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Tech News & Commentary
George in Shreveport, Louisiana listening on News Radio 710 KEEL asked: “I have an Android phone and an Android tablet. I keep hearing people talk about rooting and jail-breaking. What are the advantages and disadvantages of those and is it something I would want to do?”
Both rooting and jail-breaking will give apps low level access to the operating system, that means that they will be able to do much more than the OS would’ve otherwise allowed them to do.
That might mean, for example, that an app can force the processor to run faster than the manufacturer intended, or it may just mean changing the color of the status bar at the top of the screen, or something similar — as an example.
Rooted devices can also run other version of the operating system that were not released by the devices’ manufacturers, that means that if you’re unhappy with the particular customization of Android that came with your phone or tablet, you can install a different one.
Rooting your device can give you access to restricted areas of your phone or tablet’s memory, so for example, you can delete apps that came bundled in with the device and are of no use to you, but you can’t just choose to uninstall through normal means.
The advantages of rooting are simple: you can do more, you can choose your version of the OS, let your apps take care of stuff they wouldn’t normally be allowed to do, and have access to extra functions yourself. The disadvantages are that you are making your device do things the manufacturer did not intend for that device to do.
That means that you are on your own if something goes wrong, if you overclock your phone and it’s processor gets fried, it’s on you, if you root and a rogue app changes some setting you did not want changed, it’s your problem, you’re give up your warranty when you root and no one will put things back to normal for you for free.
You also lose the layer of security that sand-boxing gives you, you’re allowing apps to step out of bounds and not ask permission to do everything, so malicious apps can do far more damage than they can do on a non-rooted device.
Whether you want to look into it or not, is up to you, by doing it you gain some freedom, but take on some extra risks. If you’re happy with the way your devices are now, you might want to leave them alone, if if you think there’s something missing that rooting them can provide for you, then think about it.
It is important to note that while it may not be hard to root an Android device or jailbreak an iOS device, going back might be more difficult than you would think. Rooting an Android device means you are replacing the ROMs in the device with new ones by overwriting the version of Android your wireless provider shipped with the device. If you decide you want to go back, good luck with trying to find the ROM images to restore it. You’ll likely have to visit your wireless provider’s store and ask them for help restoring it.
An iOS device is a bit easier, as you can connect it with iTunes and restore the factory software. But just be careful before you make the decision to become a tech rebel. It’s easier to get there than to get back.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports
with Jim Willcox
What is Mobile High-definition Link and should you care about it? Absolutely is the answer to the latter question, says Consumer Reports. Senior Editor Jim Willcox explains why.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
For iOS:
• Mark recommends: Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion, FREE
“It’s time once again for more advice from the fat guy! My app this week is Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion. I’m using the iPad version of the app and unfortunately it’s not yet available for Android. Since they have both Android and iPhone versions of their basic mobile app, let’s hope they off this for Android users also. You can select recipes based on the time it takes to make them, the ingredients you have on hand, or the number of points plus per serving you want to eat. It also ranks them based on how hard they are to prepare. You get a great picture of how it should turn out, and easy to follow instructions for preparation. If you’re trying to lose weight on the Weight Watchers plan, and you have an iPad, get the Kitchen Companion. It’s free, as long as you’re a member. It DOES require a sign on to an active Weight Watchers account.”
— Mark
• Rob recommends: YouTube, FREE
“New YouTube app for iOS. As many of you know, Apple continues to break ties with Google. iOS 6 doesn’t have a stock version of the YouTube app. So, google created a new YouTube app you can download. I downloaded and loved it. The look is a lot cleaner on the iPhone, works faster and is more reliable with a good Internet connection. The app is of course free to download. The interface I think is much improved. It goes more with the Internet browser version. The quality of the videos is awesome! I encourage you to try it on your iDevice.”
— Rob• Chris recommends: The Simpsons: Tapped Out, FREE
“The app that has completely sucked up all my free time lately (which isn’t much these days) is The Simpsons: Tapped Out. Yes, it’s a complete time waster. Think of it as The Sims meets Farmville but with characters from the Simpsons. The description says “Homer accidentally caused a meltdown that wiped out springfield. Now it’s up to you to rebuild it.” You earn money and donuts in the game by completing tasks like making Apu work extra long shifts at the Kwik-E-Mart, having Homer do things like lounge in the pool, break into a house to watch TV, and so on. You add more characters to the game as you progress until you collect all the characters and have them all doing wacky jobs. Like Farmville, this is a social game. You can visit your friends’ “Springfields” and help them complete tasks to earn more money. The Simpsons: Tapped out is free for the iPad and iPhone.”
