Shopping for a gamer? CNET's Holiday Help Desk has your back

Gamers are possibly the most fun people to shop for. They always want something, and if you guess right, you're a hero for the rest of the year.

There's just so much that brings them insane amounts of joy: a new controller (woot!), the latest game (Batman: Arkham City, anyone?), a geeky gaming headset (hey, it's important), and the mother load of all gamer gifts, a brand-new console.

If you're still unsure which of these pretty sweet options to get for the adorable gaming addict in your life, let CNET's Holiday Help Desk help. … Read more

Pick the right smartphone for the holidays--we'll help!

Smartphones--can you give them as a gift? And if so, which one should you give as a gift? Go with the Droid Razr or wait for the Galaxy Nexus? Or learn to love Siri and all her quirks? We're here to help--live.

CNET smartphones expert Jessica Dolcourt joins the CNET Holiday Help Desk Monday Dec. 12 at at noon Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern at CNET Live.

Monday's show is our fourth help desk of the season, here to answer your holiday tech-shopping questions. Not only will Jessica help you pick a smartphone, we'll also have Claudia … Read more

Tune in: CNET Holiday Help Desk talks laptops, Amazon sales

Need laptop advice? Want to find out the inside scoop on Amazon's deals leading into the holidays? We're here to help--live.

Tune in to the CNET Holiday Help Desk today and every Monday until Dec. 19 at noon Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern at CNET Live.

Today's show is the third of five weekly call-in shows designed to help answer your holiday tech shopping questions. This week, Dan Ackerman helps make sense of the sea of laptop deals that have been enticing buyers since Black Friday. After all, you don't want to pick the wrong one, … Read more

Holiday Help Desk on CNET Live, part deux

CNET's Holiday Help Desk on CNET Live is back for seconds!

Hosts Molly Wood and Brian Tong will take live viewer calls, talk to the chat room, and answer e-mails. And dish out the best tech gift buying advice on the planet. This week's special guests include CNET 's TV Guru Senior Editor David Katzmaier, resident cheapskate Rick Broida keeps bringing us sweet deals, and Woot.com's VP of Retail Sales Darold Rydl joins us to talk about where to find some great deals and how Woot helped to start the craze.

We'll keep you posted … Read more

Holiday Help Desk on CNET Live

It's that time of year again, time for CNET's Holiday Help Desk.

Hosts Molly Wood and Brian Tong will take live viewer calls, talk to the chat room, and answer e-mails. And dish out the best tech gift-buying advice on the planet. Special guests will include CNET resident cheapskate Rick Broida, a parade of CNET editors, and guests from the retail world pitching their deals directly to you, such as representatives from Amazon, Woot, eBay, and Best Buy.

We'll keep you posted with the best deals, and also help you find the perfect gadget that's right … Read more

Introducing the new CNET Live podcast schedule

We're here to announce our all new CNET Live lineup beginning September 26th! Everyday we'll be bringing you the best Live CNET content from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific Time at cnet.com/live. CNET Live will always be your place to get the best analysis, live coverage of events, and perspective covering the hottest tech happenings. Plus, we'll throw in a few laughs for you too. In addition to the new revamped schedule there's plenty of new shows and content we're working on so watch it all at CNET Live. Check out the schedule below and we'll see you on the internet!

CNET TV Live Schedule

Day                                9am                         10am                          11am                            12n

Monday                     The 404                     Dialed In                 CNET Labscast

Tuesday                    The 404                   Rumor Has It               Crave                          PreGame

Wednesday              The 404                   Android Atlas

Thursday                   The 404                  Buzz Out Loud          Car Tech Live / Roadside Assistance

Friday                         The 404                  Reporters' Roundtable… Read more

Buzz Out Loud is going weekly!

As you may have heard in today's episode, the Buzz Out Loud podcast is going from a daily show to a weekly show. I'll pause here to let you shout at me.

Before I get to the reasons, let me get to the logistics. Our last daily episode will be Episode 1550, on September 23, and our first weekly episode will be Thursday, September 29. The new, weekly Buzz Out Loud will happen live on Thursdays at 10 a.m. Pacific, and will be an hour-long show that features the biggest stories of the week, awesome and fascinating … Read more

Dialed In: 140: Bumpy road to 4G coverage

If you're eagerly awaiting 4G coverage like we are in San Francisco, prepare to either apply some patience or settle into frustration. We discuss why the road to 4G speeds is long and riddled with potholes.

There's also talk of Virgin Mobile and Verizon's experiments with unlimited data plans, which is interesting in light of continuing talks among carriers about potential data caps. Finally, the crew chimes in on suspected hardware leaks of Windows 7 phones, and wonders if Microsoft can learn from RIM's mistakes with the BlackBerry Torch.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video)Read more

Buzz Out Loud at SXSW

The Buzz Crew will be attending South by Southwest Interactive this year and as such, there are a handful of Buzz-related engagements! Here's a list of our appearances. If you are attending SXSW, make sure to RSVP for the events in advance. If not, have no fear. Most of these events will be streamed live as well so check it out online!

Buzz Out Loud/Squarespace Meetup ( click here to RSVP) Saturday, March 13, 2010 @ 5:00pm CT - Malverde ( 400 W. 2nd St.) No SXSW badge required to attend. Join us for a rockin' SXSW Buzztown Meetup sponsored … Read more

Holiday Help Desk show notes: November 30

I want to thank everybody who watched Holiday Help Desk (hours one and two) either live or on demand. A few times during the show, I mentioned that I'd put links to things on our blog, so here they are.

Here are the instructions for downloading and running Chrome OS off a USB drive.

Here is our list of Best iPod speakers.

And if you'd like to replace the firmware on your router with something more functional, here's DD-WRT.

Also, here are Jeff Bakalar's really good arguments for why you shouldn't buy an Xbox 360 … Read more