PlayStation 4 to stream games in real time over Net, says report

At the end of January, Sony announced a PlayStation event but gave few details. We'll get the 411 this coming Wednesday in New York. Sony's acquisition last year of cloud-gaming company Gaikai may be reflected in a big way in the upcoming PlayStation 4. The Wall Street Journal is citing inside sources in reporting that Sony's new...

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Toshiba SBX4250

Choosing a sound bar largely comes down to sound quality and design, with features being far less important than when evaluating other products. That's what makes the Toshiba SBX4250 ($270 street) a bit of a hard sell: it sounds and looks just about average, but has a great feature set. There's built-in Bluetooth, for wireless audio streaming from most smartphones and tablets, plus it has a ton of inputs, with two HDMI, two...

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Samsung unveils a comfortable, functional Galaxy Note 8 (hands-on)

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 adds new features to its comfortable, elegant, 8-inch design. BARCELONA, Spain--After months of leaked pics and rumors, Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 is now officially a corporeal thing of reality. If I can trust in my senses, today I actually got to touch and use the Note 8 for a limited time. What follows are...

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Google Chromebook Pixel

Google’s Web-based Chromebook laptops seem to be heading in two different directions. On one end, there’s the Samsung Chromebook Series 3. At the time of his writing, it’s the best-selling laptop on Amazon.com. Perhaps not surprising, given its $249 price tag -- it’s basically filling the low-end gap left by the collapse of the...

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Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T (128GB, Windows 8)

If you’re dying to have a Windows 8 tablet that’s also a full-powered ultrabook-level PC, and you also want to have said tablet come with its own full-featured keyboard, there are other pastures beckoning beyond the Microsoft Surface Pro. And while the Surface Pro might be the most recognizable of the PC-tablets in this early Windows 8 era, Samsung’s ATIV XE700T (or, Smart PC Pro 700T) is a Core i5 tablet, too -- and it...

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Microsoft Outlook.com e-mail

With its new Outlook.com service, Microsoft has succeeded in shaking up the boring and never-changing world of e-mail. Designed to replace the company's long-running Hotmail product, the free browser-based service sports a strikingly simple and vaguely Windows 8 interface, SkyDrive and social-media integration, and a strong set of organizational...

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2013 Buick Verano Turbo

When I responded to friends' and coworkers' inquiries about what my wheels for the week would be with "the 2013 Buick Verano Turbo," I was usually met with odd looks and replies. "Ugh, I'm not a fan of big cars." "You must not be happy with that one." "Wow, they still make Buicks?" It seems that Buick has an uphill battle to get past all...

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Russian meteorite: The conspiracy theories

A strange time for a military attack? (Credit: CNN; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) A good hearty conspiracy theory can shine a sharp light on two of humanity's most enduring traits. One, of course, is humanity's boundless imagination. The other is humanity's essential suspicion of humanity. So while you might be deeply...

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HP Pavilion 27xi

The HP Pavilion 27xi is a sleek, affordable 27-inch monitor that easily meets simple monitor needs. That is, movie-watching, gaming, and general Web browsing as well as productivity. It's a no-frills monitor that includes the holy trinity of connections and satisfying picture customization options. While the Pavilion 27xi delivers great performance for a $340 monitor, it's not the monitor to use if you have precision color-critical...

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LG Spirit 4G (MetroPCS)

Save for one handset (the LG Motion 4G), all of MetroPCS' LG handsets have been stuck on Gingerbread. So when the LG Spirit 4G was released on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (yes, it's not the latest Jelly Bean version, but I'll take what I can get), I was pleased. Not only was the update refreshing, the phone will also be the only other...

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Dell Latitude 10 (64GB, Windows 8 Pro)

After an initial wave of Windows 8 laptops with sliding, twisting, folding, or detachable screens, we're now seeing a small flood of pure standalone slate-style tablets with Microsoft's new operating system. These systems often include a keyboard and touch pad/mouse component, but it's secondary to the tablet experience. Most prominent of these new Windows 8 tablets is the Core i5 Microsoft Surface Pro, which is more than $1,100...

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Microsoft Surface Pro ad debuts amid supply gripes

The Surface Pro ad is here, but so are gripes about supply. The ad (above) has an obvious business bent, focusing on pen input. And, of course, how light it is (two pounds). There's also a nod to the touch interface and USB connectivity. The ad was directed by Jon M Chu, who directed the earlier Surface RT ad. Meanwhile over at...

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HP Officejet Pro X576dw

IntroductionThe $799 HP Officejet Pro X576dw multifunction inkjet printer defies established industry logic that says laser printers are better for small businesses requiring speedy text output at a budget cost without a primary concern for print output quality. HP's new PageWide technology deserves the credit for this crossover -- it's...

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LA Microsoft Store not mobbed, but Surface has a following

The Surface Pro (Credit: Brooke Crothers) LOS ANGELES -- The launch of the Surface Pro at the Microsoft Store in LA's Century City was a relatively low-key affair compared with the debut of the Surface RT. When I arrived just after 10 a.m. there was a small line (see photo). That said, both versions -- 64GB and 128GB -- of...

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