Toyota Prius camper conversion

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Mods / Hacks, Transportation,

The Toyota Prius has become an icon in the hybrid world. From celebrities praising the second generation Prius, to Toyota growing a single car into a family of vehicles, the Prius has come a long way. Though, for some, it hasn’t come far enough. The Japanese conversion company Campinn has decided to take the Prius down the Frankenstein route.

The Prius Camper debuted at the Tokyo Auto Salon, consisting of one part Toyota Prius hatchback and one part truck camper. Made of fiber-reinforced plastic that extends the car’s length to 196 inches and its height to about 82 inches, it makes the Prius look as if it has a cancerous lump growing on it. The interior amenities are limited to a skylight, a sleeping area up top, and a convertible sofa bed on the bottom. Though I’m not sure how useful and versatile this thing is, people will now have the option of camping in a hybrid. However, the most convenient feature of the Prius camper is its back door, allowing the owner an escape while people laugh at the monstrosity.

Read More | Autoblog

Top 10 most read Gear Live stories of 2011

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Wearables, Features, Internet, Mods / Hacks, Software,

Sure, we've given you a list of our top 10 most popular stories of 2011, but we figured we'd go a bit more broad than that. We also thought it would be interesting to give you a look at the top ten most read stories on this site this year, period, regardless of what year they were posted. We must say, we're just as surprised as you are at what did (and didn't) make the list! For example, you guys seem to really like Monster's Beats by Dr. Dre audio line. Here we go:

1. ColorWare now offering custom-painted Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones


2. Limited Edition white Beats by Dr. Dre headphones hands-on: You can't deny that Monster has a hit on their hands with the Beats by Dr. Dre line of headphones.


3. SLEEPTRACKER Watch review: This one focuses on a watch that tracks your sleep data and aims to wake you up when you are in your lightest phase of sleep. The result is that you wake up feeling more rested, and more refreshed.


4. Exclusive: Pink Beats by Dr. Dre Charles Hamilton customs


5. iOS 5 review


6. Yes, Steve Jobs is back at Apple Campus


7. iPhone 3G vs iPod touch 2G in pictures: Odd that an image gallery featuring the iPhone and iPod touch from two years ago made our top ten list, but there it is!


8. Modify your Xbox without a mod chip: This one comes as no surprise--there are a lot of modders out there.


9. White iPhone 4 vs. black iPhone 4 comparison


10. Exclusive: Red Beats by Dr. Dre LeBron James customs

Any surprises? We've also compiled a list of the stories that have dropped out of the top ten between 2010 and 2011, which you can check out after the jump, and don't miss the ten most popular Gear Live videos of 2011 either!

Click to continue reading Top 10 most read Gear Live stories of 2011

Top 10 Gear Live stories of 2011

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Google, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software, Videos,

We've come to the end of another year, and as we wave goodbye to 2011, we figured it was only fitting that we share the most popular stories published on Gear Live this year, as determined by our readers (we've also got the top ten most read stories regardless of publish date, as well as the ten most popular Gear Live videos of 2011!) These are the ten stories that were read the most, and when you consider that fact, it's pretty surprising to see what made the list. Let's kick it off with our most read story of the year:

Giveaway: Apple iPad 2 32 GB!:
The iPad 2 certainly got a lot of attention this year, and our iPad 2 giveaway served as our most popular post out of them all for 2011.

Click to continue reading Top 10 Gear Live stories of 2011

Put Siri on your iPad, iPhone 4, iPod touch with Spire jailbreak hack

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Mods / Hacks, Software,

One of the key differences between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S is the availability of Siri on the newer smartphone. There have been a few hacks and allegedly legal options that put Siri on older versions of the iPhone, but nothing officially sanctioned by Apple.

The latest Siri workaround comes from iOS hackers Grant Paul, known as chpwn, and Ryan Petrich. In a recent blog post, the duo unveiled Spire, which is a "new tool for installing Siri on previously unsupported, but jailbroken, devices," Paul said. As you might recall, an iOS 5 jailbreak was just released.

The 100MB download is available via Cydia and it will add Siri to any device running iOS 5.

If that sounds a bit too good to be true, though, it is. Actually getting Siri to work on a device other than the iPhone 4S will require some technical know-how.

Click to continue reading Put Siri on your iPad, iPhone 4, iPod touch with Spire jailbreak hack

Kindle Fire Hack: Run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,

If you've got a Kindle Fire and have been waiting for the opportunity to to install a full-on version of Android, you may want to look into the newest hack that's just been released that allows you to install Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the Amazon tablet. Yep, you read that right - thanks to an early Ice Cream Sandwich port based on CyanogenMod 9 that was put together by JackpotClavin, you can turn your Kindle Fire into a real Android tablet, with some caveats, as you'd probably expect.

