A brand being rear-ended? The Colbert Report/Hulu Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET Product placement. Native advertising. Sponsorship. It’s all the same thing. It’s shoving a product into the sort of limelight where it wouldn’t normally be terribly welcome. How refreshing, then, that Stephen Colbert decided that, despite being paid by T-Mobile US, he would recommend that …

Tizen Andrew Hoyle/CNET Samsung is preparing to launch a new smartphone in Russia and India based on its own Tizen operating system, according to the Wall Street Journal. The South Korean electronics giant is planning to unveil a handset running the homegrown mobile operating system in the coming weeks at an event in Moscow, sources told the Journal. The launch …

Beats could soon be a part of Apple. CNET Editors’ note: Apple on May 28 confirmed that it’s buying Beats for $3 billion. For once, the intrigue surrounding Apple doesn’t involve the next iPhone or iPad. Instead, it’s centered on why the Silicon Valley consumer-electronics titan wants high-end-headphones maker Beats Electronics. Apple is reportedly in talks to buy Los Angeles-based …

The 5.5-inch Apple phone could be a feature-packed device at the apex of Apple’s mobile lineup. Apple screenshot by Brooke Crothers/CNET Rumors of the 5.5-inch-class “iPhone 6” — or whatever Apple would choose to call it — are getting more intriguing by the week. A widely cited report from Taiwan’s United Daily News/Economic Daily on Friday said that out of …

Facebook poke Facebook Facebook has removed Poke and Facebook camera, two apps that were essentially clones of other successful apps, from the iOS App Store, the company confirmed Friday. The removals, first noticed by The Verge, occurred nearly two years after Facebook introduced the apps. Poke was a rival to popular messaging app Snapchat. Facebook Camera was a clone of …

Sarah Tew/CNET Wearable tech is mostly about the wrist, but there are products that dream of being other places, too. Talk of jewelry that doubles as connected tech has been floating around for a while, but there’s one prominent fitness tracker that already has a set of jewelry options: the Misfit Shine . Its latest accessory, the Bloom necklace, is …

CNET Update is straight outta Compton: Now playing: Watch this: Apple may buy Beats to challenge Spotify 2:55 In this tech-news roundup: Apple didn’t forget about Dre. A video posted to Facebook seems to confirm reports that Apple is buying Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion. If this happens, the deal means much more than headphones. Beats doesn’t make CNET’s list …

What’s next for Apple’s iPhone line? Apple Apple’s iPhone 6 might be unveiled sooner than expected, a new report claims. Apple will show off its new iPhone 6 at an event in August and release the device that same month, Taiwan-based Economic Daily News reported on Friday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of Apple’s plans. At the same …

Martin Good/Shutterstock Sick of your phone company putting up its prices halfway through your contract? Vodafone today promises it won’t do that ever again. “We asked our customers what they thought was fair when it came to charging, and the clear majority told us that it was unacceptable to increase monthly prices during the contract term,” said Cindy Rose, the …

Nokia has been a leader in smartphone camera tech. Here is a Lumia 1020. Sarah Tew/CNET Apple has poached a prominent member of Nokia’s Lumia camera team. Ari Partinen, who has worked as Nokia’s “Lumia photography lead” since last July according to his LinkedIn page and who has been dubbed Nokia’s “camera expert” by a company executive, is heading to …

screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET Those of you who want to shed your old iPhone in exchange for a new model can score a trade-in deal at Best Buy this weekend. From now through Sunday, consumers who trade in an iPhone 5, 4S, or 4 and upgrade to a 5S or 5C will get up to $200 and more in credit …

Beats Chairman Jimmy Iovine, HTC CEO Peter Chou, and Dr. Dre. HTC, Beats Editor’s note: Apple on May 28 confirmed that it’s buying Beats for $3 billion. A high-flying smartphone manufacturer is buying the much-ballyhooed Beats music brand in an effort to earn some street cred. No, I’m not talking about the purported deal between Apple and Beats, which the …

State Sen. Mark Leno and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon introducing the “kill-switch” bill in San Francisco in February. Richard Nieva/CNET A California bill that mandates smartphones sold in the state come preloaded with antitheft software cleared its first legislative hurdle on Thursday. SB962, introduced by state Sen. Mark Leno and sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, …

Looks can be deceiving. Tokyoflash You might mistake Tokyoflash’s Kisai Night Vision Wood watch for a carved bracelet with no other function than to look like a wood model of a watch. Push a button and hidden LEDs come to life, illuminating the face with the time. The watch doesn’t tell time in the usual way. A flashing dash around …

An AT&T store in downtown San Francisco. Josh Lowensohn/CNET AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens says he’s isn’t fazed by carrier rhetoric in the so-called price war. “The competition is more noisy than disruptive,” Stephens said Thursday at an investors conference in Miami. T-Mobile’s offer to pay off the early termination fees of customers willing to switch to its service …