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Weekend of October 28th, 2011

Dave and Rob are at the CEA Industry Forum in San Diego, CA this week, talking to the latest movers and shakers in the Consumer Electronics Industry. Meantime, Mark and Chris answer more of your calls and emails ON THE AIR! If you haven't yet, call us toll-free 1-800-899-INTO (4686) ... participate via our "Into Tomorrow" App (iOS/Android/Intel AppUp) ... or email the show: AskDave@graveline.com. Thank you for your participation!

Our Latest ITTV Video Update (Watch in HD)

Apple sold over 4 million of their iPhone 4S devices during the first weekend it was on sale. Our very own iDork (Rob) goes hands-on and takes a closer look at some of the new features that have been over-hyped. Chris reminds us about one of the most recognized structures at a magical and techie amusement park 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

 

Joe in Lincoln, Nebraska listens to the Podcast & WWCR Shortwave and asked: "The new Olympus PEN Cameras: How many megapixels are these things and how do they perform in low-light situations, where you don't want to use the flash but still get a good picture without a lot of noise?"

All of Olympus PEN cameras have 12.3 megapixel sensors, as for low light situations your milage may vary depending on your gear. PEN cameras are like small SLRs, and to a great extent the quality of your low light photos will depend on your lens.

We've seen lenses for these cameras ranging from a quick 45mm f1.8 to slower f5.6 lenses. If you use something like the 1.8 you will probably get decent pictures without a flash under normal low light conditions, if you use a slower lens odds are you'll depend on the flash a lot more.

Since you asked about noise specifically, what you're probably wondering about is how the cameras perform under high ISO settings. We haven't had the chance to test them at very low light and very high ISO yet but, from what we've seen of other tests online, if you max out the ISO, like with all cameras you will notice some noise, it's the same compromise you make with any other camera.

The highest ISO setting for PEN cameras is somewhere around 6400, and that's even higher than some entry level SLRs! At that sensitivity we would expect to notice some noise, having said that, 90% of the time you probably won't go anywhere near that high a setting, and we've been impressed with the quality of the pictures we've taken.

We're sure you'll be too but, if you want to be sure, you can have a look at some sample pictures here.

 

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: IMDb, FREE

 

"I don't know how conversations get started around YOUR houses, but let me tell you how they get started around MINE. With a question, usually something like "What TV series was he in?" or "Wait, who played the girl in that movie?" One of the best resources for cast, crew, and plot synopsis online has been the Internet Movie Database or IMDb for short. Now there's an IMDb app for Android. You can easily search by show or movie title, actor's name, or almost any other bit of trivia you might know about what you're looking for. The IMDb app runs fast and gives you full access to their database. Much easier than the browser, much faster than most of the conversations around my house. It's free in the Android market." -- Mark


For iOS:

 

• Chris recommends: swackett, FREE




 

"swackett is a whole new way to look at the weather. We convert complex weather data to easily-understood, visual weather reports designed for people of every age. Our unique approach is to combine raw weather data (current conditions, radar, and detailed forecasts) with thoughtfully crafted people symbols (called "peeps") who always appear appropriately dressed for the weather."

 

 

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

 

What are your favorite apps? Let us know!

 

George in Milton-Freewater, Oregon listens to the Podcast and recommends GO SMS Pro, he said: "I have been using Handcent for years and Go SMS Pro is like that, on steroids."

 

GO SMS Pro for Android

 

Thank you for your suggestion, George!

 

If you'd like to help your fellow listeners call 1-800-899-INTO (4686) anytime 24/7!

 

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

 

Juan in Miami Beach, FL listens online and asked: "Are 3D Smartphones worth all the fuss?"

Like with everything else regarding smartphones it's all about personal choice and what you value in a smartphone... having said that, probably not. We first saw the EVO 3D back in March at CTIA Wireless and it didn't really wow us, it's got a screen that's a little like that of the Nintendo 3DS, it can show 3D or 2D, so you get to pick whether you want to turn 3D on at all. The real 3D uses for the phone are really just shooting videos and pictures in 3D and viewing them, but it's almost more odd than it is impressive.

