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HTC Trade-Up dangles up to $300 for your old smartphone

HTC, hoping to attract new Android and Windows Phone buyers, is now offering cash back for old smartphones. A new HTC Trade-Up page has gone live online to lets users calculate how much their aging handset might be worth.

The program is essentially a four-step process, starting with a quote for your existing smartphone. Once you buy a new HTC device, simply mail in your old smartphone. Providing everything matches up with the details you reported to HTC, you'll get your refund in the form of a Visa prepaid card that's good for up to 30 days.

HTC … Read more

Clean, repair, and optimize your Registry with ARO 2012

ARO 2012 is the latest version of a longstanding Registry cleaner and optimizer. The look is familiar, but ARO 2012 offers several upgrades over previous versions, such as improved browser cleaning and user-friendlier settings as well as new tweaks that can yield better NTFS performance, faster startups, and improved CPU utilization. ARO 2012 also backs up and optimizes the Registry. You can schedule automatic cleanings, too.

ARO 2012's installer informed us that it would scan our PC as soon as it closed. The first scan is always important with software like ARO since it establishes a baseline, and ours … Read more

Microsoft announces plans for 32 holiday pop-up stores

Microsoft officials have gone public with the full list of its planned 32 holiday pop-up brick-and-mortar stores.

We knew about a dozen or so of these from earlier leaks. But there are going to be more pop-ups than we expected in both the U.S. and Canada.

Other than saying these stores will open "this fall," Microsoft isn't providing exact dates as to when they will go live. I asked if any of them would be open by October 26, as this is the launch date for Windows 8 and Microsoft's ARM-based Surface RT tablets, but … Read more

Amazon Kindle Fire 2 tablet rumor roundup

Amazon shook up the tablet scene with the release of the Kindle Fire tablet in 2011. With one of the most popular tablets on the market, rumors are already swirling about Amazon's next move. The release of Google's Nexus 7 tablet at the same price point of the first-generation Kindle Fire has increased the competitive climate; not to mention the seemingly never-ending reign of the Apple iPad as the king of tablets. Will Amazon make another relevant and successful tablet? Will there be three different versions of the Kindle Fire? What about 4G? In anticipation of the expected … Read more

Arcade-style light switch turns click into pew pew pew

Turning light switches on and off is a necessary, but dull, part of our lives. It doesn't have to be like that. With a $29.99 Power-Up Arcade Light Switch Plate from ThinkGeek installed, turning on the living room light will become a retro-gaming adventure.

A bright red joystick turns the light on and off. The switch plate makes classic "pew pew pew" noises when you press the buttons. This will allow you to pretend to play Space Invaders in the dark of your bedroom at 3 in the morning. … Read more

Nintendo to hold Wii U event in NYC on September 13

It looks like September 13 will be the day when Nintendo spills the beans about all things Wii U, including what I'm hoping is more than just the launch date and price. I'd imagine we'll also get a pretty good idea -- if not a definitive list -- of what the console's launch lineup will look like.

Nintendo COO Reggie Fils-Aime will be on hand to discuss the future of the console and explain some of the other features that the Wii's successor will be packing in. Of course you'll recall Nintendo's E3 2012 presentation … Read more

Microsoft pop-up stores coming this holiday season

Microsoft officials said earlier this summer that they planned to open a number of temporary "pop-up" holiday stores this year. At the time, they didn't specify where these stores would be.

Braintree, Mass. Chicago (downtown) Cleveland, Ohio Manhattan, N.Y. Miami, Fla. Natick, Mass. Portland, Ore. San Antonio, Texas San Francisco St. Louis, Mo. Vancouver, B.C.

Microsoft Stores sell Windows PCs, Windows Phones, Microsoft and third-party software, games, peripherals and more. Microsoft also is going to sell its recently announced Surface PC/tablets through its Microsoft Stores in the U.S. and through select online Microsoft … Read more

Apple Up-to-Date Program woes continue

Apple's Up-to-Date Program for issuing qualified users free copies of its latest version of OS X has been a bit of a rocky road.

For those who purchased Mac systems after June 10, Apple is offering a free upgrade to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which requires submitting a serial number and purchase information to Apple's Up-to-Date Web site followed by receiving a redemption code for Mountain Lion in the Mac App Store. Unfortunately this process has hit a few snags.

Apple's Up-to-Date Program prematurely went live on Monday, two days before it was scheduled to … Read more

Apple patent filing hints at Google Glass-like tech

Heads up, Google. Apple may be eyeing its own "portable heads-up display" that could one day give Google Glass devices some competition.

Outlined in a filing published by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office yesterday, Apple's patent application refers to a technology that increases the resolution on a display without increasing the number of pixels. Such technology could be used in a portable heads-up display, Apple explained, where limiting the number of pixels is especially useful.

"In particular, a portable heads-up display may be size and weight constrained such that addition of physical pixels may … Read more