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Periscope hires first editor

Nothing catching your eye on Periscope? The Twitter-owned live-video app may have the fix. The company has hired its first editor-in-chief to help you sift through the noise. Evan Hansen, a former editor at Medium, Wired and, back in the day, CNET, will take on the newly created position starting in mid-May. Why would a video app need an editor? …

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No download needed: The rise of chatbots

Editors’ note, May 3, 2016: This article has been updated to remove AskAlexis, which is no longer available. Before Messenger , WhatsApp and Snapchat , texting was the number one way to communicate, and according to the developers behind a new wave of apps, texting is still king. In recent months, there’s been an explosion of chatbots. These services use …

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Fitbit CEO disses Apple Watch

Fitbit wearables lack the features found in smartwatches such as the Apple Watch. But that’s not a bad thing, according to Fitbit CEO James Park. The Fitbit activity and fitness trackers are single-mode devices. The Apple Watch performs a multitude of tasks — time keeping, health tracking, iPhone assisting and computing — and therein lies the problem, Park said. “We …

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Get a DJI Phantom 3 Standard quadcopter for $399

CNET’s Cheapskate scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page. Joshua Goldman/CNET When it comes to quadcopters, very often it seems like you have two choices: sub-$100 models good for bouncing around indoors, …

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Microsoft buys Internet

When we think of the Internet of Things, stuff like Web-connected cars, key-chain finders and door locks are usually among the first things that come to mind. Microsoft is hoping to change that with an Italian company it just purchased called Solair. This is definitely not the type of IoT company you and me will ever buy anything from though. …

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Blackberry Priv tips and tricks

The Priv is BlackBerry’s first smartphone to run on Google’s Android software, combining BlackBerry’s dependable security infrastructure with one of the world’s most popular mobile operating systems. That’s not Priv’s only trick, though. Here are 10 things you can do with this BlackBerry/Google mashup. 1. Easy access with your keyboard Always needing to unlock your phone in a hurry? Hold …

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Cash

Discounts alone aren’t enough to turn Sprint’s ship around. The nation’s No. 4 wireless carrier says it needs to spend resources more wisely. Enlarge Image Some of the shine has faded on Sprint’s aggressive promotions. Sprint Sprint, which reported earnings Tuesday, has been on a bumpy road to recovery after years of customer losses. Its aggressive promotion of 50 percent …

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