On Gear Live: Circuit Breaker: The Tech Newsletter that Elevates Your Gadget Game

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White Xbox One

Wanna get your hands on an exclusive white Xbox One console? Well, if you're a full-time Microsoft Xbox One employee as of July 12, 2013, and still working at Microsoft when Xbox One launches, you get one for free! Along with the specially inscribed white console (which reads "I MADE THIS") you get a white controller, and the regular (black) Kinect sensor. Additionally, a year of Xbox Live is thrown in, as well as an exclusive achievement as well, all delivered on launch day. Not a bad perk for helping create the next generation of gaming. In the meantime, we'll let you know if we spot any white Playstation 4 consoles pop up for Sony employees.

If you haven't yet locked in your Xbox One console, you can pre-order on Amazon or The Microsoft Store now!


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Gold iPhone 5S color comparison

Apple will be releasing the iPhone 5S in black and slate, white and silver, and a new color: white and gold. Pictured above, you can see the coloring of the anodization, being a muted champagne gold color without the white glass plates installed. It's one way to create an external change in the S line of iPhone releases, which is generally all about under-the-hood changes and improvements, while the externals remain the same as the year before. We pretty much know that Apple will be announcing the new iPhone 5S on September 10, with the device launching 10 days later.

What do you think? You interested in the new gold color, or are you sticking with the more traditional variants? Me? I'm going with Anostyle again.

Read More | Weekly Ascii

Saints Row IV

The highly-anticipated Saints Row IV was released today, and if you picked up the game, you may have noticed a quick title update was available. We've got a list of the fixes, changes, and added functionality that the Saints Row IV Day 1 console patch brough to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game for you, after the jump.

Click to continue reading Saints Row IV Day 1 console patch notes


Latest Gear Live Videos

TiVo Roamio Pro

TiVo has launched a trio of next-generation Series 5 DVRs in the new TiVo Roamio family. What makes Roamio so much better than Premiere? How about more of everything that people love about TiVo? We're talking more tuners, more space to store  your recordings, and even a less expensive service fee. The crowning feature, though, is that the TiVo Roamio boxes have both Wi-Fi and the ability to stream to mobile devices built right in--no need to purchase the TiVo Wi-Fi dongle, or the recently-released TiVo Stream.

It's been almost two years since TiVo released the Premiere Elite line of DVRs, and unlike the previous generation, the improvements in the Roamio line are immediately apparent. TiVo even says that Roamio is, on average, 1.7x faster than the previous TiVos, and that's a welcome change because browsing through the menus was a time-consuming experience at times. We go through all three Roamio DVRs after the break, but if you've been waiting for them and just want to buy now, here are the links:

Click to continue reading TiVo Roamio: Up to 6 tuners, 450 hours storage, remote streaming


Playstation 4 launch

It's official: you'll be able to pick up your Playstation 4 on November 15 in North AMerica (or the 29th if you're in Europe.) The announcement was made this morning during the Sony Gamescom 2013 press conference.

Now that you know when it'll be delivered, go ahead and pre-order your Playstation 4, if you aren't one of the over 1 million folks who've already pre-ordered.


Playstation 4

Sony's Gamescom 2013 press conference is kicking off right now, and it's being streamed from Europe for all of us across the world to enjoy. We're expecting full details on the launch of the Playstation 4, along with updates on launch games and services. Check out the live stream, which we've embedded here, after the jump!

Click to continue reading Watch Sony’s Gamescom 2013 press conference right here, right now!


Nokia Lumia 1020 PureView viewfinder

The Nokia Lumia 1020 boasts a ridiculously large 41-megapixel PureView camera as the standout feature. It's "the largest back side illuminated sensor available on a smartphone." A smartphone needs more than just a great camera though, and Nokia has outfitted the Lumia 1020 with a 4.5-inch 1280 x 768 AMOLED PureMotion HD+ display covered by Gorilla Glass 3, and it sports "super sensitive touch" which allows you to use the phone even while wearing gloves.

The Lumia 1020 includes a wrist strap that you can optionally attach to it, and Nokia will also be selling a Camera Grip that makes the device easier to use as a camera. We're finalizing our Lumia 1020 review, but in the meantime, we've put together our Nokia Lumia 1020 unboxing gallery for you to get up-close and personal with the Windows Phone through pictures.

Gallery:


Rdio stations you fm

Rdio is one of Gear Live's favorite things, and the recent revamping of its Stations feature has brought the music streaming service to a whole new level. Rdio users can now create up to ten different stations that focus on an artist, song, or one of 400 different sub-genres of music. Additionally,  there's a custom station called You FM that takes cues from your listening history, Facebook likes, track votes, and Twitter follows to create a station that is specifically tailored to what you like. When listening to You FM, you can also choose between five levels of familiarity, allowing you to stick with what you know, or be more adventurous when you want to discover something new. A player redesign rounds out the rest of the update, which applies to the iOS, Android, and Mac apps, as well as the in-browser experience.

If you're an Rdio user (and you should be,) be sure to follow Gear Live's Rdio station.

Read More | Rdio Blog

HTC One Mini

The HTC One Mini has finally been given a release date, and you can get your hands on the 4.3-inch version of what we deemed the best current-generation Android smartphone in just four days on August 23rd. The HTC One Mini boasts a 720p display, 1.4GHz dual-core SnapDragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM, 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera, 1,800mAh battery, and runs Android 4.2 out of the box. You'll have to be an AT&T customer for the priviledge, and you'll need to be willing to drop $99 and sign a two-year contract to make it all happen.


iOS 7 beta 6 download

Apple has just released iOS 7 beta 6, which can be found in the Developer Portal right now. iOS 7 beta 6 build 11A4449d works with supported iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models, and is available as an over-the-air update to users already running a previous iOS 7 beta on their devices. If you're already running iOS 7, you can update over-the-air by going into Settings > General > Software Update. Or you can go and grab the necessary download at http://developer.apple.com. Apple originally showed off iOS 7, and released its first beta, at WWDC 2013. The full released will come in the fall.

If you are a paid members of Apple's iOS developer program, here are the links for iOS 7 beta 5 downloads:

iOS 7 beta 6 seems to specifically address an issues with iTunes in the Cloud where some purchases may download or play unexpected items, without much else changing.

Click to continue reading Apple releases iOS 7 beta 6 build 11A4449d to developers


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