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Latest Gear Live Videos
Geared Up: Riding in Tesla’s Cybertruck, & Samsung Tech Day w/ Special Guests Ben Sullins & Jim Elliott
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Design, Features, Handhelds, Internet, Science, Storage, Transportation,
This week we talk about the newly-announced Tesla Cybertruck, Tesla’s take on what a modern (if not futuristic) pickup truck should be, along with thoughts on riding inside the vehicle. Joining us for that segment is Tesla expert Ben Sullins from Teslanomics. Ben and Jon were on-hand at the Cybertruck reveal event, while Andru watched from home, left out from the annals of history. We also have an interview with Samsung Semiconductor’s Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing Jim Elliott, talking about the new tech we can expect in upcoming Samsung smartphones, as well as how 5G, autonomous driving, high-bandwidth memory, and more are changing the future!
LINKS MENTIONED IN THE SHOW
- Video: Riding in the Tesla Cybertruck
- Video: Samsung Tech Day Announcements
- Geared Up on YouTube
- Jon Rettinger on YouTube
- Andru Edwards on YouTube
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Listen to the episode in the player above or subscribe to Geared Up in your favorite podcast app to listen on the go:
Gallery: Geared Up: Riding in Tesla’s Cybertruck, & Samsung Tech Day w/ Special Guests Ben Sullins & Jim Elliott
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Western Digital Blue SSD review: A solid SSD
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, PC / Laptop, Product Reviews, Storage,
For decades, Western Digital has been recognized as one of the very few leaders in the world of storage and hard drives. If you open up that pre-built computer you bought, there's a good chance that on the inside you'll find a Western Digital-branded drive. If you're building your own, you likely purchased (or at least considered) going with Western Digital for your internal storage solution.
Where this might now have been the case is if you wanted to be a part of the growing trend of users switching to solid state drives. SSDs allow for faster speeds, both in read and write times, as well as the benefit of having no moving parts. They are faster, quieter, and more durable. When they were first released, they were prohibitively expensive, but as time has gone on, prices have dropped substantially as they do with any new form of technology.
The problem that Western Digital had was that it's class-leading hard disk drive prowess didn't mean that it was prepared for the new age of SSDs, and it had nothing to offer customers who wanted to go this route. It's solution was to purchase SanDisk in March 2016, a company that excels at flash storage solutions, and 8 months later we have the first results in the Western Digital Blue SSD.
Click to continue reading Western Digital Blue SSD review: A solid SSD
Gallery: Western Digital Blue SSD review: A solid SSD
Grab one year of Backblaze unlimited online backup for $25!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Internet, PC / Laptop, Storage,
Backblaze not only allows access to data from all your devices, but it backs up automatically and continuously so there are zero tasks added to your plate. It’s a simple solution to a complex problem that can often end in disaster.Right now you can grab a one-year subscription for $24.99 from Gear Live Deals. That is half off the regular price!
- Back up all your photos, movies, music & documents automatically
- Retain all deleted files for 30 days
- Back up external drives (USB, Firewall & Thunderbolt)
- Secure your data in data centers w/ 24-hour staff, biometric security & redundant power
- Enjoy the security of native Mac & PC coding rather than Java (responsible for 91% of attacks)
- Back up at optimized speeds so you don’t waste precious hours
- Locate your lost computer to help recover it
This subscription covers one computer (and any connected external drives) with a year of unlimited backup for new customers at half price. Get this deal now!
Gallery: Grab one year of Backblaze unlimited online backup for $25!
Stop at Best Buy for that Back to School SanDisk flash storage
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, USB, Storage,
Summer is nearing an end, and back to school season is in full swing. As you shop for those notebooks, backpacks, pencils, and the like, be sure to keep in mind that we live in a digital world where students are expected to become comfortable with technology. Homework now involves the Internet and the usage of tablets and laptops to get the job done. When moving those items around, it’a always good to have a backup, even in the age of cloud storage. SanDisk is always up to the challenge, and I’ve relied on SanDisk digital storage for over a decade when it comes to photography, and external storage.
Click to continue reading Stop at Best Buy for that Back to School SanDisk flash storage
Gallery: Stop at Best Buy for that Back to School SanDisk flash storage
Transporter Desktop 3.0 released with read-only shared folders, better Yosemite support
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Software, Storage,
Transporter Desktop 3.0 introduces includes several new features and enhancements designed to improve your private file sharing experience:
- Read-only Shared Folders: A Shared Folder owner can now assign read-only permissions on a per-user-per-folder basis.
- New Clearer Finder Icon Badges: Transporter Desktop icon badges have been updated for both Mac and Windows for better visibility and clarity.
- Enhanced OS X Yosemite Support: Transporter Desktop includes changes to fully support Yosemite at both a functional and aesthetic level. Visible changes include a new folder appearance that is exclusive to Yosemite users as well as Yosemite-style contextual menu integration.
- iOS 8 support: Transporter app for iOS now supports iOS 8, including authorization/options at Settings > Location Services and Settings > Notifications.
- Create a folder on mobile: You can now create a folder on your Transporter from your iOS or Android mobile device.
