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
What the heck is wrong with Yahoo? Seriously. A few weeks ago my handy TV guide became unusable. Do a Yahoo search and you get references to their pages or silly questions with even sillier answers. Today my Yahoo e-mail has not only metamorphasized into something I don’t recognize, it refuses to post pictures that have been sent to me. There is also a delay in bringing it up. I have long enjoyed the benefits of Yahoo’s e-mail, since it affords me a larger storage area and isolates most of the spam I get on it, but I really think that they have finally bitten off more than they can figuratively chew. With so much information and choices online, it may be time to find a kinder company that doesn’t want to rule the entire Internet world.
Gallery: Yahoo Runs Amok
Advertisement
Viacom Joins Joost Online TV
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies,
Joost has just announced that they have teamed with Viacom for distribution on their site. Under this agreement, spokesperson Brian Baumley told Gear Live that Viacom’s divisions of MTV, BET, and Paramount will now be a part of the web site that we first mentioned last month. Also included in the package will be Comedy Central, CMT, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, VH1, and full length Paramount films of both classics and recent releases.
Still available in limited beta, the free Joost is accessible with only a broadband Internet connection, and offers broadcast-quality reception. Those of us without cable capability are thrilled with the news and can’t wait to be a part of Joost’s testing group. If you are interested in becoming a tester, visit Joost’s web site.
Read More 
| Joost
Gallery: Viacom Joins Joost Online TV
Internet Prescription Drug Buyers Receive Wrong Meds
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Science,
Beware of Greeks bearing medicinal gifts. Internet consumers who believed that they were purchasing antidepressants, sleep aids, and other drugs, were instead shipped anti-psychotics. The FDA reported that many actually took the Haloperidol, a medicine for schizophrenics, and had to seek emergency treatment. The drugs were packaged in plastic bags and mailed in envelopes bearing Greek postmarks.
Most of the victims had bought Xanax, Ativan, Ambien, or Lexapro from several different web sites. If you have ordered any of these drugs online and experience symptoms such as difficulty in breathing or muscles stiffness or spasms, or note an odd postmark, contact the FDA or your local health officials.
Read More | FDA
Gallery: Internet Prescription Drug Buyers Receive Wrong Meds
Cuban Government Joins With Venezuela To Adopt Linux
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Cuba’s government has joined with socialist country Venezuela in converting its computers to open-source software. Both claim they are trying to rid themselves of Microsoft Windows to get on Linux, which was created by programmers who freely share their code.
Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes, longtime compadre of Castro, spoke of these issues and Microsoft’s possible cooperation with U.S. military and intellegence at the opening of a technology conference going on this week in Cuba. The two countries join the ranks of China, Brazil, and Norway, who find Microsoft’s high cost and security issues a little too much to bear.
Read More | USA Today
Gallery: Cuban Government Joins With Venezuela To Adopt Linux
Playing Xbox Live While Driving Via Google WiFi
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Internet, Microsoft, Mods / Hacks, Transportation, Video Games, Videos,
So, my boy Jake Ludington dropped me an email this morning telling me that if I had been home this weekend and answered my phone, I would have been able to take part in this experiment that he was a part of where a group of people got together down in Mountain View, CA, and got their Xbox Live gaming on in a moving vehicle. Of course, Mountain View is the place where Google has blanketed the city in free WiFi, which is how this was all possible in the first place. In order to get it done, they used a Windows XP computer to connect to WiFi, and had the Xbox 360 pick up the shared Internet connection, thus allowing it to jump online for some Rainbow Six and Uno action. Check the video above for the proof.
Gallery: Playing Xbox Live While Driving Via Google WiFi
Mattel’s IM-ME Protects Girls from Online Predators
Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Internet, Toys, Wireless / WiFi,
A booming trend is high-tech gadgets for kids, as seen at New York’s American International Toy Fair this week. One such item is Mattel’s Girl Tech IM-ME, a wireless text-messaging device for young girls, that allows them to chat while keeping them safe from anonymous online predators. The two-piece IM-ME set is a small, colorful text device and an RF dongle with antenna. Plug the dongle into a parent-monitored PC connected to the internet, and your little one can chat away. However they can only chat with other IM-ME users who are in her address book—and within her dongle range. Interesting idea, we just wonder why this product is targeted solely to young girls…and not to all kids. Look for IM-Me this summer, retailing for $64.99 USD.
Read More | Wired
Gallery: Mattel’s IM-ME Protects Girls from Online Predators
We’re not exactly sure of the purpose of this, but it looks cool. Monica Charles, during a Hallmark moment, decided to take Microsoft’s star field screensaver and sell its stars. Then she turns them into mini-billboards to be enjoyed by all. So far she has sold 22 out of an available 10,000 stars and if you hang at her site for a bit, you will see the likes of babies heads and unidentifiable planets fly by. We applaud Monica’s efforts in making cyberspace a work of art where you can have your own star and see it, too.
Read More | The Screensaver Site
Gallery: Entrepreneur Creates Celestial Billboard
Windows Vista Lags in Sales
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,
With all the negative hype of late, we aren’t surprised that Windows Vista’s sales in the first quarter have so far lagged behind those of Windows XP when it was released. Marketing company NPD released figures based on sales that users install themselves. Vista sales were down 58.9% compared to those of XP with a revenue decrease of 32.1%. Windows Vista was launched on Jan. 30, 2007 and Windows XP on Oct. 25, 2001.
One possibility for the decrease may be that current XP users don’t think their old computers can handle the software. “All the reviewers have been beating people over the head about hardware requirements,” NPD’s Chris Swenson said. “The preliminary data suggests that consumers are getting the message that they need a more robust system to take advantage of some of the new features in Vista.” These consumers are choosing to “get Vista on a new PC rather than at retail.” We’re glad we could help, Chris.
Read More | Microsoft Watch
Gallery: Windows Vista Lags in Sales
SMS Unveils Cell Phone/Computer Watch
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Internet, Misc. Tech, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,
Australia’s SMS Technology has created the M300 watch that works with any GSM network, connects to a computer via USB, has a built-in MP3 player and speaker phone, an emergency call button, and a 1-inch color screen. Additionally, you can import logos and images for your screensaver, and download ringtones. The M300, which supports Bluetooth, will be available in March for a tidy $649.99.
SMS will also be releasing their M501 series in June, made of solid gold and titanium, and the M700 series for the business minded in November. These will be 850 mhz/1900 mhz watch phones and tri-band 900 mhz/1800 mhz/1900 mhz sets.
Read More | SMS Technology
Gallery: SMS Unveils Cell Phone/Computer Watch
The ZiPhone II USB Telephone from Simple Simon has been drawing a lot of attention this past week, due to the money-saving features and call recording capabilities that is boasts. Even more, we see the hacker / designer aspect of the phone with it’s programmer’s development kit and sample code as well. The phone connects to a PC over a USB connection and utilizes VoIP for communications on that end. It doesn’t stop there though, as it can also connect to a standard land line as well as analog PBX connections as well. What’s fantastic is that it can be managed through any Windows-based VoIP SoftPhone or virtual PBX system on the market. The ZiPhone II runs for $199.95 USD.
[Thanks, sightandsound!]
Read More | Simple Simon
