Memorial Day is considered the traditional start of summer here in the U.S., and we noticed the streets, subways, and elevators getting less and less populated as the week wore on. But it was another full week for the CNET Reviews team, who cranked out more than 20 tech product reviews -- including a few items that are beyond our usual purview.
Hot cameras
We sampled only two cameras this week, but both were four-star winners.
The
I'm not sure how well-known David Attenborough is in the U.S., but here in Britain, he has achieved a level of respect and admiration that is reserved for very few. Best known for making nature programs, from the relatively recent "Frozen Planet" and "Planet Earth" to the groundbreaking 1979 series "Life On Earth," he also had another career as a BBC executive.
He was responsible for introducing color television programs to the U.K. in 1967, and commissioned "Monty Python's Flying Circus." He probably could have risen to become the head of the entire BBC, but didn'more
What's a reviews editor to do when a week passes without a single major hardware announcement? With no frenzied launch events to stalk and no 24-hour-turnaround product reviews to write, your average tech journalist just pours a glass of bourbon, kicks back, and plays Max Payne 3 until his eyes bleed. But not us. We dug deeper. We found a really freaking cool laptop desk. Truly, we did -- it's downright chilly.
We're fans of this one, peeps
The
Last week, CNET
The best Prius of them all
Samsung hired Earls Court, a venue that's more commonly used for big concerts and massive exhibitions than product launches. During the 2012 Olympic Games, it will host volleyball. Samsung used the entire space to launch a single product.
In front of a thronging, buzzing crowd, a ridiculously large projection screen flashed through the presentation as an orchestra added pomp to the proceedings. At the end of the presentation, the huge screen lifted to reveal another vast hands-on area behind, along with Samsung's new pop-up shops. I stood at the back next to a local retailer who was watching more
If you clicked over to CNET on Thursday, you might not have noticed any of our full reviews, because we were too busy nerding out over (and
The Galaxy S3 won't come out until this summer, though, and we don't expect everyone (or anyone) to sit around and wait for it, especially since no one is sure yet how more
Sometimes, CNET goes weeks without bestowing an Editors' Choice award. We give the badges only to tech that we love so much, we'd personally buy these devices. There must be some magic in the air (or our drinks) this week, because we doled out not one, but three CNET Editors' Choice awards.
But before I walk you through our award winners (a surprising and diverse group in their own right), I'd like to point out two non-winners that deserve your attention. These two four-star computers, the
Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for. In this week's roundup of CNET's top-rated gear, I'll explore some premium choices, but prepare yourself for sticker rage.
HTC One S shows T-Mobile customers how the other half lives
Case in point: On T-Mobile, cheaper phone plans mean fewer high-end smartphone choices -- and by fewer, we mean no Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones at all...until now. This week, T-Mo joined the ICS club with the HTC One S, which our reviewer Brian Bennett calls T-Mobile's best phone yet. It's thinner than the iPhone 4S more
At CNET, we spend a lot of time with our phones -- probably more than any human should. We know that there's nothing as frustrating as a hard-to-navigate mobile Web site. There's so little space on a phone screen that every pixel has to earn its keep. So when we redesigned our m.cnet.com site from the ground up, we took cues from something everyone knows and loves: mobile apps.
First, we simplified the layout of our mobile site and made its navigation familiar to anyone who uses Facebook, Path, or any other common mobile app. When
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Every week at CNET, we test dozens of gadgets. Not every device stands out as amazing or wonderful, and we've seen our share of failing storage drives or -- shudder -- candy bar "feature phones." (That's what the industry calls a cell phone that's not quite a smart phone.)
But not a week goes by without at least a few standout gadgets. Sometimes, these gems shine in a crowded field. Sometimes, they break the mold. Occasionally, we review a high-quality device from an older category that does its job so well, we fall in love with it more
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Senior Executive Editor Jim Kerstetter and Editor in Chief Lindsey Turrentine write about what we do here at CNET, the intersection of technology and journalism, as well as musings on the latest products and services that are reshaping our world.
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