IBM's Watson: Now for 'Top Chef'?

Watson in his "Jeopardy" days.(Credit:IBM/YouTube; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)Great chefs are crazy.There are many kinds of crazy. Some of these culinarians rant, rave, and spit fire and brimstone. Some pore over their ingredients like scientists: quiet, brooding, and deeply serious.All believe they can create their own particular gastronomic dreams, ones nobody else can copy. Especially...

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New Apple-Samsung: List of products left in, left out of damages award

Judge Lucy KohJudge Lucy Koh today ordered a new trial to set damages in the Apple-Samsung case, striking some $450.5 million off the original $1 billion-plus judgment against Samsung. Here's what's going to get left in for the next round and what's now going to get left out. The following products will be subject to a new trial. Galaxy PrevailGemIndulgeInfuse 4GGalaxy SII AT&TCaptivateContinuumDroid...

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Andrew Mason out as Groupon CEO

Andrew Mason (Credit: Dan Farber/CNET) Andrew Mason is out as chief executive at Groupon. The company announced the management change in a terse statement this afternoon. It said that Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis would participate in a newly created Office of the Chief Executive, effective immediately, serving in this role on an interim basis until the board finds...

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AirDock: Activate Siri with the power of air pressure

A prototype of the AirDock.(Credit:Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)Driving and smartphones don't mix well. While you can get a lot done using voice commands with Siri on your iPhone, you still have to activate her. If you're driving, that can take valuable seconds away from paying attention to the road. The AirDock Kickstarter project is looking to make Siri air-activated rather than fingertip-activated.AirDock...

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HP's Whitman: 'We're shifting' from PCs to tablets

HP's Android-based Slate 7: CEO Meg Whitman said HP is in the midst of a transition from PCs to tablets. (Credit:CNET)Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman may have stated the obvious when she said today that HP is transferring its attention to tablets. "We're shifting resources from PCs to tablets," she said during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. "The market moved very fast...

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Trekkies conquer contest to name Pluto moons

With assistance from the Hubble Telescope, Mark Showalter and the SETI Institute discovered P4 in 2011 and P5 in 2012.(Credit:ESA, and Mark Showalter, NASA)Earlier this month, astronomer Mark Showalter and the SETI Institute asked the Internet to help name two Plutonian moons. The results are in after 450,324 votes from around the world on the Web site Pluto Rocks.Pending authorization from the International...

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Samsung amps up business push with Knox security software

BARCELONA, Spain--Samsung Electronics is getting serious about attacking the business world.The South Korean consumer electronics giant unveiled KNOX, an additional layer of security software that will run as part of its SAFE (Samsung for Enterprise) initiative. Samsung is considering embedding KNOX into Samsung's next flagship smartphone, YH Lee, executive vice president of Samsung Mobile, told CNET....

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Was a texting pilot behind JFK runway fail?

Texting? Or just trouble getting a signal?We all know that we shouldn't use our cell phones while driving.Yes, of course we do it anyway, but always with a tinge of guilt. Surely, though, few would take that same cavalier attitude if they were piloting a plane. Somehow, one imagines that this task requires a little more concentration, amid the prospect of even more serious danger.Yet it seems that...

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Google Glass expected to arrive in 2013

Google's augmented reality headpiece could go on sale by the holidays, Mobile World Congress gears up for new smartphones, and Nevada legalizes online gambling. Bridget Carey Bridget Carey is host of CNET Update, a daily tech news show. She's now in New York, but she started in Miami, covering tech trends, reviewing gadgets and authoring the nation's first social media etiquette column....

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Images of alleged Retina iPad mini appear on Chinese forum

Apple's iPad mini(Credit:Apple)Photos posted to a Chinese Internet forum of what appears to be the back casing of a future iPad mini are leading some to speculate that the next version of Apple's smaller tablet may have a retina display.On the forum, the images show what seems to be an iPad mini rear casing with a blue Apple logo and the word "iPad" in blue. Current iPad minis, Apple Insider points...

