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(Credit: James Martin/CNET )

The tech giant's so-called iWatch is said to be deep in development, with a heavy focus on mobile health and fitness tracking. And it's also been said that the long-rumored product could be announced by the end of this year.

Adding to the rumor mill's churn: Prominent Apple executives, including senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams and vice president of software technology Budd Tribble, met with the Food and Drug Association last month, according to the association's public calendar. The news was first reported Friday by the New York Times. The subject of the meeting, per the calendar, was "mobile medical applications."

Separately, 9to5Mac says that iOS 8 will have a strong health component, including an app codenamed "Healthbook." The app will have the ability to track things like the number of steps taken by a user, calories burned, or weight gained or lost, and record record blood pressure, hydration, and glucose levels, according to the report. The new features notably step on the offerings of Nike and Fitbit, already popular on the platform.

Also tellingly, the company has reportedly made some key hires in the space. MacRumors said that Apple hired away Michael O'Reilly from his post as chief medical officer at Masimo Corporation, an Irvine, Calif.-based medical technology company.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but we'll update this post if we hear back.

Recently Mac security researcher and analyst Thomas Reed put to the test a number of popular antivirus tools for OS X, to see which perform the best for detecting known malware threats for OS X. This effort follows similar assessments done by Reed in past years, but has been repeated to characterize the fluctuating nature of not only new malware threats, but also the effectiveness of scanning engines as they receive software updates and new malware definitions from their developers.

In his testing, Reed found that the top malware scanners for OS X include the following (in no particular order) which were able to detect over 95 percent of tested threats:

• avast! Free Antivirus 8.0


• F-Secure Anti-virus for Mac


• VirusBarrier 10.7.8


• Avira Mac Security 2.0.1.105


• ESET Cybersecurity 5.0.115.0


• Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac 9.0.6


• Kaspersky Security 14.0.1.46


• Dr. Web Light 6.0.6

Worthy of note here is that often acclaimed anti-malware tools such as the open source ClamXav, McAfee, and Symantec's iAntivirus, did not make it into this top tier set. Therefore, if you are looking for an anti-malware package to use, you might consider weighing those which perform well in tests like this, against the additional features they offer and recommendations by those who have used them.

Whether or not antivirus tools are recommended for OS X is a question that is still in a bit of flux. Hard-core Mac users often claim malware scanners offer more potential harm than good, especially given the relative lack of malware for OS X. However, this mentality butts heads with those who may not trust, or have, the abilities to avoid all potential avenues of attack on their systems.

In addition, often security tools will not only include anti-malware scanners, but also have firewalls, secure keyboard entry, and other routines that may sometimes be desired. In addition, some tools are relatively light-weight programs, while others use kernel extensions and background daemons, which may be more intrusive to the system and result in odd or unwanted behavior.

Regardless of what you choose, the most important aspect of a malware scanner is its ability to detect malware, and with results of testing such as that done by Reed, we can make better decisions by clearly distinguishing the top runners from the rest of the field.

Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or !

Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.

This pop-up will prompt Chrome users on Windows to reset their browser settings.

(Credit: Google)

Google is taking aggressive steps to combat what it says is the number one complaint in its Chrome browser: having your settings hijacked.

The company first took measures to address the problem in August when it introduced a "reset browser settings" button on the Settings page in Chrome, but that wasn't enough to fix things.

Now, Chrome will ask Windows users automatically via a pop-up if you want to reset your settings when it detects that they might've been changed without your permission. It will disable all extensions, themes, and Chrome Apps you have installed. It won't uninstall them, so you can still go back and manually reactivate them one at a time if you want.

The more aggressive reaction to unauthorized setting changes comes in response to what Linus Upson, the vice president of engineering for Chrome, described in a blog post as "especially pernicious" hijackers who leave behind hidden processes that are designed to hijack your browser again after a short time.

