99%

I once wrote for an app review site where the guidelines insisted price shouldn't factor into a game's rating. Nuts, right? That's like saying as long as you like the car you're test-driving, forget about the sticker.

For a cheapskate like me, price absolutely matters, which is why I'm happy to see every game in Konami's iPhone catalog temporarily on sale for 99 cents each.

That includes Metal Gear Solid Touch, which is widely regarded as one of the top iPhone shooters. It normally sells for $5.99 (and was $7.99 at launch).… Read more

Spelunky is a free game that promises a new adventure each time you play. This old-fashioned adventure game offers a lot of Indiana Jones-type action, but gets off to a rocky start with its keyboard commands.

The program's interface reminded us of an 8-bit Nintendo game at first glance. It quickly confused us with its commands. Our visit to the Controls Help File revealed an overwhelming number of keyboard commands to remember, though joystick operation looked slightly easier. The game revolved around an adventurer of the Indiana Jones mold. He rescues women and collects treasure as he dodges monsters, … Read more

It's the penultimate episode before our 404th episode of The 404. Yes, the Internet will exploded when we run our live show tomorrow. Today's episode, though, might keep us from ever reaching that magic number. In our first half, we discuss our recollections of learning about the birds and the bees. In the second half, we have a great Calls from the Public section, and we mention Best Buy's latest snafu.

So, why the birds and the bees? Well, according to a study by Symantec, children are searching the Internet to learn about sex, not necessarily from their parents. While that might sound quite disturbing, Jeff, Justin, and Wilson reminisce about how we learned about it, and most of it involved dirty magazines and shared videotapes. Plus, we swapped tips on how to catch a glimmer of the Spice Channel by either jiggling the remote or hooking up a black box to our cable outlet.

We round out the show with some delightful Calls from the Public. We love it when a woman calls. Finally, we chat a bit about Best Buy and its mistake of putting a high-end Samsung HDTV on sale for $9.99. People are upset that the company won't honor the price. Well, duh. Come on, you knew it was a mistake when you bought it!

Be sure to send in your favorite show moments and congratulate us on our 404th episode tomorrow! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Or send in a MP3 or WAV to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Tomorrow, we've got an amazing roster of guests, including Clayton Morris, Caroline McCarthy, Mark Licea, and more!

… Read more

Ever since Apple launched the new iPhone 3GS, the older iPhone 3G has been going for $99 with a new two-year contract. Well, according to Boy Genius Report, there seem to be some indications that Apple may be about to bring out a new 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS that will take the place of the iPhone 3G and also cost $99.

Interestingly, BGR's source isn't AT&T but Rogers, a Canadian carrier, and a tipster sent the site some screenshots that seem to provide proof of the transition between models. None of this is confirmed, … Read more

Well, here's hoping you waited on that $99 refurbished iPhone 3G, because as of Monday you can get a new one for the same price. Apple just announced at WWDC 2009 that the 8GB iPhone 3G will stay on the market for $99.

So what do you think? Now that you can finally get a shiny new iPhone with a full warranty (one year) for less than a hundred bucks, will you pull the trigger?

Based on the comments in last week's aforementioned refurb post, I'm guessing no. For most of you, it's not the price … Read more

At next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, we should find out if the rumors of a $99 iPhone are true.

Of course, savvy shoppers know that it's already possible to buy an iPhone for $99: For several months, AT&T has offered refurbished 8GB models for that tempting price.

(More recently, the company dropped the price of refurbished 16GB iPhones to $149, but at the moment those are out of stock.)

Obviously it makes sense to wait a few days and see what develops at the conference. After all, if you can buy a new iPhone 3G for $… Read more

A recent post on Barron's Tech Trader Daily suggests that Apple plans to "attack the low end of the smartphone market" by offering a $99 version of the 8GB iPhone.

According to Barron's, RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky believes that Apple will reveal updated 16GB and 32GB iPhones at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8 (as expected), keeping $199 and $299 price points. The article suggests that "Abramsky thinks even an evolutionary upgrade will drive a healthy upgrade cycle; he estimates 20 percent of the 21 million iPhone-installed base will upgrade within the first … Read more

MP3 playback? Check. Two cameras? Check. Built-in mobile Buddhist altar? Che... Wait, WTF?!

You read correctly. The Odin 99 has landed on the streets of China, and a single tap of the phone's dedicated lotus-leaf button will load a private, customizable, animated altar.

The idea is to allow Buddhists to perform their dedications and rituals conveniently when away from home. You can simulate incense burning and purification rites and play music to help you meditate wherever you happen to be.

As far as our knowledge goes of inventions that seamlessly converge religion with phone calls, this takes the gold … Read more

Wired's Gadget Lab blog has a story about how a group of about 250 Kindle owners are staging an online protest over Kindle e-books that cost more than $9.99. The weapon they're using is Amazon's own tagging system, as price offenders are getting hit with a special "9 99 boycott" tag.

The roving--and most likely growing--band of annoyed Kindle owners includes such folks as Connecticut librarian Crystal O'Brien, who spends "a few minutes every day in the Kindle book store tagging the more expensive digital books with the '9 99 boycott' tag … Read more