eBay eBay’s year got off to a strong start, with the company on Wednesday reporting better-than-expected sales and some lower costs, likely benefiting from previously announced job cuts. The e-commerce pioneer also said its planned spinoff of PayPal will happen in the third quarter this year. The company previously disclosed that the split would occur …

A traveler’s new best friend. Sarah Tew/CNET At home you have access to umpteen streaming video choices, but in a hotel you’re a captive audience, and subject to the often archaic or wildly overpriced offerings of the hotel’s system. Your favorite streaming device might be small enough to bring anywhere on the road, but that doesn’t mean it will actually …

AT&T is weathering the mobile wars by stemming the pace at which its customers jump ship. Sarah Tew The nation’s second-largest wireless operator said Wednesday that during the first quarter of the year it added 441,000 postpaid wireless subscribers. It also reported a “churn rate,” or the rate at which customers leave its service, of 1.02 percent, its lowest ever …

Now playing: Watch this: Apple Pay on Apple Watch: How it works 1:00 The Apple Watch can do a lot of things. It can be used to communicate with others, view notifications from your smartphone, and even pay for items. That’s right: you can use Apple Pay on the Apple Watch. It’s relatively easy to set up, but the method …

Disney says Verizon doesn’t have the right to reuse some of its channels in a new, cheaper package for customers. Verizon says Disney is wrong. That’s the gist of the latest flare-up over the future of TV, in which Verizon plans to offer a small package of channels for a cheaper rate. Customers can then choose smaller, supplemental channel packs …

“Dallas Buyers Club”. Pinnacle Films The makers of “Dallas Buyers Club” could be setting their sights on pirates within the fortnight, as the film’s legal team reveals they’ve asked for the handover of customer information by May 6. The case between Dallas Buyers Club LLC and a number of Australian ISPs, chief among them iiNet, has stretched on since November …

Matt Elliott/CNET Apple’s blurring of the lines between OS X and iOS continues with the release of Photos for Mac. Photos was part of the OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 update and is meant to replace Aperture and iPhoto. iPhone users will immediately feel comfortable with its layout; Photos for Mac looks and acts like the Photos app for iOS. Apple …

If your website doesn’t look good on a phone, Google is giving you a good reason to fix it. Google is changing how it ranks websites in search — a move some are calling Mobilegeddon. Google searches made on a phone will only display links to pages that look good on a smaller phone screen. Business owners may find themselves …

A look at the way Twitter will now handle abusive accounts. Twitter Twitter has announced policy changes that the company hopes will limit abuse on its social network. Twitter has updated its policy pertaining to violent threats to include “promot[ing] violence against others.” Previously, the policy banned tweets that were limited to “direct, specific threats of violence against others.” In …

Microsoft has another set of patches for Windows users this month. CNET Microsoft is making a rare move by rolling out a second batch of software patches in April. A Microsoft support page lists 34 patches in total for today. All of them are optional, which means they don’t address critical security problems, and won’t be installed automatically. To grab …

No, no, it’s a scanner. Printing is just optional. Canon Your phone can pull scanner duty in a pinch, especially if you pair it with an app like Evernote Scannable, but if you’re looking for really crisp, archival-quality scans of documents and photos, you need the real deal. For a limited time, and while supplies last, Tanga has the Canon …

Well, not only would I order that, I would be absolutely baffled if my barista shouted out an order for Apizy. Justin Hook It’s spurred numerousTumblr pages and a pretty hilarious video from a comedian, but no matter how hard they try, Starbucks baristas seem to have a hard time getting people’s names right. Related Links Watch artist brew amazing …

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET Photos for Mac looks different from iPhoto but the transition to the new OS X application shouldn’t be too jarring for iPhone and iPad users. Photos for Mac features a similar layout and structure to the iOS Photos app. Your photos are grouped into Years, Collections and Moments. In addition, there is a new toolbar at …

A page for Amazon Destinations for a New York customer. Amazon Amazon rolled out a new service Tuesday to help people plan and book local getaway trips through its website. The service, called Amazon Destinations, provides lists of locations near a user’s home for short-term trips, offering hotel bookings, as well as information on dining and attractions. For instance, for …

A London cab driver during a “go-slow” demonstration. Justin Tallis/Getty Images London’s streets came to a standstill today as taxi drivers staged another protest, taking aim at local authorities and controversial ride-sharing app Uber. Hundreds of drivers in the city’s iconic black cabs blockaded Oxford Street, the famous shopping Mecca. Organised by taxi organisation United Cabbies Group, the protest is …