Gadgets

Why the Z10 and Q10 will not save BlackBerry

BlackBerry is betting its future on the Z10 and its new OS, but they won't be enough to prevent the company's inevitable demise.

By every standard, the BlackBerry Z10 is the best smartphone that BlackBerry (formerly RIM) has ever produced. It's a massive upgrade in terms of design, user experience and technology. I welcome the departure of the home button in favor of gestures. So let me first give credit where credit is due: BlackBerry has built a decent phone. The Q10 isn't bad either, if you're a die-hard fan of QWERTY keyboards.

Building decent … Read more

How trapped are your digital movies and TV shows?

Have you decided to ditch DVDs and Blu-rays to instead buy movies and TV shows only in a pure digital format?

There are certainly advantages to that. But one of the biggest downsides of going all digital is that how you can view your content is largely dependent on the service you purchased it from.

Digital video providers In this column, I look at how "trapped" video content purchased from iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Xbox and Google Play may be. The first four video marketplaces were listed yesterday by NPD as among the top ways people purchase digital video. … Read more

Breakfast sandwich maker puts it all together

Breakfast is more than the sum of its parts. Sure, bacon, egg, cheese, ham, sausage and the like are all delicious enough on their own, but when put together something magical happens. The transformation of breakfast ingredients into a breakfast meal is one that can happen in so many ways. Yet time and time again, people gravitate towards a classic: the breakfast sandwich. Often prepared with an English muffin or a bagel, the mingling of ingredients creates an easy to carry meal that is packed with flavor. And now, one kitchen gadget wants to make it even easier to construct … Read more

T-Mobile now supports StarStar Me, calls out Google Voice

It must be tough for carriers to make an extra dime these days with upstart apps offering customers for free what network operators want to charge for. With today's announcement that T-Mobile now supports the StarStar Me app, it's clear that TMO feels the heat. … Read more

RIM girds for big Super Bowl ad

RIM really needs to makes waves, and good ones at that. The company hopes a splashy Super Bowl spot will do the trick.

The long-awaited launch of BlackBerry 10 software, along with the heavily anticipated phones meant to run it, is less than a week away. That hasn't stopped RIM from pushing for more buzz, though. It just distributed communication via e-mail that it plans to run a big-budget ad during the upcoming Super Bowl as well.

Unfortunately RIM hasn't released any teaser footage or even pictures of what we can expect. The mobile device maker made it … Read more

Predictions for MWC 2013

We are just one month away from the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, where the biggest names in the mobile industry will unveil new products.

We're having a difficult time containing our anticipation, especially since CES offered relatively few smartphone announcements. Year by year as the mobile industry grows, so to does the scope and importance of Mobile World Congress.

So what are our CNET editors expecting to see when they touch down in Barcelona next month? Well, I quizzed Senior editors Jessica Dolcourt and Brian Bennett on their predictions and used them as the basis of … Read more

Wall Street is from Mars, Silicon Valley is from Venus

The dichotomy of reactions by Silicon Valley and Wall Street to Apple's most recent quarter are so far apart it's comical. At least, it would be comical if it didn't involve tens of billions of dollars flying out the proverbial window.

Apple posted a monster Q1, logging a whopping $54.5 billion in revenue and $13.1 billion in earnings. The company sold 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads in the quarter, all records for Apple.

Apple's reward? A brutal sell-off on Wall Street that dropped the company's share price by 12 … Read more

Samsung Ativ Odyssey travelling to Verizon tomorrow

The Samsung Ativ Odyssey, first announced last fall at Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 launch event, will hit Verizon stores January 24. The decidedly mid-range handset will also cost a very affordable $49.99 after $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service contract. … Read more