Definitely helpful when bundled up in snow gear, the BearTek gloves can help you switch between songs without having to pull out your phone.

Detailed within a new Kickstarter project launched recently, a company called Blue Infusions Technologies has developed a pair of gloves that use Bluetooth and finger gestures to control an iPhone or Android smartphone. Slightly more bulky than a standard set of gloves, the heavy duty BEARTek gloves are being targeted at people that spend time out on the slopes on a snowboard or skis as well as people that like to ride motorcycles. Rather than having to take off a traditional pair of gloves and unzip clothing to find a smartphone, the user wearing the BEARTek gloves can control music as well as answer the phone without taking off any clothing. 

After a smartphone has been paired over Bluetooth with the BEARTek gloves, the user will be able to tap six different contact points on the gloves to trigger actions on the smartphone. The contact points are located on the index, middle and ring fingers.

A large contact point is placed on the thumb which is used to interact with the six points. Actions assigned to the contact points include answering or ending calls, raising or lowering the volume as well as switching between songs on an album. 

In addition to working with the iOS and Android software, the BEARTek gloves work with music applications such as Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Slacker Radio. The user can also pair the smartphone with a Bluetooth headset to go completely wireless. Regarding design, the gloves have leather on the palm and fingertips. In addition, the gloves are waterproof in order to protect the Bluetooth module inside the lining.

In order to kick off mass production of the gloves, the creators of the BEARTek gloves are seeking $50,000 on the Kickstarter project. The gloves are currently priced at $150 and have a delivery date of April 2013. However, there’s also a $250 level that has an “early bird” delivery date of January 2013. 

Looking for a deal on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2? Amazon is now offering the Note 2 for $50 cheaper than usual, with a two year commitment to AT&T.

Interestingly enough, Amazon seems to be the only one on board with the new $250 price point. All other carriers, including AT&T itself, are stilling offering the Samsung phablet for $300 plus a two-year contract.

While just about everyone reading this probably already knows what to expect with the Note 2, as a refresher will do a quick summary of the key specs. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a 5.5-inch super AMOLED HD display, a quad-core Exynos processor, 16GB of internal storage and a stylus called the S-Pen. As for the OS, you get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

So how about it, does the idea of saving $50 on the purchase of the AT&T version of the Galaxy Note 2 sound appealing to you or not?

In this week's mobile news, we recover from news that Twinkies may soon cease to exist, RIM sets a date for BlackBerry 10, and many more stories. Fresh app and game picks for the week are also included.

We’re living in strange times, people. The United States’ CIA Director is caught up in the middle of a story from the Real House Wives of the Pentagon; MySpace is back and is attempting to force us all to relive our embarrassing teen years of sparkling fonts and poor profile song choices; and the life of the only food that could survive a nuclear apocalypse – the Twinkie – has expired thanks to its parent company Hostess going out of business. It’s 2012 and maybe, just maybe, the Mayans were right. The world will keep spinning at least until December 21, though, and mobile tech shows no signs of stopping earlier than that. Here’s all the news and the best apps and games from the week of November 11-16, 2012.

5. iPad Minis hot commodity for consumers, crooks

Everyone wants to get their hands on an iPad Mini. It’s the typical rush that occurs any time a new Apple product comes out, no matter how ludicrous and unnecessary it may be. Though it didn’t launch in line with the WiFi iPad Mini or the fourth generation iPad, the iPad Mini with 4G LTE made its way to store shelves this week. They are likely to be a popular item this holiday season, and you’re going to want to get a jump on getting one. Take a cue from some thieves in New York who managed to snag 3,000 of the 7.9-inch tablets from JFK Airport. 

