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As I said last week in CNET's full review of the Samsung Nexus S, I was pleased to find that the handset supports tethering and it can function as a Wi-Fi hot spot. Such is the benefit of using a phone with the stock Android OS. Indeed, both features are increasingly popular among smartphone users, but some carriers have stood in the way of making them a reality.

Sprint and Verizon Wireless, for example, declined to add tethering to their Froyo-equipped handsets, even though the Android 2.2 update promised to add the feature. And though Sprint does offer hot-spot capability on its HTC Evo 4G, the carrier charged an extra $29.99 per month for the privilege.

The Nexus S, on the other hand, adds both features for less money. We're still confirming with T-Mobile if there will be a separate fee. T-Mobile will charge an additional $14.99 per month to use them, but you're saddled with a few restrictions. I was able to play with both over the weekend, and I'm pleased to say that I was quite impressed with the performance on both fronts. … Read more

Mercedes-Benz today unveiled two new engines for the 2011 CL-Class.

The first of two all-new direct injection biturbo V8 engines is for the 2011 CL550 4MATIC. According to Mercedes, the 4.6-liter V8 engine has 20 percent smaller displacement than its predecessor, but delivers 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, which is 12 percent more horsepower and 32 percent more torque. It also has an improved fuel economy of about 10 percent. The CL550 4MATIC will have an MSRP of $114,025.

The second new engine is for the 2011 CL63 AMG coupe ($151,125) and S63 AMG sedan ($… Read more

JustSpotted, a Web site that today began ballyhooing an upcoming service that would publish the real-time whereabouts of celebrities, can no longer crow about its cozy relationship with Twitter.

It seems that Twitter was unaware of the relationship.

Just as JustSpotted managers were drumming up publicity, Twitter was canceling a licensing deal that would have given JustSpotted special access to Twitter posts, a Twitter representative said today.

Earlier on Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter published a story about the upcoming launch of JustSpotted, a company that wanted to sift through millions of Twitter posts to single out tweets from people who … Read more

File this under Web sites that are sure to anger George Clooney.

Much like Gawker Stalker, the upcoming JustSpotted.com wants to offer users information on the real-time whereabouts of 7,000 celebrities. The difference is JustSpotted, which is scheduled to launch Tuesday, will harness the power of Twitter to help hunt down stars, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.

JustSpotted executives have struck some kind of partnership with Twitter that enables them to get access to Twitter posts from people who spot stars in public, the trade magazine reported.

"Proprietary technology uses 'natural-language' filters to figure … Read more

mSpot, a cloud-based service that stores your music and lets you stream it to your Android phone, announced new pricing and features today.

The company will continue to offer music fans 2GB of free storage. But instead selling various paid tiers that topped out at 100GB for $13.99 a month, the company now has just one paid plan: up to 40GB of storage for $3.99 a month.

This makes mSpot more competitive on a price-to-storage basis with its main rival, MP3tunes However, MP3tunes offers far greater capacity, with multiple plans topping out at 200GB for $12.95 per … Read more

Several months ago I downloaded the AT&T iPhone app Mark the Spot, which has now been updated to version 2.0. Cell phone service isn't too bad in my New York apartment, but every time I had a dropped call, I'd fire up the app and register my complaint.

Now, the area where I live is in one of the denser residential areas in the city, so I don't think I was alone in registering my complaints. But just a couple of days ago, I received a text message from AT&T telling me … Read more

Inside, the Droid 2 has some striking similarities to the Droid X--which isn't a bad thing.

Motorola's Droid 2 will be in stores Thursday for $199.99 with a two-year contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate (like the Droid X). The phone packs the Android 2.2 operating system, which has support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1. (The Droid X shipped with Android 2.1.)

Though the two phones differ physically--the Droid 2 is a slider smartphone, the Droid X eschews the physical keyboard--there's a lot inside that's the same, if not identical. (And note … Read more

Private car services may not be the cheapest way to get around the city, but at least you can get a little work done while you're stuck in traffic, now that a handful of them are equipped to deliver free ad-supported Internet access. Or so the rationalization goes.

But it's not just the well-heeled who will benefit from this perk; these mobile hot spots may be the answer to delivering free Wi-Fi to all of New York City.

LimoRes Car & Limo Service, a private car service company, has outfitted 25 of its cars with Wi-Fi hot spots … Read more

Clearwire is rolling out a 4G hot spot designed dubbed the iSpot to appeal to Apple users.

The WiMax service provider on Wednesday launched the iSpot, a personal hot spot with dedicated support for the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone. In many respects, the Clearwire move makes a lot of sense. Most Apple plans are tethered somehow to AT&T. Clearwire is looking to tap into disdain for AT&T among Apple users to poach a few accounts.

How does the iSpot support Apple gear? Clearwire said the iSpot is made exclusively for Apple devices with a casing … Read more