Category Archives: iphone news

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

Congrats to Dianna S. of West Sacramento, Calif., for winning the IoSafe Solo G3 in last week’s giveaway. The external hard drive should come in quite handy for backing up all her data, but this week’s prize will come in handy in case you need to call for back up.

Up for grabs is the Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch for Sprint. Aside from having the longest name in cell phone history, the Android smartphone offers a spacious and sharp 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus touch screen, a dual-core processor, and support for Sprint’s 4G WiMax network.

In addition, the handset features a front-facing 2-megapixel camera and a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera that takes excellent photos and can record 1080p HD video.

Normally, the Samsung Epic 4G Touch would retail for $499.99 off contract, but here’s your chance to get one for free. (Note: You will be responsible for signing up for your own voice and data plan.) How? Well, there are a few rules, so please read carefully. There will be a test.

• Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the Join CNET link to start the registration process. If you’re already registered, there’s no need to register again.
• Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it’s funny or insightful, it won’… [Read more]
  
  Related Links:
  Crave giveaway: Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 (16GB, Wi-Fi)
  Crave giveaway: Cisco Linksys E4200 v2 dual-band N900 router
  HTC wants One to be its Nexus-like premium line
  Crave giveaway: IoSafe Solo G3 external hard drive
  Android Atlas Weekly 91: Segues? We don’t need no stinkin’ segues! (Podcast)
  
  Continue reading →

Panasonic updates its entry-level ILC

While the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 isn’t perfect, it’s still my favorite choice for snapshooters looking for a faster, better camera but one that’s similar enough to a point-and-shoot that they’re not forced out of their comfort zone. The GF3′s small size, well-designed touch-screen interface, fast performance, and solid photo quality — and, for its type, a more-or-less reasonable price — make it a compelling option. With the DMC-GF5, Panasonic makes some subtle updates and enhancements that improve on the GF3 for that same snapshooter.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 (photos)

1-2 of 11
Scroll Left
Scroll Right

• … [Read more]
  
  Related Links:
  Panasonic Lumix GF5 leaked by fashion model
  Apple update supports Nikon D4, Canon G1 X
  Digital Camera RAW update supports more cameras
  Panasonic prices its 2012 Blu-ray players
  $399 iPad 2 a Kindle Fire killer?
  
  Continue reading →

The Samsung Galaxy Note ditches Gingerbread thanks to this Android 4.0 leak.

(Credit:

RootzWiki)

Samsung has been a bit of tease when it comes to exactly when we might see Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the Galaxy Note — and nobody likes a tease, especially in the rooting and modding community.

At first, Samsung told us to expect the upgrade sometime in the first quarter of 2012, and then as March was winding down, the update was pushed back. Now, a leaked version of Ice Cream Sandwich for the Galaxy Note has been posted at RootzWiki and the reaction in the community so far seems to be quite positive.

The leaked version of Android 4.0 apparently includes support for the tablet/smartphone hybrid’s S Pen stylus and RootzWiki’s internal tester provided this list of working features on the current build:

<... [Read more]

Related Links:
Samsung starts bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to Galaxy S II
Android Ice Cream Sandwich coming to Motorola Droid Razr and Razr Maxx, April 4
Galaxy Note gets Android 4.0 later rather than sooner
LG Optimus Vu available unlocked, but not cheap
Another Samsung Galaxy S III image paints a clearer picture

Continue reading →

The Canon EOS 60Da is designed for taking photographs of space.

(Credit:
Canon USA)

The ceaseless succession of new Canon and Nikon SLRs has a certain predictability, but an unusual model came out of left field today: Canon’s astrophotography-oriented EOS 60Da.

The 60Da is a close cousin to the Canon EOS 60D, a higher-end 18-megapixel model geared for enthusiasts. But the 60Da has one big difference: its infrared filter has been modified so it doesn’t screen out so much “hydrogen-alpha” light, a deep-red 656.28-nanometer wavelength of light produced by excited hydrogen atoms.

