9 great reads from CNET this week

Remember the GameStop stock trading frenzy from earlier this year? One of the key players in that saga was the stock trading app Robinhood, and that notoriety earned Robinhood’s CEO a moment on the hot seat in a congressional hearing. At issue was how the app works — and specifically, whether its business model has the best interests of its users in mind.

As Robinhood edges closer to its own debut on the stock market, the scrutiny continues. CNET’s Rich Nieva took an in-depth look at the company, the app and the common concern that Robinhood users aren’t quite clear about what’s going on or what they’re really getting themselves into.

That’s just one of the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Robinhood’s no-fee model has real costs: ‘That is what scares me’

As the trading app inches closer to its IPO, concerns surface again over how the service could harm consumers.

Illustration for Robinhood personal finance story — Robert Rodriguez/CNET

Sony ditches DSLRs, moving the camera industry beyond film-era designs

Commentary: The future of higher-end photography is mirrorless.

I swapped out my gas grill for a wood pellet grill, and this is what happened

Thinking about buying a wood-fired smart grill with Wi-Fi? Here are some things to consider based on my experience switching from a gas grill.

Traeger Ironwood 650 and Weber Genesis grills — David Carnoy/CNET

Mark Zuckerberg explains where VR goes next

Exclusive: Facebook’s CEO talks about what the next headset could bring, how fitness plays into the picture and whether there will be kid accounts for VR anytime soon.

Mark Zuckerberg VR illustration — Brett Pearce/CNET

Homework gap: The digital divide crisis that’s leaving millions of kids behind

US schools are going back to in-person learning, but the so-called homework gap will persist.

Illustration for homework gap story — Robert Rodriguez/CNET

Facebook’s oversight board made the right call on Trump. Now it’s Zuckerberg’s turn

Commentary: The social media company’s inconsistent approach to its policies created an untenable situation. The oversight board is pushing for a fix.

James Martin/CNET

Disney’s real-life lightsaber looks incredible. Here’s how it could work

The realistic Star Wars weapon will be part of Disney’s new Galactic Starcruiser hotel at Disney World opening in 2022.

Airlines rush to put parked airplanes back in the sky

As the COVID-19 travel slump ends, the airline with the world’s largest fleet is preparing its aircraft to carry passengers again. It can take 1,000 hours of work per plane.

A Boeing 787 outside a hangar at American's Tulsa base. — American Airlines

Yahoo Answers is dead, but the internet never forgets

What Yahoo Answers was supposed to be, what it became and what remains.

Angela Lang/CNET

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9 great reads from CNET this week

April showers bring May flowers. Apple’s April Spring Loaded event brought its own splash of colors, most notably in the form of a new lineup of iMac computers. You can also now get an iPhone 12 in a vernal shade of purple.

That wasn’t all for Apple. There was the arrival of the diminutive new AirTags gadgets, changes to the iPad Pro and Apple TV 4K and a preview of season 2 of Ted Lasso.

Reflections on those products are among the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Apple’s colorful new iMacs embrace retro design, with cutting-edge twist inside

A splash of color and the first major redesign in nearly a decade, plus a big upgrade internally with the M1 chip.

Apple's 2021 iMacs in many colors — Apple; screenshot by CNET

Chill. The iMac charging cable is a reasonable design, not proprietary nonsense

Commentary: Moving the power brick and Ethernet port onto the charging cable makes the iMac pleasingly thin.

iMac power adapter with Ethernet port — Apple; screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

The pandemic of despair: How COVID changed our mental health

The coronavirus is inflicting emotional wounds around the world that may take decades to heal.

Illustration of a young woman and the coronavirus — Brett Pierce/CNET

Billions of bugs: Meet the cicada chasers trailing Brood X

To find these cicada superfans, follow the insects’ boisterous mating calls. It’s “never-ending amazement.”

Brood X cicadas — Alex Wong/Getty Images

Dear Netflix and YouTube, everything is too long

Commentary: Movies, video games, TV shows. Everything is just too damn long.

Avengers: Endgame scene with Ant-Man, Captain America and Tony Stark — Marvel

Fitbit co-founder: Future for fitness is well beyond the wrist

Exclusive: CTO Eric Friedman talks with CNET about the company’s first wearable under the Google umbrella.

The Nurvv Run smart insoles made me a better runner

My month-long review of the Nurvv Run insoles that can turn any running shoe into a fitness tracker.

Climate change has made the world’s deadliest lake way more dangerous

For Earth Day 2021, we revisit the epic, decades-long battle to tame a lake so swollen it threatens to wipe out an entire city center.

