Plasma vs LCD vs LED Televisions

There are many choices when buying televisions these days. Three of the most common types of televisions are Plasma, LCD and LED.

When comparing these three types of televisions, there are some facts you need to know as Plasma TV’s are getting some bad press due to uninformed people.

Contrast Ratio

A television’s contrast ratio represents its ability to show detail in high contrast areas of the screen, in the form of minute gradations of color and blacks or whites. Plasma and LED TV’s do the best job in this comparison.

Viewing Angle

Plasma TV’s have the best viewing angle of the three, followed by LED and LCD with the worst.

Color

Plasma TV’s have the best color, followed closely by LED.

Motion

Plasma TV’s handle motion the best, but LCD and LED have improved due to 100Hz technology.

Price

The best pricing depends on the size of TV you buy. In TV’s over 42″, Plasma TV’s are the best priced. LCD will be the best price (generally) in the smaller screen sizes.

Whichever TV you buy, make sure you check it out in person.

Important notes about wireless routers

There are a few important things you should do when setting up your wireless router at home:

1. Don’t keep the default SSID (this is the way to identify your router). If you own a Netgear router, the SSID is probably setup as Netgear. A Linksys router is probably setup as Linksys. Make sure you change this name to something else of your choice.
2. Setup an encrypted secure connection. WEP (wireless encryption protocol) is the one I recommend.
3. Make sure you create your own unique password.

You will want to remember (write down) the SSID and password as you’ll need them when trying to connect to the router. Taking these steps will ensure you have a safe/secure network.

Favorite free applications for Android Smartphones

There are many free applications for Android smartphones, but not all are helpful or even very good. I will cover a list of my favorite applications and you can let me know what you think.

First, Android includes many Google applications which as fantastic. The Google voice search bar is a great way to search the web and your phone via voice command. In Android 2.2 or higher, you gain voice commands in addition to search. Watch this video below to learn about voice commands:

Google Voice is another great application. Here is a list of what this application provides and a video with more information:

Google Voice with a Google number

• Use one number to manage all your phones; your Google Voice number is tied to you, not to a particular device or location.
• Voicemail like email: Save voicemail messages for as long as you’d like, star important ones, and search through them
• Voicemail transcription: Voicemail messages will be automatically transcribed to text and sent to you via email and/or SMS.
• Customize your callers’ experience (custom voicemail greetings, decide which of your phones ring based on who’s calling, send some callers straight to voicemail, etc.)
• Define which phones ring, based on who’s calling, and even ListenIn^TM on voicemail before answering the call. We use smart technology to route your calls. So, if you’re already on a Google Voice call, we’ll recognize it and use call waiting to reach you on the phone you’re on.
• Works with mobile phones, desk phones, and work phones. There’s nothing to download, upload, or install, and you don’t have to make or take calls using a computer.
• International calling: Make low priced international calls from the web or from your phone.

Google Navigation is a fantastic navigation program included on many Android phones. You really don’t need to have a GPS navigation in your car because your smartphone can do everything and more via this application. See the video below for more information:

Other favorite applications (all are available on the Android Market)

1. MooLa – I use this for a checkbook register. Free and premium versions available.
2. Kuff’s Password Safe – I use this to keep track of login ID’s and passwords. This application is “cloud-enabled” via DropBox.
3. DropBox – this application uses the cloud to share information between any device (phone, PC, etc) connected to your DropBox account.
4. Evernote – Like DropBox, Evernote uses the cloud to house your notes. This is much like Microsoft OneNote, but it’s free!
5. Vlingo – I use this application while I’m driving as it has an embedded SafeReader that can read texts and emails to me while I’m driving so I’m not distracted. I can also use it to send texts and launch Google Navigation.
6. Mint – this application can inform you of large deposits, large transactions, low balances and more. It’s made by Intuit and it’s read only so no worries about it damaging your bank accounts. Install this on your PC first and get it setup, then install the application on your smartphone.

Top 5 Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Features

The Gingerbread release is out, but won’t be available until December 16th on the T-Mobile Samsung Nexus S. For more about the Nexus S, click here. There are some rumors that the other Galaxy S phones may be getting Gingerbread by the end of this year also. You can read about that here.

Top 5 features of Android 2.3:

1. Application and power management – No longer will you need to run apps to preserve power and shut down unwanted applications. These features will be built into Gingerbread.
2. SIP Internet Calling - This feature will allow you to make phone calls over an IP connection (VoiP). However, you will need a SIP account from a 3rd party and this feature may be disabled on some carriers.
3. New on-screen keyboard – Supposedly will improve performance and cut/paste capabilities.
4. Improved UI (user interface) – Bottom line, more consistency and more choices.
5. Download management – Centralized management of all downloads from browser, email, etc.

To read more about what’s new in Android 2.3, click here.

Top 5 Android 2.2 (FroYo) Features

Android popularity continues to grow among smartphones and tablet computers. In fact, according to this Wall Street Journal article, Android is growing faster than than any other smartphone operating system. Android does not have the largest market share (down 3.5 points), but it does have the fastest growth. RIM (Blackberry) is losing market share and Apple’s IOS grew only .8 points (Android grew 6.5 points).

Android’s Gingerbread release is expected to be announced today, but many smartphones still do not have Android 2.2 (FroYo). So, for those people waiting for Android 2.2, this post is intended to help you understand what you have to gain if you upgrade to this version.

Top 5 Android 2.2 (FroYo) New Features:

1. Faster performance - according to Google, Android 2.2 is up to 5 times faster than previous versions thanks to JIT.
2. Bluetooth voice dialing – finally, you will be able to voice dial via your bluetooth headset or speaker phone. Note – I’ve heard evidence that not all people are having success with this feature.
3. Install Application on SD card – many Android phones don’t have enough internal memory to hold all of the applications users want installed. With this update, you can instruct the application to install to the phone’s SD memory card instead.
4. Flash support - Android 2.2 is the first version of Google Android that can fully support both Adobe Flash and Adobe Air. This means you will be able to watch flash videos right on your phone!
5. Tethering, Hot-Spot Support - Android 2.2 includes built-in support for tethering and the ability to use Android phones as Wi-Fi hot spots. Some carriers (like Sprint) charge for this feature, but the feature is there. One workaround is to root your phone, which gives you super user authority. Once your phone is rooted, you can install the wireless tethering feature on your own. The best source for features like this is XDA Developers.

Google launches eBook store

Google launched their new eBook store today, click here to access the store. As expected, Google includes many new releases and best sellers, along with a long list of free books. The eBooks on Google’s store are compatible with Android (you can download the app from the Android market), the web, iPad, iPod, iPhone, Nook (from Barnes & Noble), and Sony’seReaders. Amazon’s Kindle is not listed as a supported device.

Start using QR codes

From wikipedia: “A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.” The QR is short for quick response.

What do people use QR codes for? Many companies today use QR codes to direct consumers to a website for additional information. For example, you may see an add in a magazine for something, but there will also be a QR code included. If you scan the QR code with your phone’s camera while using software like I-nigma, your phone’s browser will take you to their web site. Some business people have started adding a QR code to the back of their business card to link to their company web site.

You can generate your own QR codes by using free web sites such as http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/. I used this web site to create the QR code at the top of this post and I created the one to the right, which contains the URL for this blog. There are other web sites that can generate QR codes also, just Google QR code generator and try them out.

You will also need software on your phone to read the QR codes. I talked about I-Nigma already, but there are other programs too. If you’re using an Android smartphone, go to the Android Market and search for QR code reader.

If you are a business person, you can probably think of many ways to use these codes. The options are limitless.