If you're unfamiliar with the Transporter, it's a private cloud that allows you to store, access, and share your files from anywhere. Since the device is iunder your control, you don't have to rely on the privacy policies of third-party services, and you can have as much storage as you'd like without the subscription fees. You can pick up the Transporter Sync on Amazon which allows you to hook up any USB hard drive, or get the original Transporter which uses internal drives.
Gallery: Transporter Desktop 3.0 released with read-only shared folders, better Yosemite support
Fire Phone unlimited free photo storage only applies to smartphone images, doesn’t include videos
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Storage,
You know how Amazon's Fire Phone includes the perk of unlimited photo storage in your Amazon Cloud Drive account? Well, it turns out there are a couple of caveats. Here's how it works:
- The free storage is applied to the account that the Fire Phone is registered under
- The phone will upload your pictures and videos, but only the pictures get unlimited free space. Videos uploaded will use your Amazon Cloud Drive storage allotment.
- Photos uploaded are in their original, full-resolution format
- The unlimited free storage only applies to photos taken and uploaded with the Fire Phone. If you sync over photos to the phone that weren't taken with it, those will count against your allotment. Similarly, if you upload photos taken with the Fire Phone from another device, they'll also count against your storage space.
- If you give away or sell your Fire Phone, all of your photos will remain in your Amazon Cloud Drive. If you then get a new Fire Phone in the future, the unlimited photo storage benefit will return to your account.
Some have been comparing Amazon's offering to what Apple will be including in iOS 8, and later, OS X Yosemite, where it will also allow you to store all of your photos and videos in iCloud. The difference is that Apple will allow you to automatically upload your entire photo library, regardless of where the images were taken, but there will be a fee if you go over 5GB. There's no unlimited option for images, and certainly not for video.
You can pre-order the Amazon Fire Phone now.
Gallery: Fire Phone unlimited free photo storage only applies to smartphone images, doesn’t include videos
Amazon Fire Phone owners get unlimited, free photo storage
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Hot Deals, Storage,
Amazon just announced its new Fire Phone, and one of the big value-adds is that owners will get unlimited photo storage on Amazon Cloud Drive. This comes just two weeks after Apple announced the new iCloud Photo Library option during its WWDC 2014 keynote, which allows you to store all of the photos and videos that you have, with the difference being that Apple only gives you the first 5GB of storage for free, and then you have to pay for additional tiers, which starts at $0.99 per month for 20GB. Amazon is providing unlimited photo storage (although they didn't specifically say that videos were included) right off the bat, a key differentiator. This means you can snap away without fear of using up all your local storage space, and it's one less backup you need to worry about as well.
The Amazon Fire Phone will sell for $199.99 on-contract, and is exclusive to AT&T. You can pre-order today, and it'll be released on July 25th. For a limited time, buyers will also receive a free year of Amazon Prime with purchase!
Gallery: Amazon Fire Phone owners get unlimited, free photo storage
Western Digital My Passport Pro Thunderbolt RAID drive announced
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, PC / Laptop, Storage,
Western Digital has announced its new My Passport Pro external Thunderbolt storage drive. The new device features two internal drives with user-selectable RAID functionality, making it perfect for those working with high-end graphics and video, and those who need more reliable mirroring.
On the inside, you'll find two 2.5-inch drives, with one model totaling 2 TB, and another providing 4 TB of storage. As the drive used Thunderbolt for connectivity, there's no separate power cable--the Thunderbolt cable is all you need to power the 233 MBps My Passport Pro. The 2 TB model sells for $299.99, while the 4 TB version is available for $429.99.
Read More 
| My Passport Pro
Gallery: Western Digital My Passport Pro Thunderbolt RAID drive announced
2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Western Digital My Passport Slim
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, USB, PC / Laptop, Storage, Techies, Under $100, Under $250, Under $500,
If you know someone who needs some fast portable storage that also compact and portable, look no further than the My Passport Slim from Western Digital, our next featured item in our 2013 Holiday Gift Guide. I have one, and it does it's job at my desk where I typically work, but when I need the storage on the go, I can easily slip it into a bag or pocket, and I've got a terabyte at USB 3.0 with me. For the data hogs in your life.
You can pick up the WD My Passport Slim now from Amazon for $86.
Click to continue reading 2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Western Digital My Passport Slim
Read More | WD My Passport Slim
Gallery: 2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Western Digital My Passport Slim
Transporter 2.0 improves user experience, brings iOS, Android apps
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: PC / Laptop, Software, Storage,
We're big fans of Connected Data's Transporter device, which basically gives you locally stored and protected cloud storage without having to upload your files to third-party services like Dropbox or Copy, with no subscription fee. Now, on the heels of the Connected Data & Drobo merger agreement, comes the announcement of Transporter 2.0, a big software update for the NAS. Version 2.0 of the Transporter software brings a host of welcome improvements like:
- Improved integration with the OS X Finder and Windows Explorer
- Custom right-click options and drag-and-drop functionality
- Share direct links to files and folders
- Choose how folders are synced (locally or remotely)
- Increased firewall support
Additionally, new Transporter iOS and Android apps will allow remote access and management of files stored on the device. Transporter v2.0 will be a free software upgrade for all existing customers. For new customers, Transporter starts at $199 without a hard drive, $299 for 1TB, and $399 for 2TB.
Gallery: Transporter 2.0 improves user experience, brings iOS, Android apps
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