Hey, remember that HP HDX Dragon PC that we unboxed a few months ago? Well, HP has gone and upgraded the specs on that puppy, and they want us to give one of them to you guys. Not just the computer, but a few Blu-ray movies, a few PC games, and a bunch of software too. All in all, if you were to purchase everything we are giving away on your own, you’d end up spending somewhere around $5,196.00. Yeah, I said it. Go ahead and read that again.

No, here is the real kicker. Now only are we here at Gear Live giving away one of these 1080p beasts, but thirty other sites are also going to be giving away the exact same package, including our friends over at ArsTechnica, Lockergnome, JKOnTheRun, and Jake Ludington’s MediaBlab. That means you have 31 chances to win. Seriously.

Now, each site is going to set their own criteria for how they are going to run things, and we will be announcing what we will be doing soon. Our giveaway date for the HDX Dragon is June 7, 2008. You’d better keep it locked here, peeps. Oh, and anyone in the world is eligible to win.

Hit the break for the full scoop on everything we are giving away, which other sites are also giving these away, and an unboxing video of the HDX Dragon.

Read More | 31 Days of the Dragon ]]> 2008-04-29T00:13:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q208-yes-we-are-on-twitter/ Announcements, Internet Just a quick heads up to our readers who continually write in asking if we are on Twitter. The answer is, unequivocally, yes. We’ve been there for quite a while now. So if you want to follow us, here are the two accounts you might be interested in:

• Gear Live: Get Gear Live updates sent to you through Twitter
• Andru Edwards: My personal account

If you are on Twitter, feel free to share your username in the comments.

Okay, we get it - we suck. You read Gear Live daily, and constantly say to yourself “I could so have written that story better.” Okay hot shot, now’s your chance. Gear Live is looking to bring in a couple more writers who know their stuff as it pertains to gadgets, television, movies, and sports. You need not be a professional journalist to apply, but you should be able to write like one. What do we mean? Well, for starters, you have to have a strong command of the written English language. You also need to be passionate about the subject matter at hand. If you think you fit the bill, we want to hear from you.

Drop us an email at gigs[at]gearlive.com, and provide three sample posts written in the Gear Live style. These need to be original and timely, not something you wrote for the school paper a few years back. Also let us know why we should pick you, and what you can commit to. This is a paid gig, so we are looking for the best.

6:39 The lights are up, and Bill has walked on stage!

6:40 Bill is talking about the last decade. Photos and music have made a huge transformation from analog to digital. “Information anywhere” seems to be a major theme.

6:42 Lots of partners have contributed to this digital decade - While this is Bill’s last CES keynote he thinks technology is just getting rolling

6:44 Video spoof of Bill Gates last day at Microsoft - Bill driving a Chevy Malibu to work and cleaning out his desk. Very funny stuff!

Check out the rest of the coverage after the jump

That’s right peeps - the Gear Live crew has touched down in Vegas, and we are ready to rock this year’s CES out. We have our two video crews ready to hit the events, along with a few of our standard writers as well. I’m talking about Andru, Sparky, Jenny, Lolita, and Chris. We are supported by our fantastic video crew which includes hacker extraordinaire Nate True, along with Jesse and Brenda Ferguson.

So, what do you want to see? We are going to be hitting the big parties, the major (and minor) booths, and everything in between in our attempt to bring you the amazing and obscure sights and sounds on CES 2008.

As just about all of you know, CES is the be-all end-all event of the year for those of us who adore gadgets. That is just how it is. Our friends at Monster Cable just let us know about their big giveaway, and we figured you guys might be interested in what they have going on. They are giving away a pair of premium seating tickets to their Mary J. Blige concert, happening in Vegas during CES. The winner will even get flown out, on Monster Cable’s dime, and put up in a Vegas hotel as well. Not too bad. Hit the link below to enter.

Read More | Monster Cable Mary J. Blige Concert Giveaway ]]> 2007-12-27T22:48:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q307-yoda-postage-stamp-unveiled/ Announcements, Movies So last spring we told you about the Star Wars postage stamps, which could only be purchased as a multi-stamp set. However, you could vote for your favorite character to receive a stamp of his/her/its own. The winner? Yoda! The sage, semi-cuddly Jedi Master’s stamp has been released. Although his pose suggests complete disdain for the honor, we bet deep down he’s quite humbled.

