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Weekend of September 21st, 2012 – ShowStoppers for the Digital Holidays

Dave and his team bring you highlights from the recent ShowStoppers Digital Holidays Event that took place in New York City. Find out what gadgets and services you can look forward to this holidays season! Also, back in our studios in Miami, we'll be answering 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

If you're a Mac lover, we think you're going to like what you're going to see in this week's Product Spotlight. Rob discovered a new product at IFA in Berlin that makes your Magic Trackpad even more magical. He also shows you a charging station for your Apple computer peripherals. Also, Chris Graveline takes us back into yesterday's most outstanding tech events on "This Week In Tech History."

iPhone 5 Unboxing by Rob:

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

 

Amber in Charleston, West Virginia calling in via the App asked: "We were thinking about buying an iPod Touch for my son, but he loves my daughter's Kindle Touch because of it's larger, but I'm not sure the Kindle Fire is right for him. I was wondering if there's a good Android tablet for about the same price as the Kindle that would be good for a kid."

 

The obvious choice for an Android tablet the size and price of a Kindle Fire is the Google Nexus 7 Tablet. It’s the same size as a Kindle Fire, but it runs standard Android Jelly Bean, as opposed to the more limited, customized version of Android Gingerbread that Kindle Fires run. The Nexus 7 tablet also has access to the Google Play store, not just Amazon’s own store.

Now, you asked for a tablet that’s good for a kid, if that means you want to restrict what they can access, Android doesn’t provide that as a built-in option in the operating system the way the iPad does with iOS, so you’re stuck with either not restricting their access to content at all, using 3rd party apps that don’t generally do a great job simply because the operating system doesn’t support parental controls, and there’s only so much they can do without requiring a rooted device, or you can go app by app and enable restrictions on every app that supports it (which will definitely not be all of them).

The Google Play store does allow restricting access to apps with mature content, and Google’s Chrome browser allowed setting SafeSearch restrictions to Google searches, but those will only work for Google, if your son decides “Bing lets me see everything” he can use Bing, or he can just access a website by typing the URL instead of searching for it.

If you’re interested anyway, the Nexus 7 tablet costs $200. And be sure to keep an open mind if you decide to buy either the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire.

 

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: Fast Reboot, FREE


 

"My app this week is Fast Reboot for Android. One of the things that annoys me about Android is how apps continue to run in the background. So I'm always looking for the best "task killer" utilities that I can find. I used the ubiquitous ATK (Advanced Task Killer) for what seemed like an eternity, but now that I've found Fast Reboot, I've switched over completely. Fast Reboot closes not only apps but many system processes as well. It really is the closest you can come to rebooting an Android phone...without rebooting the phone. Fast Reboot is free and available in the Google Play store." -- Mark

 

For iOS:

 

• Listener Mitch in Washington, DC listening on WWRC 1260AM recommends: Gojee


 

"Gojee -- Free download for iOS users. Gojee is a cool app which allows you to input food items in your pantry to create dinner recipes. And if you're planning ahead, it has tons of other recipes for whatever it is you're craving!."


 

 


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

 

Dustin in Elizabeth City, North Carolina listens on 560 WGAI "News Radio 560" and asked: "I was wondering about jailbreaking a phone - the ups and downs of it."

 

The upside of jailbreaking phones like the iPhone or rooting an Android for that matter, is that you get low level access to functions that would normally be beyond what an app can access. What this means is that you get apps that can do things that apps on stock phones can’t do.

Since you get unrestricted access, you can also modify some things that the operating system typically takes care of. For example, under iOS you can set up a different image on the slider you use to unlock the phone, or add a button that will turn Bluetooth on or off. On Android, you could overclock a slower phone or change the way your battery use is managed to extend your battery life.

The downside is that you’re doing things the manufacturer does not support and you’re accessing low level areas of the OS that are usually kept off limits because you can cause serious damage to your phone, in some cases physical damage.

Overclocking your phone, for example, can make your processor overheat to the point of damage, a modern processor should shut down before it can face damage, but even then, if it’s not the way it’s supposed to be used, it can be damaged.