"To make sure the reset option reaches everyone who might need it, Chrome will be prompting Windows users whose settings appear to have been changed if they'd like to restore their browser settings back to factory default."

Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment. CNET will update the story when we hear back from them.

A mockup of a potential Twitter Commerce payment process, left online by the commerce site Fancy.com.

(Credit: Screen shot by CNET)

Although Twitter has yet to confirm that it will be allowing users to buy products directly through tweets, a publicly-available Web mockup suggests that such a system may be right around the corner.

A mockup of a tweet enabling Twitter Commerce.

(Credit: Screen shot by CNET)

According to the mockup, which was first discovered by Recode, and which is still publicly available as of this writing, users will be able to make purchases directly within tweets through a system that could be known as Twitter Commerce.

In a user's feed, tweets with purchase options would have a "Twitter Commerce" label on them, according to the mockup. Clicking through to open the tweet could reveal a "Buy with" button that would start an e-commerce transaction. Buyers would then enter their credit card and other relevant payment information. What's not clear is if users would have to do this more than once, or if their information will be stored in some way.

The mockup was posted online by Fancy.com, an online commerce site. Twitter chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey is a Fancy.com board member.

Neither Twitter nor Fancy.com immediately responded to CNET requests for comment.

But according to Recode, a Twitter commerce system would be powered by the online payments company Stripe, which recently closed an $80 million funding round. Earlier this month, Stripe was first rumored to be Twitter's partner in such an initiative.

Being able to enable commerce directly in tweets could be a very big deal for Twitter, which has yet to become profitable despite its very successful IPO late last year. Twitter's stock went public at $26 a share, and sits at $64.50 as of this writing. The company will report its first-ever quarterly earnings next Wednesday, and investors and analysts are sure to be very interested in its plans for bringing in new revenues.

The sales processing page, according to a mockup of how Twitter Commerce could work.

(Credit: Screen shot by CNET)

Withings' blood pressure monitor synchs with iOS devices and retails for $129.95.

(Credit: Withings)

Think you've got normal blood pressure because the readings are always good at the doc's? Think again. As many as one in seven of us have what is called "masked hypertension" -- meaning we have healthy blood pressure readings in the comfort of our doctors' offices, but elevated blood pressure at work or home.

New research of more than 5,000 people spanning four countries finds that not only do people with this kind of hidden hypertension have a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, but that home blood pressure monitoring often helps identify this phenomenon.

The reasons for this kind of hypertension have yet to be pinned down with great confidence, but daily life stressors and certain behaviors like alcohol and contraceptive use are thought to be culprits. And while home blood pressure monitoring has already been touted as a great way to help people manage high blood pressure, the new findings make the case that more widespread home monitoring could actually help diagnose it as well.

Dr. Jan Staessen, a cardiovascular diseases researcher at the University of Leuven in Belguim and senior author of the studies published in the journals PLOS Medicine and Hypertension, found in an analysis that of the people he studied with masked hypertension, 5 percent had "optimal" readings (120-80) at the clinic, 18.4 percent had "normal" clinic readings (120-129/80-84), and 30.4 percent had "high-normal" (130-139/85-59). (Mild hypertension was considered to be 140-159/90-99, while severe hypertension was 160+/100+.)

"We know that a lot of cardiovascular complications occur in people who are normotensive if you measure the blood pressure in the regular way in the office," Staessen told Reuters Health.

So in his other study, Staessen wanted to learn precisely how home monitoring affects the heart disease risks of patients with either masked or "white coat" hypertension -- which is the opposite problem, where readings are high at the doc's office but low at home. (The white coats and clinics presumably elevate blood pressure in these patients.) To do this, he looked at the readings of 6,458 people, 5,007 of whom were not being treated for any blood pressure problems. Of that group, 404 had masked hypertension while 695 had white-coat hypertension.

