Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Tech News & Commentary
Jeff in Shreveport, Louisiana listens on 710 KEEL asked: “Going on an overseas bicycle trip. Need to purchase a good video camera for interviews and picture taking. What are your thoughts?”
You may be a good candidate for a small mirrorless camera.
Cameras like the Nikon 1 series, the Canon EOS M series or, our own personal choice for remotes, the Olympus PEN series will all offer good stills quality, often closer to SLR quality than point and shoot quality, will allow you to shoot HD video, and will be considerably smaller than full size SLR.
Depending on how important these interviews are, you could always just get a point and shoot camera that does video, that will likely save you some money, since compact mirrorless cameras are not cheap at all, they’re high end cameras that often START at $500 or more.
If you don’t care about the bulk, a full SLR may be an option for you too, or a dedicated still camera and a dedicated video camera, but carrying that much on a bike will probably get heavy and weigh you down.
Have a look at compact mirrorless cameras, and maybe a small tripod or monopod for the video side of things, that will probably be the best setup for you if you want quality and light weight and, as a bonus, many compact mirrorless systems allow for the use of some kind of external, better quality, microphone that you can take advantage of for interviews.
Let’s also ask the question, what’s wrong with the camera that’s built into your smartphone? We have seen a LOT of video that was shot using an iPhone 5, for example, and it looks very sharp. Audio can be an issue, but it would be an issue with any small handheld camera. Using an external microphone, perhaps even a wireless lavalier, is the ticket to correcting that.
Before you spend the money on an additional camera, and have one more gadget to manage on your trip, why not try some test footage with your smartphone first? You may find out the camera you want is the one you already have.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into
Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
John in Chesterfield, Michigan listens to The Information Station 800AM CKLW asked: “I’m trying to get Neverwinter Knights Diamond edition to work on windows 7. I have revision 1.69 and its not working, not even in XP Compatibility Mode. Please help?”
From Walter from TechMyAdvice:
“There are several patches available and several solutions to the problem,
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/187/index/3341490”
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Tom in Columbus, Ohio listening via the Kindle App asked: “If you mostly use your digital camera for things like family and vacation photos, developed into a typical size like 5×7 or shown on a computer, does it really matter if the camera is 12 megapixel or 20? PS: I sent this with your app. I tried to record and got a message saying “unavailable”. Not sure if it is my tablet or the app.”
Easy answer…absolutely not. It is hard to find a camera or phone in todays market that has less than 5 or 6 megapixels, which is all you need to produce a crisp 12×18 photo.
Sharpness of the photo depends more on your photography skills than the amount of megapixels. I have seen beautifully shot photos blown up to 30” from a 5 Megapixel camera.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Ryan Alovis, CEO & Founder – ArkNet Media
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
In 1939, the United States became the third country, after Germany and Great Britain, to begin regular television broadcasts. President Roosevelt himself started the broadcast during the World Exhibition in New York. As television had become a reality, the Big German Radio Show which had started in 1924 to make radio reception and the necessary machinery popular, was renamed in 1939 and became “The Big German Radio and Television Exhibition”, making it the first television show in the world and the show that would later become the Internationale FunkAusstellung. Today IFA is still the number one show.
Comments from our COOL “Into Tomorrow” HOT Summer Giveaway!!!
Douglas From West Lafayette, IN Listens every week with our FREE “Into Tomorrow” podcasts. On his Entry form he said: “It would be an awesome experience to see the newest at IFA in Berlin with the “Into Tomorrow” crew!”
Carlos in Wake Forest, NC Listens to “Into Tomorrow” on WPTF 680
Heard about the giveaway: Into tomorrow WPTF 680 and heard about the IFA Giveaway to Berlin on WPTF. When he completed his Entry, he said: “ I AM INTO THE LATEST ELECTRONIC GADGETS – JUST LIKE I HEAR EVERY WEEK ON “INTO TOMORROW”
Wanda From Boody, Illinois Listens: on News/Talk 1340 WSOY out of Decatur, IL and Heard about the giveaway: Listening to “Into Tomorrow” every week. Watches ITTV?: Yes. on my Mini Mac. She said: You all are Doing great…keep it going 🙂 I love listening to your show!
