Latest Gear Live Videos
Control your light bulbs with motion and smartphones with GreenWave LED lights
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smart Home, Wireless / WiFi,
GreenWave Reality is aiming to bring us the lightbulbs of the future with its new Connected Lighting Solution line-up of Wi-Fi-aware LED bulbs. These bulbs use a fraction of the power of the light bulbs that you're used to, and can be controlled from your smartphone or tablet immediately after being put into their sockets. You can also group a set of bulbs together to control them all with one command. You can even set up timed lighting on the bulbs individually, or as a group, for a nice set-it-and-forget-it configuration. If all that is too much for you, another great feature is that the setup is even motion sensitive, so you can have lights turn on in any room that someone enters. All in all, it's pretty neat. We're looking to get our review units in soon to give you a deeper look at GreenWave's lighting solution.
Read More 
| GreenWave Reality
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iPad mini may not offer cellular option, relegated to Wi-Fi only?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Rumors, Wireless / WiFi,
Apple's current worst-kept secret is the impending announcement and arrival of the iPad mini, a 7.85-inch version of the world's most popular tablet. What we don't know are all the details like price or specific features. The current rumor being circulated is that the iPad mini will be available in a Wi-Fi-only configuration, with no cellular option. We're on the fence on this one. On one hand, leaving out the LTE chip allows Apple to price these competitively without making the top-end model cost more than the entry-level new iPad. This keeps things more in line with the $199 price points of the Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 tablets. However, having cellular in the iPad mini seems to be the killer setup. Just slide one into your suit jacket pocket and you have portable tablet connectivity on the go. We know plenty of people who would happily pay the additional $130 above the iPad price tag for the LTE option. I guess those folks can always tether, right?
What’s your prediction? Will the iPad mini be offered with a cellular option? Apple has reportedly ordered 10 million iPad mini units from its suppliers, so it looks like the company expects this one to be huge.
Read More | The Guardian
Belkin AC1200 Wireless AC Gigabit router unboxing gallery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Galleries, Networking,
The next generation of Wi-Fi connectivity is 802.11ac, and routers are on sale now to provide the signal. The main problem? There are, literally, no laptops, tablets, or smartphones right now that sell with 802.11ac support built-in. Still, you have the opportunity to future-proof your wireless setup in anticipation for the arrival of the super-fast standard, and the Belkin AC1200 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router is one of the first available. We got one in for review, and we are in the process of putting it through its paces. In the meantime, while you wait for the AC1200 review, check out our Belkin AC1200 DB unboxing gallery, showing off the spaceship-like curves of the router. You can pick one up now on Amazon.
Read More | Belkin AC1200 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router
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iOS 6 Wi-Fi bug keeping users from connecting to their local networks
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Software, Wireless / WiFi,
We are hearing reports from users who have upgraded to iOS 6 today that are experiencing an odd Wi-Fi bug, and Gear Live has been able to replicate the issue on our iPhone 4S units. When attempting to connect to a Wi-Fi network, you get kicked over to a nonexistent Wi-Fi authentication page on Apple's website. Since the page doesn't even exist, you just end up getting a 404 error, and kicked off of the network that you tried to connect to. It remains to be seen how Apple fixes this, and if it is something that can be repaired in the back end, or if a new build of iOS 6 will need to be released. Either way, there are plenty of unhappy iPhone users right now who are having to resort to using their data connections since Wi-Fi is failing miserably.
Read More | Apple
Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.1 now available to developers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,
Apple has seeded the first build of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1 to developers through its Mac Developer Portal. Interestingly, there are no known issues despite it being the first build, so we'd imagine that the 10.8.1 update will be released to the public in short order. Apple has focused on improving Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange in Mail, PAC Proxies in Safari, SMB, USB, and WiFi and Audio when connected to the Apple Thunderbolt Display for the first Mountain Lion update, which weighs in at just 38.54 MB in size. If you haven't upgraded yet, you can download Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store.
Belkin AC1000 and AC1200 802.11ac routers available this month
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Wireless / WiFi,
Belkin is set to release its new routers, compatible with the 802.11ac standard, at the end of the month. The Belkin AC1000 and AC1200 are both dual-band routers that support 802.11ac/b/g/n and each has four Gigabit Ethernet ports built in as well. The differences between the two? The AC1000 will sell for $139 and provides maximum throughput of 665Mbps on 5 GHz, while the AC1200 will cost $20 more and provide max throughput of 867Mbps. Only problem now is that, even if you pick one up, you'll have to get a compatible phone or laptop (only ASUS offers one at the moment) if you want the maximum Wi-Fi speeds that these things can provide. Just consider it an investment in the future.
Apple releases redesigned Airport Express base station
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Wireless / WiFi,
Apple has released a redesigned model of its Airport Express base station. The new model looks very similar to the Apple TV, except that it's white. The new model sports a couple of features that the previous one didn't: dual Ethernet ports (compared to just one on the last one,) and simultaneous dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi. The Airport Express is $99, available today from the Apple Store.
Read More | Airport Express
Belkin N900 DB router review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Product Reviews, Wireless / WiFi, USB,
Belkin announced the N900 DB router back at CES. The Advance N900 DB is a dual-band Wi-Fi router that supports 802.11a/b/g/n connections, capable of reaching 450 Mbps speeds due in part to its six MultiBeam antennas. The Belkin Advance N900 DB also sports a feature called IntelliStream, which automatically prioritizes video streaming, gaming, and VoIP data. The router also packs a 600 MHz multi-thread processor, and two USB 2.0 ports that you can connect hard drives to for access to that data from network devices. The Belkin Advance N900 DB is available now for $199--but is it worth your hard-earned Bejamins? We answer that question in our review.
Click to continue reading Belkin N900 DB router review
Buffalo releases the WZR-D1800H, the first 802.11ac router, for $179
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Wireless / WiFi,
Buffalo has just released the very first 802.11ac router in the $179.99 WZR-D1800H, alongside the WLI-HD-D1300 wireless media bridge. With speeds of up to 1.3Gbps, the new 802.11ac standard is three times faster than 802.11n, but the only problem is that there aren't any 802.11ac chips installed in any computers yet, so buying the router right now would just mean you are preparing for the future. Luckily, it's backwards compatable with 802.11a/b/g/n standards, so you're good there. The AirStation AC1300 media bridge allows you to connect up to four wired devices to your new 802.11ac network. You can grab both products now.
Read More | Buffalo
Sprint Tri-Fi hotspot brings LTE, WiMAX, and 3G connectivity for $99
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Wireless / WiFi,
Sprint has made the smart decision to move to LTE for its future high-speed mobile network, but in the meantime, it's got WiMAX and 3G to take advantage of while building out the faster LTE that's set for a limited summer launch. Rather than continuing to sell deprecated hotspots, Sprint is hoping tha the Tri-Fi will be a nice bridge. Set to launch on May 18th, the Sprint Tri-Fi is a mobile hotspot that supports its current WiMAX and 3G networks, as well as the LTE network as well, and comes to you from Sierra Wireless. You can pick this bad boy up for $99 after a $50 rebate, alongside a two-year contract.
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