Author: Andru Edwards

Monster announced the DiddyBeats back at CES 2010, and the in-ear fashion headphones have finally started shipping just recently. We were able to get our hands on the DiddyBeats, which as you can see in this episode, are made to invoke a feeling of high fashion. We got the black pair, which is accented with chrome and black leather, definitely a unique look for a pair of earbuds, but really, what would you expect from the Beats by Dr. Dre line and Diddy himself? Get an up-close look at the DiddyBeats in this episode.

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Tags:
beats by dr dre,
diddy,
diddy beats,
diddybeats,
earbuds,
headphones,
in-ear,
monster,
monster cable,
music,
reviews,
unboxing,

Hot on the heels of another leak out of Taiwan, Apple has made public their newly updated MacBook, highlighted by a built-in 10-hour battery. The design hasn’t changed—it’s the same unibody white polycarbonate enclosure, but on the inside it now has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and an NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics chip. The other major features are unchanged, like the 2GB DDR3 RAM and 250GB hard drive. Pricing remains the same, right at $999.

All that’s left now is that sorely-needed MacBook Air update. You can pick up the new MacBook now.

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The folks over at DigiTimes are reporting a bunch of specs for the yet-to-be-announced iPhone Pro (iPhone HD?), which should be available sometime next month. Current word on the street is that the phone will boast a 960×640 high-resolution IPS display with fringe field switching. If this turns out to be the case, then the 3.4-inch display will pretty much be one of the most impressive screens seen on a phone, and things like direct sunlight will be less of an issue—definitely one advantage over OLED. The actual display is said to be about 33% thinner than what you’d find in previous generation iPhones, including the current iPhone 3GS, which leaves more room internally for a larger battery. The phone should also rock a 512MB memory module from Samsung, which is double what you’d find in the 3GS right now. Lastly, DigiTimes is saying that the processor will bea 1GHz Hummingbird model, and not the Apple A4 chip. We’ve heard so many conflicting reports on that one, and really, the whole thing has yet to be confirmed by Apple—so just take the whole thing with a grain of salt.

Apple is expected to reveal the next iPhone at WWDC 2010 on June 7th.

Gallery: iPhone HD Vietnam Leak

Tags:
apple,
apple rumors,
iphone,
iphone 4,
iphone hd,
iphone hd specs,
iphone pro,
iphone pro specs,
iphone rumors,
rumors,
smartphones,

In the grand scheme of things, this is just a minor Project Natal detail, but it is still worth noting that it appears that the final look of the Natal camera motion sensor accessory will be white. In all the teasers for the product, it’s been black, and in live demos, Microsoft has always gone out of their way to cover up the camera so that no one would get a peek at what it looked like until they were ready. That said, German site RTL did a video feature on Project Natal, and in that video you are able to get a look at the camera.

Tags:
accessories,
hardware,
microsoft,
project natal,
rumors,
white project natal,
xbox 360,
xbox 360 accessories,

With the Wolfgang S Birdhouse designer Dennis Nino Clasen has killed two, ahem, birds with one stone.  Not only does it allow you to trick your neighbors in to thinking you are watching their every move but it also puts an aesthetically-entertaining roof over the heads of your feathered friends.  While it may not keep your neighbor from tossing their raked-up leaves over the fence and into your yard for very long, it will provide a little extra ambiance for the exterior of your house during the spring and summer months.

Tags:
animals,
birdhouses,
cam,
dennis nino clasen,
entertainment,
joke,
novelty,
security camera,
wolfgang s birdhouse,

Paul Rodriguez has accomplished a lot in his skateboarding career.  He was the 2002 Trans World Skating Rookie of the Year, won an X-Games Gold medal in Street Skating in 2005 and also became the first pro-skater to be sponsored by Nike.  Combine all of these things with the fact that his father is famous comedian Paul Rodriguez, Sr. and it is not surprising that P-Rod is branching out to areas beyond grinding rails and landing kick-flips.  Enter Incase and the Paul Rodriguez Signature Collection.  Started in 2008, the current line features a new version of his signature skate pack that can accommodate up to a 17” MacBook Pro.  Featuring a reinforced notebook compartment, a dedicated iPod pocket with headphone port, a concealed back panel zippered pocket to secure important documents and heavy-duty, water-resistant YKK zipper pulls with closed-seam construction the P-Rod Skate Pack ensures that whatever you put inside it will be protected from most anything that you or any inevitable multiple-crashes can throw at it. 

