AT&T, Intel hope 4G will let drones fly higher and further than ever

AT&T has ambitions to connect everything from cars to whole cities. Why not drones, too? The Dallas wireless carrier and chip giant Intel said Monday they would partner to investigate adding 4G LTE connectivity on drones, which would be a key element in getting them to fly higher and further than ever before. The companies will offer an early look …

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Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge vs Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Note 5 and S6+

Samsung made a splash at Mobile World Congress 2016 with the announcement of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. These two new flagship phones don’t look dramatically different than the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge before them, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. This time around, the two phones have expandable storage (which was missing from the …

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A classic returns? Nokia CEO confirms comeback for phones

Nokia smartphones will be a thing again. Maybe in 2016, but maybe not. The Finnish company confirmed Sunday at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona that it’s pressing ahead with plans to sell smartphones. It just doesn’t know when. “There’s no timeline, there’s no rush,” said Nokia Chief Executive Rajeev Suri at a press event. “It could happen …

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Samsung’s Gear VR now free, if you preorder a Galaxy S7 or Edge

Samsung keeps lowering the price of virtual reality. Its original Gear VR accessory, which turned its Galaxy phones into VR headsets, cost $150. Then the 2015 Gear VR dropped to just $99. And now, for a limited time, you can that same Gear VR unit for free if you preorder one of Samsung’s new phones, the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy …

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Here’s everything LG announced at Mobile World Congress

Now playing: Watch this: LG G5 smartphone: CNET Editors react 3:09 We’ve long expected LG’s latest flagship phone would be making the rounds in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress. But here’s something we didn’t expect: The G5 modular, so you can pop the battery out of a compartment on the bottom end and slot in accessories. LG’s G5 goes modular …

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Watch 500 episodes of The Simpsons at once

If you’re a die-hard fan of The Simpsons, you can quote Homer, Bart, Lisa and Marge ad nauseam. You can probably identify an episode just by the couch gag too. But can you watch 500 episodes of “The Simpsons” all shown at the same time in a 360-degree orb? In this 10-minute YouTube video created by fan John Hatfield, you …

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Beyonce is Tidal’s last great hope

Beyonce just might be the black Bill Gates in the making, and that’s not conjecture. As of last year she owns part of a streaming music service called Tidal (along with her hip-hop mogul husband Jay Z, and chart-topping colleagues Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, et al.). But despite that megawatt star power, Tidal isn’t doing too hot right now; …

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This tiny but powerful high

While Cowon’s Plenue series of portable high-res music players may not be as well known as Astell & Kern’s or FiiO’s, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the two previous Plenue models I’ve tested on this blog. This new Plenue D is smaller and more affordable than its siblings, and first impressions of its build and sound quality were extremely positive. I love …

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Do vinyl LPs wear out? The Audiophiliac takes on that myth

I still own and enjoy LPs I bought decades ago, and even ones I’ve played hundreds of times still sound perfectly fine. I’ll go further back, to original pressings of 50-plus-year-old Beatles and Rolling Stones LPs that have survived many hundreds of plays, and they also still sound great. I’m not claiming they’re 100 percent noise-free, but they weren’t dead …

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Cable could be losing its grip on your set

The Federal Communications Commission wants to liberate you from your cable company’s set-top box. You probably didn’t even realize you needed to be freed from this tyranny. But that’s the message from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who’s on a mission to make sure consumers have choices when it comes to their set-top box. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is taking on …

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Galaxy S7 and LG G5 to headline Mobile World Congress

Barcelona’s Fira Gran Via convention center hosts Mobile World Congress. Stephen Shankland/CNET Just when you’ve finished your laundry from CES and put away your suitcase, the technology trade show calendar beckons again. But instead of Las Vegas, this time the destination is Barcelona and the show is Mobile World Congress. Running from February 22 to 25, Mobile World Congress is …

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Crave giveaway: Durable Timbuk2 laptop backpack

Congrats to Greg V. of San Francisco for winning last week’s prize, a Timbuk2 messenger bag custom-designed by me. This week, we have another Timbuk2 bag, again resulting from my visit to the Timbuk2 factory a couple of miles from CNET’s headquarters here in SF. This one is a striking laptop backpack that has a jolt of color to help …

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Get a hoverboard for $219.99

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. Man not included. Rakuten I have a friend, let’s call him Dave (because that’s his name), who thinks hoverboards are just as lame …

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