Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Barbara in Wasilla, Alaska listening on KBYR 700 AM asked: “I live up in Alaska and a lot of times we get cold temperatures, sometimes 20 below. If you have your laptop with you, and you leave it in the car while you run errands, sometimes the temperature in a car gets pretty cold. How bad is it for your laptops and tablets to be in those temperatures? Does it ruin them, or should you take them out of the car when you go run errands?”
You might want to consider taking them with you. It’s best to not leave valuable electronics in your car. Possible theft is another reason to take it with you, but electronics tend not to fare too well especially in low temperatures, a lot of components can not function correctly in cold weather.
LCD screen for example are made up of tiny liquids that can solidify at temperatures below freezing, hard drives on laptops generally use liquids instead of ball bearings to help them spin, those can also freeze at low enough temperatures (and 20 below is definitely cold enough), batteries are also capable of working only at a set temperature range.
Those problems are usually reversed when the device is warmed back up, but that can bring with it it’s own problems… sometimes warming brings with it condensation, and condensation is not good for electronics.
So, will they be ruined? They can be, in part by that potential condensation and in part because the stress of the cold temperatures may actually shorten the life of the individual components, and obviously without them, the device won’t work.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer
Reports Feature with Mike Gikas
The LG Spectrum, one of several promising smart phones announced at CES last month, has just became available on Verizon. But how does it stack up against the competition? Mike Gikas, Senior Editor for Consumer Reports gives us his first-look review.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For Android:
• Mark recommends: Google Currents, FREE
“Beautiful magazine software for your Android device. Lets you choose from a variety of publications, downloads articles and pictures, reformats them for your device. Very cool user interface shows photos to select articles. Swipe to navigate. Download is intensive, so be sure to set it for Wi-Fi only and charging only. A faster phone with more storage and a 4G network is recommended. Currents is free in the Android Market.” — Mark
For iOS:
• Rob recommends: TurboScan, $1.99
“For $1.99, it turns your iPhone into a mobile scanner for documents, pictures. receipts, notes, business cards. After you scan your document, you can print or email them as PDFs or JPEGs. You can adjust the brightness of each scan. It also has a SureScan feature that will take 3 images for a sharp scan. This version of TurboScan doesn’t do OCR, but they do have one for $3.99.”
• Chris recommends: Fatify, FREE
“Fatify makes you fat AND animates your face in 3D! Your chunky-self will smile, blink, yawn and react when you tap and swipe. Fatify your friends and family, and send them a video!”
Before
AfterChris Fatified on video
• Andrew the intern recommends: RedLaser, Free
“RedLaser allows you to scan any barcode or QR code, and then it compares the prices of the product with those online, and at nearby stores.”
What are your favorite apps?Let us know!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Mark Grossman, Tech Lawyer, Manhattan based law firm – eComputerLaw.com
Mark is a tech lawyer, author and public speaker who assists businesses with deals and other issues involving technology like cloud computing and licensing, telecom and outsourcing.
Listener Ron asked: “How do I determine if my computer can run the 64 bit version of Windows 7 as opposed to the 2 bit version? I am running a Quad 9550 CPU with Windows XP 32 bit version.”
The first problem you’re going to face is: Microsoft won’t let you directly upgrade from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64 bit version. If your computer has a 64-bit chip, you should still be able to run a 64-bit edition of Windows, but you will need to perform a clean installation, which will wipe your files, so be sure to back everything up first.
The easiest way to know if your computer can run a 64-bit version of Windows 7 is to go to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Page.
You may want to check in to what is called an “OEM” or “System Builder” license to Windows 7. Last time we checked, the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium could be purchased for $99 in this version. That’s upgrade price territory, for sure! Now, you do give up Microsoft tech support for that price, you’ll be entirely on your own if problems crop up, but let’s be serious here — how many times has Microsoft actually helped a consumer get Windows working on their PC? You’re better off calling a geek friend, or asking us, when a problem crops up.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Honestech: VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe – Capture old VHS, Beta, 8mm or camcorder tapes and convert them to DVD, Blu-ray or other digital formats.
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!