HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Beth in Bossier City, Louisiana listening on 710 KEEL AM asked: What would be the most exciting new thing I can give to my son who is graduating from college? I believe a camera would be his preference.”
If you want to buy your son a camera, Ross, on our staff, recommends the Canon PowerShot A1000 Digital Camera. It gives good image quality and has 4x optical zoom. He also recommends buying a memory card reader with it to transfer the pictures to his computer. The camera supports SD memory cards and SDHC memory cards.
Of course, there are a lot of other cool cameras you can consider, but you can also look at a netbook, like the Asus Eee 1005PE that Erasmo likes. As with any notebook, portability is a major factor and with a 10.3 inch-wide screen, we’re talking about something smaller than the width of a sheet of paper.
For more information, tune into Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Matt in San Jose, California listening on KLIV 1590 AM sent us the following email and said: “I was a little miffed about your “Into Tomorrow” show. It was about a week ago, and your show said the reason why Amazon sells phones for a penny is probably because “there is a reason they might be overstocked with them,” implying the phone might be a bad phone.
Well, the truth is just about every phone when you compare it to the AT&T store or Walmart vs. Amazon, Amazon will always have the phone for a lot cheaper. It’s not because they might have a reason they are overstocked with them, it’s because they just do. These are not just new phone services, but also contract renewals. The only catch with renewing your AT&T contract with Amazon is they do not sell the iPhone.
Here are some examples:
– 2 years ago, LG Vu Cu920 was brand new, MSRP: $99, $49 at Walmart (Black Friday only), Amazon: 1 cent.
– Motorola Backflip Android phone $99 at AT&T, Amazon: 1 cent.
– HTC Tilt 2: $199 at AT&T, Amazon: 1 cent (new customer); $49 (contract extension).
– Blackberry Bold 9700: $200 or $29 refurbished (AT&T), Amazon: 1 cent (new customer); $74.99 (contract extension).
– Pantech Impact: $30 at AT&T, Amazon: 1 cent.
– Samsung Mythic (current FLO TV-capable phone): AT&T: $129, Amazon: 1 cent (new customer); $49 (contract extension).
Once in a while, they will have a gold box deal on all AT&T phones, where all AT&T phones at Amazon are a penny.
AT&T might charge you a $35 activation fee for buying the phone at Amazon, but I believe they still charge you that fee if you buy it from their own store.”
We never said anything about Amazon being overstocked with phones. At the time when we answered the question about the Palm Pre being sold for one cent, our reservation was the health of the company, and nothing about the phone. (This was, of course, before HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion. We’re now far less concerned about whether Palm’s technology will be supported “Into Tomorrow.” HP is the logical company to invest in Palm, and they have the deep resources needed to increase Palm’s share of the market, etc.) We did say, and we quote, “there is a reason the phone is being sold for one cent.” We never said that reason was due to overstocking. Our implied meaning in this case was that if Palm went under, the Palm phones would actually be worth a penny, and maybe even less.
Richard in Hazelton, Pennsylvania listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: “I would like to know the battery life of the iPad.”
Early reports had the iPad battery lasting up to 6 hours, but in some cases, up to 11, even 12 hours of continuous video playback, which is even longer than the 10 hours that Apple estimated.
In another test, the iPad alternated between streaming video and playing graphic-intensive games with Wi-Fi, on brightness at its highest, and the speaker at its loudest setting the entire time. The battery lasted 5 hours and 54 min.
If the iPad is supposed to replace your book or magazine, you should be able to throw it in your bag and read all day, without worrying about the charge.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Jeff Dungan, Vice President of Operations & Product Marketing – Control4
Can your phone control your lights, music and security system from anywhere in your home? Control4 delivers intelligent control of consumer electronics products, appliances and networking systems through an intuitive software interface.
Warren in Western Kansas listening to the podcast asked: “Droid, great device, but I’d like to be able to connect it to my car stereo. Is there any way to connect it easily with Bluetooth? I’ve seen some Bluetooth aftermarket stereos. Or is a separate Bluetooth device a better route to go?”
Many of the Bluetooth headsets that you see are really only designed to use when it comes to making phone calls, and if you want to play audio or video files from your phone, you are still going to have to connect with a cable. There are a few out there that will sync music automatically, but they cost a whole lot of money. Jason’s buddy just bought a new Dodge Ram and his stereo will sync with his iPhone, including the music, but the sticker on the radio was $1,300.
A more budget friendly solution would be to by an FM Transmitter. They have wireless ones now, and are available at several different stores and range in price from $20-$80.
