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Tech News & Commentary
Scott calling in via the App asked: “I do a lot of recording on the old school VCR of shows I like to watch every week and the tapes are getting old and I can’t find new tapes and I’m thinking of switching over to DVR. I’m not sure if there’s a DVR out there that I don’t have to pay a subscription to use. If you could give me some help I’d appreciate it. Thank you. Bye”
There isn’t really a way around the monthly subscription for DVR service. Now you didn’t mention what TV service you have, because depending on that, it will tell you how much the DVR service will cost.
Now practically every tv provider offers DVR service, like Uverse, Dish Network and many others. I do know it can be as cheap as $5 a month, because dish network provides the DVR service that cheap.
Now we did say that there isn’t really a way around the DVR monthly fee; thats because there are some, but not very dependable, in that they are not brand-name or they’re just software and can easily fail on you and you end up losing everything you have recorded.
Some of the ways of having dvr service without a monthly fee is with Freevo, and MythTV. so that is something you can look into.
Any company that has brought out a DVR featuring an EPG, or Electronic Programming Guide, has to interface with your satellite and cable TV provider to get that information. All those providers need to do is make a small change to how that information is accessed, and your DVR is broken. A DVR without a program guide is, well…pointless. If you have to look up channel numbers and times, you might as well step back into the 90’s and enjoy that VCR.
So that’s where they have you. If you want a DVR, then you’re going to have a content service provider, and that provider wants to sell you THEIR DVR. With a service fee. It is inevitable. There are only a few real options.
First, pay the fee. It’s not that much. TiVo will sell you a device with a lifetime fee, if it’s the monthly payment that’s driving you crazy.
Second, set up a Home Theater PC. An HTPC will come with a programming guide and have DVR functionality. However, building an HTPC to get a DVR is definitely cracking walnuts by driving over them with an SUV.
Third, deal with a streaming box, like a Roku player or an Apple TV. It’s not a DVR, but it offers access to thousands of TV shows and movies, and there isn’t a monthly access fee.
Fourth, wait for the Microsoft Xbox next generation console, coming later this year. In addition to being a game console, it will very likely have DVR features. You won’t pay a monthly access fee for the DVR, per se, but everythng on your Xbox is tied to an Xbox Live account, and you typically pay annually for that.
We’re sorry to be so depressing, but once again, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Or program guide, as it happens!
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into
Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Joel from Anchorage, Alaska listening via Alaska Talks Here 700AM KBYR asked: “Looking to buy a computer running Linux, preinstalled. Then I would want to run Windows on a virtual machine on Linux. What is the best place to find a linux machine with Linux pre-installed?”
Buying a computer with Linux pre-installed isn’t that easy, a few years ago some companies tried selling to skirt the OS price and be able to sell cheaper computers, and a lot of them got hit with the “what’s wrong with my Windows? it looks funny…” question.
Then there’s the people that actually do want Linux… but “not that Linux”… “Ubuntu is dummies, I want Debian” “Debian is super complicated, I want Gentoo” there are hundreds of Linux distributions and different users have different preferences, so selling preinstalled Linux distributions is hard.
These days, your best bet is probably to go with a specialized vendor, ThinkPenguin.com will build you whatever laptop or desktop you want with whatever version of Linux you prefer, and ship it to you.
We can’t speak of quality we haven’t tested them, but their computers are not cheap, the base price looks ok, but when you open the ordering you run into “Hard Drive: 80GBs” and then options to get a bigger one and the price quickly climbs, but most Linux distributions are not too demanding so you may be ok with a more basic system.
Los Alamos computers sells pretty powerful systems, that come preloaded with free Linux distributions too, so you can have a look at what they’re offering too.
When it comes time to run that virtual copy of Windows, things might get pricey for you. There ARE some open source virtualization tools, and some of them reportedly work quite well, but you’ll be on your own for installation and support.
If you want to spend $99, you can buy VMWare Fusion, which includes the VMWare Player that lets you run Windows on Linux, or Linux on Windows.
And unless you have a Windows installation disc from somewhere, do remember that you’ll need to buy a copy of Windows, even for a virtual machine installation. It’s still going to want a product key and it’s still going to authenticate itself with Microsoft.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Eddie in Louisiana asked: “What’s best way to remove a virus from online?”
We don’t know what you mean by “from online,” do you mean a virus that you got “from online”? as in from a file you downloaded?
If that’s what you mean, you’d remove it the same way you’d remove any virus from any source: get an antivirus program, run a scan, and when it’s found, click on the option to remove.
As for the program itself, you can choose anything from Microsoft’s Security Essentials, to Avast, to AVG, to Norton, to TrendNet, you have plenty of options.
Other than that, we don’t know what you could mean, you can’t really wipe a virus from the internet, and to wipe one from your website, simply remove the offending file, but we suspect you mean one you got online and not one that just resides there.
If for whatever reason you are unable to remove the file manually because it’s too embedded into your hard drive, then you might have to go to a professional and have the hard drive wiped out completely. In order to not lose any crucial data, save all the important files onto a thumb drive. And when you’re using your computer from now on, try to avoid clicking on questionable emails or sketchy websites. That’s the most common way viruses are inadvertently downloaded.
Chances are you don’t have a virus at all. Some smart web designers have gotten very good at tricking us. Sometimes their advertisements are meant to look like an operating system under attack. If you see a pop-up alerting you that there is a virus, or a webpage that warns you that you are being spied upon, most likely everything is fine. As long as you have some sort of virus protection, only pay attention to the alerts sent to you from within the program, and be sure to set up regular routine virus checks.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Mark from Erie, Pennsylvania listening via 1450AM WPSE asked: “I’ve got a motorola X2. I’m with verizon wireless and I’m ready for an upgrade. I would just like your advice on what phone to get. I use it for personal and business. It has google on it which I like.”
