LG notches 10M worldwide sales of LTE-enabled smartphones

LG Electronics announced today it has sold more than 10 million LTE-capable smartphones worldwide as the company grapples with dwindling market share.The milestone comes a little more than six months after the company announced it had surpassed 5 million sales of LTE-enabled phones."Aggressive pushing forward with 4G LTE technology allows LG satisfy the needs of consumers and is a huge factor in our...

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Crave Ep. 111: Man vs. jetpack

Man vs. jetpack, Ep: 111Subscribe to Crave:iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)A German inventor has built a DIY jetpack, so we hop onboard. Also, we get a first look at "Star Wars" pinball for iOS and Android, and "Star Trek" fans win a major space battle when they vote to name a Pluto moon "Vulcan." All that and more on this week's episode of...

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Google compression algorithm Zopfli may lead to faster Internet

Google has released a new data compression algorithm it hopes will make the Internet faster for everyone.Dubbed Zopfli, the open-source algorithm will accelerate data transfer speeds and reduce Web page load times by compressing content up to 8 percent smaller than the zlib software library, Google said in a company blog post today. Named after a Swiss bread recipe, the new algorithm is an implementation...

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Viddy doubles length of clips, adds video enhancement tools

Viddy's new iOS app interface.(Credit:Viddy)Social video startup video has released a new iOS app with a bevy of new features to help users enhance the videos they produce and stave off Twitter's upstart video-sharing app Vine.Debuting this evening in Apple's App Store, the new app doubles the size of videos users can upload from 15 seconds to 30 seconds, as well as adding the Vine-like ability to...

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Ellison buys Hawaiian airline to go with his Hawaiian island

Oracle's Larry Ellison has bought a Hawaiian airline that flies to his Hawaiian airline.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who last year purchased his own Hawaiian island, bought a small airline that services the island chain.Island Air announced the acquisition in a press release today that noted there would be no staff or operational changes as a result of its sale to Ellison. Financial...

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Facebook pages pop-up exploiting Newtown victims

One of the many Facebook tribute pages created to honor the victims of the Newtown tragedy.(Credit:Screenshot by Dara Kerr/CNET)Government officials and family members of victims from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have asked Facebook to delete several offensive posts or tribute pages related to the massacre, according to the Associated Press. Authorities have said that many of the Facebook...

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New Nokia lineup spans range of budgets, features

The Nokia Lumia 520, in various colors.(Credit:Nokia)Nokia took the wraps off four cell phones today at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain, that run the gamut of entry level handsets to high-end Windows 8 devices.With the entry-level Nokia 105, the Finish handset maker is thinking small. The durable 105 features a an itty-bitty 1.5-inch screen and a 15 euro price tag. Created for cell...

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Nokia at MWC 2013: Join us Sunday (live blog)

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's keynote address at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, last year.(Credit:Roger Cheng/CNET)BARCELONA, Spain--Will Nokia unleash another Lumia smartphone?Nokia kicks off the first official day of Mobile World Congress with its press conference, and you can get all the news right here. Rather than a high-end superphone, Nokia is expected to unveil a line of more budget-friendly...

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Crave Ep. 110: Prevent a hangover with the worlds first 'sober pill'?

Prevent a hangover with the worlds first 'sober pill'? Ep 110Subscribe to Crave:iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)Cheers! Scientists have created what may be the world's first pill that can make you sober if you've gone a little too far with the booze. Russian meteorite fragments go up for sale on online, as do Milla Jovovich's shorts. And later...

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Conan can't resist making an ass of Google Glass

Asstounding?(Credit:Conan Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)When it comes to late-night talk shows, I am not sure if Conan O'Brien is bringing up the rear.He seems, though, to be keen on suggesting that Google Glass might be scraping the bottom of the barrel.It's not so much that Google has created these new glasses through which you can have a richer, more informative view of the world. It's that...

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Teen iOS app developers hit download lottery

The iOS app Finish.(Credit:Basil Ltd.)You wouldn't expect two 16-year-olds to spend their summer break working for free. But, that's exactly what Ryan Orbuch and Michael Hansen did when they created the anti-procrastination iOS app called Finish, which launched January 16. And, it's paid off. Literally. As of today, Finish has been downloaded 16,500 times in a little more than a month, according to...

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Google debuts event page for Academy Awards ceremony

Google's Academy Awards destination page.(Credit:Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)Google is rolling out the red carpet for the Academy Awards with a destination site that promises to help users "get more from the Oscars."In a partnership with Oscars organizers, the Web giant has created a resource page to keep movie fans engaged and informed in the days leading up to the awards ceremony on Sunday....

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Microsoft moves Outlook.com out of preview

Microsoft announced Tuesday that its Outlook.com browser-based e-mail service has moved out of its preview stage and is now available globally.First introduced last July, Outlook.com is Microsoft's boldest e-mail move since Google launched Gmail in 2004 and a clear answer to it. As I said in my First Take, the simple interface, Skydrive integration, and promise of mega storage will remind you of Google's...

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Why Google's stores shouldn't look so much like Apple stores

Is this really different enough?(Credit:Crave CNET UK)Some engineers have never dated a real person.They've tried to, but it's hard for them to appreciate that real people don't necessarily use data to make decisions -- especially when it comes to love.Perhaps their most embarrassing moments come when they try to mimic what non-engineers do in order to make themselves more attractive.This mirrors...

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Russian meteorite: The conspiracy theories

A strange time for a military attack?(Credit:CNN; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)A good hearty conspiracy theory can shine a sharp light on two of humanity's most enduring traits.One, of course, is humanity's boundless imagination. The other is humanity's essential suspicion of humanity.So while you might be deeply immersed in Bill Nye's explanation of the Russian meteorite, those with darker...

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E-orders for 128GB Surface Pro to ship in 2-3 weeks -- Microsoft

Microsoft provided another update at the end of this week regarding the availability of its sold-out 128GB version of the Surface Pro. A February 15 Surface Blog post said that those ordering through the Microsoft online store in the U.S. can place an order for the 128GB model and have it ship in two to three weeks.The new post also provided updated information for those wanting to "reserve" the Intel-based...

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Photoshop 1.0 source code now a museum artifact

The Photoshop 1.0 splash screen(Credit:Computer History Museum)The Computer History Museum has made the source code for Photoshop 1.0.1 into an exhibit that lets the public, or at least programmers, appreciate the inner workings of the historic software.The museum published the software yesterday, following up on its earlier release of the source code underlying Apple's original MacPaint.Source code...

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Researchers develop a more accurate car navigation system

Researchers say new navigation system can be installed on any vehicle, including a Volkswagen Touareg.(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)Driverless cars could get a big boost from a new system that researchers say will increase the accuracy of in-car satellite navigation systems by 90 percent.Researchers say the system combines conventional GPS signals with data from sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes...

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Surface Pro as a gaming rig? It's ready and able

Surface Pro run Valve's Portal 2 at close to max settings.(Credit:Valve)Microsoft's new Intel-powered tablet isn't being advertised as a gaming platform, but maybe it should. The Surface Pro handles Diablo III and Portal 2 at near-maximum settings, according to a post by Jason Evangelho at Forbes.com. Gamers "represent an important -- and arguably sizable -- potential demographic for Microsoft. As...

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Foursquare debuts venue pages to share with non-members

Foursquare launched its shareable mobile venue pages for non-members today, as it continues down the path of becoming less of a social network and more of a recommendation search engine -- a la Yelp. "Foursquare has tons of helpful information about places, like photos, menu items, and great tips from insiders and local experts," the company wrote in a blog post today. "When you Tweet, post to Facebook,...

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