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Weekend of April 16th, 2010

Answering your questions ... “Into Tomorrow!” Dave and the "Into Tomorrow" team were ready to answer more your tech questions.

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

 

Jack in Los Alamos, New Mexico listening on KTRC 1260 AM asked: "I'm confused about the 3D TVs coming out. Do all of them use the same formats and require the same glasses, and so on? Or do we have another VHS vs. Betamax or Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD situation, where we should wait until one technology becomes dominant so we don't end up with orphan technologies?"

The 3D TVs that are coming out now all require you to wear those styling glasses, but they are certainly testing TVs that will not require you to wear glasses. In fact, we experienced one in Berlin at IFA last year, but it had such a sweet spot that someone standing right next to us didn't see the 3D. So, down the road, you may see 3D TVs that don't require glasses, but those are still years away from being a reality.

Another important thing to remember is that if you buy a Panasonic 3D TV, you must use Panasonic Glasses, and the same goes for Sony, LG, and other companies.

As far as format goes, just last weekend, the Masters Golf Tournament was broadcast in 3D, and this summer, ESPN plans on launching ESPN 3D for coverage of the World Cup Soccer Tournament.

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

 

 

The "Into Tomorrow" team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.

Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details

 

Ken in North Miami, FL listening to the podcast asked: "Wondering if they make an HDMI to RCA converter to go from my computer to my DVD recorder."

 

 

Lynne in Edgefield, South Carolina listening to the podcast sent us the following email and asked: "I may have to be buying me a new TV and I need your input please. What would you suggest, LED or LCD? I only have a 24-inch screen now (I think), so of course I want at least a 40-inch this time. Any certain brands I should stay away from?"

Chris' opinion on LED TVs is that they’re still overpriced. In reality, they’re still just LCD sets, but the backlight that it shines through to allow you to see the picture is made up of LEDs, rather than a fluorescent bulb. He’d recommend going with an LCD. You’re going to get a lot more TV for your money right now. Personally, he's used both Sharp and LG brands and has loved them both. The one he has now is an LG 42-inch and it looks great.

Vizio is another really good brand, and they are very inexpensive. If you’re looking for the best quality at a low price, you might look into the Vizio TVs. They sell them at places like Wal-Mart, BJs, and Costco.

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Mike in Corbin, Kentucky listening to the podcast asked: "I purchased my first HDTV and am looking to get a Blu-ray player. Have a bunch of old DVDs and am not looking to upgrade them all. Would like a Blu-ray with good up-scaling. Would like to keep it around $300 or less."

Some would argue that you don't need upscaling on a DVD or Blu-ray player because many TVs now have upscaling capabilities built-in. However, that being said, the capabilities built into the TVs don't always do as good a job at removing certain artifacts and pixelation from some DVDs. But, there are many good Blu-ray players that are priced very inexpensively these days.

What looks good enough to one person may be acceptable to someone else. The best advice we can offer is to go into a home theater retailer in your area. Many times, they will have several players setup in the store. Bring a couple of your old DVDs with you and play them at the store on a couple of the players. See which one looks best to you. Obviously, you're probably going to get better quality on the more expensive models, but you should have no problem staying within your $300 price range.

 

 

The "Into Tomorrow" team discussed the iPhone OS4 that has been in the news.

Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.

Jim in Des Moines, Iowa listening on KMA 99.1 AM asked: "I'm new to computers. Just bought my first one. Wondering if you had any advice. I've been playing around with it and it's already gotten really slow. Wondering what I really need and don't need on my desktop."

Your desktop is really just your own personalized space. Some people prefer shortcuts to everything, while others are minimalists and want nothing on their desktop. Generally, most people have a shortcut to "My Computer," the "Recycle Bin," and an Internet browser. As far as what else you need on your desktop its really up to you.

As far as why your machine is running slow, without knowing a little more information such as what operating system you are using, and what other programs you have installed onto you machine, and who much memory, RAM, it's hard to say why your machine's performance has slowed.

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

 

Philip sent us the following email and asked: "I have a few questions. I am possibly planning a move for a year or two to the Philippines. I would like to know, is it possible to use a satellite system from here, in America, such as Direct or Dish? Will they work there? Or do you need a system purchased in Philippines to be used there?

I also wanted to find out about satellite Internet. I would like to be able to access the Internet, and because the place I am going to is not near a high speed Internet service (the land line telephone system in the Philippines is not as reliable as in the USA), do you have any ideas?

Would it be better to contact these 2 services and ask them?"

The problem is your satellite dish needs to have a clear view of the satellites it's working with. Those satellites are, for obvious reasons, in a geostationary orbit above the earth. That means your satellite dish in the Philippines isn't going to be able to see the DirecTV satellite because the earth is in the way.

As for high speed Internet, Hughes has service in the United States and Europe now, but there is no word yet on a satellite that covers the Philippines. You'll want to stay in touch with both companies to see when they might add service, but remember that this involves launching another satellite into space. That's an expensive proposition, even in the best of economies.

 

 

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Bob in Raleigh, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 asked: "I'd like to know how to get Television and put it through my traditional regular TV set. Trying to get rid of my cable bill. And what technology I need, what services you recommend, that have a wide variety of TV inexpensively. Any suggestions are helpful."

Of course, the cheapest way to get TV is over-the-air. It's free. The drawback is it's only your local channels. If by traditional TV set, you mean an analog, not Digital, non-HD television, you'd need a DTV converter box to make that happen. You cannot get over-the air TV anymore without it. There were coupons from the government that allowed you to get free converter boxes, but unfortunately that program is over and there are no more coupons left. But, basic converter boxes are inexpensive. You can find them starting at about $40 at just about any electronics retailer, like Walmart, Target, and other stores like that.

Another way to watch TV programs is online. There are many sites you can go to, to watch the shows you see on TV. Probably the most popular would be Hulu. Not all the networks make their shows available there, but many of them do. It is a free site, but you won't always find the shows there right away. You may have to wait a day or two, sometimes a little longer.

 

 

• Price is $600
• Bulb lasts at least 15 years
• You can listen to the radio without wires in more than one room

For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.

 

Marty sent us the following email commenting about the iPad: "I have no plans to ever get an iPad. There’s nothing it can do that I can’t already do with things I already have. It is non-pocket portable, quite the contrary , and it’s a major pain to take with.

The more people find themselves leaving it behind or using something else, the sooner the buzz will hush. I believe the sales curve will start resembling that of the Pet Rock and that you’ll find it in the same section of the history books as the Apple Lisa.

But I will admit that the iPad does have a few small advantages. It’s more effective than a smart phone and less burdensome than a notebook, if you want to fan yourself on a hot day. And if you’re out rowing with one and your oars breaks, you can tie a stick to it and make it an iPaddle."

Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.

 

 

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

3. 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.

 

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

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Firefold: Several gaming accessories & HDMI 1.4 cables

Honestech: Copies of VHS to DVD 4.0 Deluxe

Intel: Copies of Unreal Tournament 3 by Epic Games & Napoleon:Total War by SEGA

SpectorSoft: Copies of Spectro Pro for Mac -- Internet Monitoring Software. Records emails, chats, instant messages and more.

ITTV Video

Stop recording videos in the dark! We have a very cool LED video light to show you from Sima Products in our Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza. Also featuring: This Week in Tech History with Chris Graveline.

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