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This week Dave and Rob bring you highlights from the “Go Further with Ford” 2012 Trends Conference in Dearborn, Michigan. Learn about some of the newest car technology headed your way very soon. Also, Mark, Chris, and Andrew answer more of your tech questions in our radio studio.
Tech News & Commentary
Daniel in Milbrook, Alabama asked: “I’m thinking about getting a tablet and I was wondering which is one of the better tablet that are reasonably priced? And I stress “reasonably.” What OS do you prefer on the tablets? Or do you think it would be better to get a small laptop. I’m kinda pulling between both. I like the tablets because they’re touchscreen and as I understand it, the inexpensive laptops are not.”
If you’re looking for “reasonably” priced, you’re pretty much priced out of any tablet hovering around the 10″ mark, you’re looking at smaller 7″ tablets, like the Kindle Fire of the Nexus 7.
Of the 7″ tablets, the Nexus 7 would probably be the first one we’d recommend, you can get it for $199, it comes with a quad core processor and a 12-core graphics processor and it runs Jelly Bean, the otherwise still unreleased version of Android.
The Kindle Fire is the other big contender, it’s OS is a little more limited, you don’t get access to the Google Play Store, you don’t get a dual core processor and you’re still paying $199 for it, but Amazon’s media and app library is good, and you do get access to that.
As for laptop or tablet, what are you going to be doing with your device? if you’re just gonna be consuming media and not doing an awful lot of typing, then a tablet would work for you, if you’re going to e working on documents or doing anything more involved than watching a movie, looking at pictures, reading a book or playing basic games then a laptop may be better for you, it all depends on your intended use of the device.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For iOS:
• Mark recommends: iThoughts HD, $9.99
“This week it’s another iOS app for my iPad. I’m not certain how all YOUR minds work, but when I’m making notes on something, using an outline doesn’t really match how I think. An outline implies that the things on top are more important, or must be done first, or at the very list the things listed on lower outline levels are less important. When I’m planning something, I start with a central idea and then branch off in all directions. Every branch and leaf might be of equal importance, and some process in one chain of events might be linked to a process buried somewhere else. What THAT’S called is a “mind map,” and iThoughts HD is a new mind-mapping app that I’ve bought for my iPad. With it, I can start with a central thought and branch out in all directions, linking things as needed. I find it to be a much more natural way to plan something. There are YouTube videos on iThoughts that demonstrate this unusual product and I encourage you to check them out before you buy. Yes, buy, because this app will cost you $9.99. $10 isn’t a lot of money, but it’s the same amount that you’d pay for Pages or Keynote, so you want to be sure you’re interested in THIS app before you charge up that credit card.”
— Mark
• Chris recommends: First Aid by American Red Cross, FREE
“I’m going to take a break from my “useless time waster” apps this week to talk about probably the single most helpful app in the App store. And it’s an app everyone (especially those with kids) should have. The app is First Aid by American Red Cross. The app will guide you step by step on how to treat all sorts of first aid needs. Everything from treating a minor cut or an asthma attack, to choking or a broken bone. There are short video clips for each item to make it very easy to learn what to do. There are different tabs in the app. The first tab will allow you to learn about first aid and it will quiz you. There is a larger “emergency” tab that you click on in case of an emergency. You then select the subject, such as a burn, choking, heart attack and so on. The next page will then guide you step by step how to treat the patient. If one of the steps is to call 911, there is a button on that page that will connect you directly to a 911 operator so you don;t have to worry about trying to close the app and switching over to the phone. The app is free for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. There is also an Android version in the Google Play Store.” — Chris
• Andrew recommends: Forkly, FREE
“Have you every been out to eat some where new, and the server brings your food out, and it looks great? Of course you pull out your trusty smart phone and take a picture, posting it on facebook, or text it to a friend. You know #foodporn. Well Forkly is a free app for iPhone, soon to be released on android, that brings social networking to dinner time. Forkly lets you post pictures of food items so that others can comment review or just ask where you got that from. My favorite thing about Forkly is that I can search my local area for different places to eat. Which allows me to find some good eats rather then the same boring corporate chain restaurants.” — Andrew
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
Joshua in Miami, Florida listens online asked: “Routers … I’m wondering if it’s possible to daisy-chain multiple routers. I have a couple setups where I need a really strong Wi-Fi signal in several different rooms. For some reason, the walls of the house prevent Wi-Fi from traveling around the house. For some reason, I am not able to use a Wi-Fi repeater. So I’m wondering if it’s possible to daisy-chain up to three or four routers together to give each room a really strong wi-fi signal.”
