frequent

Apple's iPhone 5: Everything you need to know (FAQ)

Apple's new iPhone is here, and even with a nearly two-hour keynote, a Web site full of specifications, and CNET's must-read review there are plenty of questions that need answering.

CNET has put together this FAQ to help get to the bottom of some of them. These range from what's new to where you can get the phone to the differences between what you get with each carrier.

This is a living document and is likely to be updated this week and beyond. If we missed any big questions, please drop them in the comments and we'… Read more

Create a portable clipboard with QuickClip

There are plenty of utilities that let users save frequently used snippets of text to be inserted when needed; these clipboards on steroids can save you the time and effort of typing the same thing over and over. But what if there were a program that let you access your snippets of text from anywhere, keeping them handy whether you're at home, at work, or somewhere else? That's where QuickClip comes in. This simple program saves your text to the cloud and then copies it to the Windows clipboard whenever you need it.

Our first impression of QuickClip … Read more

Hot keys for music listening

SizzlingKeys is a free background app that lets you control iTunes playback with hot keys, even when you're in another application.

SizzlingKeys lets you program nine global hot keys: play/pause, previous and next track, volume up and down, show/hide iTunes, show playlists, search, mute, and the ingenious "Almost Mute," with a customizable Almost-Mute level. The app also lets you assign hot keys for rating tracks, and it will display an optional, temporary floating window (with the track info and art). You can also set SizzlingKeys to automatically launch iTunes when you press your play/pause … Read more

Correct your text on the fly

TextExpander is a popular and reasonably priced autotype/autocorrect program--a productivity-enhancing piece of software designed to save you time and keystrokes by automatically typing out frequently used words and phrases (such as signatures and greetings) and instantly correcting your typos. TextExpander's nearly invisible interface is simple: you type a short, user-specified abbreviation, and the app expands the abbreviation into a longer "snippet," whether a word, a phrase, or even an image or an entire e-mail. (You can even prompt TextExpander to execute a chunk of AppleScript.) You can customize your snippets and manage them in groups, and … Read more

Ideal iPhone apps for frequent fliers

If you fly frequently and have an iPhone, you might have already researched the iTunes App Store for titles that will help you track your flight, pick your seat, and check for delays. As a frequent flier and airline geek, I've browsed quite a few apps on the CNET iPhone and have downloaded more than my share. The selection is quite extensive, but as is true with much of the iTunes App Store, it can take time to separate quality apps from those that aren't even worth a free download.

In the slideshow below, I've chosen 10 … Read more

Roundup: Checkpoint-friendly computer bags

Regular Crave readers have seen a steady stream of products unveiled in the months since the Transportation Security Administration issued guidelines for "checkpoint friendly" bags, which let you zip through airport security checkpoints without removing your laptop.

Eager to see how manufacturers would tackle the new product category, we obtained a handful of bags--from the huge Mobile Edge ScanFast Backpack to the tiny Solo Netbook Mini--for real-world testing. At first we were concerned that TSA agents wouldn't know about the new bag designs and would make us remove our laptops anyway. But we carried several of … Read more

Yapta now tracks discounts by frequent-flier miles

Travel planning service Yapta has a cool new feature for registered users that lets you track price drops or award seats based on your frequent-flier mileage. It'll keep an eye out for deals that match how many miles you have saved up, and give you an alert when they're up for grabs. When used properly this system could net you free or heavily discounted tickets alongside letting you know about potential price drops.

In addition to tracking single seats, you can have it track deals on several seats on the same flight. This works for any number of … Read more

China unveils 82-foot bus

Fancy gadgets aren't the only products deserving of their own trade shows, you know. There are plenty of other innovations celebrated within their respective industries--even buses. That's right, like the kind you pay tokens to ride.

As every schoolboy knows, the Busworld Asia 2007 convention was held in Shanghai this year, though you may not have been aware of its main attraction: a bus that measures a full 82 feet long. This serpentine form of public surface transportation, which can hold 300 passengers, will be used mostly for the commute between Beijing and Hangzhou, according to Spluch. It … Read more