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!
Latest Gear Live Videos
Crayola ColorStudio HD now available for iPad
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Design, Toys,
Griffin Technology and Crayola have teamed up on the ColorStudio HD app and iMarker, and the set is now available nationwide. The cool thing about this is that the app can tell the difference between the swiping and tapping fingers of a child and the iMarker input. There are over 30 animated coloring pages with sound effects and music, and users can also create their own works of art from scratch, and can also use the built in library of assets. Art can even be uploaded directly to Facebook, or printed using AirPrint.
The Crayola ColorStudio HD app is free on the app store, and the iMarker pack is available now for $29.99.
Click to continue reading Crayola ColorStudio HD now available for iPad
Read More 
| Crayola ColorStudio HD
Gallery: Crayola ColorStudio HD now available for iPad
Advertisement
YouTube is offering a preview of a possible redesign, and if you wanna get in on the action to check it out now, you can enable it yourself right now. They're calling is Cosmic Panda, and it definitely brings much more focus to the actual video content across the site, giving much more real estate to the video content (which is what you're there for, right?) and highlighting related content as well. Head on over to the link below to enable the Cosmic Panda design for yourself, and be sure to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube while you're at it, kay?
The YouTube redesign follows two other Google property redesigns that we saw last week with Gmail and Google Calendar.
Read More | YouTube Cosmic Panda
Gallery: Get a preview of the new YouTube
Check out this awesome optical illusion from a park in Paris
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design,
When looking at this patch of lawn head on, it looks like a sphere just sitting in the middle of the plaza at Paris City Hall. But it isn't. Look at it from the side and you realize that it is just heavily designed grass at an angle. This was designed by Francois Abelanet. It covers 1500 square meters and took 90 gardeners five days to put together.
Read More | Paris Website
Gallery: Check out this awesome optical illusion from a park in Paris
WSJ: iPhone 5 will be thinner, lighter with 8 megapixel camera
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Design, Handhelds, Rumors,
We know, the wait for the iPhone 5 is killing some of you, but at least we are getting regular info about the upcoming device from legitimate sources. The latest is The Wall Street Journal, which reports that Apple will indeed be introducing a new design with the next model of the iPhone. There's been some debate as to whether the iPhone 5 will keep the iPhone 4 design, but as the WSJ reports, the phone will be thinner and lighter, which definitely means there will be some changes to not only the internal design, but the external design as well. So, what's with all the supposed iPhone 5 prototypes that look just like the iPhone 4 then? Well, as you might recall, last year the iPhone 4 leaked months before it was introduced, and it was disguised in a case that made it look like an iPhone 3GS. In order to avoid that, Apple could simply be placing the smaller internal iPhone 5 parts in the larger iPhone 4 casing. Stranger things have happened, and this would be one way to keep the new design as hidden as possible during testing.
The WSJ also reports that the new phone will be introduced this fall, which is what we've been hearing for a while now. Expect Apple to show it off alongside a high definition iPad HD at their annual September event.
Read More | WSJ
Gallery: WSJ: iPhone 5 will be thinner, lighter with 8 megapixel camera
Google Calendar picks up new Google+ inspired minimalist design
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Google, Internet,
Looks like Google Calendar is also getting a new redesign to put it in line with Google+, similar to the redesign that Gmail is getting. You should be seeing the new design live in Google Calendar now, but know that there aren't any new features to go along with it. It's purely cosmetic. Do you like it?
Gallery: Google Calendar picks up new Google+ inspired minimalist design
iPhone 5 case design shows edge-to-edge display, moved camera flash
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smartphones, Design, Rumors,
What's purported to be an "iPhone 5" case with an edge-to-edge screen has surfaced at Asian trading site AliBaba.com, Electronista reported Saturday.
The listing on Guangdong, China-based Kulcase's trading site shows the front and back of what it claims to be the "Newest design crystal case for apple iPhone 5g." The unconfirmed case mockup is colored teal—we;'re guessing that odd choice doesn't make Apple's final cut for the iPhone 5—a;nd; has the flash component moved away from the rear camera, which would be a change from earlier versions of the iPhone.
The steady drumbeat of rumors about Apple's plans for the iPhone 5 seem to have fallen off in the past few weeks. But in March and April, speculative stories about delays, a faster processor and the like were flying off the shelves.
