Weekend of November 26th, 2010
Dave and the team are back in-studio this week ready to answer your calls and emails on the air. Thank you for your participation!
ITTV Video Update (Watch in HD – Powered by Tricaster)
Is Google TV worth getting right now? YOU decide! We’re featuring the Logitech Revue set top box — one of the first products with Google TV — on this week’s Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza. Also featuring: Chris Graveline with his tech throwback on This Week in Tech History.
Listeners & Guests on the show this week:
For ALL the details … be sure to listen to the show by downloading the MP3 or clicking the RED & WHITE “Play” button on the media player, both on the right-hand side of this page.
HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Marcos in Lindsay, California listening on KTIP 1450 AM asked: “I noticed that there are HDTVs coming out that are Wi-Fi enabled. What special purposes do those have? Can you browse on those? Is it for Netflix type services?”
Several manufacturers like Sony, Toshiba, Vizio, and others are coming out with Wi-Fi enabled TVs. They can stream content straight to their display without a network cable. For example, The Toshiba UX600 LED TV not only lets you watch movies from your cable or Satellite or DVD or Blu-ray, but it also lets you enjoy video from Into Tomorrow, YouTube, slideshows from Flickr, and other online content.
In addition to streaming video content from the Net, this set also has a customizable “Ticker” that lets you stay current with News, Weather, Twitter accounts and other stuff. These Toshiba models from 40 to 55″ start at about $1400.
Another good example is the VF552XVT TruLED LCD HDTV from Vizio. It uses the latest wireless technology, like the others, so you can connect to the Internet, stream movies, and TV Shows using the Netflix and Amazon widgets, listen your favorite music with Rhapsody, and even get the latest news & sports through Yahoo. You can also use the Universal Bluetooth Remote with slide out Qwerty keypad to send a tweet or change your status on Facebook. That 55″ unit is available for $2199.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
“Consumer Reports” Feature with Paul Eng
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
- For Android: Peanut Gallery.
- For BlackBerry: RIM’s own Twitter App.
- For iPhone/iPad: Words with friends.
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
Guest in this hour:
Wayne Irving, CEO & Founder – Iconosys
With summer drivers hitting the highways, how do you stop the obsession of texting while driving? Wayne may have a solution for you.
Ron in Topeka, Kansas listening on WTN 99.7 FM sent us the following email and asked: “When is 2.2 with flash for Droid supposed to be released?”
An official answer will have to wait for one of the carriers or device manufacturers to officially announce a date. Until one of them does that, all we have for you is rumors. We tried again this morning and nothing yet on several of our many Android devices.
The tech blog Boy Genius Report, one of our favorite stops on the web, claims to have intercepted an email sent from HTC in which they said Android 2.2 would be available for downloading to their HTC Incredible models at the end of July or first week of August. Another less famous tech blog reports that the Android 2.2 over the air update for the new Droid X is happening between now and July 27th. Now, that’s again just a rumor, but all signs are pointing to a release that’s sooner rather than later.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Lisa sent us the following email and asked: “We are not computer savvy people and have a computer from 2004. We are thinking of upgrading in the near future, but not sure when this will be. We have a Sony VAIO desktop and laptop, but can’t seem to find this one anymore. What do you recommend for a decent computer?
All we do is our banking, both online, and also we use Microsoft Money and love it. Other than that, we check email and occasionally like to print pictures and greeting cards.
Also, what do you think of System Mechanic to clean things up?”
You can take a look at the Gateway SX2840-01 with the new dual core i3 processing chip. With pretty good performance, a huge hard drive, and a reasonable set of basic specs, this Gateway is a very capable computer for you. It’s well equipped out of the box with Windows 7 64 bit home premium, 6 GB of Ram, and 1 Terabyte hard drive, DVD burner, a multiformat flash card reader, and a VGA and HDMI output.
System Mechanic is a good tool for cleaning your computer’s registry and fixing a variety of other problems, too. We’ve had copies for giveaway from time to time, and everyone who has tried it has good things to say about it.
However, a good free alternative is CCleaner. It used to be Crap Cleaner, but political correctness shortened the name. CCleaner does a terrific job of repairing registry errors and cleaning unnecessary files from your computer, and did we mention it was free?
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
“Wireless Update” Weekly Feature with Verizon’s Chuck Hamby
Have you ever had cell phone sticker shock? When your monthly bill is much higher than expected? Chuck helps you block the shock.
HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Terry in Bossier City, Louisiana asked: “I’d like to know the difference between a netbook computer and an iPad.”
A netbook is designed to look like a regular laptop computer, but smaller. An iPad is a hand-held tablet device and a larger version of an iPod touch.
Netbooks are great for people who need a lot of portability, but they don’t quite have all the features of a laptop. Many netbooks do not have a CD driver, although they do have USB ports that will allow you to connect an external CD or DVD drive. They also won’t have the processor speed, memory, or RAM of regular laptop.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Luke in Tyler, Texas listening on KTBB 92.1 FM: “I heard about the Mi-Fi. Can you connect an Android phone to your computer and use Wi-Fi from your computer to your Android phone?”
