Enlarge ImageLightning and USB Type-C are two connection ports that don’t match up. CNET Microsoft’s new smartphones have it. Google’s new tablet has it. Even the upstart OnePlus 2 is on board. Apple, at least when it comes to its new accessories, would rather not commit. The object of affection outside Apple is USB Type-C, …

Enlarge ImageLittleBits’ new kit includes more than a dozen instructions on making different devices and games. Ariel Nuñez/CNET NEW YORK — At LittleBits’ pop-up storefront on West Broadway, employees Krystal Persaud and Emily Tuteur helped me construct a colorful car and its remote control using a handful of the company’s magnetically connected components, some stickers, wheels and paper. The remote-controlled …

Google is working to make mobile browsing less of a waiting game. Frank May/dpa/Corbis NEW YORK — If you’re reading this article on a mobile browser, it probably took longer to load than you wanted. Google is hoping it can change that with its introduction Wednesday of a technology called AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages, which was created to load …

Amazon already sells tens of millions of products. Why not a handmade, reclaimed-wood coffee table that doubles as a wine rack? With that in mind, the Seattle-based company on Thursday launched Handmade at Amazon, a specialized storefront that promotes only handcrafted goods and the artisans who create them, a market now dominated by much smaller e-retailer Etsy. The program will …

Panos Panay unveils two new Lumias, which go on sale next month. Sarah Tew/CNET Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, the company’s two new premium smartphones. They were a long time coming. Microsoft hasn’t unveiled a flagship smartphone since it acquired Nokia’s devices business in April 2014, releasing just a handful of budget-friendly devices since then. …

Swiping a card at the pump is so 2014. Vstock LLC/Tetra Images/Corbis It’s becoming more common to tap your smartphone at Walgreens to pay for cough drops or McDonald’s to buy a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Waving your phone at a gas pump may be next on the list. Visa and Chevron on Tuesday announced an initiative to bring some …

Amazon will dump two of the most popular video-streaming devices from its site. Sarah Tew/CNET Amazon is banning sales of Apple and Google video-streaming devices on its site, in a potential effort to outmaneuver two main competitors. The world’s largest online retailer sent an email to its marketplace sellers, saying it will stop offering Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast, according …

The Gear S2, Samsung’s seventh smartwatch, starts at $300. CNET Samsung Electronics announced it will release its new Gear S2 smartwatch in the US this Friday. The Korean electronics giant said Wednesday it will sell the Gear S2 for $300 and the Gear S2 Classic for $350. The Gear S2 is the main model, sporting a modern, minimalist look, while …

Amazon Flex, which will power the company’s speedy delivery service, is coming to more US cities soon. Amazon Amazon’s newest offering to the public: delivery jobs. The online retailer on Tuesday rolled out a new program called Amazon Flex, which lets regular people sign up to become on-demand delivery drivers. The project is starting in Seattle, Amazon’s hometown, but a …

Enlarge ImageThe several poses of the Pixel C. CNET Google has unveiled a new tablet called the Pixel C, with hopes that the productivity-focused device can revive the sagging tablet market. The Internet search giant unveiled the 10.2-inch Pixel C (the “C” stands for convertible) and its removable keyboard Tuesday at a press event in San Francisco. Like other devices …