Latest Gear Live Videos
Acer Liquid Glow: Ice Cream Sandwich, NFC, 3.7-inch display
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds,
Acer has announced that its Liquid Glow smartphone will be running Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the gate. The phone features a 5 megapixel camera, a 3.7-inch display, and NFC capabilities, allowing users to exchange data with other NFC-enabled phones. The Liquid Glow will be available in the summer, and is the first of Acer's smartphones to hit the market.
Read More 
| Acer via The Verge
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Instagram now available for Android
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Software,
Today marks the released of what may, quite possibly, be the most anticipated iOS-only app to hit Android, as Instagram has finally arrived on the Google side of the fence.
Instagram is the massively popular photo-sharing social network that's garnered over 25 million users, and up until this point, it's only been available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users. That changes today. Instagram for Android works on any Android device running version 2.2 or higher, as long as they support OpenGL ES 2. Similar to the iOS version, you can share your Instagram posts to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Foursquare. Soon, Flickr will be an option as well.
You can download Instagram for Android right now from Google Play, completely free.
Google’s self-driving car brings a blind man to Taco Bell
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Google, Transportation, Videos,
We’ve had a lot of chatter about self-driving cars here at Gear Live, but apart from doing a few hot laps around a closed circuit and quick drive around the Autobahn, we haven't really seen a practical application. But our thoughts have changed, as Google has produced a self-driving Prius, which wouldn’t have been our first choice, but that’s not the point.
Google has developed a brilliant application of the autonomous car. As we reported before, the autonomous car was aimed for traffic improvement and flow, but Google believes that the technology could be used to assist the blind and those unable to operate a vehicle on their own.
The video follows Steve Mahan, as he gets around doing his daily routine. The tasks may seem trivial to us, but to a person of limited mobility, the possibilities are now endless.
Google Chrome 18 now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Internet, Software,
If you're a Google Chrome user, you'll be delighted to know that Chrome 18 is now available. The release focuses mostly on bringing a bunch of graphical enhancements to the browser, including GPU acceleration, which your CPU processor will likely thank you for by way of faster performance. You can grab the new release now.
Read More | Chromium
Google pays Russian hacker $60k for bypassing Chrome’s sandbox
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Google, Internet, Mods / Hacks,
It wasn’t too long ago I was in the Eastern Block of Europe. As you would expect, I had my run in with hackers, excessive vodka drinking, and the mob. But nothing quite says "Russia," like hackers. You want free software? They got it. So it comes to us to no surprise that a Russian university student hacked Google Chrome with bypassing the sandbox.
Now before you get alarmed and up your antivirus and firewalls, Google okayed this hack; more so, it was a competition put on by Google. The hack was the handy work of Sergey Glazunov, who is a regular contributor to Google’s security research department. Glazunov scored a payoff of $60,000 in Google’s new Pwnium hacker contest which began to run this year as an alternative to Pwn2Own.
According to Justin Schuh, a member of the Chrome security team, Glazunov’s by-pass was Chrome specific, which allowed him to bypass the sandbox entirely. Furthermore he added that Glazunov’s work was “very impressive” and would allow the hacker to do anything on the machine. However, bypassing the sandbox is not a trivial matter; that is why Google paid out $60,000 for the hack. A fix has already been released.
Read More | ZDNet
Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update available
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Mods / Hacks, Software,
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is finally available for Samsung Galaxy S II owners. However, to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, you must upgrade KIES to the latest version. Some of the upgrade improvements are the obvious platform changes and better multitasking between apps.
As with all changes, some cautionary procedures are required. We recommend that you back up your device first, as there is a possibility of losing some content. Also, some apps may not be fully compatible with ICS, so just know that going in. Lastly, before proceeding with the update, make sure you have enough free space on your device. Good luck, we know that plenty of you Galaxy S II users have been waiting for this one.
Read More | Samsung
Google Play unites all Google services under one umbrella
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Corporate News, Google, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Movies,
These days, many people have multiple cloud-connected devices. A smartphone, a tablet, a computer or two...the list goes on. The trouble is getting all these items to sync and communicate with each other. Apple's been trying to solve that for its own devices with iCloud, and now Google die-hards are in luck as well. Google has combined all of its various online stores and marketplaces (Google Music, Android Market, Google eBookstore, etc.) into one service called Google Play.
To kick off Google Play, Google is offering select full albums at 25 cents each, movie rentals at 99 cents, popular apps at 49 cents, and many books for $2.99 in its “7 Days to Play” sale. Apart from the sale, Google Play offers Google users to store up to 20,000 songs for free and allows them to access their music remotely from the cloud. For those that just can’t wait to get to the nearest RedBox, you’re also able to download new releases via Google Play. You also have the option to rent thousands of moives and HD titles at your leisure. And don’t forget that you can browse the largest selection of eBooks. The video above explains it all.
Read More | Google
How to delete your Google Web History before tomorrow’s privacy policy change
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Features, Google, Internet,
On March 1st (that's tomorrow!), Google will be changing its privacy settings. The changes will unify all Google services under one umbrella, as far as privacy is concerned. In other words, what you search for on YouTube will be accessible by Google Search, and all other Google services. As of today, all your site and search history stayed sandboxed within the specific services that you used. Tomorrow, that'll be a different story.
Your search and activity history can obviously reveal a lot of personal data that you may not want Google to know. Things like medical conditions, location, personal habits, and more. That said, there are a few easy steps you can take to keep your search history private and outta Google’s reach. Taking these steps does not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information internally, and doesn't change the fact that this information can be requested and possibly turned over to law enforcement for legal matters. However, what it does do is make it so that Google anonymizes the information after 18 months, and that Google doesn't use your web history to offer you customized search results. With Web History enabled, Google will keep your records indefinitely. Keep on reading for a walkthrough!
HTC One S: Dual core, unibody enclosure, awesome camera
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Google, Handhelds,
The HTC One S, looks just like any other average phone on the market at first glance. It doesn’t feature the screen real estate that would make your plasma blush, or screaming specs to that blow your computer outta the water. Instead, what HTC has accomplished is that they've created a phone that meets anyone’s mobile needs. The phone features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a new 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (MSM8260A.) The HTC One S will be running Ice Cream Sandwich paired with the newest version of Sense UI, making it one of the still few smartphones to run Android 4.0. Alongside the new processor, HTC has also beefed up its camera and software; the phone sports an 8 megapixel f/2.0 autofocus lens and HTC’s ImageChip. With the new improvements you’ll be able to shoot your videos in 1080p and simultaneously take snap shots. Lastly, and this is a cool one, the body is actually made by a plasma-heated micro arc oxidation process that results in a unidoby aluminum frame with a nice ceramic finish and helps this phone achieve its 7.9mm thinness. Throw in Beats Audio, and you've got hat amounts to a very capable smartphones in the One S. Expect this one to hit T-Mobile soon.
Check out a video that HTC put together of the One S after the break.
Click to continue reading HTC One S: Dual core, unibody enclosure, awesome camera
Google Fiber applies for permission to provide television packages
Some might remember the announcement from Google a while back that they were hooking up the good citizens of Kansas City Missouri with a fiber optic gigabit network. Google has since named its fiber optic network “Google Fiber” and has continued building out the network and is making further plans for the service. From the looks of things, Google is looking into providing more than just super-fast Internet speeds. According to The Wall Street Journal, the search giant has entered an application to the Missouri Public Service to gain permission to offer television service later this year, and its expected that Google would make a similar request in Kansas. According to sources the ability to watch TV through Google Fiber will not be free, but no official price point (or announcement, for that matter) has been set as of yet.
Read More | WSJ
