DirecTV, which has partnered on and off with TiVo for more than a decade, is hoping that this time the relationship will stick, with an expansion of a recent 10-market trial that offered its customers the option of a TiVo HD DVR that integrates with the DirecTV service.

Back in December DirecTV began offering the TiVo HD DVR in 10 markets, including Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and Phoenix, but starting today the program expands nationwide. The TiVo HD DVR (model THR22) can record two shows at once and can hold up to 100 hours of HD programming or 400 hours of standard-definition shows, the companies say. It can also access 7,000 movies on demand.

To get TiVo, though, you'll have to pay a $5 premium each month, plus $199 for the TiVo DVR. According to information from DirecTV's website, the $5 monthly TiVo service charge is on top of DirecTV's $7-per-month DVR fee and $10-per-month HD charge, bringing the total monthly charge to $23. By comparison, TiVo charges $20 per month or $500 for a lifetime subscription.

Another possible concern: On its website, DirecTV says that several features—including its whole-home DVR service, live TV streaming, 3D capability, DirecTV Cinema (satellite downloads), YouTube, and the DirecTV iPad app remote control—are not available on the TiVo DVR. We've asked TiVo for clarification, since some of these features are available on TiVo DVRs—and TiVo's press release says DirecTV Cinema is included—but we haven't heard back yet.

What users will get, however, is TiVo's easy-to-use interface, the peanut-shaped TiVo remote control, and some advanced features. These include Swivel Search, which lets you locate favorite shows in HD across television and on DirecTV CINEMA, and Season Pass, which lets you automatically record a full season of favorite TV shows.

The DirecTV offering includes some other TiVo features, including Wish List searches (recordings based on keywords such as a favorite actor or topic), as well as TiVo Suggestions, which makes new, similar recommendations based on a viewer's favorite shows and your Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down ratings.

It's not clear whether TiVo 's great interface and a few unique features will be enough to convince DirecTV customers to cough up an extra $60 per year for the privilege. If you'd like to see how TiVo stacks up against DirecTV's other DVRs, you can check out this comparison table on the company's website. We'd like to know whether you find the DirecTV TiVo option compelling.

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Buy.com: Captain America DJ Style Headphones $19.99, free ship
• NewEgg: Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 $23.99, free ship
• Dell Financial Services: Dell Financial Services coupon: 35% off refurbished Precision systems

Entertainment

• DeepDiscount: 4-Film DVD Bundles (Clint Eastwood, Final Destination, Ocean's Eleven and More) $4.99 with Free Shipping

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

What it means. "Augmented reality" sounds very "Star Trek," but what is it, exactly? In short, AR is defined as "an artificial environment created through the combination of real-world and computer-generated data." It's not the same thing as virtual reality, which is probably a more familiar term to many of us: VR is a completely computer-generated environment that stands in for reality, whereas AR takes real-world, real-time environments and adds digital enhancements, to enable interactivity and convey extra information.

Why the buzz? At the Consumer Electronics Show this past January, amid the TVs, tablets, ultrabooks, and myriad other gadgets, the term rose above the din more than once. Augmented reality is not a brand-new technology, but it's being integrated into electronics devices more and more—currently, for example, we're seeing it used in toys to enhance their entertainment and play value. Check out WowWee's App Gear and Disney's AppMATes to see just a couple of ways that this technology is being implemented.

How else can augmented reality be used? One current use of AR is a reference app for your smart phone: Layar, for example, which uses a phone's GPS, camera, compass, and accelerometer and a mobile Web connection to find and display all kinds of real-time data on whatever you're viewing through the camera. AR may also show up someday soon as real-time navigational information that's embedded in a car's front window—or used in back-seat windows for the amusement and edification of younger passengers.

Augmented reality can also be used in video games, adding to the fun and play options, as in this children's app we reviewed, Ruff Ruffman's Lunch Rush. And AR could pop up in a hardware product like the recently widely rumored "HUD Google Glasses," which would offer the wearer a built-in head-up display: "A user can walk around with information popping up and into display Terminator-style based on preferences, location and Google's information," speculated 9to5Google.com.

We'll be attending Toy Fair 2012 next week. One preview meeting we've had was with Popar Toys: This company adds scannable markers to its paper books that webcams can read, which create 3D animations on a computer display that augment the book. We expect to see quite a bit more AR implementations in toys. Check back here to see what we find.

More reading on augmented reality:

What is Augmented Reality? [Pocket-Lint]
What is Augmented Reality (AR): Augmented Reality Defined, iPhone Augmented Reality Apps and Games and More [Digital Trends]
What Is That? Let Your Smartphone Have a Look [New York Times]

Still struggling to find that perfect Valentine's Day present for your sweetheart? On Saturday Feb. 11, T-Mobile has a tempting offer for all you last-minute tech gift shoppers: The carrier's entire stable of 4G smart phones—and some tablet computers—will be offered with rebates that essentially eliminate the cost of the device. But is it a really good deal for shoppers?

