, especially in China where it has over 1.2 million employees.

But in this year’s first quarter, sales of Apple’s iPhone 5 have been in decline, which was the main reason for the drop in Hon Hai’s revenue, said Arthur Liao, an analyst with Fubon Securities Investment Services Co. In addition, consumers are buying up Apple’s lower-cost iPad mini over the more profitable iPad, he said.

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Two months ago, everything about i-mate’s Intelegent Windows 8 phone screamed vaporware. Today, the handset is back, with specs that suggest it's very much real. Shoot, PCWorld has even seen videos of it in action.

Yes—Windows 8 on a phone

It's no wonder the Intelegent made waves when it was announced earlier this year. In addition to the phone itself—which, to be clear, runs the full-blown Windows 8 operating system, not the Windows Phone OS—i-mate promised a docking station that would turn the Intelegent into a desktop workstation. It was all the Windows 8 you could need, all in one place.

However, i-mate wasn’t actually demonstrating the device in public.

An exclusive story by Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times showed only product renderings, and claimed that the Intelegent would be “unveiled” at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. (Press materials were prepared by i-mate for the show, but the company didn’t release them publicly.) On i-mate’s website, a short message promised “More information coming soon.” And that message remains on the site today.

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Canonical on Wednesday announced its next moves on the way to market with a Linux-powered phone.

By the end of this month Canonical plans to equip its employees with early versions of its widely hyped “Ubuntu phone” for testing and refinement.

“We should drive as hard as we can to making it so that we can use our phones with Ubuntu Touch as our real daily phones as soon as possible,” said Rick Spencer, Canonical's vice president of Ubuntu engineering, in a Wednesday blog post. “Really eat our own dog food, so to speak.”

'User data is retained'

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John asked why one Web page "comes up right away, while another takes quite a long time to load."

You can't set a clock by your Internet download speed. A great many factors make one page faster than another. And a great many other factors can make the same page fast one day (or hour) and slow the next.

Most of these variables are completely out of your control. But it's still worthwhile to understand them.

[Email your tech questions to answer@pcworld.com or post them on the PCW Answer Line forum.]

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Back in January I wrote about the "inconvenient truth" of trying to charge your iPad from a USB port: there's not enough juice.

My recommendation at the time was Digital Innovations' ChargeDr, a USB dongle that allows tablets and other devices to charge more quickly. It works (quite well, in fact), but it's a $30 solution.

If you fancy free workarounds instead, check out Asus Ai Charger. This free utility promises to charge iPhones, iPods, and iPads up to 50 percent faster using your PC's existing USB ports.

That's a pretty lofty claim: software that can boost the effective power output of hardware? It sounds almost impossible, but I'm here to tell you: it works.

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Last year I shared three things you should know about Google Voice—basically a rundown of three cool ways to use the service.

Here's a fourth: Use it as a disposable phone number.

See, when you sign up for Google Voice, which you can do for any new or existing Google/Gmail account, you get the option of choosing a new phone number. (You can also port an existing number, but that's not part of the discussion today.)

One of the neat things about Google Voice is that you can route calls to that number to any/all of your existing numbers (home, office, cell phone, etc.).

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Password-protecting your smartphone makes sense, as it prevents unauthorized users from accessing your data.

But it can also work against you. Suppose, for example, your phone gets lost. If a Good Samaritan finds it and wants to return it, he or she won't be able to do the necessary detective work. (And it's not like you'd want them poking around your data anyway.)

Fortunately, Android 4.0 offers a solution in the form of lock-screen contact information, which will display the message of your choosing even on a passcode-protected device. Here's how to set this up:

1. On your Android phone, head to Settings, then look for an entry called Lock Screen. (I found this under the Personal section on my Samsung Galaxy S3; on your phone it might be under Security or somewhere similar.)

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Robert Harris asked me to explain the technologies and concerns around smartphone Internet access.

[Email your tech questions to answer@pcworld.com or post them on the PCW Answer Line forum.]

Not so long ago, it didn't matter much how you accessed the Internet from your smartphone. Changes in most people's service plans, however, are altering that condition. Use the wrong technology, and your mobile phone bill will go up.

Smartphones, such as iPhones and Android phones, are basically small, handheld computers with built-in phones, GPS, and cameras. And like any other modern computer, they're tools for accessing the Internet. For many people, that's their primary function.

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Tethering: It's one of the most convenient features your smartphone has, yet carriers insist on restricting it.

Tethering most often refers to using your smartphone as a mobile hotspot. In other words, it lets you connect to the Internet on your laptop, tablet, or Wi-Fi enabled device, using your phone's data connection. Tethering is very useful if you happen to be in an area that has no free Wi-Fi and you need to do your computing on a device other than your phone.

[Related: How to tether your iPhone]

Carriers don't really want you to use this oh-so-convenient option, because users who tether are more likely to use a lot of data. After all, it's much easier to use data when you're browsing on a laptop or a tablet, than when you're limited to your smartphone's tiny screen. You might argue that, since most mobile plans feature limited data anyway, it shouldn't matter how you happen to use that data. But some carriers disagree, and will typically charge an extra $20 to $50 per month for tethering plans.

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It's no secret that the Samsung Galaxy S III is the must-have phone this summer. After all, this high-end Android phone has won over reviewers and consumers alike, selling more than 10 million units in less than two months on the market. PCWorld gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Much of the hype surrounding the Galaxy S III is well deserved?the phone comes packed with cool features, including its voice controls, gesture controls, and multimedia-sharing tools.

However, your Galaxy S III has some lesser-known features that could be more useful than its headline-grabbing capabilities. And, despite what Samsung's marketing campaign may have you believe, not all of these features are specific to the Galaxy S III?some are available, often via downloadable apps, on many high-end Android devices. Read on to learn 15 ways you can get the most out of your slick new smartphone.

Calls made easier

Dialing phone numbers or even tapping a contact's name to place a call? That's so 2011. The Galaxy S III's motion controls allow you to place a call simply by moving your phone to your ear when you're viewing a contact or a text message.

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My iPhone lives inside one of those extended-battery cases, which is good for power but bad for syncing. I've lost the special sync cable that came with the case, meaning I now have to take the case off (major hassle) whenever I want to sync with iTunes. This is driving me nuts. Is there some other way to sync?

Good news, Jed: there is! With the introduction of iOS 5, Apple made it possible to sync with your PC via Wi-Fi, meaning you don't need a dock, cable, or anything else -- just your existing home network.

This feature came and went without a lot of fanfare, which I find surprising because it's singularly awesome. Well, okay, there's one downside, but it shouldn't affect you: Your iPhone must be plugged into a power source for Wi-Fi syncing to work. (Update: Should have said "automatic Wi-Fi syncing." You can sync manually even without a power source.)

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The check-in feature at Facebook exemplifies location-based social media use at its simplest. When you check in on Facebook, you're just telling your Facebook Friends "Here I am!" Google+ and Yelp up the ante by encouraging users to leave reviews.

Other social networks are completely built around location-based services. They turn the process of checking in at various locations into a real-world game, complete with points, achievement badges, leaderboards, and the ability to win rewards and discounts at participating locations.

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That's true whether you have a gigantic hard drive quickly filling up with applications, movies, music, and photos or live with one of the newer ultrathin laptops sporting fast but tiny solid-state drives that can’t hold much to begin with.

Thankfully, lots of easy ways exist to reclaim hard-drive space and keep the dreaded “out-of-disk-space” warnings away. Let's check some of them out.

Clean Up Files You No Longer Need

The first step is to get rid of the common space-hogging culprits. These include unnecessary applications and a variety of useless system files.

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