On Gear Live: Netflix charging $1 per month premium for Blu-ray

Bleeding Edge TV 279: The Wait for iPhone 3G

Posted by Nate True
Categories: Full Episodes, Apple, Cell Phones, Handhelds, Peripherals, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts, Videos

We were quite nearly first in line at the Alderwood Mall Apple Store in Lynnwood, WA for the launch of .  Sure the purchasing experience was a fiasco, but overall the night was great fun.  We had an exclusive Tap Tap Revenge tournament, along with a giveaway of the excellent Monster LRG iPhone cases, and even an impromptu listening demo of the headphones, which we recently unboxed.

We must admit, towards the end we were kind of jaded over the whole thing, since between everyone in our group we had a 15 iPhone mixture of original iPhones and iPhone 3G units, all of which didn’t work due to the activation issues - but to be fair, the employees at the Alderwood Mall Apple Store location were all top-notch. Check out the full adventure in the video.


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Bleeding Edge TV 246: iPhone 1.1.3 Jailbreak with iBrickr on Windows video tutorial

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts

We gave you the details on how to jailbreak your 1.1.3 iPhone on OS X, but don’t think we forgot about people running the trusty Windows OS.

Luckily, we have a special edition of , which will allow you to jailbreak your iPhone very easily, all you need is a little patience. In case you missed it, check out our iPhone 1.1.3 video tour.

By the way, if you are looking for an excellent program to create custom ringtones for your iPhone, check out iPhone RingToneMaker.


Bleeding Edge TV 245: iPhone 1.1.3 Jailbreak OS X video tutorial

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts

Now that we know that the iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak method has been released, we figured it would be good of us to give you a video tutorial showing you how to get it done. After all, you all enjoyed our old-school 1.1.1 jailbreak video, right?

In this video, we provide step-by-step instructions that will help anyone upgrade their iPhone to a jailbreaked version of the 1.1.3 firmware. This should keep you tided over until that pesky SDK is released, right?

By the way, if you are looking for an excellent program to create custom ringtones for your iPhone, check out iPhone RingToneMaker, who sponsored this episode.


Bleeding Edge TV 240: HawkingTech home automation via cell phone

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Broadband, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Features, Internet, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts, Wireless / WiFi

Home automation is becoming a big theme at consumer electronics trade shows like . Many companies have been promising the ‘smart house’ for years – a house that automatically anticipates and responds to its inhabitants wants and needs. HawkingTech was showing off some preliminary tech which could help hearken the days of the smart house with a variety of available now products – check out the video for a demonstration of what is to come.


CES 2008 Video: HTC Touch and Verizon 5800 phones

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, Handhelds, Podcasts, Videocasts

The folks at Smart Mobility have some new cell phones to talk about, such as the 5800, with its easy-to-use, layout and interface with QWERTY keyboard, perfect for both the corporate exec—and the soccer mom. And we loved the HTC Touch, HTC’s entry in the -killer wars. The Touch has a touch screen (duh), utilizes Windows Mobile 6, and has an interface with impressive 3D elements. To learn more about both phones, and HTC’s new TouchFLO technology, check out the video.


CES 2008 Video: Simulscribe voicemail-to-text service invites you to “F>CK Voicemail”

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Features, Internet, Misc. Tech, Podcasts, Videocasts

With colorful t-shirts reading “F>CK Voicemail,” uses the call forwarding option on your cell phone to push voicemail to their automatic transcription service. It’s been around for awhile and costs $10 a month for 40 voicemails or $30 a month for the unlimited service. The service apparently has an accuracy rate of about 95%, but we’ll have to test that to see how it holds up. This is different than many voicemail retrieval services which call and log into your voicemail system using your PIN number. Those solutions feature a delay of between 5-30 minutes, whereas forwarding like Simulscribe is nearly instant.

If the transcription fails or doesn’t get things quite right, you can log in through your phone or have the voicemail audio emailed to you as a WAV as well. They also offer a 35 cent per message service if you don’t want to subscribe to a plan.

Check the video to see their cheerleader-esque spokesgirl. She’s FUN! Meanwhile, I’ll likely be trying this service out over the next week or two and post my review here.


CES 2008 Video: Samsung SPH-P9200 WiMax UMPC, Giorgio Armani Phone

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Videocasts, Wireless / WiFi

At , gave us a look at a fairly neat product from that supports 4G WiMax technology. The Samsing SPH-P9200 is available in Korea where WiMax is fully available. Take a look at it - it is a UMPC that folds up to about the size of 2 decks of cards, and when unfolded, has a full keyboard. It runs a full version of WIndows XP, and gives you Internet anywhere (that WiMax is available.) It sports a 5” touch screen, and a 30GB hard drive.

We also got a look at the Samsung Giorgio Armani cell phone. While the Samsung Giorgio Armani phone might be light on high tech features, it is rich in style and does support hepatic feedback. Every time a positive button press is registered the phone vibrates slightly to communicate with the user and confirm the users action. Not yet available in the States, but with new carrier agreements being announced right and left, it wouldn’t surprise us if it lands on Western shores sooner rather than later.


CES 2008 Video: Microsoft SYNC Car Recognition

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Features, Microsoft, Podcasts, Transportation, Videocasts

We learned all about Sync at , and have lots to share. Sync is integrated software that’s factory-installed in certain Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars. It allows you to control your cell phone and music player via voice recognition. Once your cell phone is “synced” with the software and your contacts are transferred, just press the button on the steering wheel and speak your command, such as “Call Mom.” Mom is immediately dialed, and you can talk to her without ever touching your phone. What’s also cool is that you can control your entire music library via voice as well, just by saying the name of the artist, song, album or even playlist. Just sync up your (except the Shuffle), , MP3 player or even a thumb drive, and you’re good to go.


CES 2008 Video: Motorola ROKR E8

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, Internet, Podcasts, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts, Wireless / WiFi

We saw some fascinating cell phone innovations from at . First was the ROKR E8 phone, with its Modeshift technology. The phone doesn’t have keys. Instead, when turned on, “virtual” keys appear. When pressed you actually feel a vibration, confirming you‘ve pressed the button with a bit of tactile feedback. When you switch the mode to music player, all the cell phone keys vanish and a whole new set of buttons appear, specifically for the player.

Very impressive. Pricing and carriers are not yet available.


CES 2008 Video: Motorola Z10

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2008, Design, Features, Internet, Podcasts, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts, Wireless / WiFi

When talking to during CES, we liked the Moto Z10 cell phone, currently only available in Europe. Made specifically for the YouTube generation, the Z10 has a video camera that allows you to crop, add transitions, add a soundtrack and even credits. When done, you can immediately upload your masterpiece to YouTube or fave social networking site from the phone itself. Unfortunately, the Z1- is currently only available overseas.


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