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!
Apple reveals iOS 8: Interactive notifications, Messages improvements, and more
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,
During it's WWDC 2014 keynote, Apple has announced iOS 8, the next major update for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. New features abound in iOS 8 that refine some things, and make others even better. One major feature is the interactive notifications. You know how you might get a text message or calendar invite when using your iPhone? You might be right in the middle of something and don't want to tap on the notification to go over to the Messages app--and in iOS 8, you don't have to. Instead, you can reply right from the notification. You can respond to calendar invites in the same way.
Apple also announced OS X during the keynote as well, which features a new visual overhaul, which was leaked prior to the event.
Developing...
Advertisement
OS X Yosemite: Translucent window UI, dark mode, new icons, and more
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,
Apple has just announced OS X . As featured in a leak earlier today, the new operating system takes a bunch of design cues from iOS to bring visual parity between the two Apple operating systems. Apple's Craig Federighi showed off all of the new features, followed by a demo.
Tentpole features in the redesign include new, flat icons that are reminiscent of the iOS 7 redesign. An optional dark mode changes the menu bar from white to black, which allows you to get rid of the striking white for those who don't want it. Apple has also brought in a bunch of transparency and translucency, with the frosted glass look throughout the UI.
Developing...
Purported leaked images of OS X 10.10 leak new UI and design changes
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,
On the eve of the WWDC 2014 keynote, it seems that a few screenshots of OS X 10.10 (which we're guessing will be called Yosemite or El Capitan) have leaked, giving us a purported look at the future of Apple's desktop operating system. Originally reported by MacRumors (and since removed by request,) we can see changes that, as expected, bring the OS X design more in line with what the iOS 7 redesign introduced. In the image above, you see a much flatter Safari start page, with a lot of white space. Additionally, there's a new Dock style, doing away with the current frosted glass shelf in favor of a more simple translucent strip behind the app icons. You may also notice that the Finder icon has been changed. Let's check out a few more of the leaked photos.
Click to continue reading Purported leaked images of OS X 10.10 leak new UI and design changes
Latest Gear Live Videos
OS X 10.10 name may have been revealed by WWDC banner
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Rumors, Software,
Apple's WWDC 2014 kicks off this Monday morning, and the company is hard at work getting the Moscone Center dolled up prior to showtime. One of the posters that is going up is the one for OS X 10.10, and it may have revealed the name of the next major Apple desktop operating system.
The banner, pictured above (credit to The Verge,) shows the El Capitan granite monolith in Yosemite. Apple has filed for the rights to the named OS X El Cap, OS X El Capitan, and OS X Yosemite. Of course, there's no way to know which name Apple will be going with until they make the announcement on Monday, but the banner certainly does narrow things down quite a bit, doesn't it?
Stay tuned for full WWDC 2014 coverage this Monday.
Beats Solo2 headphones: Redesigned for better sound and comfort
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Wearables, Design, Music,
Hot on the heels of the announcement that Apple is buying Beats, the company has announced the brand new Beats Solo2 on-ear headphones, the latest in the Beats by Dr. Dre line. Touting a newly-refreshed physical design alongside improved sound quality, Beats Electronics says that the new Solo2 model will offer “a wider range of sound and enhanced clarity.” It's a good thing, too, as many have complained about the Beats by Dr. Dre line having bass-heavy sound that loses the highs and mids.
If wearing previous models of Beats headphones was something you found to be a chore, you should know that the Beats Solo2 has also been redesigned with a new look that's said to also be more comfortable thanks to better weight distribution and a memory foam-like material in the larger ear cups that should make them feel cooler and put less of a hard squeeze on your ear lobes.
You can pick up the new Beats Solo2 now. They're available in pink, grey, white, blue, and red for $199.
Read More 
| Beats Solo2 Heaadphones
ASUS PadFone X comes to the US on July 6th for $199
Posted by Ariel Levin-Waldman Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Handhelds,
So, these days just about everyone owns a smartphone. I own one. You own one. Even my grandmother owns one. If you are part of a smaller group of people, you might also own a tablet of some sort. I own an iPad for instance. And they really fulfill the same role- wasting precious moments of my life on the internet when I really could be doing something productive. Sure, one has a big screen and can't make calls, but I have often wondered why I really need both.
