specs

What we know about the Xbox One

CNET Update explains the Xbox One:

Microsoft has revealed its new console, the Xbox One, and it aims to be the one system to handle all home entertainment. This episode of Update gives you the quick roundup of Xbox One's features. Not all these features will be good news for gamers -- such as the requirement to pay a fee to play a used game.

Dive deeper into CNET's coverage of the Xbox One with these stories:

- Details on Microsoft's Xbox One

- The games revealed for the Xbox One

- Details about the Kinect sensor improvementsRead more

MultiSpec for Mac 2013.3.23 Review

While originally developed to process satellite and airborne images, MultiSpec for Mac has now found other applications such as multiband imagery for medical and educational uses. MultiSpec for Mac offers an image processing system that interactively analyzes and edits multispectral image data. While it performs well, this app would benefit from a more user-friendly interface.

There is no installation required for MultiSpec for Mac. Instead the application can be run straight out of the package you download. Once you open the app, you can choose an image to edit. Once you've opened your image of choice, you can begin … Read more

Facebook's iOS app gets stickers, Chat Heads

CNET Update starts a new type of sticker collection:

In this tech roundup, Google reveals the technical specs for Google Glass, and we also learn that it won't display ads in your eye (at least for now).

Only a select group gets the chance to buy this early version of Google Glass, but here's something Android fans can order now: The Samsung Galaxy S4. Preorders have begun for the smartphone at AT&T and U.S. Cellular, and the phones will ship on April 30.

Facebook found a way to bring Chat Heads to the iPhone, but … Read more

Check your videos from head to toe with VideoSpec for Mac

When releasing videos, you often find yourself with precise requirements on either actual file size or quality. To lend you a hand in such tasks or for analyzing your exported videos, VideoSpec for Mac is a useful and feature-packed toolset built upon open-source libraries and utilities.

VideoSpec for Mac performs the tasks of a video analyzer. It will let you inspect every video property you might be interested in. On launch, simply drag a video onto the main window, and all the information relevant to codecs used, bit rate, resolution, size, compression, and much more will be displayed for both … Read more

How Microsoft can avoid the pitfalls of Sony's PS4 announcement

Editor's note: It's official. Microsoft has announced the future of Xbox (and the next console) will be revealed at an event in Redmond, Washington on May 21.

CNET's live coverage of Microsoft's event Tuesday, May 21

Press events are a tricky beast. No one ever said they were easy to pull off. But with Sony casting the first stone in the next-generation console gaming war, Microsoft can learn a lot from what worked and what didn't.

When the lights went up, Sony execs were shaking hands and congratulating each other. But the packed house at … Read more

HTC One specs take on Droid DNA, iPhone 5, Z10

HTC's brand-new flagship smartphone, the HTC One, is a gorgeous piece of all-aluminum smartphone machinery by any standards. CNET's Brian Bennett went hands-on with the Android Jelly Bean phone before today's launch event.

With dual audio speakers, a new Beats Audio feature in BoomSound, and a rebooted version of the HTC Sense interface layer that includes a new element called Blink, and an IR blaster to act as a TV remote, the HTC One certainly packs some interesting extras.

HTC's flagship device should appear in the U.S. in March for T-Mobile, AT&T, and … Read more

PlayStation 4: What we expect, what it needs, and why

CNET's live coverage of Sony's event on Wednesday

Sony's February 20 event in New York City will likely mark the announcement of the PlayStation 4 and simultaneously usher in the next generation of console gaming. (Sorry, Wii U, but you're more last-gen than next-gen.)

Rumors mills are also churning out details confidently declaring that the Xbox 360 successor will also see the light of day before June's big E3 gaming show in Los Angeles.

Perhaps the biggest news? Both consoles could make their debuts -- gasp -- this year. That's a hyperspeed acceleration in … Read more

BlackBerry's last stand: Z10 unveiled

Wednesday's CNET Update has the BlackBerry breakdown:

It's the start of a new chapter for BlackBerry. Today's show explains the basics of the Z10 and Q10 smartphones, as well as the new features of the BlackBerry 10 operating system. For a deeper dive, check out the links below:

- Full review of the touchscreen BlackBerry Z10

- First impressions of the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone with keyboard

- Full review of the BlackBerry 10 operating system

- RIM sheds old name, becomes BlackBerry

- The big apps available on BlackBerry 10

- Carrier and price details for the Z10 and Q10Read more

Apple's Lightning transition as fast as its name

Apple's new Lightning specification is living up to its speedy name.

Just one month and 11 days after announcing the connector, which replaces its decade-old 30-pin connector on devices like the iPhone, iPod and iPad, Apple has put it into all its relevant products.

There is, of course, a cost of the speed. The newly-announced, fourth-generation iPad replaces the 7-month, 7-day-old third-generation model the company debuted at its event earlier this year and that still had the legacy 30-pin adapter.

The move has left many recent buyers incensed, but the changeover overall is impressive -- especially when you look … Read more

Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7: Which one is right for you?

When Amazon launched the original Kindle Fire in 2011, the $199 tablet was a surprise hit that reigned as one of the top budget tablet options. But that reign came to a dramatic end with the introduction of the Nexus 7, Google's flagship Android 4.1 tablet.

To keep things interesting, Amazon just upped the ante with a Kindle Fire HD, offering several key hardware improvements, overhauled software, and that same $199 price tag. And while it's not likely to send Google back to the drawing board, the Kindle Fire HD does offer an interesting alternative to the pure Android experience of the Nexus 7.

Which of these $199 tablets is right for you? It's a tough call, so let's weigh the pros and cons and check the specs.… Read more