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The Natural Resources Defense Council has ranked the biggest energy hogs in the home, and the thing that's gobbling up the most is probably not what you think: the pairing of your digital video recorder and set-top box.

The environmental monitoring group released a study today that says that a high-definition cable or satellite set-top box when combined with a high-definition DVR uses up 446 kilowatt hours per year. That's more than a new Energy Star rated 21 cubic-foot refrigerator, which uses 415 kWh per year, according to the NRDC's data.

The combination of an HD DVR … Read more

TiVo has unveiled two new hardware products to bolster its appeal to service providers.

Dubbed the Premiere Q, TiVo's latest DVR is the first from the company that can record up to four programs at the same time. In addition, the device comes with support for streaming content when connected to the Web via Ethernet or home-entertainment networking standard MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance). Up to three HD streams can be accommodated over those connections.

According to TiVo, the Premiere Q will support a full range of services from cable and satellite providers, including video on demand, pay-per-view, and … Read more

Please keep in mind that this post is based off of a beta version of iOS 5. Apple can (and often does) change the behavior of features before the latest OS hits consumers hands. If anything drastically changes in regards to this feature in iOS 5, we will be sure to update the post.

When Apple announced a new Notification Center with iOS 5, it also revealed that iOS 5 would come with a couple of widgets: weather and stocks. The widgets are active in the Notification Center, the same place you will find the rest of your app alerts on iOS 5.

iOS 5 has been released to developers, packed with 200 features new to the popular mobile platform. One of the features not discussed during the keynote was Shortcuts. Shortcuts allows you to make your own AutoText corrections for common phrases. We will show you how easy it is to use Shortcuts. Follow along!

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If you recently ordered a present for a loved one on your iPad or iPhone and don't want him or her to stumble across the site you used to place the order, clearing your browser history will eliminate that possibility. Clearing Mobile Safari's history is a great way to cover your tracks on the Internet, as well as free up some memory (although the amount of memory is minimal). We are going to show you how to erase your browser history, cookies, and cache on your iOS device of choice in two simple steps.

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At some point, a friend may ask to borrow your superfast smartphone to look up something on the Web. It's times like these when you really don't want any of your private search queries popping up in the autocomplete area for your friend to choose. Perhaps you were looking up something medically related, or some other personal matter--you want to keep it as private as possible. Follow these steps to erase the search history on your Android phone.

1. Open your mobile browser on the phone and head to Google.com if it isn't your default search … Read more

Have you ever received a message on your iPhone that looked like the one above? Emoji icons have grown in popularity for iOS devices over the last couple of years. With this simple guide we are going to show you how to get an Emoji keyboard on your iPhone, iPad or iPad Touch for free; allowing you to join in on the fun. … Read more

Roku has inked a deal with Angry Birds creator Rovio to bring the company's video games to its set-top boxes.

The companies have entered into a "strategic partnership" that will see Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio come to Roku's Channel Store, Roku said late yesterday. An Angry Birds video channel with game-themed animated shorts, as well as a marketplace to buy game-related merchandise, will also be available in the Channel Store.

However, a Roku representative confirmed to CNET today that the games will not be available on the company's current hardware. Instead, the titles will be made available to owners of new hardware expected to launch this summer.

Roku has come a long way since its initial set-top box launched in 2008. Earlier this year, the company announced that more than 1 billion content streams have been sent to TVs through its set-top boxes, which currently range in price from $59.99 to $99.99. It currently offers more than 250 entertainment options in its Channel Store, which basically acts as an applications store, allowing people to add those channels to their personal menu and watch the content associated with them.

Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and NBA Game Time are among the channels Roku offers.… Read more

Currently, all iOS devices come with the Mobile Safari search provider set to Google. For most users Google works, and the thought of changing it will never cross their mind. For others who prefer to use Bing and Yahoo, changing the default search engine is preferred. This simple guide will show you how to change the default search engine on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. … Read more

Most iPhone and iPad users already know what it's like to be in the middle of an intense game of Angry Birds only to have a friend start sending instant messages, thus creating countless popups from push alerts, interrupting gameplay. The way iOS currently handles push alerts can be a real annoyance.

This simple guide will show you how to take control of the push alerts on your iOS device, allowing you to decide what applications are important enough to interrupt what you are doing with a text alert.… Read more