By letting in about three times the amount of hydrogen-alpha red as a regular 60D, the $1,500 60Da can capture much better photos of energetic nebulae, Canon said. It’s due to go on sale this month.

Related stories

• http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-eos-60d-body/4505-6501_7-34157106.html
• First look at the Canon EOS 60D
• Prizefight: Canon EOS 60D vs. Nikon D7000

Canon has experience in this market: In 2005, it released the EOS 20Da for a… [Read more]

Related Links:
Phase One goes industrial with aerial, repro cameras
Nikon caught using Canon 5D Mark II video footage
Rafe Recommends: Camera Awesome is what it says
Zeiss announces fast–but not cheap–15mm lens
Five creative projects for the avid photographer

Continue reading →

Common cents: Take a penny-leave a penny tray manufacturers would seem to have dark days ahead.

(Credit:
Tim Hornyak/CNET)

When I was a kid growing up in Montreal, I spent more than a year filling a big brown bottle with pennies. When they reached the top and I poured them out, I was crushed that they totaled less than 20 bucks.

Ever since, I’ve had little love for the lowly Canadian cent — it’s 2.35 grams, mostly steel, and has been nothing but dead weight in my pockets. The government now feels the same and has announced that the Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing pennies this fall.

“Pennies take up too much space on our dressers at home,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in announcing the federal budget. “They take up far too much time for small businesses trying to grow and create jobs.”

Desjardins Group has estimated that the coin costs businesses $150 million a year in counting and transport costs. Meanwhile, it costs a penny and a half to mint every penny, and cutting it will save $11 million annually, according to the Department of Finance.

At least Canada is only losing on its pennies — the Mint says other Canadian coins cost “well under face value” to produce.

Not so south of the border. It costs the United States Mint 2.41 cents… [Read more]

Related Links:
Google hands over $5 credit to Wallet customers, report says
Apple granted patent for kid-friendly mobile-payment tech
PayPal to launch redesigned digital wallet this spring
Square Card Case is now an improved ‘Pay with Square’
Isis strikes mobile commerce deals with VeriFone, Ingenico

Continue reading →

Common cents: Take a penny-leave a penny tray manufacturers would seem to have dark days ahead.

(Credit:
Tim Hornyak/CNET)

When I was a kid growing up in Montreal, I spent more than a year filling a big brown bottle with pennies. When they reached the top and I poured them out, I was crushed that they totaled less than 20 bucks.

Ever since, I’ve had little love for the lowly Canadian cent — it’s 2.35 grams, mostly steel, and has been nothing but dead weight in my pockets. The government now feels the same and has announced that the Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing pennies this fall.

“Pennies take up too much space on our dressers at home,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in announcing the federal budget. “They take up far too much time for small businesses trying to grow and create jobs.”

Desjardins Group has estimated that the coin costs businesses $150 million a year in counting and transport costs. Meanwhile, it costs a penny and a half to mint every penny, and cutting it will save $11 million annually, according to the Department of Finance.

At least Canada is only losing on its pennies — the Mint says other Canadian coins cost “well under face value” to produce.

Not so south of the border. It costs the United States Mint 2.41 cents… [Read more]

Related Links:
Google hands over $5 credit to Wallet customers, report says
Apple granted patent for kid-friendly mobile-payment tech
PayPal to launch redesigned digital wallet this spring
Square Card Case is now an improved ‘Pay with Square’
Isis strikes mobile commerce deals with VeriFone, Ingenico

Continue reading →

(Credit:
CNET)

What makes a game addictive? Obviously your answer to that question will depend on what type of games you like to play, but certain games have a way of breaking down those barriers when they have just the right mix of challenges, rewards, and overall feel.

If you had never heard of Angry Birds, a description of the game probably wouldn’t entice you to play. But once you fling your first bird at a structure and hear the sounds as it flies through the air and takes out the pigs, suddenly you start to want to chase that perfect 3-star rating. Few games have just the right mix to keep you playing, but when you find one you can’t wait to jump back in whenever you get a spare moment.

