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Tech News & Commentary
Consumer Reports Feature With Mike Gikas
Motorola this week took the wraps off the long-anticipated Moto X smart phone, its first creation since being acquired by Google last year. Consumer Reports Senior Editor Mike Gikas is here give us initial his thoughts on it and how the Moto X stacks up against the competition.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
Listener Mike in San Antonio, Texas recommends: Perfectly Clear, FREE
“Dave and the Graveliners or is it Dave and the Q’s. I have a new app that I really like its called Perfectly Clear. It’s from Athentech Imaging. It’s a photoshop plug-in for $299 but the phone app is for $2.99. It really clear up photo really nice. There’s a lot of things you can do with it, it’s limitless: Hd effects, share with all social media. I’m having a lot of fun with it. Again that’s Perfectly Clear and it’s a great app.” — Mike
Mark recommends: Zip Viewer Pro, FREE
“Okay, so it happens. You’re using your iPhone or your iPad to do some actual work (I know! But it DOES happen!) and you find that you’ve had to download a ZIP archive file. What in the heck can you DO? Zip Viewer and Zip Viewer Pro are iOS apps that let you very simply see the contents of your downloaded file, even extracting them if you should need to. I was able to extract and view some PDFs on my iPhone that otherwise would’ve had to wait until I could get back to a computer. The Pro version is ad-free and adds a few extra features for its $1.99 price tag, but the free version will work perfectly for most people.” — Mark
Chris recommends: Grocery IQ, FREE
“One of the apps I’ve been using lately has helped me remember what I need at the grocery store and has saved me time once I got there. Grocery IQ is a free app that will allow you to create shopping lists using text, voice or by scanning a product’s barcode. The barcode scanning is my favorite part. Let’s say I have just eaten the last of the cereal… on my way to the garbage can with the empty box, I grab my smartphone and scan the barcode on the back of the box. Now that specific cereal is on my list. I can also speak the items I need. The app will categorize the items you add, keeping similar products together. Once you have made your list, You may see some items listed that have a little yellow icon next to them with a dollar sign. That tells you that there is a coupon available for that product. It can also show you recommended coupons that may help you save even more. Again, Grocery IQ is Free. I’ve been using the iOS version, but there is also one for you Androids.” — Chris
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
Guest Segment:
Mike Zammuto, COO – Reputation Changer
Richard in Atlanta, Georgia asked: “I have a Sony NST-GT1 Google TV blue-ray Disc Player and have had it for over a year. Recently my daughter forced a DVD disc into the player and I was unable to eject it, I was able to open it up ( I am tech savvy) and take out the disc but now when I try to play a disc the player tries to read it for about 30 seconds and will eject it. I have tried multiple discs and still the same. All other apps on the player work fine. I can replace the Blu-ray disc player part itself because it is similar to that of a PC that can be replaced. I have been looking online for this part but haven’t had any luck getting one. My question is: Do you know any website or place where I can find this part to buy.”
There are some name brand websites out there that have online stores for parts. Best Buy for example has a very specific website where you just type in the brand then model number and voila, hundreds of parts to choose from.
Another thing you can look into is your warranty. If it’s been less than a year since you bought the Blu-Ray Player it may be covered in the warranty. Now, since this is a Sony Product, even if its been more than a year, sometimes Sony still fixes the product at NO COST, but you do have to call them to verify. You could always email or have a live chat with them from the website that we will list on the show page for this week — the weekend of 8/16:
That unit uses the same blu-ray DVD drive as Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console. One commonly reported problem with the PS3 drive was scratching the Laser Lens. It’s not an easy process, and you should begin by ordering a PS3 repair manual, which you can find online, but the Sony PS3 Laser Lens with Rack pick-up Unit KEM-400AAA costs about $80. We should note that there are different laser lenses depending on which particular drive Sony used, so you’ll want to do some online searching for the drive’s part number after you remove it and make certain the KEM-400AAA is the correct model. Replacing the laser lens will always be less expensive than replacing the entire drive.
If you decide to just swap out the drive, the next challenge you will have is that you can’t simply look for “replacement PS3 blu-ray drives,” because Sony used three different drives in the PS3. Our best suggestion here is going to be removing the drive and looking for a part number on the sticker. You can search eBay for replacement drives, if it’s an older model, they are still frequently available.
Our friend Walter from TechMyAdvice is of a different school of thought. He says buy a new one. With the cost of the parts, and your time invested, it rarely is a savings. If the only thing that doesn’t work is the blu-ray player, you still have a powerful Google TV powered device for a second room, kids room, or garage. You can find the Sony NST-GT1 for $200-$300 dollars online or do what he does…take it as a sign to get yourself something new!
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Akitio: Neutrino Thunder Duo – 2-bay Thunderbolt Hard Drive enclosure
V Moda Headphones: a variety of styles of the DJ Inspired, Hollywood Designed Headphones
Ventev: An assortment of tangle-free USB cables and battery cases for iPhones