Apple may not be releasing figures about its iPhone 7 sales, but that hasn’t stopped carriers T-Mobile and Sprint from announcing the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus phones have broken their own records. T-Mobile said that the opening day of presales for the iPhone 7 on September 9 set a single-day sales record for …
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Pandora on
Pandora has nearly cleared its path to an on-demand, paid music service, announcing licensing deals Tuesday with two of the three major music labels. The online radio service said it has secured agreements with Universal Music Group, the biggest record company in the world, and Sony Music Entertainment, as well as a preponderance of independent labels through various deals. Warner …
Read More »Spotify rocks the vote with weekly blasts of election videos
The sprint to dominate music streaming isn’t the only race commanding Spotify’s attention. The streaming music service on Tuesday launched a weekly series of video and podcast-like clips, aimed at educating young US listeners on election issues. “Music and social issues have always been linked — music both reflects the culture in which we live but also helps shape it,” …
Read More »Cameras compared: iPhone 7 Plus vs. Galaxy S7 vs. iPhone 6S Plus
The iPhone 7 Plus gets a new camera, and this one is a big deal. Actually, it’s two big deals: two 12-megapixel cameras on the back, one wide-angle and one telephoto. Our very own professional, CNET Senior Photographer James Martin spent six days with the iPhone 7 Plus and its cameras. He worked in and around San Francisco, taking shots …
Read More »Amazon’s Alexa now knows over 3000 skills
“Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.” That’s just one of Alexa’s new skills. Amazon on Tuesday said its voice assistant has over 3000 “skills,” with more on the way. That number has increased by 300 percent in the three months since June 2016, Amazon said in a release. The Alexa Skills Kit and the Alexa Voice …
Read More »Drone with grabbing claw arms can lift 22 pounds
Claw arms hardly make a drone look less terrifying, but they could make it more useful. That’s the promise of Prodrone’s latest hoverbot, the snappily-named PD6B-AW-ARM. This claw-handed drone can fly up to 6 km per hour and stay in the air for 30 minutes. Using its two five-axis robotic arms, it can lift a whopping 22 pounds, which is …
Read More »Yamaha intros five new MusicCast components
Yamaha has detailed five new products joining its MusicCast wireless music family, including a small benchtop speaker and a high-end sound bar. MusicCast is Yamaha’s proprietary multiroom system which allows streaming from user’s phones, network devices or services such as Spotify, Pandora and SiriusXM. Until now the MusicCast range has been missing two important elements: an entry-level speaker, and a …
Read More »Cyberlink PowerDirector 15 helps ease your 360 video editing woes
Several 360-degree cameras have arrived in the past year for consumers, but a good, simple way to edit the video from them has lagged behind. One of the best desktop apps I’ve seen is the Samsung Gear 360 Action Director app bundled with the company’s Gear 360 camera. These tools are now available in Cyberlink’s new PowerDirector 15 suite for …
Read More »Facebook, Twitter join effort to snuff out fake news stories
Tired of being exposed to news reports you suspect have little or no factual basis? So are Twitter and Facebook. The online social networks have joined a network of more than 30 international media companies and organizations that aims to improve the quality of information found online by weeding out hoaxes and fake news reports. The First Draft Coalition’s partner …
Read More »Exploding Samsung phone burns 6
A 6-year-old boy from Brooklyn suffered burns to his body Saturday night when a Samsung Galaxy smartphone exploded. The boy was watching videos on the phone when the device suddenly exploded in his hands, the boy’s grandmother told the New York Post. The family called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital with burns on his body. He has …
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