software

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has once again topped the U.S. game hardware market.

During November, Xbox 360 was the top-selling hardware platform, research firm NPD said yesterday. That was somewhat surprising, considering the Wii U, which is sold out nationwide, made its debut on store shelves last month. However, it's worth noting that the Wii U was launched about halfway through the month, giving it fewer days to rack up sales.

According to Microsoft, it sold 1.26 million Xbox 360 units in November, giving it the top console spot for the 23rd-consecutive month. According to NPD, the … Read more

Congrats to Jonathan P. of Lawton, Okla., for winning an Element Case Sector 5 for the iPhone and a Joule II for the iPad in last week's giveaway. Now, some good news and some bad news. First, the bad: It's getting to be that time of year when online holiday-related scams proliferate faster than big-box deals. The good? This week's giveaway is here to help.

We're giving away a copy of Norton's new 360 Multi-Device security suite. A couple of months back, CNET highly recommended Norton 360. The Multi-Device version of the software simultaneously provides … Read more

Do you hate your job? Is your boss a jerk? Are you an elephant on roller skates?!

Every year, the DePaul University Game Dev Program chooses a set of students to create an entry for the Independent Games Festival, and the results are usually impressive (see last year's entry Octodad). This year, the anthropomorphic-loving crew is back with Groovy Tuesday, in which you guide a roller-skating elephant on his quest to funkify his office--including furniture, lights, and coworkers--by tossing "plugmen" into heretofore unconnected music devices.

Still under development, the 0.9 version of Groovy Tuesday offers up … Read more

How do I like my software?

Bundled.

For not much more than the price of a single app, you can often get as many as 10 of them, usually with a combined value in the hundreds of dollars. In fact, I've got three such bundles for you to check out right now.

They're all for Mac users, who already paid a premium for their hardware, and therefore deserve a break on software. Here's a rundown of the three bundles, followed by my pick for the best of the bunch.

1. Macbundler: Nine apps for $45

The nine … Read more

Apple today released iTunes 11, the latest version of its popular music software following a monthlong delay.

The program was originally slated for a release sometime last month. Just ahead of a self-imposed October deadline, an Apple spokesman told CNET the company "wanted to take a little extra time to get it right."

Users now get the chance to put that claim to the test. The software went out as a free update to current iTunes users on Mac and Windows this morning, and later as a download from Apple's iTunes site.

iTunes 11's headlining feature … Read more

I admit it. I love deals and I love researching for the best deals out there. In addition, as much as I hate to admit it, I have been one of those people, who wait overnight on a cold Thanksgiving night for the store to open at 4am the next day, so I can get that super-sized deal on a laptop, a TV, more SD cards, external hard drives I really don't need, DVDs I will never watch again - anything electronics-related all excited me on Black Fridays. Actually, what typically happens is that I end up calling all … Read more

Firefox for Android used to be a must-use mainly for Firefox fans. It was good at what it did, but it wasn't great, and the competitive field of Android browsers surpassed it on many levels.

As a reaction, Mozilla spent the better part of a year redesigning the browser from the ground up. The new Firefox for Android brings an interface powered by native code, competitive page-load times, and Flash support. As important for Mozilla is that the sum of the new browser's parts will keep its flagship brand relevant on Android as Chrome for Android grows.

New … Read more

Open Hexagon is a polygonal endurance run that draws heavy inspiration from Terry Cavanagh's Hexagon. Much like its former Web app game, Open Hexagon challenges players in a collapsing environment of walls that cave in. Your goal is to keep a dinky little triangle alive by orbiting around the core while dodging walls and crushing barriers. The game's overall design is a simple pixelated collection of lines and shapes, with some added chiptune tracks to appease the eardrums of our inner geek.

Since its release, the developer, Vittorio Romeo of Vee Software, has received mixed reactions for releasing … Read more