This week’s collection of iOS apps are games that keep you coming back for more. The first is a puzzle game that challenges you to reach the goal using your mind as well as your reflexes. The second has you solving puzzles while navigating unique cylindrical 3D gameboards. The last is a fun mix of adventure and RPG that might one of the best I’ve played in the genre.

On some levels you'll need to first figure out your strategy before making your first flick.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Fibble ($1.99) is a puzzle game that has you touching the screen t… [Read more]

Related Links:
Great sling shot games that aren’t named Angry Birds
Angry Birds Space blasts into orbit
Next-level platformers on iOS
Apple’s new iPad: Hands-on
Too soon to call warm iPads ‘heatgate’

Continue reading →

IoSafe’s Solo G3 external hard drive can withstand extreme abuse (but no, those are not bullet holes).

(Credit:
IoSafe)

Tomorrow, as we’ve mentioned, is known in some quarters as World Backup Day. While we at Crave like to think of every day as Backup Day, we also understand that life (in the form of laziness, procrastination, and lack of a backup device) can get in the way of even the best backup intentions. This week’s giveaway is here to help.

The winner will score an IoSafe Solo G3 external hard drive. As CNET’s storage and networking reviewer Dong Ngo has personally discovered, the disaster-proof SoloPro lineup can survive serious abuse. For its part, the Solo G3 is designed to withstand temperatures up to 1,550 degrees Fahrenheit, submersion in 10-foot-deep water for up to three days, and other extreme conditions (but, hey, don’t get carried away).

The Solo G3, like its predecessor, houses just one 3.5-inch internal hard drive. However, unlike the previous version, it sports a fanless design… [Read more]

Related Links:
Migrating to SSD: Get yourself a new computer without getting one
Top 5 solidly priced SSDs: The state of solid-state
What to do about SMART errors in OS X
How to build your own external hard drive
LaCie 2big Thunderbolt series review: Just about right

Continue reading →

No, I don’t actually read the New Yorker, but I do read Edge Magazine, which is like the video game equivalent. (Fun Fact Eric)

(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)

Don’t overlook this screen. While it doesn’t offer the same pixel density as the new iPad‘s Retina Display, it’s still one of the most impressive I’ve encountered, offering deep blacks and an unmatched contrast ratio by tablet standards.

While games looked vibrant and well-saturated with color, there was an unfortunate side effect on background textures.

The full review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has more on that admittedly cryptic statement as well as many other amusing anecdotes.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 in all sorts of positions (photos)

1-2 of 8
Scroll Left
Scroll Right

• [Read more]
  
  Related Links:
  Sony Tablet P: At what price dual screens?
  iPhone to get 4.6-inch Retina Display, report says
  Best 4G smartphones right now (roundup)
  Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy?
  Why I’m buying a new iPad, despite my own advice
  
  Continue reading →

iPad Global Speed Test

We tested the cellular speed of Apple’s new iPad in four different cities: San Francisco, London, Singapore, and Sydney.

The first test used the Speedtest.net app to test theoretical download speeds measured in megabits per second. The country whose iPad achieves the highest number wins the test. OK, I guess you can’t really “win” a test, unless it’s a con-test!! Yeah, so this wasn’t just a test, but also became a friendly competition between countries.

Ah, but synthetic benchmarks–where theoretical maximums are sometimes easily achieved–are one thing and real-world tests, something completely different.

To get an idea of real-world performance, each territory downloaded the same Youtube video. The first country to buffer the entire movie (as indicated by the light gray bar) won the second (con)test.

We used Verizon’s 4G LTE network to test in San Francisco, but didn’t actually test in front of the Golden Gate Bridge as the service in that particular area was pretty crappy. We instead found an area that gave us full bars and tested there.

