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Tech News & Commentary
Gerald in Detroit, Michigan listens on CKLW 800 asked: “Dealing with some young children that have Multiple Sclerosis. I’d like to find some computer applications that would enable them to communicate.”
TapSpeak is something you might want to look into. It’s designed to help kids with many different disabilities communicate by tapping on images that are meant to make it easier for them to communicate, whether they work for kids with MS or not is hard to tell. They claim they do, but we haven’t been able to find any objective tests.
Pretty much all of the apps we’ve been able to find are geared exclusively at autism sufferers, those may or may not fit your needs, but autism is a very different disease and the apps may be designed to meet very different challenges.
If you’d like to look at them anyway, AACSpeechBuddy seems fairly similar to TapSpeak, so it may be an option. Voice4u also seems like it might be useful, so it is probably another one you should have a look at, especially since it’s switch compatible, so if mobility is an issue, you can attach a bigger remote switch to your device and have your kids use it that way.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Jack in Los Alamos, New Mexico listens online and asked: “I’m wondering if it is possible to dualboot Windows 8 & 7? Is it a good idea to do? How do I do it? Will my apps have to be reinstalled to the Windows 8 part? Will my data from windows 7 be available to my windows 8? How do I go about getting upgrades with a dualboot?”
You can install both Windows 7 and Windows 8, in fact a lot of people have chosen that setup to “try” to upgrade after hearing so many bad things about Windows 8.
Your data and software will not be copied if you go that route, but you may be able to access your file on the Windows 7 partition from Windows 8 anyway, you just won’t have two copies.
Software is a different story, a lot of programs probably won’t run if you try to open them from the Windows 7 partition while you’re running Windows 8, in fact, some probably will, but they will be in the minority.
As for getting an upgrade, if you mean updating your OS, you just update each when you’re using them, basically as far as Windows 8 is concerned, it will be on a world of it’s own with access to a partition that just so happens to have Windows 7 on it, and Windows 7 will look at Windows 8 the same way. The should each be able to update individually and you’ll never get a pop up saying “here are you 3 updates for Windows 7 and you’re 2 updates for Windows 8, would you like to install them?”
If you’re talking about upgrading hardware though, you’re gonna have to make sure that whatever you’re installing has drivers for both Windows 7 and Windows 8 for both of the OSs to be able to use it. That shouldn’t be a huge problem by now, though.
By the way, we have now seen enough of the upcoming Windows 8.1 upgrade to know that the Start button IS returning…sort of. There will be a Start button, but all it does is return you to the Home screen in Windows 8’s “Modern” user interface. The old Start button menu is gone for good, it seems. But Windows 8.1 is still a worthwhile and free update, which should be available by the time you hear this week’s show, so we recommend it to all Windows 8 users.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Karen in Columbia, Missouri listening on News Talk 1400 KFRU told us: “I am interested in purchasing an e- reader or tablet for my son who is a sophomore in college. He participates on the college baseball team and in the spring months they travel a lot for games. I would like for him to be able to download his textbooks and possibly work on papers or homework assignments while on the road without having to lug his laptop and textbooks. Any suggestions? He seems to think that the Kindle Fire would be a good way to go because he could get the text books through Amazon ( he also feels this is the cheapest route). If I am going to spend the money I want to get the best bang for my buck. Being able to watch movies or read for pleasure would also be nice.”
A Kindle Fire seems like a sensible choice, he’d be able to buy textbooks from Amazon or rent them for considerably less money, share the same rented or bought copy with all of his other devices, so he can read the books on a smartphone or computer, and the tablet is more than capable of playing movies and giving him access to a good library of apps.
The Kindle Fire line is very fairly priced, starting at just $139 for the Kindle Fire HD, and with the new HDX model costing $379, it is considerably cheaper than an iPad.
iPads also have access to a vast library of textbooks and other media (including Amazon’s textbooks via the Kindle app), and they would more than meet all of his requirements, but the cheapest iPad starts at $329 and that’s for the 7.9 inch Mini.
If you’re looking for textbooks, bang for buck and the capacity to be enjoyed for day to day use as well, he probably made a very reasonable, sensible choice by choosing the one of the new Kindle Fires.
Because of their low cost and small size, Chromebooks are gaining acceptance in the textbook area. A LOT of schools are offering all their textbooks in an online format accessible from a Chromebook. And then you have a keyboard, for taking notes in a web app like Google Drive or Evernote.
So, you really can’t go wrong with a Kindle Fire, we especially like the new HDX models that are extremely good hardware for much less than a comparable iPad. But you also should consider a Chromebook, especially if the new Acer C270 models coming out in November with the latest Haswell processors from Intel also feature a touchscreen at a reasonable cost. We anticipate 4GB of RAM with a 32GB SSD and a touchscreen will be under $600.
Hey…What about Microsoft???…they are still here you know! If your budget allows, look at the Microsoft Surface 2. With a 10 hour battery life, Office 2013 RT, a 1080p HD display, and USB 3.0 support, this may very well be a student’s best friend.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Steve Tiffen, President & CEO – Tiffen
Mike in Montrose, Colorado listens to “The Voice of the Valley” 580 KUBC asked: “I have a no contract phone with wal-mart on straight talk. I have the Samsung Proclaim. Now I’m looking to upgrade but Wal-Mart has pulled out all the Samsungs. I was wondering what phone should I get between the: Samsung S2, S3, or the Microsoft Phone?”
That’s an easy choice: Of the ones you mentioned, We’d have to say the Samsung Galaxy S3, and you may want to make sure that they’re not offering the S4 by now, since it’s been out for a while.
Out of those though, there’s really no contest, the S2 is a good phone but not as good as the S3, the Windows phones are miles behind.
If you really want to save some money, the S2 will probably be free — or VERY inexpensive — and it is certainly a good phone, just an older good phone, but unless you really don’t want to spend the extra money, absolutely go for the S3, it’s by far the best option.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Scottevest: Lola Puff Jackets for Women & Puffer Jackets for Men – Complete with pockets for all your gadgets.
iolo: Copies of System Mechanic- Fix and speed up your PC Automatically.
TYLT: An assortment of Smartphone charging accessories and bluetooth speakers.
Nite Ize Innovation: Connect Case and Connect Cradle for iPhone – Hard case with belt clip, vehicle mount and desk stand.