Amazon phone: Forget the 3D gimmicks. It’s all about the price

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos CNET Amazon’s expected smartphone may come with all the bells and whistles of the world’s top devices, but the selling point, as with most Amazon products, will have to be its price tag. If the Seattle-based online retailing giant wants to make a mark in the smartphone world, as it is …

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Neil Young’s reality distortion field

Steve Guttenberg/CNET The Pono music player might be the sweetest part of Neil Young’s new venture. Ayre Acoustic’s Charles Hansen had a hand in the design, and he’s a supertalented audio engineer. So I’m assuming the player will sound great, but high-resolution portable players have been around for years. Nothing new about that — look at the gorgeous new FiiO …

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Samsung Galaxy S5 dev edition slated for Verizon

You don’t actually have to be a developer to get this version of the Galaxy S5. Josh Miller/CNET Samsung’s Galaxy S5 will come in at least one other flavor, the developer edition that has an unlocked bootloader. Related stories Samsung Galaxy S5, fully reviewed Galaxy S5, HTC One M8, iPhone 5S camera shootout GS5 specs vs. HTC One M8, iPhone …

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Bloom.fm: Apple banned us from iAd because we’re ‘a threat’

Apple Bloom.fm, a London-based streaming-music service that offers everything from access to free radio to song borrowing, believes Apple is scared of its operation. Speaking to CNET on Friday, a Bloom.fm spokesman confirmed that the company’s ad-spend on Apple’s mobile-advertising platform iAd has been banned by the iPhone maker. The only suitable reason for that, the spokesman argues, is that …

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Samsung Galaxy S5 best deals and UK price comparison

The Samsung Galaxy S5 hits shop shelves on 11 April. Andrew Hoyle/CNET The hotly tipped Samsung Galaxy S5 is finally on sale. The 5.1-inch smartphone will cost you a pretty penny — but what price can you put on a fingerprint scanner, heart-rate monitor and cutting-edge Android 4.4 KitKat software? About 500 quid plus whatever your contract costs, as it …

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Galaxy S5 launch: No lines, but preorders look strong

Best Buy employees get the Samsung section of the store ready for customers. Roger Cheng/CNET NEW YORK — The Galaxy S5 is no iPhone when it comes to launch-day craziness. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A cursory visit to a handful of stores in the New York City area for the Galaxy S5 debut Friday found no lines …

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BlackBerry diaries: the verdict

Now playing: Watch this: BlackBerry Diaries: the verdict 1:54 Well, it’s been a full week since I set up the Q10, and I have one thing to say: I was wrong. I chose the Q10 to use with BlackBerry 10 because, to me, it was ‘classic’ BlackBerry. As an old Bold fan, I wanted to use something that felt like …

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Appeals court overturns conviction of AT&T hacker ‘Weev’

Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer at the time of his arrest. Washington County Sheriff’s Office A federal appeals court on Friday vacated the conviction against hacker and Internet troll Andrew Auernheimer. Auernheimer, a security researcher who goes by the nickname “Weev,” was found guilty of hacking in 2012 for accessing a non-password protected portion of AT&T’s Web site to obtain the email …

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Translate foreign menus

Now playing: Watch this: Instant foreign menu translations 5:34 Vacations don’t excite me — eating excites me. Your city may have the most breathtaking vistas, and the most beautiful museums, but when all is said and done, my best traveling memories revolve around food. And nothing bums out my travel gluttony more than a menu I can’t decipher. Fortunately, whether …

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Fickle teens love Apple more than ever, survey shows

And what if iPhone 6 looks like this? ConceptsiPhone/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET The last time teenagers were consistent was the first time teenagers were consistent. Their winds of change rarely abate and their judgments are as instant as the worst coffee. Yet they seem to have a weird thing for Apple. Piper Jaffray’s Taking Stock With Teens report for …

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Google exec: We never copied iPhone features for Android

Apple and Samsung have sued each other for infringement. CNET SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google engineers have never copied Apple’s iPhone features for use in Android, an executive from the software giant said Friday during testimony in the Apple v. Samsung patent-infringement trial. Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google vice president of Android, walked the jury through early development of Android and said …

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Where to find ‘Do not disturb’ mode on the Galaxy S5

Jason Cipriani/CNET “Do not disturb” (DND) is quickly becoming a feature found on all flagship smartphones. When enabled, the feature prevents your phone from alerting you of incoming messages or calls, avoiding any interruptions during a meeting. Or more importantly, you can schedule DND mode to turn at night while you sleep. During the setup process for the Galaxy S5, …

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Amazon, chasing Apple, Samsung, may enter smartphone market

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with the company’s Kindle Fire tablet line. CNET Amazon, in another move beyond its retail roots, plans to release a smartphone in September, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The long-rumored device would thrust Amazon into the highly competitive smartphone market currently dominated by Samsung and Apple. The company would introduce the new phone in June, …

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Lenovo plans midtier Golden Warrior S8 smartphone, report says

One of Lenovo’s previously announced handsets, the K900. Lenovo Lenovo has plans to launch a midtier smartphone featuring the increasingly-common gold finish making its way to more and more handsets. Lenovo will announce at some point soon the Golden Warrior S8, the Android Headlines blog site reported Friday, citing reports and leaked images out of Asia. The device will reportedly …

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Samsung Galaxy S5 on sale today

Josh Miller/CNET The Galaxy S5 is on sale today across the globe, giving phone fans the chance to exchange their cash for Samsung’s fifth flagship. More Galaxy S5 Galaxy S5: Everything you need to know Galaxy S5: CNET’s definitive review Samsung Galaxy S5 camera shootout versus HTC One M8, iPhone 5S Galaxy S5: Where to buy April 11 (that’s today, …

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