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!
Latest Gear Live Videos
iPhone 4: $199 on June 24, FaceTime video chat, HD video recording
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds,
Today at WWDC 2010, Apple finally announced the iPhone Pro. Obviously, the leaks have been coming hot and heavy over the past month, but hey, now that it’s official, let’s take a look at the rundown on all the specs of what is obviously the most feature-packed iPhone to date:
- Glass on front and back, with a stainless steel bezel
- The steel bezel doubles as the antenna system for HSDPA/UMTS/HSUPA/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.1, and 802.11b/g/n
- It’s got a 960x640 LED-backlit display that is rated at 326ppi, which Apple refers to as a Retina Display. It boasts IPS technology and an 800:1 contrast ratio.
- On the inside, the iPhone 4 is powered by the Apple A4 chip.
- 5-megapixel camera that also records HD 720p video at 30 frames per second
- LED flash
- A second, VGA-quality front camera which can be used for self-portraits and video at 30 frames per second.
- FaceTime video chat. Connect with other iPhone 4 users and use the front camera to chat using video.
- Three-axis gyroscope
- Noise cancellation built-in
This is obviously the most ambitious iPhone upgrade that Apple has ever done, and it looks awesome. Battery life has also been improved, now offering 7 hours of 3G talk time (14 hours on EDGE.) The iPhone 4 is also just 0.37-inches thin, 25% thinner than the iPhone 3GS.
The iPhone 4 will be available in either white or black, starting at $199 for the 16GB model, or $299 for the 32GB model, with two-year contract. AT&T has bumped up upgrade eligibility of a bunch of customers, so if you were eligible for an upgrade anytime in the next six months, you should be good to go if you wanna grab a new iPhone 4! Oh, and the iPhone 3GS has been dropped down to $99 and will only be available in 8GB. You’ll be able to pre-order your iPhone 4 starting on June 15, and the device will be available in the USA, France, Germany, UK, and Japan at launch, with 18 more countries to follow in July.
Read More 
| Apple iPhone
Gallery: iPhone 4: $199 on June 24, FaceTime video chat, HD video recording
Advertisement
iPhone 4 is official! (Yep, that’s the name!)
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds,
Real quick - we will be giving you the full rundown of the iPhone 4 in just a few, but we figured we’d let you know that Apple has officially named the 2010 version of the phone ‘iPhone 4.’ There you have it!
Gallery: iPhone 4 is official! (Yep, that’s the name!)
Last minute iPhone HD rumor: Amazing on-device video editing?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Rumors,
WWDC 2010 kicks off in just a few minutes, and our pal Robert Scoble just posted a hot rumor regarding today’s iPhone announcement. He was told that Apple will be showing off video editing on the iPhone that would blow us all away. We are pretty sure that the iPhone will record high definition video for the first time, but now we are curious about what we will be seeing as it pertains to editing on the device. We will find out shortly!
Gallery: Last minute iPhone HD rumor: Amazing on-device video editing?
How Apple and ATT can fix the iPad 3G pricing bait-and-switch
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Editorial, Features, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,
After having a couple of days to let the absolutely ridiculous bait-and-switch that AT&T just pulled on Apple’s iPad 3G customers sink in, I’ve come to the conclusion that one, or both, of these companies needs to do something for the customers that just got screwed.
In a nutshell, when Apple announced the iPad, there was the Wi-Fi-only version, and there was the 3G version. The big draw with the 3G model was that it had a very reasonable unlimited data plan for $29.99 for 30 days of access. You could start and stop at any time, no contract required. Let’s not fool ourselves here—this plan was a major selling point for the 3G iPad. However, in just three days—just a little over a month after the iPad 3G went on sale—that unlimited plan goes away and is instead replaced with a $25 plan that allows you just 2GB of data. A true bait-and-switch if we’ve ever seen one.
Click to continue reading How Apple and ATT can fix the iPad 3G pricing bait-and-switch
Gallery: How Apple and ATT can fix the iPad 3G pricing bait-and-switch
Facebook video chat to be integrated into iPhone OS 4.0?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, Rumors,
Looks like Facebook will be readying video chat on their service, similar to what Google has done with Google Chat within Gmail. Even cooler, though, is that an eagle-eyed developer just sent us information saying that he found code within the latest iPhone OS 4.0 beta that suggests that this video chat service will be embedded into the iPhone software, ready for use by the next iPhone (iPhone HD? iPhone Pro?) Of course, take this info with a grain of salt. As we all know by now, the upcoming iPhone will have a front-facing camera, which is perfect for video chatting with others who also have the device. Even more interesting, though, is that since it is tied to Facebook, you should—in theory-be able to video chat with users of other phones that have front-facing cameras (like the Sprint EVO 4G) if they also build in the Facebook video chat service.
