Julio Ojeda-Zapata put Apple’s new Force Touch trackpad through its paces and found its features to be flawlessly executed, fairly useful, and wicked cool. He is not yet persuaded to give up the mouse he uses at his office desk, though.

Long-suffering Office for Mac users finally have an updated version of the productivity suite, if only in preview form. Even so, the software achieves visual and functional parity with versions on iOS, Android, and Windows.

The new Sling TV Internet service provides many basic paid channels for a low monthly fee, and makes them available just about everywhere. Is it enough to cut the cable cord or drop satellite TV? Yes, but not for everyone.

Now iPhone and iPad users have a version of Outlook: Microsoft’s consolidated email, scheduling, and contacts app. The new arrival is crammed with useful features as well.

In a high-stakes product keynote, Microsoft showed refinements to the upcoming Windows 10 (now on smartphones as well as tablets and PCs) and announced new products, including holographic headgear. Yes, really.

Julio Ojeda-Zapata compares two podcast client approaches for Mac users: native apps such as Instacast and Downcast versus Web-based apps such as Pocket Casts and Overcast. Which is right for you?

If you want to stand while working on your Mac, Ergotron provides clamp-to-a-desk workstations marketed directly to the Apple crowd. However, these setups have some stability issues.

Microsoft has upgraded Office for iOS to include full iPhone support, and it has made core features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint free for non-business users. This isn’t Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft anymore.

Apple’s new iMac with Retina 5K display is gorgeous and priced reasonably, but not necessary for ordinary Mac mortals. After spending a few weeks with a loaner, Julio Ojeda-Zapata explains why he won’t be buying one, while simultaneously recommending that anyone else who is interested go look at it in person.

The jumbo iPhone 6 Plus has potential as a mini-tablet for productivity, and it could replace the iPad for some users. Julio Ojeda-Zapata suggests mobile keyboards for iPhone 6 Plus productivity.

A MacBook Air, an iPod Hi-Fi, a projector, and a projection screen become the ingredients for two backyard movie nights attended by dozens of little “Frozen” fanatics. Follow along and you could host your own event!

With the release of extra-large Samsung Galaxy tablets and matching keyboard cases, Julio Ojeda-Zapata finally warms to Android as a productivity platform. The as-yet-unreleased Android version of Microsoft Office is the remaining piece of the puzzle.

The first major update to Microsoft’s Office for iPad adds a number of high-profile and much-requested features, including PDF export, support for third-party fonts, image cropping, pivot tables, and Presenter View. Also updated was OneNote for iOS and OS X.

The Fire Phone smartphone is Amazon’s latest foray into consumer hardware, after its Kindle Fire tablets and Fire TV streaming video box. Phone buyers seeking maximum device versatility and flexibility should just get an iPhone or Android handset, though, because the Fire has too many limitations and pointless razzle-dazzle.

Running out of ports on your Mac? Thunderbolt docks address this by replicating one Thunderbolt port into two, and adding an assortment of other ports. Belkin offers one unique model, while many rivals are working from a common Intel reference design.