Apparently, so has ASUS. Back in 2012 they came out with the PadFone, a smartphone dock that was also a tablet screen, so you could view your phone in larger than life (ok, larger than phone anyway) detail. But unless you wanted to hop a plane to Taiwan and buy it there, chances are you would not get your hands on one.
Now you can. ASUS announced that starting July 6th, the PadFone will be available on the US market under the name PadFone X through AT&T. It is projected to cost $200. It only works with ASUS smartphones though, so US companies will have to get in the game.
92% of fast food jobs to be performed by machines by 2034
Posted by Ariel Levin-Waldman Categories: Smart Home, Science,
Would you like fries with that, puny human?
Don't laugh, it is a question you might be hearing more of in the near future as more and more industries mull over replacing their workstaff with robots. And it isn't in the far future either. It's already happening.
Every time I walk into a Walmart or a Wegmans I see automated registers. I use them too. Gear Live recently looked at how the modern consumer would prefer to use an app rather than speaking with sales representatives. And a San Francisco company (Momentum Machines) invented an automated burger maker.
According to an Oxford University study, there is a 92 percent chance that fast food jobs will be done by machines within two decades.
When I head news like this, I start preparing my bug-out-bag because robots and apocalypse seem to fit together all to often. But it isn't as grim as it could be if you ask the folks over at CNN. According to them, mechanization of services will only knock a maximum of 10 percent off the workforce.
Wait, 10 percent? Isn't that about one and a half times the current unemployment number? As in the current recession?
Maybe we should have learned something from Terminator. I'll rest easy knowing I have a few decades until a drone with a sorting algorithm can perform field reporting.
Australian iOS device users get held up for ransom
Posted by Ariel Levin-Waldman Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Mods / Hacks, Software,
You've probably heard it by now. There are no viruses on Apple products. They don't run .exe files. They don't get hacked. It's the reason I usually use my iPad to do my banking (that, and a lack of questionable browsing history.) I used to believe that.
Well, now it looks like I have to confront the truth. In a series of cyber attacks that have swept Australia, iPhone users have been locked out of their devices and have received a message saying “Device hacked by Oleg Pliss. For unlock device, you need send voucher code by 100 usd/eur (Moneypack/Ukash/PaySafeCard) to email:lock404@hotmail.com for unlock."
According to Apple's support forums, the hack seems to operate through the “Find My Device” feature on Apple products, and it seems that the data may have been matched to an eBay breach that occurred earlier in the week.
People with a hacked device should immediately attempt to change their Apple ID credentials and set up multi-factor authentification.
Unboxing Live 142: LG G Flex
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds, Videocasts,
We bring you a look at the LG G Flex smartphone in this episode of Unboxing Live. The device sports the obvious gorgeous, curved OLED 720p display, which is actually flexible to 180 degrees and also features self-healing material on the rear casing. For real. Other specs include the inclusion of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 mobile processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera. We open it up, and show you what's included with the G Flex, and give you a full walkthrough of the device.
Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube channel, and don't forget--we are giving away awesome perks for our Patreon backers - thanks for your support!
[Download] - iPod-formatted H.264
[Download] - 720p HD
[Download] - 1080p MP4
Click to continue reading Unboxing Live 142: LG G Flex
Beats Music slashes prices, lengthens free trial to 14 days after Apple acquisition
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Hot Deals, Music,
Alongside the announcement that Apple would be purchasing Beats Electronics for $3 billion comes a few slight changes to the Beats Music subscription service. First, the price of the annual subscription has dropped down to $99.99. Previously, the cost was $119.88. The other change is that the up-front free trial that was previously 7-days long has now been doubled to a 14-day "no strings attached" trial for all users.
The Beats Music iOS app has been updated to version 2.1 to reflect the changes, and also some bug fixes. You can download Beats Music now.
What do you think? Are you gonna give Beats Music a try now that it's an Apple-owned music subscription service?
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.