Click to continue reading Kindle Fire Hack: Run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak has been released

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,

If you're running iOS 5.0.1 and have been waiting for the ability to jailbreak your device without being tethered to a computer, today is your lucky day (as long as you aren't hoping to jailbreak the iPhone 4S or iPad 2!) The Chronic Dev Team and iPhone Dev Team have jointly released a new version of redsn0w that will jailbreak the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch running iOS 5.0.1. Users who are already running the tethered version of the jailbreak can download Corona from Cydia to get in on the untethered action. An untethered jailbreak for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S is still being worked on, with no set timetable for arrival.

In other iOS 5 jailbreak news, a new "Spire" hack now allows you to install Siri on jailbroken iOS devices as well!

Read More | pod2g

Hack your Galaxy Nexus to run Google Wallet

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Mods / Hacks, Software,

Be it Verizon's fault or Google's, owners of the recently released Galaxy Nexus smartphone can't tap into the device's built-in Near Field Communication feature for use with Google Wallet. It's just not going to happen.

Not going to happen, that is, unless you perform a few lengthy customizations on your smartphone. A crafty workaround has been found that allows Galaxy Nexus owners to use Google Wallet just like all of their friends that own Sprint's Nexus S 4G smartphones. But the hack comes with a few catches: Namely, you're going to hack off both Verizon and Google if you try it.

How's that? Well, the process for enabling Google Wallet on your Galaxy Nexus demands that you unlock the device's bootloader and root the smartphone. And once you've done that, there goes your warranty through Verizon should your smartphone encounter any errors (or catastrophic free-falls) in your future.

And that's just the first half. Google's own terms of service prohibit using Google Wallet, "on a mobile device or Android operating system that has been modified or customized in any way." There's no indication as to what could happen to you or your account should you proceed with the hack for your Galaxy Nexus.

Click to continue reading Hack your Galaxy Nexus to run Google Wallet

Here’s how to run almost any Android app on the Kindle Fire

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,

The new Amazon Kindle Fire is a powerful, dual-core Android tablet for only $200. It doesn't have the quarter-million apps from the Android Market, though; by default, you can only load the "thousands" of apps in Amazon's App Store.

But that's OK. If you have an Android phone around, you can use free tools to load almost any Android app onto the Kindle Fire. You don't need to hack, alter, or "root" your phone or tablet to do this, and Amazon doesn't oppose sideloading apps.

The Kindle Fire can install any app in the standard Android APK format, but I strongly suggest only installing apps you've moved over from a phone or downloaded from a major app store. You can find APKs scattered around the Internet on various sites, but don't use those, even for free apps.

Why not? Developers can't track APKs that are just floating around the Net, so they don't know their apps are being used. That discourages developers, especially small developers, from upgrading and making new apps. Peer-to-peer app piracy sites are also sinks of malware, as they have none of the safeguards you'll find on an app store.

So here's how to move any app from an Android phone running Gingerbread (Android 2.3) to a Kindle Fire. It's a lot of steps, but I'm just being very clear; they go quickly.

Click to continue reading Here’s how to run almost any Android app on the Kindle Fire

iPhone hackers get Siri working on iPhone 4, iPod touch

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks,

Hoping to get Siri on your iPhone 4?

We have previously highlighted the exploits of the iPhone hacking community in its attempts to break Siri's exclusivity to the iPhone 4S. And while various device modders have been successful at getting the application itself ported over to devices like Apple's iPhone 4 and iPod touch, they didn't manage to address the elephant in the room: How to get Siri to work with Apple's servers, which don't seem to allow requests from unauthorized (non-iPhone 4S) devices.

Two hackers have since discovered the secret Siri sauce, but neither has spilled the beans as to exactly how their non-iPhone 4S Siri app works. According to Steve Troughton-Smith, however, the tweak was built using a single line of code and "a ton of filesystem changes." And as long as a user first jailbreaks his or her device before installing the to-be-released tweak, Siri is unlocked with no restrictions on its use: It works with the same speed and speech recognition as its iPhone 4S counterpart.

Click to continue reading iPhone hackers get Siri working on iPhone 4, iPod touch

Video: 30 awesome jailbreak tweaks for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software, Videos,

If you've never jailbroken your iOS device before and have been wondering what all the fuss is about, the video above is a great indicator of the things you can do once you free your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from the locked up clutches of Apple restrictions. In fact, even if you're a part of the jailbreak community, you may find some great tools here as well. This video gives you a quick walkthrough of thirty different jailbreak tools that you can use to make your devices more productive and more fun. Give it a look.