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 run as America's favorite light, and force consumers to turn to newer, more efficient technologies when replacing a burnt out bulb.

In the big picture, incandescent bulbs seem to be going out with more of a whimper than a bang, as a recent survey showed that 6 out of 10 consumers aren't even aware of the new standards coming on January 1. Of the 4 in 10 who are aware, a majority are excited for the widespread usage of higher-efficiency lighting -- though plenty of consumers aren't so happy to see their beloved incandescents burn out for good.

Halogens like this one use incandescent technology, but are efficient enough to meet the new standards.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)

However, don't be too quick to mourn them. Though common incandescents will no longer be manufactured or sold in the US after standards go up, retailers will be permitted to continue selling their existing inventories, just as they were when 75- and 100-watt incandescents were phased out last January. Many stores were able to continue selling those bulbs on into the summer, so don't be surprised to see incandescent bulbs on the shelves well after the standards kick in.

In addition, keep in mind that incandescents aren't actually banned -- efficiency standards are simply going up. The common incandescent won't be able to keep up, but a more efficient incandescent would still be fair game. The good news? This kind of incandescent -- the halogen bulb -- already exists. These bulbs trap the incandescent's filament within a tiny, harmless amount of halogen gas. This gas is able to "recycle" the evaporated tungsten back onto filament, making for a longer-lasting, more efficient incandescent bulb. Best of all, these bulbs don't cost much more than standard incandescents, so consumers looking for a cheap, simple lighting option will still have one.

Halogens are already readily available, and some retailers plan on doubling down on them in the coming year. At Home Depot, where a 4-pack of 60-watt replacement halogens currently costs $5.97, the store's line of EcoSmart halogens will soon be expanded and re-branded as "EcoIncandescents." A spokesperson for Lowe's echoed a similar push toward a greater halogen selection.

Plenty of LEDs, like the Cree bulb on the right, will offer similar brightness and color to what you'll get from incandescents -- and they'll do so using a fraction of the wattage.

(Credit: Ry Crist/CNET)

Consumers willing to pay for a more significant upgrade in their bulb's efficiency and longevity will be happy to know that LED and CFL options will be expanding, as well. We've already seen high-quality lights like the Cree 60-watt Replacement LED drop well below the $10 mark in many parts of the country (Home Depot claims that instant rebates are available for the Cree bulb at over 400 stores). In addition, we're starting to see intriguing new designs like the Philips SlimStyle LED, which eliminates the bulky heat sinks commonly found in LED bulbs. Lights like these could signal that the next big step in LED tech is right around the corner -- along with significantly lower prices.

Whether you're anxiously stockpiling incandescent bulbs while you can, or celebrating the start of a more efficient era, the good news is that you're still going to have plenty of options when you head out to your local lighting aisle. The end of the incandescent doesn't have to mean the end of lighting that you'll enjoy living with, but with things changing so rapidly, taking some time to get to know your new options would be a very bright idea, indeed.

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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 that can transmit 3.2Gbps over each of its electrical connections, twice that of today's DDR3 memory, Samsung said. And it consumes 40 percent less power.

When the new memory chips ship in 2014, they'll pave the way for premium devices with 4GB of memory. Today, Samsung sells 4Gb and 6Gb DDR3 memory chips used in devices with 2GB and 3GB of memory, respectively.

Yes, it's confusing: memory chip capacity is measured in gigabits, but device memory is measured in gigabytes. Mobile memory chips are typically packaged in groups, so four 8Gb chips would give a device 4GB of memory.

DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is a significant constraint in mobile devices, both in the cost of components and in battery-flattening power consumption. But more memory is tremendously useful, particularly as operating systems and apps get bigger and as mobile OSes move toward multitasking, in which multiple apps are active at the same time.

As apps get bigger, they leave less free memory, which means the operating system is forced to suspend them when they're in the background. That slows people down when they're trying to switch among tasks, for example copying text from one program and pasting it into another.

Samsung's advance means the current push to 64-bit mobile processors will make more sense. Apple's A7 processor, used in new iPhone and iPad models, is the first such processor on the market. The chip offers an improved foundation for software, but as more RAM arrives on mobile devices, a 64-bit chip is needed to easily tap into more than 4GB of memory.

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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 consuming, and risky, according to a report from The Washington Post on Saturday.

The NSA's bulk collection of phone metadata, which it legally justifies under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, was revealed in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. While courts are split about the legality of the surveillance program, the NSA is currently allowed to store phone data for up to five years.

One recommendation floated by Obama's hand-picked NSA reform panel was scrapping the NSA's direct collection and storage of data and instead having the phone companies hang onto it. In this scenario, the NSA would be required to get a court order on a case-by-case basis to receive specific data from the phone firms.

The panel's report, which was released by the White House earlier in December, urges phone companies to reach an agreement with the government to store phone metadata. But if a "voluntary approach" doesn't work, the panel said legislation may be required.

So what do phone companies think of this voluntary approach? "No way," said an unnamed industry executive, according to the Post. Apparently, some phone companies aren't too keen on storing data for the NSA:

"We don't want to keep these records," said an industry executive, who like several others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. "We end up with all sorts of litigation risks, privacy risks, hacking vulnerabilities. There is a huge cost involved in just protecting them. And truthfully, we just don't want to do it."

One major carrier estimated that it would cost "in the range of $50 million" a year to maintain a five-year, searchable database, according to a company official.

The companies and security experts say the stored records would become an attractive target for hackers.

"We've always thought it was a bad idea," said a second telecom industry executive. "What I find perplexing about this is privacy advocates don't like the idea, the intelligence community doesn't like the idea, and the carriers don't like the idea. So it's not clear whether you are solving a problem or making the problem worse."

The Post goes on to note that some politicians and privacy advocates are also against the idea of phone companies or third parties storing phone data for an extended period of time.

In total, the NSA advisory panel made 46 recommendations to the White House on ways to address concerns over privacy and potential domestic spying. Obama said he is considering the recommendations and decisions will be made in January.

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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 its maker in the process.

The story of how Glass could change Google begins back on June 27, 2012. Sergey Brin and his cohorts, in what we now know is Google's X division, pulled off the preposterous, dangerous, and wildly successful extreme sports debut of Glass at the end of its annual developer conference keynote.

It wasn't the first time that Glass had been seen in public, but it suddenly shot the Internet-enabled headset into public consciousness. After Google teased the public with Glass' skydiving debut, the company then proceeded with a caution that extends to this day.

The headset didn't ship until almost a year after making a splash at Google I/O. If you shelled out the $1,500 for the Explorer Edition of the headset, you had to visit Google in person to pick it up. Google has never said why it's taking such a cautious approach, but you could argue that the Glass team knew it had something unusual and controversial on its hands -- and knew Glass needed to handled with kid gloves to make it work.