Short answer? No, you really can’t daisy-chain routers. While you can physically connect routers together (in fact, that’s how the Internet works — a network of networks), each time one router connects with another that creates another network.
What you want is a wireless access point, not a wireless router. You run a wired connection from your current router to wherever you need the better signal, and then connect a wireless access point there. The access point will extend the reach of whatever network it’s connected with.
A wireless repeater relies on the wireless signal reaching from the router to the repeater, and in some cases it won’t. The access point uses a wired connection, so there’s no worry about it connecting with your network.
Many wireless routers have a switch that let them also work as wireless access points, so don’t assume that you have to buy something that’s only an access point.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Charles in Shreveport, Louisiana listens on 710 KEEL asked: “I bought a house from my mother and she left owing a huge cable bill. We can’t get cable Internet because they think we’re trying to get around paying her bill. We live just outside of the range for DSL. I’m wondering if we have any options at all of getting high speed Internet outside of the regular AT&T network or through the cable, because those options are out for us. We really need our high-speed Internet”
You can look into satellite internet. WildBlue has plans starting at $49.99 in Shreveport that could get you up to 5 mbps, it is capped to 7GB a month though.
If you get strong cellphone service at home you could also get a MiFi, it will also be capped and it will likely by slower than those 5 mbps that WildBlue claims you’ll get, but you may get faster service if you’re in an LTE area for either AT&T or Verizon.
Also, Charles, you could try talking to the cable company, you could see if they’ll agree to a payment plan or you could even tell them “I’m not the woman that owes you, can I please have some service?”
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Willie in Columbia, Missouri asked: “Are there any talking Apps out there for the iPhone4? My co-worker has a not so new LG G2X phone that has a Talking App. You can ask it questions and it give very detailed answers.”
There are a couple of options out there for you. Apps like Vlingo, Google Search, and Dragon Go, can be good options for you. All these apps are free from the App store, and do Some things you are looking for.
Dragon Go is a cool app, that really works well with understanding what you are trying to say, and the intent behind it. Ask Dragon Go a question and it will take you online to the best web page to get your answer.
Google Search may not be exactly what you want, but it works very well. Now google search will allow voice search a question on google, but It wont talk back and give you an answer. It will just take you to the best possible website to answer your question.
Vlingo may be what you are looking for. Its the closest thing to the famous Siri available. just ask Vlingo a question, and it will talk back to you. Now Vlingo isn’t as polished as Siri but still offers really good features to what you need. Short of jailbreaking your phone and putting Siri on it, Vlingo is gonna be the way to go. Try it out and let us know how that works for you.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Patricia in Durham, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 AM asked: “I tried to download Google voicemail but it wouldn’t let me because it said my cricket communications was not compatible. That’s a bummer. Second, I like the timeline on Facebook because it allows me to go to a certain year if I was looking for a comment or a post that was made on a friend’s page. If I want my different years to not be available, I can post it to be either public or friends, or specific people. It has more control than it does the old way, so get with the program guys.”
There are similar problems setting up Google Voice’s voicemail on some Verizon phones. The Google support forums have some helpful suggestions including how to use call forwarding to make this work. Although Cricket Communications wasn’t one of the wireless providers mentioned, the situation sounds similar enough that you should at least give it a try.
I had to jump through those hoops when setting up Google Voice as my voicemail provider on my Verizon Droid 4. Once I’d punched in the proper codes, however, it worked fine and won’t require me to enter them again.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
| HOUR 1 GUESTS | ||
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| Driving simulator | Tom Artushin – Ford | Demoing the wind tunnel |
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| Plug in charger | Back to police work | Behind the wheel of a police car |
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Boingo: Several 60-day Certificates — With Boingo you can connect online at free and paid Wi-Fi hotspots.
Kingston: 16GB SD memory cards and a MobileLite G3 (USB 3.0 Card Reader)
Idea Incubator: Several txtRng — “the stylus with style”. This is a unique stylus Rob recently featured it on our Product Spotlight.
Radio Shack: Auvio Element Earbuds with Microphone