Illustration of Lake Palcacocha — Robert Rodriguez/CNET

Game of Thrones is 10. But what happened to the world’s biggest TV show?

George R.R. Martin and HBO have novels and prequels on the way, but a calamitous season 8 finale may have killed off the saga.

game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-6-sansa-hugs-jon-1 — HBO

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The definitive device of the last two decades has been the mobile phone. It’s hard now to imagine life without one. Phone makers and phone fads have come and gone, and competition has always been intense.

We’re seeing those rivalries play out in different ways. Smartphones have thrived as game platforms, for both fun and profit, and that’s taken a nasty turn in the legal sparring between iPhone maker Apple and Fortnite developer Epic Games. Meanwhile, LG — which for a moment way back when got the drop on Apple — has acknowledged that it’s just not up for the rigors of the phone business anymore.

Tales of those twists and turns are among the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Apple says Epic’s Fortnite lawsuit is a marketing stunt to revive ‘flagging interest’ in the game

In dueling court filings, Apple details Epic’s “Project Liberty” media strategy, while Epic argues the App Store forces up prices.

Fortnite, banned, on a phone screen — Angela Lang/CNET

LG once out-iPhoned the iPhone. Now it’s exiting the phone business entirely

Despite a history of bold innovations, LG could never make a significant dent in the handset business.

Teen girls seek out safe spaces online in their own #MeToo movement

Young women are turning to social media in search of nonjudgmental places to speak honestly about sexual violence in their daily lives.

Schoolchildren in front of a schoolbus — Getty Images

My COVID-19 dreams aren’t just weird, they’re keeping me up all night

If you’re sleeping worse and dreaming about the pandemic, you’re not alone. And they’ve got a name for it: coronasomnia.

NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity: What you need to know before its first flight

NASA engineers will attempt the first flight on Mars in just a few days time — and it could change space exploration forever.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Twitter, Facebook and others are failing to stop anti-Asian hate

More than a year after the coronavirus pandemic hit, Asian Americans are still facing hate on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

People hold up signs at a Stop Asian Hate rally in Chicago on March 27. — Vincent Johnson/Xinhua via Getty

Amazon union defeated, pushes for an election redo: What you need to know

Here’s how a major union vote went at Amazon, what unionizing could mean for customers and what was up with that Twitter rant.

Amazone warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama — Patrick T. Fallon / Getty Images

What a teen’s fake death can teach us about the internet, 20 years on

In 2001, the “death” of a young blogger rocked her community. New podcast Pseudocide unearths internet history to see what we can learn from that today.

PC, monitor and keyboard, circa 2001 — Comstock/Getty Images

Oculus Rift review, revisited: The dream’s real now

Commentary: Looking back at 2016 from 2021, and the VR headset that kicked off a whole universe of possibilities.

Using the Oculus Rift in 2015 — Josh Miller/CNET

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As if technology terms weren’t already inscrutable enough, now we have to deal with “nonfungible.” Or, since tech speak thrives on abbreviations: NFT, short for “nonfungible tokens.” They’re a hot commodity right now, so it’s time for us all to dig a little deeper.

A good starting point is Rich Nieva’s look at NFTs, and specifically how they’ve caught on in the art world. Just this week, Christie’s auctioned off as an NFT a digital work by the artist Beeple for $69.3 million. Yep, real money. And the technology has implications much more broadly across entertainment and media, from Kings of Leon to a clip of LeBron James to the very first tweet ever.

That story is among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

NFTs are the new online gold rush: Why they’re hot

The blockchain-backed technology gives artists a way to take ownership and collect compensation for digital works.

I got my first COVID-19 shot, and felt crushed by vaccine guilt

My first dose of the Pfizer vaccine came with mixed feelings.

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine shot — Amanda Kooser/CNET

Hands-on at home with Microsoft’s HoloLens 2

Microsoft’s AR headset still feels like a taste of a future yet to come — and reminds me what the future still needs to do.

Wearing a HoloLens 2 headset — Scott Stein/CNET

Serial 1: Riding Harley-Davidson’s new Rush CTY Speed and Mosh CTY e-bikes

A world away from its iconic motorcycles, Harley’s new sub-brand delivers fun, premium e-bikes.

2021 Serial 1 Rush and Mosh e-bikes — Evan Miller/Roadshow

After coronavirus: Australia offers a strange glimpse of life post-pandemic

Commentary: The future is full of QR codes and hand sanitizers. But life, in at least one country, feels strangely normal.

