Bulbageddon is upon us

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, incandescents; it tolls for thee. Along with the start of a new calendar year, the changeover to 2014 will signal the dawn of a new era, one where rising efficiency standards render 40- and 60-watt incandescent light bulbs obsolete. The new standards will put an end to the Edison creation's century-long...

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Samsung chip advance paves way for phones with 4GB memory

Samsung's 8-gigabit low-power DDR4 memory chips for mobile devices. (Credit: Samsung) In a move that should help fix a key performance bottleneck in mobile devices, Samsung announced Monday it's developed a new 8Gb DRAM memory chip for high-end phones and tablets. The chip uses a low-power DDR4 (Double Data Rate 4) interface...

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Phone companies say 'no way' to storing phone data for NSA

President Obama last week signaled that he is open to reforming the NSA's bulk collection of phone metadata, including an advisory panel recommendation that phone companies or third parties hold onto the data instead of the NSA. However, phone companies apparently aren't thrilled with the idea. Major phone companies argue that being required to store metadata for an extended period of time for the NSA would be costly, time...

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OK, Glass: Show me what's next for Google

The anticipated 2014 public availability of Google Glass has the potential to change not just the world of Internet-connected wearables, but Google itself. (Credit: James Martin/CNET) December 2014 is a year away. Barring unforeseen complications, Google Glass will have gone public by then and just might have forever altered...

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Computers at CES 2014: Chromebooks and hybrids, plus the birth of Steambox

The laptop and desktop of today is far removed from the models spotlighted at CES even a few years ago. Modern laptops are slimmer, lighter, and run longer, while nearly all new Windows PCs, including all-in-one desktops, have touch screens -- a practical requirement for the Windows 8 operating system. Beyond that, we live in a world of hybrids on convertibles now, where systems experiment with new forms and functions,...

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Next step for connected devices? Connect the devices

Smart thermostat Nest is just one device that makes up the connected home. (Credit: Nest) Instead of calling a handyman to repair a busted refrigerator or thermostat, imagine instead calling the "maker man." In addition to being able to check the mechanics of a device on the fritz, this fix-it person could also check things like...

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Japan's Schaft has all the right stuff at DARPA trials

Schaft's humanoid robot prowls through long grass. What are Google's plans for it? (Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET) It may look like a clunky Asimo prototype from 20 years ago, but a humanoid rescue robot built by Japanese university graduates overwhelmed the competition at a prestigious Pentagon-sponsored robotics...

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Home theater at CES 2014: Sound bars, streaming, and over-the-air TV

What kind of new sound bars will be at CES 2014? (Credit: Vizio) Home theater is always one of the major stars at the Consumer Electronics Show, with every major company rolling out a full suite of new products promising to make your digital entertainment look and sound better. Those product lineups tend to include plenty of...

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Cheap last-minute gifts for your favorite tech nerd

Well, here we are, folks, the home stretch. You've got less than 48 hours to solve your procrastination woes, to find the ultimate tech gift for that special someone. Have no fear; the Cheapskate is here. 1. A gift subscription to Next Issue Unlimited magazine access courtesy of Next Issue. (Credit: Next Issue) Tablets...

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Celebration planned for 30th anniversary of the Macintosh

The Macintosh was launched to great fanfare on January 24, 1984. It was a new kind of personal computer that would show why 1984 wouldn't be like the 1984 of George Orwell's dystopian novel, as portrayed in the famous Macintosh ad that aired during the Super Bowl two days before launch. As Steve Jobs explained the situation, Apple had to save the world from an IBM. "It is now 1984. It appears that IBM wants it...

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For tablets and cellular, it's go time

The iPad Mini Retina with 3G/4G: Have cellular, will travel. (Credit: Apple) In 2010, the iPad wedged itself into the market between the smartphone and laptop using the operating system of the former but something closer to the screen of the latter. Apple's tablet has long offered cellular connectivity as an option, but...

