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Weekend of May 21st, 2010

We answered your calls and questions on the GRAVELine! “Into Tomorrow” is all about YOU!

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

 

John in Bridgewater, New Jersey listening on XM Ch.139 and the podcast asked: "Thank you for your comments about supporting the troops. My comment is regarding something other than the iPad. I'm not an Apple person. I do have an iPhone, and I'll admit, it's one of the best phones out there. I was interested in the HP Slates running Windows 7. I have a great network going here with video streaming on all my Windows 7 machines, and that's what I wanted. What do I do now? I really don't like Web OS, don't want Unix, don't like Linux. So, I need a Slate type device running Windows 7."

HP originally said that they planned to come out with one later this year, and it was rumored to have many of the features that owners of the iPad have been complaining are missing.

For example, it's supposed to have two video capable cameras on it. One in the front for video conferencing and, another rumored to be 8-megapixel camera in the back for video and taking pictures. HP's slate would also have the ability to connect USB devices to it, and since HP does not think that flash is old technology, like Apple does, the HP Slate will be flash compatible. It will also run on Windows 7, just like you asked.

The bad news about the slate is that HP has still not set a release date or a price, and on April 30th, multiple news outlets reported that the HP Slate was cancelled. HP did not comment. On May 5th, CNET reported that the HP Slate might not be cancelled, and once again, HP declined to comment.

 

 

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

• For Android, Dave recommends:
  
  Kayak
  WeatherBug
  Backpacker's GPS Trails
  
  
• For iPhone/iPad: Rob recommends:
  
  Photoshop Mobile
  Sirius-XM Premium Online
  
  
• For BlackBerry, Mark recommends: PayPal
  
  

Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details

 

Joe in Hyannis, Massachusetts listening to the podcast asked: "Are there any TVs coming out that have Skype enabled on them. I heard about a Panasonic TV that had it, but are there any others?"

Yes, there are TVs that you can expect to use with Skype enabled on them. For example, Panasonic and LG widescreen HDTVs are said to be including Skype.

For those who may not know the full story, Panasonic displayed this technology at CES back in January. As of May 18th, they finally activated the app on all of its 2010 VIERA Cast-enabled TVs (including the VT25, VT20, G25, and G20 Series). However, you'll also have to buy a Panasonic webcam that will cost $170, which supports both VGA and 720p video.

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

 

 

Eddie in Akron, Ohio listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "Concord Keystone, wanted to know if that would be in HD soon."

The "Easy Shot Clip HD" is now available in High Definition. This is a mini camcorder that takes 720p high definition video with sound as well. This super-compact digital camcorder features an internal lithium-polymer rechargeable battery.

It also has an external 2GB Micro SD card that can store up to one hour of 720p high definition video. The "Easy Shot Clip HD" comes with a USB cable and a TV cable. Video and still images can be uploaded directly to social network with a simple click.

 

Diane in Jackson, Mississippi listening on WJQS 1400 AM sent us the following email and asked: "My young daughter has a Sony MP3 player 2and 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 address implies, the music here is free.

You didn't say how young your daughter was, but preschoolers might enjoy the music downloaded from the web site of the PBS Kids Sprout programming. Just click the Video & Music button at the top.

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

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

 

John in Hollywood, Florida listening on the Android App asked: "I have the G1 and have had it since it came out. I keep hearing about this new sidekick coming out for T-Mobile. Will this be their flagship device? The replacement for the G1? The upgrade? Or should I hold out and see if something bigger and better comes out with T-Mobile?"

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

 

Kenneth in Wilmington, Delaware listening on 1150 WILM asked: "I have an HP all in one printer and I can't find my cartridges for it. What would you suggest?"

Have you tried going to HP's website? On their main page on the left side, it has a button called "Ink, Toner & Paper." If you click on this, it allows you to search for the proper ink cartridges by the type of printer you have, the ink cartridge number, or the printer series.

While ordering from HP directly may not be the cheapest alternative once you have the proper cartridge information, you could check at some local stores, or you check out one of our sponsors websites, such as New Egg or TigerDirect.

 

Lew sent us the following question on our Facebook Fan Page: "How do I secure a domain name for my organization to protect the new name?"

We're not entirely sure what you mean when you say "secure a domain name" in order to protect it. If what you mean is how can you register the name of your organization as an Internet domain name, well, nothing could be easier. Visit any of the dozens and dozens of companies that are domain name registrars and it will take you only a few minutes to find out if your name is available. If it is, you can register it on the spot for just a few dollars per year.

For example, we've used GoDaddy.com to register domain names, and we find their domain control panel to be an excellent tool for administering your domain. They also have DNS services available if you need them.

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

 

 

 

Dale in Mobile, Alabama listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "I got a 1972 (floor model) RCA, and it keeps shocking me every time I touch it."

Don't touch it. That 1972 floor model is something special you have, but with a TV that old and it shocking you, maybe its time you come "Into Tomorrow," and buy a newer TV. As far as why your TV is shocking you, we are certainly not electricians here, but there might be some loose wires inside of the TV. And when you touch the TV, your body is completing the circuit and that's possibly how you are getting zapped.

First, unplug the set and then check the back of the TV and all outside wires to see if they are fraying or disconnected and see if you can fix it with some electrical tape. We wouldn't recommend opening up the TV and looking around, unless you have training in that area, so your best bet might be to take it to a repair shop and see what they tell you to do.