Packed theater in Australia, with only a few people wearing masks — Getty/Brook Mitchell

For Fukushima’s nuclear disaster, robots offer a sliver of hope

On March 11, 2011, the worst nuclear disaster in history hit like a bomb. Even now, robots are just getting close enough to see how bad it really is.

Workers at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 3 — James Martin/CNET

My love affair with chili crisp: Savior of oatmeal, caviar and my soul

A spicy condiment connected me with friends during a year of isolation. Come aboard my chili crisp time machine.

Three jars of chili crisp — Scott Stein/CNET

The aircraft of James Bond: Little Nellie, a Vulcan bomber and a Concorde

Sure, 007 drives some pretty sweet cars, but he and his enemies also fly high in awesome aircraft.

"Little Nellie" mini-helicopter from James Bond film You Only Live Twice — Andrew Hoyle/CNET

COVID-19 vaccine passport for travel: What it is, how it works and who is pushing for them

Advocates say digital vaccine passports could create a bright future for post-pandemic travel, but others worry about privacy, inequality and coronavirus variants.

Passengers line up at the American Airlines counter in Ronald Reagan National Airport — Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

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The digital divide is a massive problem affecting millions of people — but if you only think about it that way, it can be abstract and overwhelming. It becomes a lot more real when you look at the individuals grappling with it day to day. Like Michelle in Scotland, anguishing over internet bills and her daughter’s online schooling. Like Jaqueline and Amelie in Kentucky, trying to get senior citizens registered to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

They’re just a few of the people you’ll encounter in the first two stories below, in our continuing series on the broadband gap. Sometimes the answer is changes in government policies, as proposed in an internet access bill just introduced in Parliament in the UK. Sometimes, as one man notes, “you have to think of nontechnical solutions.”

Those stories are among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

When it’s internet or food, broadband policies aren’t working

Even in wealthy countries, families are forced to make compromises to ensure their children have the required internet connection for remote learning.

Girl sitting on a park bench looking at a phone — Richard Bailey/Getty

COVID-19 vaccine is tough to find unless you’re an internet genius with broadband

For many seniors and people of color, technology is a barrier to getting the vaccine.

Illustration showing a vial of vaccine locked away while people stand waiting to get access — Richard Bailey/Getty

This video game helps men level up in bed by tackling sexual dysfunction

“They are learning progressively to control their body and their mind.”

Shirtless man sitting on the edge of a bed, hunched over in thought

Apple’s new ProRaw photo format has finally turned me into an iPhone guy

The advanced format is making the iPhone better for photography enthusiasts like me.

Cactus backlit by sunrise — Stephen Shankland/CNET

My foldable phone expectations were way too high

Phones have gotten boring, and foldables offered a glimmer of potential excitement. It didn’t last.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold — Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Hollywood is slowly working to rectify decades of Muslim misrepresentation

Shows like Ramy, Transplant and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow are pushing the industry away from stereotypical portrayals of Muslims as terrorists. But there’s a long road ahead.

PS5 and Xbox Series X out of stock? How a global chip shortage is ‘impacting everything’

Cristiano Amon, incoming CEO of chipmaker Qualcomm, warns in an interview with CNET that the shortage may not end until late 2021.

Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon — Qualcomm

Why Paramount’s biggest show, Yellowstone, isn’t on Paramount Plus

ViacomCBS is betting Yellowstone is worth more off Paramount Plus than on it.

Kevin Costner in Yellowstone — Paramount Network

WandaVision’s line about ‘grief’ was a portal to everything bad about the internet

It was a line powerful enough to send social media into a doom spiral.

Wanda and Vision stand in a living room, half in black-and-white and half in color — Marvel

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Rick Broida, our Cheapskate blogger, is always looking for a bargain. That’s not always as simple as typing a coupon code into a window on the payment page of a shopping site. Sometimes it takes some effort and experimentation.

That’s how it went down when Rick decided to try out T-Mobile Home Internet, which is in a limited-availability pilot phase and had just arrived in his area. It promises unlimited high-speed service for $50 a month, less than half what he was paying Comcast for cable internet. Here, he recounts his experience, from dealing with T-Mobile to setting up the gear and checking speeds to, ultimately, using the service day to day for work and play.

That’s just one of the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

I signed up for T-Mobile’s $50 unlimited home internet service. Here’s what happened

Finally, a low-cost alternative to cable. But would it be fast and reliable? I decided to find out.

T-Mobile Home Internet — Rick Broida/CNET

How Nextdoor saved my family during the Texas deep freeze

Commentary: My family members were stranded without power amid 6 inches of snow and freezing temperatures — until Nextdoor and a stranger came to the rescue.