Staessen found that masked hypertension raised one's risk for heart attack and stroke by 55 percent when compared to people with normal blood pressure, while white-coat hypertension raised the risk by 42 percent. Even when compared to patients being treated for high blood pressure, masked hypertension that was diagnosed via home monitoring raised the risk by 76 percent -- likely because this type of hypertension involves, by its very definition, undertreatment.

Straessen adds that even regardless of diagnosis, those with risk factors for masked hypertension -- smokers, the obese, the elderly -- should regularly monitor their blood pressure at home to get a more accurate blood pressure picture.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mark Caulfield of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry writes in a PLOS Medicine editorial that, with both the growing "burden" of high blood pressure and the availability of affordable home monitoring devices, home blood pressure monitoring should take on an expanded role: "Home blood pressure monitoring could be used to diagnose high blood pressure and help decide whom to treat. It empowers patients to take on a role in assessment of their blood pressure."

With cardiovascular diseases being the leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, finding, treating, and of course preventing one of its leading risk factors, hypertension, could add up to a lot of saved lives and health care dollars.

(Credit: United States Patent and Trademark Office)

All of a sudden, everyone's a foodie. In the modern day culinary mess of sous-vide machines and high-end blenders, it's easy to forget the work-a-day slow cooker. But then at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, device-maker Belkin announced its plan to extend its Internet-connected WeMo product line to Jarden's small appliance lineup, including slow cooker staple CrockPot. We'll examine what it means to bring your slow cooker online when the Crock-Pot WeMo Smart Slow Cooker debuts this spring. For now, given that you might be using a more traditional model this weekend (and today also being the last day of Slow Cooker Month), it seems like a good time to consider the slow cooker's humble, delicious origins.

Evolution

(Credit: ebay seller)

In 1952, Wisconsin-based appliance manufacturer West Bend introduced a small, countertop appliance called the Electric Bean Pot. The original model featured a ceramic bean pot on top of a heating element, which cooked beans in much the same way as an electric range. It was a small step toward the slow-cooker we know it today, but not a huge departure from cooking beans on the stove. Was this the first ancestor of the slow-cooker as we know it today? Hardly.

On May 21, 1936, Irving Naxon, a prolific inventor, applied for a patent for a cooking device that would not only be portable, but would provide solutions for many of the complaints issued about previous models, namely uneven heating. It was to be an integrated appliance, with the cooking vessel (the crock) housed inside a casing that also contained the heating element, allowing the heat to distribute more evenly.

Naxon received the patent for this appliance in January 1940, but he credits his inspiration to his grandmother (nee Nachumsohn), who told him about a dish she made growing up in Lithuania -- cholent -- and how she would cook it after hours at a local bakery, using the fading heat of the bakery's oven to cook the dish overnight. By integrating the crock inside of the heating unit, Naxon captured that "low and slow" cooking process and made it accessible to the mid-20th century cook.

(Credit: ebay seller)

Naxon brought his device, the Naxon Beanery, to market in the 1950's. In 1970, the Rival Manufacturing acquired Naxon and, in 1972, rebranded the Beanery as the Crock-Pot. The appliance retailed for about $25, a price that has held steady, even with inflation. Certainly, you can buy more expensive slow-cookers now, but you can also go to your local superstore and, depending on the brand or model, buy a slow cooker for $25, if not less. In its debut, the Crock-Pot came in such classic 1970s colors as copper, harvest gold, and avocado, and it also included its own Crock-Pot specific cookbook.

The times, they are a'changin'

It's hard to talk about most modern small appliances without talking about the cultural climate at the time of their inception. This is particularly the case with slow-cookers.

Slow-cookers, namely Crock-Pots, enabled women to maintain some semblance of work-home balance in the post-War era, a feature that became increasingly attractive as women entered the American workforce. Women could work a full day and have a piping hot dinner ready for their families that required very little effort. It was an attractive concept then and, while the expectations are different and gender roles less concrete, the convenience still makes the slow cooker an attractive concept today. In fact, slow-cookers have become a staple of the single adult's kitchen as much as they ever were for a family.