One of the problems with shooting 3D video or pictures is that you don't really have many places to view them outside of the phone's own screen, you won't record your entire vacation in 3D and share it on Facebook, YouTube can play 3D videos, but that usually requires wearing 3D glasses (even the little paper ones that sometimes come with magazines) or sitting there cross-eyed for a while, which isn't all that comfortable, so the truth is you probably won't be uploading a lot of 3D content to YouTube just yet either.

We suspect that if you buy a 3D smartphone right now, you'll play with the 3D features for 2 or 3 days, then disable them and only turn them back on to impress your friends.

Now, if you do want a 3D smartphone,it will cost roughly the same as any other smartphone, so you won't be throwing a lot of money away, the phone will be able to do all the regular smartphone stuff, and the monthly plan will cost the same.

So, if you really want to try a 3D smartphone, by all means, try it in the store and if you think it's cool get it and you'll probably enjoy it... the only thing is, you'll probably enjoy owning it for the other features more than for the 3D.

 

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

 

HOUR 1 GUESTS	2011 CEA INDUSTRY FORUM
	Dr. James Canton, President & Chairman – Institute
Health & Fitness Panel	Striiv, a fitness device that counts every step you take and credits you

 

Marlon in Memphis, Tennessee asked: "I have a PC with Windows Vista. Been trying to install Service Pack 2. Every time, I get an error message at the end. Wondering what I can do to install this to my Windows program."

That would really depend on what the error message is. If you're getting it right at the end, is it possible that you're running low on disk space? Windows service packs take a ton of disk space, since they make careful backups of the system files they're replacing. Anyway, without having even a hint of what the error message is, there isn't much we're going to be able to offer you.

One thing we would say, though, is why Windows Vista? Service pack 2 does indeed make Vista better, but it's still a poor alternative to the much better Windows 7 system. Our recommendation for you would be to buy a Windows 7 upgrade. It's faster, less crash prone, and just in general the most stable version of Windows, ever.

 

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

 

HOUR 2:

 

Tech News & Commentary

 

Denise in Alamosa, Colorado listening online asked: "While downloading iTunes, my computer downloaded MobileMe (iCloud). I am not a Mac user, but I was wondering if I could stll use the cloud for my Android and my regular PC."

You can use "the cloud" just not the iCloud. A simple solution that will work a lot like the iCloud might be to install Amazon's Cloud Player on your phone, that will give you access to any music you purchase on Amazon, plus all the storage they offer.

On your computer, you can just go to amazon.com/clouddrive and you'll be able to access your files, Cloud Player will let you play your music from there. It's not exactly the same service Apple offers with iCloud, but it's similar and very useful.

Google offers Google Music for Android to the care of the music storage, and Google Docs offer file storage as well, so that may be another option for you.

You can have free web based email with Gmail, online documents with Google Docs, online calendar with Google Calendar, online music lockers with the services we already mentioned, and online file storage with either Amazon's Cloud Drive, or DropBox. All of these things are free. But they aren't an integrated solution like iCloud is. The first few weeks of iCloud have been iffy, as the bugs are getting worked out, but it will eventually be your standard Apple offering. Reliable, intuitive, and integrated. You have to give credit where credit is due, Apple does a good job on creating user experiences.

That being said, it is easily possible to have all the same functions using some of the services we just listed. Good luck!

 

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

 

 

 

Christopher in Jefferson City, Missouri listening on KLIK 1240 AM Calling via our free app asked: "Hello Dave, I listen to your show to get the latest information on new technology and need to dispose of some old laptops. Please help me safely and securely dispose of old laptops and old technology. Thanks."

That's a very good question! Many people don't realize that it is very harmful to the environment to throw your old electronics into the garbage. In fact, in many areas, it's illegal. There are all sorts of chemicals and other harmful things inside that can get into the ground if they're just thrown in a landfill.

The best way to dispose of your old laptops is to recycle them. Some retailers offer recycling programs to help people with this. Best Buy has a free in-store recycling program. They take most electronic items, no matter what brand, where you bought it, or how old it is. There are some restrictions, however. On their website, you select your state from a drop down menu and they'll tell you what they take and what they don't. Some items, like CRT TVs, have a ten dollar fee for recycling. But what they do, at least, is offset that immediately with a ten dollar gift card that you can use in their store.

