HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Dale in Murfreesboro, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: “I wanted to know about these solid state drives. Are they more durable than regular drives? What are the pros and cons of these?”
The SSDs today are increasingly more common. The SSD is typically going to be faster than its mechanical equivalent at retrieiving data. SSD is flash based and therefore much more efficient at finding the data you need.
SSDs would also last longer than the mechanical hard drive. It has no moving parts and will draw much less power compared to the conventional hard drive and requires a lot less cooling too, consequently it will produce less heat. With no moving parts, it’s also much less susceptible to damage from knocks or drops.
An SSD is quieter than the mechanical hard drive and can run in near silence. Solid State Drives could be the format of the future, but right now it depends on your budget, too. If you need a large capacity disk and don’t have a lot of money, a hard disk drive will likely serve you just as well.
One other factor worth mentioning in a discussion of SSD vs. traditional rotating media hard drives is the flood in Thailand that has caused a shortage in the supply of hard drives. It hasn’t hit retail pricing yet, really, but right after the first of the year we should see a sudden spike in the cost of computers because the hard drives will cost more. SSDs are unaffected, since they’re made with flash memory. Their suppliers are in different locations. So SSD prices will not be increasing as traditional hard drive prices are, which will cause the two categories of drives to become much closer in price.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline.
Mark in Seminole, Florida listens online and asked: “What is the difference between flatscreen TVs that are 3D capable and those that are not. Is there any way to upgrade a non-3D TV to 3D?”
It’s a very simple difference. If a TV is 3D capable, it will allow you to put on those 3D glasses and watch some TV programs and movies and nature shows and sports in 3D. If it’s not, well … then you can’t.
There is also no way to “upgrade” a non-3D TV to 3D, short of replacing it. There is an entirely different set of “guts” on the inside of a 3D TV to be able to process the 3D signals. It’s no longer as simple as it used to be to just watch a 3D movie on a regular TV and just put on those cardboard glasses wih one blue lens and one red lens. The technology has evolved far beyond that.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Rao in Shreveport, Louisiana listens on KEEL and asked: “Is there a possibility to have ‘Heads Up Display’ on a glass screen, from a Computer, instead of a Monitor? If so, why is that not commercialized as yet? Also, where are we in getting ‘OLED’ Monitors in the Market?”
There are several HUDs — or Heads Up Displays — for computers on the market, but they’re mostly all wearable and still experimental.
The type of heads up display that you’re looking for is probably not available because it wouldn’t be too comfortable to use, we have them on everything from ski masks and scuba goggles to car’s windshields, but those devices usually just show a small amount of data, and the point of having the information there is the be able to quickly glance at it without taking your eyes off your main task for too long. You can refocus your eyes, check the information on the screen, refocus again and look at the world around you… what you want with computers is usually the opposite, you want a comfortable, clear and information filled display to keep looking at for an extended period of time, what’s behind the screen is usually not as crucial to you at the time as the screen is.
Having said that, we have seen see through displays at trade show and they are mostly being targeted at advertisers that want to display information while still allowing people to see what’s on the other side of the screen, so what you’re looking for may be coming to consumers sooner than you think.
As for OLEDs, they’re not all the way there technologically, they’re very expensive to make, which obviously makes them expensive to buy, and they have far shorter lifespans than regular LED screens (think a thousand hours versus hundreds of thousands for LEDs), so you may have to wait a little bit before you see them replace regular LED screens.
Plus, try to imagine what it would be like having a see-through computer display. You are trying to focus on some information displayed by your computer and at the same time, someone is walking back and forth, distracting you. A heads-up display is a critical and vital component of many applications where the information is only part of what you need to know, you also need to see what’s out in front of your fighter plane or in the path of your car.
When you’re trying to write a report for work, what else do you need to see at the same time, really?
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Mark Young, VP Mobile Strategy & Business Development – NBCUniversal
Do you still wait in line to buy movie tickets? Why not use your cell phone next time?
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: Holiday Tech Gifts 2011
The holidays are already upon us and we’re all working on our wish lists for Santa … requesting many consumer electronics. In fact, the Consumer Electronics Association estimates 76% of consumers plan to spend on CE gifts. We’ve compiled a few of our favorite tech gift ideas for you to consider. |
 1) Laptops & TabletsSome of our favorites in this category, include: – Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A (13-inch) 2) TVs TVs are always popular, too. Sizes and choices have gotten a bit out of hand, but the price is very competitive and Black Friday sales have some really good deals. Best Buy, who is offering a 42-inch Sharp 1080p HDTV for only 200 bucks ) Digital Cameras One of our favorites is the Olympus PEN Mini, which we featured recently on ITTV. It’s a compact digital SLR with lots of fun features at only $500. We also like the Samsung MV800 MultiView Compact Digital Camera. It’s a got a 3-inch movable display which makes self-portraits fun to shoot. 4) Smartphones We mostly carry Android and iPhone devices. So here are some notable picks for you to consider … smartphones, of course! – Apple iPhone 4S (AT&T/Sprint/Verizon) – Motorola Droid RAZR (Verizon) 5) Giftcards Some of you may not be fans of gift cards, but for the busy person, they’re perfect! THE Consumer Electronics Association says: YES! 80% plan to give a gift card this holiday season and a lot of them are being used to buy consumer electronics. |
Deborah in Porterville, California listens via KTIP 1450 AM and asked: “Is a three year old Zune too old to mess with and should I just go out and buy a new one?”
If it works for you and does what you want, there’s really no reason to replace it. Having said that, Microsoft announced in October that they will stop making the Zune, and focus their attention on Windows Phone. They say that the Zune services will continue working, warranties will be honored and that customer support is still available.
But they will not be producing any new models. You can still find them for sale, as retailers are still trying to sell the remaining units they have in stock.
If you do decide you want to buy a new media player, your choices are nearly endless. Remember, it doesn’t have to be an “i” device, although the iPods are probably the most popular. The best advice we can offer is to go into your local electronics retailer and play with some of them. Most stores have a selection laid out for you to pick up and play with.
Everyone’s tastes are a little different. A feature that may be a selling point for one person may not be important to another. So, take a look for yourself and see which one you like the best.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Boingo: Two months of FREE Boingo WiFi Service available at hundreds of thousands of hotspots worldwide
G-Technology: Several G-Drive Slim 1/2 a Terabyte (500GB) Silver Hard Drives
Solar Components: Several JOOS Orange Portable Solar Chargers – Designed to charge all personal electronic devices (cell phones, smart phones, MP3 players, GPS devices, portable game devices and more)