4. Good guy Google

It’s hard to hate Google. Sure, it’s a tech giant with an eye on almost everyone and a nearly endless supply of money, but it seems like it has good intentions in everything it does. Take for example, the Google Free Zone. While it sounds like a dedicated area that bans Googling within it, it’s actually a free Internet access for people who want to check Gmail, Google+, and perform Google searches without being charged for data. If that’s not enough for you, check out the free update Google released for its YouTube app that turns Android phones into a remote control for Google TV. Maybe you’re more into gaming, in which case you should try to get in on the invite-only augmented reality game that Google developed. Oh, or maybe enjoy the new simplified ability to share apps over Google+. Google is like the stereotypical mad scientist with too much money that just develops absurd things for the sake of it. We’re sure there’s some sharks with laser beams on their heads somewhere in the company’s headquarters, though.

3. Microsoft’s OS is bloatware

One big complaint that comes with any portable device is that there isn’t really as much memory on it as the makers claim. While it’s not entirely true – usually the memory is there, just has some built in apps and the operating system occupying some of it – Microsoft has taken things to a whole new level by creating the first ever OS that may in fact be bloatware itself. It came to light that 13GB of every Surface tablet is dedicated to nothing more than Windows RT. This revelation has caused outrage among consumers, who are now suing Microsoft over the ordeal. Our suggestion to Microsoft: ship out 16GB microSD cards to make up for lost storage, but add in a PDF apology that takes up 13GB of space and cannot be deleted.

2. Research in Motion would like to remind you that it exists

Everyone remember Blackberrys? Research in Motion sure does. If you walk into its offices, it’s like walking back into 2008. “Single Ladies” is playing on repeat, the employees are still talking about how great “The Dark Knight” was, and there’s a big Obama “Hope” poster hanging on the wall – which is odd because the company is in Canada. In the real world, over four years have passed since the Blackberry was relevant, but RIM believes 2013 is the year of the comeback. The company has a press conference planned for January 30, 2013, and will ship out its product within a month of its unveiling. Expect the ad campaign to consist of timely references like Chuck Norris facts and De-motivational poster memes.

1. Too cool to text

Things go in and out of style incredibly quick these days, and the industry has a hard time keeping up. Samsung just announced a new member of its Galaxy family will come with a full sliding QWERTY keyboard. That launch comes just in time for a decline in SMS usage. Perhaps this is a bit presumptuous and hyperbolic, but texting is clearly dead and has no chance of coming back. Good thing we’ve got cameras with 4G connectivity to communicate with now.

Fresh New App of the Week

Pixlr Express (Free, Android/iOS): From Autodesk, the team behind Sketchbook, comes Pixlr Express. If you’ve used the Web version, you know what you’re getting here, but the ability to use it on the go in app form makes it a must have. Perfect for photo editing of any kind, Pixlr Express lets you take any image and improve it. Think of it like a totally customizable Instagram where you make the filter and can alter its effects any way you see fit.

DuoLingo (Free, iPhone): Learn a new language like it’s a game. Play games, level up, and compare scores with friends to see who would be better off if dropped in a foreign land with nothing but an iPhone.

ShoutOut Radio (Free, iPhone): Turn your music listening experiences into social hour with ShoutOut Radio. The app allows you to send and share music with friends via Facebook.

Fresh New Game of the Week

Crazy Coaster (Free, iOS): Remember Roller Coaster Tycoon for the PC back in the day? Crazy Coaster is clearly built on the same track as that classic title. Travel around the world building over-the-top coasters that only the most daring of thrill-seekers would ride. You’ll have to keep casual customers happy too, of course. You can’t be picking up pairs of dentures after every old person rides your fastest coaster. Your goal is simple – build an extremely profitable ride empire.

Cubed Rally Redline ($1, iOS): Like those old magnet powered race tracks that you may have had as a kid, but with 8-bit graphics and insane obstacles. The car keeps going on its own, but you have to keep it on track for victory.

Max Awesome ($1, iOS): Everyone that has ever dreamed of being a stuntman can finally live out their fantasies through this quirky title.

This week in Jetsetter, we follow up on the imprisoned Bohemia Interactive developers charged with espionage in Greece before looking at the tale of a Dutchman that stole an entire MMO.