For one day only, the carrier is offering up to $500 for new customers and current subscribers eligible for phone upgrades who choose a new T-Mobile 4G smart phone. And among the options are some of the top smart phones tested by Consumer Reports, including: the Samsung Galaxy S II, the HTC Amaze 4G, and the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G. (See Consumer Reports' latest Ratings of smart phones for the full list of recommend models for T-mobile service.)

Also available: The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the T-Mobile SpringBoard, two of the recommended tablet computers in our latest Ratings online.

Of course, shoppers need to be aware of the usual caveats. The offer requires a new two-year T-Mobile contract, which start at $70 per month for 200MB of data. And customers will still have to first pay for the new mobile device and later recoup its cost via a mail-in rebate from T-Mobile.

But perhaps the most important consideration? Contract service from T-Mobile—or any other major U.S. phone service provider—isn't highly regarded among consumers. In our latest survey on wireless cell phone survey, our experts noted.

When it comes to standard cell-phone service (meaning billed monthly, often under a contract), the most satisfying carriers in our Ratings were smaller [providers].

And where did T-Mobile rank with consumers in our latest Ratings of cell phone service? Nearly last-place.

If you have a Consumer Reports subscription, you can check out the entire Jan. 2011 report, Best phones & service.

And check out our free online buying guide to cell phones to help you find the right smart phone for you or your significant other.

Previously:

• Report: T-Mobile to limit national data roaming for subscribers
• T-Mobile offers new pay-by-day phone plans as low as $1 per day
• T-Mobile to offer cheap, no-contract smartphone plan at Walmart

T-Mobile Is Giving Away Its Stock of 4G Smartphones This Saturday [Gizmodo]
T-Mobile Pushes Out Statement, Valentine’s Day Sale Website Now Live [TmoNews]
Valentine's Day Sale [T-Mobile website]

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Lenovo: Lenovo P950 Headset w/ Noise Canceling Mic for $11 + free shipping
• Newegg: Intuit TurboTax Deluxe Federal + eFile 2011 Software + Malwarebytes $35.95 Free Ship

Entertainment

• Tanga.com: Speed Electric RTR Remote Control Cars for $8.99
• Microsoft: Xbox 360 Kinect Sensor w/ Kinect Adventures Game (Refurbished) $79.99, free ship
• NewEgg: Battlefield 3 Standard Edition [Xbox 360, PS3, PC] $39.99, free ship

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

Are you in love with a techie? Forget the flowers and candy. Here are five suggestions for sharing your love in a way they'll really appreciate.

1. Reading can be quite romantic, whether your loved one is swept away by Jane Austen or swoons for Harlequin titles (lots of classics are free to download). And don't think an e-book reader is less romantic than paper books: You could load it up with love poems before you gift it, for example. CR recommends several e-book readers, including the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader, currently our top-rated reader.

2. Many of us use our smart phones to take casual snapshots, but there are some features on point-and-shoot cameras you're not going to find on a phone—yet, anyway. The Canon PowerShot ELPH 510HS, a CR-recommended camera, has a 12x zoom, for example—great for those long shots of your loved one running toward you through a field of daisies. The 510HS also takes very-good-quality pictures both indoors and out, has smile and blink detection, and features an image stabilizer, which comes in handy for the trembling hands of the lovelorn. Best of all for this particular holiday: It comes in red (also in black or silver).

3. What could say "love" louder than you, on your phone, calling the smart phone you gave to your loved one? The ultra-thin Motorola Droid Razr is a CR recommended Android phone with an 8-megapixel camera and superb 4.3-inch display that runs on Verizon's LTE 4G network. The price has recently come down to $200 (from $300). And in addition to black or white, it's now available in purple, which somehow seems a more loving color.

Let's face it: You'll win the heart of your true love more easily with a tablet computer than just about any other gadget. You can use it to compose a love letter, draw valentines, research romantic recipes for two, order champagne online… the possibilities are just about endless. CR's top-rated tablet is the Apple iPad 2; or consider the Amazon Kindle Fire, a CR Best Buy at just $200.

5. Who needs to go out to the movies? Wouldn't you rather stay home to watch "Casablanca" or "The Notebook"? Your romantic-movie choices will increase drastically with a new Blu-ray player that includes built-in Wi-Fi and Internet streaming services. The Samsung BD-D5700 is a CR top-rated player with all those features: It can access online content, including streaming movies from Blockbuster, Netflix, and Vudu, as well as Hulu Plus, YouTube, and Pandora Internet radio. And it's DLNA-compliant, so it can pull in photos, movies, and music stored on a PC or other compatible device.

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Buy.com: 21.5" Samsung S22A200B LED Monitor $119.99, free ship
• NewEgg: JBL Cinema 300 Home Theater Speaker System $199.99, free ship
• Ebay deals: Logitech X-530 PC Surround Sound Speaker System (Refurbished) $49.99, free ship

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

Amazon is rumored to be planning a physical store to be located in Seattle, the online giant's home base, according to the website Good Ereader. And "Amazon sources close to the situation" have reported that we can expect this move to occur within the next few months.

