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Tech News & Commentary
Consumer Reports Feature With James McQueen
Is $380 too much for a pair of headphones? Consumer Reports Electronics Spokesman James McQueen is here with a review of the new beats by Dre Studio Wireless Bluetooth model.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Listener Merlin in Sumrall, Mississippi recommends: Check, FREE
“A very nice app I use is called ‘Check’. You can keep track of bills and when they are due and credit and debit account balances all on one page.. You can also pay bills.”
• Mark recommends: Hearthstone, FREE
- “I’m super excited that this game has come to iPad at long last. Blizzard Entertainment created this fun card game based on characters and the general structure from their MMORPG World of Warcraft. You play as a certain character class (for example, a paladin, priest, druid, warlock, etc.) and you have some cards that are specific to your class while other cards are general and can be used by any class. You can get new cards by either buying card packs in the Blizzard store, or by breaking down cards that you’re not using and making new ones from those materials. It’s a turn based game, and each card costs a certain amount of mana to play. That’s where the strategy comes in. Powerful cards are expensive to play and you start off with only one mana point, building with one each turn up to a maximum of ten. So if you stack your deck with powerful cards, you’ll have to wait before you can play anything. If you put in weaker cards that you can play sooner, you run the risk of not being able to take out your opponent before they can get to the knockout punch. It’s fast paced, LOADS of fun, and it’s 100% free to play. They make money selling card decks, but remember, you can make new cards just by playing the game and breaking down cards you don’t want any more. Hearthstone became the #1 game on the iTunes App Store on its FIRST DAY OF RELEASE. Impressive. I love it. Check it out.” — Mark
• Chris recommends: FindAGrave , FREE
- “You may be familiar with the website, FindAGrave.com. That’s a free online database of cemeteries all around the world. Last year, the site was purchased by Ancestry.com. They recently released the FindAGrave App for iOS. The site (and the app) allows you to search for graves of both famous people and not-so-famous people. You can register for a free account, then add graves to the database, including bios, photos, cemetery information. You can also leave notes and virtual “flowers” free of charge on pages for a particular grave. One of the things I like about the app (and the site) is that anyone can make a “photo request.” for a gravesite. Those requests show up on the pages for whatever cemetery the grave is in. Than if another user happens to be at that cemetery and they feel so inclined, they can take the requested photo of a grave and have it posted on the site. It can be a great way of virtually visiting the gravesite of a loved one that is buried far away. I have already begun adding burial information for several friends and family members and even added photos. I’ve found it a lot of fun to search for historical figures and celebrities. It’s a great way to also stay in touch with the past. The FindAGrave app is free in the iTunes App Store.” — Chris
• Samantha recommends: theScore, FREE
- “For you sports fanatics who are always calling your buddies up with game updates, try theScore it gives you all major sports updates, news, and team info. Covering NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA, and more! You can get their standings, who’s in their conference and division, even sports news! It’s very easy to use and you can even opt for push notifications getting updated whenever someone scores on the teams you have favorited! It has the option to even add it to you calendar so that way if it’s a game you really don’t want to miss you can set a reminder to sit and watch that game or record it for later. Even if you aren’t a die hard sports fan and need some good easy reading on the sports info to communicate with your work buds this is the app for you.” — Samantha
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Guest Segment:
Francesco Baschieri, CEO & Founder – Spreaker
create your own podcast and discover new content.
Teresa in Durham, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 AM asked us: “I have a desktop as well as a Dell laptop computer that has Windows XP, I know its out of order for the moment or no longer going to be service. I have been told that I need to upgrade to Windows 7, but I can’t find anyone online that carries it. Is there anyone in the U.S that carries it?”
Teresa, You should be able to find Windows 7 installation DVDs online at places like Amazon.com and TigerDirect.com, just keep in mind that they will cost you a fair amount of money and your XP computers will not stop working, so if you’d rather pocket the cash for now and put it towards a new computer whenever you choose to upgrade, you can do that too. Microsoft will not update or patch Windows XP, but it will still work as it does today as long as the computer can run it.
A Windows 7 upgrade will cost you more than a Windows 8 upgrade, at least now it does, because Microsoft really wants to push you to their latest version. When we checked pricing, a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade disc cost over $300, while a Windows 8 upgrade cost around $100. That’s quite a big difference.
When upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, you also have to perform a custom installation of Windows 7, which means none of your programs or settings migrate forward. Microsoft has a rather long and complicated set of instructions on doing this, which Microsoft has listed here.
Honestly, given the price of an upgrade, it might be time for you to give serious thought to simply buying a new computer. If you have a Dell desktop running Windows XP, that’s an old machine. A new Dell Inspiron 300 desktop with an Intel Core i3 processor and Windows 8.1 only costs around $400 and we guarantee you that it will run rings around your Windows XP desktop.
Maybe that’s the best bottom line. Keep using your Windows XP computer until you can afford the $400 to replace it, then buy an entirely new computer with the latest version of Windows.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Dr. Fitzgerald asked us: “I’m trying to figure out how to acquire a Windows 8 computer to function as a fax machine with a fax modem. this option came standard on many XP computers. I am a medical professional and I am working toward building a “paperless office.” I do not like to use email to send and receive sensitive documents and I don’t want to use a third party and pay for such a basic service. Any ideas.”
Dr. Fitsgerald, To set up your Windows 8 as a fax machine, first make sure your fax modem is properly installed and is plugged into a standard phone line. To begin the process search for “Windows FAX and Scan” from your start screen. At the bottom left, click “Fax”, and then click “New Fax” and it should launch the Fax Setup Wizard. Lastly, click “Connect To a Fax Modem”.
Keep in mind that you’re going to need to connect your computer to a phone line, and new computers don’t always come with built-in fax modems that you can connect to a phone jack. You can resolve that by buying an external one that you can plug in to a USB port, or you can use an online service, since you want to avoid third parties, that leaves you with the external modem option, so you may need to make that small investment.
Most fax modems sold today are USB devices that look like a short, fat cable. (We’d call them a “dongle,” but that’s the kind of word that just sounds naughty.) The good news is that a USB fax modem costs anywhere between $20 and $50, so they’re not expensive.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
“Wireless Update” Weekly Feature with Michelle Sutton
We’re big fans of the fun you can have with Parrot AR Drone helicopters that you control with your wireless device. Verizon’s Michelle Sutton is flying in with some ideas for higher hovering functions.
Richard from Raleigh, North Carolina listening via Newsradio 680AM WPTF asked us: “I just heard you give directions on how to delete duplicate files on itunes before the gentlemen transferred his files to a new computer (07/19 Show). My trouble is that I did the same thing, deleting the duplicate files, but the duplicate files were from separate CDs and when I play the album, I lose those songs. Is there a way to keep from losing your songs playing on more than one album on itunes?”
Richard, What iTunes will do is show you songs that are exactly the same (same length, same name, etc.), if the songs on the different albums are basically copies of each others they will show up when you search for exact duplicates, but you don’t have to delete them.
iTunes only shows you the songs, but you can, for example, sort by album and not select the duplicate songs from different albums and just select the rest before deleting.
It’s not the most sophisticated high tech solution, but it’s the easiest way to go about it, since iTunes will only search for duplicates and, according to the criteria it uses and regardless of what albums they belong to, it considers those to be duplicates of each other.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Noizy: Kameleon Series Bluetooth earbuds
Other World Computing (OWC): Nuguard KX phone cases for Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 4/4S and 5
Ventev: Assortment of their new products — like the PowerCell 6000+ Rapid Charger, cases for the new Galaxy S5 Smartphone, ChargeSynce tangle-free USB cables for Android & Apple devices & more.
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!