The Samsung PNF8500 is the last great plasma TV. Sarah Tew/CNET Samsung SDI has announced that it will shut down plasma panel production by November 30 of this year. According to multiple reports, including Reuters, the firm said the reason for the shutdown was a decline in overall demand for plasma TVs. A company statement …

Samsung Samsung’s latest Galaxy S5 Mini should come as no surprise to its fans. The company has previously made a smaller version of its flagship phone, and the new 4.5-inch S5 Mini is no exception. Sporting a similar design to the S5 , the S5 Mini comes with the same perforated pattern on the rear cover and has IP67 certification, …

iPunch, hoping to have a fighting chance on Indiegogo. Responsive Sports You know that carnival game where you hit a pad with a big sledgehammer to see if you can shoot a metal weight up a pole to ring a bell? In my world, that’s known as “the one game I avoid” at amusement parks, but for other, more burly …

Now playing: Watch this: Nokia Lumia 630 is a colourful, affordable Android alternative 2:30 The 4.5-inch Nokia Lumia 635 we were promised this summer has finally reared its vibrantly-colored head. T-Mobile and its sub-brand, MetroPCS, will both carry the 4G LTE-ready budget handset in July, and for under $170 without a contract. Related stories Nokia Lumia 630: Full review Nokia …

The BlueAnt Pump, post dunking. Johanna DeBiase/CNET The BlueAnt Pump is a rugged set of Bluetooth headphones meant to survive sweat and rain, but to see just how waterproof it really is, I took it for a head-first dive down a natural stone waterfall slide in South Carolina. To shoot the below video of this real-life torture test, I connected …

Jason Cipriani/CNET The ability to compose a text or Hangouts message using only your voice on Android Wear is really convenient. But dictating a message via voice isn’t always possible. For those times when you’re too embarrassed to talk to your watch, or the surrounding area is too loud for the watch to understand, Google included the option to send …

SnapUp The creators behind SnapUp, an app that turns mobile screenshots into product wish lists, thinks it can help shoppers stay organized and find deals in the face of shopping-app overload. The iOS app uses machine learning to read screenshots of product pages from any app or mobile site. It’s akin to using a bookmarklet or browser extension on a …

Ericsson’s vision of a “networked society,” in model form. Roger Cheng/CNET Forget 4G. Ericsson already has its sights set on the dizzying speeds that can be achieved with 5G. The telecommunications gear maker said Tuesday it had conducted a test that achieved a connection speed of 5 gigabits per second over the air, part of its plans for 5G wireless …

Vodafone A year after first launching its post-paid mobile Red Plans, Vodafone has updated the offering with more data and a new Data Workout offering that promises unlimited data in the first two months. The key changes include increased data limits, the inclusion of 13 and 1800 numbers in the infinite talk allowance and a change to automated data add-ons …

A successor to the Galaxy Mega looms on the horizon CNET Samsung may soon introduce a 5.9-inch version of the Galaxy Mega smartphone, according to the latest round of chatter. Benchmarks spied on GFX Bench suggest the handset maker could again offer a plus-size device with a budget-friendly price tag. Related Links Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 review Samsung to launch …

Now playing: Watch this: Block select Android Wear notifications 1:36 While users and developers try to figure out the best way to take advantage of a screen on your wrist, the current primary use case for a smartwatch is discrete notifications. With Android Wear sure to make headway for the smartwatch market, you will also need to figure out the …

T-Mobile CEO John Legere at the Uncarrier 5 event in Seattle. James Martin/CNET T-Mobile is in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC filed a complaint on Tuesday against T-Mobile, alleging that the carrier has made hundreds of millions of dollars on fees related to “premium” text messages that customers didn’t sign up for. The agency claims T-Mobile …

CNET Update goes phone-gazing: Now playing: Watch this: Galaxy S5 Mini in cluster of spinoffs 2:55 In this tech-news roundup, learn about Samsung’s new Galaxy spinoffs, including the newly announced Galaxy S5 Mini. It’s a similar design to the parent phone, but some of the specs are slightly downgraded to make it a more affordable phone. If you’re looking for …

Sharp Sharp President Kozo Takahashi said his struggling consumer-electronics company isn’t considering another public sale of its stock to bolster its weakened finances, noting that such a move “would not make sense.” Takahashi, speaking to a round table of reporters Tuesday, said Sharp would instead focus on increasing its profits, Reuters reported, dismissing an earlier report from a Japanese newspaper …

Quickflix With the Chromecast now just over a month old in Australia, announcements of local services being compatible with the device are coming thick and fast. Quickflix is the latest company to get on board with the media streamer, with both its iOS and Android app now offering Chromecast compatibility. It joins similar service EzyFlix and Presto, the movie streaming …