HOUR 1:
Lucas in North Pole,
Alaska listening on
KFBX 970 AM asked: “I gave my ex-wife the computer and I tried to get the iPhone and it just didn’t work out for me, so I took it back. I’m wondering what kind of electronic device would be good for e-mails, business and getting on the Internet.”
Have you thought about getting another computer? If you’re just using it for business, websites, and email, unless your business is graphics or video editing, almost any basic computer system will be fine. There are entry-level desktops and laptops selling for under $500, from brands too numerous to mention.
The other possibility, if you don’t want a computer for some reason, is a tablet like the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab. You didn’t say why the iPhone didn’t work for you, and it’s possible that a tablet based on a mobile operating system might have the same issues as the phone did. But if your primary objection was screen size, then the tablets will correct that for you.
Finally, you have netbooks. These are inexpensive laptops with smaller form factors, built in 3G as well as Wi-Fi, and processors specially designed for extended battery life, albeit at the cost of performance. There are Wi-Fi only versions that you can buy from the companies that make them, but the models that include 3G are usually purchased through a wireless carrier. The carrier subsidizes a portion of the price, because you’ll be signing up for a data plan with them.
Good luck to you! And stay warm.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Lane in Springfield, Illinois listening on
KFBX 970 AM asked: “I have a Motorola backflip on AT&T. It’s constantly freezing up and turning itself on and off. Just wondering if it’s just a crappy phone or if there’s something I can do to fix it.”
Unfortunately we’re leaning towards … “crappy”… we’ve heard tons of people complaining about the same freezing problem you seem to have, apparently it’s most common when you’re typing a text message or otherwise using the keyboard when you get the call.We’ve also heard of AT&T representatives blaming the phone’s processor and it’s supposed inability to handle it’s version of the Android OS adequately for it’s problems.
However, besides the freezing there are reports of other behavior that is not likely to be related to processor power, for example, some people have reported that after listening to a certain number of songs the phone seems to turn the volume all the way up if the user is reckless enough to do something as crazy as… unlocking the screen.
Issues such as the last one make us suspect that your problems may suddenly go away if motorola decides to update the custom version of Android they’re using for your phone, that unfortunately means there’s not much you can do to fix it.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Tim in Detroit, Michigan listening online and on 800 AM asked: “I currently have Packet8 service. I’m thinking of getting NetTalk, Ooma, or MagicJack. Could you do a comparison of all three?”
Even though they are all VOIP services, these three are different in some fairly important ways. They differ in cost, they differ in what they’re plugged in to and how you use them, and they differ in call quality and available features. Let’s see if we can sort them out for you.
Ooma gives you a single device that connects to your Internet router, then you plug your telephone in to that box, and bingo you have dial tone. In reality it’s not quite that smooth. There can be issues interfacing it with various routers, the ideal configuration is for the Ooma to connect in between your Internet source (DSL or cable modem) and router, but that can cause some glitches because the Ooma gets your network traffic before the router does. The base station includes an integrated answering machine. Faxes and home alarm systems will not work with this. You have a satellite connector which lets you plug a second phone in at another location in the house, but this is primarily for checking voicemails or for using with the second line (if you buy their premium service). Ooma costs $250, but does not require any monthly fee at all. It’s “lifetime” telephone service for a one time payment. That would be the lifetime of the company, of course, as with any sort of warranty or guarantee. For $13 a month or $100 a year, you can get their premium features that include a second line, call conferencing, call screening and blocking, to name a few. If you want to port your old number over, that’ll cost $40.
MagicJack, which we’ve talked about on the show before, is a device the size of a flash drive that plugs in to a computer’s USB port, and then a telephone handset plugs in to it. There is no connecting to your network or router, MagicJack either plugs in to a computer or it doesn’t work at all. The software, for Windows at least, is included on the device and loads automatically when you connect it. MagicJack bundles in a lot of features, such as voicemail, call waiting, and call forwarding. The initial price is $39.95 and that includes your first year’s service. Each additional year is $19.95. A number of reviewers have commented on MagicJack’s apparent high quality sound. Some of that can no doubt be attributed to the power of the computer where you’ve plugged in MagicJack, but the company claims to have a “better quality network.” Whether that’s true or not, the bottom line is MagicJack’s audio quality is very good, certainly as good as any other VOIP solutions. With MagicJack, you will choose incoming numbers from their list of what’s available.