(Credit: MemoryRoad.com)

Convenience isn't the only thing that solidified the Crock-Pot's position in our kitchens, however. While the ability to make one-pot meal while you work is fantastic, the Crock-Pot's efficiency was a particular asset during the oil crisis of 1973 and the energy crisis of 1979. A Crock-Pot pulled about the same amount of energy as an incandescent lightbulb, far less than the electricity required to run a traditional electric oven for any substantial amount of time. So while women may have fallen in love with the Crock-pot for the convenience it afforded, America fell in love with it for the money it saved.

For the Crock-Pot brand in particular, its sales went up and down through the 1970s. The company sold about 80,000 units in 1972, exploded to around 3.7 million units in 1975, and then tapered down to nearly 1.3 million units once copy-cats entered the market. At the market's peak, about 40 different companies were making some kind of slow cooker, but that also faded by the 1980s, perhaps coincidentally around the same time the microwave oven became popular. As of 2002, though, a Betty Crocker Kitchens study found that 80.6 percent of US homes owned a slow cooker.

Making culinary strides

Ownership of the Crock-Pot brand changed hands over the years. The Holmes Group bought Rival in 1999, and Holmes, itself owned by Berkshire Hathaway, was then sold off to Jarden in 2005. The product itself has of course changed in that time as well. One major innovation was the the removable crock, an improvement over the integrated crocks in the first models which were hard to clean. The removable crock also made your dish portable. Capitalizing further on this idea of dinner-to-go, many manufacturers have released models that include rubber seals and locking mechanisms that keep the lid sealed tightly onto the crock for spill-free transport. This made an already convenient appliance even more, as you could cook a meal and take it to your potluck in the same dish, saving you extra clean-up.

Now you can be sure everyone knows who you support at your Biggest Football Game of the Year party.

(Credit: Crock-Pot)

Recently, Crock-Pot introduced a customizable slow cooker option that allows you to special order a unit with pictures of your family, dog, or favorite sports team plastered all over. This may be neat, but it's hardly the tech change we're hoping to see in the future. The brand has also released a lineup for those who entertain frequently or aren't so into the one-pot-meal idea -- the Hook-up Entertaining System. This system allows you to plug several Crock-Pots together to form a veritable conga line of slow cookers.

The brand later introduced a self-stirring slow cooker, though this feature would only be helpful with certain applications and could be a real nuisance in others. They also have a model that uses what Crock-Pot calls "smart cooking" technology which enables you to pick your protein and set the time you would like for it to be done cooking. The Crock-Pot turns itself on automatically and will have your meal cooked and ready by your specified time. Other slow cooker brands such as Ninja or Hamilton Beach have imbued their slow cookers with features like built-in temperature probes and a wider range of cooking settings.

(Credit: Colin West McDonald/CNET)

So what's next?

Of all the feature add-ons over time, bringing the slow cooker online might be the most surprising. The Crock-Pot WeMo Slow Cooker will likely be the first connected slow cooker when it comes to market this March. Whether it will be the last one with built-in Wi-Fi is the big question. Part of the appeal of slow-cooking is that it's basically hands-off once you get the ingredients in the crock. But once you can monitor other devices in your home remotely, maybe we'll come to expect that from everything. If connected devices ever do attain that ubiquity, Jarden and Belkin will have elevated the humble slow cooker to a leading technology experiment.

He is surely one of us.

(Credit: TMZ Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

This the the problem with the Web.

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry thinks he can administer justice. Or, indeed, Justin.

I have barely been able to retain consciousness since it was announced that more than 100,000 people had signed a petition at Whitehouse.gov to remove one of America's great icons.

Alright, he's a Canadian, but Justin Bieber is, for better or worse, a symbol of our nation and our times.