According to reports, the brick-and-mortar outpost would be designed to sell Amazon's line of Kindle e-book readers (including the Kindle Fire, of course) and other related products in addition to various “high margin” items. It would be something akin to the Apple Store, according to the news site Mashable.

But in addition to e-readers and the like, the rumored Amazon outpost would also carry physical books through the company's publishing division, which other stores would not have. As Mashable points out, authors who publish with Amazon are shut out of other major retail bookstores like Barnes & Noble.

The plan to open a physical location is said to be a test that will allow Amazon to gauge the market for such a venture, and to see if a chain of such stores would be profitable.

Michael Kozlowski of Good Ereader writes: "They intend on going with the small boutique route with the main emphasis on books from their growing line of Amazon Exclusives and selling their e-readers and tablets."

Amazon in the Process of Launching a Retail Store [Good Ereader]
Amazon to Open Retail Store [RUMOR] [Mashable]

The Federal Trade Commission today warned marketers of six mobile applications that provide background-screening apps that they may be violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

In a letter to the apps marketers the FTC said "If you have reason to believe that your background reports are being used for employment or other FCRA purposes, you and your customers who are using your reports for such purposes must comply with the FCRA." The FTC has not yet determined whether the companies are violating the FCRA.

The FCRA is meant to protect the privacy of the information in background reports and ensure that the information is accurate. Such reports are used for credit, employment, housing, and other such purposes.

Under the FCRA, companies that assemble or evaluate information for third parties qualify as consumer reporting agencies, or CRAs. Mobile apps that supply such information may qualify as CRAs under the Act. CRAs must ensure the user of each background report has a 'permissible purpose' to use the report, and ensure the accuracy of the information in its reports, among other stipulations.

A copy of the letter the FTC sent to the six marketers of mobile apps that offer background checks can be found here (pdf).

FTC Warns Marketers That Mobile Apps May Violate Fair Credit Reporting Act [FTC]

Verizon and Coinstar, the owner of Redbox, today announced a new video entertainment service that combines new release DVD and Blu-ray rentals with television and movie streaming and downloads.

The nationwide entertainment service is expected to be available in the second half of this year. According to the press release, it "will offer subscription services and more in an easy-to-use, flexible and affordable service that will allow all consumers across the U.S. to enjoy the new and popular entertainment they want, whenever they choose, using the media and devices they prefer."

Redbox video-rental kiosks are usually found in grocery or retail stores, and offer dollar-a-day rentals on new movie releases and video game, but the new Verizon and Redbox venture would compete with the likes of Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go, Netflix, and Hulu.

Previous news reports from December 2011 said that Verizon plans to make the streaming service available to about 85 million households, outside its FiOs market, which currently serves some 5 million TV subscribers.

Previously: Update: Verizon and Redbox planning 2012 launch of streaming media service

Verizon and Coinstar's Redbox Form Joint Venture to Create New Consumer Choice for Video Entertainment [PR Newswire]
Redbox Partners With Verizon To Launch Streaming Video Service [Fast Company]
Exclusive: Verizon to take on Netflix with Web service [Reuters]

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Best Buy: Panasonic TC- P60S30 60in Plasma HDTV (1080p) $899.99 Free Shipping
• Lenovo: Lenovo N3902A Wireless Mouse $12.25 Free Shipping
• HP: HP dv6tqe Intel Core i7-2670QM Quad-Core Sandy Bridge 15.6in Laptop (Blu-Ray) $699.99

Entertainment

• Amazon: Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012 with Top Shot Elite Gun [Xbox 360, PS3, Wii] $49.99, free ship
• NewEgg: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning [Xbox 360, PS3] $44.99, free ship

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

When watching the Big Game—or anything else on your TV, for that matter—you'll want to optimize the TV's settings: fix the color, contrast, brightness, and so on, to make your picture as realistic as possible. With today's televisions, that can be an intimidating prospect! In this video, our lab expert Chris Andrade goes through the steps to make it easy for you to set up your TV yourself. Your Super Bowl party guests will thank you.

Go to ConsumerReports.org for all our Super Bowl XLVI coverage.

The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, an updated version of the Motorola Droid Razr, was one of the most talked-about phones to debut at CES 2012, for one reason: It has the largest-capacity battery ever squeezed into a smart phone.

The jumbo battery packs 3,300 milliamperes, where most smart-phone batteries are about half that. Initial Consumer Reports lab tests confirm Verizon's claimed 21 hours of talk time, but that's only under optimal conditions involving a strong signal. That number will undoubtedly be lower as we test the phone under weaker signals to simulate a variety of real-world conditions. My informal tests suggest the Razr Maxx's battery life is simply astounding, and the best I've ever seen on a smart phone.

