Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Tech News & Commentary
Rickey in Woodlands, Texas listening and calling in via iPhone App asked: “Hey Dave and the Techies or as i like to say the A-Team. My question has to do with AT&T LTE Signal Boosters. I currently have a AT&T Microcell that only supports 3G & 4G only. There’s no LTE Microcell on the horizon that i can find online. What would you guys recommend?”
The most likely reason why you can’t find an LTE microcell is because the main task of a microcell is to give you phone service, and right now no one is using voice-over-LTE, so to provide both phone and data service at the same time, the easiest solution is to not go past HSPA+.
Microcells also require a broadband connection, so giving users the fastest possible data connection when they already have to have a reasonably solid data connection to be able to use the microcell is probably not a huge concern to AT&T.
For now, you should probably stick to a “4G” HSPA+ microcell, in a year or two when carriers start offering VoLTE you will probably see LTE microcells popping up and you’ll be able to use them if they make more sense for you.
Having said that, keep in mind that your connection will only be as fast as your slowest bottleneck and a microcell that’s connected to your local broadband service won’t be able to deliver faster LTE speeds than your broadband service allows… so don’t expect to be able to get 40mb/s of LTE over a 10mb/s broadband connection.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Cynthia in Cleveland, Ohio and listening via AM800 CKLW The Information Station asked: “Should I get an iphone 5? is that the bestest phone out there?”
You can’t get an iPhone 5 at all anymore, they’re officially discontinued… However, you can get the 5C, the C stands for “crappier” since it’s an iPhone 5 but now made out of plastic, or the 5S.
The 5S does actually have the most impressive processor of any phone out there, whether you need that or not is up to you. The truth is that it’s still a phone, so a powerful processor essentially makes it marginally faster in everyday activities, but it’s not like it will show you your email 19 times faster. The phone also has a very nice camera, a fingerprint scanner that you will likely use, since it’s not annoying or obtrusive, but whether it’s the best one for you or not, largely depends on you and your preferences.
The Samsung Galaxy S4, for example, has a technically worse processor and you will notice this exactly NEVER unless you’re running benchmark tests on both phones at the same time, so if you prefer the look and feel of Android, you’ll probably consider the S4 better, if you prefer iOS, you’ll probably prefer the iPhone.
If you are interested in any of the new iPhones, they’re very good phones, they’ll likely serve you well and keep you happy for a while, having said that, whether they’re the best or not… that’s more about you than about anything else, the truth is all high end phones are similar enough that personal preference matters far more than technical specs.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Bill in Louisiana and listening via 710AM KEEL told us: “I forgot both my USER ID and Password for my YouTube, and have not a clue how to retrieve it, change it, or even delete it! Guess I’m just an analog kind of guy.”
Your best bet is probably to go to http://www.youtube.com/account_recovery and follow the steps on there.
The one big exception to that is: if you have another Google account, Gmail, Play Store, anything like that, then you’re probably using the same user and password, so you should probably try that first.
You have a very common problem. It is really unsecure to use the same password for everything, but with the growing number of accounts we have these days, it is getting harder and harder to remember them all. It is important to come up with a password system that will work for any account across any platform.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Scott Jordan, CEO & Founder – Scottevest
Richard in Columbia, Missouri and listening via KFRU News Talk 1400 asked: “When do you think the ipad will have a conversion where it can be used as a phone?”
You can technically already use your iPad as a phone. iPads come with microphones, and there are plenty of apps that will give you some kind of phone service, with some only working as an outbound service and others also giving you an inbound number.
Obviously, you need to either have cellular 3g/4g/LTE internet or WiFi for the apps to work, and the iPad is not super comfortable to hold, so you may benefit by using one of the many headsets available for iPad.
Some of the apps that may help you turn your iPad into a phone are Line2, which will cost you $9.99 a month, Skype which has many options for limited calling, unlimited calling, unlimited world subscriptions, skype in numbers, so prices will vary, but it’s not usually much more expensive than Line2 and can even be cheaper.
Bria might also be a good option, since it’s open to many SIP providers and you’re not tied to one single price for outbound calls.
If you are wanting to call another iPad or iPhone user, Apple would recommend that you check out the new Facetime Audio capability in their latest software update, iOS 7. Facetime Audio works using much less bandwidth than regular Facetime, since it’s audio-only and not video, and the call quality is outstanding.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Rick in Tennessee listening via iPhone App asked: “After installing IOS-7 my battery life has diminished drastically and my signal strength seems to have suffered. Have you heard of this and is there a fix coming?”
iOS 7 comes with an updated version of multitasking. Now the iphone can continue to run downloads, updates and syncs while you’re doing other things on your phone. with that said, the new multitasking drains your battery life more.
So one way you can diminish the battery drain is to close any apps that are running in the background. The way you stop this is to go to settings, general, then background refresh and stop certain apps from refreshing their content in the background.
Another feature in iOS 7 that drains battery life is the new 3D look that the home screen has. unfortunately that also takes up battery life. The way to fix that problem is settings, general, accessibility, reduce motion. There you’ll be able to lower how much motion the home screen has.
It’s important to remember, too, that when millions of people install software on their devices, the law of averages says that at least a few of them are going to have unique, often unpleasant experiences. Something might have gone wrong in your case, because our own personal experience here with iOS 7 upgrades hasn’t shown anything like what you describe.
You might need to make a Genius Bar appointment at your local Apple Store, which of course presumes that you have an Apple Store near you. You might also try the tech support staff at your wireless carrier’s store. Which again, implies that you have one of those near you.
Or, if all else fails, you could try doing a factory reset in your iPhone. This will wipe out all your data, so be sure you have a good backup first, or better yet, use cloud storage for your data as much as you can. Wiping a phone is a last resort, and it will erase any data that isn’t backed up elsewhere.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
James listening on 97.3 FM SuperTalk asked: “I would like to know how to get videos off my iPad to a CD with a Windows computer.”
you have two choices. The simplest and most direct choice is to install iTunes for Windows, which is a free download from Apple, on your computer. Connect your iPad to the computer via USB cable and iTunes should automatically launch and synchronize music and videos.
Once the video is in iTunes, you can burn it to a DVD from there.
You can also use the import feature built into Windows. When you connect the iPad, in addition to iTunes launching (if it is installed), you should see the regular Windows import dialog box pop up.
Choose the option that says “Import Pictures and Videos using Windows,” and Windows will copy the pictures and videos from your iPad. Be sure and select the option to delete them after copying, IF you no longer want them on the iPad.
The iPad itself will show up as an external device in Windows Explorer, but when you open it, you will only see the DCIM folder, which gives you access to your PICTURES on the iPad, but not videos. To get videos, you need to use either iTunes or the Windows import routine.
If you look this up online, you will probably find some mention about how you can just jailbreak your iPad and access all your files.
That’s true, but you won’t see “The Avengers.m4v,” instead you’ll see a long and random looking string of letters and numbers, so don’t think that jailbreaking will take care of this problem for you, the easiest way to do it is probably still to use iTunes.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Dave Cicirelli: Copies of his book – “Fakebook” – exploring our cultural obsession with social media. It’s a true story, based on actual lies.
iolo: Copies of System Mechanic- Fix and speed up your PC Automatically.
TYLT: An assortment of Smartphone charging accessories and bluetooth speakers.
Nite Ize Innovation: Connect Case and Connect Cradle for iPhone – Hard case with belt clip, vehicle mount and desk stand.