News

iPhone owners more loyal than Android users -- study

Android vendors shouldn't expect to make many friends with Apple's current customers.

In a study released Tuesday by gadget-comparison company Retrevo, 81 percent of current iPhone owners will buy another Apple handset when their contracts are up and they have to purchase another device. Another 14 percent of current iPhone owners identify themselves as "undecided." Just 4 percent say that they plan to switch to Android.

It's a different story on the Android side. Just under two-thirds of current Android owners -- 63 percent -- say that they'd stick with a handset running Google'… Read more

JLo's Viva Movil opens first store to sell wireless products

JLo's new mobile venture has launched its first retail outlet.

Set up as a Verizon Wireless premium retailer, Viva Movil by Jennifer Lopez launched its initial store on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, the company announced Wednesday. Designed to attract customers from the Hispanic community, the store will sell smartphones and tablets from Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry, Motorola, LG, Nokia, and other vendors, all running on Verizon's network. Also on tap will be fashion cases from Jennifer Lopez and accessories from Samsung, BlackBerry, Otterbox, and Harman Kardon.

The store's staffers are bilingual, allowing them to speak with customers in … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom marries smartphone and camera

Samsung's S4 Galaxy Zoom -- which combines an Android smartphone with a 16-megapixel camera and 10x zoom lens -- is real.

The model isn't likely to appeal to the mainstream smartphone buyer. But in an Android market crowded with options, a niche that caters to a particular subset can be a reasonable approach -- especially if that subset is as passionate, enthusiastic, and willing to part with money as photographers often are.

The Korean electronics giant announced the new smartphone Wednesday, the latest in a series of S4-branded phones that began with the Galaxy S4 flagship model, continued … Read more

Finally, iOS Control Center!

If you happened to watch Apple's WWDC keynote yesterday, you probably noticed that one of the biggest crowd responses -- the largest chorus of "oohs" and "ahhs" -- came when Tim Cook unveiled Control Center.

And no wonder: It took Apple six years to add a feature Android users have enjoyed since almost the beginning. If you wanted these capabilities on your iPhone, you'd have to jailbreak it and install SBSettings.

No more. Control Center has arrived -- or will arrive, anyway, once iOS 7 splashes down this fall -- bringing with it a … Read more

E3 2013: PS4 scores against Xbox One

CNET Update is keeping score:

This episode of Update breaks down the battle between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles. It hasn't been pretty for Microsoft, as Sony priced the PS4 $100 cheaper -- and it won't put restrictions on playing used games or require an Internet connection.

CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under three minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afternoon for a breakdown of the big stories, hot devices, new apps, and what's ahead. Subscribe to the podcast via the links below.

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AMD unveils first eight-core 5GHz processor

If there were a clock speed war going on, AMD would win again.

The chip maker unveiled today the most powerful member of the AMD FX family of CPUs, the eight-core AMD FX-9590, which it claims to be world's first commercially available 5GHz processor.

Back in 2000, AMD was the first to break the 1GHz barrier by delivering its 1GHz Athlon chip to the general public in May of that year. The FX-9590 will be available this summer and Intel has until then to unveil its own 5GHz CPU. Currently the fastest CPU from Intel is the 3.5GHz … Read more

Dish still unwilling to let Sprint go, despite SoftBank deal

Dish Network isn't yet ready to let Sprint go.

Dish is still examining Sprint's books to determine whether it wants to make another bid for the mobile carrier, Reuters is reporting on Tuesday. The trouble is, time is running out: shareholders vote on the previous acquisition bid from SoftBank later this month.

SoftBank last year approached Sprint with an offer to acquire 70 percent of the carrier for $20.1 billion. In April, Dish countered with an unsolicited bid of $25.5 billion. Despite the jump in price and the fact that a Sprint committee evaluated the Dish … Read more

Intel intros low-cost enterprise SSD for data centers

Intel today introduced the DC S3500 series solid-state drive, which brings enterprise performance at a cost that general consumers can afford. The new drive is optimized for read performance, which is important for data centers, or storage servers.

The new drive supports the SATA 3 (6Gbps) standard and is available in both 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch designs. The former is available in 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 240GB, 300GB, 480GB, 600GB, and 800GB capacities, while the latter is available in 80GB, 240GB, 400GB, and 800GB capacities. Both designs are 7mm thick.

Intel says the new SSD uses its 20nm NAND flash … Read more

For EA, Nintendo's Wii U just isn't a priority

LOS ANGELES -- To Electronic Arts, Nintendo's Wii U console plays second fiddle to some of the faster-growing areas in the video game business.

That includes the other next-generation consoles, Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4, as well as the current-generation systems and mobile devices, according to Frank Gibeau, head of labels at EA.

"I think it's fair to characterize that Xbox One, PS4, and mobile are the highest growth platforms that we're looking at right now," Gibeau said in an interview with CNET on Monday.

EA would rather invest in those … Read more

Sony twists the bad publicity knife deeper into Microsoft

LOS ANGELES -- Thunderous applause greeted Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO Jack Tretton when he announced that there would be no restrictions on used games for the PlayStation 4.

Tretton smiled and paused, garnering him a second wave of enthusiastic clapping and hollering.

In a battle between two titans of the console gaming industry on the unofficial first day of the E3 video game conference, Sony came out on top on Monday not by showing off a more impressive lineup of games, but by answering a few simple questions the right way.

"We believe in the model that … Read more