wish list

There has been an increasing number of holiday decorations appearing in my neighborhood recently, not to mention the many photos of Christmas trees I've seen posted on Facebook this week. I'm am left with only one conclusion: the holidays are upon us.

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? Better question: do you know what you are getting that certain someone who is particularly hard to buy for each year? If that person uses Amazon, then you might want to sneak a peek to see if he or she has an Amazon Wish List.

Your gift recipient will … Read more

Two years ago, on the heels of the iPhone 4, CNET's David Carnoy asked readers to vote for their most-wanted features in the next iPhone. When Apple introduced the iPhone 4S a year later, we just kept this wish list going.

With over 40,000 votes collected at this point, I think it's safe to say that we have an adequate sample of what iPhone 5 features you want most. In this Top 5 video, we count them down. Simple as that.

… Read more

As great as online wish lists are, maintaining more than a few of them can get cumbersome. This is especially true during the holidays, when your shopping lists are long and you're visiting every single site to find the best possible deals.

Fortunately, there's a way to create and maintain a universal wish list. A feature available for a few years now, Amazon.com allows you to add products from another retailer to your Amazon.com wish list. Here's how:

Step 1: Install the Add to Wishlist add-on from Amazon.com. There are versions available for Firefox, … Read more

I had been looking forward to multitasking on the iPad for a long, long time.

Back when iOS 4 was first detailed, the potential for iPad users was clear. However, while iPhone and iPod Touch owners got to flaunt multitasking, the delay until the final release of iOS 4.2 on the iPad was agonizing. Now the day has come and gone, and for an iPad owner such as myself, the rewards of the iOS update have been somewhat worth the wait.

Having folders to organize the endless grids of apps is a long overdue welcome addition. Background streaming of Internet radio on an iPad is a great add for anyone, and I've found it great for simultaneous radio news and newspaper browsing. AirPlay is intriguing, although you'd need an Apple TV to take advantage of its potential. Threaded, unified mail inboxes are, needless to say, time-saving.

And yet, there's a lot I wish the iPad version of iOS still had.

For one, the whole OS feels entirely too similar to the iPhone edition. The multitasking bar, folder system, and functionality are nearly identical. Most features translate well, but for anyone hoping an iPad can transform into something a little more like a computer, most of these features don't cut it.

My wish list from months ago has only been halfway met. Here's what I'd like to see...in iOS 5.… Read more

I'm not the first to report this, but it's hit me hard over the last few weekends: it's getting a bit difficult to be an iPad owner amid all this iPhone 4 to-do. As if a front-facing camera and higher-res Retina Display weren't already envy-inducing, to add insult to injury the iPhone already has iOS 4, with multitasking, folders, and other features that aren't available on the iPad yet. So, after a few months, has it come to this, Apple?

There is hope: first of all, the iPad doesn't have a problematic antenna. Secondly, … Read more

The Kindle e-reader, the Nintendo Wii, and an Asus Netbook were among the top tech items for Amazon customers in 2009.

The retail giant touted three "Best of 2009" lists on Wednesday, revealing the best selling, most wished for, and favorite gift items chosen by Amazon consumers for the year. The company also introduced its Bestsellers Archive, which can show historical popularity among several categories, including print books, Kindle books, music downloads, movies and TV shows, and video games.

Amazon has been relentlessly proclaiming the popularity of its Kindle device, though it just as steadfastly has declined to … Read more

We Crave contributors see (and touch) hundreds of products over the course of a given year. Picking just one tech-related item to top our holiday wish lists, therefore, can be a bit daunting.

Will it be a new phone, laptop, e-reader, television, digicam? What about a house-cleaning robot, biometric bracelet, secret-knock door lock, or Boba Fett USB drive? And what of our more amorphous desires, like finally getting our moms off of AOL or collecting 100 feathers in Assassin's Creed 2? How, oh how, to decide?

Well, in the spirit of the holidays (and consumerism), we managed to narrow … Read more

Earlier this week, I showed you how to create holiday shopping lists, so you know what to buy when you hit the stores this holiday season. But what if you want the gifts? Today, I'm taking a look at some services that allow you to create your own wish list for the holiday season. Some of those tools you might have used before, others are a little less known. In either case, you can tell your friends and family what you want this holiday season.

Before you check those services out, try out CNET's own holiday wish list. It's full-featured, well-designed, and based on my experience, provides an extremely useful option if you're looking for a holiday wish list.

Amazon Wish Lists Amazon's wish lists are some of the best-known in the space for good reason: the site makes it quick and easy to add just about any product to your wish list.

While browsing Amazon, you can add any product on the site to your wish list by simply clicking the "add to wish list" option to the right of the page. In my experience creating wish lists on Amazon, I've been quite impressed. The information can be accessed by anyone, they can quickly buy the product for me right from the wish list, and the product is sent to my address once paid for. Amazon's wish list feature is easily one of the best services in this roundup. That is mainly due to that "end-to-end" offering. Everything from finding the product to buying can be completed on the site.

GreedyMe Although it allows you to add content from anywhere across the Web to create your own wish list, GreedyMe just doesn't provide the kind of experience you'll find from a service like Amazon.

When you try out GreedyMe, you'll find a suspect site design. It's a little tough on the eyes. Once you get past that (it might take awhile), you can create your wish list. To do so, you'll need to either add content to your wish list by linking to another site or by inputting product information manually. When you find a product you want, the site analyzes the link, lets you input a description, and choose an image to be displayed. It's a relatively quick, simple experience.

If you plan to share your wish list with someone else, you need only to provide them with a link to your GreedyMe page. Unfortunately, the site won't track when you receive the item, so you'll need to input that manually after you receive it. GreedyMe is a so-so service. Consider it a last alternative.… Read more

I recently got my Google Voice account set up and am pretty excited about its potential. As of now, there is no native application for using Google Voice on the Pre, but it is possible to dial out through your Google Voice account either by going through the web page or calling your Google Voice number from the phone and following the instructions.

My first few experiences making and receiving calls were pretty seamless. Messages I received from others are transcribed into visual voicemail and sent to me almost immediately as a text message and somewhat later as an email (but only because I have my email set to pull every hour). And the transcription was spot on.

As of now, Google Voice does not accept ported numbers, but when that day comes, this user will port away and finally be able to fully own the number I have had for the last decade.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Google Voice, check out this video (or scroll down for a list of features):

Still interested? Here are the listed features:

… Read more