ratings

AT&T cuts global data rates

AT&T is offering reduced-rate international data plans for those that simply need to connect to the Internet from anywhere in the world.

The new Global Smartphone and PDA plans range from $44.99 to $69.99 a month and include 20 megabytes in nearly 30 countries. (A nonglobal plan would cost close to $400 for 20MB of international data usage).

While the plans were previously available only on the BlackBerry and PC cards, they will now apply to its entire stock of business devices. This includes the BlackJack, the Cingular 3125, the Cingular 8525, and all the Palm … Read more

News roundup: Google, Congoo, RateItAll + MuseStorm, Mashtracker

Google rolls out pay-per-action. Google's got a new advertising scheme, and it's set up to help small-time advertisers avoid the dangers of click fraud. Instead of just paying by the click, advertisers can set up predetermined actions the user must go through, such as purchasing an item or browsing a certain section of the site. The new system has sparked controversy in the blogosphere as a potential destroyer of smaller affiliate marketing services.

Congoo launches News Portals. Premium news content distributor Congoo ( previous coverage) has rolled out a customizable single-page-aggregation service that pulls stories from user-selected topics. Users … Read more

How does the BBB work with ratings on CNET?

We receive lots of comments from customers who want to know what steps they can take to check out a store prior to making their purchase. While we investigate all stores' complaints and performance before rating them, we also check out their rating by the Better Business Bureau to be sure they have a satisfactory rating in order to remain listed on any CNET site.

Remember that you can check out a store's BBB rating prior to making a purchase by going to our Certified Store Program page. Just click on the Better Business Bureau link located under the … Read more

RatePoint makes recommendations social

Visit the just-launched ratings site RatePoint, and I'll bet that you'll think exactly what I thought: "Hey, this reminds me of Digg." Indeed, the two have similar site designs and similar philosophies: rank the importance or effectiveness of something through sheer people power. In the case of Digg, it's news stories. With RatePoint, it's everything else--Web sites, services, products, and pretty much anything else that's available online.

But there are a few differences between Digg and RatePoint. Instead of the simple thumbs up/thumbs down protocol that Digg is modeled off, RatePoint offers … Read more

Saving the world with your phone and the Internet

Witnessing a crime in New York is unfortunately common. Luckily, so is having a camera phone.

To take advantage of that, last Wednesday New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a program that lets witnesses of crimes or other "dangerous living conditions" use their camera phones to transmit images or video to the police by using 911 or by uploading their shots to the city's Web site.

I propose New York creates a mashup of sorts. Think Flickr and Yelp together. A place that lets people easily tag and geotag their media, along with creating an easy … Read more

News Roundup

-- Find toxic wastelands via Google Earth. The EPA released a master list of landfills and other offenders to the public today in hopes of getting some recognition on mapping services such as Google Earth and Windows Live Local. Here's hoping for a Toxic button next to the beloved satellite view on Google maps. (CNET News)

-- Global digital-music sales nearly doubled in 2006. It was a good year for digital downloads, but they're still coming in at only 10 percent of the total music market. (CNET News)

-- MTV to buy RateMyProfessors.com. With more than 900,… Read more

Embrace your inner wine snob

If you're unsure what to bring to your neighbor's smorgasbord, Bottletalk might help you find a wine fine enough for the occasion. This wine-rating community lets you set up a profile, add and rate wines, and network with fellow members. Descriptive tags identify flavors such as citrus or tobacco, and most of the members seem to know a bit about what they're sipping. One member describes a certain Spanish Rioja as a "Very correct wine, but poor in creativity."

Robert Parker I'm not. I added a Two-Buck Chuck Chardonnay to my list of wines … Read more

No DVDs, but it can help keep you alive

It's a good thing we just had another cup of coffee, or we might have posted this photo with the previous portable DVD item by accident. Despite the resemblance, it doesn't have anything to do with DVDs, CDs or anything to do with entertainment at all--unless your idea of fun is monitoring your blood pressure.

The "SmartSync Data Logger" is a new kind of heart rate monitor from Oregon Scientific that goes beyond previous models. Like other monitors, it tracks and displays heart rates on a display in real time, but you can also download up … Read more