HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Tom in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on KFBK 970 AM asked: “I live out of town and don’t have cell phone service. I need a card for my laptop that will allow me to pick up FM or shortwave radio.”
While there isn’t really much out there for listening to shortwave stations on your PC, AM/FM tuners are everywhere. One of them you can take a look at is theGriffin Radio Shark 2 AM/FM. The Radio Shark 2 is for Mac or PC and it appears easy to use. You plug the Radio Shark’s 2 “fin” into the USB port, load the software and tune in. You can record while you listen AM and FM broadcasts in real-time or set up recordings to occur later, or according to a repeating schedule, so you never have to miss an “Into Tomorrow” show. You can pause live radio if you need to jump up and answer the door then come right back where you left off moments or even hours later. The Griffin Radio Shark 2 is available online for about $37.
Consumer Reports:
“T-Mobile’s G2 Android Phone” with Mike Gikas
T-Mobile just introduced its G2 Android smartphone, the successor to the granddaddy of all Android phones, the G1. So how does it stack up? Mike Gikas has been testing it out and has the details for you.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
- For iPhone:Chrisrecommends: AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner
Ron in Winchester, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM gave other listeners the following tip: “If you have problems with synching iPod after a computer crashed. Ron recommends xPlay from Mediafour that allows you to manipulate files on an iPod without iTunes.”
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
Robert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida listening to our podcast sent us the following email and asked: “I am one of the Pastors at a church in Fort Lauderdale and I was wondering if there was a way to use a service, like Pandora, to stream the sermons on the Internet, so members who can’t make it on Sunday can listen. We currently offer the sermons as podcasts, but we love to find a way to stream online.”
Right now, Pandora will not be an option for you. At this time, Pandora is only allowing music content to upload, and according to a Pandora spokes women, all of that content is heavily screened prior to allowing it on their servers. Here at “Into Tomorrow,” we use StreamGuys for all of our streaming needs and they are just one option. StreamGuys offers a variety of packages that allow you to chose from how many people you want to be listening to the show at the once, or they have a plan that is based on how many GB are streamed.
There is a product from NCH Software called BroadWave, that will serve up to 8 live audio streams for up to 500 listeners from a single PC, assuming that the PC is extremely powerful, and you have an extremely fast Internet connection. If you’re going to try this with standard DSL, you’re not going to be able to support very many simultaneous listeners. Mark has used products from NCH Software for years and recommends them highly.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Special Report from i-stage @ the Consumer Electronics Association Industry Forum in San Francisco
| HOUR 1 GUESTS (In order of appearance) | ||
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| Madison Hamman, Market Development Manager – Mavizon Technologies |
AutoBot by Mavizon Technologies – controls many functions on your car | Marc Ingram, Software Architect –Mavizon Technologies |
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| i-stage Finalist: Anybots telepresence robot (aka personal avatar) | i-stage 1st Place Winners:AutoBot by Mavizon Technologies |
2nd Place: nPower PEG (Charges small electronics via kinetic energy) |
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| Ari Birger, Founder & CEO –Eyecon Technologies | Gary Shapiro announces i-stage winners & congratulates all finalists | Raviv Moore, VP of Business Operations – Eyecon Technologies |
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| 2010 i-stage finalists & judges |
Victor in Smyrna, Georgia listening online asked: “I am interested in buying a camera, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money and I don’t want it to be too hard for me to figure out how to use it. I want to spend around $150. I want the zoom function and I want to be able to crop and maybe a little video recording.”
One camera that Ross, on our staff, recommends is the Canon Powershot A1000. It has decent image quality, and a 4x optical zoom. It’s a bit over what you want to spend at about $200, but it’s a great camera to have. It also does do video recording, as do most digital cameras these days.
You can also try the Panasonic Lumix DMC FH20, it’s a 14.1 megapixel, slim, pocket able camera that packs a 28mm wide-angle lens and 8x optical zoom. It can record HD video, is very easy to use, compatible with Windows 7, can take HD quality photos that fill a 16:9 HDTV.
Another contender that fits your budget is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330. You’ll find it under $150 online. Because of the price, it’s lacking some features, but you can shoot video that is good enough for Web-sharing, and you can crop pictures. It has an image resolution of up to 14 megapixels (good enough for large prints, but you probably won’t need to use all 14 MPs).
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
chicBuds: chicboom keychain speakers
Keyware: “VeriKey” – A USB device that monitors all office computer activity. For managers to know what is happening on the company computers.
PG Key: “PG Key” – A device that plugs into your children’s computer’s USB port and immediately creates a safer and more “kid friendly” online environment.