Reason for wanting to travel: I have a brother and sister-in-law that live in Germany and I have always wanted to go there…not getting any younger…
Holly in CARROLLTON, Georgia Listens to the show on the radio on Sunday mornings. Thinks we can improve the show by: Its good now. When asked on the entry why she wants to go with us to Berlin, she said: “To learn about new technologies and I love to travel.”
Lynn From Perrysburg, OH Heard about the “Into Tomorrow” Giveaway to Berlin and IFA: on our Sunday afternoon radio program on CKLW AM800 out of Canada! She said: “I enjoy your program and It would be a wonderful opportunity to join your “Into Tomorrow” Team at IFA in Berlin because it would be a unique chance to represent your Ohio listeners.”
You may enter ONCE a week … AND … when you call-in, using our FREE APP or 1-800-899-INTO (4696) and we can HEAR you … we will BONUS you with yet another entry!!! Good luck!!!
Mike in Hemet, California listens on Shortwave asked: “I lost my eyesight a number of years ago. I’m looking for a device that can scan reading material and then read it back to me in an audio voice. I’ve heard that something like the iPad can take a picture and then read it. It does not have to be a single device.”
We haven’t found anything like the iPad that can do what you need, but we have found a few devices that claim to do it. There are a few problems, though, the products we’ve found are called the Eye-Pal series, and they consist of a camera looking down at what you want to read, but it is a fair distance from the page, say about 2 feet. The whole setup basically looks like a slide projector, there’s a base where the printed material goes, and a camera at the top. They are considerably larger than an iPad.
The other problem is that, unlike an iPad, Eye-Pals will cost you between $1200 and $1800 depending on the model you choose. They will cost you some money and they will be harder to carry around.
The Eye-Pal is made by ABiSee, and the $1,295 basic version requires a computer and software like Kurzweil 1000, which sells for $995. If you were going to use the computer and Kurzweil 1000 system for other tasks, then the Eye-Pal makes sense because you don’t need a stand alone reader. But if you’re looking to set a book down on a platform, open it up, and hear a voice reading to you, that’s the Eye-Pal SOLO, and that’s $1,849.
There is also the HoverCam that we’ve talked about on the show recently – where the T5 model costs only $279. But again, you’ll need a computer and something like Kurzwile 1000 to read. And as a practical matter, the HoverCam T5 is a camera on a sort of tower, and there is no base, which could make positioning material difficult. The Eye-Pal, by contrast, has a base where your printed material fits.
The apps for iPad that read digital documents, by and large, require someone ELSE to get that document scanned and formatted for you. They work, but they aren’t suitable for someone who is doing this on their own without the assistance of sighted friends.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Lauren in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida calling in via the iPhone App asked: “I’m an up and coming DJ and I have Stanton headphones, But I was wondering of Dr. Dre’s Beats would be better or if I should have Pioneers. Thank you, have a good day.”
It depends on what you’re looking to get from the headphones. If you’re looking at Beats, in your line of work you’re gonna be looking at the Beats Pro, not the regular models, and those deliver good quality in every way, but they are as much a fashion item as the regular beats are, so you will be paying a very steep, and probably not justified premium.
For example, a set of Beats Pro will cost you around $450, the top of the line Pioneer HDJ-2000s will cost you $250, they won’t be as flashy, and won’t make as much of a fashion statement, but you can’t fault them from a technical point of view, and they will cost you $200 less, you can almost get a second pair for the same price. Your Stantons are the same story, they’re considerably cheaper than the Beats.
Now, as far as we can tell, the audio quality you will get from Beats headphones will be good, and if you get the Pros you won’t have to pay for batteries for them for the rest of their life, but the downside of them is that a large portion of what you’re paying for is not audio quality, or even build quality, but image, you can get comparable quality from other brands for far less money.
So, are you looking strictly for quality? are you looking for image too? and, how much are you willing to pay for that extra image? depending on what your answer is, you should be able to tell whether the Pioneers or the Beats are for you.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo — Now with Dave’s face on them! — A clever solution to tangled earbuds.
SoundMatters: foxl – Pocket Sized portable Bluetooth Loudspeaker.
V Moda Headphones: a variety of styles of the DJ Inspired, Hollywood Designed Headphones
Ventev: An assortment of tangle-free USB cables and battery cases for iPhones