What you want to keep in mind is, if you're recycling a computer that has the hard drive still inside - you want to wipe all the data off it before you recycle. Especially if it has personal info on it. Best Buy recommends that you at least remove the hard drive before you recycle. You can do it yourself, for free or, for a fee of course, they will have a member of their Geek Squad remove the hard drive for you.

To help you find a program in your area, visit the National Center for Electronics Recycling website that gives you a directory through which you can find resources local to you no matter where you live.

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

 

Facebook Message from Ernest in Washington, DC: "Do you know of any cell phones that one can order, of which the RAM exceeds 16GB and with a refresh rate to match? I'm dumping T-Mobile and the choices out on the open market, for lack of a better word, stink."

There are some smartphones showing up with 16GB of RAM now, but they aren't very common. One model is the new dual core processor, QWERTY sliding keyboard DROID 3 phone from Motorola. It has 16GB of RAM and supports up to a 32GB media card. We're not sure what you mean by "refresh rate to match," but the DROID 3's dual core processor should give it plenty of oomph for running multiple apps at once, thereby taking advantage of the expanded memory.

One thing to keep in mind is that many smartphones do not distinguish in their advertising between RAM and media storage, which may or may not be on a removable card. For example, the 16GB iPhone 4 has 16B of MEMORY, and while that's not on a media card but rather on fixed memory in the phone, only 1GB is RAM for running programs. Given the limited and very controlled multitasking that the iPhone 4 supports, the lack of RAM isn't really a problem, but it's a good illustration of how you have to dig a bit to find the specific answer to your specific question.

When you say you're looking for phones on the "open market," we assume you mean unlocked phones that can work on a variety of wireless carriers without a contract. You should know that you will never see the latest and most powerful handsets available as unlocked phones, at least in the North American market, until the phone has been out for quite a while. Unlocked iPhone 4 models are just now being "officially" sold.

That's because the handset manufacturers need the wireless carriers as advertising and sales partners, and those carriers aren't willing to do that without some exclusivity on the handsets. The bottom line is, if you want the latest and most powerful smartphones, you will probably need to shop at Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint once you're clear from T-Mobile. Good luck, and we hope we've helped!

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

 

Denzel in Freeport, Grand Bahama listens online and asked: "I'm blind and in the Bahamas. Is there a technology like GPS I can use to plot my course as I go along daily, like going to the bathroom, and it says the steps I take and when to turn? And if I want to go to the bus stop, how many steps to take down the road? Or, if I'm traveling in a car, it can tell me where I'm at. Wondering if the technology has extended into that yet."

 

That is a very good question. We found a product that the company describes as an "easy all-in-one handheld talking GPS for people who are blind or low vision." It's called Trekker Breeze GPS from HumanWare. The Trekker Breeze GPS system uses an intuitive way to get you to a new or previously visited destination. Breeze tells you where you are, where you are going and what is around, such as stores and public services. You can record routes when you learn them with sighted people, so that you can use them later without assistance. And, even record (or bookmark) places along your route, like your new favorite restaurant or a friend's house.

The Breeze will remember your previous pedestrian tracks even after you turn off the device. It's also possible to activate the reverse route by pressing a button and it will bring you back to where you started.

What makes this product suitable for the visually impaired is that it announces every intersection you approach, and it tells you your location at any moment with the push of a button. To give you an idea of the size, it's similar to a small TV remote. We'd say it's bigger than the average cell phone and smaller than the average cordless phone. The company claims the battery can last 8 hours on a full charge. Breeze is available for $929.

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

 

HOUR 2 GUESTS	2011 CEA INDUSTRY FORUM
Sahas Katta, CEO & Founder – Skatter Tech	Andria Kern, Director of Social Media – Teens Turning Green	Brian Wong – kiip
	Rob interviewing the Young Speakers

 

Larry in Shreveport, Louisiana listening on 710 KEEL asked: "I am building a new media room at my house and I'm trying to decide whether to buy an LED TV or a projector. I am a big fan of movies and will be using it for that, mostly."