Slow and steady Glass development Fast forward to today, Google Glass has progressed at a slow and steady pace. Gone are the days of tossing a smartphone like the G1 into the world and praying to the gods of free-market capitalism that it will succeed or die a Randian death. Google has matured as a company, as evidenced by its measured approach to Glass.

There are several thousand Google Glass testers, mostly in the United States, who are wearing, testing, and writing apps for the Android-powered headset. Glass receives a monthly firmware update that adds small but important features such as voice command support for navigation and music. Rarely are there big, world-shattering updates.

Last month saw the debut of the Glass Development Kit preview, finally giving Explorer Edition owners access to most of the hardware APIs (application programming interfaces) so that they could build more interactive apps. Even in its preview form, the GDK was a major piece that allowed developers to build Glassware apps closer to the quality of apps we've become accustomed to on our smartphones.

We also know that Google is inviting more people to purchase Glass, distributing a slightly-updated Explorer Edition headset to current Glass owners for free, and building some accessories such as eye shields and mono earbuds.

Google representatives have acknowledged that Glass' battery life needs work, probably the most common complaint about Glass. The only thing that looks more ridiculous than an Internet-enabled headset is one tethered to a battery pack.

Google Glass has already been banned by some establishments.

(Credit: Lost Lake Cafe/ Facebook)

But given Google's recent successes with Android, polishing the mobile operating system and the devices that it powers, Google has proven that it can put together compelling hardware powered by a modern version of Android that doesn't make you want to rip your hair -- or Larry Page's -- out by the roots.

Convincing the public Getting all the development factors lined up is, in some ways, easier than what must follow: selling Glass to a curious but skeptical public. Already banned in some places, and its wearers tagged with the subtly derogatory "Glassholes," a downside to Google debuting Glass in such a public manner is that people have had a lot of time to criticize the concept.

It's likely a time frame for Glass' public release could be revealed at next spring's Google developer conference, Google I/O. Google might even have the Explorer Edition follow-up headsets as their giveaway.

Google has seen success in giving away new, high-profile hardware at Google I/O, as developers crow and help build interest in the new hardware, a paradigm that fits Glass perfectly. A late summer or early fall release wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility as an I/O announcement.

Mark Shandy, a Google Glass engineer with a long history in tech that stretches back to Xerox PARC, shows off a prototype Google Glass fitted for prescription glasses.

(Credit: Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

That would also fit in line with comments that Google has made about wanting to get Glass's price down below $600. The components apparently cost around $210. A new high-end smartphone without a contract runs around $600, if Google can hit a price tag under $300 it would make Glass significantly more appealing.

Another aspect of Glass that challenges Google's comfort zone is convincing the public that Glass isn't just for dweebs. The touchscreen smartphone, now ubiquitous, had a lengthy legacy that spanned two decades. Wearable Internet-connected headsets still haven't crossed over from science fiction to consumer reality.

Looming even larger are the ongoing privacy concerns. Just because Google has banned the development of Glassware that uses facial recognition doesn't mean that they won't be out there. There are even legitimate use-cases for facial recognition. It's one thing when you can tell that somebody is recording you or taking your photo because they're holding up their phone in front of their face, but what happens when the camera is the size of a sugar cube and at eye level?

The struggling "Google Barge" is one indication of Google's intentions. Google has said that the barges will be a showcase for new technologies. It would be hard to imagine a Google-sponsored floating new tech showcase without its cutting edge wearable headset. We also know that Google has been in talks with eye care insurers and prescription lens vendors.

It makes sense that Google would want to pursue several creative ways of making Glass available, such as the optometrist's office and "future-tech" storefronts. Simply making them available at Best Buy alongside the latest Samsung Galaxy device would interfere with Google's ability to control the Glass message. Message control and user education will be the keystones to Glass's success, especially since they've already been the subject of much derision and scrutiny.

As Google looks into Glass, Glass also looks into Google Google Glass isn't the first wearable Internet-connected headset in the world, and it may not even be the best. But it's fueled by an operating system that already has at least hundreds of thousands of developers, and it's backed by the company behind the world's most popular search engine and one of the most-used Web browsers.

Google is helping some developers create real-world uses for Glass.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

That puts it on significantly more stable footing than most in the burgeoning wearables field, in terms of both financial and developmental support. But Google's not exactly known for making hardware, its recently acquired Motorola division notwithstanding. It's an ad company that trades services for data and ad sales.

And that raises the biggest question when it comes to Glass: how long will Google be able to avoid the clarion call of its lifeblood?

Google won't want to spoil the pot, so ads in the first iteration of Google Glass are doubtful. But what about further down the line, in the second or third model? And if it does introduce ads, will people revolt? It sounds unlikely, but remember that you can still find people wistfully talking about the good ol' days of the Web before ads without too much difficulty.

Trying to predict what Google will do is not unlike trying to prognosticate the path of a voraciously hungry, hyper-intelligent gorilla. But if Google succeeds with Glass, and we'll have a much better idea of whether it will 12 months from now, it'll be because the company has been able to build a compelling device never seen before and convince people that they need it.

Google has stumbled, sometimes badly, in product and in messaging. If they can pull off a successful Glass, those days where larger margins of error were acceptable might become about as common as a Web site without an ad.

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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, shifting between laptop and tablet. Some are more successful than others, and even after more than a year of touchscreen hybrids, we're still sorting out what types of convertible bodies consumers actually like using.

While the past few CES shows have covered groundbreaking trends such as ultrabooks, touch screens and Windows 8, hybrids, and tablets, this year looks like it may be devoid of a single new idea theme. Instead we'll see refinements of these recent trends, hopefully resulting in better, less-expensive technology for everyone.

Of course, keep in mind that announcing a raft of products in January no longer matches up with most PC makers' annual calendars, which are largely tuned to the back-to-school and holiday seasons. So it makes sense that companies such as HP, Dell, and others would announce new products on their own timetables later in the year.

Chromebooks
Look for new entries in this still-untested space. Early laptops running Google's kinda-sorta OS have sold well, but that's because of extremely low prices and a significant marketing push from the Google mothership.

Having tried to use a Chromebook as a primary computer for a week, it's going to take some serious shifts in how people use their laptops to make Chrome OS more than something for a secondary backup PC. The real question becomes, is the Chromebook just netbook 2.0?

Hybrids and convertibles
Ever since the fall 2012 release of Microsoft's Windows 8, hybrids have been a major part of every wave of new PC releases. This burst of unexpected creativity came because Windows 8 was so touch-friendly, and because PC makers wanted to capitalize on the success of tablet such as the iPad without leaving traditional PC users behind.

What we'll see in 2013, starting with CES, is a shakeout of the different physical forms these hybrids have taken. Some are laptops with detachable screens, others slide, fold, and bend into tablet shapes. To date, it's been a matter of throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks. An educated guess says that the most successful hybrids to date are the ones (including Lenovo's Yoga line) that allow for transformation, but without compromising the traditional laptop shape.

