Smartwatches — like this Samsung Gear S — can be a helpful tool, but not when their batteries run out. Sarah Tew/CNET A major gripe about smartwatches is that the battery on most devices lasts only about a day. Looking to address that problem, both Broadcom and Texas Instruments unveiled new platforms for their chips …
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Collector’s edition HTC One M8 celebrates every UEFA Champions League winner
Selfie pair of hands: Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel and Arsenal Women’s stopper Emma Byrne with the special edition JTC One M8. Andrew Redington/Getty Images for HTC The new HTC flagship is only a few days away, but if you’re a football fan and don’t mind having last year’s phone in your pocket then check out the new Champions League …
Read More »LG unveils first 4G smartwatch, based on WebOS software
WebOS, the cult favorite smartphone operating system pioneered by Palm, is making a comeback in mobile thanks to LG and its latest smartwatch. LG on Thursday took the wraps off the LG Watch Urbane LTE , the first smartwatch able to connect to a high-speed 4G wireless network. The smartwatch doesn’t run on Google’s Android Wear software, but instead on …
Read More »Unlocking your door might soon be as easy as ‘open sesame’
Kids and adults alike have long jokingly said “open sesame” in the hopes those magic words might literally open doors. Dheera Venkatraman, a grad student at MIT, might be the first person to make the words actually work. Related Links Ö smart ring displays Elvish, notifications for high-tech Frodos Push Button, Receive Bacon comes to life Blink to control this …
Read More »Grooveshark gets more social with site revamp
Grooveshark has a new layout and social focus. Grooveshark Music-streaming site Grooveshark is launching a new look designed to encourage people to share more. Due to roll out for all users over the coming week, the update offers more of a community-minded approach in which Grooveshark users can discover music through fellow users and discover fellow users through music. The …
Read More »Looking for that next T
T-Mobile offers insight into its Android updates with new tool. Screenshot by Scott Webster/CNET T-Mobile customers who want to track the status of their Android software updates now have an official tool to help in the process. Related Links Samsung Galaxy S6 with edge display pops up in carrier tease T-Mobile CEO says he’s open to all scenarios with Dish …
Read More »Cheap LTE phone Trooper leads Kazam’s charge in battle to beat rivals
The Trooper 445L. Cheap LTE is the name of the game here. Kazam Kazam, the phone company formed by British ex-HTC executives, has unleashed its latest salvo in the battle to make a name for itself, lifting the lid on a host of new gadgets, including cheap LTE phones. Heading up the charge is the appropriately named Trooper 445L, a …
Read More »Plex unveils revamped Roku app, we go hands
Dan Graziano/CNET Plex is one of the most powerful and popular apps available on Roku . It doesn’t have the name recognition of Netflix or HBO Go, but Plex claims it’s ranked as one of the top five apps on the platform, and is used on more than 1.4 million Roku devices. Compared to the slick Plex apps on other …
Read More »Google’s Blogger to put sexually explicit content behind privacy wall
Google’s Blogger platform will make its adult content much harder to access in the coming weeks, the search company has announced. Starting on March 23, blogs with sexually explicit content or graphic nudity will be made private, the company said Monday. Google made assurances that no content will be deleted, but only the blog’s owner, administrators on the blog, and …
Read More »Net neutrality: How we got from there to here
Emotions have run high over Net neutrality. Here, protesters interrupt a meeting of the FCC commissioners in December. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images From the Internet’s earliest days, US policy makers have been grappling with the question of if or how much the federal government should be involved in regulating the information superhighway. For more than 16 years, policy makers at the …
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