Xiaomi Mi Pad is a $240 plastic iPad Mini lookalike

Aloysius Low/CNET BEIJING — If you ever wondered what the iPad Mini would be like if Apple decided to make it look like the iPhone 5C , well, look no further. The Mi Pad , from the Beijing-based company Xiaomi, is probably the closest you’re going to get to a plastic iPad. The Wi-Fi only …

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Vudu unveils ability to share cloud

VUDU Vudu has announced its users can now “loan” their digital movie and TV collections to up to five first-time users with the new Share My Movies service. The service uses digital locker service UltraViolet to share your collection, and instead of requiring your friends to use your username and password, it lets you send them invites via email. Each …

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Google Glass handed out to medical students at UC Irvine

Dr. Warren Wiechmann, assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine and associate dean of instructional technologies, will oversee implementation of the Google Glass four-year program at UCI. Steve Zylius/UC Irvine The fledgling Google Glass is slowly working its way into the mainstream, and one place that people should get used to seeing the device is in hospitals. Several medical institutions have …

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Samsung shows Apple how to do sports

Cristiano Ronaldo in training. Samsung/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET There are only two types of people in the world: those who watch the World Cup and those who should be ordered to do community service for their refusal to watch the World Cup. Samsung has been building up to the event for quite a while. It’s been teasing a game …

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Can an ordinary Joe replace a busted iPhone screen?

Cement 1, iPhone 0. Rick Broida/CNET Late last week, my barely 2-month-old iPhone 5S made an unfortunate new friend: the driveway. The dog yanked hard on his leash, the phone went flying, and sure enough: spider-glass cracks from top to bottom. This was despite my iPhone 5S residing in a seemingly durable wood case. Crap. My busted iPhone 5S alongside …

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Cell phone ‘kill switch’ bill signed into law in Minnesota

CNET Minnesota has enacted the first law in the United States that requires mobile phones and tablets sold in the state to be equipped with antitheft software. Signed on Wednesday by Gov. Mark Dayton, the “kill switch” law will require connected mobile devices sold in the state after July 1, 2015, to come equipped with remote shut-off devices as a …

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Text

Accepting texts to 911 will happen county by county. Josh Miller/CNET If there’s ever a situation where you need to text a 911 operator instead of dialing the number directly, listen up now. Today is the day that the country’s four big carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, will officially route texts addressed to 911 to your local police. Related …

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Samsung reports it has sold 11M Galaxy S5 since launch

Samsung’s Galaxy S5. Josh Miller/CNET Samsung is reporting robust sales for its Galaxy S5 during its debut month. The company’s mobile head J.K. Shin said more than 11 million units of the flagship smartphone have sold since its April launch, according to The Wall Street Journal. “It’s been a month since we began selling the S5, and out of the …

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BlackBerry teases new high

BlackBerry Z3 Brian Bennett/CNET BlackBerry is planning to launch a new device with a square screen, the company has confirmed. The handset maker on Wednesday published an update to its Developer Blog inviting app makers to try out BlackBerry 10.3, the latest, as-yet launched version of its mobile operating system. In addition to saying that BlackBerry 10.3 is designed for …

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HTC One M8 Mini lacks key features, leaker says

Sense 6 on M8mini lacks a few features: besides no Duo cam, it loses Zoe, Fitbit, Motion Launch, and Pan 360 photos. pic.twitter.com/zr99ptRV9U — @evleaks (@evleaks) May 14, 2014 The as-yet announced HTC One M8 Mini, a smaller version of the popular Android-based HTC One M8, could lack some of the features that made the bigger model stand out. HTC …

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América Móvil carries Mozilla’s Firefox OS to Mexico

Alcatel’s One Touch Fire E Sarah Tew/CNET Mozilla has a new partner, América Móvil, a carrier that will spread its Firefox OS mobile operating system to Mexico. The nonprofit organization is developing the smartphone OS as an attempt to counter some of the power of Google and Apple in the mobile market. Mobile operators and handsets are crucial to the …

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Google sells pricey Glass to anyone in US

Now playing: Watch this: Google sells pricey Glass to anyone in US 2:50 This episode of CNET Update covers what’s new in the weird world of wearables: Google is calling for more Glass Explorer recruits. Anyone from the US can spend $1,500 (plus tax) to own the Explorer version of Glass, which is still in an experimental phase. Once Google …

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Messaging app WeChat snags 396M active users

WeChat Mobile messaging app WeChat has watched its userbase soar in the last year. China-based Internet company Tencent on Wednesday revealed in its financials that its WeChat messaging app ended the first quarter of 2014 with 396 million monthly active users. WeChat ended 2013 with 355 million monthly active users. It’s worth noting, however, the messaging app goes by the …

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Kevlar Motorola Moto G Ferrari Edition is so choice

My other Moto G’s a Ferrari Motorola Tyres squealing, the new Motorola Moto G for 2014 hits the road this summer, and if the regular version isn’t fast enough there’s also a Ferrari version. As a great man once said, it is so choice — if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. The Ferrari Edition of …

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Leaked LG G3 images provide best look yet

The official launch date of the LG G3 is coming up soon. PhoneArena Phone-watchers eagerly awaiting the forthcoming announcement of LG’s G3 smartphone can get a glimpse of some allegedly leaked photos of the flagship smartphone in all its brushed-finish glory. Related Links Gold LG G3 photos allegedly leak ahead of May 27 launch LG G3 launches 27 May, but …

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