Skitch: review of OS X’s hottest new information sharing tool

Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Internet, Misc. Tech, Product Reviews, Software,

The concept of screen capture has been around almost as long as the graphical user interface, but only recently has it truly evolved. OS X has featured the Grab utility for a while which made capturing a screenshot, selection, or single window easy, but once you have the capture, what do you do with it? Plasq solves this problem with Skitch, the evolution (or perhaps revolution) of screen capture to the Mac. The program blew us away when we first got our hands on it, we even wrote a quick post of our Skitch impressions after five minutes of use. Now we have an in-depth review of the Skitch beta, and a chance for you to win one of two Skitch beta invites Gear Live has to offer.

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Read More | Skitch by Plasq

The Starbucks iTunes WiFi music store reviewed

Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Software, Wireless / WiFi,

As promised Apple and Starbucks started their rollout of the Starbucks WiFi Music Store in select cities. Gear Live is lucky enough to be in Seattle, the first city to get the special version of the iTunes Music Store in our Starbucks. The service allows laptops, iPhones, and the iPod Touch users to connect for free to the iTunes store while sipping lattes without having to pay for for a T-Mobile Hotspot account. Click through for our full impressions on Apple’s new partnership with the coffee mega-store Starbucks.

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iPhone password entry in software version 1.1.1: seriously flawed

Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Software, Wireless / WiFi,

In a previous post, Gear Live discovered that the new iTunes WiFi Music Store has a few bugs here and there. The bug I encountered prevents some users from authenticating easily to purchase tracks. With a little sleuth work I managed to track down the problem: the password fields in the new iPhone software version 1.1.1 don’t work well with capitol letters in passwords. Click through for a full run down of the problem, and how to fix it if it affects you.

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Vaja iVolution Top SP Flip Holster for the iPhone reviewed

Posted by Sparky Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smartphones, Design, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,

Surrounding the release of Apple‘s iPhone there was a flurry excitement surrounding various cases to protect and showcase a consumer’s shiny new obsession. A number of cases including simple cloth slipcovers, protective rubber enclosures, and elaborate leather constructions flooded onto the market, each with different plusses and minuses.

Gear Live has previously reviewed several of the high-end leather cases by Argentinean case manufacturer Vaja, and given our extremely positive experiences in the past, we jumped at the opportunity to check out their new iVolution line of iPhone cases. The iVolution line has a number of different styles of cases and holsters, and we selected the fully-enclosed protection offered by the iVolution Top SP Holster. Click through the jump for the full in-depth review.

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Skitch: Micro-review 5 minutes in

Posted by Sparky Categories: Design, Internet, Product Reviews, Software,

The geniuses over at Plasq have created another application, and while it hasn’t won any awards yet (it’s still in beta) but it’s certain to do so shortly. Skitch allows you to show the world something on your Mac effortlessly rather than try tell them about it in writing or sending massive and unmanageable screenshots. I’m 5 minutes into my experimentation with it and I already can tell this is one of the coolest applications I’ve played with in a while. It makes image capture and annotation a breeze, and does it all with a highly polished elegance.

Skitch allows you to capture screenshots, windows, webcam images, and all sorts of other media into its editing window. Once you have a base image it’s easy to annotate and edit the image with text, handwriting, or other shapes then one click saves it up to the Skitch site on the web for easy sharing. If you don’t want to go the upload route it’s easy to drag your creation into any other application on your Mac, or just save the finished file to disk.

Stay tuned for a much more in-depth review over the next couple of days so stay tuned and check back for more info on this delicious little software treat.

UPDATE:As amazing as the Skitch application is that’s not everything Plasq is throwing on the table with Skitch. Now that I’ve spent a few more minutes with it the service side of Skitch is starting to shine. The ability to save and upload one of your creations (skitches?) to the Skitch service with a single click is wonderfully simple and well implemented. Once the upload is complete you are taken to a webpage for that creation where you can share it with friends as simply as pasting a link into an IM, e-mail, or forum and you can instantly share what you just created. Check out the Skitch page for the photo above.

