Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Tech News and Commentary
Dave and the team discuss Apple’s WWDC, Tim Cooke’s opinion on the size of their company, iOS 13 and Watch OS updates, Microsoft’s shower products, a capped 5G delay, new cleaning robots that work together, Lyft’s changes and training, personalizing smart homes with sensors, police departments and Ring, GM expanding where their Super Cruise will work., and more.
Tom in Newark, Delaware listens on 101.7 WDEL and asked: “What would be more valuable to me for my TV and trying to keep the prices down? SHould I get Xfinity or should I keep my FIOS. End of the contract is coming up, so if I have a choice right now, I want to know what I should do.”
Tom, that really depends on what each of them is offering you personally.
If you’re happy with your FIOS service and would like to keep while saving a little money, threaten to leave. Often times that will get you some kind of a deal from the customer retention people.
Xfinity is also likely to offer you a deal to pull you away from FIOS, and the deal is likely to be one of those good ones that only offer people who haven’t been consistently giving them money, the “new customer only” deals. Those are usually good at least until they end and suddenly everything gets 30% more expensive overnight.
Since their plans and the quality of their service vary by region, the only way to know your best option is to talk to each of them and see what they’re willing to offer. Typically switching gets you a lower price, but it’s short lived, so you may end up switching every one or two years to get the best price for the services.
Ask your neighbors about the quality of their Xfinity connection before you do anything though, depending on the area it can range from great to “I think I have service, but I’m not really sure I have service at all”.
Petro in Atlanta, Georgia listens on AM920 The Answer and asked: “I was wondering if you know of a portable radio AM/FM where it has a recording capability to a micro SD card?”
Petro, what you’re looking for exists, but it’s not commonly available from major brands.
The concept never really took off and with podcasts and instant music streaming it probably never will, but you can still find some devices that do what you’re looking for.
One piece of advice here, compare prices. Sharper Image and Amazon are selling the same generic-looking KA29 portable radio with SD card recording, and the one on Amazon is almost half the price at $34.
For around that same price, it has competitors like the Tecsun ICR-110, and if you don’t mind a TF card rather than an SD card you can get the Tvidio V115 for as little as $15.
They’re all pretty basic looking products, but they have AM and FM tuners and allow you to record, which is what you’re after. Don’t expect them to be flawless, but they should do the trick if that’s all you need.`
Rose in Indiana listens online and asked: “I have given in and bought a phone for my young daughter and have put restrictions on it so that she isn’t able to download or visit sites or apps that are not suited for young kids. YouTube apparently is not allowed with these restrictions. Is there a way that I can allow access to YouTube but keep the age restrictions for everything else? side note: I am fully aware of what might be accessed on YouTube however we monitor what she visits and allow a slight trust with the privilege of the phone. Still using restrictions because let’s face it, she’s a kid and being able to restrict things sure helps”
Rose, while YouTube is not a strictly PC app and may have some videos that are not appropriate for kids, Google does offer a kid-safe alternative.
YouTube Kids is an entirely separate app that has built-in parental controls and that filters out content that may not be appropriate for younger children.
If that’s not good enough, you may be able to use something like iOS’s guided access, which locks a child into an app, but you won’t have much luck finding very granular exceptions for specific apps.
One thing you may want to keep in mind here is that YouTube does work with phone browsers, so if your child can use the browser then she can also use YouTube.
When you participate on the show – anytime 24/7 – and we HEAR you with any consumer tech question, comment, help for another listener, tech rage or just share your favorite App these days … you could win prizes.
The COOL Into Tomorrow HOT Summer Giveaway:
Check out everything you can win here!
All CALLERS — using the AUDIO option on our Free App or 1-800-899-INTO(4686) – automatically qualify to win prizes.
Audio archived for at least 6 months