Steambox and the living room PC
Desktop PCs have largely morphed into a business about the all-in-one unit -- a desktop and monitor fused together. The only other big desktop news of the past year has been Apple's very high-end Mac Pro desktop, a product that proceeded CES by a few weeks, and is more exciting than any desktop we'll see there.

That said, there is one new area desktops can move into and generate some genuine growth. Living room entertainment has been largely ceded to the new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game consoles, but there's room for a new breed of PC to fill a lot of needs.

The first demo kits of Valve's Steambox have already been sent to beta testers. This console-sized hardware connects to a TV, uses a unique controller designed to bridge the gap between PC and console gaming, and plays a wide variety of games via Valve's own Steam OS, including with a little sleight of hand nearly every Steam game you'd be able to play on your big, bulky gaming PC.

At CES, we'll see the first wave of actual Steambox hardware from PC makers, and it could be the start of the PC industry clawing a bit of the living room back from the game consoles.

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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 connectivity and signal strength for the Wi-Fi-enabled appliance.

That's what Alex Hawkinson, chief executive of SmartThings, envisions. His startup makes a family of Internet-connected devices for the home. SmartThings also runs a platform service that helps people remotely control all of the other disparate devices made by different companies that are beginning to make their way into people's homes -- things like "smart" locks, lights, thermostats, and electrical plugs.

A SmartThings electrical plug

(Credit: SmartThings)

It's fun to postulate about the future, but not exactly very helpful to set the crystal ball too far into the distance. Hawkinson, though, thinks that the days of the maker man aren't all that far away, and that a version of that concept will be around by next year. (The reference to "makers" comes from the maker movement that places a heavy emphasis on robotics and DIY culture.) When I ask Hawkinson how he's so sure, he coyly refers to work that his own company is doing, and won't elaborate further.

That's just one prediction for what's likely going to emerge from the nascent connected home market in the upcoming year. But it encapsulates the kind of thing that industry insiders expect to see in 2014: important improvements not in the products themselves, but in the services around products.

The thinking is that the big opportunity will be for platforms, or hubs, like SmartThings, vying to tie together the so-called Internet of Things (a press friendly name for the connected device category), said IDC analyst Jonathan Gaw. With consumers actually starting to pay attention to connected products, the need will come for an easy way to manage all of them, despite their different manufacturers and ecosystems, Gaw said.

To be clear, connected devices still have a long way to go before they become a mainstay, or even more than an occasional fixture, in American homes. According to the latest research out of Forrester, only 2 percent of households currently use connected lights, climate control, or energy management, while only 5 percent use a connected security system. And about 30 percent to 40 percent of households say they're interested in using these kinds of devices and services in the future, according to the report which came out this week. But, if only anecdotally, the market has been making progress in the last few years, with legacy companies like General Electric and Honeywell investing in connected products.

Other companies trying to tie together the home include Revolv, which CNET described as designed to be the "central nervous system for your smart home devices." The product is a hub that connects to your home's Wi-Fi and acts as a universal remote for all your devices, instead of having to control them through each product's individual app. The product works with devices like the Nest thermostat and Yale locks.

The Revolv tries to tie together disparate connected devices.

(Credit: Colin West McDonald/CNET)

Startups aren't the only ones that stand to gain from tying together the connected home. Perhaps less sexy, but still bear watching, are home security companies like Vivint and ADT. Vivint, which started as APX Alarm in 1999, offers packages that range from home automation to energy management to home security. For the home automation package, customers can choose from various offerings, like an electronic lock or a smart thermostat, all controlled by same Vivent platform.

The August smart lock.

(Credit: August)

It's a bit counterintuitive, but the leg up that some of these older companies -- which are steeped in really analog histories -- have is that they have very defined customer relations practices. Gaw said there are two big challenges that connected home companies face: One, it's difficult to spur adoption (as Forrester's puny stats show), partly because it's hard to market and convey the value of most smart appliances to users. "For most people, it's a complicated idea to get their head around. You really have to sell it," Gaw said. Two, installation of these products is not always so simple. But residential security firms are well-experienced in navigating through those particular challenges, with long track records in face-to-face customer consultations and in-home installation services. Vivint has more than 800,000 paying subscribers, Gaw said.

But not everyone agrees that an umbrella platform operated by a single company is necessarily the best way to organize the connected devices in your home. Jason Johnson, co-founder and CEO of August, which makes a smart lock, is concerned about the business model of some platforms. "I'm not sure people want to pay a monthly fee, forever. Because it is forever," he said. Johnson is also the founder of the buzzword-tastic Internet of Things Consortium, an alliance of connected device companies. (SmartThings is also a member.)

Johnson instead believes that having an open API for products like the August lock to "talk" to other devices is the way to go. He said he's just not convinced people need one app on their phones to control all their home's devices. Frank Gillett, an analyst at Forrester, largely agrees, and thinks people will be intimidated by subscribing to a service of bundled devices.

It may seem incongruous that the predictions for such a Jetsons-invoking topic are more logistics-based and less space age. But it's in line with how the connected home market has progressed for years. "I've learned not to get excited for anything," said Gaw, who has been covering home automation for over a decade. "It's like a slow-moving freight train, but it's really hard to stop it once it gets going."

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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 event over the weekend.

Tokyo-based Schaft won the day, scoring 27 out of 32 possible points in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), a series of trials for robots designed to aid in disaster relief efforts, such as nuclear plant accidents.

The victory is ironic for Japan. Despite the country's robotics prowess, it had no robots on hand to help with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdown in 2011, the kind of emergency the DRC is trying to tackle.

Since the competition, Google has purchased Shaft. The company's plans for the robotic technology haven't been disclosed.

IHMC Robotics, based in Florida, grabbed second place in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, which was held at Homestead Miami Speedway in Florida. Carnegie Mellon University's Team Tartan Rescue placed third.

Eight of the top teams that participated in the challenge may receive as much as $1 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which develops technology for the U.S. military, ahead of further trials next year with a $2 million prize.

A spinoff from the University of Tokyo, Team Schaft is led by Yuto Nakanishi, known for his work on Kojiro, a musculoskeletal humanoid under development since 2007 at the university's JSK Robotics Laboratory.

The 5-foot-tall, 209-pound bipedal Schaft was able to bring stable walking and significant torque power to the DARPA trials, which included challenges such as opening doors, wielding hoses, and cutting away part of a wall.

Team Schaft lost points when a gust of wind was able to blow a door out of the robot's hand. Also, the robot was unable to exit a vehicle after having navigated a predetermined course successfully.

Schaft is one of a handful of robotics companies Google has picked up recently, including Boston Dynamics, the maker of the terrifying BigDog and other animal-inspired military machines.

DARPA Robotics Challenge chief Gill Pratt praised Team Schaft's initiative, noting that when DARPA officials visited the group in Japan last year, it already had built three prototype robots for the competition.

