Latest Gear Live Videos
Apple looks to change education with iBooks Textbooks
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds,
Today Apple took the stage in New York City to unveil its education initiative, and at the heart of it all is the release of iBooks Textbooks. Textbooks require an iPad running iBooks 2, and Apple hopes this will open up a whole new world of learning to the masses. Bringing with them dynamic, interactive, and updateable content, textbooks on the iPad become instantly relevant and engaging. Apple also made sure to point out that an iPad is much lighter than a backpack full of heavy books. The video above demonstrates Apple's vision for the future of the textbook. iBooks 2 is available now, as are a handful of textbooks from publishers like DK, Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, focusing on the K-12 market for now. Textbooks are $14.99 or less, which is another breakthrough (although you won't be able to sell these back when you're done with them like you can an actual book.)
Apple also released iBooks Author, a free Mac app that lets anyone create an interactive book for the iPad. It's available now on the Mac App Store.
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How Radar and Laser Technology Works: Avoiding Speeding Tickets
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Features, Transportation, Videos,
We hit you with our Escort Passport 8500 X50 review earlier today, and it's a great investment for any driver looking to avoid speeding tickets, but it’s not enough. What more can you do to keep the cops off your back? Having your vehicle also equipped with a laser jammer will cover the flaws of most detectors. Laser jammers emit a light brighter than the laser an officer would shoot at a vehicle, but they're illegal in some states, so you may want to check into that first before pulling the trigger. Don’t believe that works? Check out the video above and see for yourself.
Video: Motorcycle vs. Car drift battle shot with RC car-mounted cameras
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Cameras, Transportation, Videos,
Where else but on YouTube will you see a high-speed case that’s not VGA dash-cam quality, featuring shots taken using a Traxxas Slash VXL Ultimate R/C car-mounted GoPro Hero, a Canon 5D MKII, strapped to a helicopter, a Panasonic AF100, and a hacked Panasonic GH1? This video features something for all likes, but will definitely be appreciated by those who like a little speed, creative shots, and a little humor. Take a look at what the folks from Icon Motosports have been up to on their spare time.
WVIL: The amazing future camera concept
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Cameras, Design, Videos,
The WVIL (which stands for Wireless Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) camera is one of our favorite gadgets from CES 2012, it's just too bad that it's just a concept and not actually real. Still, the concept alone is genius! If you're crazy about photography--or just cool gadgetry in general--this will statisfy your thirst. What you see is a camera with a removeable lens and viewfinder, which allows you to place the lens anyway, while controlling the viewfinder like you would any other mobile phone or tablet device. Meanwhile, we'll try to get ahold of Artefact, the company behind the concept, as they happen to be stationed here in Seattle. We've got one more video after the jump that shows what the camera would look like in a real-world scenario, but don't let it fool you! This is a meticulously planned out demo that isn't actually real. Still, cool concept.
Click to continue reading WVIL: The amazing future camera concept
Kindle Fire Hack: Run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,
If you've got a Kindle Fire and have been waiting for the opportunity to to install a full-on version of Android, you may want to look into the newest hack that's just been released that allows you to install Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the Amazon tablet. Yep, you read that right - thanks to an early Ice Cream Sandwich port based on CyanogenMod 9 that was put together by JackpotClavin, you can turn your Kindle Fire into a real Android tablet, with some caveats, as you'd probably expect.
Click to continue reading Kindle Fire Hack: Run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Video: Watch a bullfrog play an iPhone game
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Videos,
We've seen plenty of videos that feature babies, cats, and dogs playing with iOS devices, and they're all pretty cute. Know what else they all are? Mammals. In the video above, though, we get to see a fricken bulllfrog play Ant Crusher on the iPhone. Enjoy.
Google takes down Shoot View, the Street View shooting game
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Google, Video Games,
Gamers are not averse to first-person shooters—Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, for example, earned $1 billion in just over two weeks. But what about when the targets are real, unsuspecting people on the sidewalks rather than cartoon soldiers?
That's the approach taken by Amsterdam-based ad agency Pool Worldwide, which used Google's Street View API to create "Google Shoot View," a game that lets players take aim at those who appear in the street-level, 360-degree images captured by Google's Street View cars.
"Google Shoot View. Explore the world at street-level... and fire a M4A1 assault rifle," Pool Worldwide said in a Dec. 9 tweet announcing the game (preview below).
Google was apparently not thrilled by the idea of having its technology used as the backdrop for a street-level killing spree. The search giant this week pulled Pool's access to its API—the code that allows developers to use the technology.
"Unfortunately, Google has killed the API so at the mo we can't run shoot view," Pool tweeted yesterday.
Click to continue reading Google takes down Shoot View, the Street View shooting game
Video: Why the penny needs to die
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Misc. Tech, Videos,
You know how you have all those pennies stored away somewhere in a jar, or some sort of awkward spot in your car? Of course you do, because no one wastes their time using pennies to make purchases, unless they're clueless or trying to pull some sort of sick joke. Check out the video above, which explains why the penny needs to be abolished from the United States currency, as it's a burden on the economy.
Bronze Steve Jobs statue coming to Graphisoft Park
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Videos,
A fan of aluminum and glass in life, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs is scheduled to be memorialized with bronze, in death. Hungarian software company Graphisoft is planning to unveil a bronze statue of Jobs on Dec. 21 as both a tribute to Jobs's life at Apple and for his support of Graphisoft itself during the 1980s.
"Apple gave us cash and computers at a time when Graphisoft was a young company with very limited resources; the technology represented by those computers was not even available in our part of the world," reads a statement on Graphisoft Park's Web site. "Even more valuable, Apple introduced us to its worldwide distribution network, which we rely upon to this day."
While Jobs, the innovator, constantly pushed Apple engineers to design smaller and smarter, Hungarian sculptor Erno Toth has built the bronze tribute statue at a slightly larger-than-life height of around six fee, five inches. Steve Jobs, the statue, will weigh approximately 485 pounds once complete.
Click to continue reading Bronze Steve Jobs statue coming to Graphisoft Park
Spotify launches its own app ecosystem in attempt to become a music platform
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Music, Software,
Spotify has opened its network up to developers, turning the music service into a music platform.
"We're launching truly integrated apps inside Spotify from the best and brightest," Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek said during a New York press event. "We really believe they'll deliver unique experiences tailored to you and your music tastes."
Third-party developers will be able to build HTML5 apps that access Spotify's music library via a JavaScript API. Spotify is "opening our platform in a way that lets you curate the apps you want and make Spotify yours," Ek said.
All app developers are invited to submit apps to Spotify "but we will approve the apps because we think the core here is the user experience," Ek said.
At this point, there are also no monetization possibilities; all apps will be free.
