Facebook’s curated list of trending news topics has been embroiled in controversy this week, thanks to allegations that conservative news stories and topics were filtered out. Now, the story about Facebook’s trending topics section is itself being listed as a top, you guessed it, trending topic on Facebook. As of this morning, it’s the top …

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. Late last year I shared a deal on a basic VR headset, something to tide you over while you saved up for an …

Want your living room to sound like a movie theater? Definitive Technology’s new line of flagship speakers is designed to bring “object-based” surround sound to your Friday night in. The new collection consists of four floorstanders which include the BP9020, which costs $1,300 per pair. There’s also the BP9040 (which costs $1,800 per pair ), BP9060 ($2,200 per pair) and …

Samsung’s latest batch of TVs have arrived in the UK, marking the South Korean tech giant’s latest attempt to plant one of its SUHD models in your living room. The 2016 SUHD range will play nice with Samsung’s SmartThings home automation system, which is handy for Internet of Things enthusiasts who want to be able to control their whole house …

Uber drivers now have an organization in New York to represent their interests. Just don’t call it a union. The ride-hailing company unveiled an agreement Tuesday with the International Association of Machinists establishing the Independent Drivers Guild. The guild is the first organization of its kind to receive the official blessing of Uber, although a number of unsanctioned organizations exist …

Now playing: Watch this: Amazon out to slay YouTube, anyone can upload videos 2:27 Watch out, YouTube. The biggest storefront on the Internet is coming for your eyeballs. Amazon on Tuesday launched Amazon Video Direct, a new open platform that lets both professional studios and regular users publish their videos through the service. Video creators can make their videos available …

Amazon wants to become the next YouTube by creating a new open platform called Amazon Video Direct. But will it get there? We also hit on eBay coming to 1,600 FedEx Office locations and a San Francisco Bay Area company’s plans to deliver blood and vaccines in Rwanda via drones. The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the …

For all the supposed disruption that e-books brought to the publishing industry, the digital versions look still look an awful lot like the paper ones you could have bought a century ago. Nighttime orange text to avoid sleep disturbance is nice, but digital text on a tablet is basically the same as ink text on paper. Comic books and graphic …

Android devices are under siege by yet another breed of malware. Dubbed Viking Horde, the new malware has waged war by infecting certain apps at the Google Play store, researchers at Check Point said Monday. Affected apps include Viking Jump, Parrot Copter, Memory Booster, Simple 2048 and WiFi Plus. Android phones and tablets on which the infected apps are installed …

Should the government be allowed to look up Americans in spy databases without an individual warrant? The Senate heard arguments on both sides on Tuesday. The hearing considered the reauthorization of two major NSA surveillance programs that collect online communications. They first burst into the public arena in 2013, when NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden prompted news reports about …

Need to sell a set of golf clubs? Just go to a FedEx Office. eBay said Tuesday it has significantly broadened a partnership with FedEx to bring eBay Valet drop-off locations to over 1,600 FedEx Office stores nationwide. The expansion will roll out over the coming months. eBay Valet lets people hand off their goods to experienced sellers already on …

Canon’s mirrorless system gets a new lens, bringing the total EF-M models available up to 6. The EF-M 28mm f3.5 Macro IS STM is the first macro lens for that mount. It offers some novel features, including built-in lights around the lens and a switch that increases the magnification from 1x to 1.2x. It also incorporates Canon’s Hybrid IS optical …

The Hall of Photoshopping Woes just welcomed its latest honoree when pop singer Meghan Trainor got tangled up in a minor music-video scandal involving what looks like an artificially tiny waist. Trainor released the video for her single “Me Too” on Monday. Her new album “Thank You,” goes on sale on May 13. The video shows Trainor in a variety …

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. This is a bit of a rerun. A few weeks ago I shared a similar deal on an iPad Air 2, though the …

Apple was clobbered by a huge tumble in notebook shipments last quarter. The company’s shipments fell 40 percent in the first quarter of 2016 over the final quarter of 2015, market researcher TrendForce said Tuesday. Apple’s plunge was the largest decline among the top eight notebook vendors worldwide. Overall, the top eight sellers saw notebook shipments drop 19 percent in …