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Weekend of January 6th, 2012

Dave and the team are in the studio cramming in as many of your tech questions and comments as possible before the holidays. Wanna win some great prizes? Call us toll-free 1-800-899-INTO (4686) with any consumer electronics question, opinion, help another listener or tell us what your favorite app is and why. You can also participate via our FREE "Into Tomorrow" App (iOS/Android/Intel AppUp). Thank you for your participation!

 

Our Latest ITTV Video Update (Watch in HD)

We're kicking-off the new year with a new home. This week we're bringing you behind the scenes at our new Broadcast Center at Don Shula's Hotel in Miami Lakes, FL. Also, Chris Graveline takes us back into yesterday on "This Week In Tech History".

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

 

Barry in Henderson, Nevada listening on 970 AM asked: "So many people have a tablet or an iPad right now but don't have a computer. What is a good way to determine if a person should purchase a computer or just have an iPad or tablet?"

 

If you need nothing but email, web browsing, music, movies and some very basic games, you might be able to get away with just a tablet. But, tablets are really no competition for computers -- at least not yet.

If you want to work on any document comfortably, print easily, play more sophisticated games, edit images or movies, or do anything more than checking email, basic web browsing and consuming some media on a small screen, you'll probably need a computer.

Tablets are great for portability and they're great for simple tasks, but computers do pretty much all of what they do better. For example, tablet is great to casually browse a website on the couch, but a computer will probably display that website a little better.

Up to now one of the biggest appeals of a tablet over a laptop was portability and battery life, but with the new Ultrabooks coming out the weight and battery life of the tablets has been matched by laptops.

You should probably look at tablets as a complement to a laptop, but not really as a replacement.

 

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.

For Android:

 

• Mark recommends: StumbleUpon, FREE

 

"My app this week is StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon, or "stumble" as its users call it, is an app that helps you find new web sites in your areas of interest. You tell Stumble what you like, and then select one of those categories to begin stumbling. You Like or Dislike pages, and how often a page is liked will determine how often it is shared with other people who have the same interest as you. What I like so much about it is how the human filter is already applied to the sites it recommends. For example, I told it one of my interests was beer. When I select that from the list of interests, it takes me to sites about brewing my own beer, or recommending local pubs, etc., etc. What I don't see are Wikipedia articles on the history of beer, not that there's anything wrong with that, or Google searches showing endless pages of people wanting to sell me beer. StumbleUpon is the perfect thing for killing time and just MAYBE finding some cool new web sites. You can find it in the Android Market OR the Amazon Appstore, and it's free." -- Mark



For iOS:

 

• Rob recommends: Transphotos, FREE
"A fun app that lets you add cool effects to your iPhone pictures. Basically, it transforms your pictures into works of art. You can add cool borders and effects like cartoon, black and white, rainbow, mirror, and others. If you're an Instagramer like me, this is a fun app to use before posting your grams."

Samples from Rob:


Before


After


Before


After

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

What are your favorite apps? Let us know!

 

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

 

 

Rob's UglyMeter's scores:

 

Good score

 

Bad score

 

Alex in Normandy, France listens to the stream - calling in via the iPhone App asked:"What do you recommend in terms of CPU spec on the Macbook Air? Is it worth it to upgrade to Intel Core i7? Thanks."

 

The new MacBook Air comes standard with a Core i5 processor. That's twice as fast as the CoreDuo found in the previous Macbook Air.

If you pay $100 more, you can upgrade to a 1.8 Ghz Core i7 processor. However, Apple doesn't say much about the difference between the two other than the negligible speed bump and the slight increase in L3 Cache.

So the difference between the Core i5 and Core i7 is not much. There used to be a difference between i5 and i7 related to Hyper threading -- the i7 had it enabled the i5 did not.

Hyper-threading means that though the Dual core i7 is physically a dual core processor, it can act as 4 core processor (assuming the software can take advantage of the virtual core by multithreading).