The netTALK DUO gives you a bit of both. If you connect the device to your computer via USB cable, then connect your telephone, netTALK works a lot like MagicJack. However! You can connect the netTALK DUO directly to your Internet router. You can then use your telephone without having to boot up the computer. So in that respect, it’s more like Ooma than MagicJack. But Ooma has no option for going portable and using it with a USB port. netTALK DUO has the usual feature list, and you’ll be once again choosing a number from a pool of available lines. It’s priced at $69.95 for the device and first year’s service. Subsequent years are $39.95 per year.
What you really must do now is decide where and how you will use this. Is portability a key feature for you? That would rule out Ooma. Are you comfortable spending $250 up front? Your Ooma would have to last you several years before you’re at a break even point, compared with the other two choices. However, Ooma is the only one to offer the satellite connector that uses your home’s telephone wiring and, once it’s installed, you don’t have to pay much attention to it. Is call quality the most important thing to you? MagicJack would seem to take top spot there, perhaps due to having the processing power of your computer to draw upon. netTALK DUO is the most flexible, but you pay more for that flexibility.
Let us know how things turn out for you Tim, and thanks for listening & calling-in!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Tom in Durham, North Carolina listening on 680 WPTF asked: “I’m interested in knowing more about some of the new smartphones like the Evo’s for Android and the iPhone. And guess that would include the iPad on some level, but would they be susceptible for viruses like the common PC would be?”
Technically speaking, no. There is no such thing as an Android virus, per se. The definition of a computer virus is a self-replicating program that infects other systems on its own. What’s more at issue with a smartphone is malware, short for malicious software. On a full sized computer, the purpose malware might have varies from trying to capture banking and financial information, to simply selling you some useless product.
Many malware types pretend to be computer security programs, detecting some “problem” with your system that they’ll be happy to find for free but only remove if you pay $30 or so. They use human engineering to trick you with clever pop up windows that look like real security notices. But once they are on your computer, they lock out your regular browser, taking you only to sites they want you to see, and they open the door for even more of their malware kin.
Now on a smartphone, matters are different. All someone wanting to write a rogue app needs to do is come up with a clever description for it and upload it to the marketplace. In theory, apps in these app stores and marketplaces are supposed to be checked, but there are hundreds of thousands of them now and most of the time bad ones only are noticed because of user complaints. One known case of a rogue banking app on Android had a user fall prey to a phishing attempt to gain access to their financial data.
That being said, there are antivirus apps for both iOS and Android. But we’re not sure what they’re really protecting you against. They look for “virus-like” activity, but when you’re dealing with rogue apps, what looks like a virus? The best protection is your fellow users. Don’t be the first person to download an app. Let someone adventurous give it a whirl first. Don’t download apps that lack positive reviews, and a good number of them. If something’s wrong with an app, people will start complaining about it fairly quickly.
Bottom line? No, smartphones and tablets are not vulnerable to viruses in the same way a regular computer is. But the danger of rogue apps is real, and you have to use caution and common sense — if nothing else.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
“Consumer
Reports” Feature with Jim Willcox
One of the hot topics at CES this year was 3DTV, but all of the new technologies can be hard to keep up with. Jim Willcox from Consumer Reports joins us with advice on what you need to know if you’re considering buying a 3DTV this year.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For Android:
• Mark recommends: Touch Calendar, $2.35
“I’ve been chasing the perfect app to replace the standard Android calendar app, which loves it some small fonts and REFUSES to zoom. Touch Calendar, available in both a free and paid version, really improves things. It’s very fast, highly configurable, and extremely easy to zoom in and out. Using the regular pinch zoom motions, I’m able to easily move from an overview perspective to having a day’s agenda fill my screen. The paid version supports a series of widgets, as well as a few more options, but the free version meets my needs for now. If it continues to be my calendar app of choice for a while, I’ll likely buy the paid version just to support the author. Touch Calendar, available now in the Android Marketplace.” – Mark
For iOS:
• Rob recommends: DailyBooth V2 for iPhone, Free
“DailyBooth is Your Life in Pictures.”
