Tech News & Commentary
Joshua in Sparta, Tennessee listening on Supertalk WTN 99.7 FM – calling via the App asked us: “I’m trying to get the best information I can on a new printer for my family. Wireless.. was looking maybe a portable printer. but don’t know that much about them. Was looking for advice on what’s the best kind to get – deskjet, laser or whatever.”
Joshua, Wireless printers are a very common thing these days and you can get some good deals, if you want to go portable though, it’s still going to cost you. We use a business oriented Epson Workforce 630. We’re happy with it, but it will cost you around $300.
If that’s too much for you, you can go for a much cheaper option like an HP DeskJet 3050 for around $130, or even something like an Epson XP-310 for about $60. Both work as a scanner as well. Those are not portable though, if you want to go portable you can look at a Canon Pixma iP110, for example, it’s compact, it can run on batteries, and it will even do AirPrint if you have an iOS device. That one will cost you around $170.
Epson also makes portable printers and you may like the WorkForce WF-100, it’s similar to the Canon, but features a 1.4” LCD panel, supports WiFi Direct, and it will cost you around $280. For about $300, you can buy an HP Officejet Mobile 150, which has been ranked very well on recent reviews, it does not support AirPrint or WiFi in general, but it does support bluetooth.
The three things you want to watch for in any printer you are thinking about purchasing are, (1) Wi-Fi network support, as this will be required to print wirelessly from any computers on your home network.
(2) AirPrint support. Even if you don’t have Apple devices now, you might get some in the future or you might have friends and family that own iPhones and iPads. AirPrint allows those Apple mobile devices to print directly to your printer without involving a computer.
And (3) CloudPrint. This is Google’s version of AirPrint and it lets you access your printer from any computer or device running Chrome. That means Chromebooks and Android devices also. If you have all three of these things, you’re all set for wireless printing.
We’re still not sure why you’d need a portable printer, though. How often do you plan to move this thing around your house?
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Mark recommends:Fing, FREE
“Funny name…great app. I’ve been setting up some Wi-Fi access in a different part of my house this week and the access point leased an address from the cable modem and router using DHCP, so I didn’t know what IP address to use to log in on it and change its configuration. Fing to the rescue! This free utility for iOS and Android (and other things too, but those are the only two worth mentioning right here) will scan the network your smartphone is connected to and report about all the IP addresses that are in use. It will also tell you what it can see about those devices. In this case, I recognized the brand name of the access point I was looking for and BAM! I had the IP address. I might have reviewed this before here, but it’s been a long time if ever, and I use this app ALL the time in my work. Fing is 100% free in the iTunes App Store and Google Play.” — Mark
• Chris recommends: Pact, FREE
“They say money is the great motivator. Well, my app this week is one that I have not used because it may end up costing me a lot of money. Pact is an app that will allow you to earn cash for staying active, paid by members who don’t. I would be in that latter category. Basically, you enter your workout goals into the app then add your bank account information and how much money you’re willing to put on the line of you don’t reach your goal. If you reach your goal, then you get rewarded for each day committed. However, if you don’t make your goal, then you have just lost that amount of money that you put on the line and it goes into that pot and dispersed to the other members that met their goal.The app is free for iOS and Android, but if you aren’t active, it may cost you in the long run.” — Chris
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more Guest Segment:
Mark Walters, Chairman – Z-Wave
Charles in Tyler, Texas listening on KTBB AM600 asked us: “I have a question about an app– I am not real tech-savvy, but I would like to know if there is an app where you can just push in the GPS coordinates. That is what my company uses to send us from place to place…and use that app. I don’t know the name of it, or anything like that, I just wanted to know if there is one out there.”
Charles, There are a few apps out on the market that may suit your needs in terms of using coordinates to map your next stop, while you are on the job. For example, there’s an app simply named “GPS Location” which is derived from U.S. Cop, an app specifically used by police officers working the streets, that allows anyone to enter coordinates to find locations. The only downside to the GPS Location app is that it does not allow you to copy and paste, which seems to be the main complaint from it’s users.
You may also want to look into an app called “Map Coordinates” to suit your needs as it works similarly, but seems to garner far less complaints from it’s users. Map Coordinates also boasts it’s ability to show users different types of terrains, depending upon preference, and seems to have much more capability in terms of coordinate representations.
Either way, both apps are completely free and do not seem to push users into paying for other capabilities; which is especially appealing, considering how many apps SEEM to be free until you try to use them for something useful.
If you have an iPhone, check out Commander Compass Lite. Commander Compass is a GPS toolkit for outdoors and off-road navigation. It serves as a milspec compass with maps, gyrocompass, tactical GPS receiver, waypoint tracker, speedometer, altimeter, Sun, Moon and star finder, gyro horizon, and coordinate converter. It saves your custom places and waypoints, navigates precisely to them later, shows them on maps, displays detailed GPS info, measures distances, angles, and does a lot more. The Lite version is free in the iTunes App Store.
Technically speaking, Google Maps will also let you navigate to any coordinates you give it, so that may be all you need, if you just need to get around cities.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Education.Com: Several “Brainzy” 12-month codes for online early-learning programs for math and reading. If you’ve got Kids … you WANT one of these!
TurboTax: Several online codes good for one free federal and state Tax Return and e-file for Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business via TurboTax.com
The Grommet: iRoller liquid-free touchscreen display cleaners to remove smudges, fingermarks & dirt from your Smartphones, Tablets and other electronic devices.
G-Technology: Several 500GB 7200 RPM Touro S High performance portable Hard drives with easy & local Cloud Backup and in a variety of colors!
NanoTech: Several UltraFlix Gift Cards for 4K Content, like movies and a ton of other cool stuff. Let us know if you have a 4K Ultra HD TV!