"When we got there to do the site review and walked into their lab, we were amazed," Pratt was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

Check out Schaft in the video below. What do you think Google plans to do with this thing?

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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 products that feel pretty stale, such as new Blu-ray players and home-theater-in-a-box systems that won't be much different from what was offered last year. But among all that aging gear will likely be some new stuff worth checking out, including new types of sound bars, more over-the-air recording products and some wireless audio products taking aim at Sonos.

Sound bars begin to morph
Whether audiophiles like it or not, sound bars have officially taken over as the defacto home audio solution. Every major home theater manufacturer will be sure to roll out several new sound bar models at CES 2014, complete with now-standard features like built-in Bluetooth and a wireless subwoofer.

Expect more pedestal-style sound bars at CES 2014.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

What will be interesting is what else is on the display. Pedestal-style sound bars seem to be making a comeback, with companies like Onkyo and Boston Acoustics rolling out new products in 2013. Don't be surprised if more companies introduce pedestal models, as they tend to look better than their cylindrical counterparts and avoid many common sound bar problems. What I'd really like to see is a great sound bar that blends the best of both worlds: a pedestal-style sound bar with a wireless subwoofer.

I'm also hoping to see more sound bars offering true surround sound, like last year's Vizio S4251w-B4. With the sound bar market exploding, it wouldn't be surprising to see a couple new takes on the traditional sound bar form factor.

Home audio goes wireless
Wireless whole home audio isn't a new idea, but Sonos has pretty much remained the uncontested champion ever since Squeezebox left the market. That changed this year, with several new competing systems entering the market, including Bose , Samsung, Phorus and Bang & Olufsen. Many of those budding platforms will likely get updates and new products at CES.

Everyone wants to take on Sonos, but can anyone actually succeed?

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

I'm also expecting other manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon and offer competing wireless audio standards, trying to replicate the success of Sonos. While it's frustrating to see so many proprietary, wireless audio standards popping up, I'm hoping one of them will finally give Sonos some competition; I haven't been that impressed with the systems taking on Sonos so far.

And don't forget that other, insanely popular wireless audio standard: Bluetooth. There will no doubt a massive, overflowing number of Bluetooth speakers at CES 2014, in every shape, size, and color you can imagine. Most of them will be forgettable, but there are always a few new models that are worth checking out.

Over-the-air TV is back
At CES 2012, over-the-air TV suddenly seemed like the next big thing, especially Simple.TV's innovative take on the DVR. But instead of marking the beginning of a new product category, there's been very little interest in over-the-air TV since then, with even Simple.TV's eventual launch receiving only lukewarm interest.

Simple.TV will be showing off its new box at CES 2014.

(Credit: Simple.TV)

Fast-forward to the end of 2013 and suddenly over-the-air TV is hip again. Channel Master, Tablo and Simple.TV all announced new over-the-air DVR options and all three of them will be at the show. I also wouldn't be surprised if a new contender shows, possibly one that's even more aggressive about combining over-the-air and streaming content into a single interface.

On the other hand, the big shadow hanging over all these products is Aereo, which offers over-the-air TV recording as an app, without need for an antenna or separate recording hardware. On the other hand, Aereo has its own limitations: it's only offered in 10 cities so far, and it's fending off existential legal challenges from nearly all of the big broadcasters (including CBS, parent company of CNET). But any new "free TV" solution will have to prove why it's worth the comparative hassle of owning separate hardware.

The future of TV is still uncertain Everybody wants to reinvent TV. The Xbox One wants to hijack your cable box. There's been a long-rumored revamped Apple TV that never manages to come out. Intel was working on its own solution, but it never even made it to market.

I'm sure CES 2014 will feature a few new attempts to "revolutionize" how we watch TV, but barring any big surprises, don't get your hopes up. Instead, you can count more incremental improvements, with Dish and DirectTV improving their DVRs, and other cable companies continuing to improve their on-demand content and slowing marching toward true cloud DVR services.

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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 are great for reading -- not just books, but also magazines. Next Issue is an all-you-can-read digital magazine service that affords unlimited access to around 125 titles -- good, mainstream mags people actually want to read.

Thus, for as little as $14.99, you can gift a subscription that includes Better Homes and Gardens, Bon Appetit, Car and Driver, Cooking Light, Consumer Reports, GQ, Men's Health, and lots more. Next Issue is available for iPhone and iPad (though it's much better on the latter), Android tablets running Android 3.1 and later, Kindle Fire HD and HDX, and Windows 8 PCs and tablets.

If you're shopping for a Nook owner, check out Barnes & Noble's new deal: two Nook magazine subscriptions for the price of one. It includes not only the next year's worth of each magazine, but also the last 12 issues.

2. A gift subscription to Netflix

Is it possible there's someone who still doesn't have Netflix? Time to show crazy old Uncle Al what all the fuss is about. Netflix gift subscriptions are available for periods of 1-12 months, meaning you can spend anywhere from $7.99 to $95.88 depending on your budget.

And to really make it gift-like, you can choose from over a dozen eye-catching gift-card designs. Then you just add a message and decide whether you want to print or e-mail the subscription. Easy-peasy.

3. A gift card that goes anywhere

Ah, the old standby. The gift card. Zip into the nearest drugstore or gas station and, boom, you're done. Of course, what if cousin Jethro already has a pile of iTunes cards? Or doesn't like to eat at Olive Garden? Too bad a gift card locks him into one particular place.

It doesn't have to. iCard lets you buy certificates that can be redeemed for one of 250 different gift cards. The extensive merchant list covers everything from AMC Theaters to Panera Bread to Zappos. Alas, you can't choose a custom amount -- available increments include $10, $25, $50, $75, and so on. But this is still a good way to make sure the recipient gets what he or she really wants, not whatever you plucked off the rack last-minute.

iCard certificates can be printed or e-mailed.

4. A gift of game

Give the gift of game.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

Stop thinking old-school when it comes to computer games: You don't need to find a store, buy a boxed copy, wrap it, and all that. Instead, you can gift a game via e-mail.

Just head to Gamer's Gate, choose the game you want to give, and click "Gift This Game" below the "Buy" button.

For example, if you need a gift for someone who loves zombies, "The Walking Dead: Season Two" is now available, and for the very Secret-Santa-friendly price of $24.99. The recipient will receive a download link and activation code via e-mail.

5. A gift of learning

Oh, come on, you knew this was going to be on the list.

(Credit: Rick Broida)

The best gift of all, of course, is my book: "The Cheapskate Rules: 21 Easy Money-Saving Tech Secrets." Even if you already know some of these money-saving methods, it's a good bet your friends and family members don't.

And at only $4.99, talk about a cheap gift! Just click that yellow "Give as a Gift" button on the right side of the page and you're good to go.

By the way, although it's available only in the Kindle store (for now -- it's coming to other platforms very soon), anyone with a PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone can read it via various Kindle apps.

