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Weekend of July 20th, 2012

Dave and his team of tech experts answer more of your questions via the Ask Dave Hotline. In case you haven't yet, 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!

ITTV Video Update

This week we take a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy S3 Smartphone. Dave says: "So far, there's nothing not to like about it." We'll show you some of our favorite features and the biggest disappointment. Also, Chris Graveline takes us back into yesterday's historic tech past 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

John in Miami Lakes, FL listens online and asked: "When is the next Call of Duty gonna come out?"

The next installment of the Call of Duty series is going to be released on November, 13th of this year. You can expect another sequel to the Activision version of "Modern Warfare" probably around the same time next year, as they have done in years past.

Call of Duty is a series of military-themed first person shooter games published by Activision and developed by a variety of companies, although Infinity Ward and Treyarch have done the most work on it. The next installment in the franchise is "Black Ops II" -- set to launch on November 13th of this year. Black Ops II's single player campaign will feature two connected storylines, one set in the 1970s and 1980s, and the other set in the future year of 2025. The game will feature "Strike Force" missions that allow the player to change the course of the current mission as well as the overall storyline of the game. Treyarch has confirmed that Black Ops II will once again feature the popular "zombie mode."

Call of Duty has been one of the most successful video game franchises in history with nine installments so far. It started out as a PC game but quickly moved over to consoles, where it is probably best known today. It has branched into two distinct storylines, called Modern Warfare and Black Ops. The upcoming Black Ops II game, for example, is a sequel to the original Black Ops game released in 2010, but 2011 saw the release of Modern Warfare 3 that became one of the biggest entertainment launches in history selling more than 6.5 million copies for more than $400 million dollars during the first 24 hours in the U.S. and U.K. alone.

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 iOS:

• Mark recommends: Google Drive, FREE


 

" My app this week is Google Drive for iOS. Google Drive is the cloud storage system added to Google Docs, similar to Drop Box, SkyDrive, and SugarSync. It features 5GB of storage for free and has both a PC and Mac app to make adding files to the cloud as simple as copying them to a folder. Being from Google, if you had ANDROID, you've been able to access Google Drive since day one. But iPad users had to deal with the mobile web site - until now. The native iOS app easily views your files in your Google Drive, lets you set them to be Available Offline, open them for editing in other apps, and generally makes Google Drive useful to us iPad users. I would like it better if it allowed EDITING the documents, but we will take what we can get at this point. Google Drive for iPad is free and available now in the iTunes App Store." -- Mark

 

 

• Chris recommends: Pimp My Hair, FREE for a limited time, $1.99 after


 

"Snap a pic or choose one from your library and let our revolutionary hair-matching algorithm automagically take you from fugly to fabulous" -- Chris


 

 






Dave's new hair

 



Rob's new hair

 



Chris' new hair

 



Mark's new hair

 

• Rob recommends: Watch Disney Junior, FREE


 

"This app is great for kids who enjoy Disney Junior programming. Parents can play their favorite shows live or on-demand on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Shows include: Mickey Mouse Club House, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Little Einsteins, Octonauts and more. The app can be linked to your Comcast Xfinity Account. That will give you access to live programming. Otherwise, there are a limited amount of shows you can watch on-demand. I like the fact that some of the shows include Closed Captioning. You can activate by pushing the 'CC' button on the video player. The app is free on the App Store." -- Rob


 




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

 

Ralph in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM listens online asked: "I have a Kindle Fire and I have Internet in my house. I would like to take the Internet with me for the Kindle Fire. How do I go about doing that?"

There are rumors of a new Kindle Fire that may include 3G or 4G mobile access. The one available today, the one you have, is WiFi-only, so you won't have able to just take the Internet with you by only taking your Kindle with you.

Obviously, you're not limited to using your Kindle Fire on your own WiFi network only, so if another network is available wherever you want to use it, you can just connect to it but assuming you want to use it somewhere without WiFi, you can look at either a MiFi device or, if you have a smartphone, at a wireless tethering plan for your phone, that would give your Kindle Fire the 3G or 4G connection it's lacking.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to use aircards designed for computers. WiFi tethering is pretty much your only option to add mobile broadband capabilities to your Kindle Fire.

Having your smartphone tethered to your tablet might be expensive or it might be included in what you already pay, so you should check with your wireless provider. For example, T-Mobile wasn't charging for tethering, nor does Verizon if you have one of their new Share Everything plans.