It would mostly depend on the size of your room and how big a picture you wanted. If you're looking at a standard size room with a picture no bigger than, say, 50-inches, a TV will probably be your best bet. If you're setting up a large home theater with a bunch of seating and have room for a large screen, then you can look at a projector.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. A projector, for instance, is great for showing a movie to a bunch of people and gives you more of that "movie theater" feel. They aren't good, however, unless the room is very dark. If you're gonna have any light in the room and still want to watch TV, then an LED/LCD or Plasma would work best for you.

You also have to think about long-term cost. A TV generally lasts for years with little or no maintenance. When you go the projector route, you also have to purchase a screen to project the image onto. There are also replacement bulbs that you'd need every couple years when the old one burns out in the projector. Those can cost upwards of several hundred dollars.

And that cost is on top of the cost of the projector itself. A 1080p projector's price can hover around the price of a big screen TV already! To give you an example, an Optoma EH1020 1080p projector sells online for $1499, and a 55-inch Toshiba 1080p 3DTV sells for the same price. You can find cheaper projectors (and cheaper TVs for that matter), but the prices are usually not too far from each other if you go full HD. If you're ok with 720p, then projector prices drop to about the price of a 720p TV.

So, it all depends on what you're doing with it. If you're making that room your "home theater" room, it might work out great for you. If you need more versatility and would like to watch movies in the daytime or with the lights on occasionally, then a TV is probably best.

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

 

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Norman in Chatanooga, Tennessee asked: "I've been looking at all these tablets and have seen some cheap ones. I love the Android OS for my phone, so I was wondering if you have a recommendation for a good tablet that's cheap."

There are plenty of Android Tablets to choose right now in the market. The Viewsonic G Tablet for example is a fan favorite. It's relative inexpensive and easily modded. Inside is a 1GB dual-core Tegra 2 chipset, 512 Mb of DDR2 Ram and enough video juice to run 1080p video and run Android 2.2. The Viewsonic is available online for $269.

Another Tablet you can try is the Anchos 101, this tablet run Android 2.2 and comes in both 8Gb or 16Gb.
Both has the same 10.1 inch screen, Cortex-A8 CPU and long life lithium iom battery. Ports are plentiful with a full size of USB 2.0 port, USB 2.0 slave port, MicroSD card slot and HDMI output, plus there is a nifty kickstand.
The Anchos 101 is available online for $240.

You can try the Nook Color, this tablet is a e-book reader with vibrant 7inch touch screen.
Build in WiFi, Barnes & Noble NookBook store, 8Gb Memory, micro SD expansion slot.
Support PDF,Word and Pub files, display images, some video formats and mp3 audio playback.
You can buy the Nook Color online for $225.

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

 

 

 

Jack in Los Alamos, New Mexico listening on KTRC asked: "I am really sick of the extortion of my satellite provider and wondering what is needed to start watching television programs over the Internet. In particular, I need a cookbook. What hardware and software do I need. I have a DSL connection which is okay, not fantastic. I'm at least willing to try it."

You're not alone. A lot of people are sick and tired of being at the mercy of their satellite or cable company. Of course, a lot more people are perfectly happy with whichever one they've chosen. So, we can't paint with too broad of a brush here, despite the unfortunate circumstances several on our staff have had with CONcast (as Dave calls Comcast). I think what frustrates most people is the feeling of having no choice. You use the cable provider that's in your area, or you use one of the two big brands in satellite TV, and that's pretty much it. No consumer appreciates a lack of choice, nor should they.

The problem with providing you a "cookbook" of how to watch TV over the Internet is that the recipes are going out of date faster than they can be cooked. Food isn't the best analogy, because good food is good food, and nobody has come up with a new version of green peppers that requires an upgrade to your onion and won't work at all with the chicken broth. The services offering online TV watching are shifting constantly.

Before we discuss anything else, let's talk about your Internet connection. DSL, at least the standard 1.5 megabit downstream and 256 kilobit upstream version, isn't going to cut it. A switch to cable Internet, Verizon FIOS, or AT&T U-verse is in your future, I'm afraid. To watch movies and TV online in an enjoyable manner, you're going to need bandwidth.

