Poll

Friday Poll: Would you ever wait in an iPhone line?

Hush. Be quiet or you'll startle them. We are observing the annual migration of the Apple fanboys. Magnificent herds gather in patient lines, awaiting the arrival of their newest pack member, the iPhone 5.

It's Friday, but, more importantly, it's iPhone 5 release day. You might be in line, reading news about all the people in line, or back from waiting in line (you lucky dog) with your shiny new smartphone.

I've done my time in an Apple line before, way back when the iPad 2 came out. In my day, we had to wait 5,000 hours in the freezing cold with no shoes, climb Mount Everest to reach the Apple Store at the top, walk back home uphill, and sacrifice a goat to the Verizon gods to get the 3G turned on.… Read more

Friday Poll: Are we in the ho-hum era for smartphones?

The iPhone 5 boasts some undeniable improvements over the previous generation. Thinner, lighter, and faster are all good things, though they may not get geeks flooding into the streets and dancing with sheer exuberance.

CNET's Roger Cheng goes into detail on why he thinks the new iPhone is ho-hum and won't wow anyone. In short, he doesn't see anything groundbreaking about it.

CNET reader Renegade Knight sums up the feelings of a lot of iPhone fans: "It's a good phone. Radical redesign of a working design is bad juju. Just keep improving it incrementally and you are far better off than trying to hit a home run with a radical change every year."… Read more

Will you buy the iPhone 5? (poll)

Well, it's official.

The new iPhone is the iPhone 5, and many of the rumors proved to be true: bigger screen, 4G LTE, and a faster processor -- all good stuff, to be sure.

But revolutionary? Not hardly. At first blush, the new model is simply playing catch-up with a number of other smartphones already on the market, without a single "wow" feature that'll have people talking.

The question is, will the iPhone 5 have people buying? And by people, I mean you: Did you already mark your calendar for September 14 so you can be among the first to preorder, or are you going keep your wallet in your pocket?… Read more

Friday Poll: Would you choose a 'Star Wars' or 'Star Trek' universe?

I've gotten together with my friends Chewbacca and Scotty to unveil a little machine we've been working on. This combination of a transporter and souped-up Millennium Falcon allows passengers to travel to a sci-fi universe. We're handing the controls over to you. Where would you like to go?

This week, we shared an infographic comparing the technologies of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek," and it sparked a spirited discussion among fans of the famous franchises.

Reader methos2000 brought up an interesting point: "The best argument I ever read regarding Star Wars vs … Read more

Apple wins big in Samsung patent battle: Did you call it? (poll)

The Super Bowl of patent litigation battles is finally over, sports fans, and the victory goes to Apple over Samsung this time around.

That's right, put another one in the win column for the Cupertino crusher -- the details are unrolling right now on CNET's Live Blog, but it looks as though the jury has found that Samsung infringed on some of Apple's patents and diluted the iPhone's trade dress, for starters.

Translation: Apple has won on almost all patent claims read so far, and the Korean company is being ordered to pay up billions in damages.… Read more

Friday Poll: What do you think of Microsoft's new logo?

I had to really think about what the old Microsoft logo looked like. I ruminated. I racked my brain. Then I googled it. Ah, I thought to myself, I can see why they changed it.

Microsoft has traded in the old text-only logo for a new set of duds. Something with a little splash of color. A little pizzazz, but not too much pizzazz. … Read more

Friday Poll: What could Best Buy do to survive?

The brightly lit aisles of Best Buy have a certain pallor to them these days. Geek Squad employees have been axed. More than 50 stores are closing. The consumer-electronics retailer is treading water in a sea full of hungry online competitors.

Will Best Buy go the way of dearly departed Circuit City? Sales are slumping and profit is shrinking into losses. Consumers are avoiding the mazelike store layouts and shopping around for deals online. Apple Stores are popping up everywhere and Microsoft is expanding its brick-and-mortar presence.… Read more

Friday Poll: Will the Mars rover find signs of life?

The 1976 Viking mission to Mars uncovered some tantalizing, and much-debated, evidence of possible previous life on the big, red planet. Now we have the Curiosity rover over there to really sort things out.

Among other adventures, Curiosity is looking for organic molecules. The discovery of organic compounds could indicate previous life on Mars, though that life isn't likely to look like a toothy, long-headed alien that wants to hug your face.

While we wait for the rover to wander around and report back on its findings over the course of its mission, we have plenty of time to speculate about what it might find. … Read more

Friday Poll: Do you choose the TSA body scanner option?

The glamor days of great meals on airplanes, no luggage limits, and easy boarding at airports are long gone. Those Pan Am dreams have disappeared into a maze of airline money-saving efforts and increasingly personal TSA security checks.

Ever since the TSA rolled out its revealing body scanners, we've been in the midst of a contentious privacy versus security debate. … Read more