Recently we took a poll where we asked "What's stopping you from getting a plasma?" A majority of voters rebuked my premise, picking "I love my plasma." The other responses were fairly evenly split among the choices.
However, there was a surprisingly common reason given in the comments that baffled me, and it's so bizarre it's clearly worth debunking, or at least shining the light on the facts.
So how much do TVs weigh?… Read more
It comes up again and again: "Steve, please recommend a great speaker." Good question, but there are a lot of factors to consider before coming up with a definitive answer. A lot depends on what you're looking for and how you define "great." Nailing down the price is the first step, but if there's one thing I've learned about audiophiles, it's that taste always plays a big part in evaluating sound quality. That's why, in my reviews, I describe how a speaker sounds with different kinds of music.
There's no … Read more
Whenever I write about landline alternatives like the NetTalk Duo or Ooma Telo, readers invariably line up to sing the praises of the Obihai OBi100, a voice-over-IP phone adapter that many say is a better alternative.
It's definitely a cheaper one, especially today: Obihai (via Amazon) has the OBi100 VoIP Telephone Adapter for $29.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code TALK2DAD at checkout, and about 25 percent off the regular price.
Update: The coupon code does not appear to be working at the moment. I'm checking with Obihai and will update the post again when I … Read more
NEW YORK -- Samsung on Wednesday said it will partner with Michelin-starred chefs to design new kitchen electronics, boosting its focus on the home appliance market.
The Korean electronics giant took the wraps off the partnership during an event in Manhattan's trendy Soho neighborhood. The company set up a temporary "Samsung House," which is open to the public for a couple days later this week, to demonstrate its various home electronics.
As for its new "Club de Chefs," Samsung will call on a handful of award-winning chefs to "serve as ambassadors and consultants" … Read more
Facebook Home may have fallen flat among users initially, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured shareholders on Tuesday that he has big plans for the software suite.
He said the company will eventually distribute Home -- which blankets your mobile device with your News Feed -- through its Android app, once it's perfected.
"We haven't really made our big push yet ... biggest thing that we're going to do once we feel that we're ready is to encourage people who have the Facebook app to go turn this on from within the app," Zuckerberg said at … Read more
If you've done any research into TVs, Blu-ray players, or Blu-ray in general, you've likely seen the alphanumeric 1080p24 (or 1080p/24).
Understanding what it is, and keeping a lookout for products that can take advantage of it, can result in smoother, more natural-looking movie and TV show playback. I'm not talking about the artificially hypersmooth look of the Soap Opera Effect, but instead the correct cadence of motion at which the film or TV show was shot.
All the judder reducing -- and causing -- awesomeness after the jump.… Read more
Facebook hopes to quell some of the concerns around its Home software suite for Android with its first new feature, a dock designed to make it easier for users to access their favorite non-Facebook applications.
The social network released an update Thursday to Facebook for Android that simultaneously adds an application dock to Home. Now, Home users can customize the app launcher by dragging the apps they use the most to a favorites tray.
The tweak is an expected addition that is meant to fix one of the most obvious flaws of Facebook Home: the software package makes it too … Read more
ClubLocal, a company that contracts with merchants of home services like plumbing or handyman work, wants to make sure customers waiting to have their homes fixed know exactly when the repair guy (or gal) is showing up.
The company, which expands to the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday after testing its service in Dallas, lets customers schedule a service through its site or mobile app. When the pre-screened technician heads out for the job, users can see a photo and the credentials of the technician, and track his or her progress toward their homes. It's similar to ordering … Read more
Of all the great features that come with Android, I think perhaps my favorite is endless customization. If you don't want to root the device to go deep into modifying, there's still so much you can do with just apps. For example, you can give yourself a fancy home screen.
I've gathered a small handful of my favorite home screen apps here, but nothing that requires root access. Rather, these are the sorts of apps you can install and play around with on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Come next weekend, you just might have a completely different-looking … Read more
Power line networking -- the technology that enables electrical wiring to transfer data -- is about to get a lot faster.
Broadcom announced on Monday what it claims to be the industry's first HomePlug AV2 power line system-on-a-chips (SoCs) that deliver up to 1.5Gbps data speed. That's about three times the speed of the top existing power line devices.
HomePlug AV2 is the next-generation power line standard that uses an extended frequency band of up to 86MHz, while HomePlug AV was limited to 30MHz. In addition, HomePlug AV2 supports Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) -- a technology … Read more
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CNET's Galaxy S4 giveaway spectacular!
CNET's publishing another supercharged e-book. "Mastering the Galaxy S4" is almost here, so we're celebrating with a huge S4-related giveaway.
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