CurrentC started three years ago and has been slated to launch nationwide this year. MCX Apple Pay is about to get some more competition. A new mobile-payments system called CurrentC, backed by Walmart, Target and many other major retailers, will get a limited trial in stores starting next month, Bloomberg Business reported, citing several people …

Last year’s Moto G was met with a tepid reception. Will the same be true for Motorola’s next G? CNET If there was any doubt that Motorola’s Moto G is coming soon and boasts a new design tool allowing for more customization, consider it over. Motorola on Thursday accidentally posted its “Moto Maker” page to its website, allowing would-be Moto …

Look, ma, no hands! NanoHold suctions your phone to any non-porous surface. Selfie-time! Eoseek LLC This is going to take a leap of faith, because, well, gravity. Indeed, if you’ve ever experienced the horror of your smartphone getting bumped from a table or tumbling from your hand, you know that gravity is not your friend. But Kickstarter project NanoHold aims …

Microsoft continues to update Windows 10 in time for its July 29 due date. screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET Microsoft has pushed out a few more updates to Windows 10 as it rushes to prep its new OS for launch next Wednesday. On Thursday, Gabe Aul, the engineering general manager for Microsoft’s operating systems group, tweeted: “Another update now available on …

AT&T is now offering the Lumia 640 GoPhone as a prepaid smartphone. Andrew Hoyle/CNET AT&T is wrapping up the work week by announcing two smartphones for its lineup, the Microsoft Lumia 640 for AT&T’s prepaid GoPhone line, and the Sonim XP5 for AT&T’s usual portfolio. Related Links Microsoft Lumia 640 review Microsoft’s budget Lumia 640, 640 XL phones come with …

AT&T is now the largest paid-television provider in the country. The FCC has imposed several conditions on AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. AT&T The Dallas telecommunications giant confirmed Friday that it has closed its acquisition of satellite television provider DirecTV for $49 billion. Combining AT&T’s broadband and wireless services with DirecTV’s nationwide satellite TV service will create a powerhouse of broadband, …

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. CNET Look, media streamers are practically a dime a dozen these days. You can routinely find Google’s Chromecast for $20-$25, while Amazon’s Fire TV Stick offers great value at $39.99. So why buy …

Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET Windows 10 is set to arrive on July 29. The update will be free for the first year for qualifying Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users. You can find out if you qualify for the free upgrade here. In addition to an improved design and better functionality, Windows 10 marks the return of a …

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET Google Maps is rolling out a new feature to Android and desktop users called Your Timeline. With it, you can see all the places you’ve been. Google is quick to point out that timeline information is private and visible only to you. And that you must opt in to the feature by enabling Location History on …

Enlarge Image Iolo Technologies Congratulations to Clarissa W. of Dover, Tennessee, for winning a Tokyo Flash Kisai Blade Wood Link wristwatch in our last giveaway. Did you know System Administrator Appreciation Day is next Friday? To celebrate the inestimable value of a well-running machine, we’ve got a free copy of PC performance software designed to fix and clean up your …

Don’t run Chrome or Firefox without OneTab. Seriously. Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET If you’re anything like me, you keep a lot of browser tabs open. And unless your PC is a serious powerhouse, that can choke performance across the whole system. In my case, trying to run more than 8-10 tabs in Google Chrome results in a noticeable performance hit. …

Despite a shrinking market share and sluggish sales, Samsung remains the smartphone leader. CNET Apple may have sold 47.5 million iPhones last quarter, but Samsung still took home a bigger slice of the smartphone market, according to a report released Thursday by IDC. During the second quarter of 2015, Samsung bit off a 21.7 percent slice of the global smartphone …

Future remote controls could sport a fingerprint sensor, as envisioned by Apple. Apple/USPTO Apple has envisioned a TV remote that can access your personal profile and settings based on your fingerprint or retina. A patent application called “Device Configuration for Multiple Users Using Remote User Biometrics” published Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office lays out the technology for …

The Xiaomi Mi Note will hit markets in Asia this month. Aloysius Low/CNET For those who really can’t wait for their latest new phone, they can now have it delivered by hand within the hour. One Internet-savvy company, the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, has enlisted another, the ride-hailing service Uber, to convey its devices across the city state of Singapore …

Jason Cipriani/CNET You can now adjust the backlight intensity of the Pebble Time. The chance comes after a recent firmware update bringing the smartwatch to version 3.2 of Pebble OS. In order to adjust either setting, your Pebble Time watch will need to be updated to version 3.2. Launch the Pebble Time app on your device and it should prompt …