If you want to stick to a similar experience, Motorola’s Razr Maxx HD is a good phone, it’s very light, it has a great battery, LTE, and it’s a huge improvement over your current model.
If you don’t mind dropping Motorola’s customization though, Samsung’s top end phones are very, very good, so you should probably have a look at the S4, it’s a very nice phone, it certainly retains access to all of the Google Apps that you enjoy your Droid X2, and everything else will likely be greatly improved compared to what you’re using now.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Scott Edwards, Co-Founder – PlayMG
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
The tube based TV sets dominated the market since the beginning of the real mass market in the early 50ies.The screens got bigger, but also very heavy and bulky. Stereo sound and color TV were the only innovations, until the introduction of a remote control; In the beginning connected to the TV with a cable, introduced first by Zenith in the US, named “Lazy Bones”. Then remotes went wireless – first using ultrasound technology, but as this was not very reliable, the switch was made to infrared, a technology still used today. IFA was, of course, showing all these latest innovations.
Comments from our COOL “Into Tomorrow” HOT Summer Giveaway!!!
Bradford in Palmetto Bay, FL, listens to the podcast.
Heard about the giveaway: from our Tech Newsletter
He watches ITTV, subscribes to our weekly Tech Newsletter and has our app. When asked how we can improve the show, he said “Keep doing what you guys do best.” Reason for wanting to travel: Join the Into Tomorrow crew to experience Berlin and a wonderful exciting event. Plus I get to spend some “quality time” with my old friend Dave…
Greg in Manchester, TN – Listens on WTN 99.7
Heard about the giveaway: on the radio
Watches ITTV: Yes.
Subscribes to ITTV: Yes
Subscribes to TNL: Yes
Reason for wanting to travel: love tech stuff and the team would be fun to meet.
Nicholas in Shreveport, Louisiana – Listens on 710 KEEL
Does not watch ITTV, subscribe to our Tech Newsletter or have our app. But that’s okay – he’s still qualified to enter!
Reason for wanting to travel: I would love to see all the new technology with you guys.
Charles in Wilmore, Kentucky – listens on 1230 am
Comments about the show: Very interesting and enjoyable program.
Reason for wanting to travel: I was stationed there in West Berlin 1968 to 1973 and I would like to go back and see the city after the fall of the wall. Also, my wife has never been there and I would like for her to see the city as well and boat on the lake.
Carlos in Wake Forest, North Carolina – Listens on WPTF 680.
Reason for wanting to travel: I like to hear and see about latest technology.
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!!!
Warren from Tupelo, Mississippi listening via Supertalk Mississippi 100.9FM WKBB asked: “Is it possible to forward a voicemail to someone else?”
That depends on your phone company, you can on some, not all of them allow it, Verizon of example does, but some other carrier do not.
We don’t know who you’re paying for your service, but the best advice we can give you about this is call their customer service line and ask them, if it’s not an option on their voicemail menu, maybe it can’t be done, but they may give you a way to do it.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Titus asked: “I have heard A lot of hype about the GS4 Is it really a significant improvement on the GS3.”
We would say yes, but that also depends on how you define the term “significant.” The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a bigger screen, a faster processor, more capacity, and a higher resolution camera than the S3 did. And I love the S3. But, most of what appears to be “all new” are really cool software enhancements over the old phone, and Samsung has said that GS3 owners will receive many, if not all, of those same enhancements via a software update.
If I were buying a new Android smartphone today, I would definitely put the GS4 at the top of my list. If I were due for an upgrade, and could buy the GS4 at a reduced price, I might upgrade just for it’s screen, which is not only bigger than the GS3 but also sharper and brighter.
However, if I were going to have to pay a significant amount for a new GS4, I would be very tempted to compare the two phones and see whether the things I felt I couldn’t live without were hardware or software. And if it was the latter, I might stand pat with my GS3 and see whether Samsung pushes out an update soon.
Personally I think a lot of the talk surrounding the GS4 won’t be so much about big things but about little things that will go a long way with people. Not just the eye scroll feature which has received a lot of attention, but other little features like the automatic pause of a video clip feature when you look away from the screen. Look back and the video resumes. Or the camera-based translator that will allow you to take a picture of a printed document and convert it to a digital file.
Or the eraser mode, where users will have the ability to delete anyone or anything from a photo that they didn’t want to appear in it. Those little accents of capability are going to be what people talk about and appreciate with the GS4.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Mike from Clinton Town, Michigan listens to The Information Station 800AM CKLW asked: “I want some advice on a DVR. What’s a pretty good one. I have WOW cable box.”
To be totally honest, we haven’t been able to get a clear, current line up of all the DVRs that WOW is currently offering.
They don’t clearly list them on their website and we have found just a few mentions of Scientific Altanta models, but nothing concrete about their current offering.
What we can tell you for sure is that their top of the line system is pretty good! They call it UltraTV, and it’s the same kind of system as the Hopper and other whole house systems.
Basically, you can record on one DVR, play it anywhere else in your home, record up to 6 shows at once, and you get access to a 500GB unit to keep all your shows stored, which is not as roomy as some other DVRs but it’s still very respectable. You can obviously also pause live TV and do the rest of the usual things and you can change your settings remotely when you’re on-the-go.
That DVR is full featured and seems quite nice, but it’s their top of the line unit and the only one they’re really promoting on their website, so we can’t really tell you how good the rest of the DVRs they’re willing to sell you are, just keep in mind that the separate what they call Cable TV from this particular system that they call UltraTV, so expect this one to come with an Ultra price tag.
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