Sometimes components won’t get damaged, but the phone may not perform as well. Manufacturers will typically try to protect their reputations by putting out phones that perform at least decently. When you change settings you were never supposed to be accessing, you can modify things that the manufacturer didn’t expect you to, and affect the phone’s performance for the worse.

The biggest downside of jailbreaking or rooting a phone, though, is that things can go wrong. They typically don’t, but if they do, you’re on your own. Your warranty is void the second you jailbreak and no one will help you fix a bricked phone for free.

 

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

 

HOUR 1 GUESTS
Steven Isaac, CEO – TouchFire	Hong Bui, CEO & Founder – Polkast	Ken Shaw, National Account Manager – BlueAnt

 

 

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

How in Toronto, Ontario listens on TuneIn and is calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: "I typically leave the GPS on my Android device off to conserve battery, but when I do use it I turn it on and sometimes forget to shut it off. Does it still consume battery if an app like Google Maps is no longer using it?"

 

The GPS is indeed a huge battery drain. When you’re actively using, for example, when using navigation, it can be so bad that on some phone it will kill the battery of the phone that is plugged in and charging, but even when it’s not being actively used it is still a pretty major drain on Android phones.

Part of the reason is that even when you aren’t using the GPS, some apps may be in the background. For example, you may open an app that you don’t think needs to know your location at all, something as simple as a tip calculator, but if that tip calculator displays ads, the ads may want to know where you are, so they’ll use location services even if you’re not really benefiting from them or are even aware that they’re being used.

Android can also keep a lot of fairly useless service running in the background at times, for example, you may open Google Latitude once, forget it even exists and it may still be constantly tracking you eventhough you forgot about it months before.

Google Maps will track you even when you’re not actively using it and send that information to Google so it can know how fast traffic is moving and keep Google Maps updated with correct traffic information, that may not be of any use to you, and you may not even know your phone is doing it, but you agree to it when you turn on location services.

Also, just the fact that the GPS is on and ready to be used means it’s using power too, so that can be a drain on it’s own.

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

 

 

Darrell in Cranbrook, British Columbia in Canada asked: "I would like to get a mapping program for my semi. I'm an over the road truck driver. I've been looking at all the GPS units but I'm thinking maybe a tablet and loading in something like Streets and Trips would be just as good. However, if I leave the tablet plugged in constantly, would that affect the battery life, or is it not a problem to leave units plugged in, charging, for 24/7?"

Modern Lithium Ion batteries aren’t prone to the memory effect that used to affect old batteries, and they are automatically set on a charging cycle that lets them discharge a little bit before charging a little again to prevent overcharging, that’s meant to make them a bit more resilient to being plugged in longer.

Depending on the manufacturer, some claim that you won’t see a lot of degradation from leaving a tablet plugged in all the time, others claim that you should still let them run off the battery every now and then to lengthen their battery lives.

There isn’t one clear and definite answer, but the majority opinion seems to be that leaving your tablet mostly plugged in won’t destroy the battery in the short term, but that you may experience a little more degradation over the long term than you would if you had let it run off the battery more often.

 

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

 

Chris in Columbia, Missouri listens via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: I just read online about a washable keyboard from Logitech. Can you share more information about that keyboard. And for us that have other keyboards, what is the best way to sanitize them?"

 

The Keyboard you are referring to is the Logitech K310. This Keyboard is built to be submerged in up to 11 inches of water. Besides that, the keyboard is, claimed by Logitech, to last over 5 million keystrokes each. Which is nice for those of you who are missing the letter M on their keyboards.

However, there are a few downfalls. The keyboard is Wired... and you cannot get the USB cable wet, that part is still not water proof. Now the biggest downfall to the keyboard has to be the price. Logitech has set the price for the keyboard at $40, which we think is a little expensive for a keyboard.

We use a product called “Screen Guard” and we’ve given away many bottles of this cleaning foam.

When Chris cleans the keyboard on his laptop, he uses a can of compressed air to get the dirt out from in between the keys, then he takes a disinfectant wipe (like a Clorox wipe) wring it out so it’s not dripping wet, then wipe the entire laptop down with it. (except for the screen, of course) that not only removes fingerprints, but also kills any germs that may be present.