In other respects, however, the Maxx is all but identical to the Droid Razr, which debuted in November and remains one of the highest-scoring phones in our smart-phone Ratings (available to subscribers).The Maxx's beefier battery adds only a tenth of an inch to the thickness of the Razr, and the its back is much more rounded than the Razr's, which actually makes the Maxx more comfortable to hold.

But the Maxx weighs 0.6 ounces more than its sibling and, at 5.1 ounces, it's the heaviest phone in our Ratings, outweighing even the heavyweight iPhone 4S. At $300, it's also $50 to $100 pricier—and one of the more expensive phones in the Ratings.

The details:

Battery. In my use of the Maxx, it managed to retain 75 percent of its battery life after a full day of moderate to heavy use (frequent video streaming, push e-mail, Web browsing, camera use, and so on) on Verizon's 4G LTE network.

More incredible, on a full charge, I was able to stream the two-hour "Iron Man 2" movie from the HD Netflix app to the Maxx for almost three entire viewings before the battery died. By comparison, the Razr, which has a 1,780-milliampere battery, gave up the ghost a little more than 30 minutes into the second viewing.

Display. Videos and pictures on the Droid Maxx's 960-x-540-pixel, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display appeared very sharp, with deep blacks. We rated the Droid Razr's display (which is identical to the Maxx's) excellent, with superb keypad readability under most lighting conditions. I'm sure our engineers will rule the same for the Maxx. A minor annoyance: Videos skipped or paused a handful of times on both Razrs during the "Iron Man 2" screenings, something that rarely happened with the LG Spectrum I reviewed earlier. I also found text on both Razrs appeared coarser than it did on the Spectrum.

Camera. Just like the original Droid Razr, the Maxx has a 8-megapixel camera that can capture video at 1080p. In our tests, we found the Razr's camera has a very short shutter lag, and it produced very good photos when they were taken under well-lighted conditions. But the quality of video recorded at 1080p was only adequate compared to the better HD pocket camcorders.

Bottom line: With its phenomenal battery life, the Droid Razr Maxx will give you more time (at least a full day) to enjoy its many high-definition, high-speed, charms at full throttle without being tethered to a charger. But its high price will also put a noticeable drag on your pocket.

A new study from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project surveyed Facebook subscribers who actually gave the organization access to their Facebook data, so their responses could be matched with their Facebook activities—specifically their social and civic lives. Pew found that "the average Facebook user gets more from their friends on Facebook than they give to their friends."

This is because of the relatively few number of users—between 20 and 30 percent—who post frequently and tirelessly, for the amusement, edification, and occasional annoyance of the rest of us. You know who they (or you) are. Lazy Facebook users mostly seem to appreciate the power users; the study found that less than 5 percent of users hid another user's content from their news feeds. (Or maybe they just don't know that they can.)

The study also found that in general, women post more than men. "In our sample, the average female user made 21 updates to their Facebook status in the month of observation, while the average male made six," according to the study.

Another finding: Despite the amount of complaining you may hear about Facebook's time-sink qualities, interface changes, privacy policies, and so on, the longer people are members of the site, the more they use it: making status updates, "liking" things, commenting on friends' content, and tagging them. And the more friends you have, the more you contribute content, and the more friends you make. It's a slippery social-media slope.

Why most Facebook users get more than they give [Pew Internet]

Just days before Super Bowl XLVI, the federal government has shut down 16 websites authorities say have been illegally streaming live sports games and pay-per-view events online, including NFL, NBA, and NHL events among others.

According to prosecutors, the websites gave links to other sites that hosted the streaming content. One Michigan resident has been charged with copyright infringement for reportedly operating nine of the 16 websites.

Prosecutors for the case have said that illegally streamed sporting events cost leagues and broadcasters millions of dollars per year, a loss that ticket buyers and network subscribers are then sometimes forced to help make up, Reuters reports.

Shuttered sites include firstrow.tv, firstrowsports.com, firstrowsports.net, firstrowsports.tv, hq-streams.tv, robplay.tv, soccertvlive.net, sports95.com, sports95.net, sports95.org, sportswwe.net, sportswwe.tv, sportswwe.com, xonesports.tv, youwwe.com and youwwe.net.

This is not the first time authorities have gone after sites alleged to pirate sporting events in the lead-up time to the Super Bowl, according to Reuters. Last year, the government announced that it had taken control of 10 such sites just before the big game.

U.S. shuts 16 sports piracy websites pre-Super Bowl [Reuters]
Feds Target Sports Piracy Sites in Pre-Super Bowl Bust [Mashable]

Motorola has been capitalizing on its Droid line of smart phones powered by the Google Android mobile operating system. And the company's latest two models, the Motorola Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx, promise some interesting features for subscribers on the Verizon Wireless network.

As seen at 2012 CES in Las Vegas last month, the Droid Razr Maxx promises to offer an outstanding battery life—nearly 22 hours—between charges. (We're testing the smart phone and will soon add details to our first look at the phone while at CES.)

