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Weekend of June 11th, 2010

Answering many of your calls and emails. Thanks for participating!

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

 

The "Into Tomorrow" team posted the following message: "For those of you interested, a new iPhone is coming out on June 24th. We have the specs and details for you on our website. What do you think of the iPhone 4? Share your thoughts with us! "

Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.

 

 

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

• For Android, Dave recommends: Astro File Manager
  
  
• For iPhone/iPad: Chris recommends: eBuddy
  
  
• For BlackBerry, Mark recommends: crunchSMS
  
  

Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details

 

John in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: Do they make a device that would block a GPS signal? They put a GPS device in my truck and it snitches on me every time I go a little too fast."

You can indeed buy a GPS jammer, but maybe it's helping to keep you safe, and we're assuming that it's your company that's keeping an eye on your driving, so be careful before you jam it or rip it out. Many companies, like Haas GPS, provide services to companies to help keep track of their company vehicles and other assets.

You can have a very simple jammer that looks like an antenna with a cigarette lighter plug attached to it. You just plug it in and you're in business. If the jammer is within 25 feet on the GPS unit, the signal should be jammed.

Prices vary, but you can buy the cigarette lighter model for about $130. There are bigger models for as low as $27.

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

 

 

Joe in Eerie, Pennsylvania listening on the radio asked: "I cannot pick up local TV and radio stations. My reception is poor. It's better upstairs in the house but downstairs is terrible. I need help. I can't afford the big cable bills right now because I'm retired."

Many local stations are broadcasting High Def over the air for free.

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

William in Southwest Michigan sent us the following email and said: "You criticized Steve Jobs for choosing not to use Flash on Apple's mobile devices. If your argument is that Flash is a "standard" and just needs improvement, recall who is responsible for doing that. Adobe. If Adobe wants to see Flash everywhere, they could offer Apple a license to develop their own native Flash player. I'm sure Apple could re-write Flash in Objective C and adapt it for touch-sensors. But Adobe hasn't done that in the three years since the iPhone came out without Flash. And they seem incapable of doing the work themselves. Perhaps, you should be criticizing Adobe for not improving Flash for anything but Windows. Begin by asking how many programmers work on the Mac version."

We did, in fact, criticize Apple for not supporting Flash on their iOS, as the portable operating system has come to be known. The security vulnerabilities that Apple seems unable to accept don't seem to be causing any problems to the Android developers. Flash is working very well on our new EVO, for example.

We are not the ones who have made Flash into a virtual standard on the web. That was done by the programmers and web developers who chose to use it. Were it not for Flash, there might never have been the explosion of streaming video content we have today. We're old enough to recall the bad old days when you had to download a "compatible player" in order to see online video. Our point is not that Apple is bad. Apple makes fine products. They make good decisions, and they make ones that are bad, in our opinion at least.

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

 

 

Michael in Temecula, California listening to our podcast and TiVo is calling about a site that allows you to view websites. recommending "Cool Iris."

Tune into Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Sharon in Jefferson, Texas listening on KEEL 710 asked: "My husband needs to upgrade from a simple cell phone to something that can help him keep organized. I don't want something basic, looking for something that can really help him juggle everything. What's the best on the market to help him get rid of the calendar and just use his phone?"

Any of the current smartphones can do that. BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile all include calendar features that live on the phone and integrate with web calendars out there "in the cloud." Each of us here regularly makes the case for why we choose the platform that we did, and I'm sure you've heard us make it again today, at some point.

But, since any smartphone can do this, you'll have to make a choice as to which one you get based on other criteria. Are there any other things your husband needs to do with his phone? If it's really just phone plus calendar and nothing else, then you should start shopping coverage and price. Who has the best coverage where you are, for the lowest price?

 

Wesley in Plantation listening to the stream asked: "Interested in a Slingbox. I hear people talking about it and wondering what it entails and what the benefits are of having it."

Benefits of having a Slingbox is that you can watch live TV programs, or recorded programs, from the Internet, or from a mobile device, wherever in the world you are. For example, one of our biggest uses of Slingbox is every time we're in Tokyo with very little English on TV, we watch our shows, even our own live local news back at home. Even with the 12 hour time difference, it may be morning news in the evening, but it's still out TV, back here in Miami.

If you are on vacation a lot or are away from your TV a lot, we think it's a good thing to have. There is the Slingbox SOLO for about $180, which only in standard-def, but if you want HD, there is the Slingbox Pro HD for about $300, which is what you need if you want the high-def.

 

Sally in Carey, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 AM asked: "Wondering how to compare features and value on the Droid vs. the iPhone. I'm unsure how to compare them and decide which one. Or maybe there's other candidates now."

