Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Tech News & Commentary
John in Milford, Michigan, listenign on CKLW 800 and – calling in via the App asked: “In regards to processor speed, memory and available apps, what is the best tablet on the market today?”
That’s kind of a tough question to answer.
Different tablets run different OSs under different architectures, so comparing them is not very easy.
If you go strictly by the power of the processor and the amount of RAM, Windows tablets will likely come out on top, the problem is, that may not reflect the actual end user experience. Windows 8, as much as it is more mobile than Windows 7, is not entirely built as a mobile OS, so the more powerful processor, and the extra RAM may not actually lead to a more satisfying user experience when compared to iOS or Android.
The programming languages each platform uses also has an impact. C and C-based languages are built to be super efficient, so anything built on C will likely be much snappier and resource friendly than something built on Java, that complicates things from Android and gives iOS and C-based Windows programs an edge.
The best or worst is probably less determinable by hardware and more by the use you want to give it, one could be the best for: gaming, the best for: productivity tools, the best for: integration with a certain technology, but it’s hard to judge them purely on hardware potential when so many things about each one makes them different from each other.
And we also have to say that it depends on how you define “tablet.” For example, we agree that the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Note 10, Nexus 7, and Kindle Fire HD are all tablets, right? But what about the Microsoft Surface? Well, are we talking Surface RT or Surface Pro? Both are the same form factor, in fact they are impossible to tell apart at a distance. But the Surface RT runs a version of the Windows mobile OS, while the Surface Pro is a full-fledged Windows computer in a tablet form factor. And, as we already said, a tablet running Windows 8, the full edition of Windows 8 and not the mobile version, will have far and away the most powerful processors and the most RAM and storage.
So let’s leave you with this. There are really two great choices to make with respect to tablets: iOS (Apple) or Android (Google). Windows RT, the mobile version, didn’t catch on when Microsoft gave it a six month head start over the Surface Pro, and in our opinion it will fade away as people either choose the Surface Pro or stick with iOS and Android. So visit the local Apple store, try and ignore the condescension and arrogance, and check out an iPad. They are very, very good. Then hit up the local Best Buy and check out a Samsung Galaxy Note 10, which is just about as good a representative of Android tablets as you can find. Then make your decision.
Honestly, you won’t go wrong with either.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Feature With Terry Sullivan
A few years ago, GoPro reinvented the sports camcorder market with its line of small, compact models. Consumer Reports Associate Editor Terry Sullivan joins us with a review of the latest GoPro camera, the Hero 3 Black Edition.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• James recommends: Thread, FREE
“You ever had that problem where your phone rings and all it says is Bob, but you can’t remember if it’s your friend Bob or that one Bob you can’t stand talking to? Then you’re gonna want to download my app of the week. It’s called Thread, it was premiered at this year’s South by Southwest conference. Thread is the ultimate caller i.d. basically, when you receive a call not only will the caller’s name appear but also their last facebook or twitter post, text message or email exchange you had with them. Think of it as sort of like the anti-stalker caller i.d., fighting fire with fire. The only catch is, you gotta have a Droid to download it. Lulz!
” — James
• Mark recommends: iReddit. , FREE
“Reddit calls itself the “front page of the Internet.” To try and explain Reddit is a challenge, but it’s very much like an index to things all over the Internet that other people find interesting enough to link on Reddit. You’ll find pictures, videos, news stories, message board posts, and quite literally everything you can imagine. Reddit is where the “cool kids” hang out on the Internet these days, but we don’t mean cool as in popular and good looking, we mean cool as in they hack in to the school’s computer and give themselves A’s in every class. iReddit brings Reddit browsing to your iPad. You can give it a shake and it’ll take you to some random story, or you can browse specific categories. It’s faster and simpler to navigate than using Reddit itself in your web browser, so if you’re already a fan of Reddit, or you’re someone who isn’t easily shocked or offended and you’re willing to take a walk on the completely unfiltered side of the Internet, you’ll find iReddit in your Apple App Store, and it’s free.” — Mark
• Chris recommends: MOG, FREE
“The app I’m highlighting this week is MOG. It stands for “Music on the Go.” I have been using this app constantly lately. Now, even though the App is free, you do need to have a premium paid account with MOG in order to use it. That’ll cost you ten bucks a month. It may sound pricey, but I feel it’s worth it. MOG is a music on demand service that’ll give you access to (they claim) 16 million songs. I have tried to stump it with some pretty obscure songs and so far, I’ve been able to hear everything I’ve searched for. I used to use Pandora but of course Pandora isn’t “on Demand” so when you type in the name of a song, it’ll play stuff that is similar and it may or may not get around to playing the song you are looking for. What IS similar to Pandora, is once it has played the song you want, you can turn on MOG Radio, which will then play either other songs from that same artist, similar artists or a combination of the two. MOG does have two other account levels that allow you to listen on your computer, but not a mobile device. One is free and is ad-supported and the other is five bucks a month for no ads and unlimited music. But again, if you want to use the app for mobile listening it’ll cost you ten bucks a month.
