GrandCentral Web site to jump the tracks
Google on December 31 will shut down site for GrandCentral, which it acquired and reworked into Google Voice. Users should backup old messages now.
NASA signs 'The Rock' to make it seem cool
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays an astronaut in the new movie "Planet 51," is NASA's latest endorser, reminding people just how useful space travel really is. The Rock? Really?
McAfee warns about '12 Scams of Christmas'
Shoppers and retailers aren't the only ones gearing up for the holidays. Criminals are out in full force with plenty of scams to separate you and your money
Firefox: Heat and the CPU usage problem
Mozilla's browser does not efficiently use a computer's CPU and, consequently, can cause overheating problems in some laptops, particularly ultraportables.
Turtle Beach Ear Force X41 - headset
With their accurate 7.1-channel separation, the Turtle Beach Ear Force X41 headphones are great surround-sound headphones for the Xbox 360--or any other home theater component.
Sonos ZonePlayer S5
The ZonePlayer S5 shrinks the Sonos streaming music experience down to a compact single-speaker system with great sound, which you can control from any iPhone or iPod Touch.
HP Pavilion dv4-1555dx
As a midsize entertainment laptop, the 14-inch HP Pavilion dv4-1555dx hits some right notes, but its poor battery life sours the deal.
Gateway One ZX4800-02
Gateway's affordable One ZX4800-02 all-in-one isn't the most feature-rich desktop at this price, but it's fast and capable enough that it will handle most basic consumer tasks with aplomb. Don't get too excited about its touch screen, but there's enough to like about this system that we can recommend it as an everyday PC.
TomTom Car Kit for iPhone
The TomTom Car Kit for iPhone lets you consolidate the number of devices carried around by elevating iPhone navigation to a standalone navigation device level. It's pricey, but TomTom gives users a fair amount of functionality for the money.
Sony KDL-26L5000
Although it costs a tad more than bargain-basement models, the Sony KDL-L5000 series makes up for it with above-basement design and picture quality.
Logitech Harmony 700
The Logitech Harmony 700 delivers the bulk of the Harmony One's excellent feature set and ergonomics at a lower price point.
Gateway DX4822-01
The Gateway DX-4822-01 makes a convincing pitch with the performance numbers and features to earn its place in your home, but if you're not tied to the midtower design, the older Gateway SX2800-01 offers faster speeds and the option to set it up as a media center PC.
Sony Vaio VGN-NW240F (brown)
The Sony Vaio VGN-NW240F is a well designed mainstream notebook with respectable performance and features for the money.
Callpod Fueltank UNO
The Callpod Fueltank UNO is a great alternative to form-fitting battery packs. It's well made and provides a solid charging solution for mobile devices.
2010 Honda Fit Sport
As a city car, the 2010 Honda Fit scores mainly for its versatile interior. Dated cabin tech is a little bit of a let-down, as is the complete lack of Bluetooth phone support.
Asus Essentio CM5570-AP003
At a glance, the Asus Essentio CM5570-AP003 offers adequate performance compared to other midtower budget desktops, but an older Gateway outshines Asus with faster performance and more versatility for a little more, leaving us unenthusiastic about this system.
Sony KDL-32L5000
Although it costs a tad more than bargain-basement models, the Sony KDL-L5000 series makes up for it with above-basement design and picture quality.
Samsung LN26B360
Although not as feature-heavy as some models in its class, Samsung's LNB360 series takes the picture quality cake among entry-level LCDs.
Kicker EB51 Stereo Earbuds (blue)
The Kicker EB51 earbuds are easy on the wallet and offer several color options, but we're not convinced they're enough of a step-up from stock earbuds.
Samsung Convoy SCH-U640 (Verizon Wireless)
Despite a couple of design complaints and a missing feature, the Samsung Convoy is an easy-to-use phone with great performance.
2010 Nissan Altima Coupe 2.5 S
A sporty looking coupe, the 2010 Nissan Altima Coupe 2.5 S proves reasonably fun to drive, while offering a smattering of good cabin tech for entertainment and navigation.
News.com Daily Podcasts
The News.com team bring you this snappy podcast every weekday, covering everything from privacy to processors, iPods to Intel. Charlie Cooper, Leslie Katz, Erica Ogg, and Jennifer Guevin cover the top technology news of the day.
CNET News Daily Podcast: Where does the Pirate Bay acquisition stand?
There have been lots of twists and turns in the story of file-swapping site The Pirate Bay, and the latest confusion revolves around a possible acquisition of the site. Where does that stand? CNET News intern Mats Lewan asked reporter Greg...
...
CNET News Daily Podcast: Why Amazon really bought Zappos
Today we talk acquisitions. Between the confirmation of Yahoo's acquisition of Xoopit, and Amazon's Wednesday surprise acquisition of online retailer Zappos it's been a busy week. We also get CNET Reporter Caroline McCarthy on the phone to talk...
