It's 5pm in Los Angeles, time for this week's Computer & Technology Radio Show on wsRadio, the leader in internet talk.
Marc and Marsha are in the studio taking calls and telling us what's hot in tech this week.
Big news for fans of the Computer & Technology Radio Show, is that next week the show returns to its traditional Saturday morning time slot; 9:00am to 11:00am PST.
A few lucky callers this week will get Webroot's Child Safe software, allowing parents to make sure their kids are safe on the internet.
HOUR 1
GUEST: Phil McClendon, Product Manager - Palm
Phil's talking about Palm's newest smartphone, the Centro.
Marc's a long time fan of the Treo, so how does the Centro compare? Phil explains that the Centro is a more compact version of the Treo, and more importantly, more affordable, with prices starting at only $99.00 with service plans from Sprint and AT&T.
Palm spent a lot of time making sure that the audio and antenna sensitivity of the Centro is as good as, if not better than 'ordinary' cell phones.
Palm also has made a real effort to make the Centro attractive to women, so the Centro is not only compact enough to fit into a purse, but is also available in a wide variety of attractive colors.
The Centro has a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera, and it's fully integrated with Palm's legendary operating system, so taking a picture and sending it to a friend is really a snap!
The Centro also allows you to access 25 channels of streaming XM Satellite Radio.
With 4 hours of continuous talk time, and 300 hours in standby, most users will have to charge the phone every couple of days, unless you're a real power user, in which case overnight charging is recommended.
For more information go to www.Palm.com
FEATURE: Marc & Marsha's Movie/DVD Picks
OK, the Academy Awards are competing with this week's Computer & Technology Radio Show, and here are Marc and Marsha's picks - let's see if the Academy agrees...
Marc's Number One is Michael Clayton with George Clooney - Marsha says anything with George Clooney has to be good!
Juno is a close second, a "lively movie," and "the surprise of the year," according to Marc.
No Country for Old Men, got a "two thumbs down" from Marc, who "hated it." Enough said.
As for Atonement, it doesn't even warrant an image! "Boring" in Marc's words! Marsha hasn't seen it, but heard it was good.
All are available no on DVD
FEATURE: MARC's AOL Instant Messenger ("IM") Problem
So Marc's AOL IM keeps beeping telling him he's logged on in multiple locations. What's up with that?
Marsha has the answer, it's not your (or Marc's) worst nightmare - someone else logging on with your information, but rather, what happens when your internet service provider ("ISP") changes your IP Address, something that happens routinely. "Incredibly annoying" says Marc, but not a problem.
So the bottom line is not to worry about it! Thanks Marsha.
FEATURE: Weirdest place Marc and Marsha have ever been IM'd?
Marc - a rain forest in Hawaii.
Marsha, on Miami Beach!
Draw your own conclusions as to lifestyles here!
FEATURE: Getting Started on eBay
Short answer...
Buy Marsha's book, eBay for Dummies, now in its 5th edition (Marsha updates the book every eighteen months or so). But for some ready advice, Marc found something in his garage that he thinks is valuable, so how can he sell it?
Marsha's advise is to find out the precise description of the item, the manufacturer and the model number, then go to eBay.com, and type that information into the "search" box, and then see what results you get.
If you find the item listed on eBay, you'll get some idea of its value, if it's not listed then it may be that nobody wants it, or that it's so rare that it has not been listed recently.
So, Marc has found a box of fresh, unused 5.25 inch floppy drives (remember them?) in his garage and thinks they must be worth at least $50.
What can he do to make sure they don't get sold for what they're really worth - a penny?Marsha's advice is to place a reserve price on the listing - that way, if nobody offers more than a penny, Marc isn't committed to sell these precious relics of computing times past for less than the $50 that Marc believes they are worth.
eBay has just massively revised its policies and listing prices, if
you're selling books, music, movies and video games, the rates have
gone down to only ¢25.
So, how much will it cost Marc if he manages to find someone who wants to buy this precious item? Marsha says that eBay will charge a "final value fee" based on a percentage of the sale price, plus the original listing fee. It's a very complicated formula, fully explained in Marsha's book, or on eBay's website, just search for "final listing fee" in the help area on eBay.com.
FEATURE: What's New In GPS Devices
Marc and Marsha were at CES 2008, and the hot area is in portable GPS devices. In Marc's opinion, the real development has been in GPS devices that give you real time traffic information. Imagine, a GPS that not only tells you where to go, but routes you around traffic snarl ups?
Marsha has been using a Magellan and will be giving us a report on that in the future. For the present, the great feature of her built-in GPS is its ability to calculate her current speed, distance to destination, and work out her arrival time.
For a portable device, Marc likes the Garmin NUVI 360.
It's not only a really compact and well-designed device, but it is also easy to use, has excellent graphics, and is currently available here for under $300.
CALLER: David in Beverly Hills
Wants a low cost, easy to use, versatile scanner that does not take up too much desk space. Marc like all Canon products, and the CanoScan LiDE 600F looks like it will answer all of David's needs.
It's small, USB powered (so you don't need a power supply) and uses LED lights for the scanner, so there's virtually no waiting time for the scanner to get to work.Get it here for under $140.00.
Marc hasn't tested this particular model, but is a huge fan of the Canon line of products, their printers and scanners never fail to please.
Bottom line, you won't go wrong with a Canon.
CALLER: Stacey from Encino
Wants to buy a birthday present for her boyfriend who loves video games. He is into high end graphics, so Marc's choice is the Sony Playstation 3.
It also has the added bonus of being a Blue-Ray DVD Player, which is sure to become the industry standard now that most leading DVD makers have dumped the HD format in favor of Blue-Ray.The Sony PS3 is available here for $399.99.
After the PS3, Marc likes the X-Box 360, and then the Nintendo Wii.
Marsha loves the Wii - it's the ultimate "social" gaming machine allowing a group of users all to interact using the Wii's motion sensitive controller. You can play a variety of sports games on it, such as tennis, boxing and bowling, and the way the Wii works makes it truly interactive.
HOUR 2
FEATURE: Internet Security
Marc's a fan of Panda's Titanium anti-virus anti-spyware software, and also likes Webroot's solutions. But Marsha's been using a new way of getting virus and spyware protection.
Instead of installing software, Marsha is using Yoggie's Pico,
It's a USB device that looks like a Flash Drive, but is actually a micro Linux computer that seamlessly updates itself with the latest virus and spyware definitions and keeps you safe on the internet.
Marc has not had much success with the Pico, but hopes that it will work out soon.
Marc and Marsha both agree that you must have some form of protection, virus and spyware is no longer an inconvenience, it is a sinister stealthy way of acquiring information about you - your bank account and password, if you use internet banking, your credit card information, and even the names and addresses in you email account. All are targets for viruses and spyware, so whether you like the traditional software solution, or prefer the Yoggie Pico hardware solution, please protect yourself.
FEATURE: Internet Radio
No, not what you listen to on your PC, but a stand alone device that plays internet radio - like wsRadio.com, at a press of a button.
It's the shape of things to come, and just like so many other new technologies, the price gets more and more affordable every day.The Revco Internet radio pictured here is currently $350.00, but less pricey options are coming to the market every day.
Stay tuned as this particular corner of the tech market is going to explode, and prices are sure to drop.
For example, the Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player is only $250, and offers direct access to over 6,000 internet radio stations and 21,242 on-demand streams in 250 locations from 60 genres.
Internet Radios were very heavily featured at CES 2008, so you can be sure this is an area of technology that is going to expand and become more affordable as time goes by.
FEATURE: Internet Security
www.GRC.com has a free utility called "Shields Up" that tells you how secure you are on the internet.
A router, such as one of Netgear's excellent range of routers, is one of the best ways to shield yourself with a hardware firewall.
Take the test here and see if you are secure.
CALLER: Patti in Las Vegas
Has a Hi Def TV, but notices that other people who have HD TV's get much better pictures than hers.
What can she do? Marsha says to get HDMI cables to get the best picture, or hook up to the the DVI connection and audio connections if Patti's two-year old TV does not have HDMI.
All those cables are available from MonsterCables so check to see what inputs and output connections exist, and get the right cables.
CALLER: Martin in Granada Hills
Wants advice on video editing software. He's used Pinnacle but wants something more sophisticated. Marc and Marsha both agree that Nero is a great program.
A really high end solution is Adobe's Creative Suite, but that's an expensive solution!
On the Apple Mac platform, all Macs ship with Apple's really good video editing suite, iLife 08, and for those who want the ultimate, Final Cut Pro is what the professionals use - the movie Titanic was edited using Final Cut Pro, on a 17 inch Apple PowerBook notebook computer!
FEATURE: BUY OF THE WEEK
Panasonic's line of digital cameras continues to get better and better, offering features normally associated with professional digital cameras. Their LUMIX range of point and shoot cameras features the outstanding DMC-LS75BLST.
It's a compact, well built 7.2 mega pixel digital camera, what's really outstanding about this week's BOTW, is the price! Office Depot have it for just $109.99! with Free Shipping!
FEATURE: MicroSoft Zune
Marketed by MicroSoft to compete with Apple's all conquering iPod, it's fair to say that while the Zune hasn't put a dent in iPod sales, the Zune is still a very good product for those in the market for a quality MP3 player with video playback capabilities.
How much space do you need? Do you have an iPod or Zune? How much space have you used? email March and Marsha at marcandmarsha@gmail.com with your answers.
It's a Wrap!
Once again the fastest 2 hours on the radio is over.
Be sure to tune in next week when Marc and Marsha will be on air at their permanent time slot, 9:00am to 11:00am on Saturday mornings.