Tech Table Monday, July 21, 2014
July 21, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest.
Diana: Well hi Justin, it’s Mail Monday.
Justin: It is Mail Monday, here at the Tech Table, where we dig into our inbox and answer your questions. What is that email address we can send questions to?
Diana: questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: That’s right. And so today’s question is from Bert. Bert asks, I drive for a living a lot. What kind of technology devices would you recommend so that I can stay in contact with the world, yet stay safe while driving?
Diana: Mm, great question Bert.
Justin: That is a great question, because obviously technology can be just as distracting as it can be helpful when you’re in the car.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: So it’s, you know…obviously, technology is more and more mobile.
Diana: And it keeps getting more mobile these days.
Justin: Yes.
Diana: And as someone who does a lot of driving…myself.
Justin: Right, right.
Diana: Things you should have, and possibly even must have, might include the following…
Justin: Right.
Diana: A Bluetooth headset for hands-free calling.
Justin: Absolutely.
Diana: Now sometimes a car might come with this built in.
Justin: Right, Yeah, you’re car has it, so you basically just, like, talk through the car.
Diana: Basic…yep, I can just push one button and tell my car who to call.
Justin: Yes, it’s very fancy.
Diana: There’s some commands, or I can just list off the number and it makes the call and it comes through the speaker system.
Justin: Yeah, and apparently there’s a speaker system that you can talk into. I don’t know, the microphone…there’s a microphone in there somewhere.
Diana: There’s a microphone too.
Justin: I don’t know where it is.
Diana: Oh, I know where it is. I’ll show you.
Justin: Okay, very good.
Diana: [LAUGHS] But anyway, but you can buy Bluetooth headsets separately if it’s not built into your car already, and you just wear it over your ear. You’ve probably seen people walking around. It looks like they’re talking to themselves, but no.
Justin: I know, that weirds me out.
Diana: They are talking into their Bluetooth headset.
Justin: Absolutely. And then a phone/tablet dock. So either a phone or a tablet dock.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: So this is something that sometimes suctions to a windshield or a drive shaft area, depending on your vehicle. You know, it lets you have a heads-up display, HUD, on whichever device you want to use. And the reasons you might want this are for alerts, maps, weather, you know, et cetera. If you want to watch the radar while you’re driving.
Diana: Right.
Justin: Which I’ve often times said why in my car, because you have, and many people do, in their car, navigation.
Diana: Navigation, mm-hm.
Justin: I think they should infuse satellite radar…
Diana: That’s a great idea!
Justin: …into navigation. Because then you could see…like, if you’re driving into a rainstorm, you can see it on your car navigation. I think that would be really cool.
Diana: Cool! Yeah, good idea. Now another thing that we suggest is a power converter.
Justin: Right.
Diana: Let’s face it, our devices are limited by two things, the internet and power.
Justin: Basically our lives are limited by two things [LAUGHS], which would be the internet and electricity.
Diana: So get a power pack or an external battery charger, or AC converter…something that lets you keep your devices on. I know people who have extra batteries just for their phone because they travel so much and it’s hard to keep their phone charged.
Justin: Exactly.
Diana: So they can switch out their battery and charge it while the new battery’s in their phone.
Justin: That’s right. And then we also recommend a mobile hotspot. These are something that you can get through a phone company or your telephone provider. And if you have one of these you have internet, provided you have good reception.
Diana: Right, yes.
Justin: And we use our hotspots quite a bit.
Diana: We do. In some areas it’s easier to get, but I mean, as far as actually have the reception. But…
Justin: Absolutely.
Diana: Yep, they’re pretty reliable.
Justin: Yeah, so those are some really good tools…
Diana: Yes.
Justin: …that you can use in your car, in your vehicle, when you’re traveling.
Diana: Oh, here’s a bonus accessory.
Justin: Yes.
Diana: I wanted to throw in here. Wireless printer. Consider it!
Justin: That’s interesting. Wireless printer in your vehicle. It’s possible. So send us those questions to…
Diana: questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: Until next time…
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table was brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at askmpa.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com
Justin: And thanks for listening!
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