Latest Gear Live Videos
iPhone 3G: The details
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds,
We’ve been waiting for it for a year, and Apple has finally delivered - the iPhone 3G was announced this morning during the WWDC 2008 keynote, to a rage of applause. Time to run down the entire feature set.
For starters, it’s an iPhone with 3G capabilities built right in. It is almost three times faster than the original iPhone even dared to be (actually, closer to 2.4x as fast). Since it’s using 3G technology, that means that you can surf the Internet, download email, and even watch video while you are on a call. Try doing that with your iPhone OldSchool. According to Apple, the iPhone 3G actually loads pages 36% faster than the Nokia N95 and Treo 750, both of which are also 3G phones. If you’re keeping track of which wireless technologies the iPhone now takes advantage of, that would be UMTS, HSDPA, GSM, WiFi, EDGE, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR.
That’s right, we said GPS. On iPhone 3G, the Maps application takes advantage of the built-in GPS chip. So while you are driving around, or even walking around, the iPhone finds your exact location. You are representing by a pulsating blue dot right on top of the Google Maps interface. Of course, you can get turn-by-turn directions to a destination, get live traffic info, and more.
How about battery life? All this extra stuff should result in a compromise, right? Wrong. iPhone 3G features 300 hours of standby time, 8-10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G talk time (which is amazing), 24 hours of audio playback, and 7 hours of video playback.
As for pricing and availability, this should be the best news of all. iPhone 3G is launching at half the price of the currently available iPhone. You can pick up an 8GB iPhone 3G at launch for just $199 USD. If 16GB is more your thing, that will run you $299, down from $499, and that one is available in both black and white. The phone launches in 22 countries, including the US, on July 11. Of course, you can hit up the Apple Store online to
see more images of the phone. No pre-orders after all.
Gallery:
Advertisement
Live blogging the WWDC 2008 Steve Jobs Keynote
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Internet, PC / Laptop,
In just about five minutes, Steve Jobs will be taking the stage to give his WWDC 2008 keynote. We are monitoring all the news, and will be bringing you updates on everything going on, live, as it happens on stage. In case you’ve been summering in Antarctica, we are expecting the new 3G iPhone to be launched (and not expecting it to be as radical as others think it will be - no front-facing camera, no iChat video chat - just some 3G and GPS goodness), Snow Leopard should be given out to developers to take home with them in anticipation of the launch of OS X 10.6 at MacWorld 2009, and the new .Mac replacement we’ve all been hearing about, Mobile Me, should be announced and shown off to the masses.
Well, it’s just about time. Let’s get started…
Click to continue reading Live blogging the WWDC 2008 Steve Jobs Keynote
31 Days of the Dragon: Win our HP HDX Dragon computer package - The Rules
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories:
Yesterday, we kicked off our week-long contest, where we are giving away an HP HDX Dragon computer package, worth over $5,000 if you were to purchase each piece on your own. First, the details on what exactly we are giving away:
- HP HDX Dragon Notebook: This system ships with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate, and features a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor., 4GB RAM, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS, 500GB hard drive, and boasts a 20.1-inch 1080p display. It’s meant to be for play as much as work, and to that end, it also packs a Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD double layer burner, integrated TV tuner, webcam and microphone. If you went and bought this yourself, it would cost $4,500 USD. But we’re not done yet…
- Microsoft Office Professional 2007: That means Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and Accounting Express, all in one package. Retail value on that is $225.
- Corel PaintShop Pro X2: Retail value of $73.99
- Corel Painter Essentials Retail value of $79.99
- Corel Ulead Video Studio Plus 11.5 Retail value of $79.95
- Gears of War: retail value of $49.99
- Viva Pinata: Retail value of $37.99
- Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Retail value of $44.99
- Microsoft Flight Simulator X Expansion Pack: Retail value of $34.99
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Blu-ray: Retail value of $22.95
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - Blu-ray: Retail value of $22.95
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - Blu-ray: Retail value of $22.95
Okay, interested? We thought so. If you want to see everything in more detail, check out our HDX Giveaway contest videos. These will give you more insight as to how the contest is going to work, a look at all of the prizes that are being given away, and a detailed unboxing of the Dragon notebook.
We will be using Gear Live Points to determine a winner. However, we have custom Point values set for this contest. Points earned for this contest are as follows:
Click to continue reading 31 Days of the Dragon: Win our HP HDX Dragon computer package - The Rules
Bleeding Edge TV 265: A look at our HP HDX Dragon giveaway
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Announcements, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Movies, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts,
You should all know by now that we are going to be giving away a sleek, slick, awesome HP HDX Dragon computer prize package as part of the 31 Days of the Dragon contest. It amounts to just about $5,200 worth of prizes if you were to go out and buy everything on your own. Pretty sick, right?
