Internet features

Apple's iPhone 3G can add another trophy to its crowded shelf. On Monday, The NPD Group reported that the popular smartphone surpassed the Motorola RAZR in the third quarter as "the leading handset purchased by adult consumers in the U.S."

The RAZR had reigned as the top-selling consumer handset for the past 12 quarters. The report by the market researcher is based on more than 150,000 online consumer surveys each month, projected to represent all U.S. consumers 18 years and older.

'A Watershed Shift'

In the geek world, "cloud computing" is a white-hot buzzword these days. It basically means working with files and programs that reside on the Internet, beyond your company's walls -- out there in the "cloud."

Everyday consumers are doing cloud computing, too, maybe without even realizing it. When you use an Internet-based backup service, or Google's online word processor or spreadsheet, or a gmail or Yahoo mail account, you're working with data on a secure, encrypted Internet server somewhere -- not on your hard drive.