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Tech News & Commentary
Darryl in St. Cloud, Minnesota listens on KNSI 103.3 asked: “On that pad you sent me as a prize, my grandson got a hold of it and cracked the screen. Is it cheaper to go and try to replace the screen or just buy a new tablet? I’m on a really fixed income. Wondering what was the cheapest way to fix that so I can get back on the internet. Or would it be cheaper to buy one of those new notebooks that turn into a laptop. Those look really interesting, but as I said, I’d have to save up several months to get one of those things.”
We’ve sent out a few different kinds of tablets, but according to our records we sent you a Ubislate.
The Ubislate is… well… not disposable, but the tablet itself costs something around $35, even if you bought the screen and replaced it yourself it would cost you around $13 plus shipping. 
The cheapest way to get you back online would be to replace the screen on your current tablet.
If you do decide to replace the screen, either you or a store will probably have to order it just for you, the tablet is not popular enough for them to have it in stock, and they may end up charging you a little more than if they just had to go to the back and grab a screen from the stockroom. Pay attention to the final cost, because it may make more sense to just order a new Ubislate if they cost is going to be over $35 anyway.
Even the cheapest convertible laptop/tablet combos will probably cost you a couple of hundred dollars.
Having said that, those computer will also be able to do more, so if you feel restricted by your current tablet, they may be worthy of some consideration too.
By the way, we’d like to mention that your cautionary tale is precisely the reason we feel there is a market for very low end, low cost tablets like the Ubislate. Kids can have fun with them and learn to use a tablet, and if they break it you’re not out $500.
There’s also the situation of a harsh environment. If we were going to pack a tablet to take to the beach and read something on a Kindle app, or type some notes in a text editor, there’s no way we’d want to take an expensive iPad Air 2 (for example).
Low cost tablets have their place, even if their function is limited for people who want a tablet that can do anything, and do it quickly.
For more information tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Vicky in Lexington, Kentucky listens on RealTalk 1250 WLRT asked: “What is the best young-child educational type toy that you know of? I have a 14 month old granddaughter and I’m looking for something for her to use in the next few years for education.”
There are lots and lots of educational young kid laptops and tablets, it’s hard to pick one, but we’ll give you a few to choose from.
For about $50 you can get a Fisher Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System. It features a touchscreen with a stylus that kids can use, and it’s an ebook reader, mp3 player, photo viewer, art studio, notepad, and gaming system. It comes with some games built in, but parents can buy new ones featuring Disney characters, SpongeBob, Dora, and other kid favorites.
If you want something that will probably last her a while, you could go with an Amazon Fire HD Kids Edition, it does cost more, around $130, but it comes prepared to survive being used by young children, and it comes with a year’s worth of access to a large library of kid friendly content via Amazon’s FreeTime. The main advantage the Fire has is that it’s a real tablet, with real access to other content, like the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
For something in between those two, the LeapFrog3 features dual cameras, a pretty powerful processor for a tablet for kids, and can do everything the iXL can do and more, on a package that feels like it may hold her interest for a while longer as she grows up. This one would cost you around $100, which puts it a little too close to the price of the Fire for kids, but it is designed for younger children and it may serve her better right now.
If you already have an iPad, you might consider an Osmo. This $79 device consists of a reflector that clips over the camera, a stand for the iPad to hold it vertical, and software. The iPad engages with the children and guides them through learning games using real world objects like blocks, or letters, or even drawing on a blank page. The child isn’t tapping and swiping on the tablet, they’re using the kind of spatial and motor skills that educators say are important to develop, and the device is simply patiently guiding them and interacting with them as they learn.
It really is impressive. Time Magazine awarded it Invention of the Year last year, and we can see why. There are videos of it in action on their website, www.playosmo.com.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Danish Ahmed, CEO/Co-Founder – PLAYMessenger
Free messaging app specifically built for families and children
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
In 1966, an international conference authorized the European formats PAL and SECAM, and it was in 1967 at the 25th IFA in Berlin, when the German Chancellor Willy Brandt pressed the button to launch color television in Germany. The communist Eastern Germany, started two years later, but used the French SECAM system to keep their citizens from watching West Germany’s color TV – their favorite but illegal source of information and entertainment. Only big, expensive screens were available in color, and content very slowly made the transition to color.
Jon in Rocklin, California listens to the podcast and is calling via the App asked: “My wife and I share photos sometimes on our phones for gifts that we want to buy for our kids. I was wondering, since the kids like to play with the phones, is there any way, on an Android phone, that I can hide photos? Is there a secret folder I can put those in? or a way to disassociate the photo app from seeing those photos?”
Depending on how involved you want to get, there are a couple of solutions you can look at. You can technically use a file manager to create a hidden folder, just start the folder name with “.”
For example, “.private” will be a hidden folder. You can also put a “.nomedia” file inside that folder that would tell gallery apps “don’t bother looking in here.” However, you can just go the easy way and use one of the many private picture hiding apps, almost all of which will also let you set a pin.
KeepSafe Vault will both hide and encrypt your pictures and it is free to download, but it does offer in-app purchases. You can also try “Hide Pictures Photo Safe”, it’s free, no in app purchases, and it will hide those photos.
You could also just not store those pictures on your phone, obviously… Just view & share them and then …. delete them.
You could also move the photos to a cloud storage system. Google Drive, which you have for free with Android, now integrates Google Photos for easy upload. You could have a small, free Dropbox account. Microsoft’s OneDrive is also free and stores photos.
Once you move a photo into the cloud storage, delete it from the phone’s camera roll. Your kids would need to get into your cloud storage app, and chances are they won’t even think to look there.
As a side benefit, this moves the storage of the pictures into the cloud and cuts down on how much of your smartphone’s memory that you’re using.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Ted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania listens on WEDO and is calling via the App” asked: “Google Wallet – I’d like to transfer some money from my Google Play account into Google Wallet as opposed to giving them my credit card or bank account. Is this even possible?”
Google Wallet only lets you add funds from either a bank account or a debit card.
If you use your bank account, they will let you transfer money to Wallet for free. However if you use a card, they’ll charge you about 3%.
If you really want to avoid giving them your information, you could always use a prepaid card, they do accept those. Just keep in mind that you’ll be giving someone your information. Besides, you have an Android phone, by now Google probably know your 4th cousin’s blood type.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
TYLT: Car Charger RIBBN Cables – These cables rapidly charge 2 Smartphones or 2 Tablets simultaneously.
Jabra: SoleMate Portable Bluetooth speaker for your laptop, tablet, smartphone or music player
Monster: DNA Pro 2.0 High powered Over-ear headphones
Livio Radio: Bluetooth Internet Radio Car Kit – FM transmitter that allows you to bring Internet Radio and hands-free calling to your car.
Verykool: S5015 Spark II Smartphone – Unlocked GSM phone with Android OS and front facing flash – perfect for selfies!
Westinghouse: Unplug Wireless Bluetooth Sound System