market

The astoundingly cheesy iPhone app launch from Domino's

In the world of "so bad, it's good," this may well qualify as bad. Or good.

It's Domino's Pizza selling a new iTunes app in Japan. Because if there's one thing pizza needs, it's an iPhone app.

Domino's wants you to know that no expense was spared in the creation of this app. So it wasn't going to sink to using Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson, or Leonardo DiCaprio to sell it.

No, it was going to employ that versatile performer Scott Oellkers. Should you have been unaccountably held up in North Korea playing basketball, Oellkers is the president of Domino's Japan.… Read more

Parrot's Asteroid app platform lands in Volvo dashboards

Parrot's bringing the lessons learned when developing its Asteroid series of car stereos to the next generation of Volvo cars with the Android-based Sensus Connected Touch platform.

Like the Parrot Asteroid Smart that I recently reviewed, the Sensus Connected Touch is a touch-screen interface that is based on a heavily modified version of Android (likely version 2.3) and will connect to the Internet via a Bluetooth-paired smartphone, Wi-Fi tethered access point, or USB-connected 3G/4G dongle. Also like the Asteroid Smart, Sensus will give its users access to a variety of vehicle specific apps available in Parrot's Asteroid Market, … Read more

Google celebrates one year of Google Play with deals

Today marks exactly one year since Google rebranded the Android Market into the Google Play store and the company is observing the occasion with limited-time deals and freebies.

Deals this week include $5 books and 99-cent movie rentals as well as select magazines for only $1 each. What's more, a number of television shows are being offered at no cost, including "Breaking Bad," "Community," and "Justified."

A handful of Android games also have gotten in on the birthday love, offering free, exclusive in-game features. Disney's Gnome Village, for instance, features an Android-exclusive … Read more

Google Play celebrates its first birthday with special deals

Ever wanted something specific from the Google Play store but didn't want to fork over the cash for it? Well, maybe this is the week to do it.

Google announced today that in honor of Google Play's first birthday, it was offering a week of deals and discounts in its media and app store.

"It was just a year ago today that we launched this amazing shop on the interwebs to offer the best in digital content," the company wrote on its Google Play Web site. "Since the best parties are the ones that send … Read more

Physics and Oreos go together like cookies and cream

The video below describes separating an Oreo cookie as a "basic human desire." While it may not be quite as fundamental as all that, separating cookie from cream has become a ritual for Oreo lovers around the world.

But why must we use our soft, weak human hands to pry these cookies apart? Why can't someone invent a hilariously overcomplicated machine to do this painstaking work for us?

Luckily, someone did.… Read more

iPhone hack can bypass password

Thursday's CNET Update is reliving the '90s:

Apple is addressing two iOS bugs mentioned in today's tech news roundup. But one isn't so much a "bug" as it is an exploit to bypass a lock-screen passcode through a series of steps. Once bypassed, it's possible to make calls and listen to voice mail messages. Another fix is coming for those that use Exchange Sync. Some iOS 6.1 users were seeing batteries drain faster because it was excessively communicating with Exchange servers.

Also in today's report:

- Research firm IDC breaks down which smartphones dominated … Read more

Tablets rising: Apple No.1, Samsung No. 4 'PC makers'

Market researcher Canalys has again put Apple in top spot among PC makers with an overwhelming 20 percent market share.

Apple shipped 27 million units in the fourth quarter, while HP and Lenovo both shipped around 15 million (HP slightly more than Lenovo), putting them in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.

Samsung is also on the rise: it made an appearance in the top five for the first time, pushing Dell out of fourth place.

All of this is possible because Canalys counts "pads," i.e., tablets, as PCs -- not a ludicrous concept considering … Read more

Apple reigns as chief U.S. smartphone maker

As Apple appears to be winning the U.S. smartphone race, Google still has a strong hold as the top mobile platform.

New data by ComScore shows that Apple got the rank of "top smartphone manufacturer" by raking in 36.3 percent of the market share, while Google Android was the No. 1 platform with 53.4 percent share. ComScore tallied this data by surveying more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers between September and December 2012.

To date, 125.9 million people in the U.S. now own a smartphone, which is 54 percent of the … Read more

Nasdaq said to be settling with SEC over Facebook's IPO flop

Dozens of lawsuits and investigations emerged after Facebook's initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Market last year. One investigation, initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, focused on technical errors in Nasdaq's system that inadvertently delayed trading that first day.

Now, word has it that Nasdaq may be able to settle the debacle with the federal regulators, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sources familiar with the matter have told the Journal that Nasdaq has been in preliminary settlement talks with the SEC. If the two sides do make a deal, it will most likely … Read more

Chrome, IE, Silk pry open mobile-browsing market

New mobile browsers including Google's Chrome, Microsoft's IE, and Amazon's Silk are gaining a foothold in a market that's growing faster than traditional browsing on personal computers.

The mobile browsing market has long been dominated by three products. Apple's Safari has long held the top spot in usage share measurements by Net Applications, with second place going to Google's unbranded Android browser after it surpassed Opera Mini last year.

Safari had 61.0 percent, the Android browser 21.5 percent, and Opera Mini 9.8 percent of usage in January, measurements released today show. … Read more