deals

Amazon eyes Netflix, Hulu with $7.99-per-month Prime plan

Amazon is offering a new plan to Prime customers.

After a one-month free trial, Amazon customers can now sign up for Prime for $7.99 per month. The e-commerce giant previously offered Prime subscriptions only at $79 per year. That deal, which saves folks about 20 percent compared to the month-to-month offer, is still available.

Amazon's decision to offer a month-to-month offer puts it in direct competition with its chief rivals in the online-streaming business, Hulu and Netflix. Both of those companies charge customers $7.99 per month for access to their streaming libraries.

However, in addition to streaming … Read more

24 hour exclusive CyberGhost VPN Spooktacular giveaway!

Do you really need to log-in to every single free hotspot Wi-Fi zone? Ever since I learned that you are most vulnerable to getting hacked at Wi-Fi hotspots, I rarely log-in to free Wi-Fi hotspots unless it's an absolute must. One way to protect yourself is to make yourself invisible with CyberGhost VPN! So, just in time for Halloween, we bring you a 24 hour spooktacular giveaway of CyberGhost VPN (69.99 USD value) to give you that invisible power and get you protected from cyber-thieves.

Rated 4.5 stars by CNET, CyberGhost VPN hides your IP address and … Read more

HTC fires up daily deals for One X+, Windows Phone 8X and 8S

HTC is getting into the daily-deals business in Europe.

The company today announced a new service, called Best Deals, that aims at delivering "money-saving deals" to those who own HTC smartphones. According to HTC, the service is launching on the One X+, as well as the Windows Phone 8X and 8S, in November. Best Deals will also come to the HTC One X and One S in a future software update.

In order to get the service off the ground, HTC has partnered with a host of deals providers, including LivingSocial, which will deliver offers through Best Deals … Read more

iPad Mini won't be the only Apple news

Monday's CNET Update dusts off the crystal ball:

Everyone is eager to learn about the rumored iPad Mini, but today's tech news roundup looks at what else Apple will be announcing. We're expecting to see at least one new computer, such as an iMac or Mac Mini. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the Mac Pro will get an update in 2013, so it may be too soon to announce that. As for laptops, there have been reports that Apple will give the 13-inch MacBook Pro a retina display.

When Apple does unveil the iPad Mini, … Read more

eBay tries to outdeal Groupon with its own daily deals

eBay is attempting to carve out a piece of Groupon's action with its own daily deals special.

Dubbed Lifestyle Deals, the new service is being tested in several cities across the U.S., including New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. And it works much like the daily deals offered by Groupon.

eBayers in one of the participating cities can choose from a variety of deals each day. New Yorkers who spend $19 can win a walking tour of Central Park. Those in San Francisco can get their dogs walked for a full hour for just $12. And … Read more

eBay gives the world another Groupon

Thursday's CNET Update wants to make a deal:

eBay made headlines Wednesday with a dramatic redesign, but it's not out of the spotlight yet. Today's tech news roundup looks at eBay's Lifestyle Deals, a service similar to Groupon. It's being tested now in a few markets, including New York. Can you handle (or want) another Groupon clone? Is there room in this space for eBay? Share your daily deal experiences and thoughts with us via e-mail or in a 15-second Tout video.

This holiday, Fab expects you to flock to its mobile shopping app. The … Read more

Amazon plunks down $1.16B on Seattle office buildings

Amazon is extending its roots in Seattle.

Regulatory filings made public today show that the e-commerce giant and gadget maker entered into an $1.16 billion agreement with Paul Allen's Vulcan Real Estate to purchase the 11 office buildings in Seattle's Lake Union neighborhood that it previously held under lease.

Vulcan Real Estate put the set of buildings on the market at the end of August. Last month the group announced plans to build and lease two more buildings for Amazon, as part of a $160 million project to give the company an extra 380,000 square feet … Read more

CNET Exclusive: Gogroove BlueSync STX Bluetooth Wireless Stereo over 50% off

Liza Maloy isn't a CNET editor, but she has a pretty fun job: She's the CNET Marketplace associate partnership manager, which means she hunts high and low for tech bargains to bring to the CNET audience. Each week, she blogs about deep discounts she brokers. Whenever she can, she gets discounts on products CNET editors love.

This week we have teamed up again with our friends at Accessory Genie to bring the CNET Exclusives members an awesome deal on a great budget Bluetooth speaker system. The Gogroove BlueSync STX Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Speaker System pairs easily with most … Read more

Microsoft, RIM ink patent deal on storage tech

Microsoft and Research In Motion today said they have signed a patent licensing agreement that gives RIM access to Microsoft file system technology.

That technology is called Extended File Allocation Table -- or "exFAT" for short -- and Microsoft says it optimizes files for use on flash storage, which is overwhelmingly the storage of choice on smartphones and tablets.

"Today's smartphones and tablets require the capacity to display richer images and data than traditional cellular phones," David Kaefer, the general manager of intellectual property licensing at Microsoft said in a statement. "This agreement with … Read more

U.S. consumer online deal market to reach $3.6B in 2012

Spending on deals found online -- including the daily deals, instant deals and "flash sales" offered by Groupon and the like -- will reach $3.6 billion by the end of 2012, according to new research.

The figure means the online deal market will grow 86.9 percent compared to 2011, market research and advisory company BIA/Kelsey found.

Deal spending is expected to grow by a further 23 percent in 2013, with between 1 percent and 9 percent growth in the following few years. As a result, deal-hungry U.S. consumers could boost the market to $5.… Read more