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
Norton Free OnlineFamily
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Hot Deals, Smart Home, Internet, Software,
It’s a scary Internet world for kids, but Symantec has generously offered Norton OnlineFamily to keep tabs on them. The software streamlines data from all your computers and can flag trouble sites. It shows where your kids are going and lets you search through their IMs, Facebook and MySpace profiles, including checking what information they are putting out there. They will call it Big Brother, but isn’t it better to be safe than sorry? A $60.00 value, the software is Free until Jan.10, 2010.
Read More 
| Norton
Gallery: Norton Free OnlineFamily
Advertisement
Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard build 10A335 to developers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,
Apple has just seeded out the latest developer build of the forthcoming Mac OS X 10.6 operating system, also known as Snow Leopard. The latest build is 10A355, and early reports are that stability improvements are continuing as a trend across the board, while Apple has listed nine known issues in the seed notes for devs to take heed of, including the fact that Quicktime Player X may crash when playing DRM-protected content in 64-bit mode. All recent Apple hardware is now capable of running Snow Leopard in 64-bit mode, and when installed on either the Early 2008 or Early 2009 Xserve machines, 64-bit is the default.
We don’t yet have a firm date for the launch of Snow Leopard, but we are fairly certain that we will hear a lot more about that at WWDC 2009 in June.
Gallery: Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard build 10A335 to developers
iPhone OS 3.0 beta 3 now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,
Look at that, Apple continues their iPhone 3.0 two week update schedule with iPhone OS 3.0 beta 3 (build 7A280f), which is now available for download to iPhone developers. Of course, iPhone SDK 3.0 beta 3 (build 9M2728) is also available. As you’ll remember, iPhone 3.0 introduces a bunch of new functionality for consumers, and over 1,000 new API for developers.
Gallery: iPhone OS 3.0 beta 3 now available
Microsoft to Discontinue Encarta
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Those of us who remember the happiness of finding Encarta included in our early PC purchase are somewhat saddened by the announcement that it will soon no longer be available. The software will cease after June and most sites will shut down by October 2009. Japan will cut theirs off in December. Microsoft commented, “People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.”
We know they mean Wikipedia, yet the concept of one disc replacing an entire set of encyclopedias was certainly high tech at the time. And the better images used by Encarta will definitely be missed.
Read More | MSN
Gallery: Microsoft to Discontinue Encarta
Apple: Use of iTunes to produce nuclear weapons not allowed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Music, Software,
Just a quick public service announcement to all our Apple peeps out there, because we care. I know many people don’t read license agreements, but in case you are both:
- An iTunes user
- A terrorist
We need to make sure you know that you are not allowed to use iTunes, the digital music and video jukebox software, to aid in the “development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.”
We clear on that?
Gallery: Apple: Use of iTunes to produce nuclear weapons not allowed
Nokia XpressMusic Software Updated
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Music, Software,
Nokia has improved its 5800 XpressMusic software. New is a faster user interface and download time, a built-in mobile dictionary with voice playback and support for 38 languages, and an automatic/manual Application Update that can be used directly to the phone. There is second camera support for still image capture and a burst mode for shooting pictures without hitting a button. The download is available now on their Nokia Software Update site at no charge.
Read More | Nokia
Gallery: Nokia XpressMusic Software Updated
Apple releases iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video, Software,
Hey, looks like Apple has just released iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2 to developers as of a few minutes ago, alongside beta 2 of the iPhone SDK 3.0. As you recall, iPhone 3.0 introduces a bunch of new functionality for consumers, and over 1,000 new API for developers. Many who upgraded to firmware 3.0 when it was made available have complained of much sluggishness taking over their iPhone or iPhone 3G, so let’s hope that upgrading to beta 2 cleans up some of that, for those people who didn’t downgrade back to 2.2.1. Developers, you can grab iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2 right now.
Gallery: Apple releases iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2
If you don’t have access to software that can convert documents to PDFs and you do have IE and Windows XP SP2/Vista, then Softland’s doPDF converter is for you. There are simple step-by-step instructions to install it as a printer driver. After selecting “print,” you can convert Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel sheets, company reports, AutoCad drawings and many other documents. Best of all, it is free to download.
Read More | doPDF
Gallery: doPDF Free PDF Converter
Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 Price Slashed
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Hot Deals, Microsoft, Software,
It may be almost the end of the term for most, but if you are a student, Microsoft has a deal for you. Their Office Ultimate 2007 is priced at $59.95, as opposed to the usual $679.95. That 91% savings is good for anyone who has a viable .edu addy and is enrolled in school or is taking a credited class. The pricing will remain through the end of 2010 and you can grab a copy on its “Ultimate Steal” site. Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT)RED Upgrade w/SP1 and Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007 are also available at reduced prices.
Read More | Microsoft Ultimate Steal
Gallery: Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 Price Slashed
Five technology trends that will define 2009
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Editorial, Features, GPS, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Software,
This is a guest post by LaptopLogic - head over to them to find laptop reviews, laptop news and search their database for the best top rated laptops.
We are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2009, and we think that based on what we’ve seen happen already this year, combined with some announcements of things to come, that we can start to make sense of what 2009 will look like when we look back on it. For instance, we think consumers will see a number of technological advancements in the devices they buy—the laptops, media players, gaming systems, and televisions. That’s always the case. However, we think there are a handful of trends that will dominate the consumer technology market, and we thought we’d take a look at five of them here. Let’s get started:
GPS Everything
It seems that mobile phones and GPS can’t be kept apart these days. With the release of Apple’s wildly successful iPhone 3G, GPS has become a standard feature on many of today’s advanced mobile devices.
While GPS used to be reserved for geeky standalone gadgets, like that of a Garmin or Tom Tom, being able to locate yourself wirelessly is now firmly in the realm of cell phones. And that’s just the start. Expect to see GPS penetrating a greater number of tech devices in 2009.
Click to continue reading Five technology trends that will define 2009
