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Tech News & Commentary
Dani in San Francisco, California listening online asked: “If Apple won’t put Siri on the new iPad because it needs an Internet connection, why would they put the voice dictation? Couldn’t they have put Siri on it, too?”
We could spend all day trying to figure out why Apple does things the way they do. And to be honest, While Siri is very helpful to have on the phone, especially while you’re driving… how often are you going to pull out your iPad while you’re behind the wheel to try and look something up? (Hopefully never!) So, I’m sure they thought about those things when they were developing these products.
More people tend to use their phones to quickly look up where the closest restaurant is, or to get directions. You can see where Siri would come in handy for that. iPad users tend to sometimes use them as laptop replacements (to an extent) and being able to dictate an e-mail or search the web using voice commands can save a lot of time (and aggravation of trying to type on the touchscreen.)
In the end, no one outside of Apple knows why the iPad has Voice Dictation, but not Siri. We don’t know the terms under which Apple acquired Siri (remember, they bought the company that made Siri — they didn’t invent it themselves). What we do know is that Siri connects to network servers specific to itself, to understand and process user interactions. Perhaps those servers would be overloaded by millions more iPad users? We already hear stories of Siri struggling to keep up at times. Perhaps Apple just wants to have some feature unique to their phones, not also shared by their tablets or computers? If we ever find out definitively what the reason is, we’ll be sure and report it!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer
Reports Feature with Mike Gikas
HTC recently unveiled its new One series line of ultra slim smart phones. Consumer Reports Senior Editor Mike Gikas had a chance to try them out and shares his thoughts with us.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For Android:
• Listener Kristin in Anchorage, Alaska — listening on KBYR recommends: Draw Something, FREE
“Hi Dave! “Draw Something” is what my friends and I are all into now. Fun. A bit slow on updates, but it is good for a laugh.”
Examples:
Elton, by Rob’s Sister
Javeline, by Rob
• Jack in Blackfoot, Idaho listens on 690AM KBLY and recommends: VOXER, FREE
“Voxer lets you send instant audio, text, photo and location messages to one or a group of your friends. Your friends can listen to your message while you talk or check it out later. this works really well if your driving and you don’t want to take your hands off the wheel to send a text message out. (push to talk) was very popular a few years back, maybe Voxer will be bringing that feature back to all mobile devices. It’s also available for iPhones”
For iOS:
• Rob recommends: Tongue Twister Pro, $1.99
“I was able to download it for free, during a promotional period. The app contains a ton of tongue twisters that will have you laughing (when you mess up the words). I started to use them as a way to avoid getting my tongue twisted while we record our ITTV videos. Chris taught me to say ‘Unique. New York.’ Now, I’ve moved on to tongue twisters to exercise my tongue and help my speech. Sometimes I ramble my words or stutter. I think it’s a fun and productive app.”
— Rob• Chris recommends: Smithsonian Channel for iPad, FREE
“Most people are familiar with the Smithsonian Institution – mostly for their collection of museums. A lot of people don’t know that they also have their own TV network – the Smithsonian Channel. They have a lot of shows that go deep into the history, not only of our great nation, but of the world. Being a history buff, I love this app. This app offers a lot of full episodes and tons of clips from their programs. There is a place in the app where you choose keywords from subjects you are interested in, and it will build a custom playlist for you. Then you can sit back and watch hours of video. If you like a show, you can search for it on their channel guide to you can catch more episodes on TV – if you get the channel. Again, it’s for the iPad, and it’s free.'”
What are your favorite apps?Let us know!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
David Gewirtz, Columnist – ZDNet
With the release of a new iPad, many still question if it’s worth buying it or not. Our next guest is going to share some of his “16 reasons NOT to buy a new iPad (including 7 that haven’t changed from earlier iPads).”
Tom in Shreveport, Louisiana listening on 710 KEEL asked: “What about the new AT&T Note? That kind of hybrid between a notebook and a tablet. Is that good and is it going to last? What would be the benefit to owning one of those? And what about the Apple – will it ever play the Flash player?”
As with all phones and tablets whether or not you’ll like the Galaxy Note is up to you, but it’s a tough sell. People complain about 7-inch tablets being too small to be more useful than smartphones as it is. This thing has a 5-inch screen, but then again, it’s too big to comfortably carry around.
The difference in screen sizes doesn’t really make it much more useful than any other phone with a big screen. And while the little stylus pen and the ability to add notes to documents and pictures with it is cool, it may not be cool enough to choose it over other phones or tablets that have other features, many of which you might get more use out of. On the positive side, it’s a 4G LTE phone, it has a good camera that can record 1080p video and a crisp and obviously big screen.
