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Anyone who's attended CES knows that getting a cell phone signal during the show's peak hours is never a sure bet. With 140,000 phone-wielding people crammed into a square half mile, you can go several hours without making a call, accessing your e-mail, or even sending a tweet.

Since it's rather ironic that you can't use your cell phone at a gadget show, we made a point this year of seeing just how bad the conditions were. So we brought along RootMetrics, a company that powers our cell phone coverage maps, to test the average … Read more

Editor's note: This app is available only in the United States.

Though CNET's always been here to rate the latest cell phones, your handset is only half the story in the search for a great wireless experience. Strong coverage from your carrier is equally important, but finding that reception, and keeping it, isn't easy.

That's why we've partnered with Root Metrics to create a unique tool that can help you check reception strength and make a carrier decision. You might have already discovered the tool when browsing any CNET cell phone review (look for the &… Read more

IT professionals are set to benefit from the use of a single metric to measure data center efficiency, after organizations from Europe, Japan, and the U.S. agreed to work together on a global framework.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, was reached by the EU Code of Conduct, the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, along with the Green Grid--a data center industry consortium that includes heavyweights like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel, and Microsoft.

"The ultimate goal is to create a set of globally accepted metrics for data center … Read more

If you've been following the headlines of late you'll find that StatCounter's research arm, a Web tracking service most Webheads are familiar with, has gone from afterthought to player in just a few short months.

Credit a few handy Bing-happy press releases and handy browser market share stats.

There's a good bit of hubbub about IE market share, which has dropped off since March (Techmeme). The big question is whether we should believe the numbers (below is the year over year trends).

Let's look at … Read more

Start-up Planet Metrics is developing software that could give consumers a better read on the embedded energy of everyday products.

The San Francisco-based company on Tuesday released the beta test version of its hosted application, which it calls Rapid Carbon Modeling. It also said Method, which makes eco-friendly home-cleaning products, is a customer.

There are a number of companies writing software for calculating how much energy is linked to a business' operations and managing carbon emissions. Planet Metrics' software is geared at manufacturers and makers of consumer packaged goods.

Using Planet Metrics' software, a person could, for example, see how … Read more

Earlier this week, I listed some useful Firefox extensions that help you become more productive while you blog. Now it's time to see how well your blog is performing.

I've found and tried 12 online applicatons that track your blog's traffic. Some are better than others, but they're all designed with the same goal in mind: helping you grow your blog.

Clickdensity Clickdensity not only tracks the number of page views and unique visitors to your site, it overlays a "heat map" on your page that tells you where visitors are clicking. It's a helpful tool. You can see if the way you place content on your site is helping you increase traffic. And it will give you insight into where to place page elements. Pricing starts at $5 per month. If you want to improve your site's design, try Clickdensity.

Clicky Don't let its childish name fool you; Clicky is outstanding. You'll find charts and graphs, but one of its best features is its visitor detail, which gives you accurate information on individual visitors in real time. It tells you which country they're from and how long they've been on your site. Clicky also has a mobile page designed specifically for the iPhone. It boasts all the same features as Clicky's online version. Plus, it's snappy, so you won't waste time checking traffic. Pricing starts at $29.99 per year.

Google Analytics Google Analytics is a free service that provides you with a graph showing how many people visited your site. The tool also lets you see which pages visitors clicked, how many unique visitors went to your site, and information on where the most people entered and exited. It's not nearly as advanced as other apps in this roundup, but it's certainly the easiest to use. If you want something simple and accurate, Google Analytics is for you.

Histats.com Histats.com sports the slickest design of any tool in this roundup. You'll find common tracking elements like page views, visitors, and referral information, but that's all displayed in the most user-friendly design I've seen in this space. The graphs are gorgeous. The app's ease of use is unparalleled, thanks to slick menus. And changing the data you want to look at is simple. I was really impressed by Histats (and its free price tag).… Read more

As announced last week, Digg relaunched its DiggBar feature late Tuesday, making it something that only appears for registered users, who are now able to turn it off completely. That new option shows up in Digg's user settings panel which means users can choose whether they feel like using it.

Along with the change, the company has also adjusted the DiggBar's behavior once you leave the site to go read a story. For one it's smaller, in an attempt to take up less space on sites you're visiting. Digg has also "temporarily" removed the … Read more

One of the great things about working at a creative firm is that there's so much creativity around that it sometimes takes non-client-related work to fully channel it. From time to time, my colleagues at frog design embark on concept work for magazines to explore new territory and flex their skills.

The latest piece is a special project for Forbes' Special Report on Identity: The Troika card, a concept for a smarter Social Security card with a multifunctional screen that turns your identity card into a gadget. "Of the three forms of identification we have in the States--the … Read more

A couple of recent articles dovetail nicely about how specifications, and what those specifications describe, influence how people make buying decisions.

The first is from a study looking at how choices between competing products are made, first based on subjective criteria, and then when specifications are introduced.

In an initial experiment, Christopher Hsee and colleagues asked 112 students to choose between one of two hypothetical cameras: one boasted better resolution, the other having superior vividness. Based on sample photos taken by the two cameras, but without detail on the precise resolution specs, most participants (74 percent) chose the camera that … Read more