Google sweated the small stuff for the Pixel, its first homemade phone. We dive into some of the design and aesthetic decisions the search giant made to create the device, including its slight wedge shape to get rid of a camera bump and its unadulterated Android software. Also on today’s show, we talk about Verizon’s …

Walking into a crafts supplies store, it’s not always easy to find the aisle where they keep the extra-bulky, hand-dyed pink merino wool yarn or the teardrop-shaped cultured sea glass beads. Sure, most people aren’t on the market for such specific items, but Etsy is hoping to make shopping for any craft supplies easier online, whether you’re a casual knitter …

PayPal agreed Tuesday to buy a company that lets people go to a convenience store to pay off their bills using cash. No, that experience doesn’t sound all that high tech. So why would the world’s leading digital payments company purchase a firm so focused on walk-in customers and dollar bills? According to PayPal Chief Operating Officer Bill Ready, the …

Chance the Rapper on Sunday became the first artist to win a Grammy without selling physical copies or downloads of his music, instead only releasing his work through streaming services like Apple Music and SoundCloud. Granted, his historic wins were due in part to the Recording Academy relaxing its eligibility rules to allow a streaming artist to be considered, but …

It’s still no PayPal, but Amazon’s payments service is picking up steam. The online retailer said Tuesday that Amazon Payments has been used by over 33 million customers since it launched in 2013. That’s up from 23 million customers a year earlier. In addition, payment volume nearly doubled last year for the service, which lets people use their Amazon login …

Facebook sees huge potential for it to grow in video. But YouTube, the reigning king of video, is keen to stay at the top of the heap. Against that backdrop, YouTube on Tuesday said it will soon let users start live-streaming from their phones, offering new competition to Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope. The new YouTube service was promised in …

Amazon’s Alexa was showered with attention at last month’s CES tech show in Las Vegas, as dozens of companies invited the voice assistant to live in their cars, washing machines and set-top boxes. Yet, behind all that luster is a somewhat uncomfortable question about Amazon’s 2-year-old artificial intelligence platform: Does Alexa make Amazon any money? The answer, say several analysts: …

Apple hasn’t dramatically changed its iPhone design in two years, but customers don’t seem to care. The world’s highest-valued company reported another record-setting quarter, thanks to strong sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Apple broke its record for most iPhones sold in a quarter, hitting 78.3 million, ahead of analysts’ expectations. Also on the show, we talk about …

Newegg, the tech-focused online retailer, is beefing up its slate of new gadgets and gizmos with the help of Indiegogo. The e-retailer and crowd-funding site agreed to team up last year to support and bring to market some of the most promising concepts on Indiegogo’s site. As a next step in the partnership, Newegg on Tuesday launched a landing page …

Plex, the streaming media app, said Tuesday it has acquired streaming news service Watchup. The price of the deal wasn’t disclosed, but Plex said it hopes to use the new acquisition to amp up the number of news videos it offers. Watchup‘s free app includes more than 150 local, national and international publisher partners include CBS (CNET’s parent company), CNN, …