experiment

Gripe and ye shall receive: Google fixes Gmail for Android

Google has come to its senses with its Gmail app for Android.

A June Gmail overhaul dropped the delete button by default from the e-mail software, a move judged to be silly by me and by 88 percent of the CNET readers who responded to our poll.

Plenty of other people didn't give a fig, the button's absence wasn't a showstopper, and it could be restored by changing the settings, but I thought it a departure for a company that today is supposed to be fanatical about crafting a great experience for users.

Well, happily, it's … Read more

Mix and match film textures with Mextures for iOS

Mextures is a photo editor that focuses on applying multiple high-resolution textures to your images for some truly unique results. This app isn't like most photo editors that have you add a filter or a frame and then save the image; instead it requires a good amount of experimentation, mixing and matching textures to get the look you want.

On the first screen there are three buttons across the bottom: Camera, Inspiration, and Library. Camera and Library are self-explanatory for selecting a photo to use in the process, but the Inspiration button is where you'll find a gallery … Read more

Play Skee-Ball using Chrome on a computer, mobile device

Remember when Google demoed the Racer game at Google I/O a few weeks back? Well, apparently Racer was just the beginning of showing interactive games using nothing more than Chrome.

As you can see from this Google+ post, Google has released yet another Chrome game. This time it comes in the form of the arcade classic of Skee-Ball, with the game being called Roll It.

Instead of relying on only mobile devices as the Racer game did, Roll It requires you to have a computer and mobile device, both with Chrome installed.

The mobile device, be it an Android … Read more

Expelled girl's 'bomb': Toilet cleaner and foil

People like to claim that education is in crisis.

But it's surely no more in crisis than humanity itself, as it veers toward an unknown future while leering into screens for its solution.

However, Bartow High School in Florida garlanded itself in a particularly educative spirit this week by expelling a 16-year-old girl for putting a couple of chemicals into an 8-ounce water bottle and watching it go bang.

Should this tale not have exploded before your eyes this week, Kiera Wilmot wasn't merely expelled for this misdeed on school premises, she was also charged with felony possession … Read more

Busy fall for Apple, Xbox, and Amazon

CNET Update is out of breath:

Apple fans will have to wait until the fall for new "amazing" products, or so promises CEO Tim Cook.

Samsung fans will also be doing some waiting. The Galaxy S4 was said to hit stores this weekend, but the smartphone is facing supply issues -- and that's causing T-Mobile and Sprint to push back launch dates and only sell online. But you may be able to find one on Saturday in stores at AT&T, and on Tuesday at U.S. Cellular. [Read CNET's review here.]

For shoppers that … Read more

Samsung, Best Buy to operate mini shops for three years

Shoppers hoping to check out the Samsung mini shops in Best Buy stores will have a few years to do so, the companies said Wednesday.

The agreement to operate Samsung Experience shops within all U.S. Best Buy locations will last for the next three years. The companies then will evaluate whether to extend their pact or end it, executives from Samsung and Best Buy said.

So far, the few experience shops already open have received "a lot of positive customer feedback," Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said Wednesday during a press event in New York.

"Both … Read more

Samsung takes smartphone battle to the storefront

DALLAS -- Samsung has opened a new front in its battle for smartphone supremacy: the storefront.

The Korean electronics giant plans to set up mini Samsung stores inside all U.S. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile venues within the next couple of months -- just in time for the Galaxy S4 launch. The "Samsung Experience Shops," which start rolling out Monday, will be in 500 big-box Best Buy stores and all 410 Best Buy Mobile locations by early May. Best Buy's remaining 550 large-format Best Buy stores will feature the shops by early June.

A larger … Read more

How Samsung might actually get featuritis under control

Editor's note: This article was originally published January 9 during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was updated March 15 with information about the Galaxy S4.

Samsung has a serious case of featuritis, but it's trying to get better.

The Korean electronics giant has long been known for its push to include more and more features in its products, whether it's new capabilities like NFC in smartphones or software like smart TV apps. Samsung uses such features as a way to differentiate its new gadgets from those of rivals and from its older products, and … Read more

Latest Chrome 'experiment' goes to Oz

Google's newest interactive browser "experiment" transports you from your desk to Oz, highlighting cutting-edge browser tech along the way.

Created in conjunction with Disney and the production company Unit9 to help promote the upcoming movie, "Oz the Great and Powerful," the experiment leverages the latest in Web standards to create a browser-based experiment that previously could have been completed only with Adobe Flash.

In the experiment, called Find Your Way to Oz, you can compose music, goof around with a photo booth, and make a short movie with a zoetrope. If you survive the tornado … Read more

Tegra 4, gaming dominate Nvidia's 2013 plans

LAS VEGAS--Nvidia has never been a timid company, and at CES 2013, the chipmaker stepped on the gas.

Nvidia's aggressive plans for cloud gaming, its Tegra 4 quad core processor, and Nvidia Shield, its first Nvidia-branded gaming device, set a course for placing the company in the limelight this coming year.

Project Shield: Portable gaming companion The Android-based Project Shield is Nvidia's first attempt at selling a device bearing the Nvidia name. It strongly resembles a console controller, complete with joysticks and buttons. It can play Android, Tegra, and PC games, as well as play games streamed from … Read more