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The 404 947: Where we are the keyboard cowboys (podcast)

Apple's update to iTunes 10.5.1 brings a new scan-and-match service for music that gives users a way to stream their entire collection across multiple devices in the Apple family.

Even better, Apple will actually fill in the blanks of your files' metadata and replace your "matched" files with high-quality 256k-encoded AAC files--an audiophile's dream!

The three of us are so excited that it sounds like we're hosting an infomercial, but check out today's episode to hear more details about iTunes Match.

Also leaked from today's episode: LivingSocial gets into home food delivery with Room Service, PETA puts Mario and his Tanooki suit in its crosshairs, and more events unravel in the ongoing War Against Infographics!… Read more

The 404 910: Where we are baked fresh every day (podcast)

When Steve "The Audiophiliac" Guttenberg tells us he has ideas for the 404 Podcast, we listen. We invited him to sit down with us today to talk about Netflix splitting in half, which "high-end" audio manufacturers are making impossible claims about their products, and the headphones that just earned Steve's award for "Worst-Sounding Audio Ever."

Be sure to keep checking The Audiophiliac blog on CNET for the latest hardware reviews and news, and follow up with Steve on Twitter @Audiophiliacman.

The 404 Digest for Episode 910

A $25,000 'bookshelf' speaker from Magico. The award for 'Worst-sounding audio product' goes to... Steve endorses these $74 5.1-channel home theater satellite speakers. And these $1 HDMI cables from Monoprice, too.

Episode 910 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

First dates from hell exposed in 140 characters

Now that people rely on the Internet for love (I saw a Match.com commercial claiming one in five relationships starts online), it's only natural they would return to the Internet to recount the dates that didn't end in magic. A new Twitter page called First Date Hell, and its accompanying aggregator, Crapdate.com, give serial daters a chance to dish their first-date horror stories in 140 characters or fewer, and some of them are pretty bad.

Rhodri Marsden started Crapdate.com after relaying first-date stories back and forth with friends at a local pub. His first post about one particularly long uncomfortable silence inspired some his 17,000 Twitter followers to reply with their own real-life nightmares, like this one from @BibiLynch, whose first date took her to a Laundromat, then proceeded to pay-phone ring his dad to describe her physical assets in agonizing detail.… Read more

Twenty highest-radiation cell phones

Editors' note: Updated June 1, 2011.

We do a lot of top products lists here at CNET, and manufacturers are usually pretty excited to see their products on those lists. But this is one "top" list that manufacturers probably aren't too thrilled to find their products on.

As we note in our intro to the list, for a phone to pass FCC certification and be sold in the United States, its maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the level is capped at 2 watts per kilogram, whereas Canada allows … Read more

The 25 worst-named tech products

Companies agonize over what to name a product, and we certainly recognize how difficult a process it is to come up with a good name.

Over the years, we've seen lots of good ones: the Palm Pilot, the Motorola Razr, TiVo, the Flip cam, are just a few.

But today we're not here to celebrate success. No, let us to rejoice in failure and admire some of the truly bad -- and, in some cases, truly awful -- names that have come along in the last 10 years or so, including the latest additions to the list: the Asus FonePad/PadFone, Grace Digital Ecoxgear Ecoxbt, I'm Watch, Nintendo Wii U, and Qi inductive charging. … Read more

The 404 732: Where all our 2011 predictions will be wrong (podcast)

Hard to believe it's already been a year, but we're back with our first live broadcast from the CNET stage at CES 2011! Anyone that puts up with us on a regular basis knows how awful we are at forecasting technology trends, so this year we're leaving it up to the experts to make the calls. Today we invite CBS reporter and tech correspondent Kara Tsuboi to give us her perspective on the show and the innovative products she's seen so far.

Each year we like to take a look back at the CES headlines from the previous year to see which products held up to the hype, so join us as we recap the hits and misses of CES 2010. The most notable showstopper was the Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT25 that won CNET's Best of CES Award for being the first 3DTV to feature 1080p 3D picture quality.

Although it remains one of only two TVs to earn the CNET Editors' Choice award in 2010, we're still unsure about the longevity of 3D technology in general, especially with prices around $2,000 and up if you plan to buy another pair of 3D glasses or the optional Wi-Fi dongle.

Nintendo is also in the news with an announcement about a potential health hazard for children using its new Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming platform. Last month, Nintendo Japan issued a press release advising parents with young children to steer clear of the device that could affect the development of vision for kids under six--the stereoscopic content apparently projects different left and right eye images that can adversely affect their eyesight. Parents who plan to purchase the device when it comes out next month should also take note of parental controls on the unit that can limit the amount of 3D content during gameplay.

You may want to hold off on buying an iPhone through AT&T, as an inside source at Apple reports to Rick Broida that a CDMA iPhone may be announced as early as next Tuesday, January 11. All signs point to Verizon being the carrier, and the source also tells us that Apple is cutting staff vacation time short in the next two months, ostensibly to handle the increase in sales and service traffic pending the release. Head over to iPhone Atlas to vote in our poll!

Check back with us tomorrow at 2 p.m. for another live broadcast from the showroom floor. We'll have plenty more stories to report, and be sure to drop by the CNET stage to compete in our Alienware gaming competition for a chance to win some cool prizes. And while you're at it, check out the Alienware Web site and register your e-mail for a shot at a trip to Aspen, Colo., during Winter X Games 15!

Episode 732 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 10 most disappointing games of 2010

If there is one lesson to learn from the most disappointing titles of 2010, it's "don't make a movie game." It seems that this year followed a bizarre pattern: the better the film, the worse the game. Almost half our list consists of failed attempts at such adaptations, more than any year before it.

Unlike last year's dishonorable list, we've decided to tackle games that let us down rather than picking out a handful of bad games. We've personally tested out each of these titles that failed to impress and can vouch for … Read more