When he introduced the latest version of Apple TV, CEO Tim Cook said “The future of TV is apps.” I think the cable box of tomorrow should be an app, too. If you want the breadth of programming, ease of use and access, especially to live sports, that a cable subscription provides, your only choice …

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. What’s better than one sweet media bundle? Two sweet media bundles, of course. First up: the Origami Yoda e-book bundle. You can name …

Apple Stores employees stick with their jobs and there’s a good reason for that, says the company’s retail chief. The company employs around 60,000 store workers and ended 2015 with a retention rate of 81 percent, Apple vice president of retail and online stores Angela Ahrendts told Fast Company in an interview published Wednesday. That’s the highest retention rate Apple …

Much of modern life is now spent online and in the cloud. We share our vacations on Facebook, we text and email instead of making a call, and we order things on Amazon instead of going to a store. Whether you do just one or all of these things, you’re giving a lot of information about yourself and what you …

When you’re looking for a new phone, a handful of names spring to mind. Apple, Samsung, Motorola and LG have spent years establishing themselves as popular household names in the world of mobile devices. But as the gap between premium phones narrows and as people grow savvier about how much they’re willing to pay, you might be looking at cheaper …

New Years goals stalling? Not to worry. There are tons of apps designed to help you lose weight, travel more and spend more time with the family. Better yet, many of these Android and iOS apps are completely free. 1. Lose It: You can track your calories and activities to watch yourself visually approach your weigh loss goal. The included …

We’ve seen a lot of pictures lately of charred, smoldering hoverboard innards. Now, thanks to the repair gurus at iFixit, you can peek inside a hoverboard that doesn’t have fire damage. The iFixit site, which regularly cracks open high-profile gadgets, in collaboration with The Wirecutter took apart a Swagway and its charger. It’s verdict is that “barring a couple of …

The most recent update to Google Hangouts includes a handful of cosmetic changes, the ability to quick reply from the notification shade, and something new: conversation shortcuts. The conversation shortcut feature is very similar to Facebook Messenger’s chat heads. However, instead of using a bubble that floats on your screen (and over other apps), Google decided that shortcuts will be …

Samsung has definitely experienced the ups and downs of the global smartphone market in recent years. The South Korean electronics giant catapulted to the top of the market after it launched the Galaxy S3 in 2012. Consumers clamored for the flagship handset, helping fuel five consecutive quarters of record profits. Now, interest in smartphones — which are simply phones to …

Apple may have reported essentially flat iPhone sales in its quarterly earnings report Tuesday, but the device is still hot in the world’s biggest markets, according to new research. During the final quarter of 2015, the iPhone regained its status as the top smartphone brand in both the US and China, research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said on Wednesday. “Apple …

Smartphone shipments likely had their best year ever in 2015, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by market researcher IDC. Global smartphone vendors shipped 1.43 billion units last year, an increase of 10.1 percent compared with 2014 and a single-year record, IDC reported. For the fourth quarter, strong holiday demand helped boost shipments by 5.7 percent to 399.5 million units. …

Lyft drivers in California will remain independent contractors. That’s the takeaway from a settlement Tuesday between the popular ride-hailing service and its drivers. San Francisco-based Lyft agreed to pay $12.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought in 2013 by Lyft drivers in California. Lyft will also make some changes to the terms of service that drivers agree to …

Apple Watches and Fitbits may be all the rage, but a new product from Japan is redefining the phrase “wearable technology”. Archelis, a collaboration between Yokohama-based Nitto and Chiba University, is a wearable chair that eases fatigue by supporting key pressure points of the leg, such as the top of the thigh, the front of the calves and the balls …

If you’re like a lot of iPhone customers who use Chrome, there’s one gripe at the top of your list: crashes. Go to the wrong website, and Google’s browser disappears from underneath your fingertips, forcing you to restart the app. “Our biggest criticism has been ‘This app crashes a lot,'” said Abdel Karim Mardini, the Google product manager who leads …

Let’s face it. No one needed to watch “Sharknado.” No one needed to watch “Sharknado 2,” creatively dubbed “The Second One.” And, I won’t lie to you, you don’t need to spend an evening watching “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” But who am I to rob you of the freedom to watch the best trashy TV that streaming services have …