ratings

This post has been updated since its original publish date of March 14, 2010, with new picks.

Earlier this week we highlighted some of your favorite smartphones and as promised then, we now have your least favorite. These handsets (presented in no particular order) had a lower average user rating (2.5 stars or lower, with at least 10 user reviews) compared with their competitors, and just like we did for the favorites, we included our bottom line as well as an excerpt from a user review that gives an example of why these devices didn't fare so well. … Read more

A lot of smartphones come through our offices here at CNET, and we put each one of them through their paces; some pass with flying colors and others we'd rather take a pass on. However, at the end of the day, it's you, our readers, who are the harshest critics. After all, you're the ones living with and using these gadgets every day, and while we have our own list of editors' favorites, we also definitely pay attention to user ratings and opinions.

In the photo gallery below, you'll find 10 of our readers' favorite smartphones, all of which received a user rating of 4 stars or above. They're presented in no particular order and we've included our bottom line as well as a reader's comment to give you an example of why these devices are so well-loved.

Also, be sure to check out our list of CNET readers' least favorite smartphones.

… Read more

Yesterday started like so many others, with me standing in the back of a noisy, sweltering bus that smelled of urine. But unlike previous mornings, this time I was able to use my phone to quantify my stress level as it mounted with each jarring pothole.

Armed with a new app called Stress Check on my iPhone, I could verify that the stress I was feeling was real--when I woke up my level was 1 percent, but on the bus it topped 100. And while a number of apps require an external attachment to take health measurements, Stress Check required just me and my phone.

Released a couple of weeks ago, Stress Check is one of several apps from Palo Alto, Calif. start-up Azumio, which recently received $2.5 million in series A funding. The company's first health-oriented app, Instant Heart Rate (also available for Android), has generated 8 million downloads since its release in January. The company has more apps in the pipeline.

If it's easy, and fun, to collect personal health data, more people will likely be inclined to do so--and take action, reasons Azumio co-founder Bojan Bostjancic, who stopped by CNET headquarters last week to demo the company's health apps. … Read more

Are you an AT&T phone user with a text plan? On August 21, AT&T will replace its lower-tiered text plans with a $20-per-month unlimited plan. The family rate of $30 unlimited texting (for five devices) will still be an option, but tiered pricing of $10 for 1,000 texts won't be. If you already have a plan that suits your needs, you won't need to make any changes, but if you have one of the soon-defunct lower-tier plans, this is the perfect time to switch.… Read more

The term "sudden infant death syndrome" is vague for a reason; it names the unexpected and inexplicable death of a child under age 1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that roughly 2,500 babies in the U.S. alone die from SIDS each year.

While the cause of the syndrome remains unknown, researchers theorize that a big drop in heart rate precedes the death--which is why two students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel have been busy working on a computer system that would sound an alarm should an infant's heart rate drop below a certain level.

Using what is described as a basic video camera with a home computer, the researchers added software which, while still being developed, actually monitors the baby's skin tone to detect a drop in pulse.… Read more

As Facebook approaches another subscriber milestone, its growth seems to be slowing.

The social-networking giant had 687 million users at the start of the month, according to data from Inside Facebook Gold. However, the data shows that Facebook's growth rate has declined for the second straight month.

Until two months ago, the typical growth rate for the previous year was at least 20 million new users, but Facebook logged 13.9 million new users in April and 11.8 million in May, according to Inside Facebook's data. While much of the company's growth comes from late-to-the-party countries, … Read more

Though playing video games is often called a child's activity, a new study from the Entertainment Software Association has found that that perception couldn't be further from the truth.

According to the organization, which represents the game industry, the average gamer today is 37 years old. Moreover, the average game buyer is 41 years old. Because of that, a greater number of parents are playing games with their children. The ESA said that 45 percent of parents play games with their kids "at least weekly."

Those statistics are quite important to the ESA and the industry … Read more

When it comes to home networking, we tend to pay attention to the central device, namely the router or the gateway unit, only when something is not going right. But that's not because we're forgetful. Good networking devices are designed to be taken for granted: the longer users can forget about them, the better the devices are.

In order for you to easily forget about them, they need to be easy to use as the initial setup process can be intimidating. Once in a while, you want to add new devices--say, a friend's laptop--to the wireless network … Read more

The wireless industry's trade group wants to put ratings on mobile apps to help parents keep inappropriate content out of their kids hands, but does a one-size ratings system fit all app stores?

The initiative (PDF), which was launched near the end of March by CTIA-The Wireless Association, calls for "voluntary self-certification of apps." The program is on track to be in place by the end of this year and seeks to have app-makers define the content within their creations based on a specific set of ratings and guidelines. The end result is a system the CTIA … Read more