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Microsoft squeezes little profit out of each Xbox One

Microsoft's Xbox One. (Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET) In a peek at Microsoft's new gaming console shared with AllThingsD, research firm IHS found that the manufacturing cost of the Xbox One is just $28 higher than the retail price, leaving Microsoft with little profit to take home. Microsoft sells each Xbox One for $499 after spending...

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Apple patent filing maps out smarter mapping app

Apple's Maps app received quite a drubbing last year for its many faults and foibles. But Apple could easily overcome that bad reputation if an app envisioned in a newly-published patent filing ever comes to fruition. Published Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple patent application called simply "Interactive Map" describes an electronic map that displays layers of different information and more intelligently...

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Apple's tearjerker holiday ad: Self-absorbed teens care after all

Is he ignoring everyone? Or did he forget to buy Christmas gifts? (Credit: Apple video/Screenshot by CNET) You're familiar with the iPhone. It's the one that everyone carries around in order to take pictures of everything they see. All the time. Without cessation. Earlier this year, Apple boasted about this. Now the company...

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Apple approves 'only gay social app for ages 12 and up'

A Distinc.tt scene. (Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) Do you feel that the gay community is all too often symbolized by shiny torsos with a body fat percentage below 3? Do you sense that when you think of gay apps, the first that comes to mind is Grindr? But what about gay taste? What about the gay sense of style?...

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Dell Venue 11 Pro: The anti-iPad

Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet with keyboard. (Credit: James Martin/CNET) My first impression of the Dell Venue 11 Pro is positive. It's very different from the iPad Air but that's OK. The Venue 11 has a gorgeous 10.8-inch -- an unusual size -- 1,920x1,080 IPS display, and the model I'm using is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom...

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Amazon wants customers to gift Amazon Coins for games, apps

Amazon's app store customers can now buy Amazon Coins, the store's virtual currency, as gifts, the company announced Thursday. When customers purchase a bundle of Amazon Coins as a gift, Amazon will notify the gift recipient through e-mail. The coins are normally priced at one cent per coin, but Amazon is adding a slight discount for bundles to encourage gifting. Bundles currently range from $4.80 for 500 coins to $90...

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Constantly taking photos may mess with your memory

Remember when? (Credit: Apple/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) All right, Apple. It's like this. You like to tell us that more people take pictures with the iPhone than any other camera. You like to make ads in which, if you're not taking a picture of something, you can't be said to be living. But just stop...

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Twitter bird at its booziest in 'Drunk Tweets' art

This bird perfectly exemplifies a trashed tweet. (Credit: Josh Ellingson) Mix alcohol and a smartphone, and at some point in the evening, there will probably be drunk-tweeting. But what if Twitter's blue bird mascot and his buddies had a cocktail party of their own? That's what San Francisco graphic artist Josh Ellingson pondered...

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Get AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro for free

If you're working with a big hard drive, migrating to an SSD, or trying to reclaim storage that was originally allocated to, say, system-restore data, you need a good partition manager. There are freebie options out there, sure, but why not go pro if you can? From now until Dec. 16, you can get AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition 5.5 (Win) for free. Regular price: $36. That's a Cheapskate exclusive, cheeps. True...

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Living with the Leon: Taking the Leon to the Limit

It didn't necessarily have to be Essex but that's where Car Limits is based, at North Weald Airfield. Car Limits principally concerns itself with teaching car control in your own vehicle, so whilst I'm usually a plodding pace car, or frantically chasing down far more powerful opposition in a David versus Goliath matchups, I felt it was time to give the plucky underdog an edge. Performance driving schools all strive for an...

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Get a MyCharge Summit 3000 mobile charger for $18 shipped

The MyCharge Summit 3000 has Apple 30-pin, Micro-USB, and USB connectors, plus a standard USB port. And it plugs right into a wall outlet for recharging. (Credit: Ice Monkey) This is an update of a deal I wrote about earlier this year. Given how utterly indispensable our mobile phones have become, it's no understatement...

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