Following Lyft’s simultaneous launch in three cities last week, Uber is offering free UberX rides in a trio of cities, the company said Thursday. The two car-sharing services, which let users order cars from a smartphone app, continue to go head-to-head in US markets, but Uber is clearly trying to make a point: It’s not …

Enter the Galaxy Gear. Samsung is raising the bar for what a smartwatch can be, aiming for functionality closer to that of Google Glass. You can answer phone calls, control Galaxy Gear with your voice, take pictures, and share content — just like you would on a smartphone, but you don’t have to pull it out of your pocket. Galaxy …

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 phablet and Galaxy Gear smartwatch are expected to land in the US in early October, wireless carriers revealed late Thursday. T-Mobile said it will would launch the devices on October 2, while AT&T indicated that pre-orders of the Galaxy Note 3 would ship “around” October 1. The phablet will be available on AT&T for $299 with …

BlackBerry wants to cut a deal to sell itself to a prospective suitor before November rolls around, according to the Wall Street Journal. Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Journal reported late Wednesday that the Canadian phone maker has already been chatting with parties interested in buying all or part of the company. A list of potential candidates has …

Telefónica is getting one step closer to launching its 4G LTE network in Spain. Telefonica Alcatel-Lucent, a Franco-American network equipment maker, announced Thursday it had reached a deal with Telefónica to help build out a 4G LTE network in Spain. Alcatel-Lucent will deploy 8,000 base stations as part of a 4G LTE overlay network built on top of Telefónica’s existing …

Despite only being launched at the IFA Expo in Berlin overnight, Panasonic has shown off its 65-inch Ultra HD TVs in Sydney. (Credit: Panasonic) The 4K UItra HD Viera TV (TH-L65WT600a) is being called “second generation” by Panasonic. Key features include HDMI 2.0 support, Display Port functionality, 4K playback via USB 3.0 or SD and Panasonic’s Swipe and Share technology …

Is Samsung’s 85-inch Ultra HD S9 just not cutting the mustard when it comes to your big-screen needs? (Credit: Sasmung) Well, dry your eyes, gentle reader, because over in Berlin, the company is happily touting a 98-inch version of the same TV. There’s no pricing, but with the 85-inch model costing AU$40,000, we assume it’ll be priced at what might …

Now here’s a turn up for the books. The next version of Android will be called KitKat, after the famous four-finger chocolate bar. Google made the surprise announcement last night, hot on the heels of Apple sending out invites for its event next week. Trying to rain on its parade, perchance? Android 4.4 was widely thought to be called Key …

Sony has announced the Sony Xperia Z1 at IFA, packing in a massive 20.7-megapixel camera and waterproof chassis. (Credit: Sony) Sony has officially unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the camera-centric, waterproof Xperia Z1, previously codenamed “Honami”. Its specs contain few surprises for CNET Australia readers, thanks to a leak prior to Sony’s IFA announcement. The announcement by Sony CEO Kazuo …

Consumer electronics show IFA kicks off in Berlin this week, and Samsung is making a play to dominate the show with not just one, but two press conferences. This first one is called “Unpacked 2013 Episode 2” (the first episode happened in London in June). It is widely expected that the company will use it to take the covers off …