cnet

The 404 141: Where this aggression will not stand, man

We have a winner! After poring over a ton of submissions, Natali chooses a winner to attend a non-date with her tonight to see an exclusive screening of The Dark Knight on the IMAX screen. Here's the haiku that took the prize, courtesy of Kin::

What do I want more? Natali or the Dark Knight? Movie first, then her...

Scallyyyyyy! Congratulations Kin, we've sent you an e-mail with instructions on how to pick up your tickets.

Our favorite guest ghost Rana Sobhany joins us again and brings her friend Alex Cone, who dishes the dirt on the Apple … Read more

Preview: Updated CNET News and Downloads

We are continuing our summer preview of the new CNET with revamped News and Downloads pages in addition to the redesigned Reviews and CNET.com home page introduced last month.

As with our first beta test, a small percent of random visitors to CNET sites will be presented with the new pages. We've had a lot of feedback (please keep it coming!), and we'll continue to make changes are we gather more info and head toward the official launch later this summer.

Inside CNET Labs 4: A different dynamic

We have our first guest! That's right. The dynamic is changed as Dong and Eric try to adjust to having a third person on the show. It's not pretty. We talk about the iPhone 3G launch and Dong tells us how his planned "no tech" July Fourth went.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 4

The 404 134: Where the interns broke the studio

CNET interns Jeff and Jeremy give the Webcam a premature Fourth of July fireworks show and fuzzify the viewers, but we'll forgive them this time. In other news, we also take apart the Great Firewall of China, beg for Rush Limbaugh's scraps, voraciously consume watermelon with a vengeance, hack a few ATMs across the country, and question Wilson's stubborn refusal to see GOOD MOVIES.

EPISODE 134 Download today's podcast

Inside CNET Labs 2: This week on a very special...

Our second--yet already special--episode! We remember George Carlin and you find out why. Eric vents about us not being Wanted and gives his take on why Dynamic Contrast ratio is mostly poppycock. Oops, was that one of the seven words? Lastly, story time with Dong again as he shows his support for local public radio. A big THANK YOU for all the comments and e-mails, keep them coming!!! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 2

CBS closes CNET Networks acquisition

CBS announced Monday it completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET Networks, publisher of many Web sites including CNET News.com, setting the stage for expanding its CBS Interactive division into five categories.

Under the acquisition, CBS Interactive will include such categories as technology, entertainment, sports, news, and business. The division will be headed up by Quincy Smith, former CBS Interactive president, who will now serve as its CEO. Neil Ashe, former CNET Networks CEO, will become president of the business unit.

CBS Interactive's technology category will include CNET.com, CNET Reviews, Download.com, and others. The entertainment … Read more

The 404 129: Where Natali is dressed like a school marm

Back by insanely popular demand, Natali Del Conte guest stars on today's pretty heartfelt show. Well, we start it off pretty naughty with a couple of stories about highly offensive T-shirt graphics and Mini-Me's "secret" videotape, but then Jeff's buddy Zach calls in with a heartbreaking story and we dish out advice on how to sustain a long-term relationship. E-mail or call and tell us your opinion! EPISODE 129 Download today's podcast

Inside CNET Labs 1: Nice and clean

Our very first episode! We get the real deal (according to us at least) on FireWire versus USB versus FireWire. Also Dong recounts his first trip to Subway (or is it the subway?) as Eric LOL's. Join us! JOOIINNN USSSSSSS.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 1

Dong's Firewire vs. USB tirade

Preview: CNET's new, improved look

After more than a dozen years of bringing you our content surrounded by yellow and green, CNET is getting a new look. As you can see above, the carnival of colors is being replaced by a cleaner look that pivots off our content and our updated red CNET logo.

Our designers and engineers have been at work on this site revamp for many months, incorporating feedback based on the activities of millions of users and scores of alpha testers in our labs. Now we are entering the first phase of our beta release. A small percent of random visitors to … Read more

Do codecs work differently on different MP3 players?

CNET's MP3 Insider blog posted a fascinating entry the other day on how CNET Labs tests the audio response of different MP3 players. They load several files of the type that are used to test traditional stereo equipment, such as white noise and pure sine waves, then plays them back into an audio analyzer, which reports numbers for qualities such as signal-to-noise ratio and total harmonic distortion. Two Creative players come out on top, the iPod Classic in the middle, and Microsoft's Zune in seventh place due to fairly mediocre harmonic distortion scores.

As Donald Bell correctly points … Read more