Josh Miller/CNET Unlike downloaded apps from the Google Play Store, pre-installed bloatware on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 can’t be uninstalled without rooting. If you don’t want to see any bloatware in your app drawer, the only other solution is to disable them so they become inactive. Here’s how you do it: In Settings under …

The iPhone 6 (left) and the 6 Plus CNET Apple could exit the holiday-shopping season with record sales of up to 62 million iPhones. In an investors note released Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster forecast iPhone sales for the October-through-December quarter of anywhere from 56.7 million to 62.7 million. That range compares with overall Wall Street estimates of 60 …

Jason Cipriani/CNET When Apple first announced iOS 8 and its Continuity features, one of the most exciting features was SMS sharing. When this is activated, an iPhone owner will receive text messages on all of his or her Apple devices. Before you can find the proper settings to set up SMS sharing, you’ll need to update your Mac to OS …

Beats Music, now coming to you courtesy of Apple. Screenshot by CNET Apple’s Beats Music could be substantially cheaper, if Apple gets its way. The iPhone maker is sounding out the music labels on the possibility of offering its Beats Music streaming service for $5 per month, Recode is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. …

LG LG Electronics, Korea’s second largest handset vendor, will launch a new phone later this month that is, for the first time, powered by its self-made application processor. Odin, LG’s AP, is a System on a Chip processor for mobile, like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon or Samsung’s Exynos. According to sources familiar with the matter, LG is planning to launch the new …

James Martin/CNET Apple on Thursday announced updates to its line of iPad tablets. The iPad Air 2 is only 6.1mm thick, which is 18 percent thinner than last year’s iPad Air, and includes an anti-reflective coating on the display. The tablet is equipped with a faster A8X 64-bit chip, an improved 8-megapixel camera and a Touch ID fingerprint scanner in …

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET The full-screen button for applications in Mac OS X has moved. You will no longer find it located in the upper-right corner of an application window. Yosemite has appropriated the green maximize button found next to the red close button and yellow minimize button and now uses it as the full-screen button. Related stories All your …

Staples may be the latest victim in a spate retailer credit card breaches. CNET Staples said late Monday that it is investigating a “potential issue” involving its customers’ credit card data in what could be the latest US retailer to fall victim to a payment card system security breach. The office supply chain announced it was working with law enforcement …

Microsoft’s smartwatch will reportedly work with mulitple mobile platforms. CNET Microsoft feels the time is right to enter the smartwatch sector, according to a Forbes report. The tech giant is expected to launch a smartwatch in the next couple of weeks that will have health-tracking capabilities, including a heart-rate monitor, according to the report, which cited unidentified sources. The device …

The iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3 are Apple’s latest tablets, but join an existing family of devices that the company plans to continue selling at discounted prices. James Martin/CNET Apple has never sold so many different types of iPad tablets all at the same time. After the debut of the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini …

The marketing material that was leaked to The Verge.The Verge Marketing materials leaked to The Verge reveal that Fitbit is preparing to enter the smartwatch market with the Fitbit Surge. The device is being marketed as a “fitness superwatch” and builds on Fitbit’s existing fitness wearable pedigree. Priced at $249 (roughly AU$285 and £155), the Surge features built-in GPS and …

CNET/Sarah Tew Wireless spectrum — the radio signals designated to carry data over the air from your smartphone to the Internet — isn’t the sexiest topic in the tech world. But spectrum has a dramatic impact on the livelihood of the carriers, and that in turn affects the quality — and cost — of the wireless service you get at …

Wharfedale Jade 3 Steve Guttenberg/CNET Wharfedale is an old-school British speaker manufacturer; the company was founded in 1932! I first discovered its speakers in the early 1980s when they started showing up in New York City; the little Diamond speakers sounded two or three times as expensive as their actual selling prices. I reviewed a current set of Diamond towers …

Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing, briefly talked about the iPad Mini 3 on Thursday. Screenshot by CNET Apple usually looks to its next new thing to drive sales. In the case of the iPad, it’s counting on the 2-year-old iPad Mini, now selling for just $249, to draw you into its stores — and convince you to buy a …

Apple Watch James Martin/CNET Apple Watch’s fashion-first design may soon have a competitor in the form of one of the world’s most prestigious fashion brands. LVMH, a luxury goods conglomerate that owns everything from Dom Perignon to Louis Vuitton to Fendi to De Beers, plans to try its luck in the smartwatch business through a partnership with a technology company. …