dna

HTC amps up Verizon's Droid franchise with Droid DNA

HTC needed a slam dunk to reverse its fortunes. It may just have one with the Droid DNA thanks to an assist from Verizon Wireless.

The Droid DNA, unveiled today at an event in New York with Verizon, nabs the coveted flagship, or halo, slot at the wireless carrier. Verizon Chief Marketing Officer Tami Erwin said she sees the DNA positioned for "blockbuster success during the holidays and 2013."

HTC takes over a position largely occupied by Motorola Mobility over the past few years, and the coup couldn't come at a better time. The company badly needs … Read more

Verizon and HTC's latest twist: The $199 Droid DNA

Verizon and HTC unveiled a new device that the two hope will appeal to customers during the holiday season, while helping to reverse HTC's floundering fortunes.

The phone, the Droid DNA, sports a 5-inch screen, putting it more in the "phablet" category with Samsung's Galaxy Note. It runs on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and includes a boatload of powerful features, including a Super LCD 3 display with 440 pixels per inch, capable of playing 1080p HD video.

HTC noted the screen rivals traditional HDTVs, while the pixel density is among the highest available on … Read more

Join CNET's coverage of Verizon, HTC's launch event (live blog)

CNET's live coverage of Verizon and HTC's launch event, 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET.

Verizon and HTC have one more mobile device to unveil for the holidays, and it looks to be a big one.

The companies are widely believed to be releasing the Droid DNA, which Verizon accidentally leaked Monday on its own Web site. (It has since been scrubbed.)

The Droid DNA is said to feature a large, 5-inch display, moving into the tweener category referred to by some as a "phablet." The smartphone is expected to come with 2GB of … Read more

BlackBerry 10 gets launch date

CNET Update starts the countdown:

Mark the calendar on January 30. That's when Research in Motion will launch the next BlackBerry phones. Also in Monday's tech news roundup:

- Facebook is testing out new features. Some users can reply directly to someone's comment on a post, according to Mashable. And VentureBeat reports Facebook is also testing notification sounds.

- A preview of the Skype app for Windows Phone 8 is now available to download.

- YouTube will cut funding to about half of the original shows it backed last year, according to Ad Age.

- Apple and … Read more

New Droid DNA accidentally confirmed by Verizon

Over the weekend Verizon briefly called out the Droid DNA as its next Droid handset. The revelation was fleeting, though; the carrier promptly scrubbed all mention of DNA from its Web site. … Read more

NYU loses lab mice, years of medical research to Sandy

In the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, researchers are discovering the damage the done to one of New York University's research facilities and mourning the loss of lab animals and of scientific data that could take years to rebuild.

After the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that flooding and power loss claimed the lives of thousands of lab mice as well as wiping out enzymes, antibodies, and DNA used in cancer and other research, the NYU Langone Medical Center confirmed in a statement released yesterday that its Smilow building was "adversely impacted" by the speed and severity of the flood surge.… Read more

Droid DNA could be Verizon's 5-inch HTC Android

More details have bubbled up about the rumored 5-inch HTC handset slated to hit Verizon this fall, including its name.

Previously thought to be the Droid Incredible X, DIX, or DLX a copy of a Verizon document suggests that the supersize smartphone will take on the name Droid DNA, according to AndroidCentral.

If the document is correct, Verizon will list the HTC6435LVW handset for $199.99 on November 20, just in time for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.

With its expected high-end specs -- a 5-inch 1080p HD display, quad-core processor, and 2GB RAM -- I thought the … Read more

DNA decay rate makes 'Jurassic Park' impossible

Countless childhood dreams dissolved today upon the news that the calculated half-life of DNA figures out to around 521 years, all but invalidating the chances of a real-life "Jurassic Park."

The DNA fact-finding project involved a team of palaeogeneticists testing 158 leg bones belonging to three species of extinct giant moa birds ranging from 600 to 8,000 years old.

After running a series of comparisons between the age of the various bones and DNA degradation within each specimen, the researchers estimated that DNA's half-life works out to about 521 years after being kept in a swamp with an average temperature of 13.1 Celsius (55 Fahrenheit). Even a more ideal preservation temperature of minus 5 Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) would only result in readable DNA from specimens up to 1.5 million years old, meaning there is no possible way we can see a 65-million-year-old T-Rex waving its tiny arms about in this time frame. … Read more

The 404 1,147: Where life won't find a way (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Watching "Looper" in a theater? Bring headphones.

- Science just killed any hope you ever had of "Jurassic Park" being real.

- Cameras in phones are now better than compact cameras from five years ago.

- OKCupid starts matching roommates.… Read more