Latest Gear Live Videos
Unboxing Live 030: MacBook Air unboxing video
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Laptop, PC, Videocasts
The MacBook Air is the latest gem of a notebook from the Apple folks. Aimed at those who need something super portable (or, ultra-portable), the Air features a 13-inch LED backlit screen, a full-sized backlit keyboard, and it weighs just three pounds.
We got our hands on the SSD version of the MacBook Air, so we boot it up and give you a look at it’s startup time as well. The Air comes with a
Mini
Micro DVI-to-DVI cable, and
Mini
Micro DVI-to-VGA cable, and the expected power charger and software. We also noticed that the box it ships in is a lot smaller than those of previous Apple notebooks. Check out the video to see for yourself.
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Follow Up: Verizon makes good on our FiOS privacy woes
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Editorial, Features, Internet
A little under two weeks ago, we made a long-standing issue that we had with Verizon public. The fact that they had ignored our request to fix a huge oversight that resulted in our private FiOS account info to fall into the wrong hands for over 8 months was starting to upset us just a tad. We knew that if we shared it with you, our readers, that Verizon would have no choice but to respond quickly. At least, that was the hope.
Well, sure enough, after the story was picked up on The Consumerist as well as made it to the front page of Digg, we received a phone call. Then an email. Then another phone call. Then a couple more emails. Verizon Damage Control had stepped in.
Click to continue reading Follow Up: Verizon makes good on our FiOS privacy woes
Bleeding Edge TV 250: Slacker Internet radio and Slacker Portable
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Features, Internet, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts, Wireless / WiFi
Slacker Internet radio is going portable! Slacker offers free, sponsored Internet radio with 1 to 2 minutes of interstitial ads per hour. In its free service, Slacker allows 6 skips per hour per station, but with over 100 genre stations to be listened to (working out to the ability to skip 600 songs per hour), even the most skip-happy listener can satisfy their urge to get to the next song quickly. Slacker’s Premium membership offers unlimited skips and saving and replaying favorite songs starting at $7.50/month.
Slacker Portable is Slacker’s companion personal media player. Available in 2, 4 and 8 gig models (translated to 15, 25 and 45 stations), Slacker Portable fills itself from the user’s favorite stations every time it’s synced. Not only is the music on the player, but anything available from Slacker’s site is available on the Slacker Portable, including artist bios, reviews and album art. Because Slacker Portable isn’t constantly connected to Slacker’s HQ, there’s no cutout when a listener enters a subway train, goes into a tunnel, or anywhere that a signal would be lost with an FM or a satellite radio. And if you can’t live without that certain album at your disposal at all times, Slacker Portable allows you to load mp3’s from your own library.
Bleeding Edge TV 246: iPhone 1.1.3 Jailbreak with iBrickr on Windows video tutorial
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts
We gave you the details on how to jailbreak your 1.1.3 iPhone on OS X, but don’t think we forgot about people running the trusty Windows OS.
Luckily, we have a special edition of iBrickr, which will allow you to jailbreak your iPhone very easily, all you need is a little patience. In case you missed it, check out our iPhone 1.1.3 video tour.
By the way, if you are looking for an excellent program to create custom ringtones for your iPhone, check out iPhone RingToneMaker.
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.
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. Bug Labs 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 WiFi and Ethernet, USB and more. Once you have the base, you can add additional “modules,” including LCD displays, GPS, 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.
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
Westinghouse is working on a gamer’s dream - a passively 3D LCD 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 CES, 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 & Monster Cable.
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
During this morning’s MacWorld keynote, Steve Jobs 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 SSD 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 Samsung and learned about their new Ultra Mobile Personal Computers (UMPC). 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.
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