Next, software. You already have all the software you're likely to need, because most of these services operate with your standard web browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer). You'll face two issues in trying to survive online, three if you like live sporting events. First, you won't just have one place to go for TV and Movies, you'll have dozens. Every network or media outlet seems to host their own videos on their own sites, and there's not a lot of cross-posting. Some brave souls have tried to keep an up to date directory, but they've usually thrown in the towel before too long. You can expect that your bookmark list will expand.

Second, is immediacy. Shows do not stream online at the same moment they air. It's usually a day or two later. Some people are fine with this, while it leaves others with nothing to say around the water cooler at work in the morning. You're going to be living in a constant 24 to 72 hour time warp. Finally, there is an offshoot of that immediacy issue with sporting events. Finding live video of your favorite sports events can been tricky, and often times it only exists as part of a paid online service, or something like ESPN3.com, which is paid for by the Internet providers that make it available.

Third, and last, there's the combination of free vs. paid services. Media companies are in the business to make money, and they don't make much money at all when they give their content away for free. Traditional broadcasting relies on commercials, of course. Online broadcasting has commercials also but hasn't been as successful with them. As a result, some content is protected by membership sites that want to charge you for access, Hulu Plus for example. While none of these charge as much as a satellite subscription package, they WILL add up.

That's where things stand today. Like we said at the start, tomorrow the answer will be different. Because the Internet doesn't require broadcast licenses or impose any regulations on what content is there and how it's accessed, it's quite likely that we're going to have the "do your own thing" a la carte menu for a while yet.

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

 

HOUR 3 GUESTS	2011 CEA INDUSTRY FORUM
Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist & Director of Research – Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)		Steve Koenig, Director, Industry Analysis – Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)

 

 

Craig in Moreno Valley, California listens to the podcasts asked :" I have very low signal from Verizon and was thinking about going back to them. I've got great signal with T-Mobile in my house, but it's the E, EDGE, there's no 4G, 3G or 2G ever, but it's full bars on the EDGE. So I was wondering if a cell phone signal booster would help me get HSPA, 4G, 3G."

A signal booster just picks up a signal and repeats it, so the first thing you need to make sure is that there is a signal to repeat at all, if there is no signal it won't work.

The reason signal boosters work where phone sometimes don't is that they have better antennas and that they can be installed in places where the signal is good. For example, if you get great signal while standing on your roof, that's fine, you can install an antenna there and have it repeat the signal so you can get it inside your house.

Whether or not you'll get 3G or 4G depends on whether the signal is there at all, remember that 4G is not quite everywhere yet. If there is Verizon 4G signal in your area make sure you get a signal booster that works with LTE networks. You will likely have to pick a network before you install a booster, a CDMA/LTE booster will not help you with T-Mobile's GSM signal.

The first step really is to try to figure out if you can get a signal outside your house, if you can then you can probably get a booster to repeat it and make it accessible indoors, but if they signal is not there, there's nothing a booster can do.

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

 

Joel from Harkers, Island, North Carolina called in via the Android App, listens to the podcast, and asked: "I've been a smartphone user for the last three years but before that I used Palm OS for over a decade. I've been able to find a suitable replacement for most of my Palm apps, everything except the Desktop and my memos and notes. I can do without the desktop but I really miss my over 5000 notes that I had acquired over the years. So far I can't find a way to transfer those notes to the iOS or to the Android, can you help?"

The newest version of Note Everything for Android can import both Palm and Windows Phone notes straight from Palm Desktop or Outlook. The process is pretty simple, you need to use Palm Desktop to save the notes to a .CSV (or comma separated values) file, put that file on your phone's SD card and import the notes from inside Note Everything. We should mention Note Everything is free.

That's an overview, but if you come by our website and we'll link you to detailed step by step instructions from this week's show notes.

As for iOS, you can try Memos, it costs $7.99 (there is a free version, but it's limited to 5 notes -- not even 1/1000th of what you need), but it can import Palm memos, you're also going to need Palm Desktop, but you should be able to transfer all your memos into your iOS devices as well.

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.

 

 

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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Energizer: Several Weather Ready 2 LED Flashlights

Otterbox: Several protective cases, including: Defender for Amazon Kindle & Defender for iPad 2

Philips: Sonicare AirFloss (interdental cleaner) ... Experience a microburst of clean in-between.

 

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