Imagine this scenario, times infinity. DotGears Studios/Screenshots by CNET It was after around the 14th or 15th time I’d seen “Game Over” flash across my iPhone screen in the last maybe seven minutes that I decided that the app Flappy Bird — an experience so simultaneously simple and maddening that I could already picture it …

Anki is infusing the toy cars for its real-world race track with even more video game flavor. A new update, released Friday, raises the customization list for its cars to 20 upgrades and adds new weapons, making its physical race track and software-fueled video game hybrid an even more complex media mashup. Some of the cooler additions: an Bond-esque electromagnetic …

The makers of Coin — a device that can be programmed to act as a credit, debit, gift, and rewards card rolled into one — were not expecting their .84mm-thin device to become a Silicon Valley sensation. Sure, their promotional video and Web site were well-produced, but the team of seven set its crowdfunding goal at a modest $50,000. The …

In a compact San Francisco office suite equipped with soldering stations and swipe-testing machines, Coin’s team of seven has been working furiously to perfect the final prototype of an unlimited credit card. No, not one that will let you charge with abandon. Rather, a device as slim as a standard piece of payment plastic that can hold countless credit, debit, …

Flipboard, the social magazine app for iOS and Android, is extending its feelers further into mobile commerce with a new catalogs category. The update, released Monday, allows companies and individual users to create specialized buying guides out of items found within Flipboard and on the Web. The guides can then be deposited into custom magazines with price tags and product …

Put that novel password “12345” aside for a moment. The founders of Knock — an iOS app that launched Tuesday — want to make getting into your computer as easy as rapping your knuckles through the pocket of your jeans. And that’s exactly what their service allows. Using Bluetooth low energy technology to let iPhones communicate with their Mac brethren …

SAN FRANCISCO — Walking through Kixeye’s headquarters here in downtown San Francisco, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the offices of a triple-A studio. Military sound bites blast out of the speakers of its bunker-themed elevator waiting hall, a space awash in glowing red light and protected by an actual armed guard. Once inside, old-school arcade machines pop …

Despite all the promises, smartwatches remain an acquired taste. Yes, there’s a market but one that largely caters to the likes of health junkies and early adopters. Fitness bands are cheap and light but too minimalist. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is all brawn but lacks device compatibility and email support. And the Pebble, one of the first true-blue smartwatches, is still …

An e-mail survey is not a pretty thing. For Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi, it’s downright insulting. “It’s a giant form,” he explained. “There’s 13 questions, text inputs, no great incentive.” It’s the standard way companies get user feedback at the moment, using services like SurveyMonkey. But Doshi is hoping Mixpanel’s new tool, exclusively for mobile, will help developers see the …

The wearable-tech market — specifically the sector concerned with health and fitness — is a hotly contested space, with major players large and small waging wars for the wrist and shooting for the sweet spot between price point and functionality. Basis Science, a startup that makes a high-end fitness tracker called the Basis band, has just solidified its stake in …