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Latest Gear Live Videos
Zune HD Twitter app now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video, Software,
If you’ve been wanting to use your Zune HD to get your Twitter on, today is your day. Twitter for Zune HD is a free app, now available in the Zune Marketplace, that lets you interact with your Twitter peoples. You can read Tweets, update your status, and all that good stuff. If you don’t see it, give it a little bit, it was just deployed, which means it may take a few before it shows up.
Now, can we get some Zune HD Facebook love?
Gallery: Zune HD Twitter app now available
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We’ve been anticipating the nook for about a month-and-a-half now, even since Barnes & Noble announced the nook back in October. Seeing a potential, real competitor to the Amazon Kindle sporting both an e-ink screen alongside a capacitive color LCD touchscreen just about made us drool. Oh, and it runs Google Android too, so, there’s that whole thing. Well, we’ve finally got the Barnes & Noble nook into our hands, and we’ve done some testing, some reading, and some playing, all in the spirit of letting you know how the nook stands on its own, and how it compares to the Amazon Kindle. We think we’ve done that, and we invite you to continue reading for the full Gear Live nook review.
Click to continue reading Barnes & Noble nook review
Gallery: Barnes & Noble nook review
Barnes and Noble nook vs. Amazon Kindle: Size comparison shots
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Handhelds,
Hot on the heels of our Barnes & Noble nook unboxing gallery, we got a ton of requests from you guys asking us to compare the nook directly against the Kindle 2. So we put the nook right up against Amazon’s Kindle 2, and shot some photos. In a nutshell, the nook is smaller in length and width, but is a little but thicker than the Kindle 2. I personally don’t think one has an advantage over the other in terms of size, but hey, check out the nook vs Kindle size comparison gallery, and judge for yourself, mmkay?
Gallery: Barnes and Noble nook vs. Amazon Kindle: Size comparison shots
Monoprice iPhone backup battery pack triples your power for $15
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Handhelds,
Okay guys, as much as we like our Mophie Juice Packs for keeping the iPhone juiced on the go, it’d be downright irresponsible of us not to bring this fantastic iPhone backup batery from Monoprice to your attention. The same company that brings you stupid-cheap HDMI cables is now selling a 2200mAh iPhone and iPod battery that’ll recharge your iPhone almost twice from near death, and the cost is only $15.23 - and it’s even less if you buy more than one. Sure, it’s fugly and nowhere near as sleek as a Mophie Juice Pack or Juice Pack Air, but it’s cheap! Sometimes that’s all that matters.
Read More 
| Monoprice
Gallery: Monoprice iPhone backup battery pack triples your power for $15
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Zune HD
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Microsoft, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Techies, Teens, Under $250,
We must say, one device we were excited about this year was the Zune HD, and as evidenced in our Zune HD review, Microsoft came through with a superb device with a fantastic service behind it to match. In fact, we’ve said it many time that, in our opinion, for someone that truly loves music, Zune is the best deal around. Coupled with the $15 per month Zune Pass (which isn’t a requirement,) you get a top-notch portable media player with an OLED screen, HD Radio, and web browser with the advantage of being able to listen to pretty much any song you can think of at a moments notice.
The Zune HD retails for $289 for the 32GB model, and $219 for the 16GB model - however, Amazon’s got a great sale on the Zune HD that’ll put the 32GB model into your hands for $269 ($21 off,) while the 16GB model will run you $189 ($30 off.)
Read More | Zune on Amazon
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Zune HD
SquareUp iPhone payment service launched by Twitter co-founder
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Handhelds, Software,
New iPhone credit card payment service SquareUp has finally been unveiled, and we’ve gotta say, it’s got our attention. The brainchild of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, SquareUp aims to be a simple, sleek, inexpensive, and charitable credit card payment processing service. It works on the iPhone and iPod touch, in conjunction with a credit card reader that plugs in to the audio jack. You get payer verification, receipts that can be sent via email or text message, and receipt signing using your finger. Even cooler, in our opinion, is that Square will donate one penny of every transaction to a charity of the seller’s choice.
