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Weekend of February 19th, 2010 - Highlights from Mobile World Congress

Dave & Rob reported from Mobile World Congress and the ShowStoppers Press Event in Barcelona. Learn about the latest from the mobile world! Chris and Mark stayed back in our studios to answer your phone calls and emails on the show.

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

 

Jeff in Jacksonville, Florida listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: "Why buy the iPad, when you could get more out of a Macbook Pro?"

The main reason would be that the iPad costs $499 and the basic (13.3") Macbook Pro costs $1200, and even comparing the most expensive iPad to the cheapest Macbook (not Pro), you'd be saving $130.

Chris thinks the real question is, why would anyone buy an iPad? A device without a built-in camera, that can't run multiple applications at once, that can't handle flash websites, that can't have standard desktop software installed on it, and when for the same price, they can get a netbook that has all those features. The only answer is that it looks cooler, and people want to play with a bigger iPhone.

 

 

Joshua in Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 asked: "Trying to find out what is the best way to get rid of McAfee Antivirus software off the registry and everything. I don't know how to mess with the registry at all. What is the best of the free anti-virus programs available on the Internet?"

The best way to get rid of any program is to uninstall it using the uninstall routine that comes with the program. However, that process depends on the uninstall information that was created during the installation to still be there. If it's been removed or altered, you're stuck. In which case, you need to use an uninstaller utility. If you have a 32-bit operating system, you can use the free version of Revo Uninstaller, but if you need the ultimate in clean, or you're running 64-bit Windows, then you'll need to buy the Pro version.

Let's assume, however, that either through the built-in uninstall routine or using the Windows Add/Remove Programs tool, you were able to get the program off your computer. To clean your registry, there are two things we can recommend to you. One is the registry cleaner that Microsoft has online as the Windows Live Clean Up Center. The other is one of our favorite free programs, CCleaner. Both of these will clean your registry for you.

The recommendation we'd have for you right now would be Microsoft's Security Essentials, a free product from Microsoft, that's done remarkably well in antivirus benchmarks. In the past, we've recommended Avira, Avast, and AVG Free, and these are not bad programs, but the Microsoft one actually has been impressive for its detection rates and low system overhead, and it's free.

 

Rebecca in Dallas, Texas listening online sent us the following email and asked: "We have started looking at getting a big old high def TV. We want to stay under $600, and can fit a 42" into our TV armoire. It looks like if we got an LCD 42", we could only stay under $600, if we got one with 60HZ return rate, but we prefer the 120 HZ (which takes us up to $700 at least). I hear the plasmas are cheaper but run hotter, do not show as well in low lighting, and have more reflection off the screen in dark scenes since the screen is glass. I have basically learned all of this in the past few days, since I have never had anything more than a 27" tube TV! And we're watching just broadcast signal, nothing fancy, and want to hook up the computer so we can watch Hulu."

The plasmas actually tend to be more expensive than an LCD of the same size. Some manufacturers, however, are lowering the prices of the plasmas because fewer people are buying them.

It is true that they run hotter than LCD. At home, Chris has a 50” Plasma in the spare room, and a 42” LCD in his bedroom. When he stands in front of the plasma, he can feel the heat coming off of it. In his opinion, that’s the biggest drawback to plasmas. They also weigh at least twice as much as the LCD. It’s also true that the plasmas don’t handle reflection well. On the plus side of plasmas, you tend to get a much higher contrast ratio, meaning the blacks are darker and the whites are brighter. Personally, he prefers LCD because they are less expensive, don’t heat up as much, and aren’t too bothered by reflections or light coming in from a window.

For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.

 

Highlights from Mobile World Congress and ShowStoppers in Barcelona, Spain

Ana Tavares, Senior Director, Strategy & Technology - GSMA	Philip Vanhoutte, European Managing Director - Plantronics	Anna Chagnon, President & CEO - Bitstream
New Samsung Wave phone with their bada OS. Dave wonders if their default search engine will be bing(?)	The Digital Nomad Survival Kit by Plantronics	The Rob Report: Rob Almanza recorded a couple of interviews at the ShowStoppers Press Event
Dave at dinner gets excited about getting ice -- a rare find in Europe.	Dell Mini 5 Tablet with Android	“Into Tomorrow” Broadcast Stage at the ShowStoppers Press Event

 

Thomas in Newcastle, Deleware listening on WDEL 1150 AM asked: "Want to buy a loud bell for the telephone, because I can't hear the telephone ring."

There are a lot available. You can even find some at stores like Walmart. They are typically under $25. Many of the phone ringers also have a light that flashes, to also help alert you to a ringing phone.

