internet

Vint Cerf has a vision of the Internet one day being used as a medium for communicating with other species and even those from other planets.

The man widely regarded as the father of the Internet has teamed up with musician Peter Gabriel, MIT physicist Neil Gershenfeld, and cognitive psychologist Diana Reiss to propose an "Interspecies Internet," a new platform that would facilitate communication between humans and animals.

Cerf and his partners took to the stage at the TED conference today to describe exactly what they are envisioning.

"All kinds of possible sentient beings may be interconnected,&… Read more

Review: Google sure took its sweet time getting its redonkulously popular browser onto its well-received mobile operating system, but there's finally a version of Chrome for Android. It comes with a number of caveats, the biggest being that there's a really good chance that you're not going to have a compatible device for a while.

Installation Chrome for Android installs like any other Android app, and is freely available from Google's Android Market, Download.com, Amazon, and other Android marketplaces. If you have more than one Google account synced, it will ask you which one you … Read more

Despite the Internet's ability to connect Web sites and other content across continents, finding video content from other countries can be difficult. SopCast for Mac allows users to view channels originating in many countries from one program on their computer.

Available as freeware, the program's channels are also viewable at no cost. The program is small, downloaded quickly, and easily installed. In terms of functionality, SopCast for Mac allows you to watch from a list of channels organized by country of origin. There is also a menu allowing you to directly paste links to other SopCast channels not … Read more

The new version of the Avast security suite focuses on repairing the past mistakes of Windows. Debuting today exclusively with CNET's Download.com, Avast 8 addresses some of today's most pressing security concerns but leaves at least one other growing problem unresolved.

All told, Avast Free Antivirus 8 (download), Avast Pro Antivirus 8 (download), Avast Internet Security 8 (download) and the new top-tier suite, Avast Premier 8 (download) command upwards of 170 million active users, making Avast the most popular consumer security suite by a long shot.

Although the suite leaves privacy in the cold, the rest of … Read more

Tempting fate is a very human pastime. We know it will all end badly sooner or later, so why not see whether we can skirt the edge of disaster and experience how it feels?

Such an impulse will surely drive many to book an early ticket on Titanic II.

No, this is not another Donald Trump project. It is, instead, the idea of Clive Palmer, an Australian mining tycoon known for his dreamy qualities.… Read more

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

Wi-Fi and Internet are two very different things.

With the popularity of wireless networking, the term Wi-Fi is often synonymous with access to the Internet. In fact, our seasoned editor Scott Stein compared how fast the new iPhone 5's 4G LTE Internet speed was with his "home Wi-Fi," which is a skewed comparison at best. To be fair, most of us use "Wi-Fi" as a shortcut to mean our home broadband Internet connection, and Scott just … Read more

Internet Explorer 10 debuted on Windows 8, and until now was only available to people who bought into Microsoft's big Windows redo. That changes today, as Redmond rolls out IE 10 for Windows 7 (download).

The update brings enormous changes to the browser, and mostly for the better. Internet Explorer 10 is not only faster and more stable than the current IE for Windows 7, version 9, it's also far more standards-compliant.

"Gone are the days when developers aspire to build for the lowest common denominator. The way the Web becomes like an application is when you … Read more

Just one month after North Korea relaxed restrictions on tourists' cell phone use, the country will soon allow foreigners to access the Internet via mobile devices.

3G service will be operational within the country's borders by March 1, but North Koreans won't have access to the mobile Internet, according to the Associated Press. Koryolink, a 3G mobile provider partially owned by the North Korean government, on Friday began informing foreigners living in Pyongyang that they will soon be able to subscribe to monthly data plans.

The move comes a few weeks after North Korea announced it would allow foreign visitors to use cell phones within the country, … Read more

The Wikimedia Foundation and Internet Brands have agreed to settle all litigation between the two over the recently launched Wikivoyage travel information site.

Wikivoyage is a free, user-generated travel help and information site that anyone can edit. However, a large portion of the content on the site was copied from Wikitravel under the Creative Commons license.

After Internet Brands purchased Wikitravel in 2006, many volunteers on the formerly not-for-profit project grew disillusioned and left, taking much of the site's content with them. In response, Internet Brands filed a lawsuit last August against two volunteers on the Wikivoyage project, claiming … Read more