Snow in Austin, Texas, February 15, 2021 — Natalie Weinstein / CNET

‘Animals are amazing’: How happy content finds its way to you

The Dodo and We Rate Dogs are some of the friendliest spaces online, but videos and tweets about dogs, cats, cows and piglets aren’t just about spreading good cheer.

Rescue dog — Screenshot by Kent German/CNET

Thanks to US laws, sex workers are fighting to stay online

In 2021 escorts aren’t just fighting against the stigma of sex work, they’re fighting for their right to be on the internet.

States couldn’t afford to wait for the FCC’s broadband maps to improve. So they didn’t

Georgia, Maine, Pennsylvania and others took mapping into their own hands, building their own granular data to pinpoint gaps in internet coverage and apply for federal funding.

Georgia's broadband map — Screenshot by Shara Tibken/CNET

How coronavirus stimulus funds helped one state create a ‘broadband miracle’

Mississippi could become a broadband giant.

Shacks in Sunflower County, Mississippi — Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Re-creating San Francisco’s Chinatown block by block in Minecraft

The oldest Chinatown in North America was re-created in the video game by a group of students and recent grads to preserve the neighborhood’s rich history.

Chinatown street scene in Minecraft — Mitchell Chang

How speech to text, password managers and other tech helped me work with a broken collarbone

Accessibility tech is steadily improving.

X-ray of collarbone with the stainless steel plate and screws — Stephen Shankland/CNET

2020 Subaru Outback long-term wrap-up: Our do-it-all wagon lived up to the hype

From grocery-getter to road-tripper to snow-blaster to campsite friend, over 12 months of testing, there wasn’t anything our Outback couldn’t do — and do well.

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If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve got a pretty good internet connection. Fast, dependable, constant. Consider yourself fortunate — there are millions of people who don’t. And in a world where so much of work, school, health care, shopping and entertainment take place online, that’s a big problem.

The question, as it has been for a long time, is what businesses, government and individuals can do to fix that. This week at CNET, we kicked off a new series of features examining the hard realities of the digital divide, that gaping swath of America and other parts of the world that can’t count on getting access to vital internet resources at all, or if they can, unreliably and at, for them, an exorbitant cost.

You can read the first two of those stories here, among the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

How faster internet is being blocked by politics and poverty throughout the eastern US

Biden’s broadband plan faces a good test case in Appalachia’s digital divide, where a potent mix of extreme poverty, lack of infrastructure and poor data present tremendous hurdles to the president’s dream of closing the broadband gap.

CNET

Millions of Americans can’t get broadband because of a faulty FCC map. There’s a fix

A fundamental flaw in closing the digital divide is not knowing where the problems actually are. We’re finally about to see changes.

Illustration showing disruption to broadband internet access — Robert Rodriguez/CNET

A frozen food fallacy? The coronavirus origin story that doesn’t stack up

Scant evidence exists to suggest frozen food can lead to COVID-19 infections, but the WHO researchers digging into the origins of the virus say it warrants further investigation.

Facebook pulled news in Australia. Here’s why that matters everywhere

Commentary: Australia has succeeded in getting big tech to pay for news, but the costs could be enormous.

Facebook news feed on a smartphone screen — Brendon Thorne/Stringer

Don’t turn your nose up at the TikTok feta pasta, it’s gone viral for a reason

The recipe is more than just an internet trend — it’s the closest thing to communal dining in the age of COVID-19.

Feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, herbs and oil — Katie Collins/CNET

3 reasons NASA’s Perseverance rover and going to Mars should matter to you

Commentary: Our world is a mess, why bother with another? CNET’s Eric Mack makes the case.

Artist's rendering of the Perseverance rover being lowered to Mars by a "skycrane." — NASA

Netflix’s Cecil Hotel is a bloated, irresponsible mess

It’s dull, drawn out and potentially dangerous.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel — Netflix

Nintendo games are too expensive but everyone keeps buying them

Commentary: Zelda: Skyward Sword HD costs $10 more on the Nintendo Switch than it did on the Wii. And it’s our own fault.

Scene from Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Nintendo Switch

Marvel legend Stan Lee’s complex life: ‘Neither saint nor Satan’

Abraham Riesman talks about writing True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, which explores the man behind the myth — and sometimes is uncomfortable to read.

Stan Lee reading a Marvel comics collection in 1991 — David Pokress/Newsday RM via Getty Images

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You’re looking to get rich. You could work hard and rise through the ranks. You could invent something that everybody wants or needs. You could marry into the right family. Or maybe you buy some cryptocurrency and look for a quick score.

