christmas

Rudolph's Kick n Fly is the iPhone and iPod Touch adaptation--and expansion--of another 2D Flash game from developer Donut Games, a classic catapult game in which you launch a wee Santa into the air to see how many Christmas decorations (candy canes, gingerbread men, snowflakes, etc.) he can grab.

The interface (and gameplay) of this app is pretty limited: you touch and drag to determine Santa's trajectory (timing your release with a fluctuating power meter), and then once your elf is airborne you can tap the screen to get two separate, flatulent "bursts" for more altitude. … Read more

We're back! Jeff and Wilson are joined in the studio today with "Kenri," and Justin chimes in from San Francisco via phone. It's back to our usual shenanigans again, and we recount our holiday break. Plus, we have an apology to make to James Cameron.

Jeff tells us about his near-death experience on the ski slopes. Listen to how a patch of ice almost did away with our favorite CNET emcee. Wilson recounts his Christmas vacation to visit his dear ole Ma. Finally, Justin tells us about how he's currently sunbathing in California, while we all freeze to death here in NYC.

With the exception of "Kenri," we all caught James Cameron's "Avatar," and boy was it mind-blowing! The film is just incredible to watch, and we're pleasantly surprised to see it bring in more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide. Wilson is not sure though that the movie is any good in 2D. The clips and trailers still look silly, so we're still recommending people catch it in IMAX 3D or Real3D. (Editors' note: please catch "Up in the Air." Two words: Vera Farmiga.)

Tomorrow is the first day of CNET's annual International CES coverage. There won't be a show tomorrow because we'll be en route to Las Vegas. We'll be hosting a live show Wednesday at 5 p.m., Thursday at 4 p.m., and Friday at 4 p.m. PST. We have some surprises up our sleeves, but honestly, we're just trying not to kill ourselves while partying it up in Vegas. If you're there, come by the CNET booth in the North Hall at the Convention Center.

Holiday shoppers brought good cheer to e-commerce retailers, spending $27 billion online from November 1 through December 24, a 5 percent jump over last year, ComScore reported Wednesday.

The period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve was also bright and merry as sales grew by around 3.5 percent, even after adjusting for an additional shopping day this year. Consumer electronics proved to be the hottest selling category, rising 20 percent. Larger retailers outpaced smaller vendors thanks in part to their use of free shipping and marketing via social-networking sites, said ComScore.

The growth in this year's online holiday … Read more

It's less than 12 hours before I will be leaving on a jet plane for a holiday in Ohio with my family, so I'm gonna keep this short: I figured for the Xmas Eve edition of this video blog, I'd present something fun and festive, and I thought this little video from 2000 would suit the bill. Basically what we got here is a 12 Hours of Sebring race car float was morphed into a bright and cute "Santa's Sleigh" for a Xmas parade in Sarasota, Florida. The beginning of the vid shows some … Read more

When you work at a marketing agency and someone asks you to design a Christmas card, your insides become enveloped by a feeling not unlike the morning after anesthetic-free appendix surgery.

So, in this festive and slightly flummoxing season, let us celebrate James Theophane Jr.

Not only is he blessed with a name that sounds like a domineering, elusive figure from "Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil", but he also has a heavenly talent for introducing art to technology and getting them to make out under the mistletoe.

According to his own telling of the story on Vimeo, … Read more

Some enterprising hackers have rooted the Barnes & Noble Nook, giving them unrestricted access to the underlying Android operating system. Black and white tablet FTW! We also get the exclusive from Jason Howell about the new Google phone known as the Nexus One. And those crazy Scandinavians get to try out LTE first. Good on ya, Nordic peeps!

Google phone looks ’supersharp’ http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10414406-251.html https://twitter.com/raygun01/status/6592751553

Google Phone/Nexus One pictures http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/13/google-phone-makes-first-twitter-appearance/ … Read more

Welcome to Justin's penultimate episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast! Tomorrow will be our last show as a team, but there's plenty of special Yuletide episodes, contests, 404 merchandise, and CES shows to look forward to in 2010.

I know we swore this story wouldn't get discussed on our show, but we finally cave in and say a couple quick words about the recent Tiger Woods sex scandal. As the story unfolds, Wilson tells us Tiger is in even hotter water for sending a racy text message to his lady on the side.

We all make mistakes, so we're not hating on the guy, even though these accidents are most common among teenagers.

Next, Jeff gives us an insider's look into the glitz and glamor of a professional video game reviewer with an overview of Sony's upcoming PS3 game lineup. One of the more unique titles is Heavy Rain, described by the director as "a very dark film-noir thriller with mature themes." Jeff describes the format as a graphic version of "Choose Your Own Adventure," where the decisions you make in the game help to route you through the levels and the storyline. Take a look at Jeff's PS3-exclusive gaming rundown for the full story and more previews.

Finally, virtual daps to Nicholas and Props Guy Jim for using their Photoshop skills to make a few special holiday images for the show. Be sure to subscribe to our iTunes or RSS feed to get the updated holiday album cover art! Also, we're saving Props Guy Jim's picture for the holiday blog, which will go live on Christmas Eve--thanks again, Nicholas and Jim!

Admittedly, this may not be the most high-tech of gadgets, but a new toy mouse with a funny recording is worth a mention--and so thought The Sun, which broke the story early Monday. It all started with parents fretting over a $5 toy mouse; they claim the novelty toy sold in small shops and market stalls is singing "pedophile" instead of "Jingle Bells."

For anyone who wants to hear it for themselves, here is the recording.

Toy distributor Humatt, which got the toys from China, says the man in the recording simply could not pronounce "… Read more

Believe it or not, the fourth host on today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast is the Nook, Barnes & Noble's e-book reader with a color touch screen and Wi-Fi. The device is currently sold out and on back order throughout B&N, so it wasn't easy to obtain. We had to walk 500 miles and battle a Nazgul to get it, but the in-studio demo was worth the wait. If you haven't seen a Nook up close, you're in for a treat.

Speaking of treats, the holidays come early for The 404 this year! Today's episode starts off normal enough, with another story about a crazed girlfriend who destroys her boyfriend's precious PS3 and a couple making their own paranormal activity to fund their wedding, but the real story is the package we receive halfway through the live show from dedicated 404 listener Cori (Sadacori in the chat room). We've received care packages before, but this one is definitely the best. Just check out the picture up top! Thanks a million Cori, we really appreciate all the Yuletide pounds! :)

Our ill-deserved holiday break is coming up in two weeks, and we get awfully lonely if we don't hear from you, so won't you leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET and let us know how your holiday season is going? We'd love to hear your voices, but you can also e-mail us at the404(at)cnet[dot]com or add us on Twitter and Facebook as well!