Welcome back to Jetsetter, Digital Trends’ weekly look at the international video game scene. Yours truly recently enjoyed an extended stay outside of the continental US, namely in Spain. The majority of time was spent in the small village of Monachil outside of Granada and what I discovered was this: The Spanish countryside isn’t full of games, but it does look a lot like it did in Resident Evil 4.

Spain may not have been a hot bed of gaming goodness but it’s a big world out there. This week we take a look at a Czech developer’s ongoing woes in Greece, Japan’s growing love affair with the Nintendo 3DS, and how one Dutchman plagued an entire MMO.

* ArmA III developers denied bail in Greece.

As covered here in Jetsetter before, two staffers from ArmA III studio Bohemia Interactive were arrested in Greece under suspicion of espionage. Eurogamer reported on Friday that, after more than two months in Greek prison, Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar have been denied bail and must face a trial in Greek court. The developers are incarcerated in nasty conditions as well. “They’re in a cell with over 25 people, they sleep on the ground,” said Ivan Buchta’s father Miloslav. A support site working to free the developers can be found at HelpIvanMartin.org.

* Dutch hacker arrested after MMO heist.

Anil Kheda, a 24-year-old man from the Netherlands, has to be given points for originality at least. It’s a rare cyber crook that steals an entire MMO. Kheda was arrested after allegedly hacking into Rampid Interactive’s text-based MMO Outwar in 2007 and 2008. He and his accomplices restored banned accounts, gave themselves in-game credits, and ultimately copied the entire source code of the game opening a competitor it called Outcraft. “Rampid was unable to operate Outwar for a total of two week over a nine-month period and incurred over $100,000 in lost revenues, lost wages, lost hosting costs, long-term loss of business, as well as the loss of exclusive use of their proprietary source code, which it had invested approximately $1.5 million in creating,” reads the federal indictment of Kheda.

* Nintendo 3DS matches PS3 in lifetime Japanese sales.

The Nintendo 3DS has been out in Japan for a little less than two years. The PlayStation 3 on the other hand has been out for exactly six years. How do you know that portable gaming is king in Japan? Both machines have sold approximately the same number of consoles. According to sales tracking company Media Create, as of Nov. 11 Sony has sold nearly 8.6 million PlayStation 3s in Japan. Nintendo, meanwhile, has sold nearly 8.1 million Nintendo 3DSs. With each passing year, it looks like the PlayStation 2 will remain the last great home console in Japan.

With the final episode of Telltale Games' episodic take on The Walking Dead due out next week, we spoke with series creator Robert Kirkman about the influence of games on his writing, and what characters he thinks might make the transition next.

Robert Kirkman has watched as his creation, The Walking Dead, has expanded beyond the comic book fan boys to become a global mainstream phenomenon. With a hit television series on AMC that continues to push new boundaries, and a critically and commercially successful episodic game franchise from Telltale Games, The Walking Dead is everywhere. Even Activision is getting into the game with first-person shooter, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct next year.

The prolific writer is now pulling multiple creative duties as COO of Image Comics and founding partner of its Skybound label. The creator of successful comic franchises Super Dinosaur, Invincible, and Thief of Thieves talks about his gaming background and his foray into the video game space in this exclusive interview.

Did you play a lot of games growing up?

I’m a Mario guy and I’ve played some modern games. I’m a huge fan of the Uncharted series. I play the odd Star Wars game every now and then because I’m a big Star Wars fan. I love Transformers, so I’m playing Fall of Cybertron and I played War for Cybertron. I play those, but I don’t really have a lot of time for video games because they’re kind of like drugs. It’s like if you play too many video games you’re just on a couch all the time kind of depressed, like, “This is what I do with my life. I play video games all the time.” So I try to stay away because I think I can get addicted very easily.

How do you think gaming has influenced your writing?

Not too, too terribly much. I haven’t played too many video games, but I think that video games are designed to offer appealing snippets to the player. If anything could be taken from video games, it’s giving the audience what they want in doses that keep them enthralled and engaged. That’s the goal of any story, to keep people engaged and not really withholding things to a certain extent. That is sometimes done in storytelling, to the story’s detriment. That’s definitely a lesson that I’ve learned from video games, that anyone can learn from video games – when you can just find out what the audience wants and needs out of a story and make sure that they get that.

