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Editors' Office Hours: What tech to look for in a car

What should a modern car have? There are the obvious things, such as fuel economy, practical interior space, and drivability, but what about great cabin tech? We'll tell you the three most important amenities to look for by the dashboard.

Editors' Office Hours airs daily on CNET TV at 11:30 a.m. Pacific.

Buzz Out Loud 832: Kauai: one big digital converter box

In today's episode, Patrick Norton joins the gang for a rant-a-thon, IMDB turns 18, we're surprisingly not mad about the Android killswitch, Radiohead proves it made a winner with its digital album giveaway, and YouTube gives the Queen the giggles. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 832

IMDB turns 18 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10067397-52.html

Android Market has a killswitch, but Google will refund your money if they use it http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/16/android-market-has-a.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10067543-16.html

HTC Dream T-Mobile G1 (black) http://reviews.cnet.com/htc-dream-t-mobile-g1/

FCC … Read more

'StarCraft 2' is now 3

Wassup StarCraft fans?!! That was my Brian Tong impression. Spot on, no? Anyway, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that StarCraft II is shaping up to be a much more ambitious product than Blizzard Entertainment had originally conceived, and the company is going to be forced to delay parts of the game.

The good news is that instead of waiting until everything in the game is complete, Blizzard is splitting the game into a trilogy--each focusing on a different StarCraft race.

The first game in the series--Wings of Liberty--will focus on the Terrans. The second … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 829: No 55-year-old pervert, that's a robot!

On today's show, the world of anonymous chatting gets even more confusing, thanks to the increasing numbers of computers passing the Turing test. Is it a pervert? Is it a computer? Is it both? In other news, Chrome breaks Molly's heart, Sony breaks all the rules and keeps the PS3 prices high, and people keep preordering G1 Android phones. Who knew?

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 829

Test explores if robots can think http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/7666246.stm http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/10/13/1450205.shtml

Sony … Read more

YouTube beams up 'Star Trek' for long-form video

Google's YouTube has begun testing a dramatic departure in content and advertising, adding 15 50-minute TV episodes from Star Trek, Beverly Hills 90210, and MacGyver and with prominent new ads.

"We are starting to test full-length programming on YouTube, beginning with some fan favorites requested by you," Google said on its YouTube blog on Friday.

It's an experiment in video display and advertising, too, with ads for Research in Motion's BlackBerry and Intel's Centrino chip technology showing prominently on the videos I watched. The TV shows are preceded by a 15-second pre-roll ad, and … Read more

Energy Star tightens standards on TV power use

On November 1, Energy Star will officially launch its revised specification for TVs, version 3.0, which promises to significantly reduce power consumption. After that date, TVs must meet the new spec to carry the Energy Star logo.

It may come as a surprise that prior to the new spec, TVs were only tested in standby mode (plugged in but turned off) to comply with Energy Star. The TVs were never turned on for the test, and the only thing that qualified them for the logo, since 2005, was the ability to draw less than a watt when turned off.

Standby testing is important, of course--TVs, even in America, spend more than 80 percent of the time turned off--but by early this year the majority of TVs on the market have standby draws of less than a watt, which is insignificant considering how much power they draw when turned on.

Version 3.0 finally institutes standards for "power on" certification, and judging from the extensive list of supporting documents at Energy Star's official site, settling on a spec was a long and contentious battle. But now that the spec is in effect, TV power consumption in "power on" mode will lilkely fall across the board. The key, as usual, is in the details of the spec.… Read more

Supreme Court ignores EchoStar appeal against TiVo suit

The Supreme Court announced Monday it is refusing to take up EchoStar Communications' appeal against a patent infringement suit filed against it by TiVo.

A jury in 2006 found that EchoStar's Dish Network digital video recorders infringed upon a patent held by TiVo and ordered it to pay TiVo $73.9 million in damages. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling in January, as did a second U.S. appeals court in April.

The Supreme Court's decision to deny EchoStar's appeal leaves the company responsible for paying full damages plus interest to TiVo--for a total of $104 … Read more

Bar2D2 is the life of the party

If you want to be the life of the party, it turns out you're better suited if you happen not to be alive at all. Case in point: Bar2D2. This non-sentient bartender-bot certainly seems to be the life of the party in this Flickr photostream.

Designed and constructed by Jamie Price, the radio-controlled bartender/bar was unleashed on the crowd at the recent ArcAttack Mad Scientist Ball. Far from an unwelcome robotic intrusion, Bar2D2 made friends with everybody from Darth Vader to Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street at the Sci-fi-themed convention.

And who wouldn't want Bar2D2 unleashed … Read more

The 404 185: Where we're banned from using the phone

CNET Tech Editor Matt Fitzgerald joins us on today's show to shoot the film with us on a flurry of random stories from around the Internet, including George Takeiiiiiii's marriage, the inevitable death of TRL, the new POS Dragonball Z movie, the final word in iPhone updates, and more!

The morning starts off with a few crank calls (do I smell a new recurring segment?) that ends with us being forever banned from picking up a CNET telephone. Oh well, phones are overrated anyway. Anyway, I know we all bitch about iPhones incessantly on the show (especially Jeff "Hatin' on Fools" Bakalar), but most of our former qualms are solved by the newest firmware upgrade to end all firmware upgrades, version 2.1! If you have an iPhone, 3G or Edge, do yourself a favor and install the upgrade. Battery life is increased, phone crashes and dropped calls are nonexistent, and no more text lags! After three tries, Apple finally got it right. Now, if only they enabled cut/paste, SMS forwarding, and picture messaging....baby steps, Mr. Jobs, baby steps.

EPISODE 185 Download today's podcast … Read more