Tags:
apple,
backpack,
bags,
carrying case,
clothing,
container,
incase,
laptop,
macbook,
macbook pro,
paul rodriguez,
paul rodriguez signature collections,
signature collection,
skate,
skate pack,
skateboarding,

Do you feel like you’ve maxed out your emo/meta cred?  Does your 3 wolves howling shirt sneer at you and your oh-so-last-week iPhone?  Well fear not, my bespectacled flannel-clad hipster ‘friend’, the iRetrophone has the cure for what ails you.  That is, if what ails you is your ability to walk anywhere instead of being tethered to one spot in particular… which is kind of the point of owning a cel phone, yeah?  Or do I sound like someone’s grandpa?  Is the next meta-craze immobilizing one’s cel phone?  If so, then sign me up!!!  I’ve been yearning for an excuse to get my tape-driven answering machine out of my attic.  Don’t worry, the handset works too so you can cradle it against your left ear while smoking your corn-cob pipe and twirling your horn-rimmed glasses, Wheezer-fan.

Tags:
accessories,
apple,
chargers,
iphone,
iphone charger,
iretrophone,
retro,

If you own an Xbox 360, then we’re fairly confident that you’re salivating over getting early access to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta. Sure, the beta goes public on May 3rd, open to all who have a copy of Halo 3: ODST, but who wants to wait 4 more days to get in on the action if you can have it today? Yep, that’s where we come in. We’ve got a bunch of Halo: Reach beta codes that we are going to be giving away today, and if you get one, you’ll be able to download and play the Halo: Reach beta today! So, how do you enter to win one of these super-exclusive codes? Here’s your answer:

1. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account
2. Follow the Gear Live Twitter account
3. On Twitter, post this tweet about our contest:

   “Hey @gearlive hook me up with a Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta code please! http://bit.ly/haloreachbeta” (Click here to tweet this now)

That’s it! You must be following the Gear Live Twitter account, because we will be sending the codes to the winners on Twitter via DM, and if you aren’t following, we can’t DM you. Simple as that. Again, we’ve got a bunch of these, so you have a good chance of walking away with a code! We will start choosing winners this afternoon.

Tags:
adslice,
bungie,
halo,
halo reach,
halo reach beta,
halo reach beta code,
halo reach download,
halo reach multiplayer,
halo reach multiplayer beta,
halo reach multiplayer beta code,
microsoft,
sidefeatured,
video games,
videogames,
xbox 360,

So the 3G iPad is set to launch this Friday at 5:00 PM, and AT&T has finally got on the ball and given full details on how their 3G data plan for the iPad will work. First order of business, you get two data plans that work in the US – the charges are automatically billed on a monthly basis, but you can start and stop that at any time right from the iPad 3G, and both options are contract-free:

• $14.99 per month for 250 MB
• $29.99 per month for unlimited data
• Unlimited access – no added cost – to AT&T’s 20,000+ Wi-Fi Hot Spots

That third one is a nice bonus. Basically, if you have an active iPad 3G subscription, then you get access to any AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot at no additional cost. The plans renew every 30 days, which starts on the date and time of the purchase, and charges appear like normal on your credit card bill. You can make changes to your plan at any time, which starts a new 30 day window. To manage all this, you go to the Cellular Data area under Settings on the iPad.

For those of you thinking about starting out with that $14.99 250MB plan, the iPad will actually alert you when you’ve got 20 percent of your data left, then again at 10, and finally once more at zero. As each alert pops up, you have the option to add more data, if you so choose.

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att,
data plans,
ipad,
ipad 3g,
ipad 3g data plans,
sidefeatured,

Wondering when Apple‘s next big shindig was gonna go down? Well, you can mark your calendar for June 7th, because that’s when WWDC 2010, the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, takes place. Of course, the highlight of the event will be the keynote that kicks it off, where we fully expect to see the iPhone HD make its official debut (of course, the iPhone 4 has already been unveiled in an unofficial capacity.) Hey, we are even hearing that there may be bits and pieces revealed about the next major Apple operating system. Exciting times, no?