But for the new mobile Sandy Bridge processor that the MacBook Airs are using, the i5 now has Hyper-threading enabled, this means that the i5 MacBook Air is comparable to the i7.

 

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

 

Barry in Cherry Hill, New Jersey listens online and asked: "I have an HP p6242f computer with Win7 Home Premium (this computer includes an NVIDIA GeForce G210 card). Currently, I have two Samsung Syncmaster 204t monitors connected. I have recently acquired a third Samsung Sync master 204t monitor, and would like to have all connected. I do NOT play video games, and I occasionally stream a movie now and then, so I don't need the latest, highest, performance card. I am budget conscious. Any recommendations? I am a supporter of your sponsor Newegg, so I have no problems if you recommend something from them."

 

Your graphics card will only let you run two monitors at once. You can install a second video card, but you will need some slots available in your motherboard for this.

To ensure compatibility you should look at other NVIDIA cards, but after the card is installed things should go smoothly, even Windows XP already supported up to 10 monitors, provided the computer had the proper number of cards to work with.

Another NVIDIA 210 like the one you have will cost you as little as $29.99 on NewEgg so, being budget conscious, that may be a way to go. Buying the same model should ensure that you won't face any compatibility issues, but you are not required to use the exact same model, so if anything else looks good to you, you can opt for that instead, you won't need a very high end video card to just play some video on an external screen.

We should mention there's a solution from ATI called Eyefinity. It will let you connect up to 6 monitors from a single GPU. But, Eyefinity will definitely move you away from "budget" prices and you may even need a new graphics card to the replace the one you currently have for that setup to work.

 

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

 

Dale in Santa Maria, California listens to the podcast asked: "I've been trying for the last year or two to setup an easy, simple, inexpensive VPN for personal use at my house. Having trouble finding the right resources. I'm not a junkie on setting up routers and such. Wondering what the simplest, least expensive way to do it."

 

If you want a really simple solution you can try something called "Hamachi". Hamachi (which was purchased by LogMeIn), basically has one button, an on off switch and pressing it let's you choose between starting a new VPN or joining one.

To start one, you just need to name it (the name must be unique and you cannot use a name someone else is using). And, if you want, add a password.
To connect to the network you just open Hamachi on another computer and type in the name and the password that you used to create the network on the first computer.

Once you've done that just network away, you should be able to use your own personal VPN (though you will technically run some of your information, at least the login portion though LogMeIn servers).

Another option is OpenVPN, which will permit you to set up a VPN server on your home network and connect to it with a laptop from wherever you are. It's free and quite powerful, with extensive documentation. They do sell services related to it, but if all you want is the server and client software for Windows, Mac, or Linux, you can find that at openvpn.net. Or come to our web site at intotomorrow.com and we'll link you to it.

 

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

 

 

HOUR 2:

 

Tech News & Commentary

 

Isaac, calling via the app asked: "Do you guys have any suggestions for a memory card for a video camera? I'm looking for an SD card and I didn't know as far as the speeds for HD video camera shooting. I don't know if that makes a difference and if so what level should it be."

 

SD cards are categorized by "classes" -- Class 2, Class 4, Class 6 and Class 10. Class 2 will give you transfer speeds of 2 MB/s, Class 4 will get you 4MB/s, Class 6, 6MB/s, and Class 10 will deliver 10MB/s.

A Class 2 card is fast enough for standard definition video, but since you're interested in HD video, you should buy a Class 6 card or above.

The truth is a Class 10 card will probably be overkill, in fact even a Class 6 is capable of a little more speed than you need.

Even if you have more speed available to you the camera won't use it, so a Class 10 will cost you more and you won't see any benefit, so we'd say stick to the Class 6, it will get you the speed you need and then some.

 

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

 

 

Shawn in Shenandoah, Iowa listens online, called in via the app and offered his experience regarding rescuing wet electronics, and using a USB adapter to connect multiple displays to a computer.