Ultimately, if you like the big screen, the phone’s for you. If you don’t, it’s not. The Note will probably stay as a niche phone, more than a mass appeal one like the Galaxy S line.
About Apple and Flash, no, you won’t see Apple using Flash… but you won’t see anyone else using Flash either soon.
Adobe discontinued Flash support for mobile platforms and they seem to be starting to focus on HTML5 products. The truth is that Steve Jobs was right about flash, it’s a very inefficient battery hog and it doesn’t play all that nice with mobile devices, so the transition to HTML5 should be good for end users, but the time in between will have Apple users deprived from using “the full web”.
Remember also that the Samsung Galaxy Note isn’t the first 5-inch phone-tablet hybrid. The Dell Streak 5 struggled to find customers, eventually being replaced by the Dell Streak 7 with its larger screen size. Samsung also has a history of building products without any clearly established market for them, and sometimes that’s turned out okay. The original Samsung Galaxy Tab stood out from the iPad because it had a smaller screen, and today we accept that there are 7-inch tablets and there are 10-inch tablets (or sizes close enough to those for government work).
Because the Galaxy Note runs Android and is built by Samsung, there isn’t really a danger in buying one. You’ll be able to get apps for it, and its warranty service will be honored. Will it spawn apps aimed at its pen interface or in-between screen size? Hard to say. But if it appeals to you, then buy one! And then let us know how you like it!
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Listener Dave asked: “Is there a wireless IP Camera available that doesn’t require computer for a wired setup? For example, I am traveling without a computer and stay in a hotel room that has public Wi-Fi, I’d like to be able to take out my wireless camera (programmed with my FTP info, or email info) and just plug it in and have it start sending images.
It seems every camera requires wired setup with a computer at that location? How come none of them will work by themselves on a free public Wi-Fi without a computer?”
It doesn’t work that way because in order for the camera to access a wireless network, free or otherwise, it needs to be configured to connect to that particular wi-fi network. Every camera is a little different. However, they all generally need to be configured via a computer on the same network as the camera.
On a computer, it’s easy to just click on the name of a network and have it connect. It’s not so simple for these cameras. You need to be able to go into a setup menu and tell the camera which wi-fi network to look for, and input any network keys, if it’s a secured network. Once you do that and the configuration is saved on the camera, you can usually unplug the network cable and use the WiFi.
You mentioned trying to use it at a hotel, while you are traveling. A lot of hotels (and public hotspots) require you to log into the wi-fi by clicking something in your browser, even if it’s a free network. Sometimes all you need to do is click an “accept” button and then you are connected. Unfortunately, in these cases, you won’t be able to use these cameras, as the camera, obviously, has no way of clicking any buttons.
There’s also the issue of adapting your network to your camera, a lot of cameras require that you forward a port to them so you can access them remotely, you won’t have access to the settings of a hotel router, so you won’t be able to forward any ports or change their configuration in any way, in fact, even the hotel might not have access to the router if they’re using a third party to maintain their network.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Victor in Buffalo, Missouri listens to the podcast asked: “I’m wondering if these Wi-Fi antennas would work on a PS3 next door, if they will pick up he Wi-Fi Signal. Also, on that KidsTech … The MicroViewer is gonna make a great birthday present for my grandkids!”
WiFi antennas like the C.Crane Super WiFi USB antenna won’t work with the PS3. There are some guides online that show how to crack open the PS3 and install different components that supposedly help the reception.
Having said that, if you need to improve the signal where the PlayStation is, your best bet is probably to set up a wireless access point to act as a repeater and boost the signal. If you do that the area where the PS3 is should get better WiFi coverage and you won’t need to make any changes to the guts of a very expensive electronic device.
If you don’t want to connect a second wireless access point, which would involve pulling an network cable to the new location, you can look at a wireless network range extender. Newegg.com sells a wide range of these devices costing anywhere from $50 to $100. We don’t have enough experience with specific models to offer a recommendation, but that’s what those Newegg.com product reviews are all about. Look ’em over and figure out which one sounds good.
These extenders do not require a network connection themselves, they’re simply repeating the Wi-Fi signal on the common frequencies.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Intuit: Copies of TurboTax Premier
ScanMyPhotos.com: Several $200.00 eGift Certificates that can be used towards your purchase of any of their online products, such as: Prepaid Photo Scanning Box, Prepaid Slide Box, or Prepaid VHS Transfer Box
ZAGG: A ZAGGkeys SOLO iPad & Tablet Keyboard – This is a high tech Bluetooth wireless tablet keyboard.