He's tried to make us all happy, he's really tried. But even he cannot do that when he's barely old enough to drive a Lamborghini at high speed in the middle of the night. And, of course, when we're all so feckless, needy, and paranoid.

We have expected too much of him and now some of us refuse to accept the consequences of our greed.

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted that the White House was under pressure to make a decision on Bieber's fate and would make a decision "relatively soon."

As Politico reports, there was much laughter among the press when Carney was asked about the White House's response.

This reflects the sorry state of political journalism -- and, frankly, politics in our times.

When politicians such as Florida Rep. Trey Radel admit to buying cocaine, no one suggests they should be confined to their home state. Yet here we have a young man who -- unlike all politicians and political journalists -- has made more people sigh, swoon, rejoice, dance and, most importantly, Beliebe than any politico ever has.

And what of those more than 220,000 people who have signed the petition? Some surely thought they were being amusing. Others mounted 20-hand horses in the conviction that they could cast a star asunder.

But what's the point of sending him back to Canada? It's clear that this country operates surveillance upon its people just as the US does. So it's not as if Bieber will find safer haven there.

One wonders whether the singer is simply being harassed these days. As Fox News reports, his private plane was allegedly detained at Teterboro airport for the sole and strange reason that it smelled of pot.

Half the flights out of San Francisco have such an odor emanating from one passenger or another. Or is someone suggesting they have different standards in New Jersey?

Only Miley Cyrus seems to have empathy with Bieber's plight, as well as his flight. As she told Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" on Thursday: "You've got a lot of money. Pay people to make sure you don't get in trouble and party at your house, buy a house, and add a club to it."

I am concerned that the White House may bend to the will of the trolls. I am also concerned that, should Bieber be sent on his way, this will be a presager of political life to come.

Soon, every citizen will have the power to constantly vote online about matters of import. Or export.

Soon, these online referendums will reflect whims that will cause lasting damage to our well-being and way of life. It's already happening on Twitter.

Who, then, will start an online petition to immediately make Justin Bieber an American citizen?

Ecstasy at the core?

(Credit: Vooza screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Those who are wedded to Apple like Tom Hanks to Rita Wilson are said to be beyond reason.

Make a joke about their beloved brand and they will cudgel you. Suggest that there might exist a product that is, in some small way, superior to one made by Apple and they won't merely give you the evil eye. They will prepare to take out both of yours.

So I suspect that not everyone will find this video, made by the techily amusing wags at Vooza, funny.

Yet it expresses a certain human truth -- and Apple loves those -- about what happens when people commit their emotions without question.

For here is a group of four Apple fanboys watching a keynote presentation.

Oh, of course they're wearing black. You really needed to ask?

"This must be what heaven's like," they say on seeing an iPad ad. "Just Apple commercials all day."

"What was that, Bill Gates? You cured malaria? Suck it!!!!" says one, his sense of excitement and perspective merging as one.

Then there's the slightly homoerotic fantasies about Craig Federighi's hair. Admit it, you've had them too.

In the end, though, they can never be satiated. They always need one more thing.

And if they don't get it, there is the gnashing of teeth and the phrase already uttered millions of times across the globe in the last 15 months: "This would never have happened if Steve was here."

Just like 49-ers fans after the departure of Bill Walsh, there is no cure. Until the next savior comes along.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

Nintendo is in a bad place.

In case you missed the news this week, Nintendo's earnings are down, and the Wii U in particular is suffering from terrible sales. Nintendo's answer? Well, that really isn't clear.

Promises have been made to make more out of the GamePad on the Wii U -- the console's touch-screen controller -- and also to put Nintendo DS games on the Wii U. And, even, to enter the health entertainment market: not necessarily a bad idea considering how Wii Fit was a phenomenon several years ago.

But Nintendo, as a gaming presence, and as a hardware company, feels like it's evaporating. This despite having, in my opinion, the best little handheld game system in 2013 with some pretty fantastic games. Yes, 3DS, I'm talking to you.

