TigerDirect News » Tech Update

Russia to Complete Cold War Era GPS Style Satellite Positioning System

John Gawley — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:13:51 +0000

Russia may start getting into the global positioning system business.

As it turns out, Russians have been pretty satellite savvy for years. While the United States was heading for the moon, the former U.S.S.R. was launching global positioning satellites similar to the ones the Western World has been using for link)','caption', 'Global Positioning System' );">GPS (Global Positioning System) readings for years.

When the Soviet Union dissolved, those very same satellite networks sat ignored and unfinished.

Enter Russian President Vladmir Putin. Say what you want, this guy is leaving no stone unturned to increase technology business and development in his country. The newly reinstated system called GLONASS can now theoretically provide accurate satellite based positioning information for the entire Russian Territory. Do you have any idea how big Russia is? The best part is, the first consumer devices that utilize the satellite array should be available next year. By 2010 Russia plans to open the system up to outside nations.

With the United States based link)','caption', 'Global Positioning System' );">GPS, GLONASS, and the soon to be a reality European satellite positioning system (I’ll bet they wish they’d almost finished theirs two decades ago) consumers in the near future could theoretically benefit from a three-system set of information. President Putin joked that he was keen on the project because his treasured Black Labrador named Koni was always wandering off, and he’d like a more sophisticated way of tracking her down. But seriously, this newfound interest in knowing where we all are on the planet is long overdue.

GPS Map Storage Got you Down?

Sr. Editor Lonny Paul — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:04:22 +0000

Dave Graveline introduces us to the ‘Track Stick’ which allows you to connect to online maps and services to provide you with mapping solutions as you need directly on your link)','caption', 'Global Positioning System' );">GPS (Global Positioning System). Exportable data and more - for under $250, what’s better than that?

Download audio file (12-12-07.mp3?nid=3084)

Watch every weekday for a TechTip from Dave Graveline.

Dave Graveline is the founder and host of ‘Into Tomorrow,’ a weekly 3 hour radio show about tech, electronics and all of consumer gadgets. Visit the show site at http://www.graveline.com.

If you want to keep up to date with Dave’s daily update, just click on the RSS icon on the left, or just click here.

Tired of missing the last second on eBay? Fret no More!

Assoc. Editor Cohen — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:01:45 +0000

If you are tired of playing the cat-and-mouse game on eBay, especially when you don’t have the time to spend sitting and refreshing the pages, why not try something different - something that will help you get that next auction you are trying so hard for - without your help!

That’s what we feature in today’s Into Tomorrow Tech Update with Dave Graveline.

Download audio file (12-11-07.mp3?nid=3084)

Watch every weekday for a TechTip from Dave Graveline.

Dave Graveline is the founder and host of ‘Into Tomorrow,’ a weekly 3 hour radio show about tech, electronics and all of consumer gadgets. Visit the show site at http://www.graveline.com.

If you want to keep up to date with Dave’s daily update, just click on the RSS icon on the left, or just click here.

Great Photos of your Holiday Food is Easy!

Sr. Editor Lonny Paul — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:01:04 +0000

Kodak’s Nancy Carr gives us a great tip for taking incredible pictures of food - you know that stuff we’ll all be eating so much of over the holiday season. Today’s Tech Update with Into Tomorrow’s Dave Graveline serves up this great tip to make your holiday photos even better!

Download audio file (12-10-07.mp3?nid=3084)

Watch every weekday for a TechTip from Dave Graveline.

Dave Graveline is the founder and host of ‘Into Tomorrow,’ a weekly 3 hour radio show about tech, electronics and all of consumer gadgets. Visit the show site at http://www.graveline.com.

If you want to keep up to date with Dave’s daily update, just click on the RSS icon on the left, or just click here.

Climbing in Bed with Your Computer?

Sr. Editor Lonny Paul — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:27:49 +0000

Don’t feel alone - 40% of those surveyed take their laptops to bed with them - and we can only anticipate that with longer working hours and less time at home it could become even more prevalent. For more insight on this topic, let’s tune into today’s Tech Update with Dave Graveline.

Download audio file (12-05-07.mp3?nid=3084)

Watch every weekday for a TechTip from Dave Graveline.

Dave Graveline is the founder and host of ‘Into Tomorrow,’ a weekly 3 hour radio show about tech, electronics and all of consumer gadgets. Visit the show site at http://www.graveline.com.

If you want to keep up to date with Dave’s daily update, just click on the RSS icon on the left, or just click here.

Tiger In Box: The Cure for the Common Question.

John Gawley — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:28:01 +0000

Here at TigerTV we’ve got enough experts to at least pretend we know everything there is to know about Computers, Electronics and more. But what about those of you that don’t have access to the tech-heads, hackers, and various other e-gurus wandering through these halls? For you, we have created Tiger In Box—an opportunity to get your so-important emails, questions, and burning technological issues (we suggest you put some thermal paste on that) out in the open and out of the way.

