HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Dan in Greenville, Pennsylvania listening on Sirius XM called us and asked: “I’d like to know about these pads coming out. the iPad’s been successful. Wondering if any of the ones coming out will have the Android OS.”
Yes, there are tablets coming out that will run on Android. Most recently, the Samsung Galaxy Tablet was released on Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. It will also be available on AT&T.
While the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the first widely available Android-based tablet, it will not be the only one, not by a long shot. Other tablets running Android are literally sprinting to market. By the end of the first quarter of 2011, you will have dozens to choose from. The popularity of the iPad has established the market firmly.
A couple of months ago, we reported from Berlin, Germany at the IFA show, where left and right a new tablet was being unveiled. Companies like Hannspree, ViewSonic and Toshiba are going tablet next year. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy Tab was unveiled at IFA. While Apple’s entry-level 3G+Wi-Fi iPad costs $629 for 16 GB, the Galaxy Tab (which runs on 3G & Wi-Fi) may cost you about $100 less — on T-Mobile and Sprint only — $399 with a 2-year contract. It costs $599 on Verizon and will cost $649 on AT&T. Keep in mind, you’ll need a data plan service with each of these networks.
RIM will also jump in to the fray with their BlackBerry Playbook, an interesting tablet featuring a dual core 1GHz processor for better performance, and a unique ability to “pair” with a BlackBerry phone for 3G data instead of requiring a separate data plan with the carriers. Although, you can expect that wireless carriers will quickly figure a way to detect that you’re doing that and charge you extra for the convenience.
If you want a tablet, but you’re not sure you want an iPad, we encourage you to wait a couple more months. Your choices are about to expand widely!
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Carla in Appleton, Wisconsin listening on 1490 WOSH contected us on Facebook and asked: “Hey Dave and crew. I took your advice and bought a Droid 2 from Verizon. Mobile hotspot works fine. Seems it wants to turn off after 10 minutes on. Can you help?”
We’ve read about this problem from many people and it seems to happen at random, so it’s been very tough to find consistent solutions.
We’ll try to give you a few things to try that seemed to have worked for other people.
Your two most likely solutions are:
1) Update to the latest phone firmware, the Droid 2 had a known issue with WiFi where the wireless connection seemed to drop for no apparent reason, that issue was fixed with a recent software update and it may be what’s causing your problem, since you’re using the phone’s WiFi connection to share it’s mobile internet connection.
2) Complain, many people have started support tickets over this issue and the more people that complain the more likely a fix becomes.
We’d like to give you a few other solutions that either Verizon suggests or simply seem to have worked for other people:
1) Change the WiFi network’s name, password or encryption type and change the WiFi channel. This should only affect the initial step of getting your devices to connect, it should have no effect on keeping your devices connected, but we have read a few reports of this problem going away (or appearing to have gone away) after taking this step.
2) Restart your phone, the same good ol’ advice people have been giving you about computers since the beginning of the personal computer era applies to phones: if it doesn’t work, turn it off and on.
3) Move your phone somewhere else, this only applies if you’ve only ever had problems with the phone in one single place, it’s an unlikely situation, but if that’s the case you might as well try it, since it’s so easy to do.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
Sally in Carey, North Carolina listening on WPTF called and asked: “Interested in getting away from cable TV. don’t watch it enough to justify the cost. Heard that you can use another approach such as with an xBox or playstation thats dedicated to connecting some channels to your TV or streaming from the Internet and “posting” it on your TV. Also heard about PlayOn. Or maybe there’s another approach you’d recommend.”
You can in-fact watch a lot of what’s on TV – for free – from your PC. But you have to keep in mind that in many cases you will not be able to see new shows right away. Most networks – if they make their shows available at all – make you wait a couple days or even a week or more before making episodes available on the Internet.
That being said, you can still watch all your local television free over the air – even in HD. All you need is an HDTV with an over the air tuner, and an antenna. That will still get you your local programming as well as Network shows from thr four major networks; CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX. You can even buy an HD over the air DVR so that you can record the shows and not have to watch them live. One option is the Channel Master CM7000PAL DVR. This one is identical in looks and operation to the DTVPal DVR that was sold by Dish Network a while back. It sells at TigerDirect for about $350. It will allow you to pause Live TV, record up to 30 hours of HD and 130 hours of standard definition over the air programming. This one has no monthly service fee.
Another option that does have a monthly service fee is Tivo. BestBuy has one right now for about $100. Like the channel Master, it will record your over the air programming and allow you to pause and rewind live TV. The Tivo also offers access to Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. Of course, to use the Netflix access you have to pay for a Netflix account and the Tivo plans start at about $20 a month with a one-year agreement. So, depending on what you’ve been paying for your cable TV service, you may not be saving much money.
Regarding PlayOn, a lot of people have been using this service lately, although we have not personally tried it. You need to have one of the compatible devices; a Wii, xBox, PlayStation 3, and a few other media devices that you can see on their site. They say once you install the server software on your PC you’ll be watching Internet TV in minutes. There is a subscription fee, though. You could either pay a one time fee of about $80 for a lifetime subscription or pay about $40 for the first year and about $20 for each year after. They do have several networks participating. For a list, click here.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
Guest in this hour:
Peter Sisson, CEO – Toktumi
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: Logitech Revue with Google TV— Click Here for details
Dan in Lewisburg, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7FM called us and asked: “What kind of computer would I need to be able to run HDTV? I don’t know the requirements the computer would have to have to run those types of things. Completely illiterate on it and looking into it. Appreciate any help you can give me.”
The main piece of equipment you need if you want to watch live TV is a TV tuner, if you have a desktop you can easily find one for under $100 online, cards for laptops are not as easy to find but they’re also available online and they won’t cost much more than the desktop version.
In the real world many people watch HD content on machines that do not meet the requirements and deal with occasional freezes, hiccups or temporary audio problems but have a mostly good experience overall.
If you have a computer today and don’t know if it will be able to handle HD, try it! open some HD videos on YouTube or download some free HD content, for all you know it might actually work and you may just save some money!
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
D-Link: Several MyDlink-enabled Wireless Network Cameras to keep an eye on your home.
Honestech: Copies of Claymation Studio 3.0 Deluxe with PC Camera included – stop motion video creation software
TrenMicro: Copies of Titanium 2011 — Maximum Internet Security including 10 gigs of online backup.
TuneUp: Copies of TuneUp Utilities – Optimization software for PCs.