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Tech News & Commentary
Harold calling in via the App asked: “Hey guys I was wondering, have you heard of the SS Launcher? it’s a neat little launcher for Android that has a quite a few options that you don’t normally see in other launchers. And also, I was wondering what are your comments on Ubuntu’s new mobile OS.”
SS Launcher is interesting, it starts out as a Windows Phone interface clone, but it’s so customizable that you can pretty much turn it into anything.
SS Launcher gives you the ability to resize icons and make them look like Windows active tiles, though they’re not active, but you can also replace them and just have plain text, swiping left and right lets you access other screens that are also customizable, so you can have an app drawer screen, a contacts screen, or other things, all looking almost as if you had opened an app. It’s definitely a different launcher, though it might not appeal to a huge percentage of Android users.
As for Ubuntu, it looks very cool, it looks like they put some thought into it, and it also looks somewhat confused as to what it wants to be. Ubuntu’s big thing is: “this is not a phone! don’t be silly! this is a desktop computer!,” they want you to plug in your phone to a cradle and suddenly you have a function desktop-lite on a big monitor with access to a keyboard and mouse. Admittedly that sounds cool, just as cool as it sounded when Motorola did it on the Atrix, and so far we haven’t seen anyone who uses that feature on the Atrix.
Ubuntu is also using an entirely different language for apps, it doesn’t seem to be compatible with Android apps, or anything else, which will force developers to make entirely new apps for a platform that will likely have fewer users than anyone else, even they claim to have the “fastest evolving” app ecosystem… you can declare that all apps have to be green and call it an “evolution,” evolving is not the same as growing.
The other big concern with Ubuntu Mobile is, have you used Ubuntu? As far as Linux distributions go, it’s pretty user friendly, but it still assumes a lot more technical knowledge than Windows or Mac OS X, there’s a good chance this phone OS will be the same… great low level access, super flexible for techy people, and hard to decipher for others.
We pretty much have to wait and see how polished it is, but they’re competing against huge companies, with big staffs and budgets… the open source community is big and all, but this project may not go anywhere.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
“Into
Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Matthew in Sterling Heights, Michigan listens on the iPhone App and asks: “I want to get an ASUS K55 series the model with the AMD series processor. Wondering if I can get it for a good gaming machine and every day use. Wanted some info on it and see if it’s a good buy.”
For every day use, sure! For gaming though… The ASUS K55 series are basically ultrabooks, they very portable, very light, they’re nice looking… but they’re probably not powerful enough for high end games.
If you want to play just casual games, and you don’t mind choosing from what you computer can play, not what’s available in the market, it may work for you, but if you mostly want a gaming machine, maybe you should pass on this one and look for something more powerful.
What’s the primary use you’re going to give this computer? is it mostly “every day use” or mostly “gaming,” if gaming is secondary, it might work for it, but if gaming is important to you, you may not be satisfied with the K55 series.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Michael in Pembroke Pines, Florida listens via the App sends the following email : “A few weeks ago I asked about your thoughts between the note 2 and the iphone 5. Well, last week I made up my mind and went with the note 2. At first it was a little cumbersome, but after a few days I got used to it. For the same price as the iphone 5, there is just so much more I can do. My music that I dl from itunes works perfectly. The screen is excellent and the stylus is probably the best part about the phone since I love drawing and sketching. It really feels and plays like a pen or pencil. The only downside I see is my purchased apps, but the google store has many of those same apps free or at least a very good alternative. Thanks for your feedback Dave and crew. I look forward to hearing you into tomorrow!”
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Dave in Sarasota, Florida listens online sends the following email : “I’m having a problem with Windows 8, if you can imagine that. No matter what I do to change the user settings, I’m always required to enter my Windows password to login to Windows 8. I’ve tried looking up solution everywhere and can’t find it, so I don’t know if this is a known issue or of you guys might know a work-around for this.”
This is actually easy to do, though it’s not necessarily easy to discover. We’ve heard a lot of complaints of Windows 8 making users jump through hoops for what should be simple tasks.
Now, to achieve what you want, just hold down the Windows key and R, that should open the Run menu. Just type “netplwiz” into the run menu and hit ok.
That opens the User Accounts dialog, and right on top of the list of users you should see “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer”, just make sure that option is not selected.
When you unselect it, it may ask for your password, but after that you should be free of having to type it in every time you want to log on.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
In 1988 radio stations were no longer anonymous: Radio Data System, or RDS was developed in Germany which identified every station and showed the name on the display. RDS car radios automatically searched for the best available transmitter or frequency of each station. In 1991 at the IFA or International Funkausstellung, an extension of the RDS service was introduced which enabled the reception of traffic information even if the chosen station didn’t offer one. RDS radios are still around in many cars today.
Rob in Texhoma, Oklahoma listening via TuneIn asked: “I’m havingproblems not getting video from YouTube [using] iPhone to TV with an Apple digital AV adapter. Only sound plays. I get video and picture that I have taken just fine. Help please.”
It sounds like you may have the wrong adapter for your phone. Not all phones use the same adapters, some are meant to be used with iPad 2 or 3 and the iPhone 4S, so they will only output audio when used with other phones or iPads or even do nothing at all.
We can’t tell you for sure if you need a different AV adapter without knowing what phone and adapter you’re using now, but that’s the most likely reason, and unfortunately settings won’t change that, you’ll need a new one.
If you bought the adapter from Apple recently they’ll likely take it back or replace it for the right one, if you bought it from someone else, check, they still might.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Joe in Phoenix, Arizona and sends us this email: “I live in Phoenix and leave my house in the summer where the temperature can get to 105 degrees inside the house. I would like to buy a new flat screen TV. What would be the best flat screen TV that I can buy that will handle the temperatures reaching up to 105 degrees?”
Plasma screens’ maximum operating temperature will top out at around your home’s temperature in the summer so you will probably want to steer clear of them. (By the way, postpone buying a TV and consider an air conditioning unit, please.)
LEDs can operate at much higher temperatures, something around 180-degrees F, some of them even closer to 200F. Those would be the TVs for you.
The problem is that every manufacturer and every TV are different and use different specs, so make sure you check that the specific model you’re interested in buying that can survive the Phoenix head. You’re really pushing the limits of some sets. LEDs will likely be safe to use though.
But seriously, Joe, consider an A/C unit.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
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