If you’ve got a Wi-Fi network that’s available to your computer, assuming you know the password, you should be able to use it on your Android phone without the need for a computer at all.
If what you want to do involves connecting the phone to the computer via Wi-Fi, it can indeed be done, and the computer can also share a “wired” network connection through it’s Wi-Fi adapter.
For example, if you get your Internet through a network cable connected to your computer, you can set that computer to act as a wireless access point and share it’s connection wirelessly with other devices, including your Android phone.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Micah in Porterville, California listening on KTIP 1450 AM asked: “With the advent of Netflix streaming over an iPhone, I was trying to see if there was a cable or dock that would allow me to use my iPhone to project it onto a bigger screen.”
You can indeed buy a cable that will add video-out functionality to your iPhone. Just ask for an iPhone AV cable.
Apple sells it for a whopping $49.99, but if you look online (for example, at Amazon.com), you can find third party versions for as little as a fifth of that price.
These cables will enable your iPhone to display video on your TV, but your TV won’t always display what the iPhone screen’s showing. What we mean by this is: when you plug in your iPhone, if the video isn’t already playing, your TV will stay blank and it may even display a warning letting you know that it can’t find a signal. This is normal, your TV will show videos, movie and TV show rentals, photos, etc, but it won’t mirror the iPhone’s screen at all times, so while the video is not playing you may be facing a blank TV screen.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
Guest in this hour:
Jonas Forsberg, General Manager of Jabra, North America (Mobile) – Jabra
Are you suffering from “cellbow”? Jabra says it’s no joke. Just humerus.
“Into Tomorrow” Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza: Palm Pre Plus & Palm Pixie Plus
Patrick in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: “Blu-ray DVD Players. What about a PS3? How does it compare to the DVD players you were just talking about?”
PS3 game consoles make excellent Blu-ray players, and they incorporate many of the same streaming video features that we discussed on the high end stand alone players. Streaming Netflix, for example, works splendidly on the PS3.
Mark has said before that he would buy a PS3 for his Blu-ray player to get the game console along with it, and he still believes that’s what he’d do. But the price of the PS3 will be a bit higher than any of the stand-alone players.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Gary in Hallsville, Texas listening on 710 KEEL asked: “iPhone, I go to a lot of streaming stations, but you can’t download Adobe to an iPhone and I wondered if there was any time frame for that to be taken care of. Also, I have a hard drive in a tower unit that I want to get some stuff off of, but it smokes a little bit when I plug it in. Really, not interested in spending a lot of money on it. Wondering what my options would be.”
Apple’s CEO Steve Jobbs has recently escalated an ongoing war between Adobe and Apple and explicitly stated that it would never happen. iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad are going to ignore Flash and wait for HTML5 to replace it, which everyone but Adobe seems to agree it will, but not in the short term.
Interestingly though, you can get other Adobe products, such as Photoshop mobile on the App Store, but Flash will never be a part of iPhone, as long as Steve Jobbs is breathing.
As for your hard drive, we’ve never seen that, at least any drive that is supposed to be working, so we’re not too sure what to tell you about that.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
This is how we “Rock-It” in the studio!
The “Into Tomorrow” team had fun playing with the Rock-It Portable Vibration Speaker from OrigAudio in the studio this week. They say it revolutionizes the way you listen to music. Basically, Rock-It turns anything into a speaker.
Here’s how it works:
1) Plug It: Connect the Rock-It to an MP3 player, as an example. It also works with computers, portable media players, cell phones, the iPad and several others.
2) Stick It: It’s got an adhesive on the back that lets you stick it on any surface or object. Examples: cardboard boxes, hollow objects, doors. plastic cups, windows … or like us … on your cheekbone, chin, chest, etc.
) Rock It: Enjoy your music in a unique way.
Learn more about the technology from OrigAudio at their website – click here.
Buy one here.
Darren in Courtney, British Columbia, Canada listening on XM Radio Online asked: “Been having problems with an internal SATA hard drive. Where and how will I ever get a report from the S.M.A.R.T. self-monitoring and reporting tool that’s built into so many computers? When will I know that this hard drive is in fact in trouble and the data may be corrupt?”
If you want to check the current status of your hard drive, you can use a third party tool, like Active@ Hard Disk Monitor or HDD Health, to give you a diagnosis right now, but the most important thing you should do right now is back everything up.
If S.M.A.R.T. tells you that the data may be corrupt, even if it’s a somewhat early warning and your hard drive is still spinning, you may have already lost some valuable information. Don’t wait for the monitoring systems to tell you there is definitely a problem, if you suspect your data might be at risk back up right away.
You should also make sure that S.M.A.R.T. is actually running on your computer to begin with, as that is not the case with absolutely every new computer. Any S.M.A.R.T. monitor should help you find that out, but make sure it is and do not wait for your hard drive to die before safeguarding your data.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Richard Schneider, President – Antennas Direct
Antennas Direct provides true, ultra high-performance Digital and HDTV Antenna systems.