UPDATED UPDATE: Gear Live’s in-depth review of Skitch has posted - check it out!

Read More | Skitch by Plasq

V-Moda Vibe Duo Earphones/Headset for iPhone Review

Posted by Sparky Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smartphones, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,

We picked up a pair of the new V-Moda Vibe Duos and took them for a spin. The Vibe Duos sound great (almost as good as the Etymotic ER-6s), and feature a microphone for making hands-free calls on the iPhone. They also feature cloth-wrapped cords, durable metal construction, and extended plug (for easy use with the iPhone’s recessed headphone jack) all add up to a stunning package. Check out after the jump for our full review.

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Unboxing Flip Video

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cameras, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Videos,

It’s no top of the line model, but we still dig our new Flipvideo. Going through video withdrawal, we purchased one on a whim and set out to test our new toy. It is so simple to operate that we are eternally grateful to puredigital. The MSRP for the cam is $149.99, but we managed to purchase one on Amazon for $130.00 with free shipping. We figure we had better invest the savings into rechargeable batteries as this puppy only comes with 2 standard AA’s. Details to follow.

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The Gear Live iPhone Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Features, Internet, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,

Now that we’ve spent two weeks with the iPhone, we are now ready to hit you back with our in-depth review and impressions. Needless to say, Apple generated a lot of hype with the iPhone, and many feared it would flop in the face of near impossible levels of pre-release fanaticism. Thankfully I am glad that after a full weeks usage I can attest: Apple actually pulled it off. They lived up to or exceeded every single promise they made about the iPhone.

As a preface, our impressions are quite favorable overall, but the iPhone does have a few flaws. Regardless of those flaws, we think this will be an industry-changing phone and will raise the bars for Microsoft, Symbian, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and other competitors in the mobile marketplace. We expect them all to produce better phones featuring integration, ease of use, and stability all orders of magnitude ahead of what they now offer.

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Early iPhone Review Roundup

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Internet, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Videos,

Alright kids, we know it hurts, but Walt Mossberg, David Pogue, Steven Levy, and Edward Baig have all had their iPhone units for a couple of weeks now, and the embargoes were lifted earlier today. So what does all that mean? We have the first four iPhone reviews available for public consumption, and they all pretty much leave us with the same feeling - the iPhone is definitely a game changer, and is an amazing experience. However, the fact that it is on EDGE instead of 3G HSDPA sucks, and the software keyboard takes a few days to get used to. Of course, that is a very, very short summary. All in all though, Apple looks to have another winner on it’s hands. You can check out the reviews at the following links:

• Wall Street Journal iPhone Review
• New York Times iPhone Review
• New York Times iPhone Video Review
• USA Today iPhone Review

Tom Bihn Smart Alec Laptop Backpack Review

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Wearables, Features, PC / Laptop, Product Reviews,

Quality and Convenience. These are the words that immediately come to mind about Tom Bihn’s Smart Alec laptop backpack and accessories. Available in 4 color combinations, this bag is as stylish as it is functional. But let’s start with Quality. The large, roomy (18.5” x 11.75” x 7.75”), Smart Alec is made of 1050 denier Ballistic and 1000 denier Cordura nylons, and is lined with 500 denier Dupont Cordura nylon. Translation? This bag is strong, and seemingly indestructible, exemplified by their lifetime guarantee. Plus, both the back of the backpack and the straps are heavily padded. My first time out with Alec, I was carrying at least 10 pounds of laptop and other stuff—and yet Alec was surprising comfortable on my back. If you plan on using the Smart Alec as a laptop bag, I highly recommend the Brain Cell, a soft, lightweight but tough-as-nails shell for your computer, with 8mm of durable foam padding. The Brain Cell (which, with its two mesh pockets and shoulder strap attachments can itself be used as a laptop bag) is of the highest quality and durability. The Brain Cell even attaches to the interior of the Smart Alec with “Annex Clips”, further securing your precious PC. I actually dropped Alec twice—with my laptop inside—and wasn’t even remotely concerned about damage to my Gateway. That’s how confident I was in the Brain Cell (my laptop is just fine, by the way).

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