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

 

HOUR 2 GUESTS
David Westendorf, VP of Marketing & Business Development – NeuroSky	Jason Milstead, General Manager – WhitePages	Pete Weijmarshausen, CEO – Shapeways

 

 

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

Bob in South Bend, Indiana listens on 94.9 WSJM "The News and Talk of Michigan's Great Southwest" and asked: "I have a DVR box through Comcast. I want to know if there's any way to save the shows I have recorded, to an external hard drive. The DVR has a USB port on the front, but I've not attempted to connect my hard drive to it yet. There's a lot of shows on the DVR I would like to save in case I ever switch cable providers or if my DVR decides to fail on me."

 

Unfortunately Bob, the USB ports on the Comcast DVRs are disabled, so you won’t be able to use it to transfer your content.

The reason the USB port is there in the first place, even though it has no function on the Comcast boxes is that the DVR models used by Comcast are available for use by other service providers and individual consumers who may wish to use the units with the USB ports enabled. An active USB port on one of these DVR units could be used to adjust settings on the unit, upgrade the software that the DVR unit uses, to add peripherals such as a keyboard to the unit or to add additional storage space to the unit via an external hard drive. However, none of these are an option with the Comcast service.

The only way, really, to get video off the DVR is to connect it to another DVR, and play your shows back in real-time. They don’t make it easy, for fairly obvious reasons.

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

 

 

Victor in Buffalo, Missouri listens via the App asked: "I'm looking to upgrade my smart TV. I have a Vizio, which you recommended. I want one of those media boxes that will do Airplay off of my iPad. I know the Apple box will do it. Do any of the other brands do it wirelessly? Maybe I can use my Samsung phone on it, or another brand tablet. Which ones do you think will do that or which is the best to get?"

 

SmartTVs are hard to recommend. There seems to be a new one every day. Samsung announced a new GoogleTV-based SmartTV that’s expected to be out “later this year,” but knowing GoogleTV’s history we probably shouldn’t tell you to wait around for a new GoogleTV version, the company doesn’t seem to be super serious about it.

If you want to stick with Vizio, they have a very interesting, 55” thin SmartTV that comes with built-in access to Amazon’s on-demand library, Netflix, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, iHeartRadio, Skype and many other services, the model is called M550VSE and you can find it for around $1000.

There are a few 3rd party receivers that will work with Airplay, but the odds of them getting updated by their individual manufacturers as Airplay changes with each iOS update are low, so your best bet is probably to use an AppleTV with the rest of your set up.

There are Android apps that will let your Samsung phone beam content to an AppleTV, though how well they work depends on how they get along with your particular phone, they’re great on some phones and not that great on others.

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

 

Stephen - Calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: "I'm thinking about jumping ship to the iPhone and my question is about apps. I keep hearing there aren't as many apps for the iPhone as there are for Android, but every app I see for Android seems to have a version for iPhone. Is there that much difference to accessibility of apps?"

 

There are actually more apps for iPhone than there are for Android, you’re likely to find a replacement for every app you normally use, the truth is both Android and iPhone have a ridiculously high number of apps, so odds are you’ll find plenty of potential replacements for any app you regularly use.

App accessibility shouldn’t really keep you from being able to switch to an iPhone. Let us know if there are particular apps that you can’t find and we’ll try to help.

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

 

 

 

HOUR 3 GUESTS
Jim Bak, Senior Manager, PR & Marketing – INRIX		Marc Karasu, VP of Marketing – Manilla.com

 

 

New York City

 

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

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Corrosion Technologies: Several bottles of CorrosionX -- A few squirts of CorrosionX clean contacts & connections & keep them protected for months (in salt spray environments) to years.

Ergotron: A Universal Tablet Cradle -- This accessory converts a monitor mount to hold a tablet or eReader. Works with most popular tablets and eReaders, including Apple iPad, Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle.

iolo Technologies: Copies of System Mechanic 11 - PC Tune-up Software

SMS Audio: "Street By 50" Wired headphones in black or white. We brought 'em back from 50 Cent and our interview in Berlin.

 

 

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