Enlarge ImageThe Amazon Fire TV can pull in Internet video compressed with HEVC/H.265 technology, but Amazon is also backing development of a competing technology. Nate Ralph/CNET A hurdle standing in the way of streaming high-quality video to your TV and devices just got a little bit lower. That’s because an industry group called HEVC Advance …

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure is ready for the iPhone launch on Friday. Troy Thomas/Sprint Are you looking for an iPhone 6S? Sprint stores should have them in stock. That’s according to CEO Marcelo Claure, who said he has worked with Apple to ensure ample inventory of new iPhones. “This is going to be the most successful launch from an inventory …

Enlarge Image CBS News video screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET You can avoid the throngs taking to the streets of Washington, Philadelphia and New York this week to glimpse Pope Francis and still experience his historic visit at home via the wonders of virtual reality. But not without enabling one of the most tone-deaf marketing promotions I’ve seen since the great …

Enlarge ImageThe iPhone 6S in a colorful array. Apple T-Mobile is pulling out all the stops to lure in iPhone fans. The nation’s third-largest wireless carrier on Wednesday said customers willing to trade in a smartphone can turn to its Jump On Demand leasing program and pay $5 a month for a base-model iPhone 6S or $9 a month for …

Enlarge ImageHuong Dinh (left), Viet Nguyen (second from left) and other neighbors started camping out for the iPhone at Apple’s downtown San Francisco store on Tuesday evening. Shara Tibken/CNET SAN FRANCISCO — The new iPhone doesn’t hit store shelves until Friday, but some eager buyers have already started lining up. Six Vietnamese people, who say they’re neighbors in San Francisco, …

The Nexus 6 is going cheap ahead of its successors’ launch. Josh Miller/CNET If you’re in the market for a bargain you can currently pick up a new carrier-unlocked Google Nexus 6 on eBay for just $299 (which converts to £195 or AU$425), or for $349 (£230 or AU$495) on Amazon.com. If you were to purchase the same 32GB model …

Xiaomi Xiaomi has been on a veritable roll since entering the smartphone market in 2010. After just five years of operation, it’s been valued at over $45 billion and is the fourth biggest smartphone maker in the world. Now, the innovative Chinese company hopes to recapture that same success in the laptop game, the Taipei Times reports. On Wednesday Richard …

It’s funny — I keep seeing articles in mainstream media about vinyl, proclaiming “it’s back!,” as if that’s breaking news. Truth is, vinyl never went away, record pressing plants never stopped making LPs, and manufacturers never halted turntable production. The CD and other digital formats have peacefully co-existed with LPs for decades. Analog-orientated audiophiles never gave up on turntables and …

The Vertu New Signature Touch is a $10,000 smartphone. A wearable product may be next. Andrew Hoyle/CNET Luxury brand Vertu is known for selling phones with price tags that make an iPhone 6S look like a bargain. Now, it’s mulling over creation of a wearable product that you also likely won’t be able to afford. The British phone manufacturer, once …

T-Mobile is touting and tweeting about a 30 percent jump in iPhone preorders. CNET iPhone 6S demand is off to a strong start, certainly at T-Mobile. In a tweet posted late Tuesday, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that the carrier’s iPhone 6S preorders are up more than 30 percent over preorders from last year when the iPhone 6 was released. …