Read More | Yahoo! News ]]> 2007-11-06T02:42:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q307-gear-live-gives-back-education-charity-drive/ Announcements Alright, let’s take a break for just a moment away from the standard news fare. We know that you guys love the gadgets, gizmos, and consumer electronics just as much as we do.  These expensive and cool toys are often a marvel when you break them down to the technology that drives them. That’s what makes what we do fun, and why we love the interaction we have with our readers. However, we want to focus a bit of attention on the young ones in our country who would be happy to have a calculator for use in class, and the teachers who work for districts that can’t afford things like projectors for use in their schools.

Gear Live has joined the 2007 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge, and we have chosen ten great causes that are centered around getting some basic technology into classrooms located in our local area, as well as some of the hardest areas still suffering the affects of Hurricane Katrina. We’ve chosen ten causes that we thought touched on what we believed in, and you can take a look at them and choose which one(s) you want to help. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for the children of our nation. Just know that the money you donate will go directly to that specific teacher request - not into some big pot of money that is then doled out by the organization. As donations come in, there meter over on the right will fill up.

Some of the most expensive purchases for schools are consumer electronics. We believe that all children need to get acquainted with the tools of the future as they learn so they when they are ready to hit the workforce, they can succeed alongside their peers. Please, help us in assisting teachers, children, and schools in low-income areas get the tools they need to help their children excel.

Read More | Gear Live Gives Back ]]> 2007-10-08T19:39:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q307-dont-forget-we-are-giving-away-skitch-invites/ Announcements, Apple, Software

We just wanted to throw out a friendly reminder for all of our readers using OS X. We are running a contest where we will be giving away two invitations to the amazingly fantastic Skitch Beta. If you missed it, check out our Skitch review to see what all the fuss is about, and hit our Skitch discussion thread to make your entry. All we want to know is what you’d Skitch. The contest ends on October 10th, so get in quick!

Read More | Skitch Giveaway Contest ]]> 2007-10-05T18:46:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q307-gear-live-looking-for-bloggers/ Announcements

Okay, we get it - we suck. You read Gear Live daily, and constantly say to yourself “I could so have written that story better.” Okay hot shot, now’s your chance. Gear Live is looking to bring in a couple more writers who know their stuff as it pertains to gadgets, television, movies, and sports. You need not be a professional journalist to apply, but you should be able to write like one. What do we mean? Well, for starters, you have to have a strong command of the written English language. You also need to be passionate about the subject matter at hand. If you think you fit the bill, we want to hear from you.

Drop us an email at gigs[at]gearlive.com, and provide three sample posts written in the Gear Live style. These need to be original and timely, not something you wrote for the school paper a few years back. Also let us know why we should pick you, and what you can commit to. This is a paid gig, so we are looking for the best.

Oh, and yes, that is a new logo. Look for our redesign, coming soon.

E3 kicks off tonight with the Microsoft Media Briefing. Keep an eye on our games section, Playfeed, as we will be putting up our live notes of Microsoft’s Media Briefing, as well as all the other relevant news coming out of E3 2007.

Read More | Playfeed Live At Microsoft Media Briefing ]]> 2007-07-11T03:56:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q307-save-the-internet-campaign-you-have-5-more-days-to-act/ Announcements, Internet

We know that just about everyone reading Gear Live loves the Internet - either that, or they happened upon us by typoing their true destination, Dear Love. However, if you are one of those who has enjoyed the Internet for what it is, and don’t want to see it take an immense step back here in the USA, you have five days to let congress know that. Luckily, Save The Internet makes it super easy to do - all you do is fill out a form, and they make sure it gets to where it needs to go. This is crunch time in the battle for Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality is essential to free speech, equal opportunity and economic innovation in America. Since the FCC removed this basic protection in 2005, the top executives of phone and cable companies have stated their intention to become the Internet’s gatekeepers and to discriminate against Web sites that don’t pay their added tolls.

This fundamental change would end the open Internet as we know it. It would damage my ability to connect with others, share information and participate in our 21st century democracy and economy. The FCC must ensure that broadband providers do not block, interfere with or discriminate against any lawful Internet traffic based on its ownership, source or destination.

