living

LivesOn: Twitter ghost keeps tweeting when you're dead

Death is never popular, even in social media: the poor guy behind @death on Twitter has zero followers.

You might think your online fans will lose interest when you kick the bucket, but an upcoming app says it will let you keep tweeting from beyond the grave.

LivesOn will host Twitter accounts that continue to post updates when users shed this mortal coil. … Read more

LivingSocial raises $110M in funding from current investors

LivingSocial has raised $110 million in funding from its current investors, Chief Executive Tim O'Shaughnessy wrote today in a memo to employees, giving the daily deals site a much-needed cash infusion.

"This investment is a tremendous vote of confidence in our business from the people who know us best, our current board members and investors," he said in a memo viewed by CNET. "They have reviewed our plans for 2013, and they are enthusiastic enough to want to commit additional financial resources through this round."

The financing followed a "competitive process" in which … Read more

Sony PlayStation event: Join us Wednesday (live blog)

Sony is widely expected to reveal the first details of its next game console later today.

The "PlayStation Meeting 2013" event will take place in New York at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET. CNET will offer both a live blog, with live analysis from myself, Roger Cheng, Scott Stein, and Jeff Bakalar, as well as a live video stream, featuring commentary from Brian Tong and Donald Bell both before and after the event.

While the actual details of the PlayStation 4 (and even its name) are still under wraps, some widely reported possible features include … Read more

Microsoft fine-tunes shift from Messenger to Skype

Microsoft is moving ahead with its aggressive plans to move users on its Messenger instant-messaging service to Skype.

Late last year, officials said to expect Microsoft to retire Messenger in all countries in the first quarter of 2013 with the exception of mainland China. The new timetable is slightly lengthier, but not much.

Officials are now saying they plan to discontinue Messenger for a "test group" comprising about one percent of the installed base of "tens of millions" on March 15. Starting April 8, Microsoft will begin phasing out Messenger for the remaining users, starting with … Read more

White House debuts 'enhanced' streaming for SOTU speech

The White House is debuting a new way to watch President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight -- it has created an "online-only enhanced" live stream that lets viewers both watch in real time and see different policy charts, stats, and data.

Obama mentioned the live stream on his Twitter page:

Watch Obama's #SOTU address with enhanced graphics, charts, and useful stats on his plan to keep us moving forward: OFA.BO/eJ9Z7k

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 12, 2013

This "enhanced" live stream seems to be geared toward people who don't have … Read more

Windows Live Mesh users must switch by Wednesday

Still using Windows Live Mesh? You won't be much longer.

Come Wednesday, the online storage and syncing service will draw its final breath, leaving Mesh users without a home. So, where can you go if you're currently using Mesh to back up, store, and synchronize your files?

A variety of online storage sites are available. Microsoft's SkyDrive is one obvious choice since it already offers some, but not all, of the features of Live Mesh.

How do you switch from Live Mesh to SkyDrive? And what are the potential pitfalls? Let's go through the process.

First, … Read more

'SNL' shows why a Super Bowl blackout is a bad thing

Perhaps like you, I have spent much of the week calling my local power provider to check on its use of electrical relay devices.

Spurred by the difficult happenings at last Sunday's Super Bowl -- reportedly caused by one of these devices functioning with all the perfection of a Boeing 787 -- I didn't want any of my weekend events spoiled by a sudden power outage.

"Saturday Night Live" took it upon itself last night to explain to those who were still doubtful why an electrical relay failure can be a devastating thing. Especially during the … Read more

Made-in-Brooklyn speakers have handsome design and gorgeous sound

I've heard and liked DeVore Fidelity speakers before, but the new Orangutan 0/93 was different. Even when listening to mostly unfamiliar music I fell in love with the sound from the get-go. The Orangutan 0/93 brings out the best in all genres of music.

That's the key; all speakers play tunes, but they don't always connect the musical dots as well as this. I've heard lots of speakers that sound really nice, but for one reason or another the music doesn't draw you in. No problem here, the Orangutan 0/93 does just … Read more

Add NFL flair to your Android gadget with NFL Live wallpaper

The need for customization creates a demand for tons of live wallpapers. It is only logical that the most popular sporting event in the United States would have a live wallpaper application. If pop-up notifications and random icon appearances don't bother you, then NFL Live wallpaper might be an option for an NFL fan.

Installation of NFL Live wallpaper goes easily, and the app doesn't require much free space. The live wallpaper settings are quite numerous and allow for a lot of customization to the look and feel of the wallpaper itself. The wallpaper quality is quite low, … Read more

View Koi fish using Koi Free Live Wallpaper

Live wallpapers seem to be popular, and with the high performance of modern mobile processors, they are becoming more detailed. Koi Free Live Wallpaper is a very detailed simulation of Koi fish that swim around your desktop. Because of its high processor consumption, this one may not be for every user.

Koi Free Live Wallpaper doesn't require any special permissions and the installation is easy due to the lack of options. This app has a pro version available for a fee that includes options to customize the feel of the wallpaper. The wallpaper itself is pretty realistic. It is … Read more