Hardware

We come at you live from CES 2013, where we saw so many TVs our eyes started bleeding. Kind of.

The week was a blur, but through the rubble we recall images of giant televisions, curved screens, a fork that vibrates, an awesome gaming tablet that Karyne wishes she owned 100 of, and blackjack tables. So many blackjack tables.

Thanks for watching!

Heard a tech rumor you think we should cover? Leave a comment below; ; send us a tweet (@EmilyDreyfuss, @karynelevy, and @CNETRumorShow); or call and leave us a voice mail at 1-800-750-CNET. … Read more

It's a little late for Christmas presents, but if you throw a little time-machine action into the mix, this might be the perfect gift for the hacker kid in your life: Circuit Playground plushies.

The plushies are the newest product from Adafruit Industries, a leader in the open-source hardware world and the maker of a wide range of products for hackers young and old. Led by Entrepreneur magazine's entrepreneur of the year Limor Fried, Adafruit has a long history of promoting the do-it-yourself movement, and giving those who play and work in it the tools they need. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--When you come to CES here, you expect to see computers and TVs galore. Mobile phones, sure. Printer and speakers? Check. But a 50-foot-long mechanical snake?

Though we're in an arid, desert-like Nevada environment (never mind all the cement and golf courses), this isn't Burning Man. But sure enough, just behind the CNET trailer here, Titanoboa is strutting its stuff. And indeed, Titanoboa is a 50-foot mechanical snake.

Created by EatArt, the Vancouver arts collective, Titanoboa seeks to invoke the promise -- or the threat -- of global climate change, and the kinds of things we might start to see happen on this wonderful planet of ours. According to the Titanoboa project page: … Read more

LAS VEGAS--PCs on your coffee table, playing Monopoly. Super-thin ultrabooks. Voice and gestural computing. Intel showed these and more at their CES 2013 press conference. But does it add up to a firm control on the future of computing?

Fourth-gen Intel Core processors aren't on their way immediately, but at this year's CES Intel was ready to demonstrate how its "Haswell" code-named chips will make Windows 8 devices of tomorrow even thinner and smaller than now ... if you're in need of that. Fourth-gen Intel processors will require touch and have mandatory Intel Wireless Display, a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Ultrabooks are nice, but tablets are even smaller. Unfortunately, Intel's Core i-series processors haven't been a perfect fit in that regard. Intel announced tweaks to its current Ivy Bridge lineup at this year's CES that will make thinner, better battery-efficient laptops and tablets in a matter of months.

While fourth-gen Intel Core i-series processors aren't here yet, more power-efficient 7-watt Intel Ivy Bridge processors are shipping now that allow thinner laptops and tablets with better battery life than the previous 10-watt CPUs.

These will show up in systems as early as this spring, in devices … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Atom's back, and it's not just for Netbooks, or even high-end phones.

Actually, the Atom platform's been around all this time, but Intel's CES 2013 press conference laid plans for Atom's next-gen revival. We expected as much before the show started.

The new Bay Trail Atom system-on-a-chip processors are quad-core and even smaller than previous Atoms, with a new 22nm design. These processors mean better "all-day" battery life as well as better processing power -- according to Intel, up to twice as fast as current Atoms. There are Intel Atom processors in … Read more

Meet one of the most innovative thinkers of our time. He is a man who has had an enormous impact on our everyday lives.

David Kelley is the founder of the Silicon Valley global design firm Ideo. His company has created thousands of breakthrough inventions, including the first computer mouse for Apple, the standup toothpaste tube, and a better Pringle for Procter & Gamble. Ideo may be the most influential product design company in the world.

Kelley was a longtime friend and colleague of Steve Jobs -- "He made Ideo," Kelley tells Rose -- and he is a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, start your programming engines: Lego Mindstorms EV3 is here.

The third full generation of Lego's programmable robotics platform, EV3 is aimed at both enthusiasts -- young and old -- and educators, and blows past the previous generation with a long list of new features that add speed and power, intelligent programmability, and more ways to communicate with the robots. Lego expects to begin selling the product, which includes 594 Technic pieces that can be used to make five different robots, this summer at a retail cost of $350. It will also release … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Touch, anyone?

Two of Lenovo's IdeaPad lines will be joining the touch fray this year: both the IdeaPad U310/410 and IdeaPad Z400/500 have multitouch screens. Much like USB 3.0, HDMI, and solid-state drives were in previous years, touch seems to be the de rigueur Windows laptop upgrade of early 2013.

The IdeaPad U310 and U410 Touch ultrabooks, previously reviewed by CNET, are thin notebooks with more than a passing resemblance to a MacBook. The new 2013 versions are equipped with up to a third-gen Intel Core i7 processor and dedicated Nvidia graphics in the U410 … Read more