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Tech News & Commentary
Marly mentioned a solar keyboard, here’s a link to the Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750
Chris (female) in Columbia, Missouri listens via the iPhone App calling in via the FREE app: “We have a nook color that is 15 months old that is dead. we thought it was the battery. so we bought a new battery and found that wasn’t it. My husband is a mechanical engineer, and has tried working on it without success. I heard from you from a previous show about sending electronics in to an organization to be fixed that charges a flat fee, I was hoping you can share that info again? thanks, also Marly Q. is a great addition to the guys!”
We can’t recall any companies that will do repairs for a “flat” fee. There are, however places that will be able to repair your devices less expensively than the manufacturer.
One company that we’ve had on the show is called UBreakIFix. They have locations across the US, although we don’t see any in your area. They do, however offer mail-in repair. But check around, there are places in pretty much every major city that will do these type of repairs.
That really is your only option unless you decide to replace your unit all together. The Nooks only come with a one year warranty, so unfortunately, you’re about three months out of warranty.
One thing we can offer you for advice however, is this. Since the device is no longer under warranty, you’re probably going to look at replacing it. If you do, you should know that Barnes & Noble is planning to divest itself of the NOOK division, either by spinoff, sale, or outright closing. You might be better off looking at an Android tablet or iPad and using the NOOK app to read your books.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Feature With Donna Tapellini
There’s no need to sacrifice performance for portability if you’re looking to save a few bucks on a new laptop, says Consumer Reports. Senior Editor Donna Tapellini is here to tell us about a few the best inexpensive models.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Bert in Fort Lauderdale: Hailo, FREE
- “Hailo Is a Hellaciously Good Taxi-Hailing AppCity dwellers who rely on taxis will be happy to know the days of battling the elements to flag down a cab at the curb are on the way out. Chicagoans and Bostonians, you have a new way of hailing a cab. It’s called “Hailo,” and it lets you grab a taxi by app command, rather than an arm raise at the curb. Hailo is coming soon to New York and Washington, D.C., and already is available in Toronto and several European cities.”
- — Bert
• Mark recommends: Errands To-Do List, FREE
“Errands is another organizational tool (can you tell that my life is perpetually disorganized and hectic?) that I’ve been spending some time with lately. Errands lets you organize your tasks by groups and creates checklists and sub-checklists for the different things you need to be doing. You can assign dates and times to certain tasks, set up recurring tasks, and manually tap a button to alert the system that a particular task needs attention now. Errands is free, but if you upgrade it for $2.99, it uses iCloud to sync your errands between iDevices, offers a passcode lock for the app, and gives you a larger collection of alarm sounds. But the base system, for the average person, is extremely capable and worth checking out. Download Errands from the iTunes App Store.” — Mark
• Marly recommends: Sleep Time, $1.99
- “This app is a Smart Alarm clock that analyzes your sleep and wakes you up at the perfect moment of your lightest sleep phase. It keeps track of your awake time, light sleep time and REM cycle and also has an awesome sound library so waking up to an alarm has never been more pleasant! Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It’s optimized for iPhone 5. Sleep Time uses the sensitive accelerometer in your iPhone screen to detect movements during the night. It’s advanced algorithm determines your phase of sleep and sets off the alarm at the perfect moment within the tie window you’ve set your alarm for. The free version of the app gives you the last 5 days of your sleep activity, with the paid version you get weekly reports and heart beat monitor as well. Check it out and tell us how you like your Sleep Time! “
- — Marly
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
Google I/O: Dave and the gang discussed the latest news from Google I/O’s keynote.
Richard in Columbia, Missouri listens on KFRU asked: “I would like to know if people can appeal to companies to produce apps? I am interested in a field guide to north american birds by Robins, and I can’t seem to find it. I was wondering if I could appeal to a company to produce that app?”
You can try… they might not listen because making the app would be a long and expensive process and, unless they think there’s a real commercial interest, they will likely think it’s not worth the effort and expense, but again, you can try.
If it would work for you, you could also suggest an ebook that can be read on your phone, that would be far, far easier and cheaper to adapt from what they already have, so they might be swayed more easily.
One reason that a “field guide” to North American birds might not be available in an e-reader format is that it’s a FIELD guide, and thus assumed to be carried with you out into the wilds…where the birds are, and where water and dirt are — and other things that you likely don’t want your electronic devices around. In the end, perhaps paperback is best.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Joe asked: “You fellows know tech stuff inside out, so how about biometric deadbolt locks? I have had “professional” thieves looting my place for years so I installed a biometric lock. But, they can disarm the alarm and open the lock too. If I un-install the fingerprints so that there are no prints installed (they are numbered so I would know they’re gone) and just use number codes (change it again), can they spoof that too? Or is that what they are doing and I’d be better of just using the fingerprint function?”
If they can disarm the alarm and open the lock, they probably know more than we do!
We can tell you that some cheap electronic deadbolts don’t actually check the order in which you enter the combination as long as the right numbers are entered. So 1234 is the same to them as 4132. That’s pretty horrible in terms of security! Suddenly your lock goes from having 10,000 possible combinations to having 715 possible codes.
On top of that, shining a black light on the lock will show traces of sweat on a lot of keypads, which means that you can see the keys that are normally pressed. If you have one of those bad locks that don’t care about the order in which you enter the numbers and if the keys shine under a blacklight, they don’t need anything else. In that case, using the fingerprint scanner might be safer, but those things can be fooled too.
Assuming you have a better lock, we don’t know how they’d do it. But, if they can turn off your alarm, there’s a decent chance that they know a few tricks about good locks too, we just haven’t really found a way to consistently fool all locks.
Sorry, but you may have to contact some security experts instead of technology experts for this one. But please let us know.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Wireless Update with Chuck Hamby
Today, we all know to recycle our cellphones. But which wireless gadget also should be donated, not dumped? Verizon’s Chuck Hamby is here to say.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
HDRadio: FM/HD Insignia Table Top Radios with 10 presets
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo — Now with Dave’s face on them! — A clever solution to tangled earbuds.
iolo: Copies of: Drive Scrubber – Erase data so it can NEVER be recovered.
Touchfire: iPad Keyboards – The world’s thinnest, lightest iPad keyboard.