holidays

Play CNET editor at CNET Gotham

If you're in the New York area and you are a gadget-loving human, clear your calendar for CNET Gotham.

A parade of CNET editors is coming to town this week, and we're bringing with us all the gear you've been wanting to see but can't get your hands on yet. We're setting up shop in the Openhouse gallery space in Nolita, re-creating real-life experiences with home theater setups, in-car technology, and mobile devices you've only heard about so far. … Read more

Holiday shoppers move toward mobile

As the holiday shopping season rears its (insert your adjective of choice here) head, a just-released study from IBM shows that mobile devices are continuing their push toward making it a post-PC world.

According to the latest IBM Coremetrics Benchmark numbers, traffic to retailer Web sites from mobile devices will more than double this November, with 15 percent of people who log on to such sites doing so with a mobile gadget.

October numbers from IBM show that year over year the amount of people who used a mobile gadget to touch down on a retailer's site jumped from 4.2 percent to 11 percent. In the same period, total mobile sales shot up to 9.6 percent from last year's 3.4 percent

iPad users will no doubt be welcomed by online retailers in the next couple of months: IBM says site visitors on that device will make more actual purchases than visitors using other mobile gizmos. That prediction is based on the fact that conversion rates for last month were 6.8 percent on the iPad versus 3.6 percent on other mobile gadgets.… Read more

Use Instagram, Facebook photos to create a calendar with Keepsy

Keepsy has been offering Instagram users the ability to create a true photo album using their favorite Instagram photos for some time now.

Recently, Keepsy rolled out the ability for users to create a photo album using their friends' Instagram feed, instead of their own. Right on the heels of that, Keepsy also rolled out a new product; a calendar.… Read more

Fab.com gets in the holiday spirit with two new gift shops

Consider your holiday shopping and decorating done. Fab.com, an online design marketplace, is launching two online holiday gift shops: One with 100 gifts under $100 and the other with modern holiday decor. These new shops go live tomorrow, November 1.

Fab's holiday gift shops join the original membership-based Fab site, which launched in June. Think of Fab as daily deals structured around small designers with unique vintage collections or newly designed products. Products range from furniture to wall decor to kids' toys to jewelry to unique kitchen appliances. Rarely will you find something you need, but you will … Read more

Add Halloween fun to your Android for free

Halloween is just around the corner and adding a little festive flavor to your Android can be fun.

A spooky wallpaper, some ghostly ringtones or background noises, and even some scary games are easy to get and use on Android. Here's how to add all these things to your device for free this weekend:

Live wallpaper

First you'll want to set the scene. What better to use for this than a live wallpaper that has a Halloween theme?

Halloween Live Wallpaper is a great one to start with. This LWP has a small wrought-iron fence with skulls … Read more

Apple's Cards reviewed: A great way to send a greeting

Among the announcements when Apple released iOS 5, a couple of downloadable apps became available at the iTunes App Store. One of them, Cards (free), lets you create fold-in-the-middle greeting cards on your iPhone, then Apple sends them on real paper via snail mail.

While other services have greeting and post cards in the past, Apple's method is very intuitive and convenient with several designs to choose from, and the cost is about what it would be to go buy a greeting card in a store.

Immediately upon launch, you're given an intuitive interface for selecting the exterior … Read more

AT&T gearing up for an 'unbelievable' fourth quarter

AT&T is looking forward to an "unbelievably" happy holiday.

The company expects its best smartphone sales ever in the fourth quarter, according to Ralph de la Vega, head of the consumer and wireless businesses.

"We expect blockbuster smartphone sales in the fourth quarter," de la Vega said today during a conference call following its third-quarter report, further fueling the expectations by saying the results would be "unbelievable."

Smartphone adoption has long been the key to AT&T's ability to keep its revenue growth humming. A customer who signs a two-year … Read more

Best Buy holiday hiring to be cut in half

Best Buy will hire fewer seasonal employees for this year's holiday stretch as wary consumers and competition weigh heavily on the company's business.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview published yesterday, Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn said that his company plans to hire 15,000 seasonal workers this holiday season, down from the 29,000 the retailer hired last year. Permanent employees will be asked to work overtime to make up for the lost hours, Dunn said.

"The consumer is being really careful about where he or she is spending the dollars, and I think that will … Read more

Pint-sized HTC Explorer gets added to growing list of unannounced Android phones

HTC, fresh from announcing the Rhyme and Sense 3.5 user interface, should have plenty of reasons to get back on stage come its October 6 press event.

With expected devices in the Vigor (Droid Incredible HD), Amaze 4G, Holiday, and Runnymede (Bass), there is plenty to look forward to from the manufacturer. So why not toss in at least one more phone for good measure? Say hello to the HTC Explorer.

Along with the standard connectivity options, the diminutive device is said to feature a 600MHz processor, a 3.2-inch display, 384MB RAM, and a 5-megapixel camera. Looking very … Read more