Chris in Miami Beach, Florida listening to the podcast asked: “You were talking about HD radio in cars. I was an early adopter. Living smack dab in the middle of Miami Beach, the most annoying aspect was the signal dropout when I’m moving. I’d like to know if there’s been any progress in hanging onto the signal or buffering it since the first edition of radios.”
As with most technology, HD Radio has gotten better since it first came out several years ago. A big part of the problem in the beginning wasn’t so much the radios themselves, but the stations that were transmitting the signals. At least, that’s what we experienced here in South Florida. We found times when stations that would normally transmit an HD signal were only transmitting analog, and their HD2 and HD3 streams were down completely. For the most part, that seems to have been resolved.
Also since then, the radios have gotten better. By now, the manufacturers have had time to see what it was that wasn’t working so well in the beginning or needed improvement. The HD Radio receivers available today get you some really good quality audio.
That being said, determining the useful coverage area for a radio station is somewhat complicated. Local terrain, other radio signals in the area, and man-made interference can all affect how well you receive a given station.
Because of these factors, each radio station has a coverage area that is broken into 3 different levels: local coverage, distant coverage, and fringe coverage.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Amber in Charleston, West Virginia posted the following message on our Facebook page: “I am thinking about switching from nTelos to Verizon Wireless. Even though their prices are higher, I understand they have better coverage. Do you know anything about how well their coverage is? Also, do you have any insight on the Blackberry Storm?”
We’re not that familiar with nTelos, but we know they serve the Virginia and West Virginia area, which makes it a small network. In comparison, Verizon is a much larger network and for the most part, offers good service. We have carried a Verizon phone before and have not complained. The price will depend on what plan you sign up for. Verizon offers unlimited talk plans for as low as $69 a month. In regards to the BlackBerry Storm, we didn’t like the first version, and the second one wasn’t anymore spectacular. We’ve heard from friends and other listeners that they don’t really like it and some want to get rid of it.
Have you looked or heard of Android phones, like the many we talk about here on the show? That’s the mobile operating system by Google. Rob carries an iPhone, but lately, has been liking Android a lot. It is slowly catching up to Apple’s App Store, as far as apps go. You might want to take a look at the latest one, the HTC Incredible, or a Motorola Droid. I encourage you to visit a Verizon store and play with the different phones they offer. Based on you asking about a BlackBerry phone, we assume you’re looking for a smartphone (PDA phone).
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza
| Behind the Scenes | ||
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| ioSafe Solo Hard Drive | Dave Graveline directing our video shoot while Jason is in the lake | ioSafe Solo connected to a laptop |
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| Jason Burns in a lake |
with the ioSafe SoloRob Almanza takes a
bath with the ioSafe SoloJason coming out of the lake
We had a lot of fun with this week’s Product Spotlight video shoot. We tested out an external hard drive from a company called ioSafe that claims it can withstand water. They say your data is protected from flood, full submersion down to 10 feet for 72 hours … in fresh or salt water. A hard drive like this is good to have to prevent data loss or damage in the future. The ioSafe Solo external hard drive is similar to a “black box” on an airplane. The one we’re testing has a storage capacity of 500GB, but they have others that go up to 2TB.
The ioSafe Solo works with PC or Mac, just like most other USB external hard drives. A combination of ioSafe technologies work to allow for airflow cooling during normal operation yet protect the data from floods or fires. Yes, it’s also fireproof! A lot of our tech friends have already tested THAT for us – even with flamethrowers! Here are some notable videos to watch:
– Macworld Video: ioSafe Solo hard drive torture tests — Watch Video
– Wall Street Journal Review / Compare ioSafe Hard Drive — Watch Video
– Testing the ioSafe Solo with fire! — Watch Video
During a fire event, its FloSafe vents automatically close to prevent extreme outside heat from damaging the hard disk inside the enclosure. I don’t think we’ve seen so much technology in a hard drive like this before!
For those asking about data recovery, ioSafe comes with a 1-year one-time data recovery service. This would be used in case something goes wrong with the hard drive or if you experience a flood or a fire. This drive is tough and a bit heavy. Almost like a cinderblock! It weighs-in at 15 pounds. You won’t be traveling with this as you would with portable drives.
We’re happy to see companies like ioSafe doing their best at protecting our important data and are fans of the technology on this product.
Buy one here. Or, you can win one by participating on our show. You can also hit “Like” on our Facebook Page. We’re going to be giving an awesome prize that just might be one of these. Stay tuned!
— By Rob Almanza, “Into Tomorrow” Correspondent
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Concord Keystone: Several Easy Shot Clip, Ultra Mini Digital Video Cameras
iosafe: Several ioSafe Solo USB External Drive – Protects against Fire, Water and Theft SIZE? VALUE?
Klipsch: Image X10i In-Ear Headset w/ Mic & 3-Button Remote Headphones