Corey sent us the following email and said: “I just wanted to write you in the hope that you can warn others about trying to add Blu-ray capability to a PC. It is easy to add a Blu-ray drive to an existing multimedia PC, but what I found was the bundled software won’t give you the full experience from a Blu-ray. Blu-ray offers an upgrade in the visual, but I think it gets missed too often that the sound is also a huge part of this upgrade too. The software that they give you with a PC Blu-ray drive lets you play the media, but with software manufacturers, like Cyberlink in the PowerDVD software often bundled with drives. You can’t get your computer to stream HD audio like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD without buying the Ultra edition that is licensed to use the HD audio streams. For just over $100, I could have bought a stand alone player, but I thought I would be clever and save a few dollars and got burned. I also got very frustrated and lost a lot of time in reading/troubleshooting, and writing manufacturers with questions.
Here is what I bought in this project and reasons for each purchase:
1. Blu-Ray Drive: $85
2. New Video Card: learned that the older ATI card would only support 5.1 audio, new one upgraded me to 7.1 using the ATI 4800 series: $100
. Adapter to go from DVI to HDMI: $12
4. New Adapter to go from DVI to HDMI after I learned that only certain ones are certified by the video card manufacturer to stream audio: $15 (other important finding is that SPDIF is limited to 5.1 audio )
5. This is the point where I learned that only the “Ultra” edition of PowerDVD software from Cyberlink can provide HD sound, which would cost another $100. I bought a stand alone Samsung BD player and am happy with it.
I spent $200+ upgrading a PC (just for the Blu-ray drive portion, spent more on other upgrades) and needed to spend more to get it to take advantage of the HD sound. It was a headache and I do not recommend others trying this until the licensing cost comes down for the HD audio. There also needs to be more software manufacturers that offer the HD audio stream as I think Cyberlink is the only one.”
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Oliver in Atlanta, Indiana listening via XM Ch.139 asked: “I have a BlackBerry Curve and I’m trying to find where my BlackBerry messenger is. I’ve been looking for a really long time. I know it’s supposed to be in a folder on the phone somewhere. But, I can’t find it. With the BlackBerry, I believe it’s supposed to come on any of the phones.”
The current release of the BlackBerry system software, for whatever mysterious reason, does not include the BlackBerry Messenger application. Don’t fear, though. It’s alive and well on BlackBerry App World. If the App World icon isn’t on your BlackBerry either, you can download it from appworld.blackberry.com. The BlackBerry Messenger is consistently one of the top free apps.
Now, for those of you who are wondering just what this is, BlackBerry Messenger is a system to allow direct device to device messaging using your BlackBerry’s PIN code. Each BlackBerry has a unique PIN code associated with it. This messenger app sends instantly, in real time, and your message is never exposed to the vague deliveries that sometimes plague text messages, especially ones going between different wireless providers. In some business mixers, exchanging BlackBerry PINs is considered on of the most personal things you can do, far exceeding a simple business card.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Wayne in Kissimmee, Florida listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: “I have several laptops that are broken. Just wondering if there’s any way I can use these laptop monitors as monitors I can put in my truck.”
Unfortunately, no.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza
Mobile Hotspots Update
You’ve heard us talk a lot about the MiFi mobile hotspot on the show. Basically, this is a portable 3G router that creates a WiFi network that handles up to 5 devices like notebooks, netbooks, MP3 players, cameras, PDAs, portable gaming systems or whatever else you need a WiFi connection for. This week we’re giving you an update on how this technology is evolving.
For example, you’ve probably heard about the Palm Pre Plus.
Some physical features of the design have changed from the original Pre. But, the most notable one is its built-in 3G mobile hotspot. It works just like the MiFi on Verizon’s network. Like the MiFi, it can support up to 5 devices at the same time.
The Palm Pre currently costs under $50 with a 2-year contract.
Another option is the Palm Pixi Plus. It’s an entry-level smartphone, but takes “basic” a little further with WiFi capability and the ability to use the smartphone as a mobile hotspot. It too allows up to 5 devices on its WiFi. The Palm Pixi costs under $30 currently with a 2-year contract on Verizon’s network as well.
And here’s the really good news! Verizon no longer charges for that privilege. With a regular data plan, the mobile hotspot is FREE. However, you have to be careful. It only includes up to 5GB of data access. Any usage above the 5 GB monthly allowance will be billed at a per-Mega Byte rate.
We’ve been huge fans of mobile hotspots like the MiFi since the beginning and are excited about where this technology is expanding … “Into Tomorrow”!
— By Rob Almanza, “Into Tomorrow” Correspondent
CONNECT with Rob!
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
D-Link: Several MyDlink-enabled Wireless Network Cameras to keep an eye on your home.
Honestech: Copies of Claymation Studio 3.0 Deluxe with PC Camera included – stop motion video creation software
TrenMicro: Copies of Titanium 2011 — Maximum Internet Security including 10 gigs of online backup.
TuneUp: Copies of TuneUp Utilities – Optimization software for PCs.
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