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Dave and the team wish you a happy holiday season! Join us as we translate tech-to-English on an episode of “Into Tomorrow”. We’ll be answering your phone calls and emails this week! Join us as we translate tech-to-English on a new episode of “Into Tomorrow”. We’ll be answering your phone calls and emails this week!
Don’t forget our Ask Dave Hotline is open 24/7! Call us … toll-free 1-800-899-INTO (4686) … with any consumer electronics question, opinion, help another listener or tell us what your favorite app is and why. You can also participate via our FREE “Into Tomorrow” App (iOS/Android/Intel AppUp).
Tech News & Commentary
Victor in Buffalo, Missouri listens via TuneIn Radio and asked: “My question pertains to Caitlyn’s review of a USB microscope. I’d like to get one for the grandkids. Do any of those work on an iPad? Or am I gonna have to get a more versatile Android tablet to use a plug and play microscope?”
If you want a similar microscope that will work with an iPad, you can try the ProScope Mobile, it will even connect to several devices at once using WiFi. We should point out that USB microscopes that won’t work with iPad most likely won’t work with Android tablets either, even if they have USB ports.
The problem is not that there’s no place to plug them in, the problem is that you won’t find any driver to teach the tablet how to communicate to the microscope, so you’re going to have to go for a tablet-specific microscope (that most likely won’t work with computers).
Some people have been taking a less elegant approach, they’re just putting their tablet’s cameras up to a regular microscope so they image is display on the tablet’s screen… this does seem to work, but it may not be as interesting for your grandkids.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
George in Shreveport, Louisiana listening on News Radio 710 KEEL asked: “I have an Android phone and an Android tablet. I keep hearing people talk about rooting and jail-breaking. What are the advantages and disadvantages of those and is it something I would want to do?”
Both rooting and jail-breaking will give apps low level access to the operating system, that means that they will be able to do much more than the OS would’ve otherwise allowed them to do.
That might mean, for example, that an app can force the processor to run faster than the manufacturer intended, or it may just mean changing the color of the status bar at the top of the screen, or something similar — as an example.
Rooted devices can also run other version of the operating system that were not released by the devices’ manufacturers, that means that if you’re unhappy with the particular customization of Android that came with your phone or tablet, you can install a different one.
Rooting your device can give you access to restricted areas of your phone or tablet’s memory, so for example, you can delete apps that came bundled in with the device and are of no use to you, but you can’t just choose to uninstall through normal means.
The advantages of rooting are simple: you can do more, you can choose your version of the OS, let your apps take care of stuff they wouldn’t normally be allowed to do, and have access to extra functions yourself. The disadvantages are that you are making your device do things the manufacturer did not intend for that device to do.
That means that you are on your own if something goes wrong, if you overclock your phone and it’s processor gets fried, it’s on you, if you root and a rogue app changes some setting you did not want changed, it’s your problem, you’re give up your warranty when you root and no one will put things back to normal for you for free.
You also lose the layer of security that sand-boxing gives you, you’re allowing apps to step out of bounds and not ask permission to do everything, so malicious apps can do far more damage than they can do on a non-rooted device.
Whether you want to look into it or not, is up to you, by doing it you gain some freedom, but take on some extra risks. If you’re happy with the way your devices are now, you might want to leave them alone, if if you think there’s something missing that rooting them can provide for you, then think about it.
It is important to note that while it may not be hard to root an Android device or jailbreak an iOS device, going back might be more difficult than you would think. Rooting an Android device means you are replacing the ROMs in the device with new ones by overwriting the version of Android your wireless provider shipped with the device. If you decide you want to go back, good luck with trying to find the ROM images to restore it. You’ll likely have to visit your wireless provider’s store and ask them for help restoring it.
An iOS device is a bit easier, as you can connect it with iTunes and restore the factory software. But just be careful before you make the decision to become a tech rebel. It’s easier to get there than to get back.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
How in Toronto, Ontario listens on TuneIn and is calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: “I typically leave the GPS on my Android device off to conserve battery, but when I do use it I turn it on and sometimes forget to shut it off. Does it still consume battery if an app like Google Maps is no longer using it?”
The GPS is indeed a huge battery drain. When you’re actively using, for example, when using navigation, it can be so bad that on some phone it will kill the battery of the phone that is plugged in and charging, but even when it’s not being actively used it is still a pretty major drain on Android phones.
Part of the reason is that even when you aren’t using the GPS, some apps may be in the background. For example, you may open an app that you don’t think needs to know your location at all, something as simple as a tip calculator, but if that tip calculator displays ads, the ads may want to know where you are, so they’ll use location services even if you’re not really benefiting from them or are even aware that they’re being used.