[UPDATE: Read our First Look review: Motorola Droid Razr Maxx is a power miser for more information about Motorola's latest Droid. —Ed.]

Its predecessor, the Droid Razr, shouldn't be overlooked either. In this Sound Byte, Consumer Reports Senior Editor Mike Gikas discusses with Into Tomorrow the highlights of this super-thin Android smart phone. Click to listen to the Sound Byte podcast and then tell us what you think.

And check back here soon for our First Look review of the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx.

The Motorola Droid Maxx as seen at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show.

About Sound Bytes
Every week, Consumer Reports experts produce a short (less than two minutes in length) audio segment which cover a wide variety of issues regarding consumer electronics and technology. These small "sound bites" can be heard on Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline. The Sound Byte that is featured in the Consumer Reports Electronics Blog is a segment that aired on last weekend's Into Tomorrow over-the-air broadcast.

About Into Tomorrow
Now in its 17th year, Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline covers the Latest in Consumer Electronics & Technology available today and... into tomorrow. The show airs on over 160 AM and FM radio stations around the U.S., on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio, radio stations in Germany, Bermuda, New Zealand, Canada and several other sources including Mobile Broadcast Network, BeOS Radio, Sprint Radio, TiVo, and many others—every weekend. "Into Tomorrow" is also heard around the world on the Armed Forces Networks in several other countries. You can also catch all Into Tomorrow episodes on the Web. (The most recent show is usually added about three or four days after it has been broadcast on the radio.)

The Super Bowl is just two days away, but you still might be considering buying a new TV for the Big Game. Consumer Reports TV expert Jim Willcox has a list of "can't-miss" televisions to recommend, in every price range—from high-end flagship models costing up to $2,000 to budget recommendations. Take a look at our video for tips.

Some buying advice for you hurried shoppers:

• Make sure the retailer can guarantee delivery— and set-up, if you need it—before kickoff time.


• See if you can get a 30-day price match, since TV prices could start to fall right after the game as retailers start clearing out 2011 sets to make way for 2012 models.


• If it's your first HDTV purchase, make sure your cable or satellite receiver is an HD model, or make sure you can pick up a new one and get it activated in time for the game.


• Skip the extended warranty and pricey cables. Consider buying the TV with a credit card that doubles the manufacturer's warranty, or from a retailer (such as Costco) that does the same.


• Beware of interest-free promotions. It's fine to take advantage of no-interest deals that let you spread payments over time, but make sure you pay off the balance at least a month before the end of the deal. If you fail to pay the final balance before the term ends, you're usually responsible for all the interest on the full purchase price of the TV, not just the amount you still owe. And often the interest rates on store cards are much higher what you'd pay on a standard bank credit card.

Go to ConsumerReports.org for all our Super Bowl XLVI coverage.

Reuters reported yesterday that Verisign, an Internet infrastructure company that manages the .com" ".net" and .gov" website addresses, was hacked in 2010. Should you be concerned?

According to the report, the 2010 security breach was hidden from Verisign executives until last September. But the data break-in was reported in the company's quarterly earnings report to investors, as required by changes in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations that went into effect in October of 2011.

But what worries most security experts is the still-undisclosed damage and risks that the nearly two-year old hack may pose. "We need an environment where companies have an incentive to disclose these things," said Jeff Fox, Consumer Reports' privacy expert. "Affected companies need to disclose not only the breach but the damage to consumers."

For example, it's still unknown whether data from the DNS servers has been taken. With DNS information, which translates a website's name (such as "google.com") to the proper numerical Internet address, criminals can redirect consumers' browser requests and send them to malicious websites instead.

And until August 2010, Verisign was also a provider of so-called Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates—the online code Web browsers look for when connecting users to sites, such as banks, that begin with "https" instead of the usual "http." Symantec, which now owns the Verisign SSL database, did tell Reuters that "there is no indication" the 2010 Verisign breech is tied to the SSL system.

To keep personal data safe while using the Internet, see Consumer Reports Guide to online security.

Key Internet operator VeriSign hit by hackers [Reuters]
VeriSign Hacked: What We Don't Know Might Hurt Us [PC World]
Why Are We Only Finding Out About the VeriSign Security Breach Now? [Time Techland]
VeriSign admits it was hacked repeatedly in 2010, staff didn't tell senior management [Sophos Security blog]
VeriSign 2010 Hack: DNS Data Theft A Possibility [Information Week]

Believe it or not, there's still time to buy a new TV before the Super Bowl airs this Sunday! If you are making that last minute purchase, Consumer Reports television expert Jim Willcox has some tips for which technology—plasma or LCD—is best for viewing sports in general, and the Big Game in particular. Each has pros and cons; take a look at our video for his tech tips.

Some buying advice for you hurried shoppers:

• Make sure the retailer can guarantee delivery— and set-up, if you need it—before kickoff time.


