infiniti

Starting today, SoundHound Infinity for iPhone ($4.99) gets infinitely more useful. The latest version, SoundHound Infinity 3.6.1, includes a recommendations feature that suggests other songs you'll like based on the ditty you've just chosen to identify, either through recorded "tagging," text, humming, or singing the tune into the app.

SoundHound uses a proprietary engine based on intelligence collected from a combination of users' tagging behavior, a database of artists, and a list of underplayed songs--the latter composed of songs that are popular within SoundHound but receive less radio attention, if any at all.… Read more

Infiniti is teasing us, again. This week the Japanese-automaker released a few images, but no real details, of the Etherea Concept. Earlier this month Infiniti teased with a silhouette of a hatchback.

It looks like the Etherea combines elements of a coupe, sedan, hatchback and crossover in a forward-thinking design.

There were no under-the-hood details released with the images. Infiniti just included a brief statement, announcing that the Etherea will make its world debut on Tuesday, 1 March, at the 2011 Geneva auto show.

The Etherea is rumored to be an entry-level vehicle for Infinity, most likely competing with the … Read more

Infiniti jumps on the small-car bandwagon at the upcoming Geneva auto show, bringing a new compact concept to the stage presaging a model that would fit below the G. Infiniti released few details and a mere sketch of the car ahead of the early March unveiling.

The sketch seems to indicate a hatchback, a popular style of car in Europe, with heavily curved lines that mimic those on the Infiniti Essence concept shown at the 2009 Geneva auto show.

Infiniti's non-Crossover lineup, limited to the G and M models, needs punching up if it is to compete with other … Read more

With 2010 coming to a close, it's time to look back at some of the greatest games to hit the iOS over the course of the year. I have many more favorites than I've listed in this slideshow, but I guess I have to make a cutoff somewhere. In any case, many factors have contributed to the iPhone becoming one of the greatest gaming platforms yet, and I think it will continue to get even better in 2011.

There's no question that the popularity of the iPhone made game developers see an opportunity to create something special … Read more

CNET Tech Car of the Year for 2010

2011 Nissan Leaf

Earlier this month we invited you to vote for the 2010 Tech Car of the Year from our five nominees. This year proved an upset, though, as our staff judges came down on the side of the 2011 Nissan Leaf, these votes overruling the general support for the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and the Audi A8. The MKZ Hybrid is an excellent car, although its very close relative, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, won last year's award. Audi came out this year with a phenomenal flagship sedan in the new … Read more

The story of Activision's battle with former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella has a new chapter.

Activision has amended a complaint it filed with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles in April against West and Zampella to now include Electronic Arts.

"In this amended cross-complaint, Activision alleges that Electronic Arts conspired with two former senior Activision executives, West and Zampella, to derail Activision's Call of Duty franchise, disrupt its Infinity Ward development studio, and inflict serious harm on the company," Activision wrote in the complaint it filed yesterday. "This pleading lays out an intentional and systematic pattern of deception by the former executives and Electronic Arts to hijack Activision assets for greed and corporate gain."

Activision alleges that Electronic Arts and the Infinity Ward executives who oversaw Call of Duty: Modern Warfare titles, were secretly discussing, as early as July 2009, the possibility of creating an independent game studio, headed by West and Zampella, that would employ "key Activision employees." The goal, according to Activision, was to "[drain] the studio of talent and potentially [delay] future Call of Duty games."

At that time, both West and Zampella were still under contract as "studio heads and Activision fiduciaries," Activision said.… Read more

On today's show, McDonald's has a data breach, although it's not as bad as the one from the Mesa County, CO, sheriff's office, which apparently keeps its lists of victims, suspects, and informants in a nice, big, unprotected plain-text database. So, that's a few informants running for safe houses, then. Also, the Comcast Death Star turns its rays on Roku, Apple TV, and the like; and the Nook Color goes from awesome to officially awesome. --Molly

As 2010 rolls to a close, we look back at the cars we've reviewed over the last year to see which one should earn our Tech Car of the Year Award. From our survey of the cars we've reviewed, we're pleased to see that the adoption of cabin tech by automakers is becoming more prevalent and ever-more sophisticated, with features such as hard-drive-based navigation with traffic reporting becoming common.

Among the cars we've seen, we picked out five that show the most innovative technology. These cars use technology to enhance the cabin and driving experience, and … Read more

One of the biggest splashes in the iOS gaming scene came during an Apple keynote earlier this year when a preview of an upcoming game from Epic, using the Unreal engine, showcased graphics that seemed like they came from a next-gen console. A free preview of this game, called Epic Citadel, debuted shortly afterward. As a demo of the graphics prowess in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, it was unparalleled.

The full game is now available, and its name has changed to Infinity Blade. The universal app costs $5.99, and the bottom line is this: its graphics top … Read more