Music

Google's Brin in a pink Batmobile, wearing Google Glass

When you work at one of the world's most successful -- and occasionally silliest -- companies, it's hard to create wonderful April Fool's pranks.

After all, you're supposed to contribute your best ideas to the company, so that they might be selected as one of the 15 or so that are used to fool the world on April 1.

It's astonishing that any Googlies have time left over for personal japes. You know, like punking the boss, for example.

And yet, evidence has emerged that members of the Google(x) team -- which I believe … Read more

Microsoft: Facebook Home? Wait, that's Windows Phone

You may have been one of those who felt enthralled and delighted at Mark Zuckerberg's launch of Facebook Home yesterday.

You also may have felt appalled and slighted. Especially if you worked at Microsoft in 2011.

The morning after the morning before, Microsoft's forthright head of PR, Frank X. Shaw, offered words to suggest he'd have liked to X-out most of Zuckerberg's wide-eyed unveiling.

On the company's own blog, he wrote: "I tuned into the coverage of the Facebook Home event yesterday and actually had to check my calendar a few times. Not to … Read more

Rush Limbaugh: iPad great tool in fighting global warming 'hoax'

If you're 13 years old, live in Wilmington, Ind., and it's cold outside, it surely makes you wonder about this global warming thing.

How can there be global warming when your personal globe is freezing?

How can you find out whether all this scientific mumbo-jumbo is just a giant gumbo of mumbling nonsense?

You do it the old-fashioned way: You go to the library.

Once you've found the evidence, you call Rush Limbaugh and tell him. This is extreme wisdom, as Limbaugh has -- at least in the past -- been very skillful at raising issues and … Read more

Crave giveaway: Colorful Coloud Boom headphones

Congrats to Cheryl W. of Irvine, Calif., for winning a Bem Wireless Bluetooth boom box in last week's giveaway. This week, we've got another prize your ears will like: a pair of sturdy and stylish Boom headphones from Swedish company Coloud.

The Boom over-ear 'phones come in all sorts of fun color combinations for a contrasting look, or in similar hues for a more tonal look. You get to choose. They have a mic and remote for additional functionality, and a special little thingamabob at the end for tangle-free cord management.

Normally, a pair of Coloud Boom headphones would run you $40, but you have the chance to get your ears on them for absolutely nada. How do you go about doing that? There are a few rules, so please listen up. … Read more

For labels, Apple's iRadio deal could be sweeter than Pandora

Apple is close to striking a streaming deal with two of the major music labels that could end up far sweeter for the music industry than what the labels currently get from Pandora, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

Much has been made in recent weeks of Apple trying to squeeze the labels on terms, and the deals do have Apple paying the labels a per-stream rate that's half of what Pandora pays. But CNET has learned that Apple's planned music service would offer new revenue streams as well.

That includes a quick way for consumers … Read more

Microsoft Monocles? Redmond to make its own Google Glass?

The world is moving very quickly.

And where it's moving very quickly to is a place where we'll all look quite ridiculous and talk seemingly to ourselves as we walk down the street.

This is the heaven envisioned by Google, with its fascinating Google Glass. Yes, the glasses that make people look like no one's idea of a dinner date on the subway.

Many questions have emerged since these glasses invaded the public gaze. "Should one ban people wearing them while driving?" was one question. "How will Newt Gingrich look when wearing them?" … Read more

BlackBerry to shutter its BBM music sharing service on June 2

BlackBerry's BBM music sharing service will be no more.

As of June 2 the service will be shuttered, according to Mobilesyrup. BlackBerry sent out a mass e-mail to all of its BBM Music subscribers today informing them of the news.

Here's a portion of BlackBerry's e-mail, according to Mobilesyrup:

BBMT Music service will be discontinued as of June 2, 2013*. For paying customers, April is the last month that you will be billed. In May, as your BBM contacts stop using the service, songs in your playlists will begin to turn grey and will no longer be … Read more

Family Guy's Stewie makes Google Chrome lovable

If you want your browser to become astoundingly popular, one idea might be to employ the services of a 1-year-old who once rather liked the idea of killing his mother.

Please, I have the evidence.

For the latest, very fetching campaign for Google Chrome appears to be humongously popular among those who spend their days on the Web forwarding viruses.

Indeed, Ad Age reports that its little chart, prepared in conjunction with Visible Measures, shows that the Google Chrome campaign is the most popular viral entity of the last week.

The Stewie ad has proved, perhaps unsurprisingly, to be the … Read more

Rdio adds video service and takes on Apple, Amazon

The music-streaming service Rdio is upping its game by getting into the video business.

The company today rolled out Vdio -- a way to buy, rent, and share movies and TV shows with friends in real time. The service, which at first will be available only for Rdio subscribers in the U.S. and U.K., boasts thousands of hit titles, including "Life of Pi," "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Hobbit," and "Homeland." TV shows are available the day after they air, and the company says it will add new titles and bonus … Read more

The weirdly minimalist trailer for 'Funny Or Die' Steve Jobs movie

Steve Jobs was always a fine salesman.

The people at Funny Or Die involved in making "iSteve" -- a movie of his life -- are similarly inventive.

I was breathlessly sent a link this morning to the teaser trailer for this movie. It promised: "The trailer for iSteve, Funny or Die's Steve Jobs movie with Justin Long is finally here."

That, it is. But it's quite a minimalist trailer.

There are few real, well, pictures.

There are words, however.

"Genius left unchecked can lead to ruin," says someone.

"You gotta ride … Read more