• See if you can get a 30-day price match, since TV prices could start to fall right after the game as retailers start clearing out 2011 sets to make way for 2012 models.


• If it's your first HDTV purchase, make sure your cable or satellite receiver is an HD model, or make sure you can pick up a new one and get it activated in time for the game.


• Skip the extended warranty and pricey cables. Consider buying the TV with a credit card that doubles the manufacturer's warranty, or from a retailer (such as Costco) that does the same.


• Beware of interest-free promotions. It's fine to take advantage of no-interest deals that let you spread payments over time, but make sure you pay off the balance at least a month before the end of the deal. If you fail to pay the final balance before the term ends, you're usually responsible for all the interest on the full purchase price of the TV, not just the amount you still owe. And often the interest rates on store cards are much higher what you'd pay on a standard bank credit card.

Go to ConsumerReports.org for all our Super Bowl XLVI coverage.

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Best Buy: Sharp LC42SV49U 42" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV $329.99 with Free In-Store Pickup

Entertainment

• GameStop.com: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [Xbox 360, PS3] $39.99 + $3 ship
• Amazon: Rage [Xbox 360, PS3, PC] $19.99

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich (or ICS), is the long-awaited version of Google's Android operating system that's designed for both smart phones and tablets, allowing software to be easily developed for both types of devices. The first tablet running the new OS is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. We took a look at the quad-core Transformer with Ice Cream Sandwich to see what new features it brings to the tablet world. The changes aren't earth-shattering, but there are some noticeable improvements.

Of course, the changes also impact smart phones. But in some cases, the features on tablets manifest somewhat differently than they do on phones. For example, tablets can take advantage of the extra screen space to display the more-robust camera features of Android 4. And as with other versions of the operating system, you might notice differences from one manufacturer to the next as each tweaks their devices with special features.

Here's a rundown of some of the new things I saw on the Transformer Prime, thanks to ICS.

Camera. The first thing you'll see when you turn on the Transformer Prime is the familiar lock icon. But move the lock a bit to the left, and a camera icon shows up in the outer circle, taking you directly from the locked tablet to the camera. Unlike with earlier versions of Android, all the controls for the camera are built into the control wheel. For example, Zoom is a sliding control within the wheel rather than the Plus/Minus set above it in prior versions. There are some new controls, including aspect ratio and ISO. Also new is the panorama camera. (These features are more handy on smart phones, since taking photos with a tablet can be clumsy.)

Widgets. Widgets reside on a separate tab on the apps screen. Asus includes a task manager that lets you shut running apps down with one click, an easy way to save some battery life. Widgets are now resizable, so you can fit more of them on one screen if you wish.

Settings. You get one-click access to more settings controls from the home screen. Touch the bottom right corner of the screen, and a box pops up that includes a number of useful controls, including a set of power-usage choices—Power-saving, Balanced, and Performance modes. There's also a rotate-lock button, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi On/Off, and brightness controls. These require two or more clicks to access in older Android versions.

Settings are now arranged by function: All the wireless and network settings are together, followed by device settings such as Sound, Display, and Battery. Personal settings include Security and Accounts; Date and Time, among others, are found under system settings.

Organizing your apps is easier, because you can now place apps into folders simply by stacking one on top of the other, then naming the folder. But the folders are unattractive, unfortunately, because they look like what they are—a stack of apps sitting on your screen. Once you press the stack, a folder temporarily pops up so you can select the app you want to launch.

Related:
First look review: Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a sweet performer, thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich

The most frequently reported scam of 2011 involved bogus prizes and sweepstakes, with fake check scams and fraudsters posing as loved ones, according to the National Consumers League's report of the top scams reported to its national Fraud Center.

Of significance is that more than ever, scammers are targeting certain age groups, the Consumers League found. For example, bogus prizes, sweepstakes, and free gifts made up 27 percent of complaints overall, but among people ages 56 to 65 and older, these types of complaints made up 41 percent and about 60 percent of the total, respectively.

Similarly, fake check scams made up about 27 percent of complaints overall, and among people ages 18 to 25, complaints about fake check scams made up about 46 percent of the total.

New to the list of top-ten scams is the fraudster who impersonates a family member or friend in need.

Top 10 scams of 2011:

1. Prizes, sweepstakes and fake free gifts
   
2. Fake check scams
   
3. Internet scams for general merchandise
   
4. Phishing and spoofing
   
5. Advance fee loans and "credit arrangers"
   
6. Scholarships and grants
   
7. Friendship and sweetheart swindles
   
8. Nigerian money offers (not prizes)
   
9. Family or friend imposters
   
10. Fraudulent Internet auctions

John Breyault, NCL vice-president of public policy, telecommunications, and fraud said that, unfortunately, many scam artists will stop at nothing. "The scary part about these scams is that they prey on our natural inclination to want to help a loved one who is in distress," he said in a press statement.

