On Gear Live: iBooks Author allows you to create and publish books for the iPad

Latest Gear Live Videos

Black Friday 2011: RadioShack

RadioShack Black Friday 2011

RadioShack's Black Friday 2011 sale looks enticing, and we rarely say that kind of stuff about The Shack. Doors open at 5:30 am the day after Thanksgiving, but you can get the Black Friday prices a day early by shopping on radioshack.com. We've got the highlights of the sale for you after the break, which include a $300 15-inch Toshiba laptop, a $99 7-inch Velocity Micro Cruz tablet, 20% off Beats by Dr. Dre Solo headphones, and more.

Click to continue reading Black Friday 2011: RadioShack


Advertisement

Black Friday 2011: Toys R Us

GameStop Black Friday 2011

Black Friday 2011 is near, and we've been collecting the best ads we can find, highlighting the good stuff. Here we've got the best from what Toys R Us will have to offer.  Interestingly enough, Toys R Us isn't even waiting for Friday to arrive, as their sales start at 9:00 pm on Thanksgiving, three hours before other stores will be kicking off their midnight Black Friday sales. Some highlights include a free $50 gift card when you buy an iPod touch, as well as great discounts on games for  Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, and Kinect.

Click to continue reading Black Friday 2011: Toys R Us


Black Friday 2011: GameStop

GameStop Black Friday 2011

We've been busy posting some of the tech-heavy Black Friday 2011 sales that we're finding, and up next is GameStop. We don't particularly enjoy the GameStop shopping experience throughout the year, but they definitely have some good stuff planned for Black Friday with their midnight open. We've got the list for you after the break, where you can expect deep discounts on a bunch of new Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, DS, PS3, and Wii titles, as well as cheaper hardware like the consoles themselves and the Kinect sensor.

Click to continue reading Black Friday 2011: GameStop


Survey says Xbox 360 failure rate falls to 10 percent

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hardware, Microsoft, Xbox 360

Xbox 360 RROD

Improvements to the Xbox 360 have apparently cut down on the number of "red ring of death" reports, but the console still requires more repairs than its competitors, according to data from PCMag's Readers' Choice Awards.

Approximately 10 percent of those polled for the survey reported having to take their Xbox 360 in for repairs over the last year, which was twice the rate of its competitors. However, that was a significant improvement over last year, when that number was 23 percent.

Many Xbox users are familiar with the console's "red ring of death," which replaced the glowing green center on the device's power button when the Xbox was on its last legs. Last year, former PCMag Editor Lance Ulanoff experienced the phenomenon after his son completed a Red Dead Redemption marathon on his Xbox 360. Though some Twitter users helpfully suggested that placing it in the freezer for a few minutes would solve the problem (really), he opted to send it in for repairs.

Last year, Microsoft unveiled a "slim" version of its Xbox 360 console at E3, which featured a redesigned case with a bit more ventilation than the original console. It included built-in 802.11n networking and a 250GB hard drive for $299.


Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day

xbox 360 12 month messenger starter kit sale

We've got your latest list of items that fall under the best tech Deals of the Day for you, separated out into laptops, desktops, monitors, gaming, and home entertainment. The laptop deals are right here, but be sure to click through to get a look at all the rest of what we determined to be today's top 10 deals in tech, including that Xbox Live 12 Month Starter Kit up there!

Laptops

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.

Click to continue reading Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day


Nintendo DS Lite now just $99

DS Lite $99

Quick update for you mobile gaming fans - the Nintendo DS Lite is now $99. Nintendo announced the price drop today, ahead of next weeks E3. It's a great price for a fantastic portable console, but we have to wonder--does this mean we might see a Nintendo 3DS price drop next week? It's no secret that the sales on Nintendo's new flagship console have been less than stellar.

Read More | Nintendo DS Lite

2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Powermat Rechargeable Travel Mat

powermat portable 2x travel powercube

We're big fans of what Powermat has to offer here at Gear Live HQ, and that's why we think it's appropriate to feature them in our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. What you've got here is a little panel with a built-in battery pack that lets you wirelessly charge your mobile devices. It folds up and is small enough to throw in a bag, and won't take up much space at all on a desk. On a full charge, you can charge an iPhone five times. The Powermat Travel Mat comes with adapters that allow you to charge any USB device, Nintendo DS, a few proprietary phone connectors, and iOS devices. The cool part here is that you just set your device on the mat, and it starts charging.

They typically sell for $130, but Amazon's got 'em for $69 right now.

Read More | Powermat Travel Mat

Redbox testing out video game rentals

Description

While they originally started testing out a video game rental service in August of 2009 at select Redbox kiosks, the DVD rental giant is seeking to take their video game options nationwide this week. Added markets include those in the West, Midwest, and Atlantic Coast. A look at Redbox's website shows a large offering of video games on the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PS2 and Nintendo DS. One rental will cost $2 per day. This may seem like a bit much, considering I remember a time when I could rent a game for a week from Blockbuster for just five dollars. Perhaps a set weekly rate would help their cause much more. Would you rent video games from Redbox for $2 per day? Or would you prefer they have a set weekly rate instead?

Read More | Redbox

Apple says iPod touch outsells Sony and Nintendo combined. What?

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Video Games

iPhone Gaming

Looks as if is gunning for a spot in the gaming realm, or rather has already sliced out their piece of the pie. Sony previously attacked Apple during a PSP commercial where “Marcus” told a kid playing games on an iPhone that it was made for “texting your grandmother” and not for “big boy” games. Steve Jobs retaliated earlier today at the company by revealing that both Nintendo and Sony’s portable systems are under the sales of the alone, and that over 1.5 billion “games and entertainment” apps have been downloaded, big boy games or not.

However, the Nintendo DS reportedly sold 132 million units world wide, while Apple is tracked at 120 million iOS units sold according to their July report. Is Apple trying to pull the wool over gamers eyes, or do they really have the numbers to back up their bold claim? We’re looking into it, as a bit of clarification seems to be in order.


Nintendo DS R4 Cards Now Illegal In UK

R4 CardIn an attempt to thwart rampant piracy of their line of video games, Nintendo has been combating the use of the R4 card and other methods of pirating for years. Finally, has seen a tremendous victory come about in the form of the banning of R4 cards in the United Kingdom.

Previously, the R4 card was used (or supposed to used at least) to install homebrew games that indie developers would cook up for the DS. However, the R4 could also be loaded with easily accessible retail versions of Nintendo DS titles from major developers posted online. This posed a big problem to not only Nintendo, but to the developers who saw a decline in their sales. With digital downloads of their games available online, and easily transferable to one of these R4 cards, it seemed that their games didn’t stand a chance at retail. Why purchase something when you can get it for free?

In light of this misuse of R4 cards, a UK court has ruled in favor of Nintendo, making the R4 card illegal in the UK. While this comes as a huge victory to Nintendo, we must shed a tear for the indie homebrew developers who actually used the R4 cards for its intended purpose.

Nintendo had this to say:

“In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009. Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival.”

Read More | MCV UK

Advertisement