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

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Playstation 4 giveaway

Today in the Gear Live Deals Shop you can enter to win a Sony PlayStation 4 Battlefield bundle. You can't get better than free, so this is our Deal of the Day.

Aside from the actual PlayStation 4 console, you'll also walk away with two wireless PS4 controllers, and a copy of Battlefield 4 as well. Ready to enter? Go get it:

Enter our PlayStation 4 Battlefield bundle giveaway

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals.


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We announce the winner of our #DigitallyDark Absolute LoJack Premium Family Pack giveaway in this episode! Did you win?

Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube channel--also, we are giving away awesome perks for our Patreon backers - thanks for your support!

 
Here's how to get the show:
[Download] - iPod-formatted H.264
[Download] - 720p HD
[Download] - 1080p MP4

Click to continue reading Bleeding Edge TV 513: Our #DigitallyDark Giveaway Winner!


We're giving away an Absolute LoJack Premium Family Pack--protect up to five of your mobile devices for a year with guaranteed recovery in the event of theft! We also talk about what happened when we went #DigitallyDark for 24 hours, giving up smartphones for a full day to see if we could do it. The results are in.

Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube channel--also, we are giving away awesome perks for our Patreon backers - thanks for your support!

 
Here's how to get the show:
[Download] - iPod-formatted H.264
[Download] - 720p HD
[Download] - 1080p MP4

Click to continue reading Bleeding Edge TV 512: #DigitallyDark Results & Giveaway


Latest Gear Live Videos

smartplane

Today in the Gear Live Deals Shop we're offering a 28% discount on the SmartPlane. This is the world's first aircraft that is controlled by your smartphone, making it our Deal of the Day. You can use on-screen controls, or the accelerometer by tilting your device to steet the SmartPlane. It's made of durable EPP material, making it crash-proof, and Bluetooth Low Energy allows it to fly longer distances for a longer amount of time. You'll need an iPhone 4S or newer, 5th generation iPod touch, iPad 3 or newer, or an Android 4.3 device with Bluetooth Smart in order to fly one.

Save 28% on the SmartPlane

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals.


WWE 2K15 Sting

Update: 2K Games has revealed the limited exclusive WWE 2K15 Hulkamania edition!

During the last episode of Monday Night Raw, it was revealed that the pre-order bonus for WWE 2K15 will be a double-dose of Sting. Wrestling fans in the 1980s and 1990s will remember Sting as both a blonde, spiky-haired grappler with colorful face paint, and later, the mysterious black-and-white character reminiscent of "The Crow."

When WWE 2K15 launches in North America on October 28th (and October 31st internationally,) those who pre-ordered will get both incarnations of the Sting character right off the bat, similar to what happened last year with The Ultimate Warrior in WWE 2K14. This will be the first WWE title available for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. You can order WWE 2K15 now.


One of the biggest complaints about Windows 8 is the lack of the Start button, but the feature is about to make a return with an overhauled look and feel. In the leaked screenshot above, you see the new Start menu, which incorporates Microsoft's tile design that you'll find it using across its product line in areas like Xbox, Windows Phone, Office, and of course, Windows itself.

As you see in the screenshot, there are tiles embedded into the Start menu for items like People, Mail, PC Settings, Calendar, Xbox, Camera, and more. We'd imagine that you'd be able to rearrange items, pin your favorites, and remove things you'd never use. Bringing back the Start menu could be seen as a big step back, with Microsoft succumbing to users who refuse to embrace change; others may see it as the company finally listening to user feedback and addressing those needs. The Start button is much more usable on a computer that doesn't have a touchscreen than the home screen version of the Start menu. No word on when the change will go public.

What do you think? Have you been waiting for the return of the Start button on the Windows 8 desktop?

Read More | MyDigitalLife

Cortana iOS android

One of the more exciting aspects of Windows Phone 8.1 is the appearance of Cortana, a Siri-like voice-based personal assistant. We spent time talking to Microsoft's Marcus Ash about Cortana, and we asked him about the possibility of Cortana making its way over to other smartphone platforms like iOS and Android. After all, the demo we were given was impressive. According to Marcus, at first it'll be a focus that is part of Windows Phone, and that's the number one priority with Cortana.

To extend Cortana across the entire smartphone ecosystem, that's the part that Microsoft is still mulling over and figuring out. The question is "How do we get Android or iOS users that also use Windows to have a great Cortana experience?" As a company, Microsoft is putting work into solving the question, and it isn't afraid to put its apps on competing platforms. After all, there's Office on Android and iOS, Bing, and others. For our money, it makes a lot more sense for Microsoft to release Cortana across multiple ecosystems rather than tying the service down as a Windows Phone exclusive. It's not the kind of feature that sells phones (similarly, we don't think that Siri on its own sells iPhones, either.) As a cloud-powered service, is Cortana a Windows play or a service play? Time will tell.


supreme court Internet threats

Anyone who has spent any time online has probably gotten a death threat or two. Maybe you were playing Call of Duty and some 11-year-old questioned your sexuality before telling you he'd kill your family. Maybe you offended the legions of desperate Tumblr bloggers in some arcane way and you woke up to a swarm of messages on your dash saying they would hack you and your dog apart with rusty machetes. You probably did what any reasonable person did and rolled your eyes and went about your day.

Statements and threats on the internet aren't usually taken seriously. Both the giver and the receiver are usually anonymous and the threat is usually over the top enough that you laugh and think nothing of it.

Well, the highest court in the United States might be ready to have the final word.

Click to continue reading Supreme Court to drop the hammer on Internet threats


nhtsa smartphone maps

Laws on the books to stop texting or talking on a cell phone while driving are nothing new, in fact I know a guy who just got slammed with five points on his license for doing it. But laws regarding cell phone use while driving leave a gray area, GPS and map aids, programs not within the spirit of the laws when they were made and an uncertainty for courts.

The government is looking to change that.

The Transportation Department has asked congress to give them the ability to regulate map aids and devices as part of their ongoing battle with 'distracted driving.' The measure is part of the GROW AMERICA proposed transportation bill, and would give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration free reign to set restriction and limits on apps and down the line demand changed to any it deems dangerous.

What does this mean in a practical sense? Apps for maps might start to look like the built in GPS system in your car, where some models make you press a button acknowledging that you will not set the device while the car is moving. It might mean that telling the court you were just checking your map won't get you off.

The measure has support from automakers who have already built those safeguards into their GPS devices. Regulatory agencies maintain that they already have the authority to regulate these apps as vehicle equipment, and only want it written into law.

That means they don't have the authority or they would not be demanding it from congress.


MacBook Air giveaway

Today in the Gear Live Deals Shop you can enter to win an 11-ich MacBook Air. You can get better than free, so this is our Deal of the Day.

Apple recently released an updated MacBook Air, and that's the one you'd end up walking away with if you win. That means a dual-core Intel Core i5 1.4GHz Haswell processor, 4GB RAM, 9-hour battery life, and blazing fast SSD storage. Ready to enter? Here you go:

Enter our MacBook Air giveaway

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals.


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