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Bleeding Edge TV 245: iPhone 1.1.3 Jailbreak OS X video tutorial

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts,

Now that we know that the iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak method has been released, we figured it would be good of us to give you a video tutorial showing you how to get it done. After all, you all enjoyed our old-school 1.1.1 jailbreak video, right?

In this video, we provide step-by-step instructions that will help anyone upgrade their iPhone to a jailbreaked version of the 1.1.3 firmware. This should keep you tided over until that pesky SDK is released, right?

By the way, if you are looking for an excellent program to create custom ringtones for your iPhone, check out iPhone RingToneMaker, who sponsored this episode.


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‘Entertainment Tonight’ Pulls Heath Ledger Video

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Syndication, Cancellations, Editorial, News,

Entertainment TonightWho says public pressure doesn’t work?

Just a few weeks ago, did an about-face and canceled plans for a Britney-centric show.  (He claimed it was an act of consideration for the family.)  Now and are throwing out the word ‘respect’ as the reason for one of their own cancellations.

The two tabloid shows were scheduled to air a video involving and drugs this Thursday night.  The 2006 tape - which was practically aired in its entirety for Wednesday’s promo - showed the actor in the vicinity of drugs (and drug users) at the Chateau Marmont.  Although it wasn’t clear if he was taking anything in the teased bits, his audible comments made it clear he wasn’t doing something his girlfriend () would approve of.  He is also heard talking about their recently-born daughter, Matilda Rose.

Although I have never seen the full video, the shortened version was more than enough.  The teaser’s over-the-top narration was extremely salacious, gratuitous and insensitive.  I was so bothered by what was shown….and I apparently wasn’t the only one.  Late Wednesday, reps for both shows confirmed the sweeps segment had been pulled.  Here is a copy of the short statement printed on ET’s website:

“Out of respect for Heath Ledger’s family, “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider” have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in the world media.”

Click to continue reading ‘Entertainment Tonight’ Pulls Heath Ledger Video

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Entertainment Weekly


CES 2008 Video: Bug Labs on the Bug Base and Bug Platform

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Hack Attack, Cameras, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, GPS, Handhelds, Internet, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Videocasts,

Think Lego Mindstorms meets Radio Shack. has been working on their Bug Base—a fully modifiable, open-source gadget building block system. The base itself includes specs similar to “a three-year-old laptop” but includes and Ethernet, USB and more. Once you have the base, you can add additional “modules,” including LCD displays, , cameras, motion sensors and tons more. Each of the modules will require you to program them using a software package similar to VisualStudio in appearance, but everything is open source. Bug Labs has about 80 different sensors on the roadmap right now and they’re constantly interfacing with the community to come up with new ideas.

The concept has a lot of promise and some great tinkering cred. For the first 60 days, they’re offering an early-adopter special with the base costing just $299 (down from $349) and modules ranging from $49-$119. Pre-orders began on January 21st and will ship by March.

Take a look at our video to see us get our hands on the base and its modules and to talk to Jeremy from Bug Labs about what’s coming down the road and what’s in store for Bug Labs.


‘Cloverfield’ Warning: Take Your Motion Sickness Pills

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Action, Drama, Horror, Thrillers, Filmmaking,

Cloverfield

Tonight, I was really looking forward for my chance to see .  Not only was I intrigued by the trailers, I was relieved to watch a movie that was only 1.5 hours long.  A short run time basically guaranteed the action would start quickly.  Unfortunately, the production ended up feeling like the longest 85 minutes of my life.  (And that wasn’t because it was necessarily a bad film.)  It was also the most nauseating experience I had had in quite some time.  (And that wasn’t because it was a particularly gory film.  In fact, it was fairly tame.)  Cloverfield just happened to be the shakiest piece of film I can recall having to endure.  Period.

Had this been any other movie, I might have walked out on it.  The problem was that I wanted to sit through the whole thing.  (I needed to see that bad-ass monster for myself.)  If that meant averting my gaze through a third of the film, I figured that would still be better than completely leaving halfway through it.  I refused to wimp out.

But if any of you out there have a problem with motion sickness, heed my advice:  Take Your Dramamine!  Envision the shaky home video your friend took at your wedding. Then imagine them running with the camera.  Then extend that same piece of film (with no pauses) to movie-length.  I like to think that I can stomach a lot, but this was x 10.  (Though when compared to the sickening feeling I felt on a casino boat once, this was about half as bad.)

Click to continue reading ‘Cloverfield’ Warning: Take Your Motion Sickness Pills


CES 2008 Video: Westinghouse Passive 3D LCD television

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Videocasts,

is working on a gamer’s dream - a passively 3D television.  By aiming pixels in different directions, the television creates the illusion of depth thanks to the varying overlap points.  This feat is accomplished using only one screen!  The downside?  Because the pixels are aimed in different directions, the television isn’t capable of switching between 2D and 3D.

The ideal viewing spot for the television is about 1.5 meters - from further away the picture resembles that of a regular 2D television and from closer the images can be a little harder to view.