Tags:
iphone,
iphone hd,
mac os x 10.7,
os x 10.7,
worldwide developers conference,
wwdc,
wwdc 2010,

The folks over at Eye-Fi have yet another 802.11n card they’d like you to know about, and this one is an Apple Store exclusive. The Geo X2 sits nicely between the $49.99 Connect X2 and the $99.99 Explore X2, and will cost $69.99. For all intents and purposes, the Geo X2 appears to be similar to the Explore X2, but it packs in 4GB of memory instead of 8GB. It rocks the same Endless Memory Mode that automatically deletes photos after they safely been wirelessly synched and backed up, the Class-6 flash memory, and the automatic geotagging support as well.

Alongside this announcement, Eye-Fi also made it known that, starting at the end of May, users can expect greatly improved Wi-Fi support, thanks to their partnership with Devicescape. The meat and potatoes of this announcement is that the Eye-Fi cards will now be able to log on to public Wi-Fi hotspots that require getting through a browser splash screen. Since that is pretty much the majority, this opens things up quite a bit.

Tags:
apple,
apple store,
cameras,
devicescape,
digital cameras,
eye-fi,
eye-fi geo x2,
geo x2,
memory,
sd cards,
wi-fi,

We’re not sure what type of games TiVo thinks they are trying to play here, but the company has finally gotten around to getting their AN0100 802.11n wireless adapter to retail, and they’ve decided it best to charge more than just about any other wireless device of this kind on the market. That’s right, the TiVo Wireless N Network Adapter can be yours for a shocking $89.99. yeah, you get better range and throughput than you would on the Wireless G model, but, man, that price has us seriously considering the costs of just running an ethernet cable across the house.

Tags:
802.11n,
accessories,
dvr,
pvr,
ripoffs,
tivo,
tivo accessories,
tivo hd,
tivo premiere,
tivo series3,
tivo series4,
tivo wireless n network adapter,
wi-fi,
wifi,

This morning at WES 2010, RIM finally took the wraps off of their upcoming BlackBerry 6 operating system, introducing it with the video you see above. While it’s easy to be captivated by the dancers, when you focus on the actual screen activity being teased here, you see that this is all focused on touchscreen gestures, but we are sure that RIM won’t be throwing away that true QWERTY keyboard anytime soon. Also, interestingly enough, the web browser got almost no play at all in the video. Maybe they’ve still got some work to do on that one. Still, it’s nice to see the company progressing and aiming to bring BlackBerry devices a bunch of new hotness in the near future.

Tags:
bb 6,
blackberry,
blackberry 6,
blackberry 6 os,
blackberry os,
facebook,
research in motion,
rim,
social networking,
twitter,
videos,
webkit,
wes,
wes 2010,

We recently mentioned that Google announced that the Nexus One wouldn’t be hitting Verizon, and the reason behind the decision is that there is a better option in the Droid Incredible from HTC. We recently got our hands on a Droid Incredible, and we’ve been playing with it for a couple of days now, steadily forming our opinion of the device. While the full review isn’t ready yet, we can comfortably say that we like the Incredible quite a bit more than the Nexus One. Look out for our review in a few days, but in the meantime, we’ve got a Droid Incredible gallery for you, giving you a look at the aesthetics of the device.

Gallery: Verizon HTC Droid Incredible unboxing gallery

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adslice,
cell phones,
cellphones,
droid,
droid incredible,
htc,
htc incredible,
nexus one,
smartphones,
verizon,
verizon wireless,

Wi-Fi Sync is an iPhone app that we are absolutely hoping and praying makes it into the App Store. Why? Well, take a look at the video above. Basically, it solves a problem that we’ve been begging Apple to solve for years now—we want to be able to sync our devices with our computers over the network, rather than having to be tethered to a USB connection just to get our latest tunes and apps onto our phones and iPads. Wi-Fi Sync seems to be a nice, easy, and elegant solution to making that happen. You just pair your computer with your phone through the Wi-Fi Sync software, and you are good. Our only fear is that Apple will reject the app, since you’d think if they wanted Wi-Fi syncing to be available on Wi-Fi devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, they’d have already done it. Still, we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Tags:
ipad,
iphone,
iphone 3gs,
iphone os 4.0,
ipod touch,
sidefeatured,
videos,
wi-fi sync,
wifi sync,
wireless syncing,

