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Weekend of October 23rd, 2009
Dave and Rob are reporting from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Industry Forum in Phoenix, AZ, featuring their i-stage competition. Learn about the next-gen technologies, developing products, services and applications that you will be able to experience soon. Mark and Chris are in the studio answering your phone calls.
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
Robert in Coconut Creek, Florida listening via Podcast asked: "I was wondering, with the prices of the Plasma TVs plummeting since most of the country has been buying the LCD technology, is it worth buying the plasma because I'm gonna save an incredible amount of money? Or is it not worth it, based on the additional electricity costs and factors such as that? I think Plasma has a very good picture quality. For some reason, the public just isn't interested in it."
To this day, Dave's TV of choice is plasma and that's what we have in our studio lounge, where we break for lunch and watch our favorite sitcoms on the DVR. Listen to the podcast to hear Dave's thoughts.
"Technology On-The-Go" Feature With Andy Frankel from Nextar - New products for your outdoor entertainment are coming this Spring. Andy Frankel discusses what new products are coming to a “Backyard Near You”.
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 themz 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 gonna 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.
Now, 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. 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; 1) If you drive a truck you know that there are certain roads and bridges that you can't drive on; 2) If your load is over a certain weight or size. A standard GPS device, like a TomTom 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.
Francis in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida sent us the following email and asked: "My wireless router is not communicating with my computers. I had Comcast at my house yesterday and they stated that the problem is not in the modem. Any chance you could tell me what the possible problem may be?"
There are a few different solutions we have for you. One solution can be to make sure all of your cords are plugged into the proper sockets. If that doesn't solve your problem, try resting your router. Sometimes after long periods of use your router's internal files can become corrupted. You may also want to connect your computer to your modem directly and see if there is an update available for your router.
Eugene in Madison, Wisconsin listening on Shortwave asked: "I don't get good cell phone reception in the house I'm living in. Could lead paint cause a problem there?"
Probably not. There has been some discussion about the effects of lead paint on cell phones, but there would have to be an awful lot of lead in the paint for it to affect you.
There are a lot of factors that come into play when you're talking about bad cell phone reception. Take your phone outside of your home. If you still have poor reception, then you'll know it's not your house.
You can also get a friend or family member that has a phone on a different carrier and see what their reception is like inside your home. That will tell you whether or not the problem is your carrier. If you get someone who has a phone on the same carrier as you, and they don't have problems with reception, then the problem may be your phone.
Either way, you may also want to look into a Cell Phone Signal Booster. There are several out there including from one of our sponsors, Wi-Ex. They have a product called the zBoost. There are several different types depending on where you'd want to use it. They have ones you can permanently install in your home and smaller portable units that you can travel with. We've used them since before they were a sponsor and have had some good results with them.
Highlights from the CEA Industry Forum - featuring i-stage - in Phoenix, AZ
(Scroll down for more pictures from Phoenix)
| HOUR 1 GUESTS | ||
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Sir Ken Robinson speaking at the CEA Industry Forum about innovation |
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Dave chatting with CEA's Gary Shapiro |
Rob Almanza interviews Doug Atkinson from Entourage Systems |
Dave & former Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian at the mashed potato bar |
CEA Update Weekly Feature with Steve Kidera - It can be a trick buying a new cell phone. But finding the perfect phone that fits your needs is a real treat! The Consumer Electronics Association’s Steve Kidera tells us how.
Brian from Asheville, North Carolina sent us the following email and asked: "I'm planning on getting a new laptop soon. I'm a musician and will use it to write, to listen, record and play music. I'm a big gamer and need to communicate with my girlfriend, brothers and my band mates by Instant Messenger, MySpace and email, but I'm also on a budget. What do you recommend?"
If you are a musician but also a big gamer, one machine you may want to look at is the Alienware M17x. It's very good for gaming and has great performance for music productions. The Alienware M17x starts at around $1,800.
You might also look at the new HP Pavilion dv8t quad Edition. This has quad core performance. It comes with Windows 7. You can find the HP Pavilion starting at about $1,300 for the basic configuration. The price goes up from there when you add other options.
HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Leslie in Saskatchewan, Canada listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: "My friend and I both have BlackBerries. She can send picture messages, but I can't. I was wondering if I can update my phone. We have different phones: I have a Curve and she has a Pearl. I didn't know if that could be it. We have different carrier."
Yes, it's the carriers' fault. For instance, the BlackBerry Curve can send picture messages (MMS) on Sprint, but not on T-Mobile. Be sure to listen to the podcast for more info.
"This Week in Tech History" Feature with Chris Graveline - Brought to you by C.Crane. Call C. Crane at 800-522-8863 or visit them online here.
Kerry in Decatur, Illinois listening on WZUS 100.9 FM asked: "I've heard that you could use your iPod Touch as a cell phone if you link your cell phone number to your Skype number, if you're around Wi-Fi. I don't know if that's the only way, how well that works, or if there's the possibility for something better in the future."
