HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Dave made refernce to this Miami cop’s accident when he was reaching for a pen he had dropped.
Craig in Moreno Valley, California calling in via the app asked: “Just wondering if you guys can tell me the difference between a crop camera and a full frame camera, DSLR. I’m interested in getting a Canon 60D which is a crop frame and the next step up is much more expensive, so I’m trying to decide what that difference is and is it worth it. Thanks guys.”
You’re right, full frame sensor cameras don’t come cheap. Full frame sensors will give you roughly the same picture an old 35mm film camera would give you when using the same lens. A crop sensor will give you, well … a cropped image. Instead of seeing the same image you’d see on a full frame camera, you’ll see the image as if it was zoomed in 30%, 50%, 60% or even 100% depending on the camera.
For most amateur photographers a crop frame sensor will work just fine, any pictures you take at 35mm might look as if you had taken them zoomed in at 55mm on a full sensor camera, but other than that, you won’t notice any major differences.
If you like wildlife photography or anything where you focus on a distant subject, it may even help you a little, since the image will look as if you had been zoomed in a little more. If you prefer landscapes, architecture or take pictures in small places on the other hand, you will have to look for very wide lenses to compensate for the crop.
One advantage of Canons with crop sensors is that they allow you to use EF and EF-S series lenses. EF lenses will also work with full frame sensors, but EF-S lenses won’t, and EF-S lenses are cheaper, so you may save some more money there by sticking to a crop sensor camera for now. Overall, the Canon 60D is a great camera. Crop sensor or not you’re going to be pleased. It’s actually the cheapest model Canon makes outside of their entry level “Rebel” line, so you’ll find a lot of pro features and a nicer build quality. We really don’t think you’re gonna regret the buy, full frame or not.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer
Reports Feature with Mike Gikas
When it comes to cell phone carriers, smaller might be better, according to a Consumer Reports cell phone service satisfaction survey. Large providers like Verizon and Sprint were actually rated much lower than smaller carriers like U.S. Cellular says Senior Editor Mike Gikas.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For Android:
• Mark recommends: Evernote & Skitch, FREE
“My app this week is a two-fer. Evernote is an app that we’ve mentioned from time to time in our answers to callers, but I can’t recall if we’ve ever featured it as an app of the week. This is a note-taking app for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and web. The idea is, you put the app everywhere you are and then any note you
For iOS:
• Rob recommends: No More Socks: The Christmas List Genius, $1.99
“A very good gift list and gift buying app. You can add contacts from your phonebook list on your phone, make a note of what you are planning on buying for them, and then shop for it within the app. You can Google the product or add choose a retailer from the list. After you buy the gift, you mark it as purchased. You can also set a budget for your gifts. And if you need some ideas, there’s an Idea Pad to browse through the No More Socks Community. I find it to be very helpful. Although, this year my budget is very tight. Gotta shop for a car!”
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
What are your favorite apps?Let us know!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Group Discussion: Broken Motorola Droid RAZR Screen
Caroline Knorr, Parenting Editor – Common Sense Media
Dave discovered the screen on his Motorola Droid RAZR “cracked” in his pocket. The RAZR has a Corning Gorilla Screen, which is among the toughest phone screens in the market. Everyone has been boasting how touch this phone is, well, not so tough anymore. But, Verizon did help him out.
Last week, we received an email from Stephen (aka Caveman) who needed to boost his cell phone signal, but he wanted to find a way to do it on his own. He sent us a follow-up email and says:
“I sent you an email the other day regarding this antenna issue I was having and here are the results of my study!!! I love my new Samsung Galaxy S2 phone. This thing is incredible. I researched antennas and boosters for two days, till my head hurt. Last night, I looked over at my my large pickle jar about half full of pennies, and said, wow, look at all that copper. At the same time, needed just a bit more cable for my USB port, so I plugged in my 4 port hub for an extension (that was a boost in the signal itself). Then, I placed my Galaxy upside down into the jar of pennies. Wow, wow, wow!! I have never seen pages pop up so fast as this in Fairbanks, Alaska!! Call it Caveman science!! I love it!!”
Thank you for sharing you Caveman science with you, Stephen!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Damon in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 and calling in via the Free App asked: “Dave, I have an EVO 3D that is rooted, and I wanna know if there’s a program out there where I can print wirelessly to any printer outside HP, the only program I found if HP. Whether it’d be a rooted program or a market program. Thank you.”
You can try PrinterShare. It’s available on the Android Market and it will require that you install a program on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Then, it connects to that program via WiFi or 3G and lets you print to any printer attached to that computer straight from your phone. PrinterShare includes services that are not free to use, if you’re interested in using them, you’re going to need the “Premium” version, but printing to your printer should be free.
If you use Google CloudPrint, you can try Cloud Print, it’s a third party app that lets you access the service on your account and print straight from your phone.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Moe in Saudi Arabia listening on AFN asked: “Is there an office application in Android that has the same usability experience as the iWorks and the slate office lite edition?”
You won’t find the exact iWork experience on Android, but you will find very useful office apps. iWork’s Pages, for example, isn’t just a word processor, a lot of it revolves about the design of it’s templates. That’s the kind of thing you won’t easily find on Android apps.
If what you’re looking for is an easy way to edit documents, you do have options and you also have options that, like iWork, will sync to the could.
The first one we should mention is the one we use, Google Docs. There’s an Android app for it, and it let you access your documents on Google’s servers.
If you want a more traditional office application you can try Documents To Go or Quickoffice, the will both handle all the usual file types if you work with Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but they will cost you some money. Documents To Go is $14.99 and Quickoffice sells for $9.99, but there’s a trial version if you want to see how you like it first.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Mitch in Greenwich, Connecticut listens on WGCH 1490 AM asked: “Laptops: Is it okay to keep them on 24/7? I’ve kept my desktop on with no problems.”
Laptops are just smaller computers. If they’re properly ventilated and can regulate their temperature to a safe level, they should be ok to run for extended periods of time.
Desktops have fewer ventilations issues because no one really rests them on a bed or on top of a fluffily pillow. As long as you don’t do that with your laptop and you sit them on tables where they can have as much air as they need, running through their fans, it should be fine.
If you are worried about temps, you can purchase a notebook cooler. We recommend the active ones (active models have fans, passive models do not) and we suggest getting one made from metal that’s designed to dissipate the heat. Mark has used the Zalman Notebook Cooler brand for years, with great success.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
AT&T: A Jambox Black Diamond by Jawbone — Wireless Speaker & Speakerphone
Fanny Wang: Custom Colored Headphones by Fanny Wang — We have a promo code for you to customize your own pair.
Honestech: Film Scan&Save — Digitize your old photo negatives and slides. Supports both color and black & white photo negatives and slides. Convert them into high-resolution images.
McAfee: Download keys for “McAfee All Access” — Secure your PC, laptop, and netbook against hackers and identity theft; Protect your smart phones and tablets.
Moola Street: $25 Gift Cards. Of course, Moola is slang for money and this is a unique way to give Gift Cards that cost you only 10% until the recipient redeems it!