There’s probably no logical, scientific reason to drop bowling balls 150 feet off a tower on to an axe and watch them get sliced and diced like a Benihana lunch. But sometimes human beings just like to break things. Or maybe someone clumsy who’d dropped a bowling ball on their foot one too many times …

The pieces are slowly coming together for the Nokia phone to make a comeback. In May, Microsoft unloaded the phone business it purchased from Nokia on Foxconn’s FIH Mobile and on HMD Global, a Finland-based company founded that month and tasked with selling phones and tablets under the Nokia brand. Former Nokia executive Arto Nummela was chosen as HMD’s chief …

Preseason games, last year’s star quarterback on the latest cover of GQ and another collaboration between the NFL and Microsoft — make no doubt about it, football season is here. Just in time for all of the fun, Microsoft on Monday released officially branded NFL covers for the Surface Pro 4. The case, which will set you back $160, is …

The Fireside Audiobox is a wireless music player with a trick up up its sleeve. See that silver tube on top? There’s a speaker on one side but the other end connects to a small propane tank underneath that pumps gas up through a series of small holes. When you introduce fire to the burner, it ignites a series of …

At this point in the 21st century, it’s safe to assume that the annual cycle of new Apple products is as regular as the progression of the lunar calendar. A report released on Monday and spotted by MacRumors has given us a glimpse of what to expect from the tech giant in both 2017 and 2018. Three new iPads are …

Get ready to rock out to some kid-friendly tunes. Spotify on Monday added a slew of new curated playlists for children in the 0-to-3 and 3-to-5 age range to its revamped “Kids and Family” category. Some playlists are packed with pure, parent-approved tunes, like “Kindie” (yes, indie music for kids) and “Milk and Cookies,” while others are thematic, like “Dance …

The ’80s creature-feature sensibilities of horror-adventure series Stranger Things have struck a chord with fans who love everything from kids classics Goonies and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to terrifying movies like Alien and Poltergeist. So it makes sense the Netflix show about kids searching for their friend lost in another, parallel world would become a perfect muse for fans wanting a retro-looking …

Now playing: Watch this: Google’s Hangouts on Air heading to YouTube 1:28 Google+ Hangouts On Air is going away, but its broadcast feature isn’t going far. The web giant said Monday its Hangouts group video chat feature will be discontinued on September 12 in favor of its YouTube Live feature. Google said that video events scheduled to occur after that …

Now playing: Watch this: Google’s mysterious new project, Fuchsia 1:28 Google Fuchsia was quietly posted to online repository GitHub. The company has not explained too much what the Fuchsia operating system is destined for. However, digging around online brings up a few things. Fuchsia uses a different kernel than Android or Chrome OS. The kernel is the first thing that …

London’s Metropolitan Police Force is launching a crack team of specialist investigators dedicated to investigating online hate crimes in the UK, with a focus on victimisation occurring on social networks. The officers, together with community volunteers, will form an innovative London-based hub due to launch in the coming months, the BBC reports. They will come up with technological solutions for …

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. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page. Yesterday I carpooled home from a convention, and the six-hour drive was pleasant except for one thing: The car had just one USB …

Annotation just became a lot easier if you’re a Microsoft Office user on the iPhone. The Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps now have a draw tab that lets you create a sketch area or overlay one on your document. Enlarge Image Draw, partner. Screenshot by Lori Grunin/CNET You can draw with your finger or with a passive stylus that emulates …

While we’ve paid a lot of attention of late to traditional PC gaming desktops, because of their near-monopoly on the ability to run virtual reality hardware, that may be about to change. VR aside, gaming laptops have been the more interesting story over the past several years, with great leaps in performance, design and portability. There are already around 20 …

Nokia isn’t just the stuff of nostalgia. That’s the bet that Finnish startup HMD is making with its 10-year deal to produce Nokia phones and tablets in cooperation with phone manufacturer Foxconn. The company on Monday tapped a new marketing chief, Pekka Rantala, to get the word out. Rantala was previously the CEO of Angry Birds maker Rovio and a …

If you’ve been binge-watching the first season of horror TV series “Stranger Things,” chances are you’ll notice the shout-outs to everything from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” to “Aliens.” The series is set in the 1980s, complete with Trapper Keepers and Dungeons & Dragons parties. One of the most obvious references to the time period happens to be the minimalist opening credits …