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

 

Robert in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on KFBX 970 AM called and asked two questions: "I'm looking for devices to stream video to HDTV, my little laptop works really well, but I've looked over a few items, the Roku and other devices like that, but I don't know if there are any specific items that you might like that stream video to the TV. Otherwise I've been looking at a few things that only works with certain laptops which I think is really silly.

Second question: What is DLNA? does my TV need it or my laptop need it? I'm not sure what it is, so if you could tell me what DLNA stands for and what it means I'd appreciate it."

 

If you want a dedicated box to play internet videos from, there are many, we've tried the Roku, and Boxee boxes, both can play web content without the need for a computer, both will give you access to popular sources of online video, like Netflix, Amazon on Demand, Vudu, Hulu Plus, YouTube, etc.

The cheapest Roku box will cost you just $49, and you can run Boxee for free from your laptop, if you don't want to spend any money.

You can also look at GoogleTV and AppleTV. AppleTV will offer you fewer choices, in terms of full length content you'll be restricted to Netflix and iTunes, you'll have access to YouTube, Vimeo, MLB and other sources, but not for movies and TV shows.

Now as for your Follow-up question: DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance, and is a wireless standard to connect different devices at home, for example, you could transfer your pictures wirelessly from your DLNA camera to your DLNA TV or printer, or wirelessly transfer music from your DLNA laptop to your DLNA music player.

DLNA is probably not something you need for your TV or laptop right now, it's probably something that's nice to use if you happen to have it, but not many people or devices are using it yet.

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

 

Doug in Miami, Florida listens online asked: "I was checking your "Top 10" and saw the C. Crane US3 Super USB WiFi Antenna 3 and was wondering if you have any thoughts about it. I purchased a DAP1522 Dlink adapter which Dlink told me would boost my wireless signal so that my wireless printer would get better reception. But it did not. Do you think that if I got one of theses and connected to my Epson Workforce printer it might get a better signal from my wireless modem on the other side of my house?"

 

Unfortunately connecting the antenna to your printer won't help, this particular antenna has hardware inside of it that needs to be controlled by a driver, and you won't be able to install that driver onto your printer, you will need either a Mac or a PC.

You could turn the setup around and connect the antenna to your computer if it's stationary, and move the wireless modem closer to your printer, assuming that's an option, or you could get a wireless access point to act as a repeater and place it somewhere far enough from the main wireless modem that your printer will be reached by it's signal, and close enough that it will be able to get a good signal from the modem.

The good thing about this last set up is that it may end up costing you even less than the Super USB WiFI Antenna 3, and it will boost your signal on that side of the house, not only for one device, but for everything that uses WiFi.

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

 

 

 

 

Trevor in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on KFBX 970 AM asked: "I have an old Dell Inspiron 6000. It's been a good little computer. But in computer years it's like a bazillion years old. I'm thinking it might be nice to try and get one of those high speed fancy pants Mac computers. It would be used mostly for editing photos and watching videos. I would like a big screen to go with it. But I'll take what I can get. Does it make a difference if it's new or used? I haven't really set a price range just yet. Something in the 500 gig range would be nice. Happy NewYear to you and the gang."

 

If you choose to go with a new Mac, the cheapest you can get right now is a $599 Mac mini. But, it will come without a screen and without a mouse or keyboard. So, if you can reuse your current computer's keyboard and mouse, and use your TV as a monitor, that might give you a solution for a somewhat cheaper Mac with a big screen. About the hard drive, 500GB is the smallest hard drive you can get with any of the Mac minis, so that shouldn't be a problem.

If you want to go with a computer that comes with all it's parts, the least expensive iMac will cost you $1199. So you'll be spending considerably more money, but it comes with a 21.5" screen.

As far as does used or new make a difference, it probably makes about the same difference it does with any other used product. It depends on how it was treated and how old it is. Sometimes it will be just fine and it'll be less expensive, and sometimes it will have been mistreated and bring with it more problems than you want to have.

