Now playing: Watch this: UL fights hoverboard fires with new safety standards 1:53 Let’s just start out by saying that today’s “hoverboards” can’t actually fly or hover. What passes for a hoverboard, a device teased at more than 30 years ago in the “Back to the Future” movies, is actually a self-balancing scooter. Besides being …

The HTC Vive VR headset has arrived at CNET, but we’re going to take a break from our extensive, exhaustive forays into virtual reality — for testing purposes — to answer a few questions you might be asking about Valve’s take on gaming in virtual reality. Is virtual reality fun? Yes! I’ve spent a lot of time mucking around in …

Move over, Oscars red carpet, we’ve got a dress that blows your designer duds out of the picture. Lego builder Brian D’Agostine spent four months weaving specialty Lego pieces into a wearable dress so his wife could attend a Lego convention in style. The little black dress is made from about 12,000 individual Lego Technic pieces. Lego Technic is a …

This has been a big week for pre-ordering AR and VR headsets. After HTC and Microsoft announced a one-two punch on Monday with both Vive and HoloLens pre-orders going live, lesser-known Meta has thrown its Meta 2 augmented reality development kit in the mix. The Meta 2 dev kit is now available for pre-order for $949 (which converts to roughly …

Sony on Wednesday beefed up its PlayStation-based subscription service, delivering on its promise to add new channels back when the Internet TV provider acquired the rights last year. PlayStation Vue subscribers can now check out live sports content from ESPN and ESPN 2 and new programming from the Disney Channel and ABC. The good news doesn’t end there. Sony is …

I get a ton of emails requesting more coverage of cheap, but great, audio products. I do as many as I can, but the problem is that most cheap stuff isn’t good enough to review. Making exceptional audio products at any price isn’t easy, but the challenges escalate with budget gear, so when I get an exceptional budget component I’m …

Pay with your voice. Google on Wednesday released to the public a new app called Hands Free, which lets people pay for items in stores by simply telling the cashier, “I’ll pay with Google.” But don’t tell just any local store owner that this one’s on Google and then walk out with a Snickers bar. The app, available for Android …

Call it “gaze anatomy.” The Virtuali-Tee is an augmented-reality t-shirt that reveals exactly what’s going on inside your body. Specifically, when someone aims a phone or tablet at you, they’ll see an animated, x-ray-style image of your innards. Creepy? Maybe a little, but also seriously cool and very educational. This is easier shown than explained, so take a look: Curiscope …

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the big winners in the Super Tuesday primary races on the road to the White House, but the results seem to have left some people feeling like the entire United States is a lost cause, if Google’s search data is any indication. According to the Google Trends team, searches for the phrase “Move to …

On Super Tuesday, US presidential candidate Ted Cruz won in his home state of Texas, as well as in Oklahoma and Alaska. With the latest installment of the hilarious YouTube series Bad Lip Reading, he may have endeared himself to a few more states. The Bad Lip Reading series has one creative goal: to “put words into other people’s mouths.” …

Getting there is half the fun, they say. The “they” in question probably aren’t traveling with kids, but no matter your reason for stopping along the way, Google Maps now makes it easier to add a pit stop or detour to your trip. Google Maps for Android added this ability last fall, and now the feature has arrived for iOS. …

I subscribe to Apple Music, and couldn’t be happier it’s available on more than just Apple’s own devices. The addition of an Android app to Apple Music solidified it as my streaming service of choice. However, I change devices quite a bit; it’s part of the job, and this recently became a problem when trying to sign into Apple Music …

Nobody can truly see into the future, but a spoof website imagines what popular social news and discussion site Reddit would look like 1,000 years from now and it sure feels real. Reddit3016 takes a deep dive into a world where Mars is populated, people slice genes for fun, and pocket whales are the hot pet trend. The look is …

If you have complex search questions about restaurants and hotels, you’re better off asking Hound over Siri. A new voice-assistant app is set on outsmarting Siri, Cortana and Google Now. Watch CNET Update to discover more about Hound, now available for free in Android and Apple app stores . Changes are also coming to Google Maps, and Google’s self-driving car …

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. Enlarge Image Use this monitor in portrait or landscape orientation. AOC Could you use a second monitor? Of course you could! There’s no …