Bin Li of China tries out the Oculus VR Crescent Bay headset prototype at CES earlier this month. Sundance Film Festival audience members will wear them Monday night for the premiere of “Lost.” Ethan Miller, Getty Images Oculus VR, with its innovative wrap-around Oculus Rift headset, has been a pioneer in the virtual-reality video game …
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When you first start ordering Amazon Echo ‘s Alexa around, you might feel like something’s missing. At least, I did. Accustomed to the short confirmation tones of Siri and Google Now, the lack of a beep after saying “Alexa” felt lonely. Problem is, if you yell for Alexa from across the house or spew a command when she’s out of …
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Drew Curtis wants your Farking vote. Video screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET I bring good news today for all my fellow geeks, nerds and lovers of Web-based procrastination. Drew Curtis, founder of one of the original online awesomeness aggregators, Fark.com, officially announced his entrance into the world of politics this week. This is not a Farking joke, people — Curtis is …
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A drone not unlike this DJI Phantom quadcopter was discovered on White House grounds early Monday morning. DJI The US Secret Service said Monday that a quadcopter drone crashed on the White House grounds just after 3 a.m. ET, causing a brief lockdown while the agency investigated to determine if there was a threat to the site. Related Links Drone …
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Love the wood, but it’s also available in a cool gunmetal. GoGroove It’s kind of criminal that Apple’s new iPhones incorporate NFC technology but don’t allow it to be used for the world’s second greatest convenience (after mobile payments): pairing to Bluetooth devices. I say “Boooo!” to you, Apple. Boooo! If you’re an Android user with an NFC-equipped device, today’s …
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Matt Elliott/CNET Amazon’s Cloud Drive is a particularly good deal for Prime subscribers, with its offer of unlimited photo storage. And with Amazon’s Chrome extension, Save to Cloud Drive, you can quickly and easily save images you encounter online to your Cloud Drive. The Save to Cloud Drive extension is simple in operation and does not require a Chrome restart. …
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Don’t act so surprised, Your Highness. You weren’t on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you. In my experience, there is no such thing as luck. Partially, but it also obeys your commands. I want to come with you to …
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The four original phones used for the first transcontinental telephone call were unveiled this week and will be on display at the California Historical Society. James Martin/CNET SAN FRANCISCO — “Ahoy! Ahoy! Mr. Watson, are you there? Do you hear me?” So spoke Alexander Graham Bell to associate Thomas Watson, over a line stretching more than 3,400 miles, marking the …
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Don’t act so surprised, Your Highness. You weren’t on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you. In my experience, there is no such thing as luck. Partially, but it also obeys your commands. I want to come with you to …
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Steve Guttenberg/CNET While CD album sales decline year after year, the US market still managed to gobble up 140.8 million CDs in 2014. That’s still a big number, but LP sales got a lot more media attention, because 2014 vinyl sales numbers were up an astonishing 51.8 percent increase over 2013! When the smoke cleared, actual LP sales totaled 9.2 …
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Last Sunday at the Trump SoHo New York hotel I heard a preview of a new pair of high-end headphones from Hifiman, the HE1000, and they were easily the best I’ve heard from that company. Hifiman founder and CEO Fang Bian wearing his HE1000 headphones Steve Guttenberg/CNET The see-through clarity and lively dynamics were remarkably effortless. Which is to say, …
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Want to wear an image of last week’s ham sandwich? Picattoo turns your Instagram pictures into temporary tattoos. Screenshot by Anthony Domanico/CNET You’ve carefully curated your Instagram feed, capturing the perfect photos of your cat and mid-morning snack and applying exactly the right filters to make them pop. You’re proud of your feed, so why not take the next logical …
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Microsoft’s HoloLens prototype has all the innards of a computer built directly into the headset. That means no cords or even a smartphone required. Microsoft Microsoft has a vision for the future, and it involves terms and technology straight out of science fiction. But are we actually glimpsing that future? Yes and no. Microsoft’s HoloLens, which the company unveiled at …
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Does a smartwatch need its own cellular connection? The Timex Ironman One GPS+ will include a cellular radio with an AT&T connection. James Martin/CNET The simple answer is, well, no. Adding a cellular radio to a watch increases the size, drains the battery faster and makes it more expensive. That’s why most of the high-tech watches opt for Bluetooth for …
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Sprint is trying to get more T-Mobile users to connect to its own network. Sprint Sprint has fired a shot over competitor T-Mobile’s bow. Between now and April 9, T-Mobile subscribers can walk into a Sprint store and immediately receive at least $200 in credit for any working smartphone if they switch to Sprint’s network, the company announced Friday. Sprint’s …
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