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Back up your Apple gadget with 123 iPod iPad iPhone Backup

Keeping backup files can save you plenty of headaches if your Apple gadget starts bugging out. However, this long-winded download is just as hard to use as it is to say. The only reason to be impressed by 123 iPod iPad iPhone Backup is that it's somehow worse than iTunes in features, usability, and reliability.

When we put it in use, this ancient-looking download crashed and seized when it tried to recognize our gadget. When we finally made 123 iPod iPad iPhone Backup work, backing up wasn't slow, it's just wasn't particularly fast. There's also … Read more

Friday Poll: What's the best tech product of 2012?

There can be only one. The Samsung Galaxy S3 lopped the heads off of all comers to claim the top spot in CNET's roundup of the best tech products of 2012.

CNET editors placed the contenders in an imaginary fight cage and let them battle it out like so many boxing robots. Only five devices were still standing at the end. The iPhone 5 was left holding the tossed-off bridal bouquet while the Samsung Galaxy S3 hopped into a limo for its honeymoon with the "best tech product of 2012" designation.… Read more

Google Maps chief on ideas behind new iPhone version (podcast)

Google Maps for iPhone is getting off to a very good start. It quickly became the No. 1 free iPhone app with lots of five star user reviews.

To find out a bit more about what Google was thinking when it developed the app -- and to get some tech support on how to use its swiping features -- I spoke with Daniel Graf, Google's director of Google Maps for mobile (scroll down to listen to the podcast).

Graf said it was always Google's intention to "be present on all platforms" and that "we wanted … Read more

Best Buy trims $50 off iPhone

Holiday shoppers looking for an iPhone 5 or 4S can save some cash courtesy of a new sale at Best Buy.

The retailer is currently discounting all the various flavors of the iPhone by $50.

That means the 16GB iPhone 5 is selling for $149.99, the 32GB for $249.99, and the 64GB for $349.99. The 16GB iPhone 4S can be had for $49.99. Both the black and white versions are up for grabs.

All of them naturally require the standard two-year contract with Verizon Wireless, AT&T, or Sprint.

A few of the variants can … Read more

Manage your Any.DO task app from Chrome

When surfing the Web, it's easy to forget an idea that springs to mind about an item you need to include on your to-do list. This is likely because it's located on your mobile device and it's easy to get distracted from remembering to add it.

In a sea of task apps, Any.DO has managed to make a name for itself. With a clean and simple user interface, it's easy to just get started with managing what you need to do, who you need to call, or what you need to buy. And with the … Read more

Jet Set Radio goes mobile, fittingly enough

Jet Set Radio, the cult classic Dreamcast title from 2000, is now available for iOS and Android, following its HD rerelease on PSN, XBLA, and Windows.

Easily one of the most creative, as well as subversive, video games ever conceived, gameplay consists mainly of "grinding" (aggressive inline skating) across a colorful neo-Tokyo, tagging walls, and recruiting new members, who then become playable characters, to your gang, the GGs -- all while while evading police, rival gangs, and listening to the pirate radio station from whence the game gets its name, hosted by DJ Proooooofesssoooooor KKKKKKKKKKKK.

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Read through many book formats on your iDevice with Stanza

Stanza is a reader for books, available in apps for most devices. We downloaded Stanza from iTunes, and it installed quickly. The app is free.

Stanza lets you read books on your iDevice using a simple, elegant interface. Notably, compared with other reader apps, Stanza supports a wide range of file formats from PDF to EPUB, including those with DRM and without. In fact, we tested Stanza with almost a hundred different books over the space of a couple of months of commuting, and it opened every file we threw at it from different sources. When launched, Stanza shows a … Read more

Chat and set up audio or video calls easily with this popular app

Skype is one of the most widely used messaging and calling applications available on practically every current platform. Skype for iPhone is, as the name implies, the iOS port that works on iPhone and iPad. Available for free from iTunes or several download sites, including the publisher's, Skype installs and configures easily.

Skype lets you message or chat with anyone on your contacts list. You can also set up either audio or video conferences easily with Skype, as well as conference calls, by hitting a single button after choosing the contact. Calls over standard data networks, from one Skype … Read more

View and edit Office format files on the iPhone with Quickoffice Pro

Quickoffice Pro for iPhone is an office productivity app that lets you work with most popular file formats on your iOS device. Quickoffice Pro is available through iTunes and other download sites. It installs easily. Quickoffice Pro is sold for $14.99, and there are versions specific to iPhone and iPad.

Quickoffice Pro was one of the first apps for the iPhone that supported all the popular Microsoft Office formats, and the software has continued to evolve and improve over the years. It consists of viewers and basic editors for document, presentation and spreadsheet files (so it opens and saves … Read more

The iPhone 5S rumor roundup

Editors' note: Please note that we'll continuously update this piece up until the device's official launch; let us know if we missed any rumors ourselves.

iPhone rumors are like flies at a summer picnic: they're nearly unstoppable. Collected in one batch are all the iPhone 5S/6 rumors CNET has reported so far, with some commentary on where these rumors came from.

We always have long wish lists for newer features and further redesigns, but the bottom line is this: nobody knows exactly what we'll get until Tim Cook reveals it on stage later this year. … Read more