Latest Gear Live Videos
Unboxing Live 076: Beats Pro by Dr. Dre unboxing
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Portable Audio, Videocasts,
In this episode we give you a look at the Beats Pro headphones, from the Beats by Dr. Dre line of audio gear. The Beats Pro are high-performance headphones that come in both black and white, with comfortable ear cushions that also offer great passive sound isolation. They're tuned for use in recording studios, clubs, and performance venues, and have a unique feature that allows you to flip up the ear cups for easy monitoring of the outside environment. You can pick them up for $399.
Big thank you to MozyPro and JackThreads for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out! MozyPro provides simple, automatic, and secure data backup. As for JackThreads, we've got exclusive invite codes that give you $5 to use towards anything you'd like on the site.
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Weekend Reading: Ajax, Tintin, Chaykin & Barreto
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television,
It’s not just the weekend, it’s a long holiday weekend into a whole new year. Have a happy one with a few links to read.
Beau Smith writes a wonderful tribute to his friend and frequent collaborator, Eduardo Barreto.
If you’re tracking the future of digital comics, Appy Entertainment’s Paul O’Connor has an interview with the guy behind Operation Ajax, Daniel Burwen.
The writer Lance Mannion goes to see Tintin. There have been lots of reviews over the internets already, but I’m partial to this one. “In fact, The Adventures of Tintin [is] as good an Indiana Jones movie as Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. In parts, it’s as thrilling and new as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Throughout, it’s much better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and a reminder that as great as the young Harrison Ford was what made the movies was the spirit of adventure that infused them, and that spirit was a boy’s (and girl’s) spirit.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Ajax, Tintin, Chaykin & Barreto
The unreleased HP TouchPad Go gets reviewed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Product Reviews,
Here's something you don't see every day. The webOS Nation blog has done a hands-on review of a tablet that will never see the light of day—Hewlett-Packard's unreleased TouchPad Go. The 7-inch webOS-based device was supposed to be released in the fall of this year, but HP's decision earlier this year to pull the plug on webOS and its TouchPad line of consumer tablets put the kibosh on those plans.
So what are we missing? According to webOS Nation, a pretty nifty little tablet (see a video review above). The blog got its hands on a rare prototype TouchPad Go and ran it through its paces recently.
In giving the TouchPad Go an 8-out-of-10 rating, webOS Nation raves about the tablet's "smooth and sleek" design, "solid" feel, and "fast and relatively stable" performance. Reviewer Derek Kessler actually seems to think the more compact TouchPad Go is a better performer than its full-sized, 10-inch cousin.
"Despite going smaller, HP does not seem to have gone cheaper," Kessler writes. "The Go is still just as powerful (if not more so), and it certainly feels better than the bigger TouchPads."
Click to continue reading The unreleased HP TouchPad Go gets reviewed
Unboxing Live 075: Apple iMac 27-inch (2011)
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, PC, Videocasts,
In this episode we bring you an unboxing of the Apple iMac 27-inch 2011 model. The latest iMac offers a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor and ships with 4 GB RAM by default. This model also packs two Thunderbolt ports, the new high speed I/O port from Intel, and is therefore the first iMac that allows you to connect two external displays. It supports up to 32 GB of RAM (8 GB in each of the four RAM slots.) You can pick one up now at Amazon.
Big thank you to MozyPro and JackThreads for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out! MozyPro provides simple, automatic, and secure data backup. As for JackThreads, we've got exclusive invite codes that give you $5 to use towards anything you'd like on the site.
AMD Radeon HD 7970 review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, PC / Laptop, Product Reviews, Video Games,
The perpetual war for supremacy between AMD and Nvidia constantly leaves enthusiasts dodging shrapnel: When you want the best video card you can afford, why buy one now instead of waiting for the better one the competing chipset designer will undoubtedly release in a few months? This leaves reviewers in a tough spot, too, as we're constantly proclaiming that nearly every new card is the fastest ever. But because you can only live in the world you live in, we're obliged to go there. So, here goes once again: The just-released AMD Radeon HD 7970 ($549 list) is the latest fastest and most feature-rich single-GPU card ever, surpassing our previous Editors' Choice winner, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 580.
Though we have little doubt that Nvidia will yank back that title with its next generation of cards, the 7970 is an impressive achievement for the moment. (It's rumored to become widely available by early January of 2012.) The inaugural member of the Southern Islands family, it utilizes a fresh architecture AMD refers to as "Graphics Core Next." Based on a new 28nm process technology and utilizing more than 4.3 billion transistors, Graphics Core Next uses a revised instruction set architecture, gives each compute unit the ability to simultaneously execute instructions from multiple kernels, and delivers an increased number of instructions per clock cycle per square millimeter of GPU space. The result, so AMD claims, is "designed for high utilization, high throughput, and multitasking."
