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”!
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.