The majority of money lost to frauds and scams last year was sent by wire transfer, which is a popular payment method of scammers because of the difficulty to track, according to the NCL.

NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg described fraudulent telemarketers and Web-based scammers as criminals out to get your life savings. She offers the following advice to consumers:

The best way for consumers to fight back is to get educated and not be afraid to report such fraud to law enforcement. Scammers know all too well that their victims are often embarrassed and count on this to continue to perpetrate their crimes.

If you think you've been the victim of a scam or fraud, you can report it to NCL at www.fraud.org.

NCL's Fraud Center: Top Scams of 2011 (pdf) [NCL]
Scammers targeting their victims by age group, says National Consumers League’s Fraud Center [NCL]

More than one million HP fax machines in North America are being recalled by the Hewlett-Packard company, says the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today. The machines—the HP Fax 1040 and the HP Fax 1050—have faulty internal electric components that can fail, causing the machines to overheat and possibly catch fire.

The CPSC says Hewlett-Packard has received seven reports—six in the U.S., another in Canada—of the HP fax machines overheating and catching fire. In one instance, a "significant" amount of property damage occurred and in another incident a consumer finger received a "minor burn injury."

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled HP Fax 1040 and HP Fax 1050 machines and disconnect them from the electrical outlet.

The flawed HP fax machines were sold at electronics, computer and camera stores nationwide, and online at HP's shopping website and other Internet retailers from November 2004 through December 2011 for between $90 and $120. Some of the recalled fax machines were replacement units for a previous recall of HP fax model 1010 in June 2008.

Both the HP Fax 1040 and Fax 1050 models being recalled bear the HP logo and its model number on the front of the fax machine.

The HP Fax 1040 (left) and HP Fax 1050 fax machines. (Note: NOT to scale.)

An estimated 928,000 of the machines were sold in the U.S. and 240,000 in Canada and Mexico.

After discontinuing use of the machines, consumers are urged to contact HP (toll-free: 888-654-9296 website: http://www.hp.com/go/faxrecall/US-en) for a rebate on the purchase of an authorized replacement HP fax machine or a partial rebate of certain HP ink jet printers.

HP Recalls Fax Machines Due to Fire and Burn Hazards [CPSC]
HP Fax Safety Recall [Hewlett-Packard]

The LG Spectrum, one of several promising smart phones announced at CES 2012, just became available on Verizon for $200 with a two-year contract. This phone’s high point is its 4.5-inch high-resolution (1280 x 720) display. Supposedly borrowing technology from LG’s best TV sets, the screen, combined with the phone's 1.5-GHz dual-core processor and ultra-fast LTE 4G connection, provided sharp and smooth video streams from HD Netflix.

I was less impressed, though, with what LG did with the phone's controls and interface to the phone's Android 2.35 OS (Gingerbread). Though hardly fatal, the changes add some unnecessary steps to what were admirably simple procedures.

The Spectrum is virtually identical to the LG Nitro on AT&T, which scored high in our Ratings. It's tall yet relatively narrow and thin, measuring 5.3 x 2.7 x 0.4 inches, which makes it reasonably comfortable to hold and control. Weighing in at 5 ounces, The Spectrum is actually an ounce lighter than the much-smaller iPhone 4S.

The Spectrum also has an 8-megapixel rear-facing LED flash camera, 1080p video capture, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chats. In our tests of the Nitro, which appears to have the identical camera, the camera had a short shutter lag and produced good-quality stills. But the quality of video recorded on the Nitro at 1080p fell short compared to the better HD pocket camcorders.

The details:

The display. I’ll leave it to our engineers to confirm if the Spectrum’s screen is indeed a smaller version of the True HD In-Plane Switching (IPS) display used in LG's premium Spectrum HD televisions, which score well for picture quality in our Ratings of HDTVs (available to subscribers). But the display was unquestionably one of the sharpest I've seen, which is especially impressive given its large size.

In photos and videos, the tiniest details of obscure objects were clearly visible, including what was written on street signs in the background. Web- and app-based text appeared quite sharp as well, with no discernible jags or rough edges. When it came to color, I found the Spectrum's LCD touch screen on a par with the top-notch Super AMOLED displays of Samsung’s Galaxy phones. The colors used in app icons and calendar appointments truly popped, yet photo and video images appeared quite natural.

This phone comes preloaded with the ESPN ScoreCenter and HD Netflix apps, which deliver their content to the phone in 720p. While I didn't try the ESPN app, I did stream "Iron Man 2" from HD Netflix and was impressed at the level of detail, as well as how smooth the videos appeared when streamed via the phone's LTE connection. But this already-dark action film looked a tad too dark when the display’s default auto-brightness setting was left on. Unchecking auto-brightness and sliding the intensity lever just a smidge to the right made everything look a lot brighter and better.

Controls. As on the LG Nitro, you can flip the phone to mute incoming calls or shut off the clock's alarm. The Spectrum combines Search and Menu functions on one key. Tapping this key lightly launches the menu functions. To begin a search, just keep your finger on the key for about a second. I think having separate keys for Search and Menu is more efficient—especially for searches, which is what Google phones are supposed to make easy.

