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. I was pretty excited yesterday when Andy Weir’s ” The Martian” was on sale for $1.99. Turns out that was merely the tip of the e-book-deal iceberg. Head …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — We’ve all been there: After clicking or tapping a YouTube link, we’re greeted with a long wait, then video marred by blurry details and distracting blocky patterns. Google has been trying to improve the situation with technology called VP9 that compresses the video data so they can move across networks faster. And with a successor called …

Verizon is making big changes to how customers buy devices for its network. And that could mean more opportunities and choices for how consumers acquire smartphones in the future. Earlier this month, Verizon eliminated contracts and the subsidies for smartphones that went with those contracts. And this week, the company said it will make it easier for customers to bring …

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are more alike than they are different. Josh Miller/CNET S6, Edge, Note 5, Edge+. If you’re hemming and hawing over which of Samsung’s four new and newish Galaxy superphones to order, let me help break down the major differences so you can decide which one (if any) is right for your pocket. First …

The next-gen Sony phone could pack in the megapixels. Andrew Hoyle/CNET When it comes to Sony’s next flagship smartphone camera, bigger seems to be better. A supposed leak of press-ready imagery for the unannounced Sony Xperia Z5 names the camera at 23 megapixels, according to Xperia Blog, which says it obtained details and images. Expected at the IFA electronics conference …

HTC’s Vive could be available in limited quantity later this year, but it won’t ramp up its availability until 2016. CNET Taiwan-based electronics maker HTC will be launching its Vive virtual-reality headset this year, but the company is limiting the total number of units it’ll initially offer, according to a report. HTC’s Vive will launch in late 2015 in “limited …

Enlarge Image Onanoff Editors’ note: This week’s giveaway has a Twitter component, so please read the below rules carefully. We’ve turned off comments on this post to avoid confusion as to how to enter the contest. Ever get the urge to turn your iPad’s volume up to 11? Then listen in to this week’s giveaway. We’ve got an Onanoff Sound …

Enlarge Image “Hannibal” actor Mads Mikkelsen has good taste in evil roles. NBC Hannibal Lector fighting Doctor Strange might sound like the ultimate fan fiction. But if rumors are correct, part of our gory and geeky dreams might come true. Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen — best known for playing the lead in NBC’s TV series “Hannibal” — is in talks …

YouTube Gaming gives video game clips and live streams a dedicated corner on Google’s massive video site. Manuel Romano/Corbis If you’ve never watched a video of somebody chatting, shrieking and cursing as they play a video game, Google may soon prod your first close encounter with this nerd kind. Google’s massive video site YouTube on Wednesday launched a dedicated hub …

Vine Vine is hoping to boost its social media music cred with new features to make it easier to add music to videos and finding song tracks on videos shared by others. The social media platform has announced two new features for users, including a Snap to Beat function to make it easier to create perfectly looping soundtracks to videos, …

Move over Periscope , there’s a new live-streaming app vying for our attention. Launching today, Mirrativ (a portmanteau of mirror and narrative) lets you broadcast whatever is happening on the screen of your smartphone or tablet. It combines untethered mobile broadcasting, screen sharing and social interactions into one single app. You can use Mirrativ in beta on Android starting today, …

If you prefer accessing Gmail from a browser rather than OS X’s Mail app or another desktop app, then you miss out on the desktop notifications that alert you to the arrival of new email messages — or so I thought. With the Aura app, you can get the best of both worlds: desktop notifications and Gmail’s Web client. Aura …

Google’s message to Europe: Its industry-dominant search engine doesn’t hurt competition in the European Union, it actually helps. That was the Internet giant’s latest volley Thursday to antitrust charges first made by European regulators five years ago. “We believe that Google increases choice for European consumers and offers valuable opportunities for businesses of all sizes,” wrote Google General Counsel Kent …

Enlarge ImageYou can no longer complain about the squares running Instagram. Look! A rectangular photo. Instagram If you were to explain Instagram to someone, you’d probably say it has square photos. It’s one of the most obvious things about the service. Well, not anymore. The photo-sharing company, which Facebook bought in 2012, said Thursday that it will allow users to …

Enlarge ImageCEO Mark Zuckerberg says a billion people signed in to the social network in a single day. Kim Kulish/Corbis Facebook has reached a new milestone: 1 billion people using the social network in a single day. Facebook reached the high mark on Monday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. That means roughly “1 in 7 …