So what all has changed in this updated version?  Well, to be frank, lots.  Most notably is the change from a desktop app with gmail / g+ widget to a web based and mobile app.  While you can still (for now) use the gTalk application for Windows, you can no longer download it from Google.  I have created a Ninite installer for Google Talk so those of you who want the legacy version after a windows re-install or backup restore.  For the rest of you, if you aren’t using Chrome, you can only get Hangouts inside of G+ or Gmail (or any other Google site that has a chat feature).  Chrome users simply need to visit this site to download the new app.  It will sit quietly in your toolbar and in the windows tray.

The overall UI of the desktop app is similar to the previous gmail chat feature.  You have your contacts, albeit without a status indicator, a +New Hangout button and a small dropdown menu with helpful options such as notification reminders, archives and of course, options.  Clicking a contact opens a new chat box at the bottom right of the browser window.  You can move them around anywhere on your PC, but they always start at the bottom of the browser.
The actual chat window itself looks very similar to the previous version with the notable addition of the add participants and start video chat buttons at the top of the window.  Chat itself uses bubble boxes similar to iOS chat.  You can see by the shade of the profile pic if the person has read the message or not, and you can easily see when the other person is typing as well.  You can (somewhat) tell if someone is online if there is a green bar under the title bar, but its nowhere near as obvious as the previous version.

The Android version is a little easier to handle.  When you open the app, you start out with all your current conversations in a list with the last part of the conversation displayed.  A quick swipe to and the contacts list appears with the top 6 contacts in a photo grid and a list of other contacts and circles below.  The notification tone has changed as well, from your default alert tone to a new special tone with the app.  So make sure you are listening for it because, at least with my Galaxy III, it’s nowhere near as loud as the default.

A few things to keep in mind with this new version:

• All your chats are syncd between devices and can be viewed on any device at any time.
• Alerts go to all devices with no way to quiet one (at least not that I have found)
• There is no way to go invisible or otherwise change your status to Busy or Away

All in all, it’s not too bad, but I still like the old gTalk better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkpjZ7oA_Qg

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Should you cut the cable and go online only?  Or should you stay connected to Comcast or Time Warner or any of the other monopolies?  That really depends on you.  Find out more below.

Do you have to have live Sports?

With the Super Bowl ending just hours ago, this point was brought back to the surface while trying to figure out how to get the game on my TV.  You see, thanks to multi-billion dollar contracts, the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc all get to control how and when you get to watch your game.  Unless you have a TV subscription or a friend who is nice enough to share his account, you will lose any and all access to live sports by cutting the cable.  Sure, I got to watch the Super Bowl live…on my PC, but there was no way, short of hooking a PC up to my TV, to watch the game on the big screen.  Yes, I could have used rabbit ears, but since I just recently cut the cable, I haven’t had a chance to purchase a set.  So if you are thinking about going without cable, make sure you have rabbit ears or some other antenna because watching sports will be damned near impossible without it.

Do you have to watch the local news?

Aside from a very small handful of stations, most local stations don’t broadcast their entire newscast online live.  Nowadays, I guess this isn’t such a bad thing because you can easily read the local news from the stations website, but it is an inconvenience if you are used to getting a nice pre-packaged summary of news video nightly.

Of course, if you like national or cable news, you won’t be disappointed.  I’ve found CNN, Fox, CNBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, and more all in the newscenter channel on my Roku.  I can only assume other devices have a similar channel.

Hate Spoilers?

99% of legal content you will be able to find online via Apple TV or Roku or whatever will be, at the very least, 24 hours old by the time you can even attempt to watch it.  This gives all your cable-subscribing friends at least a full day to discuss and spoil the next episode of Glee on Twitter and Facebook.  If you hate spoilers and you are a social media stalker user, cutting the cable could lead to a minor embolism or some other bad thing.

Slow Internet?  Don’t even think about it.

As my mother recently found out, and contrary to what the Roku box will let you think, you really need to have at least a 6-10 mb/s connection to enjoy life without cable, especially if you want HD.  You see, even with a 4mb/s DSL connection, my mother still had laggy video, choppy audio and an all around bad experience.  It wasn’t until she upgraded to a 12mb/s connection that things improved.  Of course, experiences will vary here, but the point is, if you are in a hotel, using public wifi, have dialup or satellite internet, or an otherwise slow connection, save yourself the frustration and stay with the cable provider.

Enjoy watching what YOU want, when YOU want?

Roku Menu

The minor delays aside, cutting the cable allows you to watch pretty much anything you want, whenever you want to watch it.  There are, of course, caveats such as sports, news and documentary specials on the History Channel, but by and large anything you could want to watch is available.  I suggest using Netflix ($8/monthly), Hulu ($8/monthly), and Playon ($40 lifetime) to go along with whatever media device you are using.  For those that take the download approach, or have large media libraries already, Plex is also a must.

Save Money!

Granted, the start up costs to this endeavor are rather high, especially if you are replacing cable in every room in the house.  At the bare minimum, each device will cost $45 or more plus subscription services such as Netflix.  Also, some services, like Netflix, won’t let you watch the same account on two devices at the same time, so additional subscriptions may be necessary based on your needs.

