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My awesome brother-in-law Steve introduced me to Ticket to Ride a couple years ago, and I've been hooked ever since. As board games go, it offers a near-perfect blend of strategy and luck-of-the-draw, on par with old classics like Risk and newer ones like Carcassonne.

Then came the iOS version, which CNET ranked among the 30 best iPad games -- and rightly so. It affords a decent single-player experience (something the board version can't) and moves the game along at a much speedier clip (meaning you can play alone or with others without investing quite so much time).… Read more

AT&T subscribers eyeing the HTC One were able to save $100 and get a free Beats speaker to boot due to an error from AT&T.

The carrier's HTC One 32GB package includes the 32GB edition of HTC's flagship phone and throws in a Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker, which by itself retails for $199.

On Friday, the price listed for the entire package was $99, which almost seemed like too good a deal. And in fact, it was. The $99 price was actually put up in error. However, AT&T will honor the price … Read more

Despite Samsung's claims last month that its Galaxy S4 was performing quite well on store shelves, and had reached 10 million units sold in less than a month, analysts are concerned things are changing.

Samsung's shares were down around 6 percent Friday, representing their largest drop since August. Blame analysts worrying about flagging demand for the Galaxy S4. JP Morgan was among the analyst firms that expressed concern about Samsung, and it cut its share-price estimate by 9.5 percent.

In a note to investors, JJ Park at JP Morgan said that supply chain checks are showing "… Read more

NBA 2K14 has no love for Nintendo and the Wii U.

2K Sports, the Take-Two Interactive-owned studio responsible for the hit NBA 2K franchise, said on Thursday that its latest basketball game would launch on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 1. However, there will be no version for Nintendo's Wii U this year.

Instead, a "distinct and dynamic" experience would come for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, said Jason Argent, senior vice president of sports operations for 2K Sports. He confirmed that NBA 2K14 would be a launch title for both systems.

"… Read more

It's going to be a little tougher to be an AT&T GoPhone smartphone customer.

AT&T confirmed to CNET that it is eliminating a few of its more affordable data plan options on June 20. A company representative said that new plans would emerge in the coming weeks, but didn't specify whether there would be a more budget-friendly option, noting only that there would be a "variety of plans."

"We're making some changes to our AT&T GoPhone prepaid plans to simplify our offers and better align with what customers … Read more

I've seen street-legal bumper cars made out of vehicles from vintage amusement park rides, but this is the first time I've seen a real full-size car transformed into a giant bumper car. The well-named seller, bumpercarguy, is parting with his sweet wheels on eBay. There are only a handful of hours left for you to get your bid in.

The base of the unusual vehicle is a 1984 Dodge Colt 1.6-liter turbo. Yep, a turbo bumper car. What could possibly go wrong? The exterior has been customized from fiberglass to make it look like the outside of a big red bumper car. It even has the pole sticking out the back that would make the electrical connection in a real bumper car.… Read more

Updated at 10 a.m. PT with a headline change noting that BlackBerry is disputing T-Mobile's initial claim.

It looks like iOS and Android won't be able to download BlackBerry Messenger come June 27 after all.

Earlier on Thursday, T-Mobile U.K. tweeted that BBM would indeed be available for iOS and Android come June 27, even serving up an image of a BBM conversation running on a Samsung Android phone. However, that tweet has since been taken down, calling into question the accuracy of the information.

And a BlackBerry representative told CNET: "That date is completely … Read more

U.S. Cellular announced on Thursday that it was adding the LG Optimus F7 to its smartphone lineup, selling the more-than-midrange Android smartphone with a $99 price tag -- with a new, two-year service agreement, of course.

Powered by Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the handset boasts a 4.7-inch 720p LCD IPS display, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and 8GB internal storage (4.1GB of which is user-accessible). Additionally, the phone features an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video capture, plus a 1.3-megapixel shooter right above the screen.

Users will also appreciate the LED … Read more