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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and Chris discuss Ai possibly making humanity irrelevant, the next Prime Day, smartphones and Liquid Glass, the success of the Nintendo Switch 2, and more.
“News Pick of the Week” with Ralph Bond
The American Automobile Association estimates that drivers collectively spend $5 billion annually on vehicle repairs due to potholes, cracks, and other road damage. But what if asphalt potholes and roadway cracks could magically fill themselves in? Our science and technology news reporter Ralph Bond is here to tell us about a team of scientists working on just such an amazing solution.
Read more here.
Steve in Kenosha, Wisconsin asked: “I’m about to start a project with my company that involves a lot of travel. I was wondering what your thoughts were on those MiFi boxes and if they work any better than pairing to your phone.”
Steve, MiFis have some advantages but theyre not super different from phone hotspots.
You may be able to find better plans with more data for a standalone MiFi since they are sometimes used as home connections, and they can handle many devices at one well since theyre built specifically for that and dont have to juggle a lot of apps doing other things the way phones would have to.
MiFis will also always continue to work when they get a call, most modern phones will also do that but sometimes they dont or the connection may be dropped to a lower speed.
MiFis will also use their own battery so they wont drain your phone and prevent it from being used for more important things later.
Having said all that, in terms of performance for a handful of connected devices, you probably wont notice any difference and if you just use your phone you will only have to carry one device, manage one plan, etc.
Unless you think youre going to spend long hours using the connection and want to treat it somewhat like a home connection that is independent from your phone (for example, if youd like to leave something downloading or uploading while you go out to eat), then your phone will probably perform well enough and youll save yourself the hassle of carrying multiple devices.
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