Hit the link below to find out more.

Read More | Save The Internet ]]> 2007-07-11T00:35:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q307-happy-4th-of-july-be-safe/ Announcements

We just wanted to take a quick minute to wish all of our US readers a happy Independence Day. Eat well, drive safely, and be careful around all that sparkly, flaming goodness, lest your iPhone go up in flames…

Read More | Parallels 3.0 Giveaway Contest ]]> 2007-06-17T12:00:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q207-gear-live-giveaway-parallels-desktop-301/ Announcements, Apple, PC / Laptop, Software As a reminder, we announced the other day that we are giving away a copy of Parallels 3.0. Here are the details:

Our Parallels video walkthrough was published on our video show, The Bleeding Edge. We have made the Parallels episode available for your viewing after the jump. You can find the show in iTunes in both high resolution format (suitable for Apple TV) and a smaller iPod format. Go ahead and check out either link, which will take you right to the iTunes pages for the respective format, and if you would be so kind, go ahead and subscribe.

Now, on to entering. All you need to do to enter is write up a short review of the show on the iTunes page. Once you do that, let us know, and you are in. If you leave a review for both the Apple TV and iPod versions, you get two entries into the giveaway. We will run the contest through Sunday, and then randomly choose a winner based on the number of entries we receive. You must live in the USA or Canada to be eligible for the prize.

Good luck to everyone - we look forward to reading the reviews.

Our Parallels video walkthrough was published on our video show, The Bleeding Edge. We have made the Parallels episode available for your viewing after the jump. You can find the show in iTunes in both high resolution format (suitable for Apple TV) and a smaller iPod format. Go ahead and check out either link, which will take you right to the iTunes pages for the respective format, and if you would be so kind, go ahead and subscribe.

Now, on to entering. All you need to do to enter is write up a short review of the show on the iTunes page. Once you do that, let us know, and you are in. If you leave a review for both the Apple TV and iPod versions, you get two entries into the giveaway. We will run the contest through Sunday, and then randomly choose a winner based on the number of entries we receive. You must live in the USA or Canada to be eligible for the prize.

Good luck to everyone - we look forward to reading the reviews.

Read More | GamerAndy Live! Episode 82 ]]> 2007-06-08T20:34:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q107-sony-married-to-ps3-for-thenext-10-years-and-beyond/ Announcements, Corporate News, Video Games So Sony has had its struggles with its PS3 console, including sluggish sales, the demise of the 20GB version, the “Father of Playstation” stepping down and the surprise domination of the Nintendo Wii. But, PS3 owners need not worry, according to Sony President Jack Tretton, who claims “We didn’t get into PS3 for the first six months of 2007—we’re into this for the next 10 years and beyond.” Despite its expensive-but-worth-it price tag, the 60GB PS3 is built for the long haul, with its intense graphics and sound, high-tech specs and Blu-ray capability (if Blu-ray takes off). With highly anticipated titles such as “Madden” and “Grand Theft Auto IV” looming, it will be interesting to see if the PS3 can catch up to the lower-priced, family-friendly Wii in both sales and “coolness factor”.

Read More | PSPSPS ]]> 2007-05-28T01:28:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q107-live-video-broadcast-of-gamerandy-live-episode-80-starting-now/ Announcements, Internet, Video Games, Videos

Hey guys, we are starting our first live video broadcast for your viewing pleasure. GamerAndy, GamerEdie, and Andru Edwards are all currently sitting in the same room for the first time, ready to hit you with the latest news and opinions from the video game world. Join us now, live, on Ustream.

Read More | Gear Live Ustream Page ]]> 2007-05-12T00:00:00-08:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q207-bleeding-edge-high-resolution-now-available/ Announcements For all you fans of our award-winning video show, The Bleeding Edge, we wanted to let you guys know that we have created a high resolution feed for your viewing enjoyment. This is perfect if you want to stream the shows over your network to an Apple TV or Xbox 360. You can subscribe to the high resolution version of The Bleeding Edge in iTunes, or you can download them episode-by-episode in the show notes of any previously posted show. Enjoy!