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

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Your office copier is spying on you.

 

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.

 

 

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.

ActiveSMART

ArgusMonitor

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

 

 

Sail445 listening on the iPhone App sent us the following email and asked: "Is there anyway that I can watch WMV on my iPhone?"

Unfortunately, no. iPhone is not compatible with WMV videos. That's a Windows-codec file, and is not Apple-friendly. The most popular file would be the .MP4, but there are others that will play nice.

Here are the video files compatible with the iPhone:

• H.264 video, up to 1.5 MB/s, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, low-complexity version of the H.264 baseline profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 KB/s, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
• H.264 video, up to 2.5 MB/s, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, baseline profile up to level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 KB/s, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
• MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 MB/s, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, simple profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 KB/s, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.

 

Micah in Porterville, California listening on KTIP 1450 AM sent us the following email and asked: "I was trying to help my parents with high-speed Internet. They live where AT&T and Verizon are under $70 and both have a cap of 5GB a month, and not sure if that's enough and if they were to be able to stream Netflix, Hulu, and other sites. Is there some program that I could install on my computer to see how much I use in a month to help tell how much I use for those sites?"

If your parents just check email and open the occasional website, 5GB would probably be enough for them, but video streaming uses up a lot of bandwidth, and depending on how much they use Hulu and Netflix, it may not be enough for them. To check exactly how much bandwidth you consume a month, you're going to have to install a program and let it run constantly in the background counting every single byte your computer is using.

For Windows, some programs you can use are:

• NetStat
• ShaPlus

For Mac, some programs you can use are:

• iStat
• TrafficTrooper

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

 

Robert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida listening on our podcast sent us the following email and asked: "I am one of the Pastors at a church in Fort Lauderdale and I was wondering if there was a way to use a service, like Pandora, to stream the sermons on the Internet, so members who can't make it on Sunday can listen. We currently offer the sermons as podcasts, but we love to find a way to stream online."

Right now, Pandora will not be an option for you. At this time, Pandora is only allowing music content to upload, and according to a Pandora spokes women, all of that content is heavily screened prior to allowing it on their servers.

Here at "Into Tomorrow," we use StreamGuys for all of our streaming needs and they are just one option. StreamGuys offers a variety of packages that allow you to chose from how many people you want to be listening to the show at the once, or they have a plan that is based on how many GB are streamed.

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

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

Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza

Sonos ZonePlayer S5 - Wireless Multi-Room Music System

We've talked about several music systems on the show before, but I don't think I've been as excited as I am for the Sonos Wireless Multi-Room Music System. We haven’t been able to turn it off, as there is so much music I’ve been listening to around the studio and my office.

The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 is an all-in-one wireless music system part of their multi-room music system. It connects to your network at home via an Ethernet cable. After a simple setup, you can have it look for music on your network and computers connected to that network. The software works with both PC & Mac. Depending on how much music you have, it might take a while to index your music the first time. If you already have a Sonos system at home, setup should be a breeze.

In our setup, we used a ZoneBridge 100 (sold separately for $99) and connected that to our network in our studios. Then, the ZonePlayer connected to the ZoneBridge (wirelessly) to play my music. It may sound a bit complicated, but it isn’t. Think of the ZoneBridge as a wireless router for speakers. Once you have a ZonePlayer set-up, it’s fairly easy to add others (or connect others) wirelessly.

So, how do you play your music? The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 can be controlled in several ways:

1) Sonos Desktop Controller for PC or Mac (software comes with every ZonePlayer)

2) Sonos Controller 200 (sold separately for $349)

3) A free option (my personal favorite): Download the iPhone app from the App Store. This gives you full control of the ZonePlayer. You can also control it with an iPod Touch or iPad.

One of my favorite features of the app is that it lets you control the volume wirelessly. You don’t have to do it manually on the ZonePlayer.

To get music in more rooms, you will have to buy extra ZonePlayers that can be assigned to a zone (or "room") at home. And while it does play nice with iPhones and iPods, it isn’t an iPod dock music station, as there is no place to dock it. But, you can plug one in – or any other MP3 player – via the line-in jack. You can also stream music from Internet services like Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster and even Sirius XM Satellite Radio. And, you can also listen to local radio stations. You certainly won’t run out of music to play.

If you're interested in getting a Sonos ZonePlayer S5, click here. You can learn more about the technology and other products from Sonos on their website (click here).

What do you think about this system? Would you like one? We welcome you to participate on our radio program “Into Tomorrow” – anytime 24/7 -- by calling-in (toll-free): 1-800-899-INTO (4686). Don’t forget you can also participate via our mobile app on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad or on your Android device. We love hearing from you!

-- By Rob Almanza, “Into Tomorrow” Correspondent

 

 

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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Concord Keystone: Several Easy Shot Clip, Ultra Mini Digital Video Cameras

Cooper Lighting: Several Might D Light - Rechargeable LED worklight

iosafe: Several ioSafe Solo USB External Drive - Protects against Fire, Water and Theft SIZE? VALUE?

Klipsch: Image X10i In-Ear Headset w/ Mic & 3-Button Remote Headphones

ITTV Video

Attention music lovers! This week on our Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight we are playing with the Sonos Wireless Multi-Room Music System. A system you can control from your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad with a free app. Also featuring: Chris Graveline with This Week in Tech History.

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