Now this all sounds great - but we seriously hope that video chatting isn’t limited to Facebook contacts. Let’s bring iChat to the iPhone, finally.
[Thanks, Jason!]
Gallery: Facebook video chat to be integrated into iPhone OS 4.0?
ATT finally announces iPhone tethering plan. And it sucks.
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,
So, earlier we told you all about the new AT&T data plans, and mentioned that if you were currently on an unlimited plan, you could keep it, and AT&T will just consider you grandfathered in. Now here is where it gets interesting—after three years, AT&T has finally announced a tethering plan for the iPhone, which will go live with iPhone OS 4.0 is released. The thing is, if you wanna use it, you must leave your unlimited data plan behind, even though the tethering cost is an extra $20 per month. Instead, you have to move to the DataPro plan, which is $25 per month for 2GB of data, and $10 for each additional gigabyte of data used if you go over.
Now, read that again. AT&T is going to charge you $20 for the privilege of tethering. That $20 doesn’t get you any extra data usage—you are still relegated to the 2GB of data that you get from your $25 per month. In other words, AT&T is charging you a fee to use the data you already paid for. That is completely ridiculous. If you pay $25 for 2GB of data, and blow through all 2GB on your iPhone, that is cool with them. However, if you pay $25 for 2GB of data and blow through it while tethered to your computer, they expect you to pay an extra $20, even though on their end, you’ve used 2GB of data—no more, no less—in both scenarios.
This is obviously asinine to anyone on the outside of AT&T looking in. The fact that AT&T wants to charge you an extra fee just because you want to use the data that you;ve already paid for in a certain way just screams that they don’t understand true customer service. If you are grandfathered in with unlimited usage, they won’t allow you to pay the $20 tethering fee. If you switch so that you can tether, the fee is just there to make them more money—and you can never go back to your unlimited plan once you leave it.
Gallery: ATT finally announces iPhone tethering plan. And it sucks.
AT&T kills unlimited iPad 3G data plan after just 38 days
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,
Yeah, so, alongside the sweeping changes that AT&T has made to their data plans comes news that the much-hyped unlimited iPad 3G data plan is ending on June 7th, just 38 days after the iPad 3G went on sale. Honestly, we don’t even really see what the point of all the ype was, since you just know that AT&T spent some time going over the details on how their new plans would work. This one almost feels like a bait and switch. We picked up a 3G iPad and have yet to sign up for a data plan. We just wanted to 3G option just in case, with the knowledge that if we needed unlimited 3G in a pinch, it would be there. However, that is no longer the case.
iPad owners will instead get the same DataPro plan option that all other data users on AT&T get—that means you get 2GB of data for $25. If you run out of data, you pay another $10 for each addition gigabyte of data used. The changes go into effect on June 7, but if you’re a current subscriber to the $30 per month unlimited plan, you can keep it. Just don’t let it lapse, because you won’t get it back.
Gallery: AT&T kills unlimited iPad 3G data plan after just 38 days
iHome iP90 iPhone and iPod Dual Alarm Clock review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Smart Home, Product Reviews,
iHome has been synonymous with iPod and iPhone alarm clocks for years now, and they recently released their new iP90 dual alarm clock system for the Apple devices. If you’re an owner of an iPhone or iPod and you are looking for your next clock radio, should the iP90 be your next purchase? At $99.99 (or $85.30 on Amazon) it isn’t an impulse buy. Journey with us as we review the iHome iP90 after the break for our thoughts.
Click to continue reading iHome iP90 iPhone and iPod Dual Alarm Clock review
Gallery: iHome iP90 iPhone and iPod Dual Alarm Clock review
Apple sells 2 million iPads in 59 days
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds,
Any way you slice it, the fact that Apple has been able to put an iPad into the willing hands of 2 million customers in just under two months time is pretty amazing. For the record, the iPad is selling faster than even the iPhone did when it launched.
“Customers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We appreciate their patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”
We can definitely attest to the fact that iPads are hard to find at Apple Stores and Best Buys, but if you really need to get one, and money isn’t an issue, there are plenty of people buying and reselling them on eBay and Craigslist for ridiculous amounts of money. Just for reference, it took Apple 28 days to sell the first million iPads, and another 31 to sell the second million.
Gallery: Apple sells 2 million iPads in 59 days
ATT notifies employees that new iPhone launching in June
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Rumors,
We’ve seen all the iPhone Pro leaked shots, and so we all know that the thing is coming. At&T has given further credence to the most leaked phone in history, as they’ve notified employees that the next iPhone will launch in June. According to BGR, they’ve heard the same, and they are saying that it won’t even be that late into the month of June. We like it, and we know Apple wants to get this thing out the door—but we haven’t even seen it go through FCC approval yet.
Read More | BGR
