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!
Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale Sends Weight Right to your iPhone
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Software, Wireless / WiFi,
Experts agree that the best way to diet is to make yourself accountable to someone else. In other words, tell someone your daily weight loss or gain, and you’ll be much more motivated to change it.
What if you could post your weight online automatically? This is exactly what the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale is designed to do. Just stand on it, and your weight and body fat measurements are beamed to a Web dashboard, and they can be accessed with a free iPhone app.
If this device is what you need to bring down your weight, then don’t wait. Go ahead and lay down $183 for this.
Read More 
| Home Tone
Advertisement
Sonos announces the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 touchscreen remote
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Wireless / WiFi,
We’ve been waiting on this for a long, long time, and we are happy to share the news that Sonos has officially announced the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 remote. Why is this news to be excited about? Well, if you’re a Sonos owner (or a potential owner,) this means that you get a touchscreen Sonos remote, rather than the old-school click wheel version of the remote. Like the rest of the Sonos gear, this will work anywhere in the home, is meant to be a shared device that can be left in a common area, is more intuitive, turns on instantly when picked up, and has a nice capacitive VGA touchscreen. It even has a replaceable battery. The only thing that the old remote has that this new one doesn’t is that the new one isn’t water-resistant and splash proof. The Sonos CR200 goes on sale tomorrow, and will sell for $349, $50 less than the older model. Even better, the Sonos Controller 100 will be heavily discounted until they are sold out, so if you do want a splash-proof Sonos Controller that you can take to the hot tub, now’s your chance.
We’ve played with the new remote (video coming shortly!) and we can very easily recommend it - it makes finding music from the vast number of libraries and services that Sonos can connect to a breeze, because when you have that much music, a clickwheel just won’t measure up. Be sure to check out our Sonos Controller 200 gallery for a bunch of images of the new remote.
Read More | Sonos Controllers
Gallery:
Shintaro Wireless Media Center Keyboard
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Accessories, USB, Peripherals, Wireless / WiFi,
I know that some of you out there like wireless keyboards, so you might appreciate the Shintaro Wireless Media Center Keyboard. The main feature here is a built-in 400dpi trackpad, as well as integrated Media Center hotkeys, volume buttons, plus a USB receiver dongle. The keyboard is powered by 2 AA batteries, and can be purchased for $57.
Read More | Shintaro
Latest Gear Live Videos
JVC NX-TC5 iPod dock stereo with digital TV support
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Home Entertainment, Music, Wireless / WiFi,
Here’s an interesting stereo from JVC known as NX-TC5, which includes the usual such as an AM/FM tuner, iPod dock, and a CD player to “rip audio to MD or USB stick at 4x speeds.”
Some of the more unusual features include the movable front-panel and a motion-activated 4.3-inch display. There is 512MB on board for photos, but the video playback uses a built-in 1 Seg digital TV tuner or WMV video stored on USB media. The TC5 should launch in Japan late next month for ¥62,000 (about $655) or ¥52,000 (about $549) if you want the NX-TC3, which lacks MD support.
Read More | AV Watch
Cricket TXTM8 phone optimized for SMS-only
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,
I believe that there is an entire generation that uses their mobile phone for text messages only, and it would appear that Cricket is prepared for it with the TXTM8.
The TXTM8, or text-mate, is a messaging phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Don’t ask me where that keyboard is in this picture (we’re guessing slider,) but I’m told that it also comes with a customizable homescreen that allows users access to web content such as news and weather. Other features include a 1.3 Megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, a music player, and microSD slot.
Interested? The Cricket TXTM8 is available now for a price of $140.
Read More | Cricket TXTM8
Samsung S9110 touchscreen watchphone
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Smartphones, Wearables, Wireless / WiFi,
Here’s a look at the world’s thinnest touchscreen cellphone, the Samsung S9110, which also happens to be the second watchphone produced by a major player. The first is the LG GD910 announced at CES last January.
The S9110 is supposed to be the “world’s thinnest” at 11.98 mm thick, and it sports a 176x220 1.76-inch touchscreen glass display, Bluetooth 2.1 integration, Voice Recognition, e-mail with Outlook sync, music player, and speakerphone. The watch has 40MB of internal memory.
All this can be yours for about 450 Euro ($638 USD). It is planned for a release in France later this month.
