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CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter!If there's a phone that created more recent headlines than the iPhone X, it's the Google Pixel 2 XL. In both cases, not all the news was good -- but, let's face it, these are highly desirable models.Also highly expensive. That's why I'm overjoyed by today's giveaway, which comes courtesy of US Mobile. One lucky winner will take home a Google Pixel 2 XL and an entire year of unlimited Super LTE service -- a combined value of $1,400.Two lucky runners-up will each get a Huawei Honor 7X and two months of service (including 5GB of data and 1,000 minutes and texts). In case you're not familiar with US Mobile, this up-and-coming carrier leverages both T-Mobile and Verizon networks, meaning it can accommodate nearly any BYO-phone … [Read more...] about Enter for your chance to win* a Google Pixel 2 XL and 1 year of US Mobile service!

CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter!One of my favorite products of recent memory is the Ninety7 Vaux, a battery-powered speaker for the Amazon Echo Dot.Okay, but what if your smart-speaker of choice is the Google Home? Must it forever stay within arm's length of an electrical outlet?Not anymore. For a limited time, you can get the Ninety7 Loft portable battery base for Google Home for $38.95 shipped when you apply promo code CNETLOFT at checkout. That's a Cheapskate exclusive, my friends; civilians have to pay full price! The Loft comes in your choice of three colors: Copper, snow and carbon. Installation is a snap, just twist off your Google Home's decorative base, insert the Loft and you're done.Just to clarify, this is a single-purpose product: It adds … [Read more...] about Add a portable battery base to your Google Home for $38.95

Now Playing: Watch this: Top 5 things Amazon's Alexa can do that Google Home can't 1:32 While Google Home can do a lot that the Echo can't -- like contextual conversations or throwing images and videos to your televisions -- it has plenty of catching-up to do with Amazon Echo's Alexa. Google is always adding new features to Home, so that list continues to shrink, but there are still seven things we wish it could do.One technical note: Throughout this piece, Google Assistant is often compared to Amazon Alexa, as those are the voice-assistance technologies within these devices. Just remember that the way Google Assistant works on Google Home ($129.00 at Dell Home) is much more limited than the way it works on phones.Editors' note: Originally published Oct. 12, 2016, this article has been updated multiple times to include new Alexa features. Some items have been removed to reflect new Google Home features. Previously included in this list were Alexa skills, voice shopping, … [Read more...] about 7 surprising things Alexa can do that Google Home can’t

Now Playing: Watch this: The Nexus 5 'matches or beats' the iPhone 5S 6:04 I'm excited to launch an all-new show that you'll only be able to find right here on CNET called "Googlicious." It's everything going on inside, around, and about the world of Google. Android fans? We got you. Google Glass Explorers? There's something to see here. YouTube trolls? We always take care of you. "Googlicious" will cover the latest news, rumors, tips, tricks, and how-tos and big Google events and announcements. Plus, you can count on a few wacky signature segments like "My First...with Google Glass" and many, many more. Google and all of its platforms are bringing some of the best innovation to the market, and the possibilities for them and this show are really limitless. We're just getting started and just like the Apple Byte came before it, "Googlicious" is going to grow and evolve with you. I can't wait to get you all bouncing to the theme music. P.S. Don't worry, Apple Byte fans. That show … [Read more...] about Googlicious. The show where everything Google is ‘So Delicious’

Will Google be putting its big foot into cloud gaming? That's the question raised by a story in The Information that cites "people with knowledge of the project." It also says that it was intended to launch in time for the 2017 holiday shopping season, though no reasons are given why it never materialized.There aren't many details, such as when or how much, or even what type of games it will run, but both a console and a controller have been mentioned. It also has reportedly been tested running off a Chromecast streaming stick.Twice before we've seen the giant lose high-profile gaming acquisitions -- or possibly let them purposefully slip by -- to other megacorps. At Google I/O in June 2012, it demoed the Gaikai cloud-gaming service streaming gameplay through Chrome; only a few weeks later Sony snatched it up for its PlayStation. Then in August of 2016, Amazon swooped in to buy gameplay streaming service Twitch (to incorporate with its Lumberyard game-development environment), which … [Read more...] about Google ‘Yeti’ revives rumor of cloud-gaming entry, reportedly