While most of us are too busy to even answer a phone, there’s one amongst us for whom this plethora of knowledge just comes naturally. This prodigy of PC lore is our very own TigerTV host Logan—and he’s taken it upon himself to answer as many of your questions, comments, and queries as is humanly possible. Send him your thanks, send him your love, and above all, send him any concerns you may have regarding your PC, it’s inner workings, or anything else with an electrical cord you’re unsure of. He just might answer you—in a segment we call Tiger In Box.

LukWerks: Say Hello to the Affordable Home Security System

John Gawley — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:07:29 +0000

Say Hello To LukWerks: The affordable surveillance and security solution that has big-names in the industry quaking in their boots. By utilizing amazing technology that allows you to send digital video signals through existing electrical outlets, LukWerks jumps around the nastiest part of security installations: laying the cable. And they don’t stop there: in fact, we’ve enlisted the help of our venerable TigerTV host Arno to explain.

Arno’s got this all wrapped up and ready for you to watch, learn and enjoy—so check it out, then get your own home security system started…because it’s never too late for peace of mind. When you’re ready to begin a simple one-camera installation or feel like diving into a multiple-camera setup, LukWerks and TigerDirect have exactly what you need. You can go directly to TigerDirect.com, or just click on the “LukWerks” link at the bottom of this post.

Seagate Poised to Break the Terabyte (1TB) HDD barrier

John Gawley — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:00:11 +0000

Since Seagate began shipping 750GB hard drives in April of 2006, no manufacturer has released a drive that has hit the hallowed 1 TB (Terabyte) mark. However, Seagate has announced that it will begin shipping 1TB hard drives in the first half of 2007, and the drives will use perpendicular technology, which is increasingly allowing hard drives to shatter previous capacity records.

The company’s current 750GB drives also use perpendicular recording, which allows more data to be stored on disks than traditional longitudinal recording. Seagate claims that its 1TB drives will also use fewer heads and disks than drives of similar capacity that are expected to be released, which will help to increase drive reliability and reduce operating temperatures, power consumption, noise, and weight.

Seagate is also making moves on the speed front, announcing a new 2.5-inch, 15,000rpm drive that the company claims is “the world’s fastest hard drive.” The Savvio 15K drive features a seek-time of just 2.9ms (milliseconds), or far less than the roughly 8.5ms seek times found in 7,200rpm drives. On the downside for consumers, these new drives are geared mostly toward data center customers.

Panasonic Plans 42-Inch, 1080p Plasma Television

John Gawley — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:00:03 +0000

Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. said on Tuesday it planned to launch the world’s first 42-inch plasma TVs with full high definition panels on April 27 in Japan. Matsushita hopes to challenge liquid crystal display TV makers by providing a better lineup of full high definition models, which can produce images with a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels.
Matsushita is the world’s largest plasma TV maker and competes with Sony Corp, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sharp Corp. in the $84 billion flat TV market. Plasma TV makers already offer 50-inch and larger full high-definition models, but it has been difficult and often costly to pack this technology into smaller models. Rival LCD TV makers already offer some full high definition models in the sub 50-inch market.

It (Panasonic) plans to manufacture 25,000 units of them a month for the domestic market. The Japan launch will soon be followed by overseas debuts. Matsushita’s plasma TV sales came to an equivalent of about 4 million 42-inch models in the year ended March 31, and the company aims to boost those sales by 50 percent to 6 million units in the current business year, a company spokesman said.

Matsushita, which controls one-third of the global plasma TV market according to DisplaySearch, plans to bring its $1.5 billion plasma display plant on line by summer 2007 to take on the LCD camp. Matsushita also plans to spend $2.4 billion to build the world’s largest plasma display factory, doubling the capacity of its existing plants, including the one due to come on line this summer.

A Few Neat Tricks In Windows Vista

John Gawley — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:05:02 +0000

Vista is Here. But are you Vista Savvy? Read on to find out!
You’ve gotten your hands on Vista. It’s new, you’re excited: but what can you do with Vista, once you’ve gone and installed it on your premium ready machine? Here’s some great tricks you can accomplish once you’ve decided to enter the Vista experience. Read on, and impress friends and coworkers with your Vista knowledge that’s already ahead of the curve!

Dual-Boot: The Right Way To Get Started.
Relax, and take a deep breath. Just diving right into Vista might sound like the thing to do, and maybe it is. But for those wary of losing helpful, important, or just plain favorite pieces of data when Windows Vista takes command of their PC, a dual-boot is the way to go.

You see, when you install Vista from within Windows XP, the new OS is installed on a new partition, along with a new drive letter. This letter is usually D. This is fine, except that old programs that used to automatically boot from the C drive when you start your computer may get lost or confused. The solution to this minor dilemma is to start your computer in a dual boot configuration. Start the PC with the Vista DVD and install from there. This makes it so whichever operating system your using at a given time (Vista or XP) appears on the C drive, instead of D. It also designates any programs you install using Vista to the C drive, rather than shuffling them off to D. This will keep your programs that automatically default to C running smoothly as well.