— ChrisTune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
Guests in this hour:
Tim McDonough, Vice President of Marketing – Qualcomm
How important is the mobile processor in your smartphone or tablet? How does it affect how well it can perform? Tim shares some important information and tips for all consumers in the market for a new wireless device.
Patrick in Nashville, Tennessee listening on Supertalk 99.7 WTN asked: “I love this new option that many of the new routers have that you can plug in a USB device and access it wirelessly. I did that with a small USB drive. I can access the files on the drive but I cannot save to that drive from other wireless devices. I’m wondering if that’s not a feature that you can go both ways with it, or if I’m missing something.”
It all depends on your particular router, but there is typically an option somewhere on the settings that will let you choose whether the drive should be treated as read-only or not, and sometimes even who can write to it.
For example, a router may let anyone on the network access it, but only let users with administrator privileges write to it, or it may not let anyone without a password see any files, let regular users with a password access the files, and only let administrators save files to the drive.
Without knowing what particular brand and model you’re using, we can’t really tell you exactly how to set it up, or whether it’s even possible, but if your router comes with a USB port, there’s almost certainly an option to enable writing on the drive, check your manual if you have one or the settings on the drive. If you don’t, it should be pretty obvious when you see it.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Kay from Indiana listens via TuneIn Radio asked: “What do cloud services provide that services like SugarSync and DropBox don’t? Would you please compare the 2 kinds of services?”
It depends on what you mean by “cloud services.” SugarSync will backup your data and let you access it remotel. Dropbox will let you share files with other people. Both are cloud services. They’re similar in the sense that they will store files for you and let you access them, but they’re different in what their purpose is, one is primarily a backup service, the other one is primarily a file sharing service.
Some cloud services are completely different though. Netflix’s instant video is a cloud service, and it has a totally different function. It doesn’t let the end user upload, share or back up and files. Online banking is a cloud service, as well.
Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive are both cloud services and they both let you create and share documents online. Your local government may let you look up your property taxes online or pay for them online, those are cloud services, the same goes for utilities in general.
Amazon will let you buy a book, keep it on it’s servers and read it on your web browser, that’s a cloud service. Checking a stock’s price in real time is a cloud service, so is webmail…most of what we do online these days is a cloud service, anything that is customized for you, or served specifically for you is probably a cloud service, pages that look and act the same for everyone are likely not, so cloud services can be hundreds of different things online.
The term “cloud” became used to describe any external network, in this case the Internet, because network diagrams used an image of a cloud connected to your own network by a pair of pipes to mean “data goes out from our network here, and then magic happens.” That’s also why you’ll hear people discuss the size of their “pipe” when talking about how fast their Internet connection is.
In short, “the cloud” simply means “not on my computer,” and thus refers to a vast array of potential services.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
John calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: ‘I’m calling in regards to my iMac. Do I need antivirus for it?”
Well, need … maybe not. There aren’t a lot of threats out there for Macs, but you may want one anyway for when one of those rare threats does pop up. And, they have been known to do so.
The thing about Mac anti-viruses is that they rarely ever even require updates. There are not a lot of new threats, and you can get a free one. It will rarely bother you, and when one of those threats does pop up, you’ll be protected.
The two most highly regarded free antivirus programs for your Mac are Sophos Free Antivirus for Mac or ClamXav (Clam Antivirus for Mac OS X). Both are reliable name brands and either one would protect your Mac well, should you feel the need to protect it.
However, unless you spend a lot of time surfing websites you wouldn’t tell your grandmother about or you like clicking links in random emails to see where they take you, you’re probably okay without one.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Corrosion Technologies: Several bottles of CorrosionX — A few squirts of CorrosionX clean contacts & connections & keep them protected for months (in salt spray environments) to years.
Dane-Elec: Several 8GB USB Flash Drives from Marvel’s The Avengers Collection
Ergotron: A Universal Tablet Cradle — This accessory converts a monitor mount to hold a tablet or eReader. Works with most popular tablets and eReaders, including Apple iPad, Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle.
iolo Technologies: Copies of System Mechanic 11 – PC Tune-up Software
SMS Audio: “Street By 50” Wired headphones in black or white. We brought ’em back from 50 Cent and our interview in Berlin.