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Passware expands to grab Facebook and Google passwords

Passware Inc. is a forensics security company that develops investigation software kits to reveal passwords on seized computers. Last year it released a version of its kit that allows an investigator to reveal the passwords of Apple's FileVault encryption technology, along with those for similar technologies such as TrueCrypt, PGP Disk, and BitLocker. Recently the kit has gained more features and...

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Apple issues Java update after security breach

Following recent security breach in which systems at Apple among those from Facebook and other companies were compromised, Apple has issued a Java update for OS X to close the hole and tackle the problem.The update is available through Apple's Software Update service, which can be accessed from the Apple menu, and is also available as a standalone update for OS X Snow Leopard or later from the following...

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Sony trims Vita price, adds new color

In Japan, gamers can now choose from silver, white, black, red, and blue PS Vitas.(Credit:Sony Computer Entertainment Japan)With a little less than 48 hours to go before the world gets a glimpse at the PlayStation 4, there's some news for the PS Vita coming out of Japan today.Sony announced that the company lowered and equalized the price point for the Wi-Fi and 3G/Wi-Fi-versions of the PS Vita to...

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The making of Bungie's Halo successor: Destiny

Halo's Master Chief watches over Bungie headquarters in Bellevue, Wash.(Credit:Bungie)BELLEVUE, Wash.--Halo, the multibillion-dollar-grossing video game franchise, set an incredibly high bar for its creator, Bungie, to meet with its next title. "After Halo, a bunch of us thought, 'What comes next?'" Bungie co-founder Jason Jones told a group of journalists visiting Bungie's Bellevue, Wash., headquarters...

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PlayStation 4 to stream games in real time over Net, says report

At the end of January, Sony announced a PlayStation event but gave few details. We'll get the 411 this coming Wednesday in New York.Sony's acquisition last year of cloud-gaming company Gaikai may be reflected in a big way in the upcoming PlayStation 4.The Wall Street Journal is citing inside sources in reporting that Sony's new gaming console, expected to debut Wednesday at an event in Manhattan,...

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Where to find hearts in OS X

With it being Valentine's Day, you might wish to send your significant other an amorous message or two, and while a card, flowers, or a box of chocolates may be the traditional ways to do so, sending a quick e-mail or chat message is not out of the question, either. Of course, you may wish to enhance said message with a heart or two. Sure, the first way that comes to mind would probably be to search...

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I'm Dong Ngo, and these are my personal Wi-Fi routers

Being the person in charge of the Networking category, I've received many e-mails asking what my current personal router is, and how often I change it.Even though I've worked with many routers -- in fact, I have reviewed most of existing Wi-Fi routers on the U.S. market -- I don't change my home router very often. This is mostly because programing a router can be a tedious task, and I use a lot of...

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Home Depot iPhone switch short-circuits BlackBerry stock

BlackBerry's Q10 smartphone.(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET) Shares of BlackBerry dropped 4.6 percent Monday after Home Depot confirmed a report by AppleInsider that the company was handing out iPhones to about 10,000 employees who now use the BlackBerry. A spokesman for the home improvement retailer did not offer more detail about when the replacement process began, other than to acknowledge that Home Depot...

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Tech wizards behind movie magic honored by Oscars

Lawrence Kesteloot (left), Drew Olbrich, and Daniel Wexler during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards on Saturday.(Credit:Richard Harbaugh/AMPAS)Most movie fans won't be thinking of the Oscars for two more weeks, but the Academy has already honored some of the innovators who have made significant behind-the-scenes contributions over the years...

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Parents appalled that school principal is sexy YouTube rapper

Junior High School 80, where the principal is El Siki.(Credit:Google Street View)We all have an alter ego.For some of us, it comes out when the drinks are flowing and the inhibitions have taken a vacation.For Emmaneul Polanco, principal of Junior High School 80 in the Bronx, it comes out when he makes rap videos and posts them online, hangs out with comely ladies, and parties as a good rapper should...

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