LG also tinkered with the phone's App Drawer, making it highly customizable. You can organize apps alphabetically or group them according to your own categories. Just tap a category folder to open and close it. You also have the option of viewing apps as a list or in a variety of page layouts. Here too, I found the business of opening and closing category folders to search for an app to be a step I can live without.

Another quibble: The apps dock at the bottom of the screen conveniently presents the Phone, Contacts, Messaging, and App Drawer icons even when you're switching screens. But you can't change any of them, at least easily, as you can on other phones like the Motorola Droid RAZR.

Battery life. With heavy use (frequent video streaming, push e-mail, Web browsing, camera use, and so on) it took a little less than 4 hours for the phone to cough up the low-battery alert. But I was able to squeeze a full day of work from the phone's 1830nAh battery when I used the Spectrum more moderately—even on 4G.

Bottom line: The LG Spectrum, like its AT&T twin, seems to have a great display and offers lots of features for the price (and I suspect the price will fall to $100 in just a few months). But some customers, like me, may have quibbles with LG's interface and controls.

If you own a smart phone or tablet, you've no doubt explored the enormous world of mobile apps, both free and paid. And if you're unhappy with a free app, nothing's easier than uninstalling it. But if you paid for an app that doesn't live up to its description, or has performance issues, or that you just don't like, you don't have a whole lot of recourse.

A precedent was set for this policy back in the days of boxed, shrink-wrapped software: In general, if you opened it, you owned it forever. But most programs offered free trials to potential buyers, so they could make sure it fit their needs. And they still do, even now that we can download software to our computers.

Increasingly mobile developers are offering “freemium” apps, which means they give away a core product at no charge and then generate revenue by selling premium products to some users. So the app could be a “lite” version, and you’d need to upgrade for full features and function; or it could runs ads, and you pay to get rid of them; or it makes money via in-app purchases—or some combination. But many apps are still paid only, meaning there’s no try-before-you-buy. If you’re dropping just a buck or two, that may be no big deal—but some apps can run you $30—or even more.

As when you’re considering any other kind of purchase, research apps as well as you can before you buy. The app markets include user reviews, which should always be taken with a grain of salt—but if there are enough of them, you can often get a sense of how the app works and what its flaws may be. Also check at sites that review apps, of which there are many—just search on the term “app reviews.” Again, break out that grain of salt!

If you do buy an app and regret the purchase, here are the various app stores’ refund policies, such as they are, and some ways you can pursue your app refund.

Android Market:
You can return an app to the Android Market, but bear in mind you have just 15 minutes to get a full refund for it—so try it out quickly. And the terms of the market states that you can return a specific app just once. So if you don’t like it the first time, definitely don’t buy it again.

Here’s what you do, as per the Android Market’s support page online:
1. Launch Android Market on your device.
2. Select Menu > My Apps.
3. Select the app you'd like to return. If the 15 minute refund window has not yet passed, the app is eligible for return and will have two buttons saying Open or Refund
4. Select the Refund option. The Refund button will now say Uninstall. Press Uninstall to remove the app from your device and initiate the refund.
5. After the 15 minute return period has expired, the Refund option will not be available. Selecting the Uninstall button at this point will simply remove the application from your device.
If you let that precious 15 minutes go by without asking for your refund, you then need to go to the app’s developer and make your case directly.

Apple App Store
App Store’s policy is no refunds unless the app proves unavailable to download after you pay for it, or technical problems ensue. Ask for a refund for a good reason, and you might receive it—but Apple takes these requests case by case, and there are no guarantees. Here’s how to go about requesting a refund:
1. Go to Manage Account (at the of the Store screen) and click on Purchase History.
2. Click on Report a problem.
3. Click the arrow next to the purchase with which you want to report a problem.
4. Click the Report a Problem link next to the item with which you wish to report an issue
5. Click the Problem drop-down menu, then select the most appropriate problem description.
6. Write in any additional comments, then submit.

BlackBerry App World
It’s not easy to make your way through the BlackBerry App World’s terms of sale page. The bottom line seems to be that all app sales are considered final, with a few exceptions: for example, the product isn’t available for download when you buy it, or the developer disables it. If all else fails, you could try your carrier.

Windows Phone Marketplace
As usual, this store's policy is that all sales are final and nonrefundable. But in Microsoft Answers, we saw a way to request refunds:

1. First, go to http://marketplace.windowsphone.com.
2. After signing in, select Purchase History. On the Purchase History page, click the Details button for the application you want refunded.
3. Click the Get Support button and you will see an option for Get Help with my bill. Request a refund for this purchase is the sub-topic.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile Refund Policy limits refunds to (1) per calendar month. All refund requests must be initiated within 24 hours of the application purchase. After the refund is issued, the application will be removed from your device.