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

Ali and his van at our Broadcast Center

Sean in Fairbanks, Alaska listening to 970 KFBX asked: "You mentioned the application about saving the battery, on your Android. I didn't catch what it was" and Doug in Melbourne, Florida listening to WMEL asked: "What was the name of the Android software download for battery saving?"

The app is called JuiceDefender and you can download it for free from the Google Play Store.

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

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

Larry in Newbern, Tennessee listens to the podcast asked: "I was wondering if there was an app or anything for the iPhone where you're playing a game and it has a chat room in there and stopping your game and tying in gets frustrating on that little keyboard and you hit the wrong buttons a lot. I was wondering if there was an app where I could use my headset and voice to text, something like that."

It depends on what iPhone you have. The iPhone 4S comes with a built-in speech-to-text option. So, if you're using that one, you should see a little microphone on the keyboard that should allow you to dictate text to your phone.

Even if you speak the text, your game will still likely be paused while you talk, so it may not give you as good a solution as you might want.

Other than that though, you won't find anything that will do what you need. There are text-to-speech apps for the 4S and the previous iPhones, but they require that you open the app first to dictate. They won't integrate with games and other apps.

Unfortunately, you won't find a good solution that does not involve using the phone's keyboard.

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

Chris send Dave a message and said: "You don't know me; however I follow you on Instagram. I have to say that on Instagram I in no way represent Delta but am there for personal use only! The other day you posted photos of your damaged Delta Diamond Medallion Bag Tag. You have to love the world of Social Media! I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of looking up your account and then I requested that new set be sent to you. I was just advised this request has been completed and you will receive them within 2-3 weeks at the address on file in your SkyMiles account. I want to Thank-You for your loyalty to Delta and your continued business. I don't think it can be said enough, but customers like yourself are what keeps us going and I am sure that you have contributed to me paying my mortgage with the business your bring to Delta!!!"

The power of social media!

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

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: Samsung Galaxy S3   I've been carrying the latest Samsung Galaxy S3 Smartphone lately and I have to tell ya so far, there's nothing not to like about this phone! Rob takes a closer look at this new device with so many features.

Features/Specs we love: - 4G LTE Super Phone - 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, with Corning Gorilla Glass 2. The S3 has one of the most responsive touch-screens we've ever experienced with Android - Screen Capture: Galaxy S3 uses a "scanning" approach. You simply swipe the side of your hand from left to right – or vice versa. - When it comes to security, the face recognition feature is awesome! To unlock the Galaxy S3, you can set it to scan your face. It won't work with a picture of you. It needs to be a "live" scan of your face. If the face recognition fails, you can use the standard "pattern password". - We're also loving the 8 megapixel camera on the S3. With added software effects and settings, it takes adequate pictures. The camera is a lot better than cameras on other Android devices currently. And, it snaps pictures really fast – relatively no shutter lag. The rear camera records 1080p video and the 1.9 megapixel front camera records 720p video. - Buddy Photo Share – where it will recognize a previously tagged face and lets you share it with them easily after you take their picture, via email or messaging - Smart Stay – where the screen display will remain bright as long as you're looking at the phone. Set it down, and it will go to sleep based on your screen timeout. - The Galaxy S3 is very light. It feels good in your hands with the rounded corners and it won't slip too easily out of your hand. And we don't think it's too big.   Features we dislike: - The biggest disappointment: S Voice, Samsung's solution to the iPhone's Siri. It's got a mind of its own and is very limited … more than Siri. When we got it to work, it was cool to say: "Open the Into Tomorrow App" and it did it a couple of times. But, it did give us problems too. Also, we tried setting up an alarm. After several tries, it finally worked. A word of advice for S3 users: Don't even bother!   Availability: The Samsung Galaxy S3 is currently available in Pebble Blue or White on several networks -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon. The 16GB version is competitively priced around $200. There's also a 32GB model.

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

Bob in El Paso, Texas listening on KROD, calling via the app asked: "With all the electronics sales, how do you know when it's time to buy a warranty for a new product? I've heard mixed emotions on either side, if the device of good quality you don't need a warranty, I don't wanna waste money, but I know some big box stores are offering a year extension, like Costco offers another year on top of the manufacturer's warranty. What's your opinion on buying aftermarket or extended warranties for new products, Dave? Thanks."

