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HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Earl in McAllen, Texas listening via TuneIn Radio asked: “I’m looking to get my kid a tablet. There’s a kid’s tablet at Toys R Us. It’s a Nabi, sells for about $200 and it comes preloaded with some kid-specific apps and games. Just wondering if we should go with that or if we should pay a little more and get something like the Google Nexus or a Samsung Galaxy Tab. He’s 9 years old right now and mostly playing games on it.”
On looking at this tablet from a technical standpoint, it’s pretty strong. It’s got a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, which we prefer to the less popular, resistive touchscreen, since you can really just touch the screen, rather than having to apply pressure. It’s got an Nvidia Tegra 3 Quad core processor which makes it powerful enough to run smooth video and more of the power-hungry apps. It runs Ice Cream Sandwich and has 8GB of built-in storage that you can expand with a Micro SD card up to 32GB.
The reviews we’ve found online are quite favorable. It’s got built-in parental controls which allow you to control which apps your child can download and which websites they can visit. There also is a “Mommy/Daddy” mode which will give you full access, so that you can download certain other apps and other things that would otherwise be blocked. Like Skype. It does work on the tablet, but only in that “Mommy/Daddy” mode, so your kids can’t initiate calls without your consent.
The bottom line, you can get whatever tablet you want for your kids. This one has a rubberized case that protects it against falls or certain other things kids tend to do to tablets. That’s not to say it’s invincible. But, if your child were to break their tablet, would you rather them break a $200 tablet, or a $500 tablet?
For our listeners interested in the Nabi tablet, we didn’t see it online at Toys R Us, but it’s available at Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, Target and Amazon for $200. By the way, the front-facing camera on the Nabi offers more megapixels than the Google Nexus. Nabi has 2 MP, while the Nexus has a 1.2MP camera. Both tablets cost the same and offer similar tech specs, but the Nabi does have a slight advantage.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Consumer Reports
with Terry Sullivan
One of the complaints often made about basic digital cameras is that they lack the ability to wirelessly connect to the Internet to upload photos and video like smart phones do. But more cameras, like the Samsung WB-850F, are including Wi-Fi capability. Consumer Reports Associate Editor Terry Sullivan shares what else this Samsung model can do.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
Listener input:
• Listener James listens to us from Los Angeles California via our “Into Tomorrow” app. He Suggests “Major Mayhem”. It’s a total time waster, because once you start playing it, it’s really hard to stop. You start as a goofy animated Army cartoon character and you run around shooting NINJAS. Funny, because for once I’m shooting something other then zombies. This app is free on both iOS and on Android. Beware! It’s very addicting.
• Listener Chris recommends “Penultimate” handwriting app, his son Andrew recommends “Where’s my water?”
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Guests in this hour:
Michelle Dennedy, McAfee Chief Privacy Officer – McAfee
According to McAfee’s 2012 Teen Internet Behavior Study, technology is endangering students when it comes to cyber bullying and cheating. Find out what you can do to help protect your kids.
Michelle in Michigan listens on 800 CKLW – The Information Station asked: I live on an island and my Wi-Fi goes in and out. I hear you talk about the antennas and I don’t know if that’s something I want or if that’s just something you travel with. I want to know more about boosting my Internet because it goes in and out.”
You can indeed get a booster antenna that you can travel with. We’ve used the C.Crane Super USB WiFi Antenna 3 and it has helped us get better reception. C.Crane claims that it can get a signal from up to a mile away from the source if there are no obstructions.
The Super USB WiFi Antenna 3 plugs into your USB port and is basically set up as a new network card. That may bring on problem along with it. As of right now, C.Crane doesn’t have drivers for Mac OS 10.8. So if you’re on a Mac running the latest version of the OS, you may have to wait until October for this particular antenna to work.
There are other options, but to be honest, they’re mostly just generic antennas that plug into a USB port and don’t even come with a name. We haven’t tried any of them, but quite a few are so inexpensive that you can try them without putting too much money on the line, think $10-$15.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Michael in Pembroke Pines, Florida listening via our iPhone App asked: “Had there been any updates on when Apple will unveil the iPhone 5 or the elusive smaller iPad?”
As usual, Apple has not said one word. Except that they will have an event on September 12th. Many people are expecting this to be the launch of the next iPhone. Now, whether it will be called the ‘iPhone 5,” is still up in the air. Given what they did with the latest iPad, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just called “The New iPhone.
The “smaller iPad” is still just speculation. Apple tends to be very tight lipped about their products before they are released. There has been a lot of people quoting “sources” saying that there will be one. And there very well may be. We’ll just have to wait and see, come September 12th.
For all we know, the “smaller iPad” is probably being confused with a “bigger iPhone”. Meaning that instead of making a smaller iPad, the iPhone will be much bigger.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Jerry in Franklin, Tennessee listening on 99.7 WTN -Super Talk asked: “I’ve been looking for a laptop. Most of my choices have this shiny screen. I’m looking for something with more of a matte screen like my PC monitor. Can you give me some options on that and tell me why I can’t have more as far as selection on that?”
You may need to look at more expensive models and direct from the manufacturer. Matte screens these days are mostly aimed at professionals, not regular end-users. They typically come in very high resolutions, and come as an option on more expensive, business oriented laptops.
Glossy screens display brighter colors, and better, deeper blacks, but the colors they show aren’t always as accurate as the ones shown on easier to calibrate matte screens. So it’s common for professionals in design and editing to use matte screens and pay a premium for them.
Now, for end users, glossy screens usually provide nice vivid colors without the premium price tag, they’re easy to clean and they’re more than adequate for everything a regular computer user does, so matte screens are usually more of a pro feature these days
If you want a cheaper alternative, you can look for a matte or anti-glare filter for your glossy screen, those are available from several companies and may help you get close to the matte experience without the business laptop price tag.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.