Giv Mobile’s now offering rate plans as low as $20 per month. Screen shot by Scott Webster/CNET Giv Mobile has introduced its latest rate plan, a $20 monthly offering that gives no-contract customers unlimited talk, text and 150MB of 3G/4G data. Related Links Carrier GIV Mobile promises 8 percent of revenue to charity Should you …

JP Brousseau / Genèze A wrist strap for your phone makes all kinds of sense. When you’re out walking the dog, for example, holding the leash and your phone in one hand while you futz with your gloves, and he suddenly yanks hard, sending the phone flying to the pavement — well, a wrist strap would save you a really …

Matt Elliot/CNET I think it’s fair to say that “epic” is an oft-overused word, particularly among skiers and snowboarders. I also think, however, that “epic” can be used to describe accurately the snowfall that has hit Buffalo in the past week. I live a few hundred miles east of Buffalo in New Hampshire and was hoping that the storm would …

This dress from LikeAGlove contains sensors which adjust the fabric to take your body measurements. The company hopes Amazon and other stores use it to help their customers get a perfect fit. Seth Rosenblatt/CNET Here’s a true online shopping experience I had recently. I ordered a pair of hiking pants from Amazon in my usual size and they arrived with …

Whew! The deals are flying fast and furious this week as the month-long ramp-up to Black Friday nears the home stretch. Want a sneak peak at what next week will bring? Look no further than CNET’s Black Friday tech-deal roundup. Today, however, let’s talk. Let’s put away the wallets and discuss a subject that’s been on my mind a lot …

Deals. Deals. So many deals. Screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET Editor’s note: this contest closed Monday, November 24 at noon ET. Congratulations to Trevor C. of Lakeland, Tenn., for winning a home network hub and smart garage-door controller from Nexia Home Intelligence and Linear last week. An unscientific survey reveals that CNET readers really, really like all-expenses-paid shopping sprees, so guess …

This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. These are some of the fastest phones around. James Martin/CNET Two things can make smartphones fast: the speed of their data transfer, and the pure performance power of their processor. The former varies from carrier to carrier, market to market, and even quite possibly from …

Jaunt This is the coolest thing I’ve seen all week. Possibly all month. Free Google Cardboard app Paul McCartney does more than give you a front-row seat at a live concert; it puts you onstage, right next to Sir Paul’s piano. Google Cardboard is the dirt-cheap virtual reality headset made out of cardboard and your smartphone, introduced by Google earlier …

Verizon’s latest tablet, the LG G Pad, comes in two sizes. Xiomara Blanco/CNET Verizon announced the immediate availability of two XLTE-ready tablets today, both from LG. Related Links LG G Pad 10.1 LTE review LG G Pad 7.0 LTE review Verizon Wireless to hand out freebies on Nov. 26 Powered by Android 4.4.4 KitKat, the LG G Pad 7.0 LTE …

Skinit If you have to put your phone or tablet in a case — and, let’s face it, that’s your best defense against gravity — you might as well make it a cool one. Something that reflects your style, your interests, your favorite Big Ten school. I’m partial to Skinit’s InkFusion Lite lineup, which features a low-profile design, wraparound protection, …

A look at the new Washington Post app in Amazon’s Appstore. Amazon/Washington Post Amazon Fire tablet owners are finally seeing the benefits of Jeff Bezos’ decision to acquire the Washington Post. Starting Thursday, people who own the Fire tablet will have exclusive, free access to the new Washington Post tablet app for the next six months. Neither Amazon nor the …

Corning gave its Gorilla Glass a big upgrade in toughness. CNET Corning is working on saving your phone from the dreaded front-screen spider web. The company on Thursday unveiled Gorilla Glass 4, the latest version of its leading hardened cover glass for smartphones and tablets. Corning claims the new material is about twice as tough as its predecessor, Gorilla Glass …

Sarah Tew/CNET The Basis Peak , a promising and impressively automatic fitness watch with heart rate tracking, is finally getting some of the extra features that were promised at launch, along with new accessories. Basis, which is owned by Intel, announced Thursday that the Basis Peak now supports Bluetooth GATT, a protocol for third-party apps to share streamed heart rate …

Google has partnered with handset makers Micromax, Karbonn and Spice to bring phones that cost about $100 to India. Getty Google and its low-cost Android One phones for emerging markets are in hot water over the handling of the sale of the devices online, says a new report. Some of the largest brick-and-mortar retail chains in India, which combined have …

Matt Elliott/CNET Turkey and traffic, two time-honored Thanksgiving traditions. I’ll leave it to you to find your own turkey-roasting (or -frying or -grilling) technique, but I can point you to a post from Google’s Official Blog to help you with the latter challenge. Google Maps looked at the traffic conditions of 21 US cities from the Monday before Thanksgiving through …