We use a strobe light in the studio here, that we picked up at a medical supply company for about $17. They plug directly into a phone jack, and then you can plug the phone into the strobe light. When the phone rings, the strobe flashes. Obviously, we can't have phones ringing in the studio, so having a strobe flash makes sure we don't miss any calls while we're doing the show.

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Manuel in New Jersey listening on WDEL 1150 AM asked: "What is the best recording software for archiving LP, 45 & 78 RPM records to CD, and what are the best programs on the market for removing all the artifacts that thes records usually have. Also, what is the best platform for recording, Windows, Mac, or Linux?"

 

If you're looking for a software for Mac, you can look at a program called Bias Peak. Bias Peak is a mastering software and audio editor, combines pro-quality recording and editing. They say that to allow you to create your own podcast, or burn CDs .

For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.

 

 

Ed in Pennsville, New Jersey listening on WDEL 1150 asked: "I have a router that I uploaded the wrong firmware to. Once it flashed the wrong Frimware, I can't get into any of the pages. I've tried resetting it, but it doesn't work. I don't know how take this out and get it fixed, because it says I have to access the page and I can't get to it. The funny thing is, it still operates, though."

The basic functions of a router occur at a very basic level in its hardware. The firmware adds all the fancy stuff, like routing tables, port forwarding, filters, log files, etc. We're not at all sure how you can flash a router with the correct firmware, now that you've uploaded the wrong firmware, and it's no longer talking to you.

Most routers will support a reset function, but all that does is return the firmware to its factory settings. It doesn't return the firmware itself to a previous version. You'll need to take this up with customer support at the company that makes your router, and we'll hope that it's someone still in business and still supporting that model.

If you have to replace the router, small routers for home or home office use are inexpensive and the new models offer better performance and more features than ever.

 

Diane in Jackson, Mississippi listening on WJQS 1400 AM sent us the following email and asked: "My young daughter has a sony MP3 player, and I want to be able to download music for her. What is a good, legal, safe place to download children's music? I don't mind paying but I need it to be pretty user friendly."

One site we like is CDBaby.com. This site hosts independent artists, and has a lot of kids music available. One of the things we like best about this site is, since it's all independent artists, 91% of the sales go to the musicians. The only disadvantage is that you have to buy whole albums, but you can listen to them online first to see what you like. And if you buy an album in MP3 format from them and something happens to your file, you can download it again for free, anytime you need to.

Another site we came across was freekidsmusic.com. There's not a whole lot of stuff on there, but you may find something you like. As the web addres implies, the music here is free.

You can also check out is the Disney Music website. They have a great collection of music and movie soundracks for children that are fairly easy to download. You'll be able to listen to 30 seconds of each song, and then buy the ones you like for 99 cents.

 

Highlights from Mobile World Congress and ShowStoppers in Barcelona, Spain

Richard Leyland, Founder - Work Snug	Russ Shaw, General Manager for EMEA & Mobile Business Unit - Skype	Andrew Osis, CEO & Founder - Multiplied Media
HTC's 3 New Phones: (From L-R) Mini, Desire & Legend	HTC Desire: Supports Flash! Look how crisp our website looks on the AMOLED screen!	Dave "desires" the new HTC Desire phone. Flash support has us excited!
Dave's favorite hobby: shopping. NOT! He patiently waits for Rob at H&M	Tiffen's STEADICAM SMOOTHEE in action. We carried it on the show floor and got a lot of attendees to try it.	Rob vlogging in front of the Torre Agbar while touring Barcelona

 

Phil in Enid, Oklahoma listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: "I'm a truck driver, and I've seen some GPS items. But I've only seen them at truck stops. I'm sure they're available online, but I was wondering if they were available at a Best Buy, or another place where I might be able to get a better price."

If you're looking for a GPS unit, specifically for truck routes, you'll probably not find them at stores, like Best Buy, because those are specialized for truckers. You're really only going to find them at truck stops, trucking supply companies, and online. Stores, like Best Buy, don't generally carry products that the "average Joe", who walks in with his wife and kids will buy.

Since you brought up GPS units for trucks, we can remind all of our trucker friends how important it is, when shopping for a GPS unit, that you look for one specifically for truck routes. We were talking about this during our Tech News segment last week. Most, if not all of the bigger companies, have navigation tied in with their fleet management software. But there are a lot of smaller companies or independent drivers who just don't have those resources. There are many reasons why you should look into a GPS unit specific for truck routes. If you drive a truck, you know that there are certain roads and bridges that you can't drive on if your load is over a certain weight or size. A standard GPS device, like a Tom Tom or Garmin, won't take those into account and may send you down roads you shouldn't be on. You also run the risk of low overpasses or bridges that aren't made to handle larger trucks.

