Geoffrey Morrison/CNET Contrast ratio, put simply, is the difference between the brightest a TV can be, and the darkest. More so than color ( quantum dots or otherwise), resolution ( 4K or otherwise) or other aspects of picture quality, contrast makes the difference between a good- and a bad-looking image. TVs with the best contrast …

OnePlus teasing the debut of its next product, expected in April. OnePlus Chinese smartphone-maker OnePlus is ready to move into the mobile gaming space, if we’re reading this teaser post right. Related Links Buy a OnePlus One phone every Tuesday, no invite required OnePlus One review Alleged OnePlus Mini spied in leaked photos The company recently began promoting its next …

The Windows 10 Start screen in the latest build is now transparent. screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET Microsoft has rolled out a new build of its Windows 10 Developer Edition with new features, fixes and enhancements. Launched on Wednesday, Windows 10 Build 10041 adds some tweaks to the Start menu/Start screen, as detailed in a blog post by Gabe Aul, a …

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer is the latest company to move into the increasingly crowded smartwatch market. Getty Images TAG Heuer, the 155-year-old Swiss watchmaker, is embarking on a new tradition, with the help of Google and Intel. TAG announced Thursday a new partnership with the two Silicon Valley giants to create a mechanical watch embedded with new tech features. Intel …

Xbox Music. Jason Cipriani/CNET On Wednesday, Microsoft expanded the functionality of Xbox Music beyond that of strictly a paid streaming service. The added functionality allows you to upload music you already own to your OneDrive account and access it on your Xbox. It’s a welcome addition to the service, especially for those who’d rather not pay a monthly fee for …

Republicans may be set to revive legislation that would replace the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial rules governing the open Internet. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) needs Democrats to join his efforts to craft legislation to protect Net neutrality without using old utility-like regulation as the foundation. Screenshot by Marguerite Reardon/CNET At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday key Democrats signaled they …

Lazarus in action. Nicole Cozma/CNET If you’re filling out your car insurance quote form, writing a comment on a blog or filling in payment details for food delivery, it’s annoying to lose what you’ve already entered because of a server error or accidental mouse click. For situations like these, there’s an extension for Chrome called Lazarus. This extension will save …

A labor agency judge has ruled that T-Mobile violated federal laws when it suppressed its employees’ efforts to organize. Sarah Tew/CNET T-Mobile, known for bashing its competitors in the wireless business, is in hot water for the treatment of its own employees. One of the nation’s largest wireless carriers violated federal labor laws by illegally restricting employees from discussing basic …

Amazon plans to keep growing Prime Now this year. Amazon Amazon is spreading its one-hour delivery service into areas in Baltimore and Miami, expanding from New York City for the first time. The rapid delivery service, which launched in December in parts of Manhattan, allows customers to order tens of thousands of items as common as batteries, paper towels or …

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is open to the idea of leasing phones out. Roger Cheng/CNET NEW YORK — T-Mobile CEO John Legere may regularly take swipes at Sprint, but he knows when to give credit where credit is due. In this case, it’s Sprint’s leasing program, which Legere complimented and said it was something he’d consider, even if it wasn’t …

YouTube YouTube this week introduced interactive cards, which will eventually replace the interactive annotations you see pop up on some videos. Think of cards as a reined-in form of annotations, which can get out of hand at times with pop-up windows and speech bubbles disrupting and obfuscating the actual video playing behind them. Cards are accessed from a small “i” …

Google lets users ask their wrist to call up a missing phone. Google Android Wear owners will soon be able to locate their lost or stolen Android smartphones directly from their wrists. Related Links TAG Heuer teams up with Intel, Google on smartwatch LG Watch Urbane takes Android Wear upscale ​Huawei brings analog style to its first digital smartwatch According …

Hugh Howey’s “Wool” alone is worth the price of admission. Humble Bundle If you’re a tech nerd like me, you’re probably also a sci-fi nerd (like me). And that means you spend at least some of your leisure time reading about life, the universe and everything — especially when there’s a nuclear apocalypse, dystopian society or zombie outbreak involved. Good …

Swift is a programming language built by Apple. It was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in 2014. Up until that point, apps developed for iOS and OS X were written in another programming language, called Objective-C. Budding developers, hobbyists or those who simply want to tinker will need to take the time to learn Swift in order to write …

Now playing: Watch this: Will.i.am and Gucci partner on luxury smartband 1:56 BASEL, Switzerland — Luxury fashion brand Gucci and musician Will.i.am are making a new fashion-focused smartband. Although no new product was officially unveiled at the Baselworld watch fair here, the former Black Eyed Peas star promised that the device will operate independently of a phone. Both Will.i.am and …