If it’s the cryptocurrency route for you, be careful. The ups and downs can be intense, as we see in Dan Van Boom’s altcoin feature this week. He introduces us to people like Adam, who put in $4,000 and lost it in days, then turned $3,000 into $90,000. After withdrawing a third and losing another third, he had about $20,000 in crypto. But then there’s Crypto Spider, who lost $250,000 through fraud: “I think I’ve been scammed over 100 times.”

That’s just one of the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss.

Forget Bitcoin: Inside the insane world of altcoin cryptocurrency trading

Many altcoins don’t do anything, and some are scams. But average people are getting rich off them.

Dogecoin and bitcoins — Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images

Why WhatsApp users are pushing family members to Signal

A backlash movement against the messaging app is partly rooted in a distrust of its parent company, Facebook.

Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Image

‘Out on a high note’: How Jeff Bezos made Amazon a force in our lives

Bezos loved to take risks and play the long game, resulting in one of the most powerful tech companies in the world.

Microsoft says antitrust issues can be solved with legislation, not lawsuits

CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith see better ways to rein in big tech.

James Martin/CNET

Redwoods are made to survive fire, but they don’t live alone in the forest

While California’s redwood trees didn’t completely escape the effects of 2020’s huge wildfires, damage to the surrounding environment is a more pressing concern.

Fire damage at Big Basin Redwoods State Park — California State Parks

The COVID-19 pandemic will forever change how you experience live events

Concerts, festivals and conferences will be shaped by tech innovations from the past year.

The virtual stage at the iHeart Media/MediaLink CES 2021 party. — iHeart Media

In HBO’s Fake Famous, social media influencers buy their way to glory

Review: Do you want to be famous? A compelling new documentary from veteran tech journalist Nick Bilton shows just how fake social media can be.

Dominique Druckman at a fake photo shoot for Fake Famous. — HBO

UAE’s Hope Mars probe could change everything we know about the red planet

The United Arab Emirates will arrive at Mars on Feb. 9. It could rewrite our understanding of the planet’s atmosphere.

Astronaut in helmet with Mars as a backdrop — Robert Rodriguez/CNET

How Apple’s M1 MacBook changed my mind about the next iPad

The future of the Mac-iPad merger is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the MacBook Air — Scott Stein/CNET

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People have strong feelings about the things they plug into and sync up with their devices. Keyboards. Headphones. USB-C this and that. Even the humble power cord.

That’s evident in a little debate between CNET’s Dan Ackerman and Ian Sherr that popped up this week. Dan got things going with a commentary on how he’s less than thrilled about rumors Apple may bring back the MagSafe connector for MacBooks. Ian responded with a hearty rebuttal, lauding “one of the most important quirky features” Apple ever built into its laptops — and then took away.

That’s just for starters among the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Apple may be bringing MagSafe back to MacBooks. Here’s why it’s a terrible idea

Commentary: It breaks my heart to say this, but I’m hoping rumors of the MagSafe’s return aren’t true.

Comparing the original MagSafe with MagSafe 2 — James Martin/CNET

Apple’s plans to bring MagSafe back to Macs can’t happen soon enough

Commentary: The proprietary magnet connector saved me thousands of dollars in repairs, and I can’t imagine owning a laptop without it.

MagSafe power adapter for Mac laptops — Sarah Tew/CNET

The twisted, messy hunt for COVID-19’s origin and the lab leak theory

A tangle of conspiracy and politicking has complicated the investigation into the origins of the pandemic.

Bats in flight. So many bats. — Rodrigo Friscione/Getty

Netflix’s Night Stalker captures the terror of a murder spree I recall well

Commentary: I was 11 when Richard Ramirez killed two people in my hometown. The four-part true crime documentary has rough parts, but it vividly shows how scary that was.

President Trump’s legacy: A love-hate relationship with tech blew up in his face

Trump sparred with the likes of Twitter and Facebook despite his immense popularity on those platforms. His fiery rhetoric ultimately got him booted from them.

Trump vs. the Internet — James Martin/CNET

Controlling VR with my mind: NextMind’s dev kit shows me a strange new world

My two weeks living with a neural interface has been a trip.

Lyft test program offers drivers more rides in exchange for 10% pay cut

Lyft calls its feature “priority mode.” Drivers call it “poverty mode.”

A ride-hail car with a sign on the window that reads "Pay 4 our work!" — Mario Tama/Getty Images

One week with Apple Fitness Plus: Beating my lockdown weight gain

I’m just getting started with Apple’s new workout app, and already the pounds are dropping.