And what was it like working on the Telltale Games’ Walking Dead game?

It was a lot of fun. It was really just consulting is the best way to put it. I have to give the vast majority of the credit to Telltale for putting that game together. I’ll take the vast majority of the credit for being able to choose Telltale to be the company to do that video game, but really all the blood, sweat, and tears came from their end. I basically just had a few conversations where I was like, “this is the world of The Walking Dead, this is the kind of stories we tell. You know the Walking Dead is this. It’s not this, etc., etc.”

I don’t even know if I needed to do that because those guys were huge Walking Dead fans. They knew the comic books almost better than I do, which happens from time to time because I am very forgetful. But they really know what they were doing and I’m really super happy with how that turned out.

What are your thoughts on the approach of episodic storytelling that the game utilizes?

That’s the key to The Walking Dead. I think that the comic is very episodic because the television show is very episodic and that’s something that is somewhat unique to Telltale in the way that they tell their games by story and chapters. I think it’s really cool how they build cliffhangers and tell a story over multiple chapters, which makes it seem like the story is that much more involved and longer and everything actually builds with anticipation between chapters. I know that Telltale has received some criticism for some minor, minor delays here and there on the game, and that’s unfortunate. I’m sure it’s something they would like to avoid, not having those gaps be reasonably lengthy – but having those gaps

How would you like to see the games evolve from here on out?

I really like the way that they’ve told stories that dovetail with the continuity, but really are their own path. That’s a really cool way to do things. If the game series were to continue — I’m not saying anything for sure, but I would really like to see them continue on with that. I think that Lee Everett is a fantastic addition to The Walking Dead universe and I’d like to see more things like that from Telltale. It’s really cool.

Do you think the Governor could warrant his own video game experience and if so what would it be?

I definitely could see the Governor existing in the video game space. As far as what I think that could be, I wouldn’t want to reveal too much.

What are your thoughts on the direction Activision and Terminal Reality are taking with the prequel game featuring Daryl and Merle?

Daryl and Merle have really become standout characters in the television show and I know that fans are clamoring for more of them in any form. The idea of running around in the woods as Daryl killing zombies with a crossbow is pretty awesome, and I would say infinitely appealing. So I’m really excited about that aspect of the game. I’m waiting to see how it all turns out, but I’m very optimistic that it’s going to be very cool and anything involving the Dixon brothers is going to be something to watch out for.

With The Walking Dead now alive in comics, television and video games, any chance we’ll see a movie written by you soon?

I don’t know. Who knows what the future holds? We’ll see. Maybe.

The 1080p smartphone revolution has begun. Oppo, Sharp and HTC are among some of the first to jump in with 1080p 5-inch smartphone. HTC even managed to unveil the first US-bound 1080p smartphone, the HTC Droid DNA. Apparently, things are about to get even more crowded as Sony and even Lenovo prepare to jump into the fray as well.

The Lenovo 1080p smartphone’s actual looks remain a mystery, though a few screenshots from Lenovo’s customized Android UI have been leaked. We don’t know the actual screen size, as a source reporting to Engadget would only say it has a screen size between 4.5 and 5.5-inches. Considering all the existing 1080p displays were are aware of are 5-inch, it’s pretty easy to take a guess here. The new Lenovo phone also sports dual-SIM connectivity, which is pretty common with many Chinese smartphones out there.

Not much else is known about the new Lenovo 1080p phone, though more than likely it will be Chinese (and perhaps Asian) market only. While Lenovo does reasonably well selling PCs and tablets in the United States and other markets, it seems to keep its phone efforts close to home.

Are you eager to get your hands on an 1080p smartphone of your own? Perhaps you are leaning towards the HTC Droid DNA?

Learn before you leap with tips from a Windows 8 vet who’s been there, done that. And messed it up a few times along the way.

