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Tech News & Commentary
Jerry in Detroit, Michigan listening on CKLW 800 asked us: “How can I play some of the app that are available for phones on my regular computer. I’ve used sendbackies, and other apps. I know I have to change my operation from Windows 8.1 to an android base system. But has someone finally come out with an android base operation that will work with Windows 8.1?”
There are a couple of ways to run Android apps on Windows right now, but they’re all pretty terrible, the only one we can really recommend is BlueStacks.
BlueStacks will open Android apps in a window for you to use, but remember that these apps are not built for computers, and even if you have a touch screen the buttons may not be in the most comfortable places, even if you have an accelerometer a computer may not be that easy or safe to tilt.
BlueStacks has been out for about 2 years, it hasn’t caught on more because computers can usually run much better software than mobile apps, you may be better off looking for programs that use the power your computer offers.
Although it only supports Android 4.01 ICS, YouWave is another Android emulator for Windows. The one advantage that YouWave has over BlueStacks is that it tries to faithfully recreate the Android home screen so things might look more normal.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Product Spotlight:
The team reviewed three products for your smartphone on the go:
Guest Segment:
Cynthia Tercier, Creator and Owner – FirstInteraction.com
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
Magnetic recording has a long history. It began early in 1925 with the invention of the electro-acoustic recording method. In 1926 the Austrian engineer Fritz Fleumer who was working in Dresden, Germany received a patent for a steel powdered paper tape, the grandfather of all tapes. As this technology wasn’t market ready, in 1929, Dr. Curt Stille built a machine with a steel tape. It was used by the BBC from 1930 on for magnetic recording of sound, but it was very complicated and not very reliable. The Internationale Funkaustellung, or IFA has been the birthplace of many recording technologies since that time.
Chris in Baton Rouge, Louisiana listens on 107.3 WBRP asked: “I’m looking at new tablets and was listening to your review of Apple tablets and share your criticism of not having any additional storage on them. What tablet of a different brand that does have more storage, and other features maybe that the Apple doesn’t have, would you recommend?”
Chris, We should probably mention that expandable storage is not always necessary, if you buy the right amount of storage in the first place, you probably won’t ever need to expand it.
People use tablets differently to how they use phones and, strangely enough, many people need more storage on their phones than they do in their tablets. Tablets are less comfortable as cameras and don’t always work as your MP3 players on the go.
If you still want an SD slot though, you do have options. You can look at the ASUS Transformer series, they’re high end and very well regarded, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is another option, and it comes with NFC if you’re one of the few people that already use that on a regular basis.
If you’re more interested in reading than the rest of the tablet’s functions, the Nook HD also has an SD slot, but don’t expect your tablet to be supported forever, since the Nook won’t be around for much longer.
We should also mention that with the increasing popularity of cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox, the need for lots of storage on your device is lessened. Also, a lot of the more popular music and video services are using streaming now rather than taking up space on your device.
Storing full length HD movies, lots of music, or lots of pictures on your tablet is what runs you out of memory. If you fit that description, then you’d either want an iPad with 64GB or 128GB of capacity, or you’d want something like a Samsung Galaxy Tab with its SD card slot.
A couple of interesting notes here. First, the Samsung Galaxy Tab comes with 16GB of memory and can take a 64GB microSD card. So the 128GB top of the line iPad has more memory than you can get with the SD card, although to be fair, you can swap microSD cards. But keeping track of which tiny little memory card a particular app wants can get pretty dicey.
Second, Google sides with Apple on this one. Google’s director of Android services says that SD card storage in your mobile devices is “techy nonsense left over from the paleolithic era of computing.” They chose to emphasize cloud storage with their Nexus tablets, versus expandable memory cards.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Larry in Sutton asked: “I have a Dell Dimension 2400 with Windows XP Home Edition. Lately the computer will simply shut down. I can see that that tower is not completely off as there are some lights on inside. In order to turn it back on, I have to press the tower power button until it completely shuts off and then push the button again to power on. Any thoughts as to what is going on? Thanks”
Larry, The random shut downs may be due to an overheating CPU, in most cases if the CPU overheats the computer will send a signal to make everything stop, and the computer will turn off, however, in some cases the CPU itself will turn itself off while the rest of the computer stays on.
If that’s what’s going on, given that the Dimension 2400 is a computer from 2003, there is a good chance that it’s vents may just be clogged with dust, or that one of it’s fans may be dead or on it’s way out.
Now, it’s a desktop computer, so it should be fairly easy to open and clean, you might as well try that, since it’s free and easy.
Having said that, your computer is probably at the end of it’s useful life not matter what, it may be a good idea to start looking for a replacement. Even if you can keep it from shutting down randomly for a while, it is likely to have other problems soon.
Since Microsoft just stopped supporting Windows XP entirely this week, meaning no more security holes will be patched or bugs fixed, it’s really time for you to retire that computer and look for something new. The good news is that with Update 1 to Windows 8.1, Microsoft finally decided to let Windows look like a desktop operating system and not a tablet OS once again, so it’s a good time to get the new Windows… probably.
The other good news is that computers costing only a few hundred dollars will run so many times faster than your Dimension 2400, it will pay you back in terms of increased productivity in no time at all!
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
John in Bossier City, Louisiana listens on NewsRadio 710 KEEL asked: “How do i improve my internet reception if my router is in another room?”
John, Depending on your current router’s model, you may be able to buy a similar one that will let you extend your network.
The setup varies a little bit depending on the particular router, but it will usually involve setting up the same network name and password and giving it the mac address of the router that’s creating the network you want to extend.
if you can run a wire to whatever room needs service, you may be able to connect an access point at the end of that wire and extend the network that way instead.
You can also use a wireless network extender, or repeater. Many wireless access points include a mode where they do this, and there are some dedicated repeaters that simply plug into an outlet like some kind of giant mutant air freshener. How they work is simple. They receive anything being broadcast on the frequencies used for wi-fi networks and rebroadcast them…for lack of a better word, “louder.” As long as you put the repeater where it can hear the existing network, it will extend it further into your house. I’ve used them in installations over the years, and they do really work.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Noizy: Kameleon Series Bluetooth earbuds
Other World Computing (OWC): Nuguard KX phone cases for Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 4/4S and 5
Ventev: Assortment of their new products — like the PowerCell 6000+ Rapid Charger, cases for the new Galaxy S5 Smartphone, ChargeSynce tangle-free USB cables for Android & Apple devices & more.
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!