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Latest Video: Bleeding Edge TV 297: Unibody MacBook Pro RAM upgrade tutorial

We show you how to save yourself a couple hundred dollars by upgrading the RAM in your new unibody MacBook Pro on your own. It's easy, and we show you how to do it yourself in this episode.
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We know a lot of you owners are counting down the days to November 19th, which is the day that everyone will be able to download the dashboard update. Until then, we figured we’d give you a nice, full walkthrough of the update and its interface. Our friends up in Redmond were able to send the update to one of our two Xbox 360 consoles, which in turn, allows us to bring you this exclusive first-look walkthrough.

We show you everything, from the boot-up video, the new HDTV display output options, Xbox avatars, , and a whole lot more. Our early thoughts? We love it. In fact, we love it so much, that we now hate our second Xbox 360, which still has the old, busted blade interface. We want NXE on that one as well.

One thing we mentioned in the video that we need to clarify, though. As it turns out, Netflix HD streaming should be available on other Netflix-enabled hardware devices on November 19th as well, as opposed to HD streaming being exclusive to the Xbox 360 at first.

Oh, and be sure to check our New Xbox Experience gallery if you wanna see some screenshots in addition to the video - and if you have any NXE questions about anything we didn’t cover, or didn’t delve into enough, let us know on the forum.

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A few days ago, at the , the company unveiled their newly redesigned (gallery) and (gallery) portables. We were able to get our hands on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro, and in this video, we compare each to their last generation counterpart. That’s right, we put the white MacBook up against the newer aluminum MacBook, compare the older MacBook Pro to the new one, and to top it all off, we bring in a for comparisons sake as well. Hit the video to get a look at all the aluminum and glass unibody goodness.

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just unleashed a couple of new notebooks earlier today, including their new 16- and 18-inch units, just in time for the holiday season. We were able to spend some time with HP’s Kevin Wentzel to get a look at the entire consumer notebook lineup for this holiday season. It features the aforementioned HDX, a new HP Imprint finish for the dv5 and dv7 Pavilions, and their tablet as well. These things are affordable, and some are even powerful enough to replace your desktop at this point. In fact, we also have a look at HP’s notebook docking station as well, which fits right in with that line of thinking.

Hit the video for the full scoop on everything, and try not to droll over those hot-looking HDXs, mkay?

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At Gear Live, we use ExpressionEngine to manage our vast array of sites, authors, and blog posts. Things like MovableType, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal just don’t cut it for us.

During SXSW, we got the opportunity to get an early looks at ExpressionEngine 2.0. If you have a blog, or want to blog in the future, you need to watch this video to see what is coming soon from the crew over at EllisLab. Seriously, we can’t praise these guys enough for what they do. If you’ve never heard of the product and want to give it a shot, you can download the free Core version over at the ExpressionEngine website. If you go for the full version, you have access to all sorts of upgrades.

Of course, ExpressionEngine 2.0 isn’t available just yet, but something tells us we will be seeing it sooner rather than later.

A big thank you goes out to HP and Verizon FiOS for sponsoring this episode.

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Read More | ExpressionEngine product page


Have you ever wanted to play your without having to have that pesky Wiimote in your hand? Reactrix hopes that their WAVEscape product might come close to providing that experience. We got a look at it during .

The WAVEscape contains a camera that can track the motion of multiple people, distinguishing each person individually. Everyone can use “natural” motion to interact with different things on the screen, including games.

Now, we aren’t sure when, if ever, the WAVEscape technology will be available in the home. It is more designed as a cool diversion that can be used commercially. It’s all about the “engaging advertising experience” - you know, punch the panda and maybe get a coupon?

WAVEscape is the brainchild of Reactriz and TYZX. They plan on having over 100 of these out and about by the end of the year.

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So you already have a phone, but you’d still like a gadget to surf the Internet, view photos, listen to your MP3s and watch your videos. While not an , Mustek’s MMP 240 (and MMP 350) will do the job. With a 2.4” and 2.5” screen respectively, you can enjoy (and showoff) your multimedia goodness from only $99 to $199 USD.

Oh, and even if the product doesn’t look interesting - you have to take a listen to the PR person showing off the product. He may have been drunk. Or he may have simply been hoping to find a way to spice up what otherwise was simply him showing off an iPod touch knockoff. You be the judge. Hit us in the comments with your thoughts.

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While not the fuel cell battery replacement for gadgets we keep hearing about Horizon is promising some very cool technology nonetheless: portable, enviromentally friendly power on demand - just add water! Their portable generator technology is aimed at disaster relief, outdoor, and developing countries. The totally recyclable cartridges have an infinate shelf life until activated, and can be activated by adding plain old water - no filtration neccesary. Check out the video for more details on this cool new tech.

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We couldn’t quite get our hands on the Watch Phone concept (and they were stopping all non-press individuals from even taking photos, which always seems strange to us) but we did get to talk to an LG rep about what the concept may evolve into and what features are working already. The screen is gorgeous and they’ve built the system to work with just three buttons, including a jog button of sorts, which lets you scroll easily. The concept sends and receives texts and is currently built to work on GSM but they said they haven’t finalized providers or networks yet, and could easily be made to work on CDMA. No word yet on battery life, but the watch *will* apparently include a built in mic and speaker (for “Dick Tracy”-style communication, ostesibly) but will be primarily for use with Bluetooth. Since this is just a concept, they were also mum on any sort of release date, but LG sounded like sometime this year or early next year would be reasonable.

What’s your opinion on the utility of a watch phone? Would you want something with stripped down functionality like that? (Text messaging would be a nightmare I think, but you could store templates and recall them I suppose.) As a user of the Fossil FX-6001, I absolutely love having my watch integrate with my phone, but it only tells me when I receive a call or text, and who’s calling. And that’s enough for me. I much prefer the phone as a separate device, I think.

Check the video for some close-up shots of the clock on the watch in operation and the nice screen and sleek design.

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Among their plasticky robotic things, WowWee introduced their new Alive line of cubs.  The panda, white tiger, polar bear and lion cubs are actually articulated robots with sensors that detect the angle at which they are being held and where they are being touched.  The Alive Cubs will be available this Spring at an MSRP of $59.

On the plasticky side of things, in addition to the Mr. Personality robot just released, WowWee has three robots on deck: the Tribot, the Rovio, and the Bladestar.  The Tribot is a remote controlled, 3-wheeled robot which features an alarm clock and can move in almost any direction.  Tribot will be available this spring for an estimated $99.  The Rovio is a roving robotic video and audio recorder which can be controlled remotely through its own website.  The website also broadcasts Rovio’s video and audio feeds.  Rovio will be available in the fourth quarter of 2008 for an estimated $299.  The Bladestar is the next generation Dragonfly - a super capacitor powers the wings, and an infrared signal bounces off obstacles (walls, ceilings, exceptionally large headed friends) to make sure Bladestar stays on an unobstructed flight path.  Bladestar will be available in February for an estimated $49.

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Cordless extension cords?  Powerbeam has it covered.  Right now, Powerbeam is perfecting a wireless, laser-based power transfer system that can act as an extension cord to power devices using a line-of-sight system that will send power as far as you need it to go.  The lasers are about the size of pepper flakes, and will transfer tens of watts of power, and in the future could transfer more.

Powerbeam has patented a battery powered safety system on the back end of the product that will stop the laser (which creates a warm feeling where it comes into contact with a person, nothing ray gun-esque here) when someone crosses its path.

Powerbeam estimates that their power transfer system is 12 months out to the consumer market.

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