Make Sure You’ve Got Working Network Drivers.
So you’ve got Vista installed, and now some of your network equipment is acting screwy. Here’s the deal: Microsoft tested more than 100 hardware drivers from the XP-era. They work fine with Vista but are not included with the operating system for various reasons. Ethernet cards and Wi-Fi adapters seem to be the most commonly affected devices. The solution to this snafu is a simple one: download the XP driver from the device manufacturer’s website. This will likely fix the problem straight away. There is a list out there with drivers that Microsoft engineers found compatible with Vista, you can find it at Windows/Sectrets.com/Vista.

Pick Your Laptop’s Pocket, While it’s Sleeping.
Okay, so this one is more of a feature than a trick. But it is still way cool. If you use a laptop computer, you know that starting up your laptop just to check a message or find an address or phone number isn’t always practical. Windows Vista SideShow technology enables laptop manufacturers to include a secondary or auxiliary display in future laptop designs. This display can be used to easily view the critical information you need, whether the laptop is on, off, or in sleep mode. The convenience provided by these auxiliary displays will save time and battery life by allowing you to quickly view meeting schedules, phone numbers, addresses, and recent e-mail messages without having to start up your laptop.

Go Commercial Free, For Nary a Fee.
You record your favorite television shows to your computer while you’re at the gym. But when you’re finally ready to watch, you still must fast-forward through commercials. Clip out the drivel: Vista’s edition of the Windows Movie Maker lets you edit shows you’ve recorded using Media Center. Although you are restricted to standard definition television content, this is still a great feature. You can also archive your video material in Windows Media Video (WMV) format, which makes for much smaller files than Media Center’s MS-DVR format.

Go Ahead: Use Virtual Folders.
Although the release information for Vista has downplayed the new Virtual Folders feature in order to hype other facets, it’s still there and highly usable. You just have to know where to look. Try it out: look for pre-constructed examples in C:\Users\username\searches. In a nutshell: you can use this handy feature in conjunction with the revamped search function. Start a search then click the “save search” option. This creates a search folder. If you use a title like: “documents by Mike that contain the Serious project” then the folder will dynamically update its contents to include any such file that is added, changed, or removed.

Keep the Malware Out of Your Hair
Trojan horses and rogue programs like spyware and its ilk are the bane of modern computing. Vista helps defend against these problem applications better than XP ever could. Here are two tricks that’ll hold back the tide attempting to flood your machine.
The first is fairly intuitive: leave Vista’s User Account Protection enabled and select a Standard User account. You will have to enter an administrator password occasionally, but bear with this. It is worth the minor inconvenience to keep out unwanted flotsam. For even better security, do what many power users already do: apply parental controls to your already created Standard User account. We know, you are already an adult. However, enabling this feature gives you a pop-up warning whenever you are about to enter a suspect webpage or run a rogue application on your computer.

Did You See That 3D?
Windows Vista is capable of striking 3D effects. But they are not just ready and waiting to pop out at you: you’ll have to know the tricks. For the best rendering in Vista’s included chess game, follow these instructions: Click game, then options, and toggle the Graphics Quality slider all the way to the right. When you click OK, you will notice the game instantly becomes smoother and less jagged. If you happen to be running an older PC, then you may wish to trigger the opposite effect. Slide the Graphics Quality indicator all the way to the left. This will drop the game into a 2-dimensional version that is perfect for PCs without the graphics power of the newer workhorse machines.

Computer, Do As I Say!
Boy, Don’t we all wish that had worked in the past! With Windows Vista, this may not be such an idle fancy. Windows Speech Recognition, a new feature in Windows Vista, lets you interact with your computer using voice commands. It was designed for people who want to use their mouse and keyboard less, yet maintain—or even increase—their overall productivity. You can dictate documents and e-mails in commonly used programs, and use voice commands to start and switch between applications, control the operating system, and even fill out forms on the web. Windows Speech Recognition was built using the latest Microsoft speech technologies.

It adapts to your speaking style and vocabulary, so the accuracy with which Windows Vista recognizes your speech improves each time you use it. Windows Vista supports speech recognition in a number of languages, including English (United States), English (United Kingdom), German (Germany), French (France), Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. With Windows Speech Recognition, you are empowered right from the start; a guided setup and an interactive training experience familiarize you with key concepts and commands.

Related Links: Sofware, Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista

A Tale of Two Televisions

John Gawley — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:55:02 +0000

Our Intrepid Sr. Editor Lonny Paul Breaks Down a pair of Televisions that You just have to Have.

Sharp LC-46D62U 46 Inch LCD HDTV
The AQUOS® LC-46D62U sets a new standard for large-screen flat-panel TVs. With Full HD Spec 1080p resolution, dramatically enhanced black level and an elegant new design, it produces a breathtaking picture quality that is second to none.

Panasonic TH50PH9UK Huge 50 Inch Plasma Television
A 50″ plasma display with the size and the exceptional image quality that is equally at home in the broadcast studio, a corporate boardroom, or on the set.

Tech Update: Video Sharing with Publicly Shared Albums

Mr. Miller — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:28:41 +0000

With the launch of its new video sharing capabilities, Webshots becomes the first major photo-hosting site that lets consumers tell their whole story with video and photos in publicly shared albums. They boast a 50 percent larger viewing area and nearly 3 times the bit rate of other video sites and gives users free hosting of 105-minute video clips.