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer that was waiting on the Nexus One‘s arrival before upgrading, looks like you’ll have to make a slight change of plans. Google has just made it known that, despite announcing that the Nexus One would hit Verizon soon, it is now dead. Instead, they recommend that you go with the Droid Incredible instead. At first glance, that may come across as lame, but the fact is that the Droid Incredible is a better phone than the Nexus One, so we have to give kudos to Google for recognizing the work that was put into the phone by HTC. We will have more on the Droid Incredible later today, as we are currently playing around with one in the Gear Live Review Labs.

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BlackBerry is finally looking to bring something even better to their consumer handset line than the BlackBerry Pearl (which has been around for over three years now,) and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G looks to be a worthy follow-up. This will be the first BlackBerry, Pearl or otherwise, to sport 802.11n Wi-Fi, and it will also boast a 3.2 megapixel camera, 256MB storage (with microSD expansion up to 32GB,) GPS, and a 360 x 400 display. Even more interesting is that, aside from the multiple colors you can choose from, you also get to choose between two difference keyboard layouts. You get the numberic 14-key or the SurePress 20-key. You’ll be able to get a BlackBerry Pearl 3G sometimes in May, likely from both AT&T and T-Mobile.

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3g,
att,
blackberry,
blackberry pearl,
blackberry pearl 3g,
blackberry pearl 9100,
cell phones,
cellphones,
pearl 3g,
smartphones,
surepress,
t-mobile,

You might have seen me speaking highly of SteelSeries’ line of Siberia headsets before (I personally sport the V2,) but if you haven’t been able to afford a nice pair of headphones, you’re in luck; Sellout.Woot has the original Siberia model (not quite as swanky as the V2, but pretty awesome nonetheless) for the mind-bogglingly low price of $14.99 for today only. The normal price for these is around $90 at retail. It’s not every day you find a deal like this, so if you know what’s good for you, head on over to Sellout.Woot (though Deals.Woot) and get you some. You can hear the angels singing.

Tags:
accessories,
deals,
gaming headphones,
headphones,
sellout woot,
siberia headset,
steelseries,
steelseries siberia,
woot,
woot deals,

We give you a first look at the Sprint 4G Case for the iPad in this episode. Sprint, trying to capitalize on all the iPad buzz, and the fact that they are the first carrier in North America to offer 4G service, released this case as a method to push their Sprint Overdrive 4G mobile hotspot. You can get it free with purchase of an Overdrive device at Best Buy. You can also check out our written Sprint 4G Case review, along with the Sprint 4G iPad Case gallery.

Here’s how to get the show:
Subscribe: iTunes iPod / H.264 | iTunes MPEG-4 | RSS H.264 Feed | RSS MPEG-4 Feed

|Download| – iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| – Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| – MPEG-4

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3g,
4g,
4g case,
clearwire,
hotspot,
ipad,
ipad 4g,
mobile hotspot,
overdrive,
sprint,
sprint 4g,
sprint 4g case,
sprint overdrive,

Barnes & Noble has finally releases nook update 1.3, which brings a couple of welcome upgrades and features to the ereader. One notable change is the presence of a web browser, which in turn, makes Wi-Fi a bit more useful. How so? Well, if a Wi-Fi hotspot requires a login, you can now use the browser to do that and hop onto the network, whereas before, you were just out of luck with the nook. Pages will now turn faster, which is always nice, and they’ve also got some apps and games available for your enjoyment as well. If you want to take advantage of the in-store nook perks, you can now read any ebook for free for an hour when connected to a Barnes & Noble hotspot, and later, you’ll be able to read newspapers and magazines for 20 minutes per day. If you wanna get your nook updates immediately, you can download the update and manually install it over USB, or if you’re in no rush, it should auto-update over Wi-Fi sometime over the next few days.

Tags:
barnes and noble,
bn nook,
ebooks,
ereader,
ereaders,
nook,
nook 1.3,
nook 1.3 update,