Sony on Thursday announced it’s bringing its refreshed Aibo robot dog to the US. The new gadget will use sophisticated cameras and sensors to map your house, so it can easily move around and go to its charging station on its own. It will also recognize up to 100 faces and remember interactions with people, …

Google overhauled the web version of Gmail this past spring, adding tons of new features and a splashy new look. One of the new tools that new Gmail introduced was confidential mode, which lets you set an expiration date or revoke access for sensitive emails that the recipient also can’t forward, copy, print or download. Now, you can send such …

It was just about a year ago that CNET’s Scott Stein called the Moto Z2 Force “a great phone… but no bargain.” Sure enough, Motorola’s modular marvel had a starting price of $730. What a difference a year makes. For a limited time, both Sprint and Best Buy are offering the Motorola Moto Z2 Force (64GB) for $120. See it …

The Magic Leap One headset was featured Thursday in iFixIt’s latest product teardown. The teardown included 22 steps, ultimately scoring a 3 out of 10 on the maker site’s repairability scale (with 10 being the easiest to repair).   The Magic Leap One headset, dreamed up by Magic Leap co-founder and CEO Rony Abovitz, had a hurricane of hype leading …

Now playing: Watch this: Are you ready to welcome Sony’s robot dog, Aibo, home?… 4:26 On this podcast, we talk about: Sony’s robot dog is returning, at $2,900. LG wants to make a robot you can wear. The DNC’s hack scare was a false alarm.  The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, …

Beauty and power meet on August 30th 2018. pic.twitter.com/pOVKlEzSGY — HTC (@htc) August 23, 2018 Phone maker HTC took to Twitter Thursday to tease an upcoming announcement that simply said, “Beauty and power meet on August 30th 2018.”  Related links This squeezable phone is too gutsy for its own good HTC U11 is a cheaper HTC U12 Plus alternative HTC …

Teens are trying to be responsible users of technology, a new report says, attempting to monitor and control the amount of time they’re glued to screens.  Roughly 52 percent of US teens say they’re taking steps to curb their mobile phone use, according to a Pew Research Center study published Wednesday. Similarly, 57 percent of teens are limiting their social …

Facebook suspended 400 and banned one of the thousands of apps it’s investigated since the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal began in March, the company said Thursday. The company issued a full ban to myPersonality, one of the apps at the center of the scandal, on Wednesday after it didn’t agree to a request for audit. The social network suspended the …

Apple has let you sync folders on your Mac with iCloud Drive for nearly two years, and now Microsoft is adding such convenience and protection via its OneDrive cloud service. With Windows 10 ($144 at Amazon), you can now automatically sync your Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders with OneDrive, which not only makes the contents of said folders easily accessible …

When Microsoft introduced the slimmer Xbox One S in 2016, one new feature didn’t get as much fanfare as it should’ve — a Bluetooth gamepad that can double as a controller for your tablets and phones. Only that gamepad didn’t necessarily work the way you’d think on Android. The buttons were assigned wrong. But XDA-developers reports that after two long …

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 ($230 at Target) is currently its best phone. There are two storage options this year: 128GB or a whopping 512GB. And with the addition of a bigger battery, bigger screen and a new S Pen, the Note 9 looks to be a surefire hit. Samsung and its partners opened preorders on Aug. 10, and full retail …

I’m not here to give you fantasy football advice. My record as a fantasy football GM is checkered at best. In one league, I co-manage a team with my brother and we finish at or near the bottom of the standings each year. (Our lone title occurred back when Marshall Faulk was still playing; we recall his 1,000-yard rushing and …

Shopping online is not only convenient, it can often be a great way to find great deals (but not always). Keeping track of all the stuff you buy and when it will arrive can also become a chore. Fortunately, package tracking apps for iOS are plentiful in the App Store. Here are five worth checking out. 17TRACK Taylor Martin/CNET One …

Encrypted chat apps aim to keep you communicating securely, but they have a problem: Some governments want to block them from operating entirely. What’s more, some parts of their services can be easily blocked on a local level by anyone with a Wi-Fi network. To keep conversations flowing, encrypted communications app maker Wickr said Thursday it’s implementing new tools that …

Lenovo is doubling down on budget tablets, introducing three new models that will run Google’s Android Oreo operating system.  Starting at $70 — about what the previous-generation Tab 7 Essential cost — the entry-level Tab E family comes in three sizes: 7, 8 and 10 inches. The company has also announced two other tablets, the Tab P10 and Tab M10, but declined to …