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

 

Brad in Miami, Florida asked: "Has anyone used Adobe Premiere for video editing? If so, opinions please. If not, what are you guys currently using that is cost effective?"

 

If you're looking for professional results, then Adobe Premiere is a very good option. It's not hard to figure out how to use it. And, there are a ton of things you can add to your videos that you wouldn't be able to do with a basic video editing program like iMovie on Macs. One of the things I like is how you can customize name tags -- also known as "supers". I also edit my videos on iMovie and wish it would give us more options for name tags. That's an advantage on Premiere. Also, you get more video formats to export. However, like Dave said, it is a memory hog. I've got a Core i5 on my MacBook Pro and Premiere runs well on that. Sometimes I have to close other programs, so I can get a smooth editing session. On the other hand, my iMac has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and it takes forever to edit. I end up using iMovie more on my iMac than on my MacBook. And, I always have to keep other programs or apps closed while I edit.

In answer to your question about what we use currently to edit our videos ... we use Adobe Premiere on a powerful PC workstation. We've used other programs like Avid in the past, but mostly Premiere.As far at it being cost effective, hmm, not really. It's an expensive program. But, it's expected with professional-grade video editing software.

If you end up getting Adobe Premiere, we recommend you take a course on Lynda.com (that's Linda with a "y"). They've got a ton of tutorials on Adobe products and have helped both Chris and Rob learn hidden features.Of course, a free tutorial option is YouTube. You'll find a lot of helpful videos there, too.

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

 

Sandra in Columbia, South Carolina asked: "Can you install Apple's FaceTime on an Android phone? If not, what can I use to video chat?"

 

Unfortunately, you can't. It's an Apple-only video chat application that a lot of Android users wish they could have. But, there are other apps you can try. We can't promise it will perform as well as FaceTime does, but it can do the job on a solid WiFi Connection.

We've tested Skype in our studios with a video chat between my iPhone and Dave's Droid RAZR. We have a really good connection in our new studios, but it crashed a couple of times. However, with the short time of live video chat we did, Skype worked for us.

Another video chat app we've used is Fring. And, now it supports group chat, so up to 4 people can be in the same video chat.

What app are you using to video chat with your Android devices? 1-800-899-4686 or call from our free "Into Tomorrow" app.

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

 

 

Murray in Japan listens to our podcast asked: "What is the best way (and the easiest way, in case they're different) to backup a Kindle?"

 

If you want to back up your Kindle to your computer (as opposed to Amazon's servers), you can connect it to your computer using a USB cable and it will show up the same as an external hard drive or a flash drive would. After that, just open it and copy the files to whatever folder you want to store them in on your computer, it's as simple as that!

Or, you can add them directly to whatever external hard drive you're currently using. We hope you keep your computer backed-up as well. Having said that, it's not that simple for Amazon! If your Kindle is a second generation or newer, it should have "Whispernet" built-in. Whispernet and Whispersync will just work in the background and make sure that all of your content is available on all of your devices. For example, if you have the Kindle app on your phone and buy a new book there, your book will also instantly be on your Kindle, and that all your content is synchronized. So, if you have a Kindle and the app on a smartphone, if you read the first page on the book on the Kindle and go to page two, when you open the same book on the phone, it will already be on page two.

To connect to Whispernet you need a network connection. If you have a Kindle 3G, it's already happening without you noticing. If you have a WiFi Kindle, just connect it to a WiFi network and it will happen without you having to do anything.

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

 

Steve Jobs Action Figure

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Marcus in Montgomery, Alabama listening on 1440 AM asked: "Is there any way to get a smartphone that uses the phone for the phone service, but that you don't have to pay for the internet connection?"

 

Usually the only way you're going to be able to do that Marcus is if you buy a phone that hasn't been subsidized by a company, especially if it's a GSM phone. With GSM phones, just sliding the SIM card in will be enough to get them running on whatever plan the SIM card is programed for.