• Chris recommends: Keeper Password & Data Vault, Free
“Protect and store your secret passwords. Log in to websites with one touch.”
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
What are your favorite apps?Let us know!
Guest in this hour:
Paul Griff, CEO – RootMetrics
A lot of mobile subscribers aren’t too happy with their cell phone network. How can you choose the best service in your area? RootMetrics offers the first independent service measuring and mapping wireless network performance, so consumers can determine which service is best for them.
Randy in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on KFBX asked: “I want to know when they’re coming out with a computer that operates on speech only. One that will do everything you do now, but it does it by voice.”
Anyone who has ever watched a science fiction movie or TV show is familiar with the concept of computers that operate entirely by speech. That’s the Holy Grail of speech recognition. Some would tell you that we’re there already. Windows and Mac OS can both accept commands like “open file” and “show desktop.” Voice dictation software has improved dramatically from its early days. That being said, we’re really not there yet. Not even close, in fact.
The ability to give your computer verbal commands works very well with a limited number of specific commands. For example, something like “open file load excel november expense report” would be easy for the computer to do. But try saying “computer, how much did I spend on that latte’ in Cabo?” and see what you get. The power of the human mind is interpretation, filling in the blanks. Something that the artificial intelligence geeks call “fuzzy logic.”
Voice dictation software, which was once tied to a single voice and only worked at all after hours of training it by reading preset phrases over and over, has improved tremendously. For the most part, it’s now speaker independent – although we’re still at the place where the more it listens to you and the more you correct its mistakes, the more accurate it becomes. You don’t have to spend a lot of time training it, but you will soon learn that it makes far fewer mistakes when you’re careful to use what they call “separated speech,” meaning a sort of staccato style of speaking where you have brief pauses between your words.
Again, the ability to scan the words out of a fast moving slur of sounds is something the human mind can do easily, but it requires oceans of computing power.
Will we ever get there? Sure. It’s all just a matter of having enough storage and processing power, and we will eventually get over that threshold. But in the meantime, what we can learn from all this is just how incredibly powerful the human brain is at processing and managing data. The organic computer is still the best kind.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Barry in Cherry Hill, New Jersey listens to the stream on his Roku SoundBridge: “I have a Motorola Bluetooth headset that I typically pair with my cell phone. Could you recommend a LANDLINE cordless (or corded) phone that I can use my Bluetooth headset with? Ultimately, I would like to use my Bluetooth headset with a regular type (not cellular) telephone.”
One you can try is the Vtech DECT 6.0. It’s a cordless phone, compatible with Bluetooth headsets and Bluetooth-enabled Cell Phones and comes with 3 handset phones. It’s available online for about $80.
You can also try the Panasonic KX-TG6582T DECT 6.0 Plus. This comes with 2 handsets compatible with Bluetooth headsets. By registering the Bluetooth to the base unit, you can have a hands-free conversation wirelessly for landline call. The Bluetooth headset works with landline calls only and with the base only.
The Panasonic KX also allows you to connect two Bluetooth cellular phones to the base unit to make or answer cellular calls using your home phone. (handset or base unit) with better reception. You can buy the Panasonic KX-TG6582T online for less than $100.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Wireless Update with Chuck Hamby from Verizon Wireless
Have you ever had cell phone sticker shock? When your monthly bill is much higher than expected? Here’s Chuck Hamby to help you block the shock.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Microsoft: Copies of Street & Trips Software with GPS receiver
Powermat: Several Powermat Power! Dual 1850 & Dual 1200 Portable Battery Packs
Que Publishing: Copies of the book: “My iPad 2” (Covers iOS 4.3)