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Aug 11, 2012 12:00 PM   Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's running mate. No doubt you've already heard. You been hearing about it for hours now, but you didn't hear it first from Romney's dedicated app, which promised punctuality but showed up hours late to the party. "There's no telling when Mitt will choose his VP. But when he does, be the first to find out with Mitt's VP app," reads the promotional material. In actuality, the Mitt's VP app announced the news at 7:07 AM ET, despite the fact that the cat got out of the bag hours before. That shouldn't come as a big surprise though, Obama tried the same trick with text messages back in 2008 and was similarly unsuccessful. "First" is a lofty promise. You'd be hard-pressed to control the increasingly voracious world of political gossip, but that doesn't mean people won't keep trying. In the end, the app will probably be able to mine some data, but as for breaking the n...

A fair number of companies that read our product reviews tell me that they take our criticism to heart to improve their wares. That's flattering to hear, but I don't think the message is getting to the right people. How do I know? Companies continue to send us new laptops, tablets and smartphones that exhibit the same annoying design flaws over and over. Consider this list a polite but forceful intervention. Laptop Mag's Mark Spoonauer has a few gripes with the way gadgets are designed. What are the most annoying ones? Keep reading. Imagine if your car's door had a protective cover around the keyhole. Why? Exactly. I can understand if you're targeting the military, field workers or outdoor adventurers who need a device that can withstand water splashes and dust storms. But otherwise there's no need to cover up that microUSB port - or any other port - with a flap. It just gets in the way. Every time I see a covered port, I instantly take points off the review. T...