fire

Episode 14: HTC One X vs iPhone in a midair Road Test

This week, you finally get to see the results of my high-flying Road Test of the HTC One X! I actually jumped out of a helicopter because we were so sure that this HTC One X commercial, touting its camera features to such an extent that it could be used in a midair fashion shoot, was a ridiculous put-on. You'll see in the segment whether I managed to get the shot, and whether the phone's camera and features performed as advertised.

Special thanks to the folks at GoPro, who helped us set up this shoot and loaned us … Read more

Honoring those who Facebooked themselves out of their jobs

People can't help themselves. Facebook doesn't help them much either.

For weak-willed humans have feelings and foibles. Then they air them on Facebook, and suddenly their faces are red and their slips are pink.

So along comes a blog called The Facebook Fired, which serves as a memorial to those who expressed themselves out of their jobs by expressing themselves publicly.

The most recent post concerns 14 lifeguards from El Monte who made a Gangnam-style video of themselves and posted it to YouTube.

They were divested of their costumes for using city property for their own benefit.

The … Read more

Why I'm choosing the Kindle with Special Offers

There was quite the hullabaloo last week regarding Amazon's new Kindles.

Turns out that the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD tablets were all "Special Offers" models, meaning they'd display ads on their lock screens and main home screens.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos neglected to mention this when announcing the prices for all these Kindles, causing a minor uproar in the hours that followed -- especially when Amazon reps said there would be no way to opt out. Then, barely a day later, Bezos and Co. reversed course and gave Kindle Fire customers the option of … Read more

Conan launches $5 Kindle Fire

Many are riveted with glee over the new selection of Kindle Fires.

The glow extended to Jeff Bezos' cheeks as he presented the new devices.

However, some may not know that there is an even cheaper Kindle variant, one which Bezos decided not to mention in his 17-hour presentation.

Fortunately, the kind techies who slave in Conan O'Brien's panic room, saw fit last night to help those for whom even $69 is too much cash.

For they reminded everyone about the Amazon Wendell.

What's lovely about the Amazon Wendell is that it has a revolutionary design, when … Read more

iPad Mini mock-up pics emerge

Alleged mock-ups of Apple's iPad Mini emerged today, courtesy of French Web site Nowhereelse.fr.

The photos show a mock-up of the iPad Mini, with a white front, held in various angles. Another photo shows the cases of the larger and smaller iPad stacked with an iPhone 4S and what appears to be the case for the longer iPhone 5.

The photos, which Nowhereelse.fr spotted from Chinese site Dgtle.com, are apparently intended to showcase iPad Mini accessories. It's unclear whether these mock-ups represent the actual iPad Mini, and Apple has declined to comment to CNET.

The … Read more

Toys 'R' Us takes on tablets with Tabeo

This Monday tech news roundup doesn't want to grow up:

Toys "R" Us has created it's own tablet designed for kids, called Tabeo. It goes on sale in stores Oct. 21 for $150, but the store is now taking preorders online. This kid-safe tablet comes with 50 apps pre-installed for games, education, reading -- even apps for cooking and editing photos. And there's 7,000 more apps available in an app store. It comes with 4GB of memory, but is expandable with a memory card slot. And Toys 'R' Us won't be sharing this … Read more

Amazon backtracks, will offer $15 opt-out for ads on Kindle Fire tablets

It looks like you'll be able to opt out of the ads on the new Kindle Fire tablets after all.

I just received this e-mail from an Amazon spokesperson:

I wanted to let you know that with Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15. We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We're happy to offer customers the choice.

In answer to my follow-up question, the spokesperson specified that the opt-out will be available on both the Fire HD … Read more

No option to remove ads on Kindle Fires

Friday's tech news roundup is bracing for the mini-tablet price war:

UPDATE: Amazon has had a change of heart over the weekend and reversed its stance on lock-screen ads. Find the follow-up report on Monday's Update.

Amazon's new generation of Kindle Fire tablets will have Special Offers and Sponsored Screensavers on the home lock-screen, and you won't be able to pay extra to take it off. For the e-ink readers, Amazon has offered ways to pay a small fee, about $20, to take the ads off. But these ads are not coming off the new tablets. … Read more

Top 5 things to do with an old Kindle Fire

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Amazon's original Kindle Fire tablet has been officially put out to pasture. In its place are four new tablets, a 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD, a version with laughably limited 4G, and an entry-level model that looks like the original, but isn't.

Whether you'll end up buying one of Amazon's new tablets, or one of its competitors', a lot of you are probably asking yourselves, "What do I do with my old Kindle Fire?"… Read more

Rejoice! Kindle FreeTime brings multi-user support to tablets

The biggest game changer from Amazon's Kindle Fire announcement yesterday wasn't the pricing, dual WiFi antennas or Dolby Digital Plus sound. Rather, it was that Amazon became the first major tablet maker to allow different people to have their own accounts on the same device.

Think how commonplace this is for traditional personal computers. Mac or Windows, both platforms allow multiple people to use the same machine, logging in with different accounts that are linked to their own settings, data, applications and perhaps even special restrictions. But for tablets, it's been the dark ages.

I've found … Read more