Can it all be fixed, or does Nintendo have to resort to mobile, an area that the company steadfastly insists will just be used for "marketing apps?"

I wrote about four ways Nintendo could rescue itself last May. Things have gotten worse since that time. So, I'll shave that list down and make it even simpler. If Nintendo's serious about success, there's a path to success that hasn't been taken yet.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Make a new 3DS that doubles as a better Wii U GamePad

To date, the 3DS has sold 42.75 million systems since its debut in early 2011. The Wii U has sold 5.86 million systems since it launched in late 2012 -- and sales have only stagnated as competition ramps up from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The Wii U needs help from 3DS owners. Nintendo needs to find a way to get 3DS people to think about the Wii U. It's not rocket science.

Nintendo's efforts should be focused entirely on convincing Nintendo 3DS owners to adopt a Wii U, and the best way to do that is to make both systems cross-compatible.

Sure, everyone's been saying this. I said it over a year ago. Rumors are flying about Nintendo pursuing exactly that idea. And the GamePad, the touch-screen tablet gimmicky innovation that's the centerpiece of the Wii U, needs a complete do-over. The pad is large and clunky, battery life is terrible, and it can't be used without being paired with the Wii U in a very narrow wireless range.

The 3DS and Wii U GamePad have similarities: both have touch screens and a stylus, both have a microphone and a camera, and both have gyro motion controls. The GamePad lacks a second screen, unless you count the TV.

Look to the recent Nintendo 2DS for inspiration on how a new GamePad/3DS would look: it's flat, feels more like a tablet, and fits two screens into what's actually a single panel behind the plastic construction.

Nintendo has made a new handheld game roughly once every two years for as long as I can remember: 2DS, 3DS XL, 3DS, DSi XL, DSi, DS Lite... and so on. Making a new type of Nintendo 3DS that folds in Wii U compatibility (and extra analog pads) doesn't feel like a stretch at all.

Turn Virtual Console into the 'Netflix of games'

Nintendo sits on a gold mine of old retro games that seem to have amazing staying power, and boy, do they know it. Marios, Zeldas, Metroids, Pokemons -- all sitting locked away in some virtual vault and dribbled out like manna every time a new console is released...for five bucks a pop. It's maddening, it's stupid, and it turns off true fans.

Nintendo should also open up tons of those old Virtual Console games -- and more -- to a subscription-based monthly gaming service. It doesn't need the latest hits, or even the last few consoles. Just put the really back-catalog stuff on there. You know, like Netflix. Or, more to the point, like Sony is doing with PlayStation Plus. That service -- which costs $50 a year, or about $4 per month -- is quickly becoming one of the best values in gaming.

Would Nintendo lose out on sales? Listen: Nintendo's losing out on sales already. This is triage. And, I don't know how many $5 NES games people plan to buy in a year...likely not that many. A subscription service for $5 or $10 per month would probably put more money in Nintendo's pockets.

Make all games work on all current hardware

Now, like Netflix, make that Netflix-like subscription service work across the 3DS and Wii U. One subscription lets you play these games on both. A SNES game will appear on the Wii U and not be available on the 3DS, which is absolutely awful.

Any game that's purchased once should be downloadable again on the other hardware, whenever possible. Sony, again, has already gotten the message and done this on the PlayStation Vita and its PlayStation 3 and 4 hardware with Cross-Play titles.

That's it

I could bring up mobile, but I won't. Nintendo doesn't seem interested, beyond some "marketing apps." Some dabbling with Virtual Console games on mobile devices wouldn't be a bad idea -- sure, Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong on the iPhone would be cool -- but mobile would be a concession: a surrender, the beginning of a downsized Nintendo.

But, that mobile path might need to happen if the rest of Nintendo's game businesses can't be fixed. Somebody should wave an iPhone in front of Satoru Iwata: if the Wii U and 3DS can't be smartly merged, Mario's going to end up on a phone or tablet sooner or later.