CNET News Daily Podcast: Investigating Web loyalty programs
Thousands of online shoppers have complained that mysterious charges are showing up on their credit card statements. They've accused those who operate something they call "Web loyalty programs" of purposely deceiving them into signing them up and... <
Should you buy that extended warranty? Tom Merritt says no. Rafe Needleman says sometimes. We'll give you some guidance on how to decide if it's worth the money.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Amos Lee On the way to his Fillmore gig, Amos Lee stopped by to share his soulful signing and songwriting. And he tells us why he doesn't mind being the male Norah Jones.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Raphael Saadiq Our guests in Studio C just keep getting stronger--and this week we outdid ourselves, hosting former Tony! Toni! Toné!/Lucy Pearl frontman Raphael Saadiq, who was in town promoting his latest album, The Way I See It. In our exclusive session Saadiq talked about working and hangin’ out with Stevie Wonder, and how the late great J Dilla influenced him musically.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Kardinal Offishall Hailing from Toronto, a.k.a. the Tee-Dot, we somehow suckered Konvict Music emcee Kardinal Offishall into hookin' up an interview inside Studio C, while he had a few hours to spare from his tour with Wyclef. Kardi's new single "Dangerous" (feat. Akon) is all over radio and video, and his album Not 4 Sale is set to drop Sept. 9.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Far*East Movement Los Angeles hip-hop collective Far*East Movement stopped by Studio C recently to fill us in on their upcoming release, Animal. They also broke down the origin of their name, the different perceptions of being an Asian hip-hop act, and how their parents have reacted to their career paths.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Radar Bros. Radar Bros. make pretty country-folk ditties that show their attachment to lo-fi folk without bogging them down by the genre's self-seriousness. Listen to our exclusive live performance and interview with frontman Jim Putnam and the gang.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Raashan Ahmad Crown City Rockers emcee Raashan Ahmad is this week's Studio C guest. Besides busting a fresh a capella freestyle for us, Raashan talks about the state of hip-hop today and what he wanted to achieve with his debut solo album The Push on OM Records.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Akron/Family As "well-mannered" as Akron/Family is in person, their music remains impossible to compartmentalize. But that's not to say their mix of gentle folk harmonies and free-form grooviness isn't knockout beautiful. See what we mean as they chat about their latest album, Love Is Simple, and play low-key acoustic versions of three songs live during our latest Studio C podcast.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Jim Lauderdale Looks like 2008 is another banner year for Jim Lauderdale. Repeating his '06 agenda he's again released not one but two new CDs, Honey Songs and The Bluegrass Diaries. To honor his achievements, we dug into the Studio C archives and unearthed this exclusive podcast, where Jim chatted about songwriting and played four acoustic songs live in our studio.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Orgone Members of L.A.-based funk collective Orgone are this week's Studio C guests. They've got a new release, The Killion Floor, in stores now, and it should please fans of Breakestra, Connie Price, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings because most of the members are affiliated with those bands as well. During the podcast they explain the zany origin of their name and pick cover songs to perform; we also listen to album cuts including It's What You Do and Who Knows Who.
Music Sessions from Studio C: Mark Kozelek With a new Sun Kil Moon LP, as well as Retribution Gospel Choir's debut album (which he produced), a book, and a movie score all coming out this year, it's safe to say Mark Kozelek is a "prolific artist." He sat down with us for a rare interview (he doesn't do them often) to discuss all his projects and play some new songs.
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On the way to his Fillmore gig, Amos Lee stopped by to share his soulful signing and songwriting. And he tells us why he doesn't mind being the male Norah Jones.
Our guests in Studio C just keep getting stronger--and this week we outdid ourselves, hosting former Tony! Toni! Toné!/Lucy Pearl frontman Raphael Saadiq, who was in town promoting his latest album, The Way I See It. In our exclusive session Saadiq talked about working and hangin’ out with Stevie Wonder, and how the late great J Dilla influenced him musically.
Hailing from Toronto, a.k.a. the Tee-Dot, we somehow suckered Konvict Music emcee Kardinal Offishall into hookin' up an interview inside Studio C, while he had a few hours to spare from his tour with Wyclef. Kardi's new single "Dangerous" (feat. Akon) is all over radio and video, and his album Not 4 Sale is set to drop Sept. 9.
Los Angeles hip-hop collective Far*East Movement stopped by Studio C recently to fill us in on their upcoming release, Animal. They also broke down the origin of their name, the different perceptions of being an Asian hip-hop act, and how their parents have reacted to their career paths.
Radar Bros. make pretty country-folk ditties that show their attachment to lo-fi folk without bogging them down by the genre's self-seriousness. Listen to our exclusive live performance and interview with frontman Jim Putnam and the gang.
Crown City Rockers emcee Raashan Ahmad is this week's Studio C guest. Besides busting a fresh a capella freestyle for us, Raashan talks about the state of hip-hop today and what he wanted to achieve with his debut solo album The Push on OM Records.
As "well-mannered" as Akron/Family is in person, their music remains impossible to compartmentalize. But that's not to say their mix of gentle folk harmonies and free-form grooviness isn't knockout beautiful. See what we mean as they chat about their latest album, Love Is Simple, and play low-key acoustic versions of three songs live during our latest Studio C podcast.
Looks like 2008 is another banner year for Jim Lauderdale. Repeating his '06 agenda he's again released not one but two new CDs, Honey Songs and The Bluegrass Diaries. To honor his achievements, we dug into the Studio C archives and unearthed this exclusive podcast, where Jim chatted about songwriting and played four acoustic songs live in our studio.
Members of L.A.-based funk collective Orgone are this week's Studio C guests. They've got a new release, The Killion Floor, in stores now, and it should please fans of Breakestra, Connie Price, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings because most of the members are affiliated with those bands as well. During the podcast they explain the zany origin of their name and pick cover songs to perform; we also listen to album cuts including It's What You Do and Who Knows Who.
With a new Sun Kil Moon LP, as well as Retribution Gospel Choir's debut album (which he produced), a book, and a movie score all coming out this year, it's safe to say Mark Kozelek is a "prolific artist." He sat down with us for a rare interview (he doesn't do them often) to discuss all his projects and play some new songs.
