Gadgets

To erase or not to erase? That is the question. (Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) The attractions of Snapchat are essentially intellectual. In creating the conditions for a spontaneous "now you see me, now you don't" aspect to your life, it allows for a greater and more nuanced level of excitement to permeate human relationships. Recently, however, there have been concerns that the topless, bottomless, or merely hapless shots sent by Snapchat users might not truly disappear. They remain stored in the nether regions of your phone, able to be retrieved by a nosy policeman, parent, or pupil of the average high school. App maker KS Mobile believes it has the solution for this hoary problem. It insists that its Clean Master app can wipe your phone clean of your well-intentioned smut. At least on Android phones. The company claims that, technically speaking, it can remove the .nomedia files to which Snapchat photos are converted. It claims to have done this by a mere tweaking of its app. Adam Morley, product manager at KS Mobile, told me: "After a full investigation, we found that with a minor tweak we could quickly ... [Read more]Related Links:Facebook's rocky year as a public companyToddlers need treatment for iPad addiction?Facebook tries Google's WebP image format; users squawkFive Android apps that prolong your smartphone's battery lifeTop 4 free Android launchers

Last night, the pilot of US Airways Express Flight 4560 was having some bad luck. The landing gear on his turboprop twin-engine plane just wouldn't go all the way down. So with some quick thinking and righteous piloting skills, he went in for a wheelless, sparky touchdown, and pulled it off without a hitch.Read more...

Imagine a twisted world where the Empire ruled earth instead of the Starfleet-filled future we've been promised. Is this the nightmare JJ Abrams has every night, or just a fun video in celebration of Star Trek Into Darkness?

Sometimes, you love a song and it’s not on the web. That’s just not right, because the three or so generations alive today are largely responsible for making sure that all the important and interesting stuff (and not just cat videos) make it onto the Internet.Read more...

I pose with a Klingon back when the "Star Trek" ride was still going in Las Vegas. (Credit: Amanda Kooser/CNET) SPOILERS AHEAD: The new "Star Trek" movies with J.J. Abrams at the helm have turned into commercial successes, but some long-time Trekkies aren't thrilled with the direction the franchise is taking. Check out the Reddit responses to Wil Wheaton's take on Abrams to get an idea of the discussion. I, for one, am a bit in love with the reboots. Sure, I was suspicious at first. I enjoyed the 2009 "Star Trek" well enough, and thought it clever how it totally wiped out the timeline from the original series and gave itself a new universe to play in for the subsequent films. But it was seeing "Star Trek Into Darkness" yesterday that truly turned me into a fan of the new films. I'm going to tell you why. My history of Trekkin' First, let me establish my fandom. My "Star Trek" cred goes way, way back. My mother used to watch reruns with me when I was a baby. Somewhere in elementary school, I got totally hooked on the original series, to the point where I was saving my allowance to buy shiny gold insignias, spending hours poring over blueprints f... [Read more]Related Links:The sounds of 'Star Trek': This man makes them happenNeil deGrasse Tyson: Why 'Star Trek' beats 'Star Wars'J.J. Abrams to talk up 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' via Facebook Live'Star Trek' Wikia fan portal warps into cyberspaceConfessions of a technology pack rat

The third annual Red Bull Creation event has boiled down to six finalists, and each of them is just as great as the next.

There are some really good apps for Windows 8 now, but they are still the exception, rather than the rule. Happily, Adobe has launched Photoshop Express to help up the numbers of useful programmes for Windows 8 and RT users. The app, which is free with...

For the most part, we're all happy if we can get Internet that's fast enough to stream some HD video. But faster is always better, and a new, world-record setting network developed in Germany is so blazing fast you wouldn't know what to do with it. It can deliver 10 HD films in a second.Read more...

The game that redefined tower defense RTS on the desktop, iOS, and Android is back, and way better than before. There’s a small but dedicated group of gamers out there that can’t get…

Lasers, bubbles, edge-tracking, and Daft Punk are all pretty awesome in their own separate ways, but put together, they can put one one hell of a useless, random, but awesome show. Read more...