Tech News & Commentary
Jon in Rocklin, California listens to the podcast and is calling via the App calling in from the app asks us: “I have an iPad 2 and one of the things that really bugs me is the stupid keyboard. Certain sites like Amazon or eBay are almost impossible to find anything on. I click on the search engine, a keyboard pops up and immediately goes away. So I have to keep fighting it to get it back up. Then half way through trying it’ll disappear and I’ll click on a link I didn’t intend to and then I’m fighting to bring it back up on my next search. For some reason it works fine on forums, but not some of these sites that seem to be ecommerce sites. Is there anything I can do about that? I’m at a loss. Is there some sort of a patch I could get?”
Jon, One quick fix that works most of the time is to reboot the iPad by clicking and holding down 
the power and home buttons.
Another option is to close all your apps, to do so, go the home screen, double tap the home button and swipe upward on the apps that are open to close them out completely. Then go into Settings> General>Reset>Reset keyboard dictionary. This will reset all your keyboard settings including learned words and custom words that you have in the keyboard.
If these don’t fix the issue, you may just have to take into an Apple store and have the genius look at it because there might be a hardware failure.
Given that the sites you mentioned have apps, it’s likely that they know where the problem is coming from and the apps are the way to fix it. The fact that you type and then your keyboard goes away probably means that the browser detects activity going on in the page, the website is probably analyzing what you’re typing and doing something in the background.
Many websites do that, and it normally doesn’t get in the way, but it all depends on what’s being done in the background, some things may actually confuse your tablet and make it think that the page is about to reload itself. Using their apps may be the easiest solution.
The iPad keyboard is displayed whenever a text input field has the focus (meaning that there is a blinking cursor in it, ready to receive input — in other words, the iPad is “paying attention” to it). When the focus clears, the keyboard disappears instantly. There is no way to change this behavior.
You could spend some time trying to figure out how the web browser is losing focus. As we suggested earlier, it might be a background app or even a hardware fault in the touch screen sensors. If you can’t find anything and it’s driving you bonkers, then an external bluetooth keyboard might be just the ticket. It will always take the place of the on screen keyboard and it’s always ready to work.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Feature With James McQueen
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Mark recommends: Amazon Music with Prime, FREE
- “Because streaming music is a thing and everyone has to have one, this week I bring you Amazon Music with Prime. Amazon’s Cloud Player isn’t anything new, but what IS new is that your Amazon Prime subscription now includes, on top of everything else, unlimited music streaming. So how’d they do? I compared them with Spotify, which I pay $10 a month to use. I personally think Spotify is the gold standard of streaming music, with the best interface both on the web and mobile devices, and the largest library of music. Amazon Music with Prime has quite a ways to go yet. The catalog didn’t have as many obscure and hard to find artists, although all the big name current ones are there. But the interface for browsing music and building playlists wasn’t nearly so good. Music quality was excellent though, and streamed smoothly. So I’m going to keep paying my $10 for Spotify, but if you are ALREADY paying for Amazon Prime and you don’t use Spotify very often, you could save some money. (And yes, I know that Spotify can be used in a free version as well, if you don’t mind lower bit rate music that doesn’t sound as good and you don’t mind listening to ads. No thanks to both, for me.)” — Mark
• Michael recommends: Tinder, FREE
- “Tinder is my app of the week. It’s a fun way to connect with fun and interesting people in your area. You can swipe right to like someone you find attractive and interesting or left to pass, if someone likes you back it’s a MATCH. You can chat with your match and hopefully you can strike up an interesting conversation to keep them. You can even share photos with your matches. It’s a new way to express yourself, make new friends, and most importantly find that special someone.” — Michael
• Hector recommends: SongKick, FREE
- “My favorite app of the week is called, SongKick. Its a music app that allows me to track my favorite band for any concerts and events by alerting me via email. Also, if you are looking for any local underground bands, the “recommended tab” from Songkick gives you the name of the band, time and location of their gig” — Hector
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
- Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Guest Segment:
Tom Sumner, Senior VP – Yamaha Corporation of America
company profile from Hoover’s – get an in-depth analysis
Jack in Brooklyn, new York listening on Stitcher and calling in via the App calling in asked: “I have a request for your show. Perhaps others have this request, perhaps not. I know your show is three hours, but it takes more than the three hours to create your show. But I’ve become an addict. As an addict, I need more. My request is that one day I can hear Mark scream out “FOUR HOURS” and be able to listen to that. If you can’t, I understand.”
Jack, You have no idea what you’re asking for. The world simply isn’t ready to hear Mark scream FOUR HOURS. If he does, there WILL be zombies. Guaranteed.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Dan called and asked: “Can I restore Windows 8.1 to 8?”
Dan, It is possible to switch back to Windows 8 from 8.1. If you have a laptop that you bought that comes with a recovery disc that includes Windows 8. Go to Advanced Startup Options and then to recovery.
You will lose your installed applications and would have to reinstall them. Remember to back-up your important files!
We are curious, though, about why you would want to make such a switch. Windows 8.1 fixes bugs from Windows 8, restores the Start Menu (sort of), and is generally a well-regarded update. Microsoft is about to release an update to the update, in fact.
Let us know why you want to make the switch back. We are genuinely curious.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Sling Media: Slingbox M1 – Set top media box with smartphone integration
SMS Audio: Street by 50 – Over-The-Ear Headphones and earbuds
Parellels:Parallels Desktop 10 Software allows you to run Windows on your Mac
Kanex: GoPower Battery Pack – Mobile battery pack with built-in stand for smartphones
Tylt: Several Charging cases and cables – for smartphones and tablets