With CDMA phones there's an activation process involved and it includes giving the phone company the phone's serial number, which they can use to check the model. If they do that and see it's a smartphone, they usually won't activate it without a data plan.

That basically means that you're stuck with AT&T or T-Mobile as your carriers and with the smartphones you can buy unsubsidized.

You could try asking the other phone companies if they would activate a smartphone that "a friend gave you" without requiring a data plan. They don't do it when they sell you the phone, but you may be able to buy a used one and have it put on the network if you don't buy from them.

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

 

 

Tom in Nashville, Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7and asked: "I'm asking for the most economical way to connect to the Internet via maybe an aircard or something like that. The Wi-Fi signal I get is too weak to connect to."

 

Mobile broadband plan prices depend on the amount of data that you want to be able to transfer, the lower the data cap the cheaper the plan, Sprint offers plans starting at $34.99 a month for 3GBs of data, T-Mobile will charge you a little more, $39, for a little less, 2GBs of data, AT&T and Verizon's plans start at $50, but that's for 5GBs of data.

These plans all come with different speeds attached to them as well, Sprint offers "4G", meaning WiMax, T-Mobile offers "4G", meaning... to be honest: 3G, and AT&T and Verizon offer 4G, meaning LTE where available.

Generally speaking, in terms of speed, LTE is the best, then WiMax, then T-Mobile's 4G and AT&T's non-LTE "4G" (AT&T offers both flavors of 4G).

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

 

Gaylord asked: "Buy Apple iPad 2 refurbished and save $50, or buy new?"

 

Apple it's pretty good when it comes to their refurbished products, they replace all the packaging and change the cases so what you get pretty much feels like a new product. They also offer the same full one year warranty you would get with a new (non-refurbished) product.

All of that usually makes Apple a pretty good and safe choice when it comes to buying a refurbished product, having said that, for $50 if you're going to be worried or second guessing the quality of your new iPad, maybe you should buy a new one. You'll still be paying 90% of the regular price.

We think that as far as refurbished products go, Apple's are among the safest to buy, but it's up to you to decided if they difference in price makes it worth the small risk to you.

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

 

Victor in Smyrna, Georgia listening online asked: "I just bought the Acer Iconia Tablet with the Nvidia chip on the Android OS. I really enjoy it but having a hard time watching movies and stuff. Looking to see if there might be a built-in kickstand sleeve for this device."

 

There are several actually. Acer makes it's own, they call it the "Acer Iconia Tablet A500 Protective Case". The case warps around the tablet much like the original iPad's case did with that iPad and the other end of the case folds to make a stand. It's relatively cheap, you can find it online for about $30. If you're interested in products from other companies you can find several of those, too. Keep an eye on the price because we've seen them for as much as $120.

Another option you may want to look into is Acer's dock for the Iconia tablet. It will keep your tablet charged while you watch your movies and it comes with a remote control as well. The downside is that it's considerably more expensive than the protective case, it'll cost you around $62, and it's a little hard to justify the remote for watching movies, let's face it we're not talking about a 60-inch screen here, you'll be pretty close to the tablet.

Still, if you want a dock that will keep your tablet charged and you use your tablet as a music player for example, and could use the remote, have a look at the dock as well. Come by our site and we'll link you to all of the products we mentioned straight from this week's show page.

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

 

 

 

 

Leonard in Raleigh, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 AM asked: "I'm an Apple user and have this program I bought from Apple called TuneUp. It's supposed to characterize your music files, photos and stuff like that. I found this to be a pain. Now I get an error message saying that TuneUp is not compatible with my OS. Now I got to upgrade my Mac which i 10.4. Can you please help me?"

 

TuneUp requires at least Mac OS 10.6.6, which is Snow Leopard, you can update 10.4 Tiger to 10.6 Snow Leopard by buying a copy of Snow Leopard, and doing the installation from there.

