HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Rocket Car powered by Coke and Mentos. (Click on picture to watch video!)
Shafe in Ashville, North Carolina listening on WWNC 570 AM asked: “Purchased an Alienware m11x and I’d like to switch my iTunes music from my iMac to the Alienware. Wondering what would be the best way to do that. Would also like to put it on my Droid using a program called doubletwist and I’m having a lot of trouble doing it.”
In order to transfer an iTunes library, there are a couple of things you need to do first. On your iMac, make sure you’ve selected the options “Keep iTunes Media folder organized” and “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library” (you’ll want to set those same options on your Windows copy of iTunes, so don’t forget that).
On the iMac, pull down the “File” menu, look for the “Library” command, and under that choose “Organize Library.” This command will tell iTunes to copy any song files that had been added to your library but were not in the iTunes media folder and add them to that folder. Check the option that says “Consolidate Library” and then click “Ok”. If you’ve not already upgraded to the new Media folder structure, you can also set that check box and do it at the same time.
You’ll need a device large enough to store your iTunes library, whether that’s a thumb drive or an external hard drive depends on how much music you have. Connect the drive to your iMac and drag your iTunes media folder to it. This copies your entire library. Disconnect the hard drive (after ejecting it) and connect it to your Windows PC.
Now, on the Windows side, after first making sure that you’ve selected the two options we listed above, you have a choice of several methods, but perhaps the simplest one is to pull down the “File” menu and choose “Add folder to library.” Navigate to the iTunes Media folder on your external hard drive and choose “Select Folder.”
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Robert in Grove City, Pennsylvania listening on XM Ch.139 asked: “Smartphone selection, I’m a Verizon customer. I don’t know what to go with. I’m thinking about the Droid, Eris, Incredible, blah blah blah. If you guys can help me out, it’d be great.”
Verizon has a good variety of smartphones. The hottest ones would be their latest Android phones. For example:
Droid X vs. HTC Incredible:
– Both have Wi-Fi, GPS, FM radios, and 8 megapixel cameras. However, the Droid X has a mechanical shutter, so it takes sharper pictures.
– Droid X also has an HDMI out port, which should make it easier to share the 720p HD video captured with it.
– No physical keyboard, all virtual.
– Early reviews show the Droid X has a better battery life span than the Incredible.
– HTC Incredible is less bulky.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Rob posted the following on his Facebook page: “Hello fellow iPhonies, Rob Almanza here. Good news, Facebook has updated their iPhone App. You can now watch videos uploaded to Facebook (non-YouTube videos) on your iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Download the update from the App Store.”
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Jim sent us the following email and asked: “I’ve been refilling my HP cartridges at Costco Photo and some times they work, and other times the printer give an error message that it doesn’t recognize the cartridge as being an HP cartridge and won’t print. Do you know of a way to fool the printer into thinking that the cartridge is an HP cartridge with HP ink in it? I’ve tried talking to people at Costco about this problem, but they don’t know how to fix it. Haven’t been able to hear your show as I’ve been on the road for several weeks. If you have any info or know of any web sites that might address this problem, could you email it to me.”
HP and some other manufacturers build the printer heads onto the cartridges, which means there is a fair deal of electronics on the cartridge itself and there are some contacts at the end of it that need to touch their counterparts on the printer. If the printer doesn’t detect all the contact points, it gets confused and throws an error.
HP and some other manufacturers build the printer heads onto the cartridges, which means there is a fair deal of electronics on the cartridge itself and there are some contacts at the end of it that need to touch their counterparts on the printer. If the printer doesn’t detect all the contact points, it gets confused and throws an error.
Another solution sometimes given by printer manufacturers is, in case of trouble, unplug your printer for a few minutes and try again.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guests in this hour:
Abbas Mehdi, Product Manager – iolo technologies
Does your computer need a tune-up? iolo’s Sytem Mechanic repairs, optimizes, and protects Windows computers.
Guest in this hour:
James Logan, CEO – Bringrr Systems
Never forget you cell phone again. Bluetooth device that notifies you when you don’t have your cell phone with you in your car.
Norman listening on Sirius Ch.108 sent us the following email and asked: “I heard your interview on Sirius with Melanie Pearson and was very impressed with the products. I did not hear you ask about sound recording with these products. This only came to mind because of the motorcyclist that was fined in Maryland for recording. An unmarked police car stopping him and his helmet cam was recording. When he put it on YouTube, they came and arrested him for illegally recording without informing the police man that his helmet cam was on. We have the same law in Florida.”
PS: “I have a hidden camera “pen camera” and cannot figure out how to change the date/time. Do any of you have experience with one of these?”
