The wild world of live TV streaming just went through another disruption. Blame the final season of Game of Thrones starting next month. DirecTV Now, which lets you watch numerous TV channels live over the Internet without a cable TV subscription, just raised the price of its cheapest package from $40 to $50 per month. …

Huawei may have a plan B in case its relationship with the US gets even rockier. The Chinese telecom giant told German publication Die Welt that it’s developed its own operating systems for smartphones and computers in case the company can’t use Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows following tensions between Huawei and the US government. The news was spotted earlier Thursday by …

If you are in the market for a new laptop, 2-in-1 convertible or Microsoft Surface, now might be a good time to pull the trigger on a purchase. There are a number of big discounts to be had at Best Buy — up to $500 in savings. (The 2017 MacBook Pro is also on sale as well as a trio …

On Wednesday, Pixel users got first dibs on Android Q Beta 1, the next version of Google’s mobile operating system. Android Q has a number of new features in addition to measures meant to enhance privacy and security. The updated OS includes new camera capabilities, faster app launch and foldable screen support, among other things. As Pixel users continue to …

Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 Plus has the same signature curves and aluminum frame as previous models. It’s a great-looking combination that hasn’t been so great at surviving our drop tests. The glass backs on both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9 cracked on the first drop from hip height. This time around, however, the glass on the front of the …

Happy Pi Day, cheeps! Today’s the day for cheap pies: baked, pizza and otherwise. I’ve rounded up all the best Pi Day deals for you. Om nom nom. Today’s also the day to buy whatever cool geeky thing you’ve been eyeballing at ThinkGeek, because the store is offering 31.4 percent off sitewide. I don’t recall if it ran a similar …

We expect a lot from our phones: communications, internet access, entertainment. A man in New South Wales in Australia seems to have discovered an extra bonus feature of his phone: the ability to stop an arrow.  Here’s the story from the New South Wales police, complete with lots of “allegedlys.” On Wednesday, a 43-year-old man pulled into his driveway in …

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. Apple’s returning to San Jose’s McEnery Convention Center on June 3 for its next developer conference. The company on Thursday said it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in the California city. The confab is in its 30th year, Apple said. The …

Apple can keep the billions of dollars that Qualcomm paid it as part of their 2013 contract, a judge has ruled. And Qualcomm’s still on the hook for payments it stopped making.  In a summary judgment published Thursday, US District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel of the Southern District of California granted four of Apple’s requests ahead of a trial …

The free device ride on Dropbox is slowing down.  The company posted a note in its help center today with a new three-active-device limit for its free Basic accounts. The limit doesn’t apply to paying Plus and Professional users. That tidbit comes to us via 9to5Mac (and a tweet from Liliputing News).  Some Basic folks can still breathe easy, since …

A Chromebook, with a couple pricey exceptions, is an inexpensive, streamlined alternative to a Windows laptop or Macbook. Today at Best Buy, three Chromebook models are even more affordable. A trio of fairly high-end two-in-one Chromebooks are currently discounted. (The Macbook, too, is also on sale for a very reasonable $999.)  You can save $150 on a 14-inch Dell Inspiron and …

DuckDuckGo is now a default search option in Google’s Chrome browser.  Google included private search engine DuckDuckGo in its updated lists of default search engines for Chrome 73, which the search giant released Tuesday. TechCrunch reported the news earlier. “Starting Chrome M73, we have updated the list of default search engines available in Chrome settings,” said a Google spokesperson in an email statement. …

Steam’s continuing beta of its Steam Link app, which lets you play games on any supported device by streaming them off a computer, added a major new capability today: streaming to devices on any network rather than only on the same network as the host computer. It’s all still in beta, but it fills an important hole that Steam needs …

College-aged men don’t have a monopoly on March Madness. The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament gets underway this month and promises as much buzzer-beating insanity as the men’s tournament.  It’s not a foregone conclusion that the University of Connecticut Huskies will dominate the field and win another title this year. In fact, after their remarkable run of winning six titles in …

Facebook’s daylong outage has finally ended.  The troubles first hit the social network — which has more than 2 billion users around the world — around 9 a.m. PT Wednesday, according to outage tracking site Downdetector. At this point on Thursday, more than 24 hours later, users have by and large regained full access. On Thursday, Facebook blamed the problem on …