(Credit: Ufogel )

Need to get away somewhere remote, relaxing, and reminiscent of an unidentified flying object? The Ufogel retreat in the Austrian mountain village of Nussdorf takes its design cues, at least partially, from UFOs.

The unusual-looking structure, designed by Urlaubs Architektur, "sometimes bears resemblance to a prehistoric bird and sometimes to an extraterrestrial home, but is always something special," the Web site for the mountain residence reads. The rustic retreat takes its names from the acronym UFO and the word "vogel," German for bird. (If you ask us, it looks a lot like a lunar landing, but the name Lunarlandingvogel could get pretty unwieldy.)

Made almost entirely of larch word, the Ufogel stands on steel stilts, with steps leading to the entrance that resemble those that always descend from spacecraft before aliens disembark to kidnap their human subjects. Giant windows let guests gaze out at the Austrian Area 51 hills (which are inevitably alive with the sound of music), while also keeping an eye out for any other spacecraft that might land in the East Tyrolean alps.

Located next to a far more traditional-looking barnhouse, the whole space-age-looking structure measures 484 square feet, but up to five can sleep there comfortably. It rents for 120 euros (about $162) per night for two people, with each additional guest costing $34. And if you think about it, that's way cheaper than booking a trip to Mars.

(Credit: Ufogel)

(Credit: Ufogel)

(Via Gizmag)

(Credit: Ufogel )

Need to get away somewhere remote, relaxing, and reminiscent of an unidentified flying object? The Ufogel retreat in the Austrian mountain village of Nussdorf takes its design cues, at least partially, from UFOs.

The unusual-looking structure, designed by Peter Jungmann, "sometimes bears resemblance to a prehistoric bird and sometimes to an extraterrestrial home, but is always something special," the Web site for the mountain residence reads. The rustic retreat takes its names from the acronym UFO and the word "vogel," German for bird. (If you ask us, it looks a lot like a lunar landing, but the name Lunarlandingvogel could get pretty unwieldy.)

Made almost entirely of larch word, the Ufogel stands on steel stilts, with steps leading to the entrance that resemble those that always descend from spacecraft before aliens disembark to kidnap their human subjects. Giant windows let guests gaze out at the Austrian Area 51 hills (which are inevitably alive with the sound of music), while also keeping an eye out for any other spacecraft that might land in the East Tyrollean alps.

Located next to a far more traditional-looking barnhouse, the whole space-age-looking structure measures 484 square feet, but up to five can sleep there comfortably. It rents for 120 euros (about $162) per night for two people, with each additional guest costing $34. And if you think about it, that's way cheaper than booking a trip to Mars.

(Credit: Ufogel)

(Credit: Ufogel)

(Via Gizmag)

We've got another great lineup for you this week, including brand new episodes of your favorite shows, how-to tips, hot first looks and more.

After an extended break, Googlicious is back with a fresh new episode that's packed with all the Google and Android scoop you could ask for. Host Brian Tong dishes out the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 rumors, and is Samsung attempting to beat Google Glass with a Galaxy Glass?

And while most of us likely won't get the luxury of attending this weekend's big game in person, why not do the next best thing and splurge on a new big screen TV that'll make you feel like you're actually there? In our latest Tech Minute, we round up some of the hottest high-tech big-screen TVs out. And while you're at it, check out our tech tips on different ways follow along to make this year's big match-up all the more fun.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy our top picks of the week!

2. Best TVs for the big game

If you're unable to travel to the stadium to watch the big game in person, a new crop of high-tech televisions can help you feel as if you're really there. In this Tech Minute, CNET's Kara Tsuboi reports on some of the best big-screen TVs on the market.

3. Adventures in Tech: The Walkman's amazing origins

Sony's groundbreaking Walkman was actually a slightly tweaked version of an existing Sony device -- we reveal all in this latest episode!

