Gadgets

We are just one month away from the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, where the biggest names in the mobile industry will unveil new products.

We're having a difficult time containing our anticipation, especially since CES offered relatively few smartphone announcements. Year by year as the mobile industry grows, so to does the scope and importance of Mobile World Congress.

So what are our CNET editors expecting to see when they touch down in Barcelona next month? Well, I quizzed Senior editors Jessica Dolcourt and Brian Bennett on their predictions and used them as the basis of … Read more

The dichotomy of reactions by Silicon Valley and Wall Street to Apple's most recent quarter are so far apart it's comical. At least, it would be comical if it didn't involve tens of billions of dollars flying out the proverbial window.

Apple posted a monster Q1, logging a whopping $54.5 billion in revenue and $13.1 billion in earnings. The company sold 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads in the quarter, all records for Apple.

Apple's reward? A brutal sell-off on Wall Street that dropped the company's share price by 12 … Read more

The Samsung Ativ Odyssey, first announced last fall at Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 launch event, will hit Verizon stores January 24. The decidedly mid-range handset will also cost a very affordable $49.99 after $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service contract. … Read more

Kitchen gadgets are ultimately designed to do one thing; namely to turn (or help to turn) ingredients into food. That being said, there are levels of complexity involved that depend upon the desired final result. Usually, the more delicious the goal, the more complicated the actions. However, sometimes, with food and with gadgetry, simplicity is key. And fun for the kids, too.

The delicious substance known as peanut butter is surprisingly easy to make. Don't bother reading the label on the average jar found on the supermarket shelf; all that is really needed is peanuts, salt and oil in … Read more

Looks like Microsoft has some good news coming its way. Apparently Asustek Computer is close to committing to putting serious resources behind the Windows Phone 8 mobile platform. Specifically, the Taiwanese electronics maker plans to begin creating phones that run WP8. … Read more

Water is easy to take for granted. It comes out of the faucet, we collect it in a glass, and drink it to quench our thirst. But there is more to it than that, of course. Bottled water, filter pitchers, and other countertop systems have proliferated over recent years, all in an effort to make water taste and smell better to us, not to mention making it safer to drink. Now, it can communicate with us -- well, almost.

There is a lot of information hidden in the everyday stream of water that pours out of our kitchen faucets. The … Read more

The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner lets you conveniently scan your negatives with a smartphone so you can easily share those '70s summer camp pics on Twitter. Created by the same people behind Lomography, this portable scanner can scan a variety of 35mm film -- color slides, color negatives, black and white film.

Besides the scanner, all you need is a smartphone and the included free Lomoscanner app (compatible with iOS and Android). The app not only scans your film, but lets you stitch images together (for panoramas, for example), as well as animate 35mm analog movies shot using the Lomography … Read more

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for Android Jelly Bean phones to ship, I'm glad to see that a flood of handsets with the coveted software has burst onto the mobile scene. Some of these devices, such as the HTC Droid DNA and LG Nexus 4, rolled straight off the assembly line boasting Google's most modern OS. Older phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Motorola Droid Razr HD Maxx, just received this significant upgrade.

Take a look at this stellar list of smartphones that all offer a state-of-the-art Android experience. From the pure flavor only … Read more

Is the Consumer Electronics Show a waste of time?

According to some critics, it is. They say that the world's largest hardware show has lost relevance in a a software-dominated world. And as Buzzfeed correctly points out in its thorough takedown of CES, the world's most innovative technology isn't at CES anymore. It debuts at individual press events put on by Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung, and the other titans of technology. Of that group, only Samsung has any official presence at CES 2013.

"The fact is, hardware doesn't really matter," argued Wired's … Read more