MobileViews Blog

Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelists Steven Hughes and Sven Johannsen for this podcast. We discuss:

• FEMA’s Hawaii rumor response and frequently asked questions
• Why Todd didn’t turn to X (Twitter) for first hand information after hearing about the Lahaina, Maui wildfires
• Why Canadians can’t turn to Facebook for news during its current wildfires emergencies
• CBS reported Microsoft pulled an AI-generated article that recommended tourists visit the Ottawa Food Bank for … food
• Haystack News
• Apple Batterygate settlement money going out soon
• Sven’s Google Pixel Fold experience … so far

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Don Sorcinelli for this podcast. They discuss.

• One of the recommended charity funds to support the victims of the Lahaina Maui wildfire: Hawai‘i Community Foundation MAUI STRONG FUND
• Using Charity Navigator to vet charitable organizations
• Ooma VoiP for home phones and progress in porting Todd’s landline phone number to it
• Noting the IBM PC’s launch 42 years and 1 day ago (Aug. 23, 1981) and other tech reminisces
• Making peace with the Notion note-taking service and considering trying Obsidian too
• Jon’s tech travel notes based on his recent trip to attend the American Psychological Association conference in Washington DC

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

Guest co-host Steven Hughes and I discuss the following in this podcast:

• Todd’s adventures configuring an Ooma Telo Air 2
• Home automation
  Smarter Living
  New cyber security labels for Internet of Things called the US Cyber Trust Mark
• Can AI and Machine learning get dumber and not smarter if not checked and corrected? What processes are in place to make sure it is accurate
  STANFORD SCIENTISTS FIND THAT YES, CHATGPT IS GETTING STUPIDER
• Tesla range isn’t as claimed kind of the same they do with the real price, but that hasn’t stopped sales – class action suit like VW-gate MPG “stretching”
• Apple and Google lead initiative for an industry specification to address unwanted tracking

  Google will now warn Android users of unknown bluetooth trackers like AirTags and will work with Apple on a standard.

• Are you adding or removing streaming services? Subscription prices all going up!
• NASA introduces NASA+ a new streaming service and currently in beta and free!

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

• Ooma VoIP for home phones
• Why use a ChatGPT app instead of Bing Copilot? ChatGPT for Android
• Copilot for Power Automate
• Google’s Android Developers Blog, July 25: Introducing a new Play Store for large screens
• July 27 Google Blog: 6 creativity apps for Android tablets
• After being available for nearly a year, is Apple’s Freeform still a solution in search of a problem?
• Concepts app for Android tablets

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

• Transitioning from Bit.ly to TinyURL
• The Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) has a thermometer. However, it is consistently three degrees lower than what is reported by IR and other thermometers in the same room.
• MobileViews Mini-Podcast 38: Absgeega K61 wireless lav mic test with an iPad mini 6
• Now that I’m a retiree income, services of all kinds have decided to raise their subscription prices. Gee, thanks
• Is Siri finally getting a cognitive upgrade?
  The Verge: Apple is already using its chatbot for internal work
• Meta and Microsoft Introduce the Next Generation of Llama
• Discussion Topic: Each year when new features are announced, they’re hyped up to be “the best”. This week I looked back at features announced in the past year and decided “Were they really as useful as they were made out to be?”

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

The earlier Absgeega wireless lavalier mic model I bought worked well with Android devices. However, when using an iPhone or iPad, the recorded volume was extremely low. After noting this in a 3-star Amazon review, Absgeega contacted me and offered a refund. However, since I was able to use it to record in-person podcasts using an Android-based Pixel 7a, I turned down that offer.

The Google Pixel 7a runs a lot hotter than my iPhone and iPad devices. In fact, it issued a thermal warning near the end of both podcasts recorded using it. So, there is a practical aspect for my preference to use an iOS/iPadOS device to record in-person podcasts.

They then offered to send a newer model after it became available. The Absgeega K61 appeared a few days ago. This mini-podcast was recorded outdoors using it with an iPad mini 6 and an audio recording app named Just Press Record.

Aside from recording at usable volume levels on iOS/iPadOS devices, the K61 has several improvements over the previous model.

• It includes a charging case that charges both lav mics using a single USB-C charging cable. The case also has a storage slot for the transceiver that is powered by the recording device. Like the previous model, the K61 includes a USB-C-to-Lightning and USB-C-to-USB-A that lets you use it with a variety of computers.
• The charging case has a useful LCD displaying the charge level as the lav mics are being charged.
• There is a “windproof net” integrated into each mic. The previous model has a small foam windshield. As you might imagine, this is probably easy to lose.
• The clip on each lav mic is longer/larger than the clips on the previous model. This makes it much easier to attach it to clothing.

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com