Read More | Samsung S9110 Press Release
Solar Sound Bluetooth Speaker from Devotec
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Accessories, Music, Peripherals, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,
Devotec Industries have recently released the Solar Sound Bluetooth Speakers, a light and portable wireless speakers that can produce “deep, clear sound” while harnessing the precious energy from the sun.
As the name implies, it can connect to your sound-making device via Bluetooth, but a 3.5mm connector is included in case your player isn’t Bluetooth compatible. It takes about 12-24 hours worth of solar sun time for a full charge, or 4 hours via USB. It is good for about 8 hours of continuous play on medium volume.
Other features include a built-in mic for hands free communication, as well as a touch-screen panel for volume, fast forward, and rewind. All of this can be purchased at the Devotec site for $79.99.
Read More | Devotec Industries
Barnes & Noble named exclusive e-book provider for Plastic Logic eReader
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Internet, Wireless / WiFi,
Barnes & Noble has just announced that they’ve formed an alliance with Plastic Logic and that they’ll be the exclusive eBookstore for the Plastic Logic eReader device. This is a definite play at Amazon, as the Plastic Logic eReader is definitely being positioned as a Kindle competitor. Up until now, many wondered how the Plastic Logic eReader would compete in a world where Amazon sold both the device and the content, and now we’ve got our answer. If Barnes & Noble pushes the Plastic Logic eReader in stores as their e-book reader of choice, the Plastic Logic device just may have a shot after all.
In related news, Barnes & Noble has also announced a brand new eBookstore. It is available now, and is currently compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Mac and PC. Even better, if you install the app and sign in, you get six free eBooks right off the bat. No, you don’t get to choose. The six titles are:
- The Last of the Mohicans
- Sense and Sensibility
- Dracula
- Pride and Prejudice
- Little Women
- Merriam-Webster’s Pocket Dictionary
Still, free is free. Full release after the break.
Click to continue reading Barnes & Noble named exclusive e-book provider for Plastic Logic eReader
Amazon Kindle-Gate: Purchased copies of Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 disappear
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,
I have no idea what to even say about this, other than that we are severely, severely disappointed with Amazon and how they are allowing their publishers to treat Kindle users. In a nuthsell, Kindle users who purchased George Orwell’s 1984 and/or Animal Farm found yesterday that those two titles had mysteriously disappeared from their Kindles, and that they were credited $.99 for each purchase. Why? That’s because the publisher decided that they no longer wanted to sell the books on the Kindle Store. Now, that’s all fine, but did they really have to take it away from those who had already made the purchase?
The Kindle edition books Animal Farm by George Orwell. Published by MobileReference (mobi) & Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by George Orwell. Published by MobileReference (mobi) were removed from the Kindle store and are no longer available for purchase. When this occured, your purchases were automatically refunded. You can still locate the books in the Kindle store, but each has a status of not yet available. Although a rarity, publishers can decide to pull their content from the Kindle store.
Read More | Amazon Kindle Mysterious Orwell Refunds
Verizon Wireless opts to end handset exclusivity agreements (with a catch)
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,
Verizon Wireless announced this morning that their President and CEO, Lowell McAdam, has sent a letter to lawmakers on Capitol Hill announcing that “Effective immediately for small wireless carriers…any new exclusivity arrangement we enter with handset makers will last no longer than six months - for all manufacturers and all devices.” At first glance, that’s kind of a big deal. After all, handset exclusivity is something that can be very financially beneficial to a carrier (see AT&T and iPhone as one such example.) So here’s the thing, when you re-read that statement, you discover that this exclusivity thing will still be in effect as it pertains to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. It’s only the small wireless carriers, those with 500,000 customers or less, that will be able to pick up handsets that are exclusive to Verizon Wireless after a six-month period. Still, it’s better than nothing, but the cast majority of non-Verizon Wireless mobile customers won’t benefit from this news.
In other words, this is a blatant attempt by Verizon Wireless to look like the nice guy while the FCC and congressional inquiries into exclusive handset deals proceed. This isn’t much progress at all. It’s just a political play that we can guarantee wouldn’t have happened if lawmakers weren’t taking a peek behind the curtain. What’s more, Verizon is hoping that other carriers will follow their lead with this move, specifically AT&T with the iPhone.
You can see the entire letter after the break.
Click to continue reading Verizon Wireless opts to end handset exclusivity agreements (with a catch)
Read More | Verizon Policy Blog
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.