HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Loraine in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, listening on WSTX 970 AM asked: “I am wondering about the comparison between the Kindle Fire and the iPad. I would like to purchase an iPad 2. I’m wondering what are the great benefits with the iPad?”
The competition in the tablet market is getting hotter. While many still prefer the iPad 2, there is a new player in the market and it’s the Kindle Fire. We’re going to be talking further about the Fire in Hour 2 — in our Product Spotlight segment. You don’t want to miss that. If your local radio station doesn’t carry all 3 hours of the show, remember you can download our free podcast at IntoTomorrow.com and listen to the stream every Sunday at 2pm Eastern.
The Kindle Fire is smaller, has a 7-inch touch screen vs. the iPad 2 9.7-inch screen. Amazon claim that the Kindle display is state of the art and is “chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 20 times harder than plastic”.
Another feature in the Kindle is the IPS (in-plane switching) display while the iPad is LED backlit and IPS. The IPS allows you to angle the Kindle down and still be able to look at it from the edge and see everything since the IPS screen has 178 degree viewing angle.
The Kindle runs a customized version of the Android OS, but it’s unknown just how customized it is. Apple stuff runs off of the iOS. That put the iPad 2 over the Kindle since there are no surprises when it comes to the iOS.
Apple is known to have various options when it comes to storage for the iPad 2 (16, 32 or 64 GB). The Kindle has only 8 GB of internal storage with no microSD slot. However, Amazon offers unlimited storage on its cloud service, but you will need wifi access.
The Kindle Fire is WiFi only with no 3G option. Apple offers both options on all its iPad 2 models. The Kindle doesn’t have a camera that means no video, the iPad 2 has a front and rear camera allowing you to take pictures and video recording VGA quality. The back camera has HD video recording (720dp) as well as still camera with 5x digital zoom. While the camera may be missing on the Kindle Fire, I don’t think that will keep people from buying it. The price is very appealing and you forget you don’t have a camera. Personally, I barely use it on my iPad 2.
Amazon says its Kindle Fire battery will last up to 8 hours, but the iPad 2 claims up to 10 hours. The iPad comes in black and white, the Kindle comes only in black.
Amazon has priced the Fire low at $199. The iPad 2 didn’t get a price drop and goes from $499 up to $829, depending on the version you want.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer
Reports Feature with Terry Sullivan
One of the biggest trends in digital photography is the so-called “hybrid,” or “SLR-like” cameras. They’re similar in size to typical point-and-shoots, but take SLR-quality pictures and have interchangeable lenses. Consumer Reports Associate Editor Terry Sullivan shares some of the top models.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For Android:
• Mark recommends: ES File Explorer, FREE
“EStrongs Inc. makes several utilities for Android devices and I recently downloaded their ES File Explorer to my Kindle Fire. ES File Explorer lets me browse the file system on my Fire (not the icons and such installed by the apps, I mean the file system itself) and that’s a requirement if I want to sideload any Android apps on my Fire that aren’t presently offered in Amazon’s Appstore. ES File Explorer shows you folders and files like you’d expect to see, giving you a variety of different views. It has simple on screen commands for copying and moving files, and it will launch downloaded .apk files for installation just by tapping on them. If you’ve ever wondered just where the apps on your Android device stores its files, ES File Explorer will let you dig around and find them. It’s available for free in both the Android Market and the Amazon Appstore, and it works fine with the Fire.” — Mark
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.
Guest in this hour:
Caroline Knorr, Parenting Editor – Common Sense Media
How do you choose the best tech gifts for your kids? We have some device advice for parents, as we get closer to the Christmas holiday.
Jody in Bell Buckle, Tennessee asked: “I have two kids, 9 and 11. They’re wanting an iPad and I didn’t know which would be the best for them to share. They want it for music and games. I’m getting a little bonus and I wanted to get them something for Christmas.”
For two young kids, the cheapest 16GB WiFi-only iPad should be more than enough, it will give them plenty of room for music and games and it will give you the lowest possible price — at least for the Apple product — at $499.
Every iPad model is the same except for the storage capacity and connectivity (3G or WiFi). So even if you go for the cheapest model, you will still get the same processor, the same cameras, the same form factor, the same battery life, the only thing that will change is the room you have for apps, music, videos, and everything else. Most gaming apps don’t require a WiFi or 3G connection, so if you get the WiFi only version, the kids will still be entertained. Worst case you can find a coffee shop near you that offers free WiFi so the kids can watch YouTube videos if they wanted to.
Two young kids should be able to share 16GB of memory without much trouble. My sister Beth has shared her 16GB iPhone, for instance, with her 2 year-old daughter and hasn’t run out of space. She’s got a lot of fun apps to keep my niece Madison entertained.
You can also look into getting a refurbished iPad 1. You can typically get it for a little less money, but you will have a single core processor, no camera and a heavier case.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
James in Nashville, Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7 asked: “Me and the Wife are having a new baby. We’re wondering what’s the best monitor to get to check on the baby while the baby is sleeping.”
You can try the Philips Avent SCD510. If you have a house full of electronics you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwaves, remote controls toys. Since Chris is also have a new baby — and will be looking for similar items soon — he can share some other ideas for you.
The Philips Avent operates on a 1.9 Ghz frequency which should eliminate most interference from other electronics, Its features include automatic channel switching (between 120 channels), a walkie talkie feature, out of range, low battery and sensitivity control(so you can adjust for ambient noise like an air conditioner). The Philips Avent is available on line for $100.
You can also try the Summer Infant Day & Night Handheld Color Video Monitor with a 2.5 inch screen color display and 900 Mhz audio monitoring, both functions at range of 350 feet. The monitor has a clip that you can walk around with and an additional camera is available (for $75) if you want to monitor more than one room.
The Summer Infant Day & Night Video Monitor is available online for $140.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Karen in Fresno, California listening online asked: “I would like to cancel my cable TV service and watch programs via the Internet. Wondering how I would do this and what equipment I need. Also, would I be able to get live news programs live CNN or Fox News?”
Good for you Karen. Cable sucks, so get rid of ’em! The equipment you need depends on how much you want to invest, for example, an existing computer might be all you need. You can just go online to sites like Hulu, Netflix or most of the networks’ websites and watch on your computer straight from there.
If you’d prefer to watch on your TV you can look for the right cable to connect your computer to your TV, that might be an HDMI cable or S-Video, VGA, etc. it depends on your TV and computer.
If you want a more standard TV watching experience, you could get an inexpensive box like a Boxee Box or Roku Box, they will connect to your TV, allow you to control them from your couch using a simple remote and they will let you connect to services such as Hulu Plus.
Keep in mind that you won’t be able to immediately access every show as soon as it goes live on TV and you won’t be able to access all the content your cable subscription gives you access to.
CNN and Fox News both have free video streams, but you won’t always see exactly the same show that is being aired on their TV channels. CNN has an option to watch their TV channel online, but it requires you sign in with your cable’s username and password, so dropping your cable subscription would also mean dropping that benefit. Fox News works regardless.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Boingo: Two months of FREE Boingo WiFi Service available at hundreds of thousands of hotspots worldwide
Dane-Elec: Marvel Classic Heroes 4GB USB Drives – Spiderman, Iron Man & Wolverine
Solar Components: Several JOOS Orange Portable Solar Chargers – Designed to charge all personal electronic devices (cell phones, smart phones, MP3 players, GPS devices, portable game devices and more)