Have you found another last-minute gift that's good for tech types? Talk it up in the comments!

Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

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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 all. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers, after initially welcoming IBM with open arms, now fear an IBM dominated and controlled future and are turning back to Apple as the only force who can ensure their future freedom," Jobs said just prior to introducing what he called the "insanely great" computer.

Jobs and his band of pirates didn't save the world from the IBM PC and Microsoft's operating systems at that time (it took another 23 years to introduce the iPhone that set the computing world on a new path), but they managed to change the face of personal computing with the graphical user interface and mouse.

In its 30 years, the Macintosh has had its ups and downs, but it has aged well and maintains its reputation as a design icon and trend setter. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Mac and the team that created it, a celebration will be held at the Flint Center in Cupertino near the Apple campus. It was at that venue 30 years ago that Steve Jobs took the stage to introduce the Mac to the world.

All Planet Studios, the Computer History Museum and Macworld/iWorld are hosting the celebration of the 30 year anniversary of the Macintosh on January 25.

The event will feature many members of the original Macintosh development team, previously unreleased video from the early days of the Mac and "surprise" guests, said said Gabreal Franklin of All Planet Studios. In addition, Ridley Scott, director of the "1984" commercial, as well as "Blade Runner" and other films, will talk about his experience creating the famous ad.

The Macintosh at 30 celebration follows an event at the Computer History Museum in September this year where prototypes of the pre-birth Mac with a "Twiggy" drive -- a 5.25-inch floppy drive rather than the 3.5-inch, 400K drive that shipping in the machine -- were shown.

Ticket prices range from $109.75 to $140.80 via Ticketmaster. Profits will be donated to charities dedicated to promoting computer and Internet literacy.

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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 tablets have developed a reputation for being homebodies, at least compared to their pocket-sized, cellular-equipped smartphone cousins. Indeed, the falling prices and declining sizes of tablets have resulted in a number of products where Wi-Fi is the only practical option at this point.

However, changes in the cellular landscape are not only making the case stronger for cellular connectivity in the tablet, but are changing the demands on modems for smartphones as well.

The growth of HD multimedia. The living room, of course, continues to be the best setting for high-definition, passive video consumption. However, there's no denying that larger smartphones and tablets are making video on the go more prevalent. One recent estimate suggested that 15 percent of total video consumption hours are done from a mobile device. And while it may not be as much fun as watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster, we are increasingly relying on connectivity for basic tasks such as music and document storage and sharing. Without connectivity, the Pandora icon is little but the 16th letter of the alphabet set against a field of white.

The shrinking size gap. Yes, the tablet may sometimes be a little too much to carry, but as "phablet" smartphones continue to grow, the gap between them and what we consider bona fide tablets continues to shrink. Phones are creeping up into the mid-6-inch range; it's only a matter of time before someone (perhaps someone like Samsung) tries something in the upper 6-inch range and further presses against the 7-inch smartphone/tablet divide. Cellular connectivity isn't, of course, confined to smaller tablets. There's the iPad and the new Nokia Lumia 2520, and Microsoft vows that a cellular-equipped Surface is in the wings. However, the more portable a tablet is, the more likely it is that we'll take it along even if it doesn't quite fit in a pocket.

More flexible cellular pricing models. The US is finally waking up to the realization that the rest of the world has had for a long time: there's much to recommend prepaid plans. The rise and subsequent acquisition of major prepaid carriers in the United States has enabled more flexible terms for smartphone and tablet buyers alike. Indeed, disruptive carriers such as Republic Wireless, Ting, and Zact promise savings and control over their cellular bill. Fighting against these upstarts are giants such as AT&T and Verizon, pushing shared data plans that make it more convenient and affordable to add tablets to an existing data plan.

LTE globalization. While some of these carriers require customized phones to implement their schemes, others allow you to just pop their SIM into any compatible unlocked device. Indeed, the trend has been toward mobile devices that can increasingly operate on virtually any cellular technology in virtually any location. Differences among carrier implementations and LTE frequency fragmentation continue to pose challenges, as does roaming onto Wi-Fi. But manufacturers are increasingly making phones that can operate not only in 80 percent or more of the world's countries, but among the major carriers in the United States. AT&T, for example, has rolled out a "global SIM" that can be shipped to virtually any country around the world and activated, a boon for tablets and the coming era of the connected car.

The perennial quest for efficiency. While not a new trend per se, the higher general data consumption encouraged by LTE as well as increased video consumption puts power efficiency at a premium. According to Qualcomm, which creates the Gobi wireless modem, the modem can easily consume half of overall power in a mixed-use scenario. However, this varies greatly as one might expect -- up to 90 percent when making phone calls and as low as 15 percent when watching video offline or over a Wi-Fi network when the display and processor are being utilized heavily.

Wi-Fi tablets, which unabashedly perform hours of Netflix viewing or 3D gaming, have had it easy. Increasingly, though, cellular connectivity stands to play a greater role in their development because economies of scale are increasing and incentives to connect outside of hot spots are growing.

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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 $471 to build it.

The cost to build an Xbox One is $90 more than the $381 Sony spends on its PlayStation 4, which costs consumers $399. However, that leaves Sony with an $18 profit on each unit.

"If your cost is within $10 to $20 of the retail prices, there's very little chance you're making a profit on the console," IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler said when the firm released its PS4 teardown.

What drives up the manufacturing costs of the Xbox One?

The Kinect is priced at $75, but the most expensive component is the AMD microprocessor at $110. Similar to the AMD chip in the PS4, the processor in Microsoft's console combines both a CPU and graphics processing unit (GPU) to tackle the heavy graphics load that Xbox One games demand.

Memory chips add another $60 to the manufacturing cost, while the parts used to assemble the Xbox One console kick in another $332, according to IHS.

So how will Microsoft turn a decent profit on the Xbox One deal? Like Sony, Microsoft expects to make money on game sales. Down the road, the cost of components will drop. However, Microsoft could counter that by lowering the price of the console.

"That's the way it happened with prior versions of both the Xbox and the Playstation," Rassweiler told AllThingsD. "Microsoft could eventually eke out a break-even scenario. But they'd probably use it as an opportunity to cut the retail price, in hopes of selling more."

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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 highlights local landmarks and other spots based on your location.

To start off, you could overlay specific types of information on the map simply by selecting certain categories. These layers would come from mapping services and from third-party sites on the Internet.

You can choose to see highways, parks, stores, airports, and weather, among other items, either separately or all together in a composite view. That by itself isn't exactly novel. But you could customize and fine-tune the views. For example, you could opt to see all roads in one single layer or keep the major highways in their own layer and smaller side streets on a different layer.

Further, you could search for items that relate only to the currently-displayed layer. Searching for food while in tourist view would display names of nearby restaurants, while the same search in parks view would present you with stores that sell food for campers.

