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Verizon, Nokia to sell Lumia 928 starting next month -- report

A new Nokia Lumia handset might be headed to Verizon Wireless.

Nokia and Verizon have been in talks to bring a new Lumia handset, known as the Lumia 928, to the carrier's store shelves next month, Bloomberg is reporting, citing two people who claim to have knowledge of their plans. The handset will be the first Lumia Verizon will sell.

According to Bloomberg's sources, the Lumia 928 will come with a metal body and a 4.5-inch touch screen. It'll also include wireless charging and an 8-megapixel camera. As with previous Lumia devices, the handset will run … Read more

Cry for Verizon to kill contracts grows louder

The calls for Verizon Wireless to drop the contract are getting louder.

The petition posted on Change.org calling for Verizon to kill off its contract model has garnered nearly 120,000 signatures, with 25,000 signatures added over the weekend alone.

The petition was created by Verizon customer Mike Beauchamp on April 7 after Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam told CNET on the sidelines of an event held earlier this month that he would consider moving to a no-contract model if consumers demanded it, and said the process to shift to no-contracts wouldn't be difficult.

The comments came shortly … Read more

WD ships first 5mm hard drive and SSHD

Western Digital announced on Tuesday the availability of its first solid-state hybrid drive, the WD Black SSHD.

SSHD is the new name for hybrid drives that combine both solid-state storage (used in solid-state drives) and regular platter-based storage (as found in regular hard drives) in a single standard box.

The WD Black is not the first SSHD on the market, but it's very different from the Laptop Thin SSHD that Seagate released just last month.

For one, the WD Black SSD is ultraslim, just 5mm thick (compared with 7mm for the Seagate drives), making it almost half the thickness … Read more

Home networking explained, part 6: Keep your network secure

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories section below.

If you were concerned after reading CNET's recent report that most home routers can be easily hacked, I don't blame you. The study did sound ominous, but the good news is that your network is likely far less susceptible than the report suggests. And more importantly, there are things you can do to make sure it's secure.

Two things are vital to keeping your network safe: proper settings and prudence. The first step is easy; you … Read more

Where and when to buy the Samsung Galaxy S4

The release of Samsung's next super smartphone, the Galaxy S4, is just days away. Sporting an improved design over the Galaxy S3 and packed with a ton of high-end features and specialized software, the Galaxy S4 already is an Android powerhouse. And even better, it will land at all major U.S. carriers plus a few smaller, regional providers.

Note, however, that the carriers aren't following the same release schedule. T-Mobile, for example, will begin selling the phone this week, but U.S. Cellular customers will have to wait until next month. Meanwhile, C Spire and Cricket have … Read more

Glass may be controlled by winks, pinches

CNET Update is acting totally normal:

If it isn't not odd enough to be wearing a computer on your face, how about controlling it with nods, blinks and air pinching? Some interesting phrasing of code in the MyGlass companion app seems to indicate the Google Glass headset will have gesture controls.

Also in this tech news roundup:

- What's bright, yellow and has keys all over? Nokia's next smartphone.

- The end is near for TweetDeck's desktop program and mobile apps. After May 7, the only way to use TweetDeck will be from the browser. Time … Read more

Huawei debuts 5-inch A199 for China

Huawei has announced (translate) a midrange Android smartphone for China and emerging markets in the form of the 5-inch A199.

Powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Huawei A199 also features Huawei's custom Emotion 1.5 UI. On hardware, the handset falls in the mid-to-high end of the spectrum with its quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, and 8.0-megapixel rear camera.

Whereas most 5-inch smartphones tend to offer a 1080p HD display, the Huawei A199 comes with a still respectable 720p resolution screen. Additional hardware includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a 2,150mAh … Read more

Optimus G Pro to be center of LG's 'Share the Genius' event

Slowly but surely, LG is releasing more details about its "Share the Genius" event, that's scheduled for Wednesday, May 1 in New York City.

The event will take place at The Metropolitan Pavilion at 8 p.m. EST, and will feature the band Atlas Genius (hence, the "Share the Genius" event name).

Most importantly, however, is that the event will focus on the LG Optimus G Pro.

The handset debuted back in February, during MWC 2013. Its 5.5-inch full-HD IPS screen places it in "phablet" territory, and it's pitted as a … Read more

Amazon's pilots reign supreme on Instant Video

Amazon's pilot programs launched last week, and already they're making an impact on the e-retailer's streaming video service.

Amazon said today that over this past weekend, eight of the 10 most-streamed episodes on its Instant Video service came from the new TV pilots it launched last week.

Amazon claims that it combed through more than 4,000 submissions for its Amazon Studios division, which will produce original series for its streaming service. Out of that, it chose to make 14 pilots. The shows range in type from comedies -- including one starring John Goodman, named "Alpha … Read more