Android can also keep a lot of fairly useless service running in the background at times, for example, you may open Google Latitude once, forget it even exists and it may still be constantly tracking you eventhough you forgot about it months before.
Google Maps will track you even when you’re not actively using it and send that information to Google so it can know how fast traffic is moving and keep Google Maps updated with correct traffic information, that may not be of any use to you, and you may not even know your phone is doing it, but you agree to it when you turn on location services.
Also, just the fact that the GPS is on and ready to be used means it’s using power too, so that can be a drain on it’s own.
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:
Tim McDonough, Vice President of Marketing – Qualcomm
How important is the mobile processor in your smartphone or tablet? How does it affect how well it can perform? Tim shares some important information and tips for all consumers in the market for a new wireless device.
Patrick in Nashville, Tennessee listening on Supertalk 99.7 WTN asked: “I love this new option that many of the new routers have that you can plug in a USB device and access it wirelessly. I did that with a small USB drive. I can access the files on the drive but I cannot save to that drive from other wireless devices. I’m wondering if that’s not a feature that you can go both ways with it, or if I’m missing something.”
It all depends on your particular router, but there is typically an option somewhere on the settings that will let you choose whether the drive should be treated as read-only or not, and sometimes even who can write to it.
For example, a router may let anyone on the network access it, but only let users with administrator privileges write to it, or it may not let anyone without a password see any files, let regular users with a password access the files, and only let administrators save files to the drive.
Without knowing what particular brand and model you’re using, we can’t really tell you exactly how to set it up, or whether it’s even possible, but if your router comes with a USB port, there’s almost certainly an option to enable writing on the drive, check your manual if you have one or the settings on the drive. If you don’t, it should be pretty obvious when you see it.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Kay from Indiana listens via TuneIn Radio asked: “What do cloud services provide that services like SugarSync and DropBox don’t? Would you please compare the 2 kinds of services?”
It depends on what you mean by “cloud services.” SugarSync will backup your data and let you access it remotel. Dropbox will let you share files with other people. Both are cloud services. They’re similar in the sense that they will store files for you and let you access them, but they’re different in what their purpose is, one is primarily a backup service, the other one is primarily a file sharing service.
Some cloud services are completely different though. Netflix’s instant video is a cloud service, and it has a totally different function. It doesn’t let the end user upload, share or back up and files. Online banking is a cloud service, as well.
Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive are both cloud services and they both let you create and share documents online. Your local government may let you look up your property taxes online or pay for them online, those are cloud services, the same goes for utilities in general.
Amazon will let you buy a book, keep it on it’s servers and read it on your web browser, that’s a cloud service. Checking a stock’s price in real time is a cloud service, so is webmail…most of what we do online these days is a cloud service, anything that is customized for you, or served specifically for you is probably a cloud service, pages that look and act the same for everyone are likely not, so cloud services can be hundreds of different things online.
The term “cloud” became used to describe any external network, in this case the Internet, because network diagrams used an image of a cloud connected to your own network by a pair of pipes to mean “data goes out from our network here, and then magic happens.” That’s also why you’ll hear people discuss the size of their “pipe” when talking about how fast their Internet connection is.
In short, “the cloud” simply means “not on my computer,” and thus refers to a vast array of potential services.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
John calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: ‘I’m calling in regards to my iMac. Do I need antivirus for it?”
Well, need … maybe not. There aren’t a lot of threats out there for Macs, but you may want one anyway for when one of those rare threats does pop up. And, they have been known to do so.
The thing about Mac anti-viruses is that they rarely ever even require updates. There are not a lot of new threats, and you can get a free one. It will rarely bother you, and when one of those threats does pop up, you’ll be protected.
The two most highly regarded free antivirus programs for your Mac are Sophos Free Antivirus for Mac or ClamXav (Clam Antivirus for Mac OS X). Both are reliable name brands and either one would protect your Mac well, should you feel the need to protect it.
However, unless you spend a lot of time surfing websites you wouldn’t tell your grandmother about or you like clicking links in random emails to see where they take you, you’re probably okay without one.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners:
Audiofly: Several AF33M in-ear headphones with microphone
Bedol: Several Bedol Water Clocks – A water powered alternative energy alarm clock. Does not require batteries or electricity. Just fill with normal everyday tap water.
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo – A simple solution to tangled earbuds.
[Fuse]Chicken: Une Bobine for iPhone and Petite Bobine for Android — This is a flexible and eclectic stand and charging cable for iPhone/iPod Touch (30-pin connector) and Micro USB for Android.
Magellan: RoadMate 5265T-LMB GPS – With FREE lifetime map updates and traffic alerts.