Load your shotgun, put on your trench coat, and find your best black hat. Vampire Origins HD combines slick design and hardcore vampire-blasting action, but it falls short of great because of poor writing and repetitive game play. The first thing you notice about Vampire Origins HD for iPad ($4.99) is its great artistic style …

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have banned key BlackBerry features because the phone is too secure. The UAE will block email, Web browsing and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) from October, while Saudi Arabia will stop people using BBM this month, Reuters reports. The security that’s made BlackBerry beloved by businesses is the issue that’s causing the Gulf governments grief. Because …

Apple has taken down videos from its US Web site that demonstrated antenna problems on rival handsets. Apple last month released a gallery and video demonstrating the signal problems occuring on a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and a HTC Droid Eris (among others), in response to criticism of the iPhone 4’s ‘Death Grip‘ antenna problems. Many industry watchers were not convinced, …

Anyone who has done their due diligence when researching ultraportable earphones has come across a fair amount made by Shure. The company has been churning out quality sound-isolating sets for more than 10 years. However, the team of audio enthusiasts showed little interest in catering to those who prefer not to stick ‘buds into their ears until recently. On Wednesday, …

Cable companies’ fight to keep local sports broadcasts out of the hands of some competitors is heating up as satellite and phone companies pressure regulators to take action. On Friday, satellite TV provider Dish Network said it would file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Comcast for withholding the rights to broadcast regional sports in Philadelphia. Comcast’s SportsNet …

Shipments of Android smartphones worldwide jumped 886 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, according to a report released Monday. Growth in the United States was particularly robust, market researcher Canalys said in the report. The entire U.S. smartphone market grew 41 percent in the second quarter year over year, making it the largest smartphone market in the …

What could be the first Windows Phone 7 mobile has leaked on to the Web. We’ve had a tantalising glimpse of the specs for the Samsung Cetus, also known as the SGH-i917. The specs for the Cetus were turned up the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, although no-one has yet confirmed whether the name was inspired by Cletus the slack-jawed yokel. …

Bar code readers and scanning applications have slowly been gaining popularity in the United States thanks to apps such as ShopSavvy, Compare Everywhere, and Google Shopper. AT&T is jumping on board with its own bar code offerings that the carrier announced today. Designed for Android and BlackBerry phones, AT&T’s new Mobile Barcode Services primarily serve as shopping tools, according to …

Motorola quietly revealed the Grasp over the weekend, sans carrier announcement. The Grasp is your standard bar-style messaging phone, and it looks to have a full QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3-megapixel camera, an MP3 player, a 3.5mm headset jack, messaging features, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, and a microSD card slot. It also has a purportedly eco design, which Motorola promises is 100 …

Welcome to the 411, my column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at [email protected]. If …

“Yertle the Turtle” is arguably the best book ever written on the subject of turtle-stacking. Oceanhouse Media A few months back I told you about five amazing iPad e-books for kids, noting that Apple’s tablet is arguably the single best platform for reading (and, thanks to various interactive features, experiencing) children’s books. App developers and book publishers seem to agree, …

Shortly after we told you that the HTC Evo 4G would get Android 2.2 “Froyo” starting Tuesday, a few CNET readers asked if the update would affect the handset’s current Wi-Fi hot spot feature. We asked Sprint for comment and the carrier got back to us today with the expected news. According to spokeswoman Natalie Papaj, Sprint has no plans …

Most teenagers have driven while distracted even though most know such behavior is dangerous, according to a new survey released Monday. Almost 86 percent admitted to driving while texting, talking on a phone, or doing other distracting things behind the wheel, according to the results of a survey conducted by Seventeen magazine and the AAA, formally known as the American …

Broadband flogger TalkTalk is to launch its own mobile phone network this autumn, after doing a deal with Vodafone. Despite Ofcom finding that TalkTalk, formerly part of Carphone Warehouse, had the slowest Internet speeds of any major British ISP, it’s still the second biggest provider in the UK. Now it wants to offer a mobile service to its 4 million …

Sprint and Clearwire announced Monday the expansion of the 4G wireless network in markets in four states. The new cities where the 4G service will be available are Modesto and Stockton, Calif.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Wilmington, Del.; and Grand Rapids, Mich. With these latest deployments, the 4G wireless service, which uses a technology called WiMax, will be in 48 markets. Sprint, …