Latest Tech News

Weekend of April 24th, 2009

Dave is back in-studio in Miami along with Chris, Rob and Mark. Some of the topics we'll discuss: Are you paying too much for your cell phone? Want to monitor your home from you cell phone? And more!

Guests joining Dave this week include:

 

HOUR 1:
Matt Carter, President – Boost Mobile
Want to spend less for a cell phone line? Boost Mobile, the prepaid division of Sprint Nextel, offers calling plans where customers pay by the minute, day or month, including the new ‘Monthly Unlimited’ service for $50 a month.

Bruce Stewart, CEO, KGB Mobile & Digital – KGB
What do you want to know? Do you have a question that hasn’t been answered yet? KGB offers a mobile service that provides instant answers to any question submitted via text.

HOUR 2:
Laura Fortner, Senior VP, Marketing & Insights – CafeMom
What makes a “digital mom”? Laura is from one of the largest online community for moms with millions of highly-engaged users, where moms connect on shared interests, challenges and local issues in their communities.

HOUR 3:
Mary Knebel, Vice President – Alarm.com
Want to see what's going at home while you're at work? Alarm.com is a web-based, wireless remote monitoring and security technology provider that enables homeowners and small business owners to remotely monitor activity at their property from their PC or mobile device

Allon Bloch, CEO – Wix.com
Want to create your own website for your business or to promote yourself? Wix.com offers a free, do-it-yourself web publishing platform.

Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza

 

Wi-Fi Radios - We've got two great recommendations for you!

Internet radio has become one of the most popular ways to listen to our favorite radio programming (like “Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline”). A lot of our radio listeners have asked us to recommend a Wi-Fi radio unit for them. We have two of our favorites, which we’ve talked about recently on the show.

1) CC Wi-Fi Radio from C.Crane

This offers more than just Internet Radio! It has built-in speakers, so you won’t need to plug it in to external speakers, unless you want to. You can also connect headphones to it and listen in private.

Connecting it to our wireless network was pretty quick. CC Wi-Fi Radio can connect to your network with an Ethernet cable as well, so that’ll give you a solid connection.

With its built-in media player, you can access and play music on your network. So you can play music that’s saved on your computer at home or the office.

The CC Wi-Fi Radio can store up to 99 of your favorite stations. To make it easier, you can access their Internet radio database online and search for a station. If you can’t find the station you want, you can add it manually online and it’ll be on your radio the next time you turn it on. CC Wi-Fi Radio is available for about $200.

 

2) Ira from MYINE Electronics

This unit doesn’t have built-in speakers like the CC Wi-Fi Radio, but MYINE makes it easy to integrate it with your entertainment system. They provide the proper audio cables and an adapter to easily plug it in to your speakers.

Connecting it to our wireless network was a breeze. Ira has a “network wizard” that helps you setup the wireless connection. Almost like the way you connect to Wi-Fi on a laptop. It shows you the available wireless networks and then you put in the network key, if required. I was searching for stations and podcasts in about 2 minutes. They have an extensive database of over 11,000 stations.

We like the design of the Ira. It has a nice flush screen and the remote is pretty simple to use. One of my favorite features is how easy you can save a station as a “favorite”. It’s just a button away! Ira can hold up to 40 presets and is available under $150.

While there are MANY more WiFi Radios available, we hope this helps you narrow down your search for some of the best Wi-Fi options.

Submitted by Rob Almanza

Additional Resources & Websites Mentioned on this Week's Program

Custom Covers for Outdoor Flat-screen TVs

OnyX - A multifunction utility for Mac OS X that allows you to delete caches, to remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome, and much more.

Article: "Why AM Radio Stations Must Reduce Power, Change Operations, or Cease Operations at Night"

How to Get Better AM Radio Reception

Product Spotlight: CC Wi-Fi Radio from C.Crane | Ira Wi-Fi Radio from Myine Electronics

Audyssey Dynamic Volume - Handsfree listening

Facebook Chat Clients:
- Meebo
- Adium (For Mac)
- Trillian Astra
- Pidgin

CNET's HDTV Power Consumption Chart

 

How to clean up the registry on a Mac computer: Tip submitted by Tracy K. in Austin, TX

You can run a terminal "cmd" that cleans everything up. Warning: If you're not familiar with this, don't try it. Instead, run a program like OnyX.

1) Open Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.

2) At the Terminal prompt, type the following, exactly as written: sudo periodic daily weekly monthly. Then, hit "Return".

3) Type your Admin password when prompted, then press "Return".

All three scripts will run in sequence. There is no visual feedback while the scripts execute. You will know they are completed when the Terminal prompt returns.

 

If you have any questions, please email us here.

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

iFrogz: NervePipes EarPollution headphones (assorted colors & cool designs)
NTI: Copies of Shadow 4
Smith Micro: Several items, including: Copies of STUFFIT Deluxe 2009 (for PC) & Anime Studio 5 (for Mac/PC)

 

ITTV Video

Are you looking for a Wi-Fi Radio? We show you two of our favorites on this week’s Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza. Also featuring: This Week in Tech History with Chris Graveline.

Download Our Show

Listen To Our Show