HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
David in Scottsdale, Arizona listening on Sirius asked: “Wondering about surge protectors. I’ve never used one and never had a problem. I don’t know if we’re just lucky. We live in Arizona and don’t have a lot of thunderstorms. I bought one that is 490 Joules and was planning to use it for my computer area and my home entertainment area. Didn’t know if it was enough.”
Surge Protectors are a great first line of defense for your electronics. It’s not just lightning from thunderstorms that can cause problems. Many surges can even come from the power company.There a re a few things you want to look at when choosing a surge protector. You should find a couple of ratings on them. You want to first look for the Clamping voltage. This tells you what voltage will cause the MOVs to conduct electricity to the ground line. (The MOVs are what take the extra current during a surge and redirect it, keeping your equipment safe.) A lower clamping voltage indicates better protection. There are three levels of protection in the UL rating — 330 V, 400 V and 500 V. Generally, a clamping voltage more than 400 V is too high.
The next thing you want to look at is the Energy absorption/dissipation – This rating, which is the “joules” number you mentioned, tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails. A higher number indicates greater protection. Look for a protector that is at least rated at 200 to 400 joules. For better protection, look for a rating of 600 joules or more.
Then you want to look at the response time – Surge protectors don’t kick in immediately; there is a very slight delay as they respond to the power surge. A longer response time tells you that your computer (or other equipment) will be exposed to the surge for a greater amount of time. Look for a surge protector that responds in less than one nanosecond.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Danny in Miami, Florida watches our ITTV Video Updates at IntoTomorrow.com asked: “I’m a current MetroPCS customer. I heard that they are gonna switch to the LTE technology. Do you guys know when they are going to switch? and if they were getting any Android phones?”
We contacted MetroPCS and got the following reply: “MetroPCS has plans to roll out LTE networks in each of their markets by the end of 2010. At this time, we don’t have any announcements about Android phones, but we currently offer a full spectrum of devices, including touchscreen smartphones, that meet any lifestyle and budget. MetroPCS is always looking for ways to meet their customers’ wireless service needs, so stay tuned for more on that front later this year.”
Recently, MetroPCS’ first LTE handset will be the Samsung Craft. They say that they will begin their LTE rollout — LTE is their version of 4G, similar to Verizon’s and some other carriers — in Las Vegas and Dallas Forth Worth area.
Interestingly, the MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist said that his company would bolster their handset lineup too. MetroPCS recently had a conference call with analysts, as they were going over quarterly earnings. “Our lineup will include a number of Android devices by the end of the year,” he said. Linquist also said, that a some point in the future, MetroPCS will migrate its CDMA voice costumers to VoIP technology working over LTE, explaining such move will provide, substantial capacity.
Jim in Idaho Falls, ID listening on 1260 KBLI asked: “I have one computer that has Vista and another one with XP. I have a printer hardwired to the XP machine and I’m trying to setup the Vista machine to access the printer. I used to have it the other way around and it worked. But I have not been able to do it this way.”
First, you must enable File and Printer Sharing on the Local Area Network Connection. You can access that through the Networks and Internet option in the Control Panel. Then, also from Control Panel, select Printers and Faxes. Find the printer you want to share, right click on its icon, and chose Sharing in the drop down menu. Give the printer a name to be shared under, and you should be all set.
If your Windows Vista computer does not see your Windows XP computer, or the shared printer, the chances are that something in your security software or firewall settings needs to be changed on the Windows XP machine. That’s the single most common reason for network folders and printers to be blocked.
Guest in this hour:
David Owens, VP of Marketing – Sprint
Are you ready for next hot Android phone this summer? This one happens to be on Sprint’s 4G network and it’s pretty “Epic”!
“Into Tomorrow” Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza: SoundRacer FM Transmitter — Click Here or on Rob’s face for details
Bill in Tuscon, Arizona listening on XM sent us the following email and asked: “I’ll be doing some international travel in the coming weeks. What’s the best cell phone to take along, that will let me call back to the U.S., surf the web and check emails along the way … without running up a ridiculous phone bill?”
You’ll want to look at GSM Phones or those that can use a SIM card. When we’re in Europe, we buy a SIM card from a local network provider like Vodafone or Orange. They usually offer low rates to call or text internationally. And while, you’re there, you can have people call the local instead of your US number. You can, also buy international phone cards. Unfortunately, international calling can still be very expensive.
An option Chris and I would agree on is the a phone like the iPhone (GSM Phone). So far, it’s worked everywhere we’ve been around the world. And, what you can do to save money with AT&T, is to purchase their international calling package before you head out, so that you’ll pay lower rates when calling the US from Europe or anywhere else. They also have special packages for data. Also, because the iPhone is a Wi-Fi-enabled device, you can search for hotspots near you to browse the Internet. In a lot of places, like Starbucks, you can log-on for free for a limited time.
Other GSM phones: Nokia and Samsung have several of them.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
SleepPhones: A Sheep of Your Dreams Kit
Smith Micro Software: Copies of Anime Studio Pro 7
Total Training: Copies of Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended: Essentials