Harry Potter ebooks now available for download

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech,

For all the Harry Potter fans out there, your days of lugging books around has ended. The Harry Potter series is now available for download from Pottermore, alongside Google Play, Amazon, Sony Reader, and B&N Nook. The eBooks are compatible with all major ereaders and can be downloaded in bundle packs from the site. The titles start at $7.99 and go up from there. You have the option of buying the whole bundle for $57.54, but of course, you can also purchase them individually. The books are offered English (US & GB), with Spanish, Dutch, Italian, and French coming soon.

Read More | Pottermore

Fisker to replace battery packs on Karma EV vehicles

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Corporate News, Transportation,

Fisker has issued a recall for the battery pack fitted in the Karma. The issue lies within the battery pack cell, produced by A123 Systems, which could result in “battery underperformance and decreased durability.” This has been identified as a plausible cause of Consumer Report’s Fisker Karma malfunction.

Fisker says that the issue could affect about 670 Karmas, and only a “handful” of Karmas actually manifest the issue. Roger Ormisher, Fisker’s director of global communications, told Wired that it would be installing new packs into affected Karmas as soon as a fault-free pack can be produced. The recall is setting Fisker back by $55 million, and the replacement will be free for customers.

Fisker is also extending warranties to consumers in the United States and Europe. In the States, the warranty is extended by 10 months/10,000 miles on top of the existing 50 month/50,000 mile warranty. European owner will also experience the same extension from 48 months/100,000 km to 60 months/100,000 km.

Fisker will be notifying affected customers with updates to their vehicles in the days to come.

Read More | Wired

LG 55-inch OLED HDTV priced at $7,900, coming this May

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment,

LG is ready to launch its first OLED HDTV in May during the Cannes film festival. The television set, which we first saw at CES, is priced at 9 million Won, or about $7,900, so this is definitely a premium product not meant for the masses. The company originally planned to launch the OLED TV during the London Olympics, but has expedited production in order to be the first one on the market with an OLED set at retail. Upon consumer reactions, LG will either continue its investment in the OLED market, or reexamine its direction. The internal review is said to take place in July.

Read More | OLED Info

Bleeding Edge TV 445: MyStream iOS app shares music wirelessly between devices

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Music, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,

In this episode we give you a look at MyStream, an iOS (and soon, Android) app that lets you share your music with multiple devices, eliminating the need to share headphones. Sharing of content happens over Bluetooth, streaming to up to 5 devices, or Wi-Fi, which will stream to up to 30 separate devices.

Big thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring Bleeding Edge TV. GoToMeeting provides rich, super-simple collaborative virtual meetings - be sure to check them out!

Comcast Xfinity On Demand, HBO Go, MBL.tv now available on Xbox Live

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Video Games,

Finally, after a number of months, Xbox Live users now have access to Xfinity On Demand from Comcast, HBO Go, and MLB.tv. To get 'em, just head to the App Marketplace on your Xbox 360. All three apps require that you have access to, and pay for, the respective services. Comcast has announced that use of the Xfinity On Demand service will not count against a users data cap because the data is delivered over Comcast's private IP network, rather than the public Internet. It kind of makes sense, as Comcast is basically saying that the Xbox 360 is simply functioning as a cable box, but giving its own data preferential treatment does raise eyebrows as it pertains to Net Neutrality laws.

To use HBO Go, your cable service must be approved (sadly, the cable service we use at Gear Live HQ, Frontier, is not eligible) and you must subscribe to HBO service through your cable package.

Both Xfinity On Demand and HBO Go are available in the U.S., while MLB.tv can be accessed throughout North America.

HTC Titan II set to release April 8th for $199.99

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft,

Alongside the Nokia Lumia 900 roll out next month, AT&T will be releasing the HTC Titan II on April 8th. Buyers will have the option of choosing two LTE Windows Phones on the same day. So you've got options if Windows is your flavor. A notable feature of the HTC Titan II is that it’ll have a 16 megapixel camera, so you can take high resolution photos to your hearts content. The price of the HTC Titan II is set at $199.99 with two-year contract, which is a hundred bucks more than the Nokia Lumia 900, which is set at $99.99.

Standing mile record broken by the trio from Hennessey

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Transportation, Videos,

The guys over at Hennessey have always had a knack for speed, power, and record breaking. So it doesn’t come to us as surprise that they broke the standing mile record down in Texas. The trio used their Ford GT to reach the record setting speeds at 257.7 mph.

Beneath the wildly wrapped GT lies the beast that powered it all: a twin-turbo charged motor. Their previous setup included a supercharger as well, but that was scrapped and swapped with a more efficient twin turbo setup. What the video above to see the record setting run from the cockpit.

Mini Countryman throws man off cliff, all in the name of marketing

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Transportation, Videos,

Mini has been on a crazed marketing campaign, and went on the record as to say “expect the unexpected.” Now doing a few donuts here and there is a far cry from the unexpected, but setting a man to fly off the top of a Mini Countryman’s roof definitely qualifies. Check out the John Cooper Works Mini in action above!

Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone launches April 8 for $99

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Hot Deals, Microsoft, Videos,

This morning, AT&T announced that the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone will launch at just $99 on April 8th. This confirms the rumors that we've been hearing for over a month now, and puts a top-of-the-line, fantastic 4G LTE smartphone on the market at a price that all experts agree is a steal.

Seriously, with a two-year contract, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal on a smartphone. Windows Phone 7.5 is a great mobile operating system, the Lumia 900 is a beautiful device, and it's packing a great 4.3-inch display and 4G LTE speeds.

If you're gonna be looking for a new smartphone starting next month, do yourself a favor and at least research this phone. In fact, you can check it out in the video after the jump.

Click to continue reading Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone launches April 8 for $99

Unboxing Live 091: iPad 3rd Generation

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Handhelds, Videocasts,

We open up the brand new iPad (3rd generation) in this episode. The new iPad (or iPad 3, as some call it) from Apple features an amazing Retina display, A5X processor with quad-core graphics, and optional 4G LTE from Verizon or AT&T. It's a nice upgrade from the previous iPad 2, and is the best tablet for the money that you can get today. In fact, you can get one right now from Apple. All you'll find in the box is the iPad tablet itself, along with a sync cable and AC adapter for charging, and that's really it. Not much to this one, but not to worry, we'll have plenty more iPad (3rd Generation) videos for you soon, including some LTE speed tests.

Big thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out! GoToMeeting with HDFaces provides rich, super-simple collaborative virtual meetings.