focus

If you're still enjoying the dog days of summer, sitting by the pool drinking lemonade (hard or otherwise), good for you. But here in CNET-land, we're already gearing up for the fall rush. This week, we've had our noses to the grindstone reviewing Samsung's most lovely laptop, as well as do-it-all NAS drives, among other tech products. We had a little fun too, though, with an iPhone case you can use in that pool should you decide you absolutely have to surf the Web while you surf the waves. (You don't by the way, but … Read more

Steve Jurvetson says electric vehicles are undoubtedly the cars of the future. Not too surprising, given that his VC firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, was an early investor in electric vehicle company Tesla Motors. But to really get an idea of how passionate he is about EVs, you have to hear the story about how he wound up getting the keys to the new Model S -- beating out even Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Musk had been dodging Jurvetson's numerous requests to put down a deposit on the car, saying that reservations for the vehicle couldn't be taken until … Read more

What's a reviews editor to do when a week passes without a single major hardware announcement? With no frenzied launch events to stalk and no 24-hour-turnaround product reviews to write, your average tech journalist just pours a glass of bourbon, kicks back, and plays Max Payne 3 until his eyes bleed. But not us. We dug deeper. We found a really freaking cool laptop desk. Truly, we did -- it's downright chilly.

We're fans of this one, peeps The NZXT Cryo E40 is a laptop desk for the type of gamer (or author, or coder) who might … Read more

The way I see it, there are three major draws to AT&T's Samsung Focus 2, a Windows phone that goes on sale May 20. First, there's the glossy-white design. Second there's the LTE compatibility, and third, and for some, most importantly, there's the $49.99 price.

The cameras and processor do a good job rounding out the midrange features, but there are a few ups and downs with the smartphone that you may want to keep in mind as you decide if this is one of the many Samsung Windows phones, or of AT&… Read more

Workers cut off from office e-mail for five days exhibited more natural, variable heart rates and toggled between screens less frequently than those with e-mail access, according to new research out of the University of California, Irvine, and the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center near Boston.

The "A pace not dictated by electrons" study of 13 civilian employees at the Army center is undoubtedly small, and the results, presented this week at a meeting of the Association for Computing Machinery in Austin, Texas, are only preliminary. Still, researchers say the findings were surprisingly consistent in favor of … Read more

On a sultry New Orleans afternoon today, AT&T took over a century-old Garden District mansion to open the 2012 CTIA. Yes, the annual wireless confab doesn't formally open until tomorrow morning, but the news already is coming fast and furious. And though I don't arrive in the Big Easy until tomorrow either, a big CNET team is on the ground by the Mississippi. Here are the highlights of what they saw today. … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--AT&T's Samsung Focus 2 made an appearance today at an AT&T event before CTIA 2012 officially kicks off on May 8.

Like the carrier's other low-cost Windows Phone, the Samsung Focus Flash, the Focus 2 is also priced at $49.99 after a two-year contract. Unlike the Focus Flash, the Focus 2 runs on the carrier's 4G LTE network.

Here in New Orleans, AT&T's LTE network has been a solid performer so far, so we have high hopes for the Focus 2's speed.

It satisfies aesthetically as well. … Read more

In today's show, it's time to Hangout with the world, seek out new smartphones and take a ride on the Yahoo drama train:

Your Google+ Hangout video chat sessions can now broadcast live to the world. Google made it easy to share the live stream of a Hangout on your Google+ page, or embed it on another Web site. You can see how many people are watching, and once the live show is done it can be uploaded to YouTube.

Google has been working with some television shows to broadcast their Hangouts live. If you want to check it out, … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--AT&T and Samsung must be selling enough of the "Focus" family of Windows Phones to be inspired to do it again.

The day before CTIA kicks off, the two partners took the wraps off the Samsung Focus 2, a $50 Windows Phone outfitted with LTE.

The phone also features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and a 5-megapixel camera that can support 720p HD video. A front-facing VGA camera is also onboard.… Read more