Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
In this day and age, it’s just too taboo to have some sort of human that you can have fetch you things, ride on whenever you please, and exist completely for your own personal enjoyment. Animals have tried to fill this space, but they typically do whatever the hell they want, leaving us with no true method of having another being answer to our beck and call. Enter in Robo3. This company builds robots from the ground up whose main purpose is to provide a fun, entertaining time on your schedule. Looking at the site, it is totally impressive. In fact, check out the R7 robot above - he has four legs, and a soft, cushy seat for you to ride in. Yeah, it costs $5,250 USD, but isn’t that a small price to pay for your own personal robo-slave?
Read More 
| Robo3
Optoma EP1690 Offers WXGA Resolution
Posted by Nino Marchetti Categories: Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech,
Optoma Technology today said they were shipping their new EP1690 digital projector. This projector, priced at $1,690, is targeted towards office and home applications.
The Optoma EP1690 is a native widescreen projector which comes with special software to help match notebook video resolutions with the projector. The projector sports a TI DLP chipset as well as color processing technology and offers up 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution. The EP1690 also comes with a variety of connectivity options, including DVI w/HDCP, as well as four audio and video inputs.
Read More | Optoma EP1690 Product Page
Advertisement
MotionLingo Adeo Beats Nike+iPod?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Misc. Tech, Portable Audio / Video,
If Kevin Tofel is to be believed, the MotionLingo Adeo kills the Nike+iPod product dead in it’s tracks. The device offers similar functionality - track your run while listening to music, receive audible feedback over your music, and data analysis. The thing is, the Adeo just happens to do it to a much greater degree. This thing will give you an overlay of the route you just ran on a Google Map (using it’s GPS), has a dashboard with all sorts of reporting features (including the tracking of how many miles total you have run in your current pair of shoes), and can be configured to give you audible feedback on just about anything you can think of. Of course, this all comes at a price. The MotionLingo Adeo sells for $149.99 USD, while the Nike+iPod kit is just $29. However, with Nike+iPod, you do have to buy that $100 pair of shoes, so this may not be a bad trade-off in the least.
Read More | jkOnTheRun
Latest Gear Live Videos
Digital Home Still A Decade Away
Posted by James DeRuvo Categories: Smart Home, Internet, Misc. Tech,
A major player in wireless transmission of music and video says that a purely wireless and digital home is still about a decade away. Sonos CEO John MacFarlane believes that although both Redmond and Cupertino are banking on the technology, as well as third party hardware companies like Belkin and Philips, consumer interest and technology are still in their infancy.
The issue may be that the technology relies on home networking, and at current time, only 1 in 6 users have a network. This is largely due to the “flashing VCR” crowd not understanding what a home network can really do. When all that changes, the tipping point for consumer interst and technology isn’t far behind.
Read More | BBC Technology
Marvel Characters Coming to Comic Creation Software
Posted by Nino Marchetti Categories: Corporate News, Misc. Tech, Video Games,
Marvel Comics and Planetwide Games, makers of the Comic Book Creator interactive entertainment software, today announced from the Comic Con a multi-year deal to let Comic Book Creator software owners make use of Marvel superheroes in their creations.
Under the terms of this deal, said the two companies, Planetwide Games “has the right to create and publish versions of the interactive software and content booster packs for Comic Book Creator based on classic Marvel’s characters such as the X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, Captain America, Thor, The Avengers, and Dr. Octopus, to name a few.” The software, for those unfamiliar with it, lets amateur comic book creators to use their own video game screenshots, DVD movies, digital photos or art to create “authentic-looking” comic books and comic strips.
Read More | Planetwide Games Press Release
Ace Bayou Surround Sound Chairs Now at Target
Posted by Nino Marchetti Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech,
Ace Bayou, a maker of sound furniture, today said they were rolling out their X Rocker II and V Rocker surround sound chairs to Target stores nationwide. They are priced at $99 and $69.99 respectively.
The two Rocker models, according to Ace Bayou, use something called “Audio Force Modulation”, a sound system designed for the chair which incorporates vibration via the open space inside the chair to amplify sound. The chair also has built-in speakers in its frame to further intensify audio delivery. The overall system delivers around 80 watts of sound output.
Read More | Ace Bayou Web site
The CarGoDesk Has Your On-The-Go Work Hook-Up
Posted by James DeRuvo Categories: Accessories, Design, Misc. Tech, Transportation,
With utilities like a cellphone, Wireless Broadband, GotoMyPC, and a laptop, is it now part of the business plan to spend rush hour on the clock? Well, now with the CarGoDesk, drivers stuck in traffic can boot up that laptop and get to work.
Specs include a large lockable compartment for the laptop, a secondary storage area for necessary files, a non-skid hinged desktop, and several attachment points for cell phone, PDA, etc. The CarGoDesk fits in the passenger seat and is secured with the seatbelt. It’s dimensions are 26.87” L X 16"W X 10.66"T and it weighs 13.7 lbs. empty - but don’t worry, it’s wheels prevent having to lug it around.
Production begins summer 2006.
Read More | CarGoDesk Product Page
Perfect for a backyard BBQ party or a game when you need a chilled beverage in a hurry, the Cooper Cooler can chill a can of soda, bottle of beer, or even a bottle of wine in a few minutes. And when they promise refrigerator cold 43F/6C or even “ice cold” in about 5 minutes, they aren’t kidding. The secret is 35 cubes of ice water, 2 cups of water, and rotation of the beverage as the chilled water is pumped over it. And the best part is, it doesn’t shake up the contents of whatever you’re drinking before you open it. Optional car lighter plug can even make it portable for that tailgating party. At around $80, it’s a must for anyone who entertains.
Read More | Cooper Cooler
Fujitsu Begins North American PalmSecure Sales
Posted by Nino Marchetti Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech, PC / Laptop,
Fujitsu is now offering in North America their second generation PalmSecure biometric authentication device. This little security product is already in wide scale use in Japan, seeing over 10,000 sensors already installed in banks, universities, hospitals and private condominiums.
The PalmSecure, which can be used in a variety of settings such as room access security systems and PC/network login systems, “offers a contactless, hygienic and non-invasive means to authenticate identity by leveraging each person’s unique palm vein architecture. The device works by capturing a near-infrared image of the palm vein pattern. The proprietary algorithm takes this data, converts it into a digitized biometric template, and then matches it against a pre-registered template.”
Read More | Fujitsu Product Page
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a Texas Hold ‘Em playing poker program, and they plan to enter it in the American Association for Artificial Intelligence Computer Poker Competition in July. Unlike most poker algorithms, this program, called GS1, bases its strategy on hand analysis rather than taking its cues from human-inspired poker heuristics.
Texas Hold ‘Em Poker is believed to be a better test of artificial intelligence than chess, in which computer players have become nearly unbeatable. In Hold ‘Em, the player must make decisions based upon guesses or assumptions about the hidden cards in others’ hands, whereas the entire board is a known quantity in a chess match. For this reason, a computer program that can win reasonably often at Hold ‘Em would be displaying a different type of intelligence than one that consistently wins at chess. The intelligence gained would be much more appropriate for analysis of real-world situations, in which unknown factors can play a large part.
Read More | Science Daily
