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Tech News & Commentary
Lynnette from Santa Rosa, California and listening via the Podcast asked: “I drive a 2008 Subaru Tribeca and I’m looking for the best, economical way to play my mobile phone content through its 9 speaker audio system? I’ve been using an Aux Cable and I’ve tried a bluetooth dongle that needs to be paired every time I use it, and its not great. I know there must be some device that’s reasonably priced to provide bluetooth connectivity automatically without needing it to be professionally installed. Do you have any suggestions?”
There are bluetooth to aux adapters that will work just the way you would expect them to and remember your phone.
Belkin’s CarAudio Connect Aux with Bluetooth will connect wirelessly to your phone, allow you to make phone calls and listen to music, and it comes with a USB port for you to charge your phone, if you need to.
The Scosche MotorMouth II will also give you the functionality you need, though in a smaller package. Both products cost $79.99 which is not exactly cheap.
Another option is the Belkin TuneCast Auto Live. This is a device for iPhone, iPod Nano & iPod Touch. The TuneCast Auto Live uses an app called ClearScan Live, which delivers the best FM scanning technology. The TuneCast charges through your car’s 12-volt lighter outlet and has an LCD display for easy viewing.
That one retails at $69.95 on apple.com or Amazon for a much cheaper $53.99, but remember if you buy it through Amazon you are buying from other vendors, so make sure thier relaibale.
You can also check out the Plantronics K100 Bluetooth Car Kit. This little device clips to your visor and becomes a bluetooth speaker when paired to your phone. It is also an FM transmitter, giving you the ability to listen to your device through your existing car stereo. We’ve heard the call quality is great, battery life is extremely long, and the sleek design shouldn’t bulk up the cabin of your car. It retails for $39.99 and is a great inexpensive option without having to install it. It also works great clipped to your chair at the beach!
But, what you really must ask yourself in this decision making process is what you are willing to give up in order to cut the cord. Bluetooth streaming doesn’t always sound as good as what you get when you plug in a pair of headphones (which is essentially what you’re doing with the cable into the aux jack on the stereo). We aren’t tell you not to go Bluetooth, but what we are saying is that Bluetooth doesn’t always do the best job of carrying music.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
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.
• Dave recommends: Cobra Joyride, FREE
- “Cobra Joyride. It’s a free App after you buy the $39 Cobra Smart Charger. What this does is automatically launch a customizable “Driving Mode” on your Android Phone, once you get in the car and connect it. They say it’s the world’s first intelligent car charger system for Android smartphones and simplifies using your phone in the car, minimizing distractions and stress while driving. For example, JoyRide will automatically start your favorite music, navigation and other apps that you use when you’re in the car with large buttons that are easily seen while driving. It also gives you customizable “I’m driving” auto replies to text messages and phone calls, so you can keep driving safely. Joyride also gives you walking directions back to your car. ” — Dave
• Marly recommends: Runkeeper, FREE
- “This week, I’ve been playing with runkeeper, an app to keep track of your runs! Everyone who is a runner knows that it is VERY different to run on a treadmill and put on your running shoes and enjoy the nature! The purpose of runkeeper is to keep track of your runs and build your running abilities! It creates a personalized training for your specific needs, as well as keep track of your running routes, time, and average speed among other things. The app is available for your iOS device and is FREE!! If you would like to purchase training guides you can, and each is individually priced. “
- — Marly
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:
Michael Mayer – Nighthawk Control
Norman in Chattanooga, Tennessee listening on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN asked: “I started a Blog the other day and now I’m getting so much Spam coming through on it. It’s a Word Press blog and I don’t know how to stop it.”
Unfortunately, that’s a problem with WordPress… you will get a ton of comments that basically go like this “You article is so fantastic, I love it, such great information on the topic discussed!” if you approve it, then it gets posted on your website and the commenters name will be linked to some spammy website that will get a better ranking on Google because your website is linking to it.
The easiest way to deal with it is obviously to disable comments, but assuming you don’t want to do that, you can look at some plugin that will attempt to keep spam levels under control.
Some popular options to explore are: Akismet, probably the best known one, Cookies for Comments, that requires that the spammer accepts a Cookie to be able to post, and bcSpamBlock, which tries to use JavaScript to block spammers, but those without JavaScript have to use a dreaded captcha.
Akismet is what Mark uses on the WordPress blogs that he operates, and he says it works brilliantly. An account for personal use is also free. If your WordPress blog is supporting a business, then you do need to subscribe in order to use the Askimet service. It’s false positive rate is nearly zero, and Mark says he thinks he’s had one spam comment make it through to the blog in three years of operation.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Casey in Upstate New York listening via Stitcher Radio sent us the following comment about his experieces with Flash on mobile and it’s value: “I greatly appreciate your input on the pebble smartwatch (07/19 Show) and I do have some info about my experience with the device but my call will have to wait untill I get the chance to dive into “connect with HTTpebble” that has the capability to push notifications over the Internet for those who maintain their own virtual servers, Web hosting etc. I’m responding to a caller from the last airing with a question about flash support for mobile devices. in my opinion for entertainment purposes it is becoming obsolete. from my experience I Need flash to make my life easier in the workplace. I’ve downloaded the last version of flash before adobe called it quits and tested some truly terrible browsers. I came across “puffin browser”, tested it, and bought it for a couple bucks and its worth every penny. this allows me to open and place my orders via an e-market at a dot net site (don’t want to get myself in trouble throwing out company names) that requires flash to use their services. The only other option I would have is to hog the same system our POS is installed on. Flash has a purpose for some of us, I’ve saved a lot of my time placing my orders through my galaxy note 2. Having this type of service in the palm of your hand is extremely convenient, especially if you want to cut out paperwork. Hopefully this is a good example of where flash is really useful for mobile devices, keep in mind my distributor is global and this service has not evolved.”
Thank you, Casey.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Valerie in Oakley, Illinois listens to the Podcast asked: “I’m a professional photographer and we have a large gun safe in our closet. When we bought this I was excited thinking that I can store all my cameras in there. But the documentation said to not store cameras in there. Could you tell me why? I’ve Googled it and can’t find anything. If it’s moisture, do you think it would be safe to just put some of those silica packets in there?”
It is most likely the moisture issue, and silica packets probably won’t help enough. The problem is that you may have bought a decent safe, and a lot of decent safes have a moisture release agent on the walls, that’s what makes them “fire retardant.”
No matter how many silica packets you put inside those safes, your gear will likely get a little more moisture that it should.
You can buy electric heaters designed to keep gun safes dry, and that may help enough, but it’s hard to tell for sure.
You might be better off just insuring your cameras, but if you want to keep them in the safe instead, consider storing them inside air tight bags, and putting the silica packets inside those bags along with the cameras, that might let you keep them in the safe without risking moisture damage.
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