We don’t have the same law in Florida. The Florida law requires that consent be given for audio only. Also, only 1 party needs to be aware that the conversation is being recording.
Of course, consent only needs to be given when the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. This is how police departments get away with having dash cams and not needing to inform the driver of the car that they are being recorded.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza
iPhone 4: Hit or Miss?
The iPhone 4 isn’t perfect, but it does have some cool features that are a great improvement from previous versions. We’ve narrowed it down to some of our favorites and some of our not so favorites.
1) Speed
Upgrading from an iPhone 3G, you can immediately notice the iPhone 4 is amazingly fast! It’s got Apple’s custom A4 chip, very similar to the one used in the iPad. Apps open very fast and text messages appear to go out faster.
2) Retina Display
I was amazed by how clearer the screen is when compared to my old iPhone 3G. It’s still the same 3.5-inches as the older screens, but you can tell the difference right away. Apple is calling the LED backlit (960 x 640 IPS) screen — the “Retina Display” — due to its high resolution and pixel density. I’m not kidding, it’s gorgeous.
) Camera
My friends know me as “PapaROBzi” because I always have a camera and have been known to take pictures of everything. I’m very pleased with the new camera. It now has 5 megapixels, a faster shutter speed, LED flash on back (the only type of “flash” iPhones support), and HD video recording at 720p. Apple is slowly catching up with other smartphones. For instance, several of the new Android phones have 8 megapixels! However, we noticed the new iPhone camera adds a yellow tint on pictures when you use the flash. Not so cool! The flash does help with video-recording in low light.
4) Front Face Camera
I’m digging the front face camera a lot. The quality isn’t the best for pics, but it works great with the FaceTime video-calling feature. This is what I was most excited about on the iPhone 4 when it was first announced. Before you get too excited about FaceTime, remember you need to have a wireless connection in order to make it work. AT&T’s network doesn’t support it. And, remember to turn that feature on under phone settings. Otherwise, you won’t even see that option when calling someone. From our tests, it took a little while to get a FaceTime call going. But, you may not see the same results every time as it depends on how good your Wi-Fi connection is.
5) iOS4
The iPhone 4 is running the new iOS4 software update with all of its features. The #1 function is the long-awaited multitasking (works well with 3rd party apps like Pandora, where it will keep playing your tunes in the background). Folders are a cool, too. Helps you group up to 12 apps in one folder. But, with multitasking comes a drawback. You may notice the battery may run out of juice faster, depending on what apps you have open.
6) Battery Life
As I mentioned before, I upgraded from an iPhone 3G and have noticed a major difference with the battery life. So far, I haven’t charged it everyday like I used to with the 3G. Battery life will vary for everyone. It all depends on how much you use your iPhone. For example, I spread my tasks among a Macbook Pro, an iPad and my iPhone, so that may be why I experienced better battery life. I also don’t always keep Wi-Fi “On” and dim my screen a little bit.
7) Design
The iPhone has gotten an industrial makeover and got a little slimmer. But, it still has a sexy appeal that iPhone owners like. However, there’s a design flaw. The antenna is built-in to the stainless steel band around the phone. Some have experienced dropped calls because of the way they grip the phone, causing it to lose signal bars. Apple’s solution? Steve Jobs says: “Don’t hold the phone that way.” And, encourage you to buy the iPhone bumper case for 29 bucks.
UPDATE: At the time of recording the video above, Apple had not really addressed this problem. They have announced they will offer a software update in a few weeks to help solve some of these problems.
8) Cool new apps
iOS4 gives you iBooks. Honestly, I’m not much of a book reader, so I don’t have much to say about that. If you like reading, I think you’ll enjoy the display quality because it is a very nice display.
My current favorite app is iMovie. Just under $5 on the App store. I shot and edited a video report on the iPhone 4 with iMovie. It was pretty simple to use. Remember, it’s a basic version of the full-fledged iMovie software you might be used to on your Mac. You can choose a theme with or without music, add pictures and video, and export it in HD 720p. I think it was money well-spent.
Take a look at my first iMovie for iPhone project below.
Overall, the iPhone 4 is a good updated version of its predecessors. I’m very happy with it! I think the good stuff helps you forget about the things still lacking. Otherwise, why would we put up with AT&T?
If we missed anything, do let us know. Is there a specific feature you want to know more about? Send me a note below!
(Version tested: 16GB from the first batch of iPhones sold)
**All of the iPhone pictures above were taken on another iPhone 4
— By Rob Almanza, “Into Tomorrow” Correspondent
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Honestech: VHS to DVD 4.0 – Easy to use video conversion software
iMPROV Electronics: Several Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablets
RadioShack: Weather Clock Radios with SkyWarn