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

Bill in Arizona listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: "Is Sirius ever gonna apply video to the radios, like they were supposed to start out to be with video and audio?"

We're assuming you're referring to the Sirius Backseat TV service. It has actually been around for some time, though it doesn't seem to be as popular as some of the other mobile video services. With the Sirius service, you really only get kids' programming, and not even a whole lot of that. The Sirius Backseat TV lineup only offers three channels; Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network Mobile. The aftermarket recievers cost about $300, and the monthly service runs about $7 per month. But in order to get the TV service, you have to also have a Sirius Radio account, costing about $13, so you'll be looking at $20 a month for the service. Now, for that, you will also get the satellite radio programming as well. The TV tuners are capable of receiving the radio channels, with no additional equipment.

 

 

David in Middletown, Delaware listening on WDEL 1150 AM asked: "Looking for the best security software for my home computer."

 

William in Ohio listening on Sirius XM Sattelite Radio sent us the following email and asked: "Can you give me a good suggestion for an HD radio for a car?"

There are so many options for HD Radio in your car. It all depends on how much you're willing to spend, and what kind of radio you're looking for. You could go with a whole new head unit in your car, that had HD Radio built-in. You could also go with an aftermarket add-on HD Radio, that you connect to an existing factory radio, or you could buy a new radio that is HD ready. That usually means the manufacturer has an HD Radio tuner available that will interface directly with that head unit.

The speakers make a big difference. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a great stereo and HD Radio tuner, but if you have cheap speakers in your vehicle, it's still gonna sound like garbage. One thing we recommend a lot is to go by a local electronics retailer, or auto sound shop, because they will usually have several units setup for you to check out. A lot of times, these stores will have an area with many radios and many speakers. You can select which radio you want to hear, then select a certain set of speakers to hear it on.

 

Highlights from Mobile World Congress and ShowStoppers in Barcelona, Spain

Kristin Golliher, PR Manager - Otterbox	Rodger Wells, VP of Business Development - ooVoo	Tero Salonen, CEO & Founder - dazzboard
Otterbox now protects slider phones with their Commuter Series Cases	Dinner at "Los Caracoles" with friends from ShowStoppers & IFA	Attendees wait for the webcast of the Windows Phone Press Conference
Rob being interviewed by ICT Network from Thailand - broadcasting live	Dave at "Los Caracoles" with a snail and bread shaped like a snail	A great find: a travel humidifier! This was one of our higlights in Barcelona

 

Mike in Louisville, Kentucky listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "Just upgraded to Windows 7. Love it, but I lost my HP scanner. Obviously, HP is not going to give me the driver. What can I do to work around it, or what other scanner can I get that's not expensive and will do the job?"

You didn't really lose your HP scanner. What you lost were the HP utility programs for that scanner. Mark, on our staff, had the same issue with his HP PSC 2210 all-in-one printer and scanner. The HP programs were gone, but the Windows drivers for the scanner are still there. What that means is that programs that support scanners will still work with yours. It will still be a selectable device, but you will need to look elsewhere for applications.

Mark reports that he is having good luck scanning photographs using the Windows Live Photo Gallery general images and documents, using the basic Windows Paint tool and also OpenOffice.

As for replacing the scanner, if you want one that's been tested and definitely supports Windows 7, you can check the Microsoft compatibility site. We did, and we found 270 models listed. With so many models to choose from, it would be tough to recommend a specific one to you unless you gave us some more information to help make a selection. Are you scanning documents? Do you need a sheet feeder? Are you scanning photo prints? Negatives? 35mm slides? These questions help determine which scanner you should choose.

Click here for more information.

If you have any questions about any of this week's show info, please email us here.

Into Tomorrow Special Report: Samsung Wave Phone @ MWC

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Flipper: A Flipper Remote Control -- A user-friendly big button universal remote control that works TVs, Cable, Satellite & DTV boxes.

PlayOn: Download keys for their PlayOn Software -- Watch Internet videos on your TV, wirelessly on your game consoles. No devices to setup.

SmartSwipe: Several SmartSwipe personal credit card readers for online shopping

Virtual Mechanics: Download keys for SiteSpinner Pro -- A drag-and-drop tool for creating sophisticated sites for the web and for mobile devices.

ITTV Video

Into Tomorrow was at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week and bring you the following highlights from the show floor and the ShowStoppers Press Event.

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