Unfortunately, the iPad isn’t compatible with 4G networks in every country and alternative networks had to be found. In Singapore we used M1′s HSPA+ network. London went with Vodafone, and Telstra’s Next G … [Read more]

Related Links:
Five non-surprises from first ‘new iPad’ reviews
Here’s who should buy the new iPad
New iPad not quite running circles around iPad 2
Apple’s new iPad: Hands-on
iPad 3 rumor roundup

Continue reading →

An image unearthed from the FCC Web site reveals Sony's Chromebook.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Christopher MacManus/CNET)

A recently declassified document on the FCC Web site reveals Sony’s first Chromebook.

The legend of the Sony Chromebook stretches back to March of 2011, when Sony Insider first leaked news of its existence with specifications. The rumored features included a 1.2GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 (T25) dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor; an 11.6-inch (1,366×768) LCD; 1GB of DDR2 RAM; 16GB of flash storage; eight-hour battery life; and more.

A section of the user manual for this laptop describes how to use Chrome OS. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit:
Screenshot by Christopher MacManus/CNET)

A year later, new FCC documents for the Sony VCC111 laptop contain an assortment of photos, showing the device from multiple angles. You may notice the lack of a Windo… [Read more]

Related Links:
Chrome hacker wins $60,000 for finding ‘full’ exploit
Google raises registration fee for I/O 2012
Google to give Chrome a Metro sheen
Quick fix: Pwnium exploit of Chrome patched within 24 hours
Mozilla execs capitulate in H.264 Web-video war

Continue reading →

Will the iPhone 5 resemble its predecessor, the iPhone 4?

(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)

After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we’re fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple’s gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.

That’s why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we’ve resurrected CNET’s iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We’ll add to it until we get the real thing, and please let us know if we’ve left any gossip out.

March 23, 2012
Perhaps it’ll be equipped with a new dock plug
Aside from more LTE rumors (this time coming from iMore), new iPhone 5 rumors are surmising that the upcoming device will come with a new dock plug. This time, it may be smaller t… [Read more]

Related Links:
iPad 3 rumor roundup
Apple sends out invites for March 7 iPad event
The curious case of the missing iPad 3 home button
It’s not the iPad 3, but it would be sweet if it was (video)
Rumor Has It, Ep. 25: We’re just gonna wait for Windows 8 (podcast)

Continue reading →

Will the iPhone 5 resemble its predecessor, the iPhone 4?

(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)

After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we’re fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple’s gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.

That’s why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we’ve resurrected CNET’s iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We’ll add to it until we get the real thing, and please let us know if we’ve left any gossip out.

March 23, 2012
Perhaps it’ll be equipped with a new dock plug
Aside from more LTE rumors (this time coming from iMore), new iPhone 5 rumors are surmising that the upcoming device will come with a new dock plug. This time, it may be smaller t… [Read more]

Related Links:
iPad 3 rumor roundup
Apple sends out invites for March 7 iPad event
The curious case of the missing iPad 3 home button
It’s not the iPad 3, but it would be sweet if it was (video)
Rumor Has It, Ep. 25: We’re just gonna wait for Windows 8 (podcast)

Continue reading →

Will the iPhone 5 resemble its predecessor, the iPhone 4?

(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)

After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we’re fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple’s gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.

That’s why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we’ve resurrected CNET’s iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We’ll add to it until we get the real thing, and please let us know if we’ve left any gossip out.

March 23, 2012
Perhaps it’ll be equipped with a new dock plug
Aside from more LTE rumors (this time coming from iMore), new iPhone 5 rumors are surmising that the upcoming device will come with a new dock plug. This time, it may be smaller t… [Read more]

Related Links:
iPad 3 rumor roundup
Apple sends out invites for March 7 iPad event
The curious case of the missing iPad 3 home button
It’s not the iPad 3, but it would be sweet if it was (video)
Rumor Has It, Ep. 25: We’re just gonna wait for Windows 8 (podcast)

Continue reading →