The passive 3D technology has been in development for about a year.  The display has been in development for about six months, and the whole shebang was perfected about three months ago.  Westinghouse predicts that their passive 3D display will become available first to the commercial market.


Bleeding Edge TV 215: Beats by Dr. Dre Private Listening Session and Impressions

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Accessories, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Podcasts, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Videocasts,

The Gear Live crew got the only private listening session of the newly-announced Beats by Dr. Dre headphones during , and our thoughts are in this episode. Be sure to check out our other Beats by Dr. Dre video, and our Beats by Dr. Dre photo gallery.

I’m what you would refer to as a cost-sensitive buyer. I’m obsessive about value propositions with my purchases. And I would buy the $400 Beats by Dr. Dre headphones by Dre & .

We got a private demo with Monster and had the opportunity to listen to what’s amounted to more than two years of obsessive research and attention to detail. All the materials, the drivers, the amplifier and more are clearly thought out and it shows. The response from these is absolutely incredible. Their intent was to allow you to listen to the music as the producer intended and dare I say it’s as faithful reproduction as you’ll find on a $400 set of headphones. It’s enough that I would buy these before buying the nearest-priced Logitech system for my computer. The bass response was impressive to the Nth—low bass held its tonal quality through a great deal of dynamic range, something not usually seen. The midrange was rich and warm and perfectly presented and the high ends came out just as well.

I’m sad because I really want these. I mean, I was upset that I had to go home tomorrow to my sound system, and that it’s nothing close to how these performed. They were comfortable, sexy, and sounded absolutely incredible.

Try these when they come out in June. But only if you’re prepared to buy them.


MacWorld 2008: Apple MacBook Air Notebook Announced

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Wireless / WiFi,

MacBook Air

During this morning’s keynote, announced the new MacBook Air notebook. We’ve all been expecting some sort of Apple sub-notebook, and this one looks amazing. Apple it touting this as the “world’s thinnest notebook”. The MacBook Air is 0.16-inches to 0.76-inches. The thickest part of the Air is thinner than the thinnest part of a Sony TZ series notebook. That is impressive. The device features an 80 GB 1.8-inch hard drive, with a 64 GB SSD drive as an option. It ships standard with 2 GB of RAM and a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip, with the option to switch to 1.8 GHz. Other features include a 45-watt MagSafe, 1 USB 2.0 port, a Micro-DVI port, and audio out. There is no Ethernet port (otherwise they couldn’t have gotten it this thin) so you will have to rely on the built-in 802.11n WiFI and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. The MacBook Air also leaves out the optical drive, but you can purchase an external SuperDrive accessory for $99 USD. It also ships with software that allows it to “borrow” the optical drive of another Mac or PC. Expect 5 hours of battery life out of this one - or more if you opt for the drive. The MacBook Air will hit retail in about two weeks, and will cost $1799. Pre-orders start today.

Read More | MacBook Air Product Page

CES 2008 Video: Samsung’s Q1 Ultra UMPC Line

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, CES, CES 2008, Features, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts,

We visited and learned about their new Ultra Mobile Personal Computers (). They’re basically palm-sized computers with the power of a laptop. Their line starts with the Q1 Ultra, which runs Windows XP or Vista has a standard 80GB hard drive, a battery life of 4 ½ hours with WiFi enabled, includes a webcam, 2 USB ports and an SD Card slot, weighing only 1.5 pounds at a price of $1300 USD. There’s also the Q1 Ultra SSD, with a 32 GB solid-state drive for increased boot time and access to data. Finally, there’s the just-launched, award-winning Q1 Ultra Premium, with a powerful Intel Pentium Mobile Processor, 80GB hard drive, and a battery life up to 7.5 hours with WiFi enabled. Available at the end of the month for $1500.


CES 2008 Video: Sparky gets tasered / Taser MP3 player

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, CES, CES 2008, Features, Misc. Tech, Podcasts, Videocasts,

When going to one expects a rough week involving countless interviews, hour after hour of writing, and defending oneself from PR reps from round the world. One thing you don’t expect is to get the living daylights shocked out of you. First and foremost, watch the video above for a chance to see me get tasered. After all, it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to see some poor sot get tasered - particularly when they signed themself up for it (full waiver and everything).

Oh yeah, a bit of background - we didn’t go for the ‘shock treatment’ but rather went to check out Tasers new MPH or Music Playing Holster. With this faux-leather device one can carry their original, pink, or leopard skin taser in style and listen to 1GB of tunes at the same time. It doesn’t fully make sense to us, but the Taser company claims this makes it an ideal exercise companion for those jogs through the seedy underbelly of your favorite big city.


CES 2008 Video: Beats by Dr. Dre First Look with Noel Lee

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Accessories, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Podcasts, Videocasts,

We got a chance to catch up with Noel Lee, Head Monster of to talk to him about their newly announced headphones. Noel goes into the background and development of these amazing headphones, the two-year development, and the relationship with Dr. Dre. Be sure to also check out our Beats by Dr. Dre photo gallery to get a good look at these things.


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