” — Chris
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Ted Green, President – Greenview Data (SpamStopsHere & RestoreMail)
Are your emails backed up and archived in case of an emergency? Ted offers an email archiving service called RestoreMail.
Karl in St. Joseph, Michigan listening on WSJM 94.9 called in and asked: “Republic Wireless: There was an article in the Wall Street Journal about them as a low-cost, no-contract Smartphone option. For somebody that’s not looking to use the web that much it seems reasonable. Are you familiar with it? Is the quality of service such that it is a good buy?”
Karl, Republic may or may not be a good choice for you, it’s certainly not for everybody, but it is super cheap. Their unlimited voice, text and data plan costs $19, that’s obviously the good… here’s the less good:
Republic has a limited choice of phones: One… you get to either choose a customized Motorola Defy, or choose to go with a different cellphone company.
Republic also doesn’t offer MMS, if that matters to you, but since pretty much everyone has a smartphone and you can send pictures and videos a million other ways using their included data, that’s not necessarily a huge problem unless you need to send pictures to old phones.
They also route calls via WiFi for, in their words, “when cell coverage is…shall we say, less than awesome.” so maybe you should expect cell coverage to be “less than awesome” pretty regularly.
Another issue is that there is no Wi-Fi to cell handoff for calls so if you’re home, and using WiFi to get around that “less than awesome” coverage, and have to suddenly walk out, you will drop that call.
Karl, we have a feeling that bigger problem may not even be not using the web that much, the problem may come from trying to use the phone at all off of WiFi… Data or voice.
Republic may be a case of … “you get what you pay for”, it probably won’t be fantastic service, but you’re paying the dollar cost of 3 large McDonald’s meals a month for unlimited phone service.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Michael in New Jersey listens to the Podcast sent the following email: “I’m often stuck trying to find old work emails on my work pc that I have in Outlook 2007. My IT department requires me to archive messages into Outlook PST files since they only provide 100mb. Do you know of a solution that will index/search both my inbox and all the PST files that Ive created. This would save me some time in finding old emails that Ive saved.
On a related note:
I have tried windows instant search and Google Desktop and while I appreciated the experience with google desktop, it only searched the inbox only. Microsoft seems to do the same with instant search.”
Outlook will do this for you, actually. If you have the PST files loaded (you should see them on the navigation pane if you do, all you have to do is select the “All Mail Items” option on your search pane and it should search all PST files.
If you don’t have the PST files open, you should be able to open them from File/Open/Open Data file and browsing to the file.
If that doesn’t work for you and you want a 3rd party tool, you can look at Email Xaminer or File Locator Pro, or X1 they can all scan PSTs and they won’t require you to have them open in Outlook, which can have an impact on performance if you have many PST files of it they’re very big.
You mentioned the Windows search tool and Google Desktop, if you WANT one search tool to rule them all, you can check out Lookeen. The standard version of this software sells for about $70, and it will not only search multiple Outlook PST files without having to mount them in Outlook, but it will also perform a full search of all files on your computer. Looken can even create a shared index, to speed up searches if you access the same set of PSTs on a regular basis, and it will share these indexes with other users, if you wish, so they can search faster also.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Fred in Baton Rouge, Louisiana listening on 107.3 WBRP calls in and asks: “Just got a new computer with a DVD recorder on it. I don’t know what the differences between DVD minus R and DVD plus R. I’d like an explanation what DVD minus R does and is that what I’d be using to download music and videos?”
The formats are not very different. They’re basically a little like HD-DVD and Blu-ray. They were supported by different industry giants, but they’re so similar. That neither one of them really stopped existing. DVD+R does technically have some advantages, but they’re so minimal that they may not even justify the fact that the discs are more expensive.
If you want to store music and videos that you download, either one will work, and they’ll both have almost exactly the same amount of storage. So you can use either and as long as your drive can handle both, you’ll be fine.
The “plus” formats are somewhat newer than the “minus” formats (which according to the standards bodies should be pronounced “dash” and not “minus,” as in DVD dash R) and have advantages when you are using the DVD discs for data storage on a computer. However, the DVD-R “minus” format write-once disc is still considered to be the most compatible computer-burned DVD option you have. If you’re making a DVD movie for someone and you have no idea what sort of device they have for playback, DVD-R is your safest bet.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo — A clever solution to tangled earbuds.
Iolo: System Mechanic – Fix and speed up your PC… Automatically.
Magellan: eXplorist 610 – Premium, rugged, handheld GPS with camera, microphone and speaker to record all your actions in the outdoors.
Yamaha: PDX-11 Portable Speaker — Free your iPod and iPhone music for your active Lifestyle.