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!
BT and Virgin Launch Mobile Music Download Service
Posted by Devin Categories: Smartphones, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
British telecom giant BT is getting together with Virgin Mobile to roll out BT Livetime today. This service will allow users to listen to 50 different stations via their mobile phone, and even download songs for a small fee. BT hopes that these services will take a chunk out of the multi-billion pound music download industry dominated by Apple. Other services available through Livetime include music videos, and live news and sports coverage.
Read More 
| The Guardian
Advertisement
Some Labs Reject Digital Photos That Look Too Professional
Posted by Devin Categories: Cameras, Misc. Tech,
Those of you that enjoy using you digital camera to take high quality images may want to think about how you take your future photographs. It seems some photo labs are refusing to print digital photographs that look “too professional”, fearing that in doing so they may be breaking copyright laws. With traditional photographs, the widely accepted rule was that if you had the negative, you had permission to reproduce it, but in this age of digital photography it can be hard to tell if the photo was taken by Joe Blow, or simply scanned into a computer or downloaded off the Internet. While the photo labs fear being sued for breaking copyright laws, there really isn’t any exact way to know if a photo belongs to the person bringing it in and approval could vary from lab tech to lab tech.
Read More | USA Today
Within the next few weeks, America Online plans to showcase a new feature on their newly designed free Internet website. Users will have the choice of two custom start pages- the first with text and image links like any other site, and the second filled with video content. Users who choose the latter will have their own personalized “Video Hub” allowing them to view anything from news highlights to movie trailers. AOL isn’t the only web giant getting “tuned in” however. MSN, Google, and Yahoo are also getting on the network bandwagon, all of course hoping to increase revenue through advertising.
Read More | USA Today
Latest Gear Live Videos
On-board Automotive Computers Could Help Reduce Traffic Jams
Posted by Devin Categories: Misc. Tech,
If you’re anything like me, having to sit in a traffic jam can turn a good day bad rather quickly. Mathematician Dr. Paul Mathias, with Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group has a possible solution to help alleviate the traffic jam nightmare. A recent invention of his has the ability to transfer information between your car and the city street infrastructure, allowing you to know what speed will help you catch the most green lights, or alert you of the possibility of another driver running a red light.
“Infrastructure operators could also benefit considerably from this kind of system,” said Mathias. “Standardized vehicle log-on processes with assigned priorities can be used in addition to or as an alternative to conventional traffic detection to provide a more transparent picture of the traffic flow and enable more effective traffic control.” Siemens plans to install and test prototypes of such systems in German cities over the next few years as part of European and national research projects.
Read More | GizMag
Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter Review
Posted by Sparky Categories: Accessories, Features, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,
I recently bought another iPod to replace my Zen Micro and had to find a way to get the music to play through my car stereo. In my previous car I had a line in installed into the jack, but with my new Volkswagen, there is no easy way to do that without buying an expensive adapter. After doing a fair bit of research I decided to get the Monster iCarPlay iPod wireless transmitter and after a couple of days with it I’m pretty impressed. Check out our full review after the jump!
Click to continue reading Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter Review
Cell Phone Technology Aims To Make Wallets A Thing Of The Past
Posted by Devin Categories: Smartphones, Misc. Tech, Wireless / WiFi,
Pretty much everyone has a cell phone these days, right? Some have cameras, some have Internet and email access, some play mp3’s, and some can even be used to watch TV segments. Heck, some even have the capability to do all of the above. Phones these days can do nearly anything, so why not store your credit or debit card information on the phone, so you don’t even need to take your wallet when you leave the house? The process is quite simple, and it’s already in use in Japan.
At the simplest level, all that’s needed is to embed phones with a short-range radio chip to beam credit card information to a terminal at a store register. It’s not unlike the wireless system used to pay tolls on many highways or the SpeedPass key chain wand used to buy gas at Exxon Mobile Corp. pumps.
Mastercard International has already been testing out this technology, which they call PayPass, since 2003, and they may even conduct a market trial sometime next year.
Read More | USA Today
One of the most popular video games in the world turns 25 this month. Pac-Man, along with ghostly rivals Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, is celebrating a quarter century on the pop culture map by offering a special edition 25th anniversary arcade machine. You can also expect to find Pac-Mania 3D, Pac-Man World 3, Pac-Pix and Pac-Man Pinball in stores. The games are of course being released by Namco which sold nearly 300,000 units of the original arcade game between 1980-1987.
It all began in Japan, when Toru Iwatani, a young designer at Namco, caught inspiration from a pizza that was missing a slice. Puck-Man, as it was originally called, was born. Because of obvious similarities to a certain four-letter profanity, “Puck” became “Pac” when it debuted in the U.S. in 1980.
Read More | USA Today
Playfeed columnist Jake Metcalf made an appearance on The Chris Pirillo Show last week, talking about games and technology with Chris and his callers. If you haven’t caught the show, I definitely recommend you checking it out. Jake did a great job helping out, as well as defending the Nintendo Gamecube. In fact, add the show to your podcasting client. I may get the opportunity to be on the show myself sometime in the near future, as the last time I was invited, I was on my way to new York City.
Playfeed columnist Jake Metcalf made an appearance on The Chris Pirillo Show last week, talking about games and technology with Chris and his callers. If you haven’t caught the show, I definitely recommend you checking it out. Jake did a great job helping out, as well as defending the Nintendo Gamecube. Big ups.
One of the greatest innovations to come to the computing market in years just got a bit better! A little over a year ago DiscHub launched their fantastic disc management system. DiscHub just launched the second version of their product and I have had the pleasure of reviewing the improvements. Check out the full review after the jump.
Click to continue reading DiscHub Version 2.0 Review