I’ve now installed Windows 8 five times. Some installations have gone amazingly well, and one went horribly awry, bricking an entire PC. Having experienced the best and worst Windows 8 has to offer, let provide some recommendations on how to upgrade with the least pain possible.

.0 products

Windows 8 is what we call a “.0” product, the first in what will be a new series. The last time Apple did a .0 product was the move to OS X, which is why recent upgrades seem to be relatively painless. Microsoft makes major changes far more often, generally to address critical security holes and to catch up with leaps forward in hardware.

Microsoft’s past .0 products have included Vista, Windows 2000, and Windows 95; all came with plenty of teething pains. Having experienced all of those (I once bricked my CEO’s laptop with Windows 95 accidentally) my standard recommendation is to not upgrade early to any .0 product unless you are willing to experience some pain.

Having said that, Windows 8 has generally performed far better than any .0 product I’ve so far experienced but, for most thinking about upgrading existing hardware, I’d recommend waiting at least a quarter so most of the hardware incompatibilities and other issues have been corrected.

The best path early on is to simply buy something that already is running the OS, because it has been tested at several levels. To date, every Windows 8 machine I’ve been sent has performed flawlessly.

Bricking a PC

The worst experience I had was with a very high-end, very unique PC that Intel had sent over to showcase extreme performance. I figured if Windows 8 would upgrade this machine, it could upgrade any machine. Turns out it can’t.

The upgrade seemed to work, but I noticed that the one of the USB systems was constantly failing and resetting, so clearly the system didn’t like one of the drivers. I started to perform a clean installation (deleting the partitions and loading the system fresh), but that resulted in blue screens of death and the installation wouldn’t complete.

Lesson learned: With a very highly customized system, there is a risk right now that Windows 8 won’t complete installation. The fix will be to swap out the motherboard with one that is Windows 8 certified, and the problem will clear. If you want to try anyway, make sure you take a full system image copy of your drive so you can restore it back to the way it was if Windows 8 doesn’t work. Because I hadn’t done that, I didn’t have this option.

Wrecking a laptop

Windows 8 uses the edges of the screen (or a touchscreen) to bring up menus. Many laptops that shipped before Windows 8 (if not most) have raised edges around the pad as a design feature, or are “center weighted” to prevent accidentally moving the cursor while you type. Both these features work poorly with Windows 8. Finally, multi-touch touchpads are still rare, and Windows 8 without a good touchpad sucks in use. You can use a mouse, it’s far from ideal. Products like this are better off left running Windows 7.

Upgrading versus installing from scratch

Generally, I advise a clean installation. It cleans out your PC of all the crap that you’ve loaded, both on purpose and accidentally from malware (unless you have installed a root kit). While it takes longer, the end result is much closer to a brand new system. However, you have to reinstall all of your apps. An upgrade leaves in place all of your apps, and Windows 8 has the best upgrade process I’ve ever seen from Microsoft.

That said, I think it is even more important to do a clean installation with Windows 8. This is because if you choose to install new apps from the Windows Store going forward, you can easily migrate these apps and get the benefits of clean installation, plus the speed of an “in place” upgrade. Going from Windows 8 to Windows 9, 10 and so on will go much more easily if you make a clean break from Windows 7 and embrace Windows 8 apps. The exception, ironically, is Microsoft Office, which won’t fit this model until the Windows 9 timeframe.

On my last system, I put together the hardware, installed Windows 8 and Office, and was in full production in under two hours. That’s going from a bare case and parts, all in separate boxes, to an up and running PC on my desk. I’m convinced that if I didn’t screw around (I had some issues with a cheap power supply I had to address), I could do it in under an hour. Historically it takes me around four hours to do the same thing, and even then, all my settings and files aren’t fully in place for several days.

