reviews

The man with the election's winning numbers

Besides President Obama, the big winner on Election Day was big data.

Big data's patron saint -- FiveThirtyEight blogger Nate Silver -- won the battle to predict the outcome of the contest between Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Where breathless pundits brandishing equivocating polls shouted from the rooftops over the last few weeks that the race for the White House was a "toss-up," or "too close to call," Silver and other poll aggregators sat back and calmly told anyone who would listen that the math told another story: Obama's re-election was never … Read more

The 404 1,161: Where we don't eat the snow (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Square launches mobile payment service at 7,000 Starbucks stores.

- Razer Naga gaming mouse requires always-on Internet connection; license agreement says they can use this to spy on you.

- Mr. Fusion (sorta) cell phone charger.

- Four African teenagers invent a urine-powered generator.

- Follow Bridget Carey on Twitter and check out CNET Update every afternoon!

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest, ending this Sunday!… Read more

Battery life battle royale: Nexus vs. iPad

With all the hoopla about the relative graphics performance of the fourth-generation iPad and the Nexus 10, it's easy to forget another important performance metric: battery life.

Battery life dictates how long you can actually use the unit before it requires a recharge, so I'd say it's pretty darn important. So important in fact that it gets its own blog post. Here I pit the last two generations of iPad, the iPad Mini, the Nexus 7, and the Nexus 10 against each other in a take-no-prisoners battery blood bath! Or acid bath I guess.

The results The results speak for themselves, but if you need further explanation, continue reading after the chart. … Read more

Battle begins between Foursquare, Yelp

Tuesday's CNET Update is rating you on a 10-point scale:

Today's tech news roundup looks at the growing competition between Foursquare and Yelp. Foursquare launched a new 10-point ratings system for local businesses, which is what Yelp has been doing. But Yelp has been creeping in on Foursquare's territory recently by highlighting friend activity. Yelp also rolled out an app update that displays restaurant menus and reviews of each menu item.

Amazon is now offering a payment option of $8 a month for Prime, the same price as Netflix and Hulu. The yearly $80 subscription is still … Read more

This week in Crave: The bright and shiny edition

Too busy lamenting the demise of Buckyballs this week to keep up with Crave? Don't despair; these stories should renew your hope:

- "Sandy CrisisCamp": Helpful "hurricane hackers" are on the case.

- Amputee set for epic climb with thought-controlled bionic leg.

- Samsung's solar-powered school lights up African village.

- Get your kicks on tomorrow's Route 66. … Read more

Microsoft cues up the Windows Phone 8 ball

Just before Hurricane Sandy started to pummel the East Coast this week, Microsoft managed to grab the tech headlines with the official debut of Windows Phone 8.

The launch of the next-generation mobile operating system, which came on the heels of last week's splashy Windows 8 debut, got people talking with its support for multicore processors and mobile payments, and its tighter relationship with the Windows platform. And as with Windows 8, Window Phone 8 uses live tiles instead of icons. (Though Microsoft is already being sued for those tiles, over patent-infringement claims.)

So far, Windows Phone 8 has … Read more

iPad Mini, 4th-gen iPad reviews

While CNET's New York office works to get power back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Wednesday's top tech stories include:

- Apple judgement day: Read CNET's reviews of the iPad Mini and the latest full-size iPad. The Wi-Fi versions of the Mini and updated iPad arrive in stores on Friday.

- Give 4G connection to an iPod Touch with a $99 Freedom Pop sleeve.

- If you're buying the deluxe Wii U game console bundle, Nintendo has a perk for downloading games: 10% of every dollar … Read more

iPad Mini, fourth-generation iPad reviews arrive

Just a week after both devices were announced, the first crop of iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad reviews are out of the gate.

The general consensus is that reviewers like the smaller form factor of the Mini for most tasks, but yearn for the Retina Display found on Apple's other devices, like the normal-size iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone.

For the fourth-generation iPad, most reviewers say it's zippier, but that it's also difficult to tell how much zippier, since developers haven't done anything to push it to the limit. Reviewers also suggest that owners of the … Read more

This week in Crave: The puzzling edition

Too busy being peeved about the fourth-generation iPad this week to keep up with Crave? These stories will catch you up -- and lower your blood pressure.

- The blood brain barrier has never looked so beautiful.

- Best home decor ever: Iron Man stained glass windows!

- Ever seen a bipedal robot walk a tightrope? Now you have.

- Robot Hall of Fame: Wall-E, BigDog, Nao, PackBot, come on down!

- A hoodie jacket with built-in goggles: Nope, that's not creepy at all.

- Full bladder? App pinpoints the best time to go mid-movie.

- "Star Wars" and My Little Pony, together at last! … Read more

Apple thinks smaller with iPad Mini

Confirming one of its worst-kept secrets, Apple took the wraps off the iPad Mini during a press event on Tuesday.

The new device, a 7.9-inch version of its 10-inch iPad tablet, comes in six pricing configurations. In addition to the 16GB tablet with Wi-Fi at $329, the 32GB tablet with Wi-Fi is $429, and the 64BG version is $529. For devices with Wi-Fi and 4G cellular connections, the 16GB tablet is $459, the 32GB is $559, and the 64GB is $659. These devices are shipping two weeks after their Wi-Fi-only counterparts.

The iPad Mini could prove to dramatically expand the base of customers for Apple, … Read more