In theory, yes, that would work. But it sounds like an awful lot of work. We don't really see what you'd be gaining from that, except maybe saving some airtime minutes. In order for someone to call you on Skype from a regular phone, you'd need to purchase a phone number from Skype. That would either cost you $18 for three months or $60 a year. Now, if you typically go over your allotted minutes each month and end up paying for overages, maybe this would work out to be cheaper for you in the long run, but again, it seems like a whole lot of work to save just a little bit of money.
A couple of the potential "down sides" are: since the iPod Touch doesn't have a microphone built-in, you can only use Skype with a headset, as you mentioned in your question, it would only work while you're connected to a Wi-Fi network. If you have your cell phone forwarded to your Skype account and you are not connected to Skype, then you can't get your calls. You would have to cancel the call forwarding on your cell phone each time you disconnect from Skype so that you don't miss any calls or pay more money for a Skype Voicemail account.
So, to make a long story short, yes, it's possible. Just may not be that feasible.
Larry in Monahans, Texas listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "I would like to know if there is a fax service available over the Internet? I have Verizon Broadband at home. Had Adenova Service out of Canada, but it disappeared and would like to know if there is another one similar that is available now."
There is a website called maxemail.com. Their fax service allows your fax messages to be delivered to your email address, so your fax messages follow you anywhere and everywhere you go. You can send and receive fax over the Internet with this site. Their prices vary depending on the service you want. Plans start at just under $10, but they do have a Free Trial for 30 days. You can also choose what area code you're sending your fax from.
Another one is clickfax.com - some features include:
- You can fax online directly from your computer
- Receive Internet faxes via email
- Local or toll-free numbers
- Simple one-click mail merge online faxing from MS Word
- Integrates with Outlook, Access, Excel, and others
We also found a totally free service. It's called faxZERO. You can send up to 2 faxes per day and 3 pages per fax for free. The down side is that it puts an ad on the cover sheet. Otherwise it's $1.99 per fax, 1 document, 15 pages. They remove the ad when you pay.
Victor in Aurora, Colorado listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "I have a lot of photos on my computer. My wife also has a lot of CDs and photos to scan. Is there any software that will help save and find duplicate photos?"
There are a couple of websites that will provide software that you can download instantly in order to help you find the duplicate files, some you can download for free, but others you have to pay for.
1) Clone remover - The Duplicate file finder will help you find duplicate files, mp3's and duplicate pictures. It's supposed to make it easy for you. You'll be able to search by contents, titles, property and similar images, which is what you are looking for to organize those good memories.
2) NoClone - It's a duplicate image finder that can help you to identify and delete duplicate image files to recover disk space. The good thing about this website is that it tells you step by step how to look for the files that you need. With this one you can download the free trial and see if you like it.
3) PhotoSort - Helps you find duplicate photos on your computer. This program analyzes the actual images and can find duplicates or similar photos, even if the file name and size are different. The results are displayed in a list, grouped by image and similarity. It also provides a preview of the selected image, as well as additional details. You can select files, and then proceed to delete them. There's a Free Trial for you to download or you can purchase it for $19.95.
Highlights from the CEA Industry Forum - featuring i-stage - in Phoenix, AZ
(Scroll down for more pictures from Phoenix)
| HOUR 2 GUESTS | ||
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Regen took 1st place at the 2009 i-stage competition |
Entourage Systems took 2nd place at the 2009 i-stage competition |
Entourage eDGe - e-reader & netbook device |
“Into Tomorrow” Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza: Entourage eDGe - An interactive, dual-display e-reader, notebook and netbook in one. (Scroll down for more info)
HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Mitch in Tyler, Texas listening on KTTB 92.1 FM asked: "I have had Alltel phone service and, as you heard, Verizon bought them out. Since they bought them, areas where I would get signal with Alltel, I don't get reception at all. It's a concern because my son has to go to the hospital every month and we no longer get signal at the hospital. Is reception based on the phone you have or the phone service? We're considering switching services to make sure we have reception."
Reception is primarily based on the service provider that you have. However, newer phones are able to operate further from towers then are older phones. A simple solution for your phone might be to see if there is a software or coverage area update available. Since Alltel is now a part of Verizon, we checked their website and in Tyler, TX you should have good coverage. There are also signal boosters out there that are available for you to buy. The price for these depends on what phone you have.
As of today, AT&T is still the only network that can carry the iPhone. However, there are rumors out there that Apple may buy out the remainder of the contract they have and open the iPhone up on other networks. With the popularity of the iPhone, this seems to be likely but there is not much information about this or a timetable in place for when this may happen.
“Into Gaming Minute” with Mark Lautenschlager
Joe in Ridgetop, Tennessee asked: "Is it worth it for us to go buy a digital antenna? We have a converter box that we are using in a motor home. My question is: Will it work on a motor home?"
A new digital antenna will work on your motor home in the same fashion that an older version would have. However, there are some cases where you may need to upgrade your antenna. If you are a long way away from your transmitting station or if it is receiving information on the wrong frequency, an upgrade may be required. Whether or not it is worth it to upgrade, really depends on how much time you spend in your motor home.