In the end, I now pay $175 a year compared to $162/month, and this includes my Amazon Prime subscription!  Here is a breakdown of what I now have:

	One Roku HD and two Roku 2 XS boxes. The primary difference between the two is that the XS boxes have ethernet ports for faster data rates (and less interference) and they can install apps such as spotify that need some cache space.	$45/HD $99/XS
	Netflix for movies, documentaries, and TV shows. Since most of my TV watching is done using Plex, Netflix is primarily for movies and documentaries for me.	$8/mo
	Plex is the hub of my media server. It not only houses every DVD I own (which are now in storage) ripped and easy to access, but also all my home media, tv shows that I find online, music, photos and tonnes of 3rd party channels such as PBS and Smithsonian. Without Plex, this experiment wouldn’t have happened.	FREE
	Amazon Instant Video serves as a movie and tv hub for some shows that aren’t on Netflix. I haven’t been too happy with it’s catalog for my interests, but they have lots of family friendly content.	$80/yr
	PlayOn is a service for catching everything Netflix, Amazon and Plex don’t. A few more channels, such as The Science Channel and other great channels, I don’t use it nearly as much as I should, but it has saved me a few times — especially with YouTube.	$40/1x

So should you make the switch?  Again, it really depends on you, but most people should have no problems cutting the cable and taking control of their entertainment options.  Besides, do you really want to pay $100/mo for 200 channels when you really only watch one or two?

If you are interested in a Roku box, let me know.  I can send you a referral coupon to save a little bit more money.

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Following up on an article I wrote a while back, here are my Android app pics for January 2013.

	Lookout After several years of use, a few lost devices, and a bit of malware later, I still recommend Lookout Mobile Security suite as the first item you install on your new device.
	AdFree Android Root app AdFree Android does just what it says: blocks ads. Not only from your web browsing, but also from apps. Keep in mind, that by blocking ads, you are basically stiffing the app / site provider of needed revenue.
	Snapseed One of the better camera apps for Android, Snapseed makes any photograph extraordinary with a fun, high-quality photo experience right at your fingertips. You can enhance, transform, and share their photos with ease using incredibly advanced features from the leader in digital photography software. Built-in Google+ capabilities make it even more powerful to share your images with your friends and family.
	Barcode Scanner Another app that I use more and more everyday, Barcode Scanner is a robust QR code scanner that is lightweight and easy to use.
	Dropbox While most cloud storage services allow you to sync photos and videos from your phone, I prefer Dropbox as it is vendor neutral, has a wide variety of sharing options, and the more you share, the more space you get.
	Google Voice Make cheap international calls with your Google number. Send free text messages. Place calls and send text messages showing your Google number. Listen to voicemail and read transcripts. Currently only available in the US.
	Google Chrome Just like for your desktop, Google brings its fast and powerfull Chrome browser to Android. Easily sync bookmarks, open pages, settings and more from device to device* without skipping a beat. *requires Google Chrome to be used on devices to be synced
	Evernote Popular note taking app Evernote on Android. Evernote is an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Stay organized, save your ideas and improve productivity. Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders–and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.
	Wayk 4 I have been using Wayk for my alarm for about a year now and it still a pleasure to wake up to. From gradually increasing volume alarms to swype to snooze features, Wayk has it all. And for you news junkies, how about having your Android read your daily agenda and news feed. Quite an extensive app.

The post Dietrich’s App pics for January 2013 appeared first on DietrichDuke.com.

That’s right, at 6:06PM Central Standard Time, join me on KUAR 89.1 FM as I discuss complex technologies and their uses in every day life, as well as what the future is bringing.  For those of you out of town, or out of the listening area, feel free to visit kuar.org to listen live online.  Immediately following the radio interview, I will travel to the Afterthought on Kavanaugh road to join in a panel discussion on the same topics.  Joining me on the panel is:

• Michael Douglas, Ph.D., Professor and Director at UAMS and BioVentures.
• Charley Jones, Director of Operations at the Little Rock National Airport.

I hope to see many of my readers there to support this project — this is my first on air gig and my first panel discussion.  If it goes well, I may participate again, or in a similar program.

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Where Google Plus really shines is in its privacy and sharing features.  Unlike Facebook, where sharing is pretty much shoved down your throat and the default is set to share with the public, Google Plus arranges your friends into circles (yes, Facebook has friend groups, but they are unwieldy at best).  With these circles, users can choose who to share content with — be it one circle, or multiple circles.  But more on circles later.

The post Google Plus Reviewed appeared first on DietrichDuke.com.

I bought a Xoom recently, mainly because as my companies resident Android (and mobile) geek, I need to stay on top of the curve.  But I also bought it because of the perceived simplicity and gains in productivity — none of which are entirely true.

But why wait when all of my friends and collegues have a shiny new toy to play with? For one thing, unless you just have to have the latest and greatest toy, laptops still offer the best text input method — the keyboard. But in the next few months, tablets will overwealmimgly have USB and Bluetooth support for peripherals. (Yes android 3.1 has support for USB, and yes there are a few bt keyboards out there, app and and oem support of 3.1 does not lend itself to high adoption rates)

Secondly, unless you travel quite extensively, there is nothing the tablet can do your pc (or mac) cannot — better, with the exception of super portability.  If you just want something to sit on the couch with and surf, use your smartphone for now.  Like I said before the break, come this holiday season, the wait for a great tablet will be over.

As for gains in productivity, that remains to be seen.  Sure, I can have easy access to my calendar, take notes, perform research, post on my blog, and do a host of other things while walking around my house, sitting on the john, or while otherwise away from my pc.  But the trade off is a device that isn’t quite ready for prime time … yet.  It has a few ticks that just make it feel a tad unpolished.  I believe later this year when Ice Cream Sandwich releases, the tablets (and phones) will have a solid OS ready to go head to head with a pