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Weekend of March 7th, 2014 – Hour 2

 Tech News & Commentary

Eric in Decatur, Illinois listening on WSLY – calling in via the App asked us: “Having a problem with Samsung Galaxy s4 – Every so often, it will “forget” that it has an SD card in it. It seems like it’s ejected, but I haven’t touched the SD card. I’ve tried reformatting it as well as removing everything from it to no avail. Curious if you have any suggestions.”

Eric, Try removing the SD card from your phone and insert it into your computer,  if your computer doesn’t have a SD card mount, you can use a SD card reader. Copy the contents from the SD card into a folder on your computer and then put the SD card back into your phone and format it. Using a USB cable, connect your phone to your computer and copy the files back into the SD card.

intotomorrow_logoWe’ve heard that some Sandisk cards have been having issues, and Sandisk has even been replacing them. They seem to be 32GB and 64GB models, you may just have a bad card.

Many people have reported that replacing the card with a Samsung-branded card has gotten rid of the issue, so you could attempt that as well.

It can also be an issue with the Class of the SD card. That will be a number between 2 and 10, and it refers to how quickly data can be transferred to the card. Class 10 is the fastest, but some tech sites are reporting that Class 10 is problematic with Android and Samsung phones.

They are recommending either Class 4 or Class 6, and we would say that faster is always better. So look for a Samsung brand Class 6 SD card and see if that clears up your problems.

For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.

“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline

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 2 of our podcast.

Paul asked: “I have a Droid razr M (XT907) running 4.1.2, My question is, will I be able at some point to receive KitKat 4.4. I have been told that Verizon has blocked some phones from receiving updates…I am assuming so that they push the more expensive models.Is this the case or will it be available?”

 

Paul, Luckily the RAZR m will be one of the few phones from the Droid family to be upgraded to KitKat(Android 4.4). Unfortunately, no date has been released on when it will be available.

Motorola does offer the option of receiving an email to be notified of when there are updates for your phone, having said that… your phone will also notify you, so that seems pretty pointless…

For now, at least the update has been officially confirmed by Motorola, so it should be happening, but they haven’t said when, so you will have to sit and wait. Knowing how non-stock Android updates usually work, by the time 5.3 rolls out, they may get around to updating your phone to 4.4.

The other wildcard here is that Motorola has just changed hands. Google sold Motorola Mobility, who make your Razr, to Lenovo. We’re not suggesting this will definitely have an effect, but it certainly could have one.

Unfortunately, unless you root your phone with custom ROMs or buy a “pure” Google phone like a Nexus, you are at the mercy of both the company making the hardware and your wireless carrier. We don’t like that either, in fact it’s one of the things our resident iPhonies prefer about Apple.

So while we can encourage you with what we heard in the past, we have to remind you that your mileage may vary.

For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.

Guest Segment:

Jim Willcox

Jim Barry, Digital Answer Man – Consumer Electronics Association

Jim Barry in studio

Ben in Delta Junction, Alaska listening on 970 AM KFBX asked: “I want to get a new digital camera with a high powered zoom and wondering which you think is the best.”

 

Ben, You have many, many options, and they mainly depend on your budget.

If you’re interested in top quality, you can get a nice SLR, a multi-thousand dollar lens and you’ll be very happy with the quality of the pictures you’ll get, and unburdened by an excess of money, but assuming you want something a little more on the affordable size, you can also look at point and shoot large zoom cameras.

The Nikon Coolpix S9500 sports a nice 22x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom, and the Nikon name pretty much ensures that you’re getting quality optics for the $300 you’ll be paying for it.

The Canon Powershot SX510 should match the quality of the lens, but with a 30x optical zoom, and a 4x digital zoom for about $50 less.

If that’s not enough for you, for $400 you can buy a Sony DSC-HX300 with a 50x optical and 100x digital zoom, that should be plenty for most people’s needs.

For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Intuit: Activation codes for TurboTax Premier –   File your taxes easily (This version includes investments and Rental property)

PhoneHalo: StickR TrackR — find any object you attach it to with your smartphone

Noizy: Kameleon Series Bluetooth earbuds

PURE: Jongo Wireless Adapters — Allows you to stream all your music wirelessly to your home audio system.

“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!

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Written by Dave Graveline

Dave Graveline is the founder, Host & Executive Producer of "Into Tomorrow" in addition to being President of the Advanced Media Network".

Dave is also a trusted and familiar voice on many national commercials & narrations in addition to being an authority in consumer tech since 1994. He is also a former Police Officer and an FBI Certified Instructor.

Dave thrives on audience participation!

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