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Tech News & Commentary
Chris from Baton Rouge, Louisiana listens to Talk WBRP 107.3FM asked us: “The Nook from Barnes n Noble doesn’t have a camera; is there anyway to connect a camera to the Nook?”
Chris, Sorry, unfortunately, there is no way to connect a camera to the Nook. The Nook does come with a USB port, but it’s not enabled for that kind of data, so you’d have to install some hacked firmware to be able to use the port at all, and even then you’d have a hard time finding a camera to work with it.
Then there’s the other obvious problem, it’s not supposed to work with a camera, so even if you manage to connect one to it, you won’t find a lot of software that expects the camera to be there at all, so you won’t really be able to get a lot of use out of it anyway.
You’re best bet here is to get a tablet with a built in camera that can take advantage of it through apps that know it should be there.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Steve in Shreveport, Louisiana asked us: “I recently picked up the Samsung Galaxy Mega. I’m a little dissatisfied with the camera on it. It doesn’t seem up to par with Samsung devices I’ve had in the past. I’m wondering if this might be a software or a hardware issue.”
Steve, The problem is almost certainly hardware, Samsung is not in the habit of installing expensive, high quality hardware on phones and then not showing it off, they have the the software that runs on the rest of Samsung handsets and they could adapt it to fit the Mega if it would yield better results. For example, my Galaxy Note 3 has a 13 megapixel camera that takes great pix and video.
Overall, the reviews we’ve read about the camera are all positive, but they do point out that it’s not as good as the S4’s camera, if you’re coming from certain other phones, you may notice the quality is worse, but it shouldn’t be truly bad.
Unfortunately, you are not likely to be able to fix it by using a different app.
This might be a case of “buyer beware,” however, as the Samsung Galaxy Mega uses an 8 megapixel rear camera instead of the 13 megapixel camera used in the Galaxy S4 or Note 3. The camera app bundled with the Galaxy Mega also lacks many of the image customization features of the S4 and Note 3 app. We’re sure this wasn’t something that the salesman explained to you when you were shopping for the phone, but any time something costs less there is a reason for it, and it’s important to compare specs and features to be certain that you get what you want, or at least understand what you’re giving up in order to save some money.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Nicole Flothe, CEO and Founder – JENStar Media
create brands that resonates your passion to the world wide web
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
In 1935, at the 12th “Big German Radio Show” or IFA as it is named today, the public for the first time had the chance to compare TV sets: in a dedicated “television street” six companies presented no less than 20 different models. Two stations made live broadcasts in UHF from the showfloor. But the hall caught fire and transmitters as well as the TV sets, many of them still prototypes, were burned to ashes.
Peter in Olympia, Washington asked us: “How do I debug the Into Tomorrow app on my Nexus 7? If I cannot debug the app, when will you guys come out with a fix for it? I am unable to install the phone app because it is not compatible.”
Thank you for letting us know. If you don’t have auto-update enabled please go to the Play Store when you have a chance, there’s an update on the store that should fix any issues with the Nexus 7.
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
Kanex: GoPower Pack – 6,000 mAh and 11,000 mAh battery packs with built-in stands for smartphones
Other World Computing (OWC): NUGUARD KX – Kinectic Energy X-Orbing Case for iPad Air
Bits Limited: Mini Squids — Travel-Sized surge protected power strips
Tylt: ENERGI Sliding Power Cases for iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!et