One thing that lends some credence to the AliBaba.com sighting is that Apple has already had trouble keeping its case designs for new products under wraps, notes AppleInsider.
Click to continue reading iPhone 5 case design shows edge-to-edge display, moved camera flash
Gallery: iPhone 5 case design shows edge-to-edge display, moved camera flash
Video: Fun with the iPad 2 magnets
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Design, Handhelds, Videos,
Apple's done a number of things to improve the speed and utility of its popular tablet device. The Apple iPad 2 features the faster A5 processor, two cameras, and a gyroscope. However, one of the more interesting iPad 2 innovations can be found outside the product: The new Smart Cover. It's also the source of the iPad 2's first entertaining parlor trick.
That cover, a mixture of leather (or polyurethane), microfiber and magnets snaps neatly onto the left side of the iPad 2 (there are no special notches on the iPad, the cover simply auto-aligns itself). The Smart Cover's second trick is to put the tablet to sleep when you lay it down on top of the screen. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that the active part of the cover is only in the last quarter panel. In other words, the iPad 2 doesn't sleep until the last part of the cover touches the screen. This means that there's also some sort of electronic mechanism within the cover and the right side of the iPad 2.
Click to continue reading Video: Fun with the iPad 2 magnets
Gallery: Video: Fun with the iPad 2 magnets
World’s smallest camera is the size of a grain of salt
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Design, Science,
Think your webcam is small? Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have developed a camera that's no larger than a grain of salt. The "microcamera" (shown below next to a syringe) has the potential to re-invent medical cameras used to navigate surgeries as well as some aspects of cars and consumer electronics.
"At 1x1x1 millimeters, this camera is as small as coarsely ground grain of salt—the smallest camera that we are aware of," Stephan Voltz, CEO of image-sensor developer Awaiba, said in a Fraunhofer press release.
Part of the challenge for creating effective microcameras is the manufacturing process, which requires that image sensors be created in bulk on a single wafer, then separated and attached to individual lenses. Fraunhofer says it's found a way to mount lenses in bulk on top of the sensor wafer, simplifying—and cheapening—the process, at least for this microcamera.
Click to continue reading World’s smallest camera is the size of a grain of salt
Gallery: World’s smallest camera is the size of a grain of salt
Will we see a white iPad this Wednesday?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Design, Handhelds, Rumors,
We're days away from Apple's March 2 press event, where Cupertino is widely expected to unveil its next-generation iPad. Not surprisingly, the rumor mill is still churning out stories, and today's tidbit is that Apple will unveil a white iPad.
Blog 9to5Mac got its hands on photos of what it says could be second-generation iPad parts - and the frame is white.
Of course, Apple has thus far failed to deliver on its promise of a white iPhone 4; the latest prediction is sometime this spring. Would it really unveil and start selling a white iPad before delivering the white iPhone 4? Or will both devices hit the market at the same time?
All our questions should be answered by Wednesday. For now, all we have is the wild speculation that happens before every big Apple event.
Click to continue reading Will we see a white iPad this Wednesday?
Gallery: Will we see a white iPad this Wednesday?
New MacBook Pro teardown gives us a look at Thunderbolt
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Design, PC / Laptop,
The teardown crew at iFixit got its hands on Apple's new MacBook Pro, providing a sneak peek at a new connection technology known as "Thunderbolt."
The new MacBooks are the first Apple portable to include a quad-core processor, Intel's Core i7. The devices also include more RAM, iFixit discovered. Thunderbolt, meanwhile, combines PCI Express and DisplayPort into a single connector.
On the new machines, you can chain up to six Thunderbolt devices. For comparison, FireWire supports 63 devices and USB supports up to 127 devices. But as iFixit noted, this might not be an issue since "we're not even aware of six products that support Thunderbolt yet." But if the connection becomes more popular, it might become a problem.
The RAM in the MacBooks is PC3-10600. That's the same RAM found in the 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs released last year, but different from earlier Apple laptops, iFixit said. PC3-10600 can be used in older MacBook Pro machines, but the RAM found in those older machines - PC3-8500 - will not work in the new MacBook Pros.
Click to continue reading New MacBook Pro teardown gives us a look at Thunderbolt
Gallery: New MacBook Pro teardown gives us a look at Thunderbolt
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.