If Square plays their cards right, they will be a force to reckon with in the small business arena. The service is in limited beta right now, but Square says it’ll be fully open in 2010. We’ll see if we can’t get a beta account to give you a better look at how it all works.
Read More | SquareUp
Gallery: SquareUp iPhone payment service launched by Twitter co-founder
Anytime over the past year-and-a-half or so, whenever someone asked me what I thought about the CrunchPad, my answer was pretty much always the same: you’ll never get your hands on one. Call me a cynic, but I just found it difficult to believe that Mike Arrington would be able to pull off what no other major consumer electronics manufacturer has been unable to do as of yet. Today, Mike announced that the CrunchPad is dead. No more. Kaput. I’m not surprised.
Let me make myself clear, though. My thoughts had nothing to do with the capabilities of Arrington, FusionGarage, or anyone else involved in the project. I simply felt that there would be an outside influence that would knock the project off-track. Conspiracy theory or not, if a major manufacturer that had a lot of pull in the area where these devices are manufactured (like China) truly wanted to play hardball to make sure a small start-up couldn’t release a device like the CrunchPad because they were going to be releasing something similar, at a much higher price, I bet they could pull that off.
Not to say that this is what happened, I’m just thinking aloud. However, when you read Mike’s post on the matter, you quickly realize that something went on, and it was something strange and sudden. Either way, the CrunchPad is dead. No worries, though, 2010 will be the year that the tablet hits the mainstream.
Read More | TechCrunch
Gallery: The CrunchPad is no more
Amazon Kindle 2: Now with PDF support, 85% more battery life
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Software,
In what we are guessing is an attempt to make the Kindle a bit more attractive when compared to the B&N nook, Amazon announced today that the Kindle 2 now ships with PDF support and a battery that lasts almost twice as long as previous Kindle 2s. The battery bump, in particular, gives you 7 days of use with wireless on as opposed to 4.
Even cooler, though, is the fact that if you already own a Kindle 2, there will be a firmware update released over-the-air that will give you the same functionality, including the 85% increase in battery life! No date has been announced for the release of that update, but we’d be surprised if it didn’t arrive any day now. Gotta love competition. You can pick up the Kindle 2 on Amazon.
Read More | Amazon Kindle
Gallery: Amazon Kindle 2: Now with PDF support, 85% more battery life
Black Friday 2009: Target ad
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, GPS, Handhelds, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Smart Home, Movies, Portable Audio / Video, Storage, Video Games,
Continuing on with our coverage of Black Friday 2009 sales leaks, we’ve got the details on what Target is going to be doing to get you out of bed early for their 5:00am doorbusters. Wondering if they’ll have any great deals on gadgets and tech? How does a 1TB hard drive for under $60 sound? Check out the full list after the jump.
Click to continue reading Black Friday 2009: Target ad
Gallery: Black Friday 2009: Target ad
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Kodak Zi8
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Handhelds, HDTV, Women, Men, Techies, Under $250,
We love how inexpensive it’s gotten for people to attain the ability to record high definition video, and we think this category is set to explode this holiday season. Based on this, and you know how much we love video, we’ve got to recommend the Kodak Zi8 handheld camera. Why? Well, the Kodak Zi8 records full 1080p HD video at 30 fps, and can also take 5 megapixel still images. It incorporates image stabilization as well, which helps avoid that whole Blair Witch shaky cam effect that none of us enjoy, and in a rare move, it even has a microphone jack so you can connect a nice, high quality audio device, if you so choose.
It’s definitely a great value for such a small device that packs a nice punch. The Kodak Zi8 typically sells for $179, but you can find it on Amazon for a little less than that.
Honorable Mention:
Flip Mino: It isn’t HD, but it’s about $60 cheaper than the Kodak Zi8.
Read More | Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera
