Leo Laporte
The Tech Guy
2–5p ET Sat & Sun
- Home
- Saturday Show
- Sunday Show
- Past Shows
- Audio Archives
- Stations
- Chat
- Watch Live
- Forums
- Tips
- FAQ
- Glossary
- Contact Leo
Sponsors
- Angie’s List
- Carbonite
- DSLExtreme
- ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- GoToAssist
- GoToMeeting
- GoToMyPC
- Make It Work
- Stamps.com
Leo Links
 |
For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
|
|
Saturday 11 October 2008
Show Audio
|
Edited Audio | |
Tech News
New phones coming.
Verizon G1 is out on October 27th. Competitor to the iPhone. Wide open, can add a wide variety of applications and create others. Blackberry Storm is RIMs response. Looks cool. Glass touchscreen like the iPhone. Click-Through response on the screen - which is odd.
Tuesday, Apple to announce new notebooks?
Apple’s invitation says “The spotlight turns to notebooks.” Rumors are 3 new macbooks. A sub $800 model. Two new MacBook pros - carved from solid blocks of aluminum (which retains it’s shape better). And two new MacBook Airs.
Leo wonders if Apple will get into “Netbooks.” Tiny computers like the ePC which are somewhere between an iPhone and a full sized laptop.
New battery packs based on fuel cells
These new, matchbook sized devices, will create electricity by chemical reaction and will have small snap-in refills which will provide up to 16 recharges. Very green and efficient. But also costly at about $300.
Leo is entertained by Google Mail Goggles
The idea behind this trick app is to prevent users who have “howled at the moon” as it were, to email messages they will soon regret. It does this by making you solve some math problems before you can send it. If you don’t within a minute, it bounces the email.
It’s part of the Google Labs project. The Labs are great as it allows Google engineers to devote 20% of their work life to developing personal projects.
Guests
Scott Wilkinson, Ultimate AV Magazine
Not only is Scott the go to guy for AV issues, he’s also a musician who performs consistently. And today, Scott is talking about a new audio format. The format is called MXP4, by Musinaut. It plays multiple versions of a song as you play it. The idea is to simulate the spontaneity of a live performance.
Leo says it’s different and likes the idea, but sometimes it can be a tad disorienting when you hear a version you’re not used to. But Scott likes the surprise of not knowing which version you’ll hear.
Next Sunday, Scott will be in studio for an entire day of home theater questions!
Hour 1
Q Jan, Walnut, CA - Video chatting problems
Her husband is having trouble video chatting with their son using their Lenovo laptop and Yahoo chat. Leo suggests that Yahoo’s age restrictions are preventing the video image of his son from being transmitted. Leo recommends changing to SKYPE’s video. It’s point to point, so it’s only available to who you’re talking to. Security is good. It’s a better video image too, full screen!
Q Peter, Brooklyn, NY - New Airs coming?
Leo says the rumor is two new MacBook Air laptops are coming. It used to be that Apple was rather harsh on rumors (remember ThinkSecret?). But lately, the rumors have been very accurate. No word on the new Airs, other than they are coming. Leo says that the Air needs to be updated with the new, more efficient Intel chips. The Mobile Penrin and Halin, perhaps? So, we’ll see a little more speed, better battery life, and larger hard drives.
Mike B from the Chatroom points Leo to a rumor - Kevin Rose heard that the new MacBooks will have Blu-Ray drives. That would be great. But Leo thinks it’s unlikely since the cost on Blu-Ray media is still high.
Secondly, Jason Calicanis, hears that Apple is working on Networked Television. LCD based HDTVs you can plug into the ethernet with AppleTV built in. But that rumor has been in the ether for awhile.
Will they broadcast the presentation online? No. They haven’t done that for a few years now. But stay tuned, because Leo will be live online at twit.tv afterwards to report on all the latest - with video!
Fring is also giving him fits with his iPhone. It hangs up on him. Leo says “Fring” is very bleeding edge and can be buggy. But hey, it’s a first generation app. There should be an update coming fixing it. But sadly, Apple has to approve every update, so that could delay it rolling out.
Leo also announces I HEART RADIO, a new application that broadcasts live radio over the Clear Channel Network via 3G.
Hour 2
Q Johnny, Scottsdale, AZ - printer recommendation for business
Johnny wants to know if getting a high-end printer for business printing is a good idea. He’ll be doing small scale promotions of about 500. Leo says it’s cheaper and better to go to a professional printer.
But if you’re going to buy a printer for your business anyway, getting a color laser printer is a good investment. You can get one for under $800.
Q Lou, Lakewood, CA - digital converters and antennas
Lou is concerned about if her converter eill work with her existing antenna. Digital converters use UHF frequencies and the range is fairly limited. So, it’ll either work or it won’t. You’ll know immediately which channel works or not. This is what happened in Wilmington. Users on the city outskirts had trouble picking up some channels because they were out of range.
For more info on digital TV and the upcoming switch this February, go to DTV2009.GOV. You can also apply for a special rebate card which will underwrite about $40 of the cost.
Q Mike, Fontana, CA - SP3 Blue Screen of Death!
Mike updated his wife’s computer to SP3 and now she gets the dreaded BSOD and he can’t boot from it. He hopes it’s Microsoft’s fault, not his. Leo says that since he can’t boot from a CD means that Mike didn’t do anything wrong. It has to be SP3 or even a hardware issue.
Microsoft tests these service packs pretty exhaustively, but they can’t test every conceivable hardware configuration. What’s causing the failed SP3 installation could be a bad driver. And that’s usually remedied over time as Microsoft fixes each driver in the mix.
But for a hard drive failure, Leo thinks you can take the drive out and recover the data with another PC by using a USB drive adapter. Leo likes the one from NewerTech. Great for rescue operations. You can then take the hard drive out and connect it via USB and rescue the data with a simple drag and drop. But if you can’t read it, then you know you’ve got a hard drive failure. You can then try using SpinRite by GRC to try and rescue the drive.
You can live without SP3. Just be more careful. Follow Leo’s Six Rules of Safe Computing.
Q Tom, Santa Barbara, CA - Smart Phone recommendation
He needs a smart phone, wants the Blackberry Bold. Should he wait? Get the Curve? What about the iPhone? Leo likes the iPhone mostly because of the Apps Store. But the touch screen is a hassle. You have to learn to trust the adaptive word fix feature. And the browser isn’t any good. Doesn’t do flash, or java. But the media player is the best out there. Then again, the browser in the Curve isn’t good either. But if you do a lot of email, then the Curve is for you. You have a 30 day return policy. Try it.
Sync the iPhone to Mobile Me is the seamless and best anywhere. With the Blackberry, you can sync with Google. So it’s a push there.
What it comes down to is what you want it for. Tough choice but at least the choices are good ones!
Hour 3
Q Nick, Yucaipa, CA - Caught between MAC and Treo
Nick is a teacher in systems engineering. He needs an “idea notebook.” He loves the memo section on the Treo. Great for tossing out ideas and getting them down. But transferring is a hassle with syncing.
He’s hearing that a small basic laptop may be the solution. What’s sad is Palm had one ready to go called the Foleo and canceled it at the last minute. Leo says that smart phones like the iPhone are becoming more portable PCs. Leo says that there are a number of laptops that have built in EVDO cards. Very common.
Nokia makes the N810. EVDO, keyboard. Similar to what you want. But Netbooks are a great idea for Nick. Small, 9–10″ screens. Very similar to what Palm was building. Asus makes the eeePC. About $300–40. Dell makes them as well (Dane in the chatroom loves the Dell Mini9). In fact, they’re getting quite popular as a separate category. So there are many manufacturers now. Lenovo, Samsung, HP. But Leo isn’t sure they have EVDO. They do have WiFi though.
Q Ted, Havana, IL - Using HCSD Cards digital cameras
Has the Canon A640 and the Rebel XSi. Can’t read larger cards in older PhotoWallets. Leo says it’s a different specification and you have to upgrade. Or, you can get an SDHC card reader and plug it in. Hopefully, you can daisy chain it to get around that.
But the advantage of bringing a laptop is that you can burn CDs of your pictures and mail them home as insurance.
Q Scott, Portland, OR - Cell Phone Recommendation
Scott is a truck driver, looking for a rugged cell phone. Wants “milspec.” But Leo says you don’t need the expenses of “milspec” to get a good rugged phone.
Leo also says that cellphones has a wide range of sending/receiving capability. There’s a review from CNet of 7 rugged cellphones to check out. Leo likes the Sanyo Pro 700. The Motorola Adventure V750 is one CNet liked. Good design, functional, better network reception.
T-Mobile and AT&T use simchips and can be unlockable. CDMA phones have to be programmed to be unlocked and takes more expertise. Find an independent Cell phone company who handles multiple companies and can unlock your phone and reprogram it. Also, remember that unlocked phones aren’t subsidized and as such, are much more expensive.
Q Bill, Anchorage, AL - Building a super computer with old chips
Bill says he thought he heard it on Screensavers. Leo says it’s nearly impossible as each chip requires different support circuitry. You can daisy chain computers and build a cluster of computers run by one control computer. That’s how you can create a super computer. Great for video rendering, complex math problems for weather forecasting.
SETI does something similar with SETI @ HOME, but that’s called Grid Computing. Folding at Home is another.
Search Leo’s Podcast FLOSS WEEKLY for a cluster computer segment.
See you tomorrow for show 500! W00t!
