Jason Cipriani/CNET In September we exclusively reported Google’s plans to release an update to Android Wear, making it possible to store music on your smart watch. Last week, that report became a reality as Android Wear received an update adding music capabilities, along with bug fixes and GPS-tracking capabilities (a hardware-dependent feature, I might add). …
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Visiting Wikipedia to look up information on one topic generally means reading up on several others. The links within the text body are meant to be useful, but can sometimes turn into a huge time sink. Web comic xkcd illustrates this situation perfectly in “The Problem with Wikipedia.” Sometimes, it’s just too tempting to click those links to learn about …
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The war over wrist tech just got more interesting. The Microsoft Band is a fitness tracker with smartwatch flavor, and it pairs with Windows phones, as well as Android and iPhones. Watch CNET Update below for the details, and learn about Nintendo’s plans to create a sleep-tracking device: Now playing: Watch this: Microsoft and Nintendo jump into health tech 2:50 …
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Like a lot of tower-defense games, Galactic Defense feels cramped. At least you can zoom! Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I had a hard time enjoying Star Wars: Galactic Defense. Not because it’s a bad game — quite the opposite. It’s because it feels small, even on a 4.7-inch Moto X. On an iPhone …
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James Martin/CNET Now in its fourth iteration, the S Pen has evolved into a productive tool for Samsung Galaxy Note 4 users. Here are a few different ways to use it. Smart Select With the S Pen, you can collect various pieces of content appearing on the screen. When you find content to collect, open the air command panel by …
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Sony’s waterproof Xperia Z3 has won critical praise, but it ostensibly hasn’t helped boost Sony’s total sales. CNET Sony Mobile Communications, the division that includes the company’s smartphone business, will soon have a new boss. The senior vice president of Sony’s corporate planning and new business creation, Hiroki Totoki, will take over the division next month. He replaces Kunimasa Suzuki, …
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Google’s Bookmark Manager brings some graphics and search pizzazz to this dusty part of Web browsers. Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET Google, unlike much of the rest of the world, hasn’t given up on browser bookmarks. Bookmarks date back to the earliest days of the Web, providing a way for people to keep a record of important websites and pages they …
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Gamespot PlayStation 4 users may not want to update their consoles to firmware version 2.00 just yet — at least not until Sony is able to send out a patch that fixes some of the software’s hiccups. Version 2.00, codenamed “Masamune,” boasted a number of notable feature updates including uploading gameplay videos to YouTube, sharing games with friends over the …
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Grand Theft Auto V, the fastest-selling video game of all time, is seeing a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One release on November 18. Take-Two Could Take-Two Interactive Software have found its equivalent of World of Warcraft? Grand Theft Auto, the video game maker’s most popular franchise, may be morphing into more than just a short-term cash cow by generating sales …
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The developer edition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 lets you tinker. James Martin/CNET Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 is now available in a developer flavor for those of you who like to tweak and tinker with your phones. Available through Samsung at a price tag of $700, the Galaxy Note 4 Developer Edition is virtually identical in features to the …
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Ear buds (left) are very different than in-ear headphones (right). Steve Guttenberg/CNET Give it a try, turn the volume down a little, and once you get used to listening quietly, turn it down a little more. Granted, quiet listening works best in quiet places; in noisy environments stick with in-ear, closed-back, or noise-canceling headphones. Avoid ear buds and open-back headphones, …
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Poynt will take several payment methods: traditional credit cards, cards with EMV, NFC, QR codes and beacon. Poynt Credit cards with magnetic strips. Cards with chips. Smartphones that use near field communication (NFC) and ones that read QR codes. The way things are going, consumers will need a scorecard to figure out if — and how — they can pay …
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Microsoft’s Band fitness device, as it appeared at Apple’s App Store. Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET Microsoft hasn’t officially announced its much-rumored entry into the smartwatch sector, but it has provided the world with an apparently accidental glimpse of the device, dubbed simply “Band.” Screenshots of the health-oriented wearable appeared Wednesday on the Mac App Store as part of a sync …
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Want to right-click in Chrome OS? Give the touchpad the two-finger salute (er, tap). Photo by Rick Broida/CNET Are you making the move from a Windows laptop to Chromebook? That’s an increasingly popular option these days. However, although Chrome OS has a pretty shallow learning curve, there are a few functions that might seem a bit confusing at first. For …
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Apple released iOS 8.1 last week to resolve several issues with iOS 8, 8.0.1 and 8.0.2.. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET iOS 8 adoption continues to creep up, though it’s not setting any speed records. Updating the stats on its App Store Distribution page on Tuesday, Apple revealed that iOS 8 adoption is up to 52 percent, with iOS 7 at …
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