Get a Lytro Light Field camera for $49.97

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. A few years back, the media went ga-ga over the Lytro Light Field Camera, which promised to revolutionize photography as we know it. …

Read More »

New ad unveils Sony ghost

The Ghostbusters’ arsenal of ghost-catching equipment includes some of the most technical-looking weaponry in all of sci-fi. It feels like every pipe attached to everything the ‘busters use in the field serves a purpose that only a person with a Ph.D. in parapsychology and quantum mechanics could fully understand. Related links Is this the new ‘Ghostbusters’ proton pack? It looks …

Read More »

Why everyone deserves broadband no matter how little they make (Q&A)

Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn wants to make sure no American is left behind when it comes to accessing high-speed Internet service. The FCC’s Mignon Clyburn helped draft a proposal to expand the Lifeline phone subsidy program to include broadband. The former newspaper publisher and public utility regulator from South Carolina is one of three Democrats on the five-member FCC, …

Read More »

‘MythBusters’ will return to TV, first as a reality game show

Perhaps you’ve watched “MythBusters” and thought, “I know Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are experts at demolishing buildings and crashing cars in the name of science, but I could totally do that too!” Well, you’re in luck. Less than a month after the popular, educational TV series “MythBusters” ended on the Discovery Channel, it appears that its sister channel Science …

Read More »

Amazon’s handyman business ratchets up early gains

Amazon doesn’t just want to sell us televisions and toilet paper. It wants to be there for us when that TV needs to be mounted and that toilet has to be unclogged. That’s the gentle reminder the online retailer offered on the first anniversary of Amazon Home Services, which connects you to local service providers such as plumbers, painters and …

Read More »

Great scientific minds beat each other’s brains out in Science Kombat

Imagine what would happen if the greatest analytical minds in history came back to the land of the living. Those with a more scientific leaning might hope they could use their powers of logic and innovation to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Gamers might secretly wish they would immediately start fighting each other in hand-to-hand combat. Well, if …

Read More »

Microsoft still has no idea what to do about phones

The clock is ticking for Microsoft. With every passing day, the world moves further away from the idea of using a phone running on its Windows 10 software. Sure, plenty of folks are comfortable with a Windows-powered PC or even tablet. But a Windows phone is increasingly becoming a foreign concept. Microsoft, however, doesn’t appear to be in a rush. …

Read More »

How to estimate your tax refund

With the calendar soon turning to April, it’s time for all procrastinators to start thinking about filing their taxes. This year, you have until Monday, April 18 to submit your tax return, thanks to Emancipation Day, a Washington DC holiday that falls on Friday, April 15 this year. And residents of Maine and Massachusetts have until Tuesday, April 19 to …

Read More »

Microsoft Build 2016: LIVE NOW

Welcome to Build. Microsoft’s annual developers conference begins today with a keynote address that starts at 8:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. ET. Expect Windows 10 updates to take center stage, with news on Office, Xbox and HoloLens to be on the docket as well. Watch the event live stream here: CNET’s Ian Sherr is in the room at San Francisco’s Moscone …

Read More »

Mariachi ‘Game of Thrones’ theme just makes sense

In an era of inclusiveness, HBO’s take on “Game of Thrones” can sometimes seem awfully, well…white. Not just white, but like so many fantasy worlds, it seems pulled straight out of the mind of an unabashed anglophile. This is a little odd when you consider that “A Song of Ice and Fire” author George R.R. Martin is a longtime resident …

Read More »

These are the hoverboards you can still buy

Even though they don’t actually hover and they’re prone to fires, hoverboards are still as popular as ever. But good luck heading out to buy them; retailers are dropping them left and right over safety concerns — I’m sure you’ve heard of at least one of the many reports of boards catching fire or exploding. While you can still find …

Read More »

Google just made it easier for iPhone apps to work with Cardboard VR

Google wants everyone to wear cardboard boxes on their faces. It wants that so much that it’s just announced a plan to make it easier for Apple iPhone developers to write VR apps. That’s a big deal because, first, the iPhone is the biggest rival to phones powered by Google’s Android mobile operating system, and second, until now there hasn’t …

Read More »

Microsoft Windows 10: Free ‘anniversary’ update coming this summer

Windows 10 will get its first major update this summer. Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s executive vice president of the Windows and Devices Group, detailed the free update at the company’s annual Build developer conference on Wednesday. The “Windows 10 Anniversary Update” will bring improvements to the Hello login feature and the Cortana voice assistant. It will also add support for Microsoft’s …

Read More »