Such a maps app would also make greater use of touch features. Tapping on a city would display such details, as demographics, hotels, and flight schedules. Tapping on a highway would show you gas stations, hotels, and restaurants along the way.

Touching two different spots on the map would calculate the distance between them and suggest at least a couple of routes between them, allowing you to choose the path you wish to travel.

Apple's patent application describes the invention in the usual technical terms:

An interactive capability enables a user to dynamically adjust the content of an electronic map. Different modes can be chosen to emphasize features relevant to a particular interest, e.g. commuting, tourism, weather, etc. Combinations of modes can be selected to create a customized map. When a search is conducted, the chosen mode functions as a filter for the retrieved results. The map responds to user input directed to a given feature, to display information relevant to that feature. Tapping or clicking on a highway displays the locations of services along the highway, Touching two points on the map causes available routes between them to be computed and displayed to the user, along with relevant data for each route. Geospatial applications can be integrated with the map to provide information pertaining to the area displayed on the map, and to refine search results to those that are relevant to the area.

Layers and other features are already available in navigation apps and Web sites. But Apple's concept would take interactive mapping several steps further. The company just needs to drive the idea past the patent stage and into the real world.

(Via AppleInsider)

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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 would like you to know that, during the holiday season, teens who seem absorbed in iPhone world might not be as self-absorbed as they seem.

A new ad for the holidays shows the Harris family getting together. You know the Harrises. They live somewhere cold and the wife had that fling with the famous fiction writer.

Well, here they are getting together for Christmas. And everyone's happy. Except their teenager, who seems entirely engrossed in his iPhone 5S. He never lets go of the thing. It's like Captain Hook's hook.

Everywhere he goes, it's there in the palm of his hand. One assumes he's texting lovers or looking for naked pictures of his teachers on various illicit sites.

More Technically Incorrect

It seems impossible for him to offer attention to anything else.

Then, when all the family's gathered together, his human side emerges like the sun after a bitterly cold night.

He directs everyone's attention to the TV.

In fact, he's been making the perfect, tearjerking video of the Harris Family Holidays on his iPhone 5s. Here it is, Airplayed. (The whole ad was actually shot on a 5S. Full version below.)

If, at this point, your eyes don't well up with some type of liquid then you should be the next CEO of Microsoft.

The moments are touching. The observations are telling. When the film is run, there's even the semblance of tear in the teen's own eyes. Yes, adolescents have feelings too.

I can only hope that your holidays will be as moving as the ones presented here.

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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?

This isn't the stuff of mere legend. The fine urban studies theorist Richard Florida has offered that cities thrive when they attract a dynamic gay population.

Some very clever Harvard types (are there any other kind?) believe that, when it comes to apps, the gay community hasn't offered the full bloom of its most tasteful side.

So they've created Distinc.tt. This, they claim, is "the only gay social app approved by the iTunes store for 12-year-olds and older."

Before you mount your high, sweaty horse and exert a moral gallop over the idea, might I say that this app doesn't have sex at its core?

Instead, and I'm quoting the company now, Distinc.tt "uses real-time collective knowledge to connect trendsetting crowds and travelers to the places and people that best reflect their distinct interests."

Implicit in this rococo marketing speak is the notion that gay people know where it's at before, you know, other sorts of people do.

How do I know this? Well, I can read press releases.

Here's an extract: "With an emphasis on good taste, Distinc.tt is sleekly designed to easily lead users to the right event, restaurant, party, or vacation spot for the moment or upcoming calendar, where their friends are or plan to go soon."

Just as Google tells you there are "right" ads and "wrong" ones, so here you can have access to the "right" events, rather than quiz night at your local Uzbek potato vodka bar.

In the iTunes store, Distinc.tt has a charming way of describing itself: "Finally, an LGBT app that you can bring home to Mom!"

"Mom, look! Here's how I found out where the very crunchiest baguettes are at!"

Indeed, Distinc.tt describes itself as "clean, social, and fun."

CEO Michael Belkin told me that this is very different from, say, Grindr: "If you go on Grindr, people change their headline sometimes to 'Visiting tonight, does anyone know the best place to go out?'"

Belkin says he's launching Distinc.tt because he became "disgusted by the tasteless torsos and imagery on gay social sites and apps."

He wants "the good-taste part of the gay stereotype to gain traction with advertisers and cross the mainstream divide."

More Technically Incorrect

In this, he has some very famous and tasteful investors -- old PayPal pals Peter Thiel and Keith Rabois, to name but two.

Taste and art are often intertwined like long-lost lovers, one of whom has flown in from the Andes and the other from Boise. The art here is that Distinc.tt claims it has a proprietary algorithm that ranks places and events for "hotness."

I suspect that you and I (and the hamsters pushing the algorithmic wheel at Distinc.tt) already have our own idea of hotness. Sometimes, though, we're at a loss as to where to find it.

Please remember, we're talking Harvard people here. So don't be surprised that they claim this is "the only app that combines social networking, event ticketing, attendee visibility, location-based services, and hot-spot locating with predictability and in real time."

That's the lovely thing about techies. They do adore predictability.

After all this information, you're probably feeling a need for hotness coming on. What is surely cool, however, about this initiative is that it promises to be your "well-connected, in-the-know, VIP gay friend."

We all need one of those, don't we? Otherwise, we'd all still be eating at Outback.

An app you can bring home to mom.

(Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Here it is in the iTunes store.

(Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

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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 Z3770 "Bay Trail" processor with 2GB of memory.

And Dell bundles Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 with the $500 tablet (64GB version).

I've been using it for about a week and the 64-bit Bay Trail processor feels fast running the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1. (Note that 64-bit Windows 8 for Atom won't arrive until the first quarter of 2014.)

I haven't seen any lag in anything I've done. But I should qualify that by saying it's been limited, so far, to lots of Web browsing and video.

Speed (Bay Trail model): The Venue 11 posted Geekbench scores that were lower than the iPad Air on single-core performance but higher than the Air on multicore. (See the notes attached to the YouTube video below to see the exact scores).

I won't dive into productivity -- which would involve more traditional Windows desktop performance metrics -- with Microsoft Office until the Dell Tablet Keyboard arrives. I was expecting to post my first impressions after using the keyboard, but shipment has been delayed (and I got tired of waiting).

Tablet or laptop? Which brings me to the un-iPad aspect of the Venue 11. It's bigger, thicker, and heavier than the iPad Air (which I also use). But that's not surprising, because it's really been designed as a hybrid tablet-laptop, aka a 2-in-1, not a standalone tablet.

In fact, the model I'm using is the only model with Intel's Bay Trail processor. The other two models use Intel's higher-performance "Haswell" Core i3 and Core i5 power-efficient Y series processors.

Those Haswell processors put it into laptop performance territory, so expect performance that's better than the scores posted by the Bay Trail model.

