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Google TV official site now live
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Home Entertainment, Internet,
The launch of Google TV is right around the corner, and Google’s finally gotten their act together and put out the official web presence for the new platform/service. It includes a nice tour that shows off exactly what you can expect, and how they are trying to change the TV experience. Definitely worth watching once, if only to get a look at how the TV space is starting to heat up.
Read More 
| Google TV
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Hulu Plus coming to Roku and TiVo Premiere
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet,
If you’re ready to cut the cable cord, it looks like Hulu Plus may be just the thing to facilitate that. Already available in beta on the PS3, as well as on the iPad and iOS devices, it was just announced that the service is coming to Roku‘s line of set top boxes, and that it’ll also be added to the TiVo Premiere as a service. Hulu Plus will also be made available to the general public on the Xbox 360 in 2011 as well. Depending on which shows you watch, the $10 Hulu Plus monthly fee may very well allow you to ditch your cable TV package, especially if paired with Netflix. Get ready for a shift in the way television gets consumed.
The only thing we are wondering now is if the new Apple TV will also be picking up Hulu Plus at some point, or if Apple plans on just going with Netflix plus $.99 TV rentals.
Apple updates Ping, still annoying and restrictive
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Software,
Over the weekend, Apple released iTunes 10.0.1, which mainly adds a sidebar to the music library for interaction with their Ping social network. The change makes it easier to “like” and “post” music that’s in your iTunes library to Ping, without having to actually go into the Ping area of the store. It’s obvious that the change is a way for Apple to spur more usage in Ping, which we are guessing has seen interest and usage drop since it was released at their last fall music event.
The problem with Ping is that Apple refuses to allow you to use it with any music that they don’t sell. Big Beatles fan? No way to show that in Ping, because Apple won’t let you post or like any Beatles tracks, since they don’t sell them. It’s almost asinine. Imagine if Facebook didn’t allow you to talk about anyone who didn’t have a Facebook account. Today I tried to “like” a track in my library that I was listening to, and I was greeted with the error message that you see above.
Until Apple makes Ping more of a social network, and less of a music selling tool, consider us uninterested.
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Netflix Watch Instantly launches in Canada today
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet,
To all our friends north of the border, you’ll be glad to know that your 13-year wait for Netflix to arrive is finally over. Well, sort of. While Canadians still don’t have access to disc rentals, today they pick up the ability to sign up for a Netflix Watch Instantly account, allowing them to stream movies to Netflix-compatible devices.
Read More | Netflix
Giveaway: Win $150 in free gear from JackThreads
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Design, Features, Internet,
Have you heard of JackThreads? In case you haven’t, they’re a super cool clothing site offering discounts of at least 50% off some of the hottest brands in streetwear, surf, skate, and contemporary fashion. All sales are super limited, normally lasting just a couple days, and you’ve gotta have an invite to even join the site to get access to the goods. We’ve teamed up with JackThreads to bring invites to all our readers, and even better, you’ll get $5 in credit added to your account that you can spend right away if you so desire. That was cool and all, but then we thought we could take this a step further, and now we’ve got a full on contest going on. We are going to give away $150 in JackThreads credit to one of you entrants. Here’s how it’s going down:
Here’s how to enter:
- Join JackThreads if you aren’t already a member (it’s free - use our link and you get $5!)
- Follow the Gear Live Twitter account
- On Twitter, post this tweet about our contest: “Hey @gearlive hook me up with $150 for @JackThreads! http://gear.lv/e-jackthreads-150” (Click here to tweet this now)
That’s it! Remember, you’ve gotta be a JackThreads member, and you’ve gotta be following the Gear Live Twitter account so that we can send you a DM if you’re the winner. This one is only open to residents of the US and Canada. We will be announcing a winner on September 24, so you’ve got til Friday to qualify.
Pandora arrives on TiVo Premiere
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet, Music,
When the TiVo Premiere launched, the company made it known that with the new Flash architecture, that it would be much easier to add new apps to the TiVo interface since it was more modular. Well, it took them long enough, but the first real new app feature has arrived in Pandora. You can now log in to your Pandora account and start streaming your favorite channels right from your TiVo. It may take a connection or two to the TiVo service before the feature shows up, but TiVo is saying it’s available now.
Read More | TiVo Blog
Earlier at today’s fall music event, Steve Jobs announced that iTunes 10 would be available today. Well, it took them a while—close to ten hours in fact—but it’s finally available for download. As we mentioned earlier, iTunes 10 features the Ping social network, cheaper TV show rentals, improved iPhone/iPad/iPod syncing, and AirPlay support. You can download it now.
Read More | iTunes
Apple reveals iTunes 10 with Ping social network
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Apple, Internet, Music, Software,
Apple announced that iTunes 10 is available today at their fall music event, and they’ve overhauled the old logo as well, eliminating the CD. The biggest news of iTunes 10, however, comes in the form of Ping, a social network along the lines of Last.fm. With Ping, iTunes 10 will allow you to follow people in similar fashion to Twitter, and add friends with compatible tastes in music. In addition, you will be able to comment on peoples pages, and have access to custom songs and album charts, and over 17,000 concert listings. Look for Ping to also grace your iPhone and iPod touch inside the iTunes app. Check out the press release after the jump.
Click to continue reading Apple reveals iTunes 10 with Ping social network
Read More | iTunes
How to watch the live stream of Apple’s music event today
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Internet, Rumors, Software,
In just a few minutes, Apple will be live-streaming one of their own events for the first time, and we wanted to make sure you had the details on how to tune in. All you need to do is head to the Apple website at 10:00AM PDT today, and it should come right up—provided you’ve got the right hardware. According to Apple:
Viewing requires either a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad. The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.
The fall music event is expected to bring news of an updated iPod touch with Retina Display and dual cameras with FaceTime functionality, a super-small touchscreen iPod nano, and a new take on the Apple TV. We’re guessing that this whole live streaming this is because Apple wants to show off their streaming technology, since it will likely be a big part of their Apple TV and iTunes initiative this morning. We’re also hoping to hear about that white iPhone 4 and iOS 4 on the iPad.
Read More | Apple Event Live Stream
Are smartphones dumbing us down?
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Handhelds, Internet, PC / Laptop, Science,
The term ‘smartphone’ may be a tad misleading according to the recently published New York Times article, “Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime”. This is to say that frequent use of digital media can disrupt your brain’s downtime - a necessary component of internalizing information. Without this downtime, the brain has no chance to process information previously learned, resulting in cluttered, inattentive minds.
Chances are there are more than a few of you reading this article while accomplishing some cardio riding your local gym’s indoor bike, or while in class when you really should be listening to your professor’s first lecture of the semester (but don’t stop reading now on account of that!). While having a digital device handy is excellent for spicing up mundane moments, or for capturing your mind away from the tedium of exercising, it does come at a price.
Click to continue reading Are smartphones dumbing us down?
Read More | New York Times
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