Click to continue reading AMD Radeon HD 7970 review
Samsung Galaxy Nexus review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds, Product Reviews,
How much does Android 4.0 mean to you? How much do you need to have it right now? Because that's the dilemma with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone ($299-$649). Overall it's not quite as good a phone as the Motorola Droid RAZR ($299). But right now, it's the only phone running Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), and that's the future.
In many ways, this is the ultimate early adopter phone. The phone itself isn't perfect; typically, Nexus phones aren't the best hardware on the market. But the software takes a major leap forward, with everything from a better Gmail experience to a faster browser and the ability to put folders on your home screens. Do you need that right now? Then yes, you need the Nexus. Why else might you want to jump on board the latest flagship Google device? Hit the link and follow us through our full Galaxy Nexus review for the answers.
Click to continue reading Samsung Galaxy Nexus review
Samsung Focus S review: The best Windows Phone in the US
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Microsoft, Product Reviews,
When we first reviewed the Samsung Focus Flash, we felt its smaller form factor and significantly lower price made it a better deal than the Focus S at first glance ($199.99 - $19.99 on Amazon). Now that we've tested the Focus S, we're singing a different tune. True, you're only getting a bigger screen, an improved camera, and a thinner profile, but the Focus S brings Windows Phone 7.5 Mango closer than it has ever been to the high-end. That alone makes this smartphone worth a close look, especially given its slick OS. Click on through to see why in our full Samsung Focus S review.
Click to continue reading Samsung Focus S review: The best Windows Phone in the US
Twelve South MagicWand review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, PC / Laptop, Peripherals, Product Reviews,
The Twelve South MagicWand aims to solve a simple-yet-annoying issue with the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad. We've used the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad combo pretty much exclusively here at Gear Live ever since the Magic Trackpad launched back in July 2010, and while we've enjoyed it (heck, we haven't switched away from that setup yet after 16 months,) there's one problem. Despite the fact that the Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard line up perfectly when next to each other, they have a really hard time staying put.
What I mean is, you constantly have to bring the Magic Trackpad back over to its spot next to the keyboard. It's not something you need to do every few minutes or anything like that, but a few times a day we've found that the Trackpad has mysteriously inched its way across the desk and needs to be wrangled up and brought back home. The TwelveSouth MagicWand solves this.
Click to continue reading Twelve South MagicWand review
HP TouchSmart PC 520-1070 review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: PC / Laptop, Product Reviews,
The HP TouchSmart 520-1070 ($1,399.99 direct, or $1329 on Amazon) is the high-end entry in HP's current TouchSmart line of touch-enabled all-in-one desktop PCs. Equipped with powerful components, like a quad-core processor and 2TB hard drive, it's also packed to the gills with entertainment options, offering a big 1080p display, Beats Audio, a Blu-ray drive, TV-tuner, and a remote control. An HDMI-in port is just icing on the cake, extending the life of this desktop even further for use as a monitor.
Design and Features
The 520-1070 has a glossy black plastic chassis, but it's more than just a monolithic 23-inch screen. Two vertical arms hold the touch screen aloft from the silvery plastic base, with a single immense hinge to adjust the angle. But while the hinge is housed in the base, the components are housed behind the widescreen display, which provides 1,920-by-1,080 resolution as well as a large multitouch surface. Thankfully, HP took the time to get this hinge right, and you'll find that despite your touching and tapping, the 520-1070 stays firm though it all, without the wobble that mars the experience on competitors, like the Samsung Series 7 (DP700A38-01) or Asus ET2410-06. It also has a decent range of motion, sitting at a vertical 90-degree angle that can be adjusted all the way back to a comfortable 60-degrees.
Click to continue reading HP TouchSmart PC 520-1070 review
Bleeding Edge TV 406: Twelve South PlugBug review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Accessories, Apple, Features, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Videocasts, Videos,
We review the Twelve South PlugBug in this episode. The PlugBug is a clever device that attaches to your MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air AC adapter, and allows you to charge both your Apple notebook, as well as a USB device (like your iPhone or iPad.) It's a neat little device that we think makes things super convenient, especially during travel, and it's one of those things that we wish we would have thought of first. We give you a look at the device, along with how it works, in this video.
Big thank you to GoToMeeting and JackThreads for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out! As for JackThreads, we've got exclusive invite codes that give you $5 to use towards anything you'd like.