Surface Pro 2 or Venue 11 Pro? In this respect, the Venue 11 is not unlike the Surface Pro 2 -- which also squeezes a Haswell processor into a tablet design. And that appears to be Dell's target market: businesspeople who need a tablet that can also serve as a lightweight laptop.

Note that it's thinner and lighter than the 10.6-inch Surface Pro 2. The Venue 11 Bay Trail model is 0.4-inches thick and 1.68 pounds compared with the Surface Pro 2, which is 0.53 inches thick and 2 pounds. (The Venue 11 Haswell model is 0.48 inches thick and 1.75 pounds).

And the similarity doesn't end with the processor. Dell offers two keyboards for the Venue 11. One is the "Dell Tablet Keyboard -- Mobile," which integrates a battery, extending battery life. The other is the Surface-like "Dell Tablet Keyboard -- Slim," which is a cover and a keyboard.

Battery life: Battery life has been good. Using it on and off during the day (let's say roughly a couple of hours every day), the charge lasted for more than four days -- and that's without manually shutting it down, just leaving it "on" in standby mode.

Wrap-up: As a first impression (this is not a full review -- CNET will be posting one later), it has promise as a decent hybrid and has the potential to replace my 4-year-old Dell Adamo laptop.

And that's the reason I'm trying out the Venue 11. Microsoft and Intel are pushing detachables (in which the keyboard can be detached, yielding a standalone tablet) big time as an answer to tablets like the iPad Air.

The thinking is, you won't need both an iPad Air and a MacBook if you have one device like the Venue 11 Pro.

But I'm going to need a lot of convincing, because on most days, I do switch between iPads and a MacBook, and so far I haven't found a better alternative. (The Adamo is used less often because of its age).

I tried the original Surface Pro for two months then sold it. It just didn't cut it as tablet; it was a decent -- but not a great -- laptop.

I will update this post next week when the Dell keyboard is finally expected to arrive. At that time I will also put down my iPads and MacBook and see if Dell's (and Microsoft's and Intel's) 2-in-1 vision is practical.

Despite having a bigger display than the Surface Pro 2, the Venue 11 Pro is thinner and lighter than Microsoft's tablet.

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

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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 for 10,000 coins. The promotion ends January 5.

It's a way for Amazon to use existing Appstore customers to attract new ones. The company recently decided to use a similar tactic with Amazon Prime memberships, which customers can also purchase as presents.

Since coins work the same way as money, it might seem odd that people would buy coins in the first place. Amazon gave Kindle tablet owners 500 Coins for free earlier this year to encourage customers to check out its still growing App Store. Since then, customers have purchased "hundreds of millions" of Coins, according to an Amazon press release.

Amazon quoted one customer as saying, "My daughter and I both have the Kindle Fire HD and the coins are a great way for us to stay on a budget. At the beginning of the month we each buy our Coins for the month."

Customers can use the coins to buy apps as well as items within apps. Amazon also included top purchases in its announcement:

• The top 5 purchased apps and games with Coins are Minecraft - Pocket Edition, Wheel of Fortune, Plants vs. Zombies (Kindle Tablet Edition), Bejeweled 2, and Scribblenauts Remix

• The single most purchased app using Coins is Minecraft - Pocket Edition

• The single most purchased in-app item using Coins is "Get more lives" in Candy Crush Saga

• The first app purchased with Coins was a tie between Jewel Legends: Tree of Life and Cut the Rope: Time Travel HD

Clearly, gaming plays a huge role in Amazon's fledgling store. The company is using promotions like Amazon Coins in an effort to grow the store, which is considerably smaller than Apple's app store or Google Play. If people really are buying Coins, it's a show of commitment from users that Amazon hopes will encourage app developers.

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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 it. You might be messing with our memory.

That, at least, seems to be the conclusion from a depressingly modern piece of research performed by the Fairfield University in Connecticut.

Published in Psychological Science, this study took its subjects on a tour of an art museum, then tested their memory of the artifacts, period, and of the details of those artifacts.

The conclusion was that those who had photographed objects had far worse recollection of ever having seen the artifacts at all or, if they did remember seeing them, of details within those objects.

On the other hand, if the aim of their point-and-shoot was to capture one particular detail only, that detail was well remembered.

Linda Henkel, who led the study, described this phenomenon as a "photo-taking impairment effect."

Of course, it could be that the subjects' memories weren't directly affected by the photo-taking, but rather by their sheer interest in that particular work of art.

And then there's the problem that the 28 subjects were actually students. Can you really base research on those notoriously wayward beings?

More Technically Incorrect

But as Henkel was quoted in the Telelgraph: "People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point that they are missing what is happening right in front of them."

She added: "When people rely on technology to remember for them -- counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves -- it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences."

Still, what are you supposed to do? Your smartphones have made it far too easy for you to capture everything.

It's quite natural, then, to shoot first and ask questions of your memory later.

Perhaps quite soon the only way we'll remember we were anywhere is by referring to our picture libraries.

What strange people we will then have become.

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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 when he started his whimsical "Drunk Tweets" series of paintings.

"I've drawn characters drinking before, but I wanted to make the birds full-on inebriated," Ellingson told Crave. "A lot of my friends are pretty inspirational when they've had a few and I'd make mental notes while toasting to their health. Watching TV while cranking out paintings really helps keep me glued to the drawing table. I watched the Ken Burns' 'Prohibition' series while painting drunk birds. And yes, I've been watching back-to-back episodes of 'Cheers' on Netflix."

While the blue bird is the main character in this series of paintings, other birds, including buzzards, ducks, vultures, and owls, get in on the act. Which begs the question, which bird drinks the most?

"The owl is definitely the biggest drunk," Ellingson said. "Everybody wants the owl's advice because he's supposedly so wise. So owls get a lot of free drinks and they just end up hammered. Owls look like they can put down a lot of booze because of their puffiness but what people don't understand is that it's just feather weight. Take away all of those poofy feathers and you're left with one scrawny drunk bird, wise or not."

Ellingson regularly posts his boozy acrylic paint and pencil portraits on Instagram as he finishes them, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

"At first I wasn't sure that people would really care much if I missed a day or two, but some people comment that it makes their day and that feels great," he said. "I guess people can see themselves in my little drunk birds. I also post photos of the process in making them and I think some people really like that. In the end, it's kind of about the process of creating a body of work and learning new things as I go."

"I'm just constantly inspired by the Internet and always surprised what comes out of it," Ellingson added. "This whole series was really just a pet project that spun out of my obsession with Twitter and my appreciation of whiskey."

Drunk Tweets are available on Etsy. You can see all of the original paintings and even some behind-the-scenes photos here.

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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 to its name, Partition Assistant Pro (PAP for short?) enables you to do just about anything with hard drive partitions: copy, create, delete, extend, format, merge, move, resize, split, etc.