That is assuming your computer can be upgraded to Snow Leopard at all, version up to Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) allowed PowerPC processors, Snow Leopard is the first Mac OS to require an Intel processor, so if you're running an old PowerPC Mac, you won't be able to upgrade past Leopard, and you won't be able to run TuneUp.

If you're running an Intel Mac you could also look into modernizing all the way and transferring to Mac OS 10.7, Lion, the current OS for Macs, but Lion might be an even tougher upgrade for you, considering it not only requires Intel processors, but it also requires 64 bit processors, which leaves out the original MacBook's Core Duo processor.

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

 

Tom in Dickson, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 asked: "I live out in a rural area and there's not too many options for Internet access. I've had Wildblue and it's been terrible. I'm trying to find the simplest, cheapest way to get Internet service. I've heard about Straight Talk where you can get Internet service on the phone for $45 a month. If I could buy something like that, is there a device that would let me get online with my PC at home, or a wireless laptop? Or is there any other device I could get that will pick up some connection for that so I can get on the Internet?"

 

The problem with being out in rural areas is exactly what you said ... There's not a whole lot of options. Typically, if you can't get high speed Internet from your phone company or a cable modem where you live, then satellite is the best option. Of course, that's what Wildblue is, so you've had some experience with satellite Internet.

If you're not happy with them, there are some other companies that offer satellite internet connections. HughesNet, Dish and Starband are probably the more popular services. We're not saying that any of them are gonna work beter than Wildblue, but at least there are options. If you ave any neighbors nearby that also use satellite Internet, ask around. See what others are using and if it works well for them.

Now, the Straight Talk you mentioned is a pre-paid mobile phone service. While you can get mobile Internet on a cell phone, it won't help you with getting a computer online at home.

One other option you can try along those lines, is a mobile broadband card from a wireless carrier. If you get decent 3G or even 4G cell phone signals in your area, this may be a lower cost option for you. Check with your cell phone carrier and see if they offer high speed data in your area. Then find out what Mobile Internet modems they have and what specials they may be offering. Most times, if you sign a multi-year agreement, you can get a USB Air card for free. Of course, you still have to pay the monthly fees, just like you would a cell phone.

In fact, Dave's sister lives in a rural area in South Carolina. She encountered the same issues. She's now online with a 3G Modem from AT&T. It's not the fastest, but it's a lot better than the dial-up connection she had before.

 

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

 

 

Leroy from East Point, Michigan listening online asked: "I usually listen to you over streamguys, but I would like to know how I can download your podcast on my Android phone, I have an HTC EVO 4G, I understand you need a podcast downloader I went to the marketplace and I see a whole bunch of them. I would like your opinion on which one works best or is there something better. This is my only device as far as that, my phone is my MP3 player I don't own an MP3 player."

 

For a free app that works well, you can try Google Listen, it will let you stream the podcast or download it to your EVO to listen to it later, but it won't just fetch downloads without you opening the app.

Another really popular option is BeyondPod, it will let you schedule downloads of your favorite shows, and there is a lite version you can try for free (the full version will cost you $6.99).

Doggcatcher, is another well regarded app, it will even import the podcasts you follow from Google Listen and it will let you download audio as well as video podcasts.

You can also just use an RSS reader, like Google Reader, and play each file from the link embedded in the RSS feed, so basically if you see episode 1 and touch it on your EVO it will start streaming it.

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Honestech: Film Scan&Save -- Digitize your old photo negatives and slides. Supports both color and black & white photo negatives and slides. Convert them into high-resolution images.

McAfee: Download keys for "McAfee All Access" -- Secure your PC, laptop, and netbook against hackers and identity theft; Protect your smart phones and tablets.

Moola Street: $25 Gift Cards. Of course, Moola is slang for money and this is a unique way to give Gift Cards that cost you only 10% until the recipient redeems it!

 

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