Ad: Manage updates with the Download App

top

Galaxy S3 beats iPhone 5 for best device of 2012

Imagine seven of CNET's most senior editors locked in a room, arguing over the course of three days to determine the 100 biggest tech stories of the year for our annual CNET 100 package. We bickered, we pounded coffee, we reminisced, and we wrestled over some big questions -- including which products we considered the hands-down best of 2012.

The question of gadget supremacy intrigued us, so we decided to pull from our list of biggest newsmakers the five best devices of the year as well as the five most influential tech products of 2012. The ongoing battle between … Read more

2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid: Prius Killer? CNET On Cars Episode 8

Subscribe:

iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)

Some 15 years after its introduction, the Toyota Prius still defines the hybrid car business. It's an amazing dominance, comparable with the iPod's position in the portable media player market. Prius models outsell all other hybrids combined in the U.S. but that doesn't mean they always will. Enter the Ford C-Max. The name is about as goofy as "Prius," but the mission is serious: to give the Prius some real competition and perhaps push it … Read more

Tech flops of 2012

2012 was a year when many of the big names in tech took big gambles...and lost.

CNET recently ran a collection highlighting 2012's biggest Tech Turkeys, and it seemed ripe for a remix over here on Top 5. I swiped four from their list, added one of my own, and ranked the whole thing by how long I imagine it took the respective CEOs to remove their palms from their face.

Subscribe:

iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)

Google puts deadline on bids for Motorola set-top biz -- report

Google's apparent solicitation of bids for Motorola's set-top box business could come to an end later today.

Google has been accepting bids for Motorola's operation for some time but has set a deadline on the last bid round for today, The Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing people who are familiar with the dealings. The Journal's sources said that Google may extend the deadline if the offers aren't up to par, though.

According to the Journal's sources, Google expects the bids to reach between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, though they could go … Read more

Bing's top searches reveal iPhone 5 as No. 1 news story

Believe it or not but the No. 1 most searched for news story on Bing this year has been the launch of Apple's iPhone 5. In fact, the debut of this device beat out the 2012 presidential election, the Olympics, and Superstorm Sandy, which followed respectively for the next top searches. The Honey Boo Boo reality TV show came in at No. 5.

Microsoft released its data on the top searched terms for 2012 today. The lists include information on travel destinations, fashion labels, celebrities, consumer electronics, fast food chains, and more. The tallies of the data are based … Read more

The most expensive car we've ever tested: CNET On Cars Episode 7

Subscribe:

iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)

It's been a little heady around here lately: Right after the Lamborghini Gallardo, we get a Bentley -- and a Mulsanne to boot. I normally start our tours of high tech cars in the front seat, but this time we begin in the back where the tech takes off in ways you've never seen before.

If you want iPads in the back seat of your car without buying a Bentley, check out Wayne's how to that can make … Read more

Girls with Nerf guns: Toy retailer creates gender-swapped catalog

This secret is out. Sometimes, girls like to play with He-Man action figures and boys like to nurture dolls. A Swedish toy catalog is getting a lot of attention for swapping out traditional gender roles by depicting a boy playing with a dollhouse and a girl blasting an imaginary foe with a Nerf gun.

Top Toy created the holiday catalog for toy chains BR and Toys"R"Us. The catalog was released in both Denmark and Sweden, but the Swedish version features some Photoshopped changes. Perhaps most notably, a boy wielding a toy gun in the Danish catalog was replaced by a girl, while a boy appears on another page playing with a very pink dollhouse.… Read more

Xbox set-top device reportedly coming next year

Microsoft is readying an Xbox set-top box focused on casual gaming and streaming video, The Verge reported today.

According to the report, several sources told The Verge that Microsoft is planning on releasing the new device next year as an inexpensive alternative to its longstanding hit console, the Xbox 360. The set-top box is expected to offer the ability to play casual games and stream videos, and would be sold alongside the existing Xbox.

"The device will run on the core components of Windows 8 and support casual gaming titles rather than full Xbox games typically found on a … Read more

Top 16 Black Friday tech deals

Every year the Black Friday online circulars hit the Web and lots of sites round up every tech deal under the sun. That's great, but it's always hard to tell the real deals from all the crap that's being advertised to lure you into the stores. The truth is that a lot of the so-called superbargains are already available online from stores like Amazon and others.

However, a few items do stand out. Alas, many of these are "doorbusters" that are available in very limited quantities and only the people who arrive long before the … Read more

Tech to be thankful for

It's easy to get jaded working at CNET. We see every phone, every tablet, every laptop, every piece of tech you can imagine. And of course they're each accompanied by a PR pitch that paints it as an unprecedented, game-changing, life-affirming, must-have gizmo. Some of them are truly great, but mostly it's just more of the same.

So to keep my heart from blackening over with cynicism, I thought I'd take a minute to remind myself about all of the great things modern technology has given us. There's no single product here, no brand name, … Read more