Notebook page logging workouts — Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The coronavirus pandemic explained, one year on

We’ve all learned so much about the coronavirus in the more than 365 days since CNET’s first guide was published.

Illustration of a person wearing a face mask — Robert Rodriquez/CNET

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And we’re off — 2021 has officially begun in the world of consumer technology. This week brought us, virtually, both the annual bonanza that is CES and Samsung’s first Unpacked event of the year. There was no shortage of product introductions and gadget aspirations.

From Samsung, for instance, we learned all about its new Galaxy S21 lineup, and all kinds of other tech it’s got in store for the world, from flashy new TVs and a linked fitness app to solar-charging remotes and a SmartThings Cooking service that pairs with its Family Hub refrigerators. And that just scratches the surface — you’ll find much, much more about CES here.

If you’ve had enough of all that, consider relaxing with a sea shanty singalong, which you can read about below. Our story on the TikTok trend is just one of the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Samsung Galaxy S21’s standout feature is its $200 price cut

Samsung made the move because of lower component costs, some minor tradeoffs and the pandemic.

samsung-galaxy-s21-06176 — Drew Evans/CNET

Verizon CEO makes the case that 5G is more than just faster phones

From drones to 3D renderings of museum exhibits, Hans Vestberg rattles off a list of ways 5G will change your life.

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg talks 5G — Screenshot by Sarah Tew/CNET

In a post-truth world, we need Wikipedia more than ever

Commentary: Wikipedia is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The free encyclopedia may not be exciting, but its neutral, volunteer-driven content is incredibly valuable.

20 years of Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation

Tackling my lockdown weight gain with Apple Fitness Plus

I’ve gained a lot of weight over lockdown. Now I’m turning to technology to help.

Riding the Wattbike Atom — Andrew Hoyle/CNET

After a sucky 2020, Samsung pitches a ‘better normal’ at CES 2021

With most of us still stuck at home, Samsung wants to make the space a better experience. But the total smart home remains elusive.

Samsung's JetBot 90 Plus smart vacuum cleaner in a living room — Samsung

Sea shanties are everywhere on TikTok. Here’s why

From Wellerman to Drunken Sailor, sea shanties are attracting the attention of landlubber TikTokers. “It went wild. I don’t really know what happened,” says the guy at the center of it all.

Merchant sailors on a sailing ship, with early record player — Getty

Conspiracy theories collide online as Parler goes dark

Is it a pro-Trump rally? Or a trap? A reliance on encrypted chat apps fuels conflicting messages and a splintering of right-wing groups online.

Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol — Getty Images

Marvel’s WandaVision on Disney Plus a delightful, surreal superhero soap

Spoiler-free review: Do not adjust your set. Marvel’s imaginative new TV show is utterly unlike anything in the MCU, but in the best way.

Imagining the future of CES

Commentary: How can I imagine a world where we can’t see ahead more than a few hours? This year’s virtual show already felt like science fiction.

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Some folks will go to great lengths to get tech to work just the way they want it to. So it was with CNET Editor at Large Ian Sherr, who awhile back not only built his own computer but also did the coding needed to get MacOS working on it. Voila! Hackintosh.

But that machine’s days are numbered, thanks to Apple’s recent decision to start using chips of its own making in its computers, rather than those from Intel that it had been using for years. An era is coming to an end. With that in mind, Sherr — who’s not alone in his Hackintosh endeavors — is getting out his tinkering supplies one more time.

You can read about that DIY project below. It’s just one of the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Apple’s new Mac Mini is killing my Hackintosh

Commentary: Four years ago, I built a PC, then tricked it to run Mac software. Soon, Apple will stop it from working.

Apple M1 MacBooks and Mac Mini — Dan Ackerman/CNET

I got my COVID-19 vaccine earlier than expected. What the shot is like

Turns out a stick in the arm is a great way to ring in the New Year.

Syringe in a gloved hand — Sarah Tew/CNET

Test-driving the Walkcar, the ‘car in your bag’

With a name like Walkcar, I had to try out this personal electric vehicle. Especially since it looks like a laptop with wheels.

Nic Henry/CNET

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube need to let someone else moderate their platforms

Commentary: It’s increasingly clear these companies aren’t trustworthy moderators.

Getty Images

This is what happens when your Nintendo Switch account gets banned

Say goodbye to your digital games library and hello to purgatory.

Nintendo account message "Unable to download software...."

