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 patents dock connector with Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 connectivity
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds,
The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday awarded Apple a patent that suggests Apple is working on an iPhone and iPod that supports Intel Thunderbolt and USB 3.0.
The invention, which in 2009 Apple called a "Reduced Size Multi-Pin Male Plug Connector" describes a 30-pin dock connector for "high-speed communication standards," citing USB 3.0 and a "dual channel" DisplayPort.
The name "Thunderbolt" wasn't mentioned (unsurprisingly, given that it only launched in February 2011 on the new MacBook Pro) but the patent's multiple mentions of a "dual channel" DisplayPort suggests the same technology.
Thunderbolt combines Intel's PCI Express and DisplayPort into a single connector for theoretical transfer speeds of 10 Gbps (fast enough to download a full-length Blu-ray movie in under 30 seconds).
Click to continue reading Apple patents dock connector with Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 connectivity
Advertisement
Bing launches magazine-like iPad app
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Reference, iPad Apps, New Apps, Free Apps,
Microsoft knows the importance of the mobile audience, even when it means taking advantage of a competitor's mobile platform—in this case, Apple's. Since late 2009, iPhone users have been able to download a Bing app that offers voice search, local shopping, scrolling image search, maps and directions. Now iPad owners get a Bing app that adds a new trends feature, which lets them explore the trending search topics of the week.
The new app, which is available in the iTunes App Store starting today, sports a homepage featuring the trademark (and often stunning) Bing photo of the day, along with tiles showing local weather, news, maps, movies, and trends. The interface makes a lot of use of the swipe touch gesture, especially in image search. A dropdown menu offers all these choices plus Images, Videos, Shopping and History—that is, your search history, not the school topic.
Trends shows tiled images for the week's major current events. It can almost be thought of as a lightweight replacement for an app like The Daily or Flipboard. Touching one of its images opens a search page showing news and images about the topic, like MLB Opening Day. Some topics get a slicker treatment rather than just a Bing search results page: touching through an entry about "30 Rock's" Tina Fey labled "Ms. Bossypants" displayed a grid of stories that somewhat resembled the New York Times' Web site layout. After reading a result page, you can swipe left-to-right to get back to the trends page.
Click to continue reading Bing launches magazine-like iPad app
T-Mobile Sidekick 4G and G2x launching on April 20
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds,
T-Mobile confirmed today that its Samsung Sidekick 4G and LG G2x phones will be available in stores on April 20.
"It's official, T-Mobile's Sidekick 4G arrives on April 20," T-Mobile tweeted this morning. The G2x, meanwhile, will be available online on April 15 and in stores on April 20, T-Mobile also tweeted. It will sell for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract.
T-Mobile confirmed plans for the Samsung Sidekick 4G back in January, and provided more details last month. It features a 3.5-inch, 800-by-480 screen and is based on a heavily customized Android 2.2.1 and Samsung's TouchWiz. The screen slides up with a click to reveal the 5-row QWERTY keyboard.
Click to continue reading T-Mobile Sidekick 4G and G2x launching on April 20
Latest Gear Live Videos
DISH Network to buy BlockBuster for $228 million
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment,
In a somewhat surprising move, DISH Network said Wednesday that the company had been selected as the winning bidder in BlockBuster's bankruptcy auction, and will acquire BlockBuster's assets for about $228 million after various cost adjustments.
The total bid was $320 million, DISH said. The acquisition is expected to be completed during the second quarter, the companies said, if the bankruptcy court approves the deal.
DISH, a satellite provider, didn't say why it wanted to acquire BlockBuster, with 1,700 physical stores and a streaming service on top of it. But DISH has recently made moves to acquire licenses to content, enhancing its video-on-demand services with a deal with EPIX on Tuesday to bring its movies to DISH's online service, DISHOnline. DISH extended remote streaming to the iPad in December.
Adding a chain of stores and BlockBuster's existing relationships with content providers will help facilitate DISH's transformation into more of a provider of on-demand content than simply a "linear" provider of scheduled broadcasts.
Click to continue reading DISH Network to buy BlockBuster for $228 million
Google throws hidden Easter egg into iOS search
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Google, Internet,
Google has thrown an Easter egg into their iPhone and iPod touch search. To see it, launch Safari, and top on the Google search box. Now type the word "tilt" or the word "askew" and hit search. Enjoy.
