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!
Browser Plugin Converts Prices From Cash to Oil
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Internet, Software,
Oil Standard is a browser plugin that converts prices from US Dollars to the equivilent value in barrels of crude oil. When you load a web page, the script seamlessly inserts converted prices into the page. As the cost of oil fluctuates on the commodities exchange, prices rise and fall in real-time. We’re not quite sure what the point of this plugin is, other than the interesting perspective it provides on money, but it’s sort of neat. Oil Standard is built for FireFox, and instructions for installing it, if you so desire, are on the site.
Read More 
| OilStandard
Ever wonder how it is exactly that iTunes works? Well, we have your hookup — no need to wonder any longer. HowStuffWorks has published a complete, exhaustive, in-depth article explaining in detail how iTunes actually works.
The iTunes Music Store is composed of XML-based pages, lots of them encrypted using 128-bit AES in CBC mode. AES-CBC is a type of symmetric-key encryption. AES (“advanced encryption standard”) basically takes a 128-bit block of code and reorganizes it into a 128-bit block of “ciphertext” using a particular key (an encryption algorithm). CBC mode (“cipher block chaining”) is a method of disguising any encryption patterns that might reveal the key.
It’s really quite an interesting read, covering all the aspects of what iTunes does, how it works, and why. Great for the inquisitive mind, the Apple geek, or anybody with an inquisitive nature.
Read More | HowStuffWorks
Advertisement
Saved by the Cell - Ringtone Foils Kidnap Attempt
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Smartphones, Misc. Tech,
On March 8th, a 12 year old girl was walking home from school on a rural road near Yelm, WA when she was blindfolded, bound and dragged into the woods. The kidnapper might have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for his cell phone. When it rang, the girl recognized her assailant’s unique ringtone and identified him, causing him to run off. She freed herself and went to authorities — the would-be kidnapper is being held on $250,000 bail with a trial scheduled in May. That’ll make you think twice about picking out that ultra-unique ringtone if you are considering a life of crime…
Read More | KOMO News
Latest Gear Live Videos
The guys over at Revolution Report were able to snag a few new imaages of the Nintendo Revolution console, on display at the GDC. The disappearance of the “mystery port” that was previously seen on the back of the console is noticeable, as is the miniscule size of the controller. It was expected that Satoru Iwata would announce the official name of the product, but all new announcements regarding the Revolution will have to wait until E3. We have two more photos, after the jump.
Read More | Revolution Report
Click to continue reading New Revolution Pictures from the GDC
56 Hour Battery Life For Your iPod Nano
Posted by John Goulden Categories: Accessories, Apple, Portable Audio / Video,
Apple’s iPod nano was a runaway hit when it was released, combining small dimensions with an LCD and their intuitive interface. Even the battery life is pretty good at around 14 hours, but sometimes that’s just not good enough. There are external battery packs for just about all of the iPod lineup but most add on so much extra in the way of physical dimensions that they’re simply annoying. iLuv has a series of add-on battery products for the iPod nano and video models that use Lithium Polymer batteries to radically increase their battery life. The best part about them, especially for a small player like the nano, is that they’re diminutive as well.
Each version comes attached to a silicon case for your iPod, and matches the width and depth of the player they’re designed for. In the case of the nano, there are two versions available with total battery capacities of up to 36 hours and 56 hours (including the stock battery), and each includes pass-through ports for the dock connectors and headphone jack. The silicon sleeves come in four colors as well including black, white, pink and blue.
The 36-hour i601 retails for $59.95 USD and the 56-hour i602 is $65.95. Both products are currently available.
Read More | iLuv via productdose.com
Confirmed: Dell Buying Alienware (Or, Now Dell Sells AMD PCs)
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, PC / Laptop,
Despite all the denials, previous reports have turned out to be true - Dell is buying Alienware for an undisclosed amount of cash. Alienware’s high-end computers are both clamored for by gamers, and scoffed at because of their high prices. According to Dell, Alienware will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the parent company. Dell revamped its XPS line in 2001, looking to tap into the PC gamer market, but they never quite got there. With the purchase of Alienware, it appears that they have finally arrived. No word yet on how this affects the XPS line.
The other interesting part of this story is that, with the acquisition of Alienware, Dell finally sells AMD-based computers. This puts Apple in the position of being the only computer manufacturer building Intel-based machines, with no AMDs in their product line.
Read More | Seattle PI
Samsung 32GB Solid State Disk
Posted by John Goulden Categories: Corporate News, PC / Laptop, Storage,
As computers get faster, one item has always been the bottleneck in the quest for ultimate speed - the hard drive. Great strides have been made to bring hard drive speeds up including denser platters, increased rotational speed, and faster interfaces. Yet it still comes down to the inherent limitations of moving parts. Solid State Disks (SSD), which are drives with no moving parts and are composed entirely of memory chips, are the equivalent of storage nirvana.
Samsung is a major player in the memory industry, and their NAND chips are in devices of all kinds. They’ve now released their new 32GB SSD for the mobile market, with read speeds 3X faster and write speeds 1.5X faster than traditional drives. Weighing only half of a comparably sized hard disk drive and consuming only 5% as much power, the drives will be a boon to laptop users everywhere. There’s no word on pricing as of yet, but don’t expect them to be inexpensive.
Read More | Samsung (kr) via Akihabara News
ATI has released the new V7300 Series of their popular FireGL workstation graphics cards. Two variations are available - expensive and really dang expensive. The “expensive” model (V7300) sports 512MB of memory and lists for $1,599 USD, while it’s bigger brother (V7350), with a mind-numbing 1GB of memory, comes with an equally numbing list price of $1,999 USD. Obviously these cards were never destined for gamers, and with their intended market being high-end workstations, the price can be a tad extravagant. To the best of my knowledge, there isn’t even a game available that could take advantage of such an enormous frame buffer. Most games are lucky to even scratch the surface of the 512MB cards that are available.
Now, for all you guys out there, this is a prime opportunity. The prices on these video cards make even the NVIDIA 7900GTX and ATI Radeon X1900 XTX cards look affordable. So run out and pick up your favorite gaming video card, and when your significant other asks how much it cost, you can honestly say that it was an absolute bargain by comparison to what you could have bought. It’s all about perspective.
Read More | ATI via ExtremeTech
The Card Beeper is a simple sheath one would use to protect their credit card. Whenever the card is removed from the Card Beeper, it gives an audible alert at 20-second intervals. Nice for when you forget your card at the mall or when picking up grub at the drive through - not so nice when the cashier is simply holding on to your card to check your signature, and your Card Beeper is screeching in agony. The unit also has an integrated money clip, eliminating the need for a wallet. You can pick one up for $26 USD.
Read More | Sehin-World via Gizmodo
Windows Vista Delayed - Again
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Software,
Just when it looked like Microsoft was on track with Windows Vista, the OS sees another delay. In a fantastically positive press release, Microsoft said that the consumer version of Windows Vista would not ship until January 2007 - a full two months after they originally hoped to get it on the market. Business customers will still be able to purchase and run Vista in November 2006, but Microsoft wants to make sure security issues are ironed out before releasing the product to the masses.
Read More | Vista Press Release
