HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Norman in Jacksonville, FL listens online and called in and asked us: “I was looking online for a Blu-ray player for my Wife. I saw that it was Wi-Fi capable. Why does a Blu-ray player have to get online?”
Well, it doesn’t really have to get online, but there are two reasons for allowing it to get online:
1) Some Blu-ray discs may come with extra features that require internet access,
and most importantly:
2) Giving your player internet access allows it to look for firmware updates and download them.
The reason this is important is because the updates aren’t always minor fixes that you won’t notice, sometimes they actually fix major functionality problems.
For example, earlier this year Samsung had to scramble to fix two of it’s Blu-ray players because eventhough they played older movies, they would refuse to play some newer ones… unfortunately one of the “newer ones” it wouldn’t play was Avatar, pretty much the most anticipated Blu-ray release to date.
Now, if you don’t have Wi-Fi or would prefer spending less money for a Blu-ray player with no WiFi capabilities the manufacturer will probably include other means of updating it’s firmware, so don’t rule out a player because it doesn’t do WiFi.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Bill in Greenwood, AR listening to the podcasts called and asked: “We have a wired Internet connection going to the PS which works well for the most part. We were running wireless, but the wired connection reduces a minor latency issue. We’re running with a cable modem and a Belkin router. The PS occasionally complains that our NAT level is too high and we get kicked out of the online game we are playing. It says our NAT level is strict, actually NAT 3. It wants to see a NAT 0. I don’t know what all this means and don’t really know if I should mess around with the settings on my router. We had the same NAT issue when we were running wirelessly. What does all this mean?.”
To keep it short what this means is that your firewall is blocking connections that your PlayStation needs.
What you need to do to resolve the issue is to tell your router that the PlayStation doesn’t need to be babysat by the firewall, and that it should let every connection that wants to get to your PlayStation, get to your PlayStation.
Unfortunately to do that you need to both change the settings on both the router and on the PlayStation.
On the PlayStation you need to go to settings, network settings and finally internet connection settings, there you have to assign a permanent address to whichever connection you want to use (wireless or wired), it’s gonna ask you for an IP address, if you don’t know what range of address the modem is configured to accept you can just give it the one it’s been using, use the same numbers your PlayStation was using up to now for the other settings, the important thing is to assign it one and write it down, you’ll need it.
The next step is to go to your router’s settings, and look for something called “DMZ”, depending on your router it might be under Home Network, Security, WAN settings or a hundred other places, but look for it, it’s probably there.
The DMZ will have a field for an address, that address should be the one you assigned to the PlayStation.
And that’s the end of it, now your PlayStation is in the router’s demilitarized zone and the router will not extend any special firewall protection to it, in other words: it won’t block connections your PlayStation needs and you shouldn’t have any NAT problems.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Michelle in Idaho Falls, ID emailed and asked us: “Is there a DVD player that is Blu-ray and recorder? What is better to purchase? Or is there a DVR that is also a Blu-ray player? I am not excited about the Blu-ray due to having to update it all the time to watch the new Blu-ray movies. Then, when the manufacturer of the Blu-ray player decides to quit making updates for your model, you are out of luck.
What do I buy?”
Let’s answer one question at a time:
1) There have been rumors all over the place about Blu-ray player/DVD recorder combos, but we couldn’t find a single actual unit available for sale in the US. And Horacio — our Research Director — spent a lot of time trying to find one for you.
2) Now about Blu-ray DVR combos: yes, there are tons of them, like 4 or 5 for every single manufacturer and all of them are waiting for you on the shelves… of Japan stores.
Outside Japan there have been some attempts to sell them in Europe without a lot of success (the price might have something to do with that, they’re charging thousands for them!). Right now they’re not expected to ever make it to the US.
3) What should you buy?
It depends really, if you don’t think you’re gonna miss the quality of Blu-ray you can just go with a normal DVD recorder since they will play DVDs, and that means you don’t have to worry about updating the firmware to watch new movies, but that ALSO means that whatever Blu-ray disks you have now will be useless, since they won’t play on a regular DVD player, so if you happen to have a large Blu-ray collection you may end up needing to spend the money to replace it with older technology that offers worse quality.
So, we think you should just buy a cheap blu-ray player, keep your collection and when you’re ready or when the recorder dies consider replacing it with a DVR, if you record a lot of TV you’ll love it.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
Guest in this hour:
Sean Seibel, User Experience Evangelist – Microsoft
Microsoft wants you to say “Hello to Windows Phone”.
“Into Tomorrow” Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza: Tech Holiday Gifts Part 3 — Click Here or on Rob’s face for details
Into Tomorrow has compiled some of the best tech gifts for 2010. Rob Almanza brings you Part 3 (Final Edition) of this Special Report on our Product Spotlight this week. Happy Shopping!
Mike in Idaho Falls, ID called and asked us: “Wondering if there’s a legit program where you can get satellite TV on your computer so that if you’re out at a place with a wi-fi connection, you can get your satellite TV.”
there is a product that will allow you to watch your home TV from anywhere in the world. The Slingbox connects to any source (a cable box, satellite receiver, and so on.) and will allow you to use your broadband connection to access and watch your TV from anywhere. (Assuming you also have a broadband connection at the other end) DISH Network is real good at this — because they own Sling now!
There are a couple models available. The standard definition, Slingbox Solo, sells for about $180, and the Slingbox Pro HD sells for about $300. Once you buy the box, there is no monthly fee to use it. You just login from your laptop and watch away.
You can also purchase sling player mobile, which work with the set top box, to allow you to watch from your mobile phone or tablet PC. It’s compatible with BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, PalmOS and iPhone OS. That software is an additional $30.
We’ve used Slingboxes for years, since they were first released, and love them.DISH Network has a tuner available with that Sling Technology built-in, so if you happen to be a subscriber, you can have all these features without having to purchase additional products. Look for their “Sling-Loaded” products.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Balanzza: Digital Luggage Scales – not only for weighing your holiday packages, but this can be your best way to save on baggage fees BEFORE you get to the airport by checking the weight of your luggage.
CTA Products: Several Cloth Addictions – The microfiber cloth that cleans ANY screen: iPads, Phones and Monitors. Take your screens to a whole new level of clarity!
Honestech: Copies of Audio Recorder 2.0 Deluxe – Software to convert your analog music into digital formats including MP3s and audio CDs. Save those great musical memories.