4. PS Vita Slim has new look, promises better battery

We go hands-on with the thinner, lighter Vita. We like the new look, but will altered screen tech ruin its chances?

5. Apple Byte: Is Apple working on an Apple TV/Airport Express combo?

It's all the latest Apple TV rumors. Will the Apple TV be a TV? Will it have a TV tuner? Or will it merge with the Airport Express?

6. Tech tips for enjoying the big game

The big game is just a few days away. Whether you're rooting for the Seahawks or Broncos, there are some techie methods for following along that could make this year's big match-up more fun. CNET's Kara Tsuboi reports in this Tech Minute.

7. Pebble Steel: A new look, new apps add up to high style

Can a reinvented design make the Pebble Steel the most desirable smartwatch yet? We take a look at the $249 watch and Pebble's newly redesigned app marketplace.

8. Top 5: Reasons not to buy a curved TV

Curved TVs were all the rage at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, but here are five good reasons to avoid them.

9. How to: Install Steam OS the easy way

CNET's Dan Graziano shows you the easiest method for installing Valve's new gaming operating system on your computer.

10. XCAR: Bloodhound SSC: Breaking the sound barrier and on to 1,000mph -- on four wheels

The British team behind Bloodhound SSC, a project that might see a car travel faster than 1,000mph. XCAR finds out what goes into building a land speed record-breaking car and what obstacles stand in the way of this technological feat.

Felix Baumgartner exits his capsule at around 128,000 feet.

(Credit: Red Bull Stratos)

"There it is. There's the world out there."

It's been a great day for writing about views of the Earth from high, high above our lovely planet.

First, there was news of the Global Space Balloon Challenge, an educational competition to build and launch high-altitude balloons that will take place in April. And now comes extended video (see below) from Felix Baumgartner's amazing space jump in October, 2012, when he leaped from 128,097 feet for a duration of 9 minutes and 3 seconds -- the freefall portion of the jump lasted 4 minutes and 19 seconds. But not before he got his first unobstructed view of the planet the first time he stepped outside his capsule and said the above words.

Thanks to io9, we know that the video may be best watched after taking Tums, or at least having a nice bucket nearby, just in case the vertigo is too much. Either way, for anyone who is a fan of exploration of the skies, or incredible feats of endurance or athleticism -- especially if you, like me, were lucky enough to be watching Baumgartner's jump live -- this is a very, very big treat. Enjoy.

Watchers of the video will get an additional treat -- as if the video itself wasn't enough: The voiceover at the beginning is from none other than Joe Kittinger, who set the world record for highest jump in 1960. Kittinger was an adviser on Baumgartner's 2012 jump.

The release of the new extended video of Baumgartner's feat appears to be tied to a GoPro Super Bowl ad (see below), which teases the incredible feat -- and hopefully, introduces it to many people who had missed it when it happened.

Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects Oscar Winners from Nelson Carvajal on Vimeo.

Amid all the glitz and glam of the red carpet, the center of attention in Hollywood is always the big names. But great films are the sum of their parts, and behind the scenes, creative specialists work to make all those parts flow seamlessly.

Nelson Carvajal conceived and edited this compilation of visual effects, looking back at the films that have won in the Best Visual Effects category going back to 1977, covering some epic moments in some of our favorite movies, including "Star Wars," "Total Recall," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and "The Matrix."

The "Black Edition" Galaxy S4 Mini features a faux leather rear.

(Credit: Samsung Russia)

Samsung has yet another version of the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Mini on the way. This time it's all in the finish.

Announced on Friday, the "Black Edition" of the handsets uses a dark black front and a faux leather rear cover that echoes the design of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Just keep in mind that the changes are cosmetic only, and Samsung has left the phone's internals alone.

As of today, these Black Edition devices are shown only on Samsung's Russian site. If Samsung hopes to bring these to additional markets, it'll have to act fast; the Galaxy S5 will be here before we know it.