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Crave giveaway: CNET swag that's worth a brag

Congrats to Michael F. of Titusville, Fla., for winning an iKit NuCharge case and battery pack for the iPhone 5 in last week's giveaway. How much do you love CNET? This week's prize lets you count the ways.

The winner gets a CNET tote, a CNET GelaSkin for the iPad, a CNET T-shirt, two CNET notepads, and some CNET stickers. That's a whole lot of CNET!

Normally this swagtastic bundle would run you about $65, but you have the chance to get it for free. How do you go about doing that? Like this: … Read more

Google wants to 'Keep' your notes

Google wants to "Keep" your notes.

Yesterday Google introduced Keep, the new mobile and Web-based note-storing service that looks to take aim at products like Evernote. Boasting a simple, easy-to-use interface, Keep will work with Google Drive so that all notes are synced across different platforms. Users can edit their notes from either their phone or the Web and the information will be saved everywhere. You can also use voice dictation and photos to help enhance each note you take.

The BlackBerry Store has topped 100,000 apps, 30,000 of which were just added in the last … Read more

Amazon could be next Spotify challenger

CNET Update can't be grumpy for GIFs:

The streaming music scene is about to get more interesting. The latest report indicates Amazon is targeting Spotify with its own on-demand music streaming service. We've also heard that Google and Apple are working on similar products.

Other stories featured in Wednesday's tech roundup:

- Google Image search has added filters for finding animated GIFs and other specific file types.

- The Jawbone Up fitness bracelet now has an Android app.

- Websites can now put a "Send to Kindle" button on blog posts and news stories, next … Read more

T-Mobile changing the contract game

CNET Update will pay you Tuesday for a smartphone today:

Google Reader is shutting down in July, and its demise can impact citizens who have Internet access restricted by their government. The Change.org petition to keep Google Reader has about 12 percent of its signatures from people living in countries that have Internet censorship. People in Kazakhstan and China have left comments urging Google to keep the Reader tool because it's the best way to access banned websites and uncensored news.

Also featured in Tuesday's news roundup:

- Next week, T-Mobile is expected to announce a new way to pay for smartphones … Read more

Samsung Game Pad hints at Note 3

CNET Update needs bigger pockets:

Stories featured in Monday's tech roundup:

- Samsung says its new Game Pad accessory can fit a device with a 6.3-inch screen. But Samsung doesn't make a phone screen that big -- yet. Could this detail be a hint about the upcoming Note 3?

- Verizon wants to change TV fee rules by only paying for the channels subscribers are watching. And its not the only television provider trying to change the industry.

- Google Reader will soon be shut down, and Feedly is reaping all the benefits.

- Pinterest refreshed its design … Read more

Hottest tech products (winter 2013)

I don't know why I make this job harder than it needs to be. Every week I wrack my brain trying to think of a topic that will tap into the collective CNET zeitgeist. Sometimes I hit it just right, and sometimes I get nothing. But I could save myself a lot of trouble.

Without fail, the most popular Top 5 videos we produce here are the "Hottest Product" roundups. I think you guys get a voyeuristic kick out of knowing what everyone else is looking at.

Well, who am I to deprive you? This time around … Read more

Crave Ep. 113: Hot! A homemade solar death ray

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Backyard tinkerer Grant Thompson teaches us how to build a solar-powered death ray. A man gets a Netflix tattoo for life and only gets a measly one-year subscription for it. Plus, we meet Mr. Stubbs the alligator, the first reptile (that we know of, at least) to receive a prosthetic tail. Donation came from the Phoenix Herpetological Society and the Core Institute. … Read more

Galaxy S4: Cool features, awful launch

CNET Update didn't expect Samsung to be sexist:

Samsung finally unveiled its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4. But this was no ordinary press conference. The Galaxy S4 presentation was a campy Broadway-styled spectacle that was painful to watch with sexist caricatures of women.

Despite the distasteful event, the Galaxy S4 will surely be a big seller and top rival to the iPhone. Today's video offers a quick explanation of the smartphone's new features, such as being able to navigate by waving a hand over the screen. (Many of these features will also come to Galaxy S3 users.) … Read more

Samsung GS4 launch: Tone-deaf and shockingly sexist

Dear Samsung: What just happened?

In the middle of a red-hot conversation about women in technology, the resurgence of the equal-pay discussion, and Sheryl Sandberg reigniting the very concept of feminism in America, Samsung delivered a Galaxy S4 launch event that served up more '50s-era stereotypes about women than I can count, and packaged them all as campy Broadway caricatures of the most, yes, offensive variety.

To be fair, everyone in Samsung's bizarre, hourlong parade of awkward exchanges, forced laughs, and hammy skits was a stereotype. The kid was lispy, tow-headed, and tap-dancing (the little girl did ballet, of … Read more