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!
Logitech Squeezebox Boom
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
Logitech has launched their Squeezebox Boom. The all-in-one network music player handles digital sound with an integrated 30W amp, high-performance speakers, and simple set up. Plug it in with no other wires, then use your existing home network, Internet radio, or subscription service. After selecting a password, the Boom will remember it. Expandable to other rooms with additional Squeezeboxes, it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack for privacy. Look for it beginning this September with a $299.99 price tag.
Read More 
| Logitech
Advertisement
We appreciate the looks of this prototype VOIP phone that has won the 2008 IF, Red Dot, and IDEA awards. The Tatung has Bluetooth, wireless connectivity and a touchpad for ease of operation. The Internet phone has a customized casing and a nostalgic, nonworking antenna. Other than that, the phone would be great for Skyping when it seems you could use the simplicity. Let’s hope that Nova Design’s award winner becomes reality soon.
Read More | Yanko
Mexico Allows Sales With Cell Phone
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Internet, Transportation,
Want some Taco McNuggets and a cab ride but don’t have the cash? If you live in Mexico, you will soon be able to pay with your cell phone. Users link to their bank, then send the text message “Robert Rodriguez” to take care of the tab. Telefonica SA and Iusacell are getting together with banks to begin the service. While the practice of buying train tickets or items from vending machines with a cellie is already available in Japan, it seems that the U.S. has yet to get with the program (hint, hint.)
Read More | Reuters
Latest Gear Live Videos
Get your notebook questions answered at Laptop Experts
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, PC / Laptop,
Over the past few months, I’ve been answering questions submitted by the masses, alongside the likes of writers from Boing Boing, HotHardware, OhGizmo!, ArsTechnica, and more. Toshiba sponsors the site (and also sponsors Gear Live, for the record), which has been something I’ve enjoyed being a part of since it launched. I wanted to share this destination with you, in case you guys happened to have notebook questions that you were having a difficult time getting answered. The site is called Laptop Experts, feel free to look us up and submit your queries. One of us will be happy to help!
Oh, and be sure to check out the Laptop Experts Widget, which lets you have access to the site’s features from your desktop.
Read More | Laptop Experts
The Metropolitan Police in London have created a computer crime-mapping beta website. With it, users can find local cops, report a crime, and learn about crime prevention, victim support, and details of their local baddies. The Google mapping system also allows for detailed information on number, rate, and other crime figures by zeroing in on specific neighborhoods with a postal code search. While this sounds all well and good on
sight, pity those who find out that their own neighborhood is a red zone.
Read More | Metropolitan Police
NBC and Yahoo Sports Vie for Top Online Viewers
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Home Entertainment, Internet,
It would seem that even though NBC shelled out over $1 billion in rights and production costs, their online website has had some problems, including the video player not usable for those with firewalls and some clips without commentary. Still, they say that they have received 830.1 million page views, 56.1 million video streams, and 38.9 million users.
On the other hand, Yahoo Sport brags that it has 8 million users, about 1.3 million more than NBC, according to comScore Media Mix. The network’s TAMI (Total Audience Measurement Index) says that they have never gotten more than 8% total Internet viewing on a single day. Although the messages seemed mixed, Zap2it reports upwards of 30 million viewing on TV each day, leading us to believe that this is certainly becoming an Internet watching world when it comes to up-to-the-minute gratification.
Read More | Wired
eBay Adjusts Pricing for “Buy It Now” Items
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet,
eBay has finally taken the Amazon hint and is altering its fee structures for “Buy It Now” items. Going into effect next month, sellers of those and “Fixed Price” items will only pay $.35 for up to 30 days. Buyers can now only pay with credit or debit card, or PayPal.
Scot Wingo, from ChannelAdvisor, says about former opposition to fixed price sales, “The previous management tried to fight it. This management is more willing to ride along with it.”
No doubt eBay is hoping that this will increase flat out sales during the upcoming holiday season.
Read More | Daily Tech
Have you ever wondered if the Internet will run out? We have and noted that others are concerned as well. Arbor Networks recently measured interdomains IPv4 and IPv6 traffic. We won’t bore you with all the vital statistics, but suffice it to say the the end of IPv4 may come by 2011. Arbor claims that there must be a shift to IPv6 to allow “a total of 340 billion billion billion billion addresses” before that time by either the government or large corporations, but that hasn’t happened yet.
As a footnote, if you would like to find out if you will make it to the Internet’s demise, check out The Death Clock, a clever little application that may make you change your evil ways of smoking and eating too much.
Read More | PC Mag
Apple grants all MobileMe subscribers a 60-day extension
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Internet, Software,
We know that Apple‘s MobileMe service has been off to a rocky start, but we are just glad that the company realizes it as well. Since the launch, people have had trouble with syncing, have lost email, and have discovered that this whole “push” thing wasn’t really as “pushy” as Apple made it out to be when they gave us a look at the product back at MacWorld.
Originally, Apple gave all subscribers a 30-day extension to compensate for all the issues, as well as a written apology. Since then, things have gotten a little better, but are still in no way seamless. Because of this, Apple has just decided to grant another extension, and this one is twice as long as the original. If you were a MobileMe subscriber as of 12:00 AM PDT on August 19, you get an additional 60 days tacked on to the end of your subscription. Even better, if you were taking a free trial of the service as of that time, you get 60 days added on to your trial. Apparently, Apple doesn’t want you to not sign up due to the kinks they are trying to work out. Good for them.
Hit the Read link below for the full details on the extension, and the eligibility requirements around it.
Read More | MobileMe extension details
Looking for a new Avatar? Try Face Your Manga. You can use it on your cellie, MySpace, IM, Skype, or any other place in the virtual world. You simply customize the avatar, enter in your e-addy and they will mail it to you. If you don’t like your first design, you can go back and try another combination. The process is quite painless and takes very little time to create and receive your masterpiece. By the way, the free service doesn’t need any registration so you can stay anonymous to a certain extent.
Read More | Face Your Manga