Dave loves using the Android, but most of the staff loves their iPhones. Mark, of course, loves his BlackBerry.

When it comes to the Android phone, it really depends on what carrier you have, because there are a lot of phones that have the Android operating system, and what features it has depends on what version of Android they are running.

 

A couple of weeks ago John in Bridgewater, NJ called our show and asked about a Windows 7 tablet and we basically had to tell him: "Well, HP announced one, but it may or may not be cancelled."

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

 

 

 

Bill in Clarksville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: "Trying to figure out if there's anything that can help me understand the wireless interference that's going on in my house. I seem to drop the wireless signal all the time. Want to figure out if there's a better way to position the router, or find out what's causing all the interference. I have direct line of sight with the router and it still drops."

Assuming your router is working properly, you're probably facing just what you said, wireless interference. Since your connection drops under line of sight conditions, we can assume there's something in the air blocking the signal from getting to your devices. The cause though could be a very long list.

Anything from cordless phones to microwave ovens to other Wi-Fi or WiMAX networks to outside antennas or wireless security cameras can affect a wireless network.

Unless you know you have one of those devices near your Wi-Fi router and you can move either the cause of the interference or the router, you should go to your router's settings and change the wireless channel being used to broadcast the signal.

For more information, click here, or tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Victor in Buffalo, Missouri listening via the Android App asked: "It's time to upgrade my battery backup for my computers and also wanted to get one for my 47-inch TV. Is it based on how large the screen is? Or, how many amps do I need to watch my TV for, like, 30 minutes when the power goes out due to electrical storms?"

Probably, the main thing you want to look for, when shopping for a battery backup unit, is the wattage it can handle. If you know what how many watts whatever you want to pug into it uses, you should be able to find one fairly easily that fits your needs. Most of the units will have a chart on the outside of the box with how long the power will last based on how many watts you are pulling.

Plasma TVs pull more watts than LCDs do, so if you have a plasma, you'll probably need a more powerful unit. Check the manual or manufacturer's website for the TV you have and it should tell you how much power it consumes.

 

 

Dan in Clarksville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: "I've heard of VOIP, or home phones, called video phones. Is that the wave of the future? It seems like less and less houses have home phones and are using cell phones."

The Voice Over Internet Protocol started to become a mainstream telecommunications portal in 2009 with services like Skype, Vonage, Lingo, Google voice. When competition arises in the market, it only benefits us as consumers, because we can get even better rates because of the competitor market. As for videophones, there are a few that also work well with VOIP.

The future is looking extremely good. Rates for international calls are skyrocketing down. In a few years, we can probably expect less than 1 cent per minute calls to many countries worldwide.

Mobile will open up a whole new level as well. Mobile is growing tremendously with new phones that are capable of handling VOIP such Google Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile.

 

 

John in Houston, Texas listening on XM Ch.139 sent us the following email and asked: "Since Comcast has a monthly cap of 250GB on bandwidth usage, are there any cable modems or hubs that provide an accurate read-out on how much data passes back and forth? I have a network of five computers in my home, so installing any of those software bandwidth monitors on each machine is not the best idea. I would like some sort of visual display or other means of alerting on bandwidth usage for the network. Also, can we expect other ISPs to follow Comcast in limiting bandwidth, possibly with fines, higher rates, or disconnect?"

You can expect models from Linksys and other companies with this same feature to be on the market before August.

 

Dave in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: "Looking to buy a new computer and I'd like to find out which company, either Dell or HP has better customer service, in English, from a tech person here in the states."

We have seen reports that HP customer service is based in India, if you talk to enough people there, you do get transferred to a "case manager." Supposedly in the US, they will speak to you in English, but it's not typically their first language.

Dell seems to have some customer service in the US, but we have read reports that it's restricted to business users only, so you're going to buy as an individual you'll probably get connected to either India or El Salvador.

In terms of customer satisfaction, they both get roughly 75-76% in surveys.

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

Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza

-- By Rob Almanza, “Into Tomorrow” Correspondent

 

 

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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Amazon: HydroRight Smarter Flush Technology Converts any size toilet to Dual-Flush AND Anti-Siphon Fill Valve!

Cooper Lighting: Several Might D Light - Rechargeable LED worklight

iMPROV Electronics: Several Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablets

Joby: GorillaTorch Original – Hands-free flashlights with flexible, bendable legs and magnetic feet

ITTV Video

What's up with all the hype around the HTC EVO? Is it THE phone to buy this Summer? Rob Almanza has the good and the bad on our Product Spotlight. Also, Ben's shocking experience on This Week in Tech History with Chris Graveline.

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