That all depends on the product and how expensive the warranty is. It may or may not be worth it. The "fine print" also should be considered. Does the warranty cover repairs in full?, or just offer a discount on a repair or replacement in case something goes wrong? Many respected people -- like us and the Consumer Reports folks -- say they are usually not worth it. And our friend Dave Ramsey says: I don't believe in extended warranties at all—on cars, electronics, anything. I've done the research, and I've seen the math. The math says that—depending on the item—about 75–85% of the amount you pay for the warranty is for marketing and commissions. If you pay $1,000 for a warranty, $750 of it is going to the dealership and to the salesman who sold it to you.

If you buy something with your credit card, you can also check with the card issuer to see if the company offers purchase protections as part of your card service. If it does, you may not need an extended warranty.

Extended warranties are only as good as the companies behind them. Costco, for example, stands behind their extra year warranty with a vengeance, we've heard many stories of them coming through on fixing or replacing items beyond the manufacturer's warranty period, so that becomes a good reason to buy from them, especially because they don't charge for their extra coverage -- it's just an incentive to buy from them.

But an extended warranty that you have to purchase, for real cash, you have to ask yourself carefully about. Spending $300 to cover a laptop may seem good at the time of purchase, when that laptop is worth $1000 to you. But a year from now? When you really want that new laptop? Wouldn't you like to have that $300 back toward the purchase of next year's model? And you definitely don't want to buy an extended warranty that doesn't come from the company selling you the product.

Also consider whether the warranty covers damage from accidents, or only defects in materials and workmanship. Most electronics don't break because they fail, most electronics break because we pour a soda on them, or drop them on the ground, or go swimming with them in our pockets, etc. Extended warranties rarely cover that.

AppleCare is sort of a special case, since it not only extends the warranty from one year to three years, it also extends your period of toll free technical support from 90 days to three years, and it gives you some priority scheduling should you need to take your Apple to the local Genius Bar.

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

Willy in Columbia, Missouri asked: "Someone just getting high-speed Internet, I am looking to revamp my home theater. Want to know the most cost-effective way to hookup the components and the most user-friendly way to stream movies from the Internet."

The best way to hook up components will depend on what components you have and on how you decide to stream from the internet. The easiest way would probably be to buy an Internet-enabled TV. Many Internet-enabled TVs will give you access to services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu.

If you don't mind another box in your home theater, you can try something like a Boxee box or a Roku box. Those will give you access to both movies and TV shows. They connect to your home theater via an HDMI cable, and they're controlled by a remote, which is pretty user friendly.

You can also try an AppleTV, which supports 1080p video (from 720p previously). It will give you access to Netflix and Apple's iTunes' library of movies and TV shows. It also connects to your TV via HDMI and is controlled by a remote control. However, unlike Roku and Boxee, it will not give you access to Hulu Plus or most other TV sites.

Or you could look at something like a PlayStation 3 game console. It's a very good game console, it has bunches of apps for streaming movies (like Netflix), and it's also a very good Blu-ray DVD player. Regarding that whole hook up business, it's pretty hard for us to tell you the most cost-effective way to hook things up when we don't know what you have. But we'll offer you this generic advice: Buy decent cables, when you're transmitting HD signals the cable quality DOES matter, and remember that HDMI is best, followed by DVI, and then component video. Connect using HDMI sources and inputs, with quality cables, and you should have excellent results. Good luck!

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

Alex in Normandy, France listens via his iPad and asked: "I built a 3.7 terabyte FreeNAS server for Time Machine backups and file management (movies, music, pictures and so on and so forth. I was wondering what is the best way to wire the house with a gigabit switch (about 24 Ethernet ports). As always, I love your show keep up the great work and see you at IFA!"

Alex, the best way we can think of to wire a house with a gigabit switch is to wait until the 802.11ab WiFi standard becomes available and use that... if that's not an option, you're in for a fair amount of work.

You're going to have to figure out how much cable you need, and then probably add some more, since you won't always be able to run cables in straight lines.

If you're looking at gigabit you're options are going to be Category 5e cables and up. A Cat 5e cable will allow you to transfer data at speeds of up to 1Gb/s, a Cat 6 cable will allow speeds of up to 10Gb/s but only for distances of up to 55 meters, you know how long that is but, for the rest of our listeners, that's about 180 feet, a Cat 6a cable will allows speeds of up to 10Gb/s too, but it removes the 180 feet limitation.