Parler rife with talk of guns and violence before Capitol riot

The social media site has taken off since Twitter and Facebook started cracking down on misinformation.

Donald Trump using smartphone — Getty Images

My newest fitness tracker is a VR headset

Oculus Move has shown me where fitness apps could head next.

Jeep Grand Cherokee history: How the SUV evolved over nearly 3 decades

From the initial smash hit to today’s 707-horsepower Trackhawk, few SUVs have stood the test of time like the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

I did yoga every day for a year

I didn’t know it when I started, but a daily yoga practice would help me get through 2020.

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As a long year winds down, we could all use something to smile about. Well, for starters we have an effective coronavirus vaccine, and it’s on the way across the country, starting with the people who need it most. Developed in record time, it’s a technological breakthrough that also bodes well for future vaccines.

Closer at hand for a lot of us is a big blockbuster movie that’ll be in theaters and streaming starting on Christmas Day: Wonder Woman 1984. In his review, CNET’s Sean Keane says the movie is a spectacular sequel, “with eye-popping action scenes, vivid settings and a positive message that’s a breath of fresh air.”

And how’s this for positive vibes: The year 2021 could be when 5G finally becomes an everyday reality for the masses, and at a reasonable cost. No, really.

Our stories on those topics are among the in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go, these are the stories you don’t want to miss:

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, even if long-term data is lacking

Vaccines have been developed in record time, but medical experts say there’s been no skimping on safety.

Hypodermic needle in a gloved hand — Sarah Tew/CNET

5G will start to live up to its hype in 2021 — for real this time

The technology’s coverage will be broader. Devices will be cheaper. And we might start seeing applications that tap into 5G’s benefits.

Network speed monitor on a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G screen — Logan Moy/CNET

The best video games of 2020: CNET’s favorite titles of the year

A year filled with Ghosts, Hades and Fall Guys.

Still image from The Last of Us Part 2 — Naughty Dog

Wonder Woman 1984 review: Gal Gadot’s return is a wild, neon-injected thrill ride

Spoiler-free: Diana Prince’s second outing has a strong emotional core and wild action scenes, even if it feels a little long.

Still from Wonder Woman 1984 — Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures

Big Tech spent billions on sparkling new offices. Now they’re nearly empty

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed most techies to work from home. Here’s what happens when it’s over.

Tim Cook Apple Park Cupertino — Screenshot by CNET

Bugatti Baby II first drive review: The most fun I’ve ever had on four wheels

Though it may be meant for children, this electric pint-size Bug will put a smile on any enthusiast’s face.

2020 was a year without Marvel heroes. Do we need them back?

In a year defined by pandemic, TV saved the day.

Scarlett Johansson Black Widow — Marvel Entertainment; screenshot by Joal Ryan/CNET

As Hollywood and tech look to boost diversity, accessibility is finally having its moment

Studios and tech giants have ramped up efforts to include people with disabilities, but the work’s just begun.

Wheelchair user at a computer — Getty Images

2021 could mark a reset in the frosty US-EU tech relationship

Hopes are high in Europe that common ground might be found with the Biden administration on privacy, data, regulation, taxation and China.

Joe Biden with US and EU flags — Emmanuel Dunand/Getty Images

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It’s becoming a regular thing: Once again, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified before Congress. This time around, it was about how their social media companies handled the 2020 US election, though the questioning also touched on tech addiction, encryption and antitrust. That was midday Tuesday; later in the day, President Trump fired the head of the US’ top cybersecurity agency for debunking claims of election fraud.

Outside Washington this week, excitement continued for the latest game consoles, with the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and Series S remaining hard to get. But we heard from Xbox chief Phil Spencer about how games have become a way of life, and took a deep dive into how Activision created Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the software front, there were some changes of note. For instance, Google Pay is getting an overhaul with a new focus on managing bank accounts and finances, and Google also said it’s testing end-to-end encryption for Android text messages. Meanwhile, Apple announced it’s dropping the App Store commission it charges to 15% for developers making less than $1 million a year.

And we launched a new package of stories about satellites, called Signals From Above. This week’s stories dive into what we can expect from SpaceX’s Starlink project for broadband from space and the looming dangers of space debris.

Here are the stories from the past week that you don’t want to miss.

Space has become a junkyard, and it’s getting worse

We’re building a Great Garbage Shell around the Earth, full of defunct satellites and tiny pieces of junk.

Android and iPhones are all about privacy now, but startup OSOM thinks it can do better

The team behind Andy Rubin’s Essential is back, but without Rubin. Now called OSOM, it plans to introduce new privacy-focused hardware and software in late 2021.