Paul in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on KFBX 970 AM sent an email and asked: "Hi guys, I have a Linksys router setup at home. My PS3 and Laptop use the static IP, and recently, I've had trouble connecting to games. So I changed it to DHCP IP address and it seems to be working okay. What I'm wondering is the following: Is it better to let the machines decide their own IP addresses or have a static IP for each?"
You may have answered your own question. If your devices work better on DHCP, might as well leave it that way. This will also give you the flexibility to take your PS3 elsewhere and hook it up successfully. "DHCP vs. Static" doesn't really matter a whole lot unless you have several computers and devices on a network.
Even then, you should only use static IPs for devices that don't move in and out of the network regularly. We use a combination here at our studios. Any machine that is permanently setup here has a static IP address. Laptops and other devices that we may travel with or need to connect to other networks using DHCP, as it's much easier than re-doing settings each time. There's still a lot of debate going on as to which one is more secure.
Norman in Chattanooga, Tennessee listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "I'm designing a website and need to put video on it. What is the best and cheapest site to use?"
We use many sites where we post our ITTV videos. Our favorite sites include:
1) YouTube - The most popular video site that now gets more than 1 billion views everyday. We like how it's easy to manage it. It's not as confusing as other video sites. Our only complaint is that their logo is very prominent. Check out our ITTV (“Into Tomorrow” TV) YouTube Channel.
2) Revver - Really good looking player, but some buffering may slow the video playback. You can earn a few bucks with Revver, too. They pair your video with a certain ad and the more people see your video, the more money you earn.
Highlights from the CEA Industry Forum - featuring i-stage - in Phoenix, AZ
(Scroll down for more pictures from Phoenix)
| HOUR 3 GUESTS | ||
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Dave & Rob with NVIDIA's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang |
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Dave & Rob with two of this year's CE Hall of Fame inductees: Dr. Joseph Flaherty & Dick Wiley |
Dave with Stuart Varney
from the Fox Business Network |
Rob with Bill Rancic, 1st winner of "The Apprentice" |
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Gary Shapiro with opening remarks |
2009 Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame Dinner |
Dr. Joseph Flaherty, Grandfather of HDTV |
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Dr. Irwin Jacobs Co-Founder of Qualcomm |
CEA's Jack Wayman accepts award on behalf of Karl Elmer Hassel, Co-Founder of Zenith |
Walton Stinson Co-Founder of Listen Up |
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Neil Terk Founder of Terk Technologies Award accepted by his daughters |
Dick Wiley Former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission |
John Shalam Founder of Audiovox |
Amy in San Francisco, California asked: "Somebody is using my personal email to the whole country and I'm wondering how I can stop that?"
I think all of us here have experienced that. Spammers can be very clever, especially when they use viruses or Trojan horse programs to get into your computer. Once there, they can get to your private data, including your e-mail and contact lists.
The first thing we can recommend to anyone is to make sure you have virus protection on your computer, and that it's up to date. A lot of people assume they're covered because they install an anti-virus program. But, if you don't keep it up to date and install any software updates for it, you are leaving yourself open to attacks.
As far as spam, the FTC's site (Federal Trade Commission) has some helpful tips to "reduce spam." Some hints include:
- Try not to display your email address in public. That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites or in an online service's membership directory.
- Check the privacy policy when you submit your address to a website.
- Decide if you want to use two email addresses, one for personal messages and one for newsgroups and chat rooms.
- Use a unique email address.
- Use an email filter.
If you have any questions about any of this week's show info, please email us here.
Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza
What do you get when you marry an e-reader with a netbook? An Entourage eDGe!
Entourage Systems entered their eDGe dualbook into the i-stage competition at the CEA Industry Forum and won 2nd place, with a prize of $7500. The judges and attendees were impressed to see an e-reader and netbook together. We were expecting innovative products in the competition and Entourage Systems didn't disappoint.
The eDGE provides users with a paltform to read e-books and documents, surf the Web, take digital notes, send emails, instant messenger, watch movies and more. It's based on Google's Android platform, so we can expect a lot of applications for it in the future.
One of my favorite features is the built-in camera. Sure, it's only 1.3 megapixels, but I'm happy to see they included it anyway. More people are video-conferencing these days, so that's very helpful to have. You can use use programs like Skype to video chat and make calls. By the way, this 2.5-lb device, connects to wireless networks! That is major these days! We're glad they didn't forget to include that feature.
The only concern we have is that it may be too pricey for its upcoming release. Entourage Systems plans on selling the eDGe for $490. Ouch! However, we all know that the CE industry is the most competitive market and can expect the price to drop a few months after its release in February 2010.
We'll keep you posted ... “Into Tomorrow”.
Submitted by Rob Almanza
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Absolute Software: LoJack for Laptops Premium Edition for Mac & Windows
Dexim: BluePack S3 Lithium Polymer Battery (Charge your iPhone/iPod on-the-go)
Honestech: Easy Video Editor 3.0 (Video editing software designed for beginners)
Microsoft: Streets & Trips with GPS Locator
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