Now, wiring won't be easy, you'll have to figure out a way to get the cable through walls, which can be a big problem in place where concrete is more common than drywall, and Normandy is probably one of those places, to avoid interference and just for the sake of safety, you will want to avoid running network wires close to power wires.

Even after you figure that out you have to place a connector at the end of each cable. Wiring a house that requires 20+ ports is a big job, so you may be better off leaving it to a professional or waiting for gigabit WiFi to become available for consumers.

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

Listener Teresa asked: "This may be an odd question but as invasive as Google (browser/portal/etc) has become about collecting info, does it have access to gadgets running Google Android OS's? Or are they completely separate entities?"

Not only are Google products running on Android not separate entities, but privacy concerns should probably be worse for Android users.

Google is going to be consolidating each users information into a single database, that means that whatever they know of you from YouTube, Gmail, Calendar, Voice, Reader, Google Search and every other service won't sit in separate databases any more but in a single one, and it will be linked to your individual user.

Google claims they won't track you if you're not logged in, so computer users can get around that by either closing their Google accounts, or by logging out when they're not using them, for users on Android that's a harder step to take though.

Android users can use their phones without being logged into any Google service, but that their phones will prompt them to use their Google account from the time they first turn them on, logging out isn't always easy (for example, logging out of Gmail requires going to Settings, Manage Applications and clearing the app's saved data), and without a Google account they can't download applications from the Android Market.

To make matters worse, an Android phone that's signed into Google services could share other information from phone calls, to text messages, to GPS locations, and that's another extra layer of concern that computer only users don't have to deal with.

That being said, we have to echo the words of Scott McNealy, former CEO of Sun Microsystems, who famously said "You have no privacy anyway, get over it." That's a fact. Yes, Google tracks the people who use its services. So does everyone else. Apple does it, Microsoft does it, Amazon.com does it, Netflix does it. Everyone you do any sort of business with is keeping every tab on you that they can. You don't even want to know what your credit card companies could tell someone about you.

There is only one way to be truly private in this day and age. Don't use a computer, or a smartphone, or a credit card. Cash your paychecks at the bank they're issued from, and spend only cash. Do not own real estate of any kind, buy all your cars with cash, and pay for all your healthcare with cash. There are entire books written on the subject of how to live off the grid, for just that reason.

Google is a big company who develops some products and acquires others. Each of these products used to have its own privacy policy. That's a logistical nightmare for them. So they are going to have a unified privacy policy and a unified user account database. If you don't want to use their products, then don't. But they're no more evil than any other technology company. The ones who claim they don't track you... just haven't been caught doing it yet.

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

Luis in Miami Lakes, Florida listening online asked: "I am a huge fan of music, and over the years I have amassed a huge collection (over 3000 CD's). My wife and I started the painstaking task of uploading all of our music onto our hard drive, and archiving the collection. Do you know of any hardware/software interface that could help us in speeding this process up with out manually having to archive it ourselves. Not a big iTunes fan either, and was really looking for a way to do the transfer 'in bulk', with the ability to arrange it later."

There are options available to automate the process, but you won't want to use them. Ripstation, for example has a "cheap" consumer version that will automatically grab your CDs from a pile, put them in the drive, and rip them, but they're version of "cheap" is $1400.

The rest of the automated options are about as expensive, and they even go higher than that, they're clearly meant for professional operations. There are also services that will take your CDs and rip them for you, but the cost of shipping 3000 CDs alone will make that extremely expensive for you, and the services are not cheap either, you're talking about more than a dollar per CD.

To be honest, your best bet might be either to pay a couple of high school kids to start putting a dent on your collection, or to just do the ones you listen to the most, and the rip the other ones as needed, at least you'll slowly go through them and it won't be a horribly repetitive task that will never seem to end.

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.

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Boingo: Several 60-day Certificates -- With Boingo you can connect online at free and paid Wi-Fi hotspots.

Idea Incubator: Several txtRng -- "the stylus with style". This is a unique stylus Rob recently featured it on our Product Spotlight.

NQ Mobile: Activation codes for NQ Mobile Vault (Premium Version) -- An Android app that keeps your text messages, pictures, and videos safely hidden from prying eyes.

ZoneAlarm by Check Point Software: Several download keys for ZoneAlarm Extreme Security (antivirus, firewall, spyware protection)

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