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Apple TV could double as cable box, report says

Apple's set-top box could be destined to stream live TV channels, according to a new report.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says that Apple has been in talks with cable operators in the U.S. to pitch its $99 streamer as an alternative to the set top boxes cable subscribers rent.

The report suggests no deals have yet been made toward that goal, but that Apple has at least talked with cable provider Time Warner.

The Apple TV has remained what Apple considers a "hobby" device when compared … Read more

How to make Google always open search result links in new tabs

If you conduct research online, you likely run into the problem of burying search results under a trail of links. It's frustrating to locate later a previous result, clicking backward through various pages to locate it. A better way to search is to open results in new tabs. You can close the tabs that don't amount to much, keeping open the tabs that may aid your research.

Sure, you can right-click on a link from Google's search results page to open it in a new tab, but that quickly grows tiresome. Instead, tell Google to open results … Read more

Consumer interest in an Apple TV set running high

Interest in an Apple television set among U.S. consumers appears to be hot, but price may be a stumbling block for the much-rumored but still-unannounced device.

Some 49 percent of the consumers queried said they would be interested in purchasing an Apple-marketed TV set, according to survey results released this evening by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Twenty-nine percent said they weren't in the market to buy a new TV but that an Apple entry would turn them into buyers.

"We believe this suggests that customers would be willing to interrupt an estimated seven-year TV product cycle … Read more

Google may ditch Motorola's set-top box unit -- but it shouldn't

Just a few months after the deal closed, Google is reportedly already planning to break up Motorola Mobility and sell off some parts, according to a memo from Light Reading Cable.

In the memo, LRC editor Jeff Baumgartner writes that Google is planning to sell of the set-top box unit, in particular, as the bidding process would get started in September with hopes for a deal completed by the end of the year:

Multiple industry insiders and people in cable M&A circles confirm that Google has not yet started the formal sales process for the Home division, which … Read more

Hulu Plus not showing up on your Apple TV? Restart it

This morning Apple quietly rolled out Hulu Plus on the Apple TV. The missing service was one of the last pieces to a puzzle being put together by those who've decided to cut cable, and go all streaming.

If you aren't seeing Hulu Plus show up on your Apple TV yet, you simply need to restart it. Turning it off and back on wasn't enough for me, I had to actually go in and restart it from the settings menu. Here's how.

On your Apple TV, go to Settings > General.

Scroll down to the bottom … Read more

What is the white line along the top of my screen? (Morrison's Mailbag)

CNET Reader R. Savoy asks:

I recently purchased a 60-inch plasma and used your recommended picture settings. Question: I have my picture settings set to Screen Fit instead of 16:9 and on some stations when they go from hi-def to 4:3 I get a white flickering line right above the top of the picture. This problem doesn't present itself on the 16:9 settings, please advise, thank you.

Good question. Annoying answer, sadly.… Read more

How to stop Android from adding new apps to the home screen

Have you ever noticed after installing an app on your Android device, the icon for that app is already on your home screen? Sure it can come in handy, but it also can be pretty annoying. Nicole Cozma showed us how to disable this annoying feature on Honeycomb tablets a while back, and now I'm going to show you how to disable it on other Android devices.

Disabling the auto-add widgets (or shortcuts) feature is easy.

Launch the Google Play Store on your Android device. Tap on Menu and then Settings. Uncheck the box next to "auto-add widgets.&… Read more

FBI kills DNSChanger network, but how many will be affected?

The FBI today made good on its promise to take down its DNSChanger network. But people who ignored warnings may find themselves unable to get online.

At 12:01 a.m. EDT today, the FBI shut down the DNS servers that had kept computers infected by the DNSChanger malware still able to connect to the Internet, according to the Washington Post.

About five years, a group of hackers who deployed the DNSChanger malware, which modified the DNS settings of infected computers to point to rogue servers. After catching the criminal gang and taking controls of the servers, the FBI converted … Read more

Protect your images with Mytoolsoft Watermark Software

Watermarks are a great way to ensure that your images aren't appropriated by some jerk on the Internet who wants to claim your brilliant work as his or her own. Mytoolsoft Watermark Software is an easy-to-use program that can not only apply custom watermarks but also perform other basic editing tasks, such as resizing and converting images to other formats. We think it's a great choice if you're looking for a simple way to affix your mark permanently to your images.

The program has a sleek and intuitive wizard-style interface. Users first select the images they want … Read more