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Tech News & Commentary
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Ricardo listening via TuneIn asked: “Hi Dave, I recently purchased an app (DriveSafe.ly) and was surprised that I can not link up via Bluetooth to the app. It is supposed to link up and read your text messages through your Bluetooth device. Was wondering if you guys have heard of any issues with this app and if the developer is investigating the issue. I have tried to contact them but they seem to not answer any emails or phone calls. Unlike you guys of course. I guess I should have looked at the reviews BEFORE I purchased it but I got a little excited about listening to text messages while driving.”
It seems you’re not alone. A lot of people are having trouble with the bluetooth connectivity portion of the app. You didn’t tell us what phone you have, but as far as we can tell, most of the users facing issues are on BlackBerry, apparently not all BlackBerries can be supported using the same code, so DriveSafe.ly is working on a list of supported devices, but there isn’t one yet.
Android users are also reporting problems, but the problems are also hard to track, since two people with the same phone but different OSs may have different experiences.
This is all we have heard from DriveSafe.ly about this issue: “Users with both the Pro and free versions of this application have reported it not working, and both groups have reported that it does work. Our developers are currently looking at the code that handles bluetooth connections with our application to determine the cause of this issue.”
So we know they’re working on it, but we can’t tell you when or if you should expect the problem to go away.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Victor asked: “I was trying to find a good surround sound system.”
That’s a hard question to answer. We’re gonna go back to our favorite analogy of a girlfriend. Just like everyone looks for something different in a girlfriend, the same holds true for a home audio system. Some people tend to be happy with less, while many others consider themselves true audiophiles and can tell the difference between an “off the shelf” system and one pieced together with components they chose.
We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with those “off the shelf” all-in-one surround systems. For the price, many of them are a great buy. But if you’re looking for a “good” surround system, then you need to hear it in action. Would you buy a car without a test drive? Probably not. The best advice we can offer is to go down to your local electronics retailer. Not Walmart or Target, but places like Best Buy or even smaller independent stores that specialize in electronics – where they have some of these systems setup and listen for yourself. Usually they will have a “home theater room” in the back of the store where you can test drive some systems and see what sounds good to you.
Now if you’re looking for brands, some that we can recommend in general are Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo, and Harman Kardon. There are a lot more but these are a few of our favorites that have been specializing in audio for many years. They are usually among the top brands as far as quality goes.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Chris in Columbia, Missouri listens via the iPhone App asked: “My mom, who is 70, has an older Dell laptop that just has USB ports. She was wondering how she can connect that for video and audio to use with their television. It is not a brand new set, it doesn’t have HDMI. Just the yellow red and white cables. Could you recommend a specific cable that has those hookups on one end and a USB on the other?”
Unfortunately it won’t be that simple. Those cables you may have seen with a USB port on one end and the red, white and yellow plugs on the other end are usually for capturing video onto your laptop using software that can decode the signals from that cable, transmitting video over to a TV via USB is a different story.
USB ports aren’t directly connected to the video card, so transferring video using them requires that some software translates what’s going on in the screen first and the transmit it, which create a lot of lag. There are a few external USB video cards, but for the most part they are unpopular because they produce less than stellar images with slower frame rates, so for example, typing a document may be doable, but watching a video would be unbearable.
Technically it may be possible for you to find a USB video card that will mirror her screen onto a TV, but we probably wouldn’t recommend it, you won’t necessarily have a very good experience.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Guests in this hour:
Tom Sumner, Senior Vice President – Yamaha Corporation of America
Yamaha is celebrating its 125th anniversary this month. They’ve got some cool new tech you’ll want to learn about.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: Tech Gifts for the Holidays Part
Holiday shopping is well on its way as we get closer to Christmas. As promised, Rob joins us again to share a few more of our favorite tech gift ideas with you.
1) Eton FRX3 Radio
Here’s an interesting radio that provides more functions than just access to your local radio stations. The Eton FRX3 Radio has a crank and solar panel to keep it charged. It can also charge your phone while you get the latest weather info during a serious storm in your area. It’s a pretty cool device to have in an emergency. Currently, you can find it online for $60. This would be a nice gift especially for your techie dad.
2) Street by 50
One of our favorite headphones this year would be the “Street By 50” from SMS Audio.We’ve used thewiredversion in our radio studio andhave been very happy with the quality.They’re pretty comfortabletowear.Andtheyalso serve as a fashion statement. They’ve added more color options to the product line, including Yellow, Red,Blue Violet and Magenta. The wired version of“Street by 50” headphones currently start at just under $180.
) Unique Cases
We get a lot of questions from our viewers and radio show listeners about cases for their priceless devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Here’s a wallet/phone-case combination we were recently introduced to called Keeper — Out of Pocket. It’s a leather card case designed for the iPhone 5. It’s very thin and features three card slots for credit cards and your ID. It’s great for those who don’t want to carry a bulky wallet. It currently sells for $35 online.
For parents who let their young children play with their iPad … you might want to check out iGuy, the freestanding case by a company called Speck. They also make popular cases for smartphones. It comes in a variety of colors and can be easily found online or at a Target near you for under $40.
Another protective case to consider for the iPad is the M-Edge SuperShell. It’s made from squishy foam material and doesn’t add much weight to the iPad. It’s compatible with the 2nd and 3rd generation iPad … comes in a variety of colors … and can be found online for under $35.
Tim in St. Joe, Michigan listening on WSJM 94.9 FM called in and gave us a tip adding to Victor’s recommendation for a laptop. “The HP Media laptop – runs around $700. very good laptop to have for viewing media, live streams and also a very good gaming computer.”
Thank you, Tim!
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Mark emailed us the following comment: “Thanks for the Newsletter. They are very helpful in keeping up with my favorite Tech news. Thanks again for letting me win a weekly prize recently.”
Thank you, Mark!
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners:
Audiofly: Several AF33M in-ear headphones with microphone
Bedol: Several Bedol Water Clocks – A water powered alternative energy alarm clock. Does not require batteries or electricity. Just fill with normal everyday tap water.
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo – A simple solution to tangled earbuds.
Magellan: RoadMate 5265T-LMB GPS – With FREE lifetime map updates and traffic alerts.
Magix: Copies of Music Maker 2013 Premium – Create your own cool tracks with more advanced tools, additional instruments, high-quality studio effects and more sounds & loops.