station

There are tons of music-listening apps in both of the big app stores, but when you want to find new music, there's nothing better than a streaming-radio app. These apps are set up for browsing through stations and genres so you can get a fresh dose of new options based on the music you like.

The obvious choice here is an app like Pandora (free - iOS|Android), but there are a few I like that have other options that might appeal to different types of music listeners.… Read more

Sony sold an impressive amount of PlayStation hardware in the U.S. over Thanksgiving: 525,000 PlayStation 3 consoles and 160,000 PS Vita bundles.

The number of PlayStation devices sold fell short of Microsoft and Nintendo's surprising announcements earlier this week that the companies sold 750,000 Xbox 360 units and 1.2 million Nintendo gaming devices, respectively.… Read more

Astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, both veterans of long-duration space flights, will spend a full year aboard the International Space Station to help scientists learn more about how the body reacts and adapts to weightlessness and other aspects of the space environment.

The research is aimed at helping scientists and engineers develop possible countermeasures for future manned missions to deep space destinations including the moon, nearby asteroids and, eventually, Mars.

"Congratulations to Scott and Mikhail on their selection for this important mission," William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space flight, said in a statement. "… Read more

Three veteran space station fliers strapped into their Soyuz ferry craft, undocked and plunged back to Earth today, making a fiery descent to a frigid pre-dawn landing in Kazakhstan to close out a 127-day stay in space.

With Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko strapped into the descent module's center seat, flanked on the left by outgoing Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams and on the right by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, the crew undocked from the station's Russian Rassvet module at 5:26 p.m. EST as the two spacecraft sailed 250 miles above northwestern China.

Two-and-a-half hours later, positioned … Read more

Despite getting off to a slow start and being called into a question as a viable purchase option, the PlayStation 3 might just take the second spot in console sales after this generation is up.

Earlier today, Sony announced that it has sold 70 million PlayStation 3 units worldwide since the console's launch in 2006. The device hit that tally on November 4, meaning it's somewhere above the 70-million-units mark at this point.

Sony is now in striking distance of Microsoft. The software giant announced that as of September 30, it has sold 70 million Xbox 360 units … Read more

The game industry suffered through a down period during the third quarter, new data from research firm NPD has revealed.

During the third quarter, total spending in the U.S. on video game products and services was $2.87 billion, down 1 percent compared with the $2.9 billion the industry generated during the same period last year. Physical sales, which includes game discs, hit $1.07 billion during the period, representing a 16 percent decline year over year. Consumer spending on used and rental titles hit $399 million.

Luckily for the industry, digital gaming helped prop companies up, with $… Read more

The venerable PlayStation 3 has hit the milestone of 70 million consoles sold, not long after the rival Xbox reached that same tally.

The PS3 crossed the 70 million line on November 4, Sony Computer Entertainment announced this morning. Launched in 2006, the game console has gone through a number of revisions and appears to still be going strong. It has been streamlined, equipped with larger disk-drive capacities and given a number of software updates. The latest model is half the weight of the original PS3, and according to SCE, has been "well received" by customers.

The PlayStation … Read more

Next week, Sony's PlayStation Vita gets a much-needed shot in the arm as the company has revealed a selection of games for PlayStation Plus subscribers and new firmware that adds some mildly exciting new features to the handheld gaming gizmo.

After months of teasing, the upcoming PlayStation Plus ($49 a year) game collection for the Vita arrives on November 19. The first set of PS Plus Vita games includes Uncharted: Golden Abyss; Jet Set Radio HD; WipEout 2048; Gravity Rush; Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack; and the PSP version of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Many of those titles are top-tier gaming experiences and currently cost more than $30. … Read more

The Xbox 360 continues to thrive in a market that's seen better days.

For the 15th month in the row, Microsoft's game console was the top-selling hardware platform, according to the latest video game stats from NPD group (not available on the Web, unfortunately).

In October, Microsoft sold 270,000 Xbox 360 units, more than any other gaming console. That number gave the company a 56 percent share of all console sales in the U.S. It also marked the 20th month in a row that the Xbox captured more than 40 percent of all U.S. sales.… Read more