Well, we wanted to give you a look at exactly what you would be walking away with if you won. In this episode, we show off everything. The HDX Dragon computer, all the software, all the games, and all the Blu-ray movies. We run down the computer specs as well, and we clue you in on what we will be doing to pick a winner.
We will be posting more about the contest and our method for choosing a winner in a bit more detail tomorrow. It’s late, and I’ve been moving all day…but at the very least, we had to get this video up for you guys at midnight, because we know that some of you are hardcores. We couldn’t leave you hanging.
A big thank you goes out to HP for sponsoring this contest, and this episode.
Lost’s Alternate Finale Endings
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Lost, Spoilers, Video,
WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
Still recovering from last night’s whopper of a finale?
Well, if you’re still wondering how that crazy ending will affect the rest of the series…know that there were two other ways this season could have ended. The Lost producers - realizing there might be a leak - shot alternate reveals for that last scene.
You can see those two clips after the jump.
Click to continue reading Lost’s Alternate Finale Endings
Review Lost’s Future in Chronological Order
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Lost, Video,
Have you been struggling to piece together Lost‘s flash-forwards this season? Are you still trying to remember what happened just two weeks ago? Well, then you’re in luck.
Some kind person out there has nicely compiled all of this year’s off-island segments into a comprehensible piece. This brisk 8.5 minute clip might save you hours of needless frustration before Thursday’s two-hour finale.
New York Magazine
Early Windows 7 screenshots
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Features, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,
So, word on the street is that part of the first day of the All Things D conference tonight will be the unveiling of the first time of the Windows 7 operating system by Microsoft. To be clear, we shouldn’t expect Windows 7 any sooner than 2010. That said, what is shown is very much a work in progress. If you can’t wait for the video footage, which we are sure is soon to come, we also have a bunch of Windows 7 screenshots in our gallery.
We see a lot of concepts in these images. An expanded bar at the bottom of the screen, an OS X-like dock, some sort of disc-based nav system that reminds of the OLPC OS, etc. Still, nice to see that things are progressing.
Read More 
| Windows 7 screenshot gallery via CrunchGear
Gallery:
Mixed Reviews for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Action, Adventure, Sequels, Upcoming Releases,
The U.S. premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still 3 days away, but an audience at Cannes got its first glimpse yesterday. Here’s a sampling of the reviews being posted by critics today:
- Associated Press: “Except for the opening — which literally starts the film off with a bang — and a couple of dazzling chase sequences, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is about as unfocused and meandering as the title itself.”
- Entertainment Weekly: “There’s joy and a middle-aged playfulness to the best of Steven Spielberg’s unlikely sequel. And I mean that as a full compliment: All the movieman’s themes are here, his interests, obsessions, trademark strengths as a cinematic storyteller, and Spielbergian ‘tells,’ too, with hubcap and sideview mirror reflections dating back over 35 years to Duel.”
Click to continue reading Mixed Reviews for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2008 Summer Television Programming Schedule
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Games, Kids, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Hell’s Kitchen, Desperate Housewives, Everybody Hates Chris, Family Guy, Grey’s Anatomy, House, So You Think You Can Dance, The Office,
A new season calls for a new schedule.
If you’re without anything to do this summer, this updated programming schedule may help keep you occupied. Over the next few months, networks will be introducing a crop of reality shows (Celebrity Circus, Greatest American Dog), some experimental dramas (Swingtown, Fear Itself) and the usual horde of repeats.
This list is a
compilation of the calendarsfor the five major networks.
Click to continue reading 2008 Summer Television Programming Schedule
Unboxing Live 035: Drobo and DroboShare
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Laptop, Networking, PC, Peripherals, Robots, Videocasts,
Drobo is billed as the “World’s first data storage robot.” We like to think of it as super, super simple data storage that also doubles as a fantastic backup destination. Backing up your data is both extremely boring, and excruciatingly essential. Apple has tried to spice things up in this area with their Time Machine technology in Leopard (which Drobo supports), and Windows Home Server offers easy backup for your Windows-based computers.
As you may recall, we got a full feature rundown of Drobo back at CES 2008, so check that out if you need a refresher, or in case you missed it. We were thoroughly impressed, and had to get our hands on one to bring you the scoop on what we think of the device after using it in the real world. While the review is soon to come, we knew you’d want to see the Drobo unboxed. Oh, and as a bonus, we also have the DroboShare as well. This add-on turns your Drobo into a NAS device, and can even pair two Drobos up together for the ultimate in small environment networked data storage.
Check out the video above for the full unboxing of the Drobo and DroboShare NAS device.