Acquiring the OS

While the installation may be simpler, choosing a package to install is more confusing this year. If you buy an upgrade package, you get Windows 8 Pro, if you install on fresh hardware or you are buying a new PC, chances are it comes with plain Windows 8. (Personally, I have yet to miss any of the features that are uniquely in Pro.) Even more confusing: If you upgrade Windows 8 to Pro, you get Media Center, but if you upgrade to Pro or put Pro on a new system, you don’t. If you download the Windows 8 Pro upgrade from Microsoft, it costs around $40; if you buy the DVD it costs around $65; if you buy the “systems builder” copy of Windows 8 it costs around $85; if you buy the “system builder” copy of Windows 8 Pro you are approaching $125. Windows Media Center is around $10 on top of Pro, and the upgrade from Windows 8 to Pro is $65.

The cheapest path if you have a Windows 7 system (along with the image disk) is to download and install the Windows 8 Pro upgrade for $40, and then upgrade it to Media Center for another $10 (assuming you want Media Center). The most expensive way is to buy the system builder Windows 8 for around $85, then buy the upgrade to Pro for $65 on DVD. This lands you the same result for around $150, or about $100 more, for the convenience of not having to track down your Windows 7 DVD.

Wrapping up

I’ve completely moved over to Windows 8. I’m using Surface while on the road, and Windows 8 Pro on my two primary desktops. If you are happy with Windows 7, I’d stay there until you have a compelling reason to move or need to buy new hardware. The easiest long-term upgrade will be simply buying hardware designed for Windows 8 when you’re ready. If you do want to upgrade existing hardware, you’re best off waiting until after the new year to execute the move. Most of the fixes from us early adopters will be in the product by then, and help resources will be far less stressed out if you need to use them.

One thing to keep in mind, though: That $40 download price for the upgrade is supposed to expire, so you may want to get it and the key while it is on sale, then do the upgrade when ready.

Good luck! If you’ve made the move to Windows 8 already – or tried and bounced – I’d love to see your comments on the experience. For me, even with all the .0 warts, this has been the easiest and fastest OS I’ve ever installed. It’s fun to build systems again… at least as long as you build them using a motherboard that was designed for Windows 8.

The LG Nexus 4 is finally here, at least for those that managed to actually get one ordered and didn’t end up with a back order notice. Despite the shortage of devices, it seems that iFixit has managed to get ahold of the phone and have made some pretty interesting observations, including the discovery of what appears to be a 4G LTE chip inside the phone.

That’s right 4G LTE. For those that were bummed at the lack of LTE in the LG Nexus 4, don’t get too excited here. The chip might be present, but it is dormant. The LG Nexus 4 is based on the LTE-equipped LG Optimus G and so the chip ended up in the Nexus 4 re-design of the Optimus G, for whatever reason.

The Qualcomm WTR1605L is a seven-band LTE chip. What’s holding it back from working? The chip is said to have no LTE power amplifier and is lacking the 4G LTE antenna that it would need to get an LTE signal. Other discoveries noted by iFixit include that the phone had a repairability score of 7 out of 10 and that the battery is in fact non-removable. From what they’ve seen, attempting to do so is practically impossible without damaging your phone.

Are you planning on purchasing the LG Nexus 4 or does its lack of 4G LTE make you want to consider another phone instead?

Remember how you could get a free $25 credit toward the Google Play store when you bought a Google Nexus 7 tablet? Now, it’s even better if you decided to pick up a Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, because you’ll be getting a free $50 Google Play credit to spend as you see fit. Buy apps, buy games, buy movies… it’s up to you.

This promotion, according to RadioShack PR guy Adam Lee, will be starting this Sunday, November 18. The catch is that you only get the complimentary Google Play credit when you sign up for a qualifying two-year plan with the corresponding wireless carrier. You can do this in-store with AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. Alternatively, an online purchase can be done with Sprint and Verizon only. You might remember that you also get two years of a 50GB Dropbox account upgrade with the S3 too. That’s a lot of bonus action.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is $99.99 on contract for new and upgrading customers for AT&T and Verizon, while new Sprint customers can get the special promotional price of $49.99; existing Sprint customers pay the same $99.99 contract price. All of this money-spending also qualifies for RadioShack’s holiday bonus of $10 back for every $50 spent in-store or online.