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Tech News & Commentary
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Jon in Rocklin, California listens to the Podcast and is calling in via the App asked us: “I recently got into metal detecting. You want to use headphones to hear deep targets. I want to find some good quality, wireless headphones. 
What could you recommend that is reasonably inexpensive and decent quality?”
Jon, That’s an interesting hobby. A great pair of inexpensive wireless head-phones you might look into is the MEElectronics Air-Fi AF32 which sells for around $40. For the price, these headphones have great quality and give you the ability to even use a cable if don’t want to go wireless.
A brand that is also worth looking at is Sennheiser, They have headphones in all sorts of price ranges and is our brand of choice here in the studio. One model you might consider is the RS 120 which sells for around $99 – but for the quality and reputation Sennheiser has, its probably a good investment. [JP] (re-written by cg)
After a little “online detecting” about metal detecting, we’ve learned that one of the issues with wireless headphones is lag or delay in the signal. It’s very important that you get the tone indicating the presence of metal instantly, the very moment the coil passes over it, without any delay. Otherwise you will have inaccurate information and might dig fruitlessly in the wrong spot.
Most treasure hunters seemed to prefer headphones using the “Kleer” wireless technology that uses a 2.4 Gigahertz radio transmitter instead of Bluetooth. Kleer sends an uncompressed signal, which they do for the sake of audio quality, but which you care about because it means no lag or delay. There are a number of wireless headphones using this system. The Sennheiser RS160 and RS220 both do, but they’re pricey.
TDK’s WR700 headphones also use Kleer wireless and they’re priced around $150 online. Some sites are showing discontinued flags on them now, so TDK might be phasing them out, but we still saw them offered for sale at many locations this week.
We hope this helps! Let us know what you do and how it works out.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Alexander Zudin, CEO – Paragon Software
protect your IT data, help your daily business operations and help alleviate disasters.
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
Transmitting pictures is a very old dream of engineers. Already in 1883, Paul Nipkow, a German engineer, developed the basic idea of a disc with tiny holes which could break a picture into several pieces. The Nipkow disc, patented in 1884, became the basis of all future television technologies. In 1897 the German engineer Ferdinand Braun invented the cathode ray tube. He had no idea that he had created the basis of a future mass medium. Hundreds of millions of these tubes, CRT in short, became the core display of television sets for about a hundred years and was the star of IFA for decades.
Mike in Waskim, Texas listens on 710 KEEL asked: “I was wondering if someone makes DVR for a car stereo. All too often I’m in the car and I miss something for about 30 seconds and it be nice to back it up 30 seconds and re-listen to it.”
Mike, Unfortunately there aren’t too many DVR features in vehicles yet – or anything to install. However there is a new feature in a select number of vehicles like the Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX as well as the Cadillac CTS Jukebox and Navigation radio called Pause and Play.
You can pause the radio at that moment and once you arrive or are finished with your phone call for example, you can push play and pick-up where it left off. But this feature only stores up to 20 minutes of memory for later playback. These features are set to come to the Buick Regal and Chevrolet Cruze in due time, but there is no talk of increasing the playback memory.
From our good friend Mike Dixon at Audio Logic in Hollywood, Florida: “Neither of the 2 major brands I carry offer this feature. I am unaware of the other majors (like Pioneer, Alpine and Clarion). I did speak with product application specialists with Sony and Kenwood… nothing for “free” terrestial radio. There is a DVR like function available for newer model SiriusXM tuners — both stand alone and those wired to the newer model big 4 radio manufacturers! I’ll try to get you more info soon, I am working on answers from Alpine and Pioneer … but I’ve been extra busy because … I’m just a new Grandpa!” CONGRATS MIKE!
If we might suggest a workaround, however, you could look to a smartphone app such as the very excellent TuneIn Radio Pro, combined with an audio connection to your car’s entertainment system. TuneIn Radio is one of our favorite free streaming radio apps for both iPhone and Android, and the Pro version, for just a couple bucks, adds the ability to record your favorite radio programs for later playback.
Then all it takes is some way of getting your smartphone to playback on your car’s audio system and there are a lot of ways that might happen. Some cars offer Bluetooth audio streaming, while others have an AUX input jack where you can plug a male-to-male cable coming from the headphone connector on your smartphone.
So it’s not as convenient as pushing a button on your dashboard, but it isn’t terribly hard to do, and best of all, it’s not expensive and it uses things that you probably already have.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Jim in Idaho Falls, ID listening on 1260 AM asked: “Trying to get together with Raspberry Pi and needed a new monitor. Was wondering if there was a small 20-30 inch TV that would work as a monitor when I wanted to use it on occasion. Hopefully inexpensive.”
Jim, The Raspberry Pi has the circuitry to connect an HDMI output, so any TV that takes an HDMI input should work just fine with it. And of course, many new TVs offer several HDMI ports these days, so you can even leave it connected if you’d like.
The biggest problem you’re going to find is finding a TV that small.There are a few still around, you can buy a 24 inch refurbished RCA set for $140 on Sears’ website, and it does come with one HDMI port, so if you only want to use it with the Pi and TV, it should work for you.
Best Buy is currently selling 24” Haiers and 22” RCAs for around $130, and those would work for your purposes too.
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
Other World Computing (OWC): Nuguard KX phone cases for Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 4/4S and 5
Phone Halo: StickR TrackR — Find any object you attach it to with your smartphone
PURE: Jongo Wireless Adapters — Allows you to stream all your music wirelessly to your home audio system.
Tylt: A plethora of USB charging cables for iPhone and Android phones and iPhone battery cases.
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!