Beyond the impossible: Lab-grown meat is better for the planet — if you’ll eat it

Cultured meat could be better for the environment, but whether you’ll want to eat it is another issue. And don’t expect vegans and vegetarians to get on board.

Cultured seafood from Blue Nalu — Blue Nalu

Apple’s secret weapon in AR is right in front of us

Exclusive: Apple’s AR executives talk about why iPhones and iPads are transforming into world-mapping, object-scanning tools — and why that matters more right now than glasses.

iPhone 12 Pro Max camera lenses — James Martin/CNET

How SpaceX Starlink broadband will envelop Earth and transform the sky

Elon Musk wants to connect all corners of the planet via space, but his thousands of orbiting routers may pose a risk to satellites and to science.

Satellite broadband from space — Robert Rodriguez/CNET

Creating the new Call of Duty during a pandemic: ‘We had no idea how we were going to do any of this’

Making a massive game like Call of Duty isn’t easy. Especially during a pandemic while planning for next-gen console hardware.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War screenshot — Activision

Uber’s national push over gig worker status has been underway for months

Even before its Proposition 22 win in California, Uber was emailing drivers in other states about a plan to keep them classified as independent contractors.

Uber driver wearing a face mask, with a sign taped to the car door saying "The gig is up." — James Martin/CNET

The smell of Napoleon at war: Scientists resurrect the scents of Europe’s past

As part of the Odeuropa project, researchers from six countries are bringing historical smells, from the sublime to the stinky, to modern noses. “Smells shape our experience of the world.”

"On the Evening of the Battle of Waterloo," by British painter Ernest Crofts — Getty Images

Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is the gin archaeologist we need right now

On CNET’s I’m So Obsessed podcast, the director of films like Spy and Ghostbusters explains how his passion for gin led to him making his own.

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Game consoles. Apple hardware and software. Those were the two big themes of the week gone by.

Those of you who’ve been hankering to dive into the next generation of gaming got your wish. First, after months of teasing, Microsoft made its Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S available in stores and online. A few days later, Sony followed suit with the PlayStation 5. Retailers had trouble keeping up with demand.

Meanwhile, Apple held a virtual event — its third in three months — to introduce a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, all built around the company’s new M1 chip, designed in house under the label of Apple silicon. Before the week was out, the company also rolled out the Big Sur version of MacOS, and the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max went on sale.

Here are the stories from the past week that you don’t want to miss.

Apple wants to remake Mac computers, and it’s taking control

The new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini look the same on the outside, but they’re getting new tricks that PCs will struggle to emulate.

MacOS Big Sur review: The other half of the Mac’s 2020 rebirth

MacOS 11 brings new capabilities and more unity with the rest of your Apple devices.

Apple's Craig Federighi opens a MacBook — Apple

Why the PS5 and Xbox Series X need to break the video game mold

Commentary: Let’s get some new ideas in the mix.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the perfect PS5 launch title

Commentary: Miles’ friendly neighborhood adventure is exactly what PlayStation needs to kick off a new console generation.

Miles Morales atop Avengers tower — PS5 Performance Mode

Coded Bias review: Eye-opening documentary faces up to racist technology

Meet the activists fighting back against the human failings hardwired into the algorithms already ruling our lives.

A still from Coded Bias — 7th Empire Media

Follow the iPhone 12 Pro Max on a rugged Lost Coast photography adventure

CNET senior photographer James Martin puts the camera on Apple’s new phone through the paces along California’s coastline.

Tenting on California's Lost Coast — James Martin/CNET

Donald Trump ignored the science. Joe Biden must rely on it

Commentary: The president-elect will need to reverse some of the damage done by the Trump administration’s attack on science.

Joe Biden, wearing a mask — Drew Angerer/Getty

Author Anthony Horowitz, creator of teen spy Alex Rider, on why books matter

On CNET’s I’m So Obsessed podcast, Horowitz discusses his writing career and the TV series about his unlikely teenage spy, which is now arriving on Amazon Prime.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Nordic and English history you need to know

The more you know about the target, the sweeter the victory.

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This week, the attention of the country — and the world — has been on the US presidential election. While the results were up in the air, we kept you informed on key topics: how election officials and others were tackling cybersecurity, what social media companies were doing to fight misinformation, and how tech is slowly making elections more accessible.

But that wasn’t the full story of the week gone by. Apple opened preorders for its iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max, we got our hands on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and we’re looking ahead to next week’s Apple event.

Here are the stories from the past week that you don’t want to miss:

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