Montana becomes the first state to implement net neutrality

Unhappy with the Federal Communication Commission’s repeal of net neutrality regulations? Well, you could move to Montana. Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock on Monday signed an executive order requiring all internet service providers with state contracts to commit to net neutrality, the principle that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. That makes …

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Get a folding portable Bluetooth keyboard for $16.89

CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter! Today’s deal is a rerun, something I first shared nearly a year ago. Back then, it was $2 …

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How to save and sync your passwords for free

Time for some tough love: If you’re not using a password manager, you’re crazy. These tools not only help you build a more secure database of passwords — a different one for every site, of course — but also save you considerable time when it comes to actually using those passwords. OK, I hear you: There’s the expense to consider. …

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No LG G7? LG could announce the V30+ Alpha in Feb. instead

Last February we got the LG G6, so this February we should get the LG G7, right? Maybe not. Enlarge Image A revamped LG V30 may be in store for MWC 2018. Juan Garzón/CNET Instead of unveiling its next flagship LG G series phone next month — assumed to be called the LG G7 — the Korean electronics giant may …

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Intel halts some chip patches as fixes cause problems

Intel pumped the brakes on updates to some of its processors Monday, telling phone and computer makers as well as users to stop updating systems until Intel finishes investigating why the patches were causing devices to reboot unexpectedly. The company recommends that manufacturers and users “stop deployment of current versions, as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other …

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You spend nearly a whole day each week on the internet

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the internet is playing an increasingly important role in our lives since going mainstream, but the speed at which that transformation occurred might. Since 2000, our time spent online each week has steadily increased, rising from 9.4 hours to 23.6 hours — nearly an entire day, according to a recent report …

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Vivo’s in

The world’s first phone with an in-screen fingerprint scanner finally has a name, and a birth date. The Vivo X20 Plus UD goes on sale Jan. 24, starting in China. We first saw the one-of-a-kind tech at CES, the world’s largest technology show. Chinese phone maker Vivo showed us a preproduction device that scans your fingerprint when you place your finger on …

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How to protect yourself from Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws

On Wednesday, researchers revealed serious flaws in modern processors that could affect practically every Intel computer released in the last two decades — and the AMD and Arm chips in your laptops, tablets and phones, too. And on May 21, researchers found a fourth variant.  Read more here. The good news: Intel, AMD and Arm believe they can fix — …

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Netflix isn’t raising prices anytime soon. (Wait, really?)

Maybe the best way to characterize Netflix’s attitude about price hikes at the moment is that the company has no plans to increase your bill right up until it does.  During a video interview about fourth-quarter earnings Monday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the company has “no plans to try to repeat” price hikes “in the near term.”  Last year, …

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Netflix earnings end year on ‘Bright’ note before Oscar noms

On the eve of Oscar nominations, Netflix was reveling in its popcorn fare.  Netflix cheered its Hollywood-blockbuster flick “Bright,” a fantasy/action film starring Will Smith, as the company on Tuesday reported its best quarter ever for booking new members. “Bright” might have been panned by critics but it got high marks from Netflix execs for boosting membership. The news, hitting …

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Facebook to offer digital training to 1 million Europeans

Facebook is opening three centers across Europe to train more than 1 million people in digital skills over the next two years, the company said Monday. The sites will be based in Spain, Italy and Poland and will focus on training in media literacy and online safety for underrepresented groups, Facebook said in a blog post. The social network also announced 10 million …

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YouTube and Hulu live TV services appear off to strong start

YouTube and Hulu have yet to officially disclose any numbers for their new live TV products, but according to a CNBC report, they’re faring well in wooing cord cutters away from cable TV. The CNBC story on Monday, which cites unnamed sources, says Hulu’s livestreaming service has about 450,000 paying subscribers. And YouTube TV has just over 300,000. Hulu and Google-owned YouTube …

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How quantum dots could challenge OLED for best TV picture

We’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Samsung’s QLED TV technology is not the same as LG’s OLED TV technology. Sure they have similar names, down to the little slash that makes an “O” into a “Q,” but according to CNET’s tests for picture quality, OLED is superior. It’s also fundamentally different from the LCD-based TVs that comprise the …

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Our Samsung Galaxy S9 feature wish list (The 3:59, Ep. 342)

On today’s podcast, we talk about: Six features CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt would like to see in the Samsung Galaxy S9. A tour of the new Amazon Go store, a Seattle convenience store that has no cashiers. It opened to the public Monday. Now playing: Watch this: Our Samsung Galaxy S9 feature wishlist (The 3:59, Ep…. 4:56 The 3:59 gives you …

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Microsoft adds Chemistry to Minecraft, $190 Lenovo laptop

This week at the Bett show in London, Microsoft made its first education announcements for 2018. The highlights include a Lenovo 100e laptop starting at $190, an awesome looking Chemistry update for Minecraft: Education Edition and a 10 percent academic discount on HoloLens (still only in developer kits) through May 31, 2018. While the new durable, Celeron-based Lenovo 100e only costs …

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