I reviewed the open-back MrSpeakers Ether headphone last June, and since then my admiration for its sound has only deepened. The Ether is clear as a bell, easy on the ears, beautifully made, and supremely comfortable. The new model, the Ether C, shares much of the original’s tech, but it’s a closed-back, noise-isolating headphone. Those …

The kendama, a toy popular in Japan the 1800s, has made a comeback in recent years thanks to YouTube. Now, a Japanese company is re-creating the traditional toy with modern bells, whistles (and sensors). The classic version consists of a wooden cross with shallow cups on three tips and a rounded spike on the fourth. A wooden ball with a …

Fresh off cracking a terrorist’s iPhone, the FBI has agreed to help prosecutors in Arkansas unlock an iPhone and iPod belonging to two teenagers accused of murder. Cody Hiland, a prosecuting attorney in Faulkner County, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the FBI had approved a request from his office and the Conway Police Department to crack the devices’ …

March Madness is virtually inescapable. As if there wasn’t already enough excitement over the annual college basketball tournament, the organizers at the NCAA will live-stream Saturday’s semi-finals and Monday’s title game in virtual reality. The NCAA and its broadcast partners are using Samsung Gear VR, a headset that seats Samsung phones, to present the 180-degree courtside stream. Hoops fans will …

Apple wants to know how the FBI decrypted an encrypted iPhone. But will the feds be forced to talk? On Monday, the US Department of Justice dropped its demand that Apple help it unlock an iPhone 5C used by Syed Farook in December’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. That’s because the FBI succeeded in unlocking the phone with the …

A new Waze feature might help you avoid a speeding ticket. The crowdsourced driving app, owned by Google, already offers up the best routes to your destination by gathering data from fellow users on accidents, traffic jams, road closures and other hazards. Now, at least in some countries, it will also let you know when you’re pushing the speed limit. …

Apparently, waking up grumpy is a universal trait for teens. Microsoft’s Tay, the artificial-intelligence teenage chatbot, was put to bed last week after its exposure to Twitter left it a horny racist. But after a short nap, it awoke on Wednesday to spew nonsensical rubbish for a couple of hours before dozing off again. Teenagers, eh? The AI Twitter bot …

Some of the greatest movies and TV shows of all time were made right here. “Casablanca,” “The West Wing,” “Friends,” “ER,” and so many more. It occupies a huge swath of land in Burbank, California. Elephantine sound stages and a city-worth of backlot let filmmakers from all over the world create movies about everywhere in the world, and beyond. And …

Stephen Colbert had a segment on his old show “The Colbert Report” called “Who’s Honoring Me Now?” In it, the egomaniacal alter-ego of the late-night comedian would dedicate an entire segment of his “news” show to something being named after him, like a new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a baby bald eagle and even a treadmill used …

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. Cheeps! As you know, I’m all about the VR. You can enjoy some pretty sweet experiences with a cheap Google Cardboard-class headset and …

If an inexpensive $300 Xbox game console could double as a Windows computer, would you use it that way? This summer, Xbox One owners will finally be given that option. Microsoft will turn the separate Windows 10 and Xbox One app stores into a single shared marketplace, the company confirmed at a developer conference Wednesday. What that means: Users should …

“Back to the drawing board.” That’s how Chief Executive Satya Nadella addressed Microsoft’s recent gaffes with Tay, its artificial-intelligence teenage chatbot. Microsoft took the chatbot offline last week after it spewed racist and sexist remarks on Twitter. However, Tay managed to sneak back online for a couple hours Wednesday and continue her nonsensical rant before being grounded again. A Microsoft …

“Sorry, ma’am, you can’t use NFC payments over 30 quid.” That from the pimply young waiter at a London restaurant too hip for its own good. I just smiled, placed the Samsung Galaxy S7 I was testing over the handheld payment card portal, and said “Let’s see what happens.” What happened was that a little blue check-mark animated out of …

Mid-size screen, but with a big battery: That’s what Acer is offering with the newest in its long line of Chromebooks, the Chromebook 14. The promise of the Chromebook and Google’s Chrome OS has always been a low-cost, simple computing system that covers the basics. Traditionally that’s meant smaller screens and low-end processors. Acer has bucked that trend over the …

Apple is trying to deal with hiccups in the latest version of the software that runs iPhones and iPads. Out since March 21, iOS 9.3 arrived with a glitch that prevented owners of older iPhones and iPads from activating their devices. Last week, Apple released a second version of iOS 9.3 (build number 13E236) to fix the issue on the …