HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Arland listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: “I am shown to be in a good coverage area with Verizon and AT&T. Problem is it doesn’t work that way. I can get AT&T if I sit on the roof. I have an air card with Verizon. It’s lousy. I need to know a website to tell me what service and what phone has better reception where I live. How can I find out how to get good reception on a phone? Is there anything I can do with a phone to get better reception?”
We actually found a really cool tool online, called the Root Wireless Carrier Coverage Map. This is from an independent company with no ties to any particular carrier. You can search their maps right down to the block you live on, and it will compare carriers in your area, both the voice quality and data speeds.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Carla in Appleton, Wisconsin sent us the following email and asked: “I have Verizon and am interested in a smartphone. I already tether to my cell phone through Alltel. I know I must switch to Verizon. Should I get the smartphone with Wi-Fi without the data plan and pay for the tethering or maybe get a broadband USB connection, which I could go to AT&T? Which would be more cost effective?”
You say you already tether to your cell phone, then ask if you should get a smartphone without a data plan. Tethering to a smartphone without a data plan on it is a profoundly unsatisfying experience.
Tethering refers to using your smartphone as the connection for your computer to access the Internet. It was typically done over a USB cable, or in some rare cases, over Bluetooth. The smartphone has to have a data plan and you will also pay something more for the ability to tether.
Some newer smartphones have the ability to function as a Wi-Fi hotspot for a number of devices at the same time. This accomplishes the same thing as tethering, but it’s able to support more than one computer at a time, and it uses W-iFi, so no cables are required. But the smartphone that is functioning as a hotspot will require a data plan.
Janice in San Juan, Puerto Rico listening on WOSO 1030 AM sent us the following email and asked: “I just got an iPod Touch 32GB and synchronized it to my laptop. The laptop has now died. I would like to sync to another computer, but it says there is already a system attached to this device. I would have to erase all of the songs I downloaded (CD’s and other songs I had on my laptop) in order to sync the iPod to this computer.
Is there any help for me to put what is on the iPod on the iTunes of another computer? Also, should I upgrade the iPod to the iOS 4?”
First, we want to stress how important it is to back up your computer on an external hard drive or in the cloud.
Because you can only sync an iDevice with one computer at a time, you won’t be able to transfer those songs from the iPod Touch to your new computer. But, you can add songs to the iPod easily.
1) Connect it to your computer and launch iTunes. Click “Cancel” when a dialog box appears.
2) Select the device under Devices in the menu, click the Summary tab, then click “Manually Manage Music and Videos” to enable that option.
) Click OK in the resulting dialog box, then click “Apply”.
4) When in manual mode, add songs or playlists by dragging them to the device icon in the sidebar.
5) To remove songs or playlist, select them on the device in iTunes and press the delete key.
Click here for full instructions.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Gina Bovara, Developer Marketing Manager – Intel Atom Developer Program
Want to create new apps and make money? The Intel Atom Developer Program allows application developers to
distribute and sell their applications to millions of netbook users.
WIN an 80GB SOLID STATE DRIVE — “Into Tomorrow” listeners only!
“Like” the Intel Atom Developer Program on Facebook – Click Here:
- Write your best idea for a cool netbook app on their wall before August 30 at 5PM Pacific Time and say that you heard about it on “Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline”.
- Intel will choose their favorite idea and award that Facebook fan with an 80GB Intel Solid State Drive!
- The winner will be contacted directly through Facebook and also announced on the Intel fan page and on the air on “Into Tomorrow”.
- More info here
“Into Tomorrow” Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza: Back to School Tech — Click Here or on Rob’s face for details
George sent us the following email and asked: “Just got the “Into Tomorrow” App for my Incredible. How can I get the latest show? Have been listing to the radio and all the app versions I have already heard. Could you have a button to listen to the current show?”
The latest show is available every Sunday from 2-5pm Eastern. After that, we play back 10 hours worth of previous “Into Tomorrow” shows, including our latest show. Unfortunately, we don’t have a specific button you can hit to take you to the new show, but it does give us feedback for future updates.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
SleepPhones: A Sheep of Your Dreams Kit
SmartSwipe: Secure personal credit card readers for shopping online
Smith Micro Software: Copies of Anime Studio Pro 7
Total Training: Copies of Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended: Essentials