However, it also offers some handy rescue features, including partition recovery and a boot-CD creator, both of which are operated via simple wizards. Better still, a new Windows to Go Creator lets you slipstream your Windows 8 or 8.1 installation onto a bootable flash drive. Pop that drive into another PC or laptop and presto, there's your Windows environment. (It's not unlike a "live" Linux boot.)

PAP is compatible with all versions of Windows, including 8 and 8.1. To get it, simply enter your e-mail address and click Get Free Key. Note that by doing so, you'll be signing up for AOMEI's newsletter, though obviously you don't have to remain a subscriber if you don't want. For what it's worth, my activation key arrived via e-mail about 30 seconds after I submitted my address.

After downloading and installing PAP, make sure to use that activation key, otherwise you won't get the full, unlocked version.

By the way, AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro has an average rating of 4.5 stars from 10 CNET users -- an exceptionally good score for any such utility. If you have even the slightest need for a partition manager, grab this one while it's free.

Bonus deal: In case you missed it last time around, here's another chance to score an incredible Roku deal. While supplies last, Woot has the refurbished Roku 3 streaming media player for $64.99, plus $5 for shipping. This is the top-end Roku box and a steal at this price. Best feature by far: the headphone jack in the remote.

Bonus deal No. 2: Talk about a win-win: For a limited time, when you download SoftMaker FreeOffice for Windows or Linux, or SoftMaker's Elegant Holiday Fonts collection (Win/Mac/Linux), SoftMaker will make a donation to charity via betterplace.org. FreeOffice offers word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, with an interface that resembles Microsoft Office 2003. It's ideal for older PCs, and for users who don't need a bunch of bells and whistles.

Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

Want to know more about The Cheapskate blog and how it works? Read our FAQ.

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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 identical result but they get there through slightly varied methods; the focus of Car Limits is steering. This isn't simply about using the wheel, but understanding that the wheel, throttle, and brake are all equal parts of your turning armory, and that you can use combinations of the three to get different results. The majority of people understand the principles of oversteer and understeer, but there's nothing like experiencing both extremes in a safe and open environment. And it turns out you can induce wild amounts of oversteer in a front-wheel-drive car. Which was a lovely surprise.

The high-speed corner was a definite highlight, reaching speeds of 90 mph and chucking the Leon into the corner was great fun, and the demonstration of the balance and agility of the car was clear to see. However, I felt I wasn't taking as much part on the day as the car's engine control unit (ECU), and, as I was the one there to learn, I tried to turn everything off. Unfortunately, I discovered the electronic stability control (ESC) can never be turned fully off, only reduced to Sport ECU mode. And although that did kill the traction control, it had a nasty habit of applying the brakes whilst I was trying to balance the car through fast corners.

The aim was to avoid "the wall," a coloured change in tarmac, 90 degrees from the angle of turning, and not giving a great deal of room when approaching at speed. I found the temptation (thanks adrenaline) to yank the wheel and give it as much as possible (more wheel equals more turning, right?) was too tempting to resist, but I quickly discovered how that worked completely against me. The "finger test" of steering at over 70 mph round the corner using only an index finger on top of the wheel showed that minimal input is required, and that the wheel itself will talk to you and try and correct itself. The counter-intuitive knowledge that removing more lock will increase turning took a while to master as instinctively it doesn't feel right, but I got there in the end. After a few high-speed pileups into said wall, that is.

By the end of the day I was so much faster simply by being smoother, calmer, and, frankly, by doing less. I listened to the Seat, and it talked back and wanted to help me. It also wanted me to remove two cumulative months of service station wrappers from its rear seats, but that's not going to happen.

Early next year you should see our film of the Leon being thrown about and taking everything I aggressively threw at it in an astoundingly calm fashion. Might need to tone it down a tad next time it's full of kit with a cameraman hanging out the back. Just a thought.

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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 to say that everyone needs a good travel charger. Of course, many of them can be kind of a hassle, in part because charging the charger itself often requires a USB port, and you usually have to pack along USB cables to charge your device(s).

That's why I've loved the MyCharge Summit ever since I first laid eyes on it at last year's CES. Since then it has become my most prized travel accessory.

Alas, it was always on the pricey side, but now you can get one for cheap -- like, really cheap: Ice Monkey has the refurbished MyCharge Summit 3000 mobile charger for $18 shipped. List price for a new one: $59.99.

The Summit packs a 3,000mAh battery, which can recharge an average smartphone twice. Even better, you recharge the Summit's battery by plugging the entire unit right into an AC outlet. Its fold-up wall prongs tuck neatly out of the way when charging is complete.

How do you know when that happens? A voice tells you. In fact, it tells you all kinds of things, like "Apple device connected" and "battery is full." That's in addition to the five-LED power indicator that lights up with a press of the status button. Don't like the voice? You can switch over to tone-based notifications. No hablo Ingles? The Summit also speaks Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Thankfully, there's also a silent mode if you'd prefer it to just pipe down already.

Those are neat little amenities, to be sure, but the key reason I love the Summit is that, unlike the vast majority of mobile chargers, it doesn't require me to travel with a bunch of tips or cords. That's because it has three built-in connectors, all cleverly engineered onto fold-out arms: Apple 30-pin, Micro-USB, and standard USB.

Now, if you have a device with a Lightning or Mini-USB port, you will need to bring along your sync cable, which can plug into the Summit's USB port. (Indeed, that's how it insures compatibility with pretty much every mobile device there is.)

Thankfully, if you have multiple devices (say, a Kindle and an iPhone), the Peak can charge them simultaneously. And the USB arm allows the Peak to recharge via, say, your laptop's USB port (handy if there's no spare AC outlet available), but also affords syncing of your connected phone or tablet. To sum it all up another way, this thing does everything you could possibly want a mobile charger to do, all in a compact, no-accessories-required package.

Although this is a recertified Summit, it comes with a one-year warranty, same as new ones. I should note that MyCharge has discontinued this product (as well as the 6,000mAh Peak version), for reasons I can't possibly fathom. This right here: Best. Charger. Ever. Get one before they inevitably sell out.

Bonus deal: Slingboxes are popular items for folks who want to watch live and DVR-ed shows when they're away from home. Alas, they've always been expensive, even the older, discontinued models. But here's a rare deal: 1Sale has the refurbished Slingbox Solo for $49.99 shipped. With it you can "sling" just about anything from your home TV to your laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. The current entry-level Slingbox (the 350) sells for $179.99.

Bonus deal No. 2: It's not quite Tablet Tuesday, but today only, Amazon has once again slashed prices on its Kindle Fires. For example, you can get the Kindle Fire HD (16GB) for $135.20, about four bucks less than the 8GB model. Or the HDX (16GB) for $183.20. Both are the Special Offers versions, which can actually be a good thing, as Amazon often delivers exclusive deals to them. I'm honestly not sure why anyone would choose an iPad Mini over one of these. (Discuss!)

Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

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