Netflix secures syndication rights for ‘Mad Men’ on Watch Instantly
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment,
"Mad Men" fans might not get a new dose of Don Draper until 2012, but Netflix has inked a deal with Lionsgate to stream all seasons of the show via Watch Instantly.
The first four seasons of the AMC drama will be available to U.S. viewers on Netflix starting July 27. Canadian customers already have streaming access to the show.
"Mad Men has been and continues to be a representation of TV at its best and Netflix is proud to be the syndication home for this acclaimed series," Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said in a statement. "This deal secures long term instant access to an iconic show for Netflix members for years to come."
The deal is noteworthy because Netflix is paying for the syndication rights to "Mad Men"; reruns will not air on other broadcast or cable TV channels.
Click to continue reading Netflix secures syndication rights for ‘Mad Men’ on Watch Instantly
BMW DriveNow service improves upon ZipCar in every way
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Transportation, Videos,
We've gotta hand it to BMW for launching the innovative DriveNow service in its hometown of Munich. If you thought ZipCar was good, wait til you hear about how DriveNow works. Check it:
- The biggest feature is convenience. You pick up the car, and when you are done, you can leave it anywhere. No need to bring it back to a designated parking lot or garage. Just park it anywhere you find a spot, and you are done. An iPhone app tells you where the nearest available car is.
- You sign up for the service and get a sticker that goes on your drivers license. That sticker becomes the key that unlocks the car, so you don't need anything extra to carry with you.
- Gas usage is included in the price
- Parking is free in within city limits
As we said, the service has launched in Munich with a fleet of 300 BMW and Mini Cooper vehicles, and we assume that if DriveNow is found to be successful, BMW will roll it out elsewhere.
Samsung drops prices of 3D glasses to $50, packing in two pairs with TV purchase
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, HDTV,
Samsung announced an upcoming price drop for its current 3D glasses, which will complement its recently redesigned and streamlined active shutter glasses. The SSG-3100GB 3D glasses are now $129, but starting May 1 they will retail for $50 per pair. They don't need recharging and can run for up to 70 hours before the battery has to be replaced.
The $50 glasses aren't only a new low point in the cost of active shutter 3D glasses, but they're also the key to letting users enjoy their 3D HDTVs with no additional investment. Samsung will include two pairs of SSG-3100GB glasses with all of its 3D HDTVs for free.
This does not include the D7000 and higher LED TVs and D6500 and higher plasma TVs, which will continue to include the SSG-3100M 3D starter kit with which they were already bundled, which also includes the two pairs of glasses and a 3D Dreamworks movie.
A look at the remarkable rise of Android, and where it goes from here
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Google, Software,
Two and a half years ago, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and T-Mobile introduced the world to the very first phone, the G1. It was a good phone with a workmanlike design, decent keyboard, an average screen and lots of Google goodness built right into it. No one, least of all me, thought it stood much of a chance against the surging Apple iPhone.
For a solid year, the platform looked like a dud. But a funny thing happened on the way to the morgue.
Seven months later, T-Mobile unveiled the keyboard-less MyTouch 3G. As before, it was a nice looking, though slightly curvier, Android phone. It wasn't until the fall of 2009, more than a year after the G1 and Android's launch, that the platform got interesting. That was when Motorola started talking openly about the Droid. By casting aside just two letters and joining with the leading mobile carrier that didn't get the iPhone, Motorola and Google signaled their intention to make Android bolder, sexier and far more desirable.
Click to continue reading A look at the remarkable rise of Android, and where it goes from here
AMD announced today that it has released the new Radeon HD 6790 video card, priced at $149 and thus in direct competition with Nvidia's recently released (and same-priced) GeForce GTX 550 Ti.
The Radeon HD 6790 is positioned between the upper-end-mainstream Radeon HD 6770 and the lower-end-enthusiast Radeon HD 6850, intended for users running at midrange resolutions (such as 1,680-by-1,050) and detail settings. The card offers 1.34 teraflops of compute power; has a core clock speed of 840 MHz, 800 stream processors, 40 texture units, and 16 ROPs; and is loaded with 1GB of GDDR5 frame buffer, operating at 4.2 Gbps on a 256-bit memory path.
AMD's press materials for the 6790 identify the 6790's TDP as about 150 watts—more than the 6850, and approximately in the same league as the card above that one, the Radeon HD 6870 (151 watts). AMD's reference spec for the card suggests it will require two six-pin connectors from a power supply, though the company says that some models will be available using only one.
Click to continue reading AMD releases $150 Radeon HD 6790 video card
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.