posts on CNET - Page 10

Marvel trying again with 700-issue comic book giveaway

About a month ago, Marvel Comics set the Internet on fire with an offer that was downright super: 700 first-issue digital comic books absolutely free.

But the company quickly learned that freebies can put a fantastic strain on servers, as host Comixology immediately buckled under the demand -- and ultimately suspended the giveaway.

Avengers, assemble! (OK, that's my last superhero analogy.) Marvel has risen from the (cr)ashes to extend the offer once again: more than 700 free first-issue comics. Just sign up between now and 11:59 p.m. (ET) tomorrow, and you'll get on the waiting … Read more

Samsung prepping 5.8-inch, 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega, rumors say

Samsung could soon introduce a pair of large-screen Galaxy Mega smartphones, if recent chatter proves to be accurate.

Rumors surfacing this past week indicate that Samsung may be readying both a 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch Galaxy handset as part of a new line of phones. Early details for the so-called "Galaxy Mega" series point to a midrange Android experience. Both devices are reported to run Android Jelly Bean with Samsung's own TouchWiz Nature interface.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 (GT-i9152) is expected to feature a 5.8-inch qHD (960×540-pixel) LCD display as well … Read more

Lumia 920 top dog among Windows Phones

The Nokia Lumia 920 is now the best-selling handset running Microsoft's Windows Phone software. At least that's what specialty Windows Phone application advertising firm AdDuplex says.

Indeed according to AdDuplex, and reported by Windows Phone Central, the Lumia 920 enjoys 14 percent of the entire Windows Phone market. That may not sound like much, but Nokia will be glad to learn its Lumia 800 also grabbed a 14 percent slice of the pie. And right behind that sits older Lumia devices such as the 710 (13 percent), Lumia 610 (11 percent), 820 (8 percent), and 620 (7 percent). … Read more

HTC profits smacked by delayed launch of HTC One

The late launch of the HTC One smartphone put a damper on HTC's first-quarter profits.

For the quarter ending in March, net profit plummeted to 85 million Taiwanese dollars ($2.85 million), a fall from 10.9 billion Taiwanese dollars ($363 million) a year ago and the company's lowest quarterly profit since 2004. Results also disappointed analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who on average were expecting a net profit of 467.5 million Taiwanese dollars ($15.5 million).

Shipments for the new HTC One phone have been delayed due to a limited supply of cameras. Last month, HTC … Read more

Blink-WebKit split endangers some browser features

CSS Variables, a handy technology to ease Web page programming, could be one casualty in Safari with Google moving its resources to its browser engine, Blink.

Google engineers wanted to "fork" the WebKit browser engine project that underlies both Safari and Chrome so they could accelerate the pace of Chrome development and adopt changes too extensive to fit into a single open-source project. Even though splitting Blink away from WebKit may make each browser engine more nimble, it also means it's harder to cooperate.

That's because common features must be developed and maintained by duplicate teams … Read more

HTC One 64G Developer Edition preorders start today

Those of you willing to shell out $649 for an unlocked and tweakable version of the HTC One can preorder the device in the U.S. as of today.

A tweet yesterday from HTC confirmed that the Developer Edition would be available for preorder starting at 7 a.m. PT today. Buyers can place their orders directly at the HTC Web site.

The Developer Edition is decidedly not for your average smartphone user. As per its name, it's designed for developers, hackers, and tweakers who want to play around with the phone without bumping into the limitations of the … Read more

WebKit fracture puts a pinch on open-source browser efforts

The WebKit browser engine is becoming a less flexible foundation for open-source projects with the departure of Google from the project this week and Apple's consequent paring back of the project.

WebKit is a broad project that includes participation from many interested parties -- not just Apple and Google, but also BlackBerry, Samsung, Amazon, Oracle, Adobe Systems, and the programmers involved with the KDE and Gnome user interfaces for Linux. Indeed, the open-source project began as KDE's KHTML engine for the Konqueror browser before Apple got involved.

Google's Chrome team left WebKit this week, forking the open-source … Read more

Friday Poll: Will you adopt Facebook Home?

Facebook is looking to get cozy with the home and lock screens of your Android device. The just-announced Facebook Home is a suite of apps that replaces your normal home and lock screens with social-media content. It puts Facebook in your face every time you power up your phone.

Users will get notifications from friends, plus photos, status updates, and link shares. It pretty much serves up all your Facebook information without you having to ask for it or open up a separate app.

Users will be able download Facebook Home from Google Play, like a regular app. It does require a special confirmation to install, since it makes such radical changes to the existing look of your screens.… Read more

Facebook wrestles Google for control of your phone

Facebook doesn't want anything to come between you and your friends, not even Google or Android.

Facebook today unveiled a new downloadable user interface that takes over your smartphone's home screen, lock screen, and wallpaper. Instead of the regular Android features, you're treated to a slideshow of updates, photos, and shared links.

Facebook wants to take direct control of its user base, and it's going about it in a smart way. Home, which will be available for download on April 12 on select Android phones, isn't a new phone or operating system, or even a … Read more