launch

Browse popular sites with Launched

When it comes to bookmarks on mobile gadgets, there hasn't been a home run yet. There are dozens of different ways to save your favorite sites, but none of them work without a hitch. With Launched, that hitch is huge and glaring. You can browse some sites, but you can't save your own sites to the app. Even with the preloaded sites, there are too many hiccups to make the app worth using.

The app only offers a list of popular sites that you probably use. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and dozens of other big names are here. You … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions on how to read older AppleWorks documents in newer versions of OS X, how to get files to all open in a specific application, recovering a Mac Mini's files from a system that will not boot, and whether or not cleaning utilities are useful. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Managing old AppleWorks documents MacFixIt reader Don asks:… Read more

How to fix incorrect document associations in OS X

Since a single type of document can often be opened by many different programs, OS X has a feature called Launch Services that centralizes document-handling associations.

When you add a program to the system, Launch Services will make it available as either the default handler of its associated document types (the program that will open documents of that type by default) or as an alternative handler. For instance, if you have Microsoft Word installed then it will be the default program for opening DOC files, but Apple's TextEdit program can also read DOC files, so TextEdit is available as … Read more

Some find problems with Wii U update

You don't have to wait long for Monday's CNET Update:

Sales of the Nintendo Wii U system began Sunday, following a midnight launch event at the Nintendo World store in New York. But anyone getting a Wii U will need some patience before getting started. A required 5GB firmware update can take an hour or two to download, but be sure to not turn it off once the update has begun! Some users that turned off the console before the download was complete have "bricked" the machine and need to exchange it for a new one. … Read more

Nintendo fans line up early for the Wii U

Thursday's CNET Update is ready for the next level:

Nintendo's Wii U goes on sale Sunday, and gamers are lining up early at the Nintendo World store in New York. The first in line is the Power Glove-wearing super fan Isaiah Triforce Johnson. He's been paid by corporate sponsors while waiting outside the store for nearly a month. Other fans began showing up on Monday and Tuesday.

This Nintendo World store will sell the first Wii U console at a midnight launch event. The system comes in two models, a Basic Set in white for $300, and … Read more

NASA 3D-printing parts for its next rocket headed for Mars

3D printing has captured the imaginations of just about anyone who knows what it is -- even NASA, apparently.

The space agency is using a similar technology to create precise metal parts for its next heavy-lift rocket, which it hopes will eventually help take humans to Mars.

The method is called selective laser melting, or SLM, but it's not quite the same as printing up a sweet "Star Wars" chess set out of extruded plastic. It's more of a cross between 3D printing and some high-end, defense-grade awesome tech.… Read more

NASA to announce new manned moon missions?

It has been almost 40 years since the Apollo 17 mission last landed a man on the moon. It may not take anywhere near that long before we send astronauts back to the moon's neighborhood.

Space.com reports that NASA is seriously looking at sending out a new manned moon mission with the purpose of creating a manned outpost beyond the far side of moon and eventually visiting an asteroid in 2025. This may not physically land a human on the moon, but it would establish a deep space outpost as a base for research and missions.… Read more

iPad Mini launches with mini lines

While CNET's New York office waits for power to come back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Friday's top tech stories include:

- iPad Mini launch day: Lines were smaller compared to a typical iPhone or iPad launch, but there were still some crowds. New York saw a long lines at the 5th Avenue store, which was sold out of iPad Minis two hours after it opened. One analyst estimates Apple might sell as many as 1.5 million iPad Minis over the weekend.

- Apple released its first … Read more

iPad Mini launches in Sandy's wake: CNET's live coverage

For the Apple faithful in the East Coast, the iPad Mini couldn't have come at a worse time.

Apple's newest tablet, the smaller 7.9-inch sibling to the larger 9.7-inch iPad, launched today, just days after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast and left millions without power and many others without water or access to public transportation.

Sandy's damage forced the closure of most shops in Lower Manhattan, including Apple's SoHo and West 14th Street stores. Both cited the extreme weather and posted signs that they were closed until "conditions improve."

CNET's … Read more

iPad Mini launch expected to match product's name

For the second time this year, Apple is launching a new tablet, though the event looks to be dramatically different from last time around.

For one, Apple is actually launching two different devices: a new version of its full-size iPad that replaces the one Apple launched just seven and a half months ago, and its new iPad Mini. The launch is also larger, with both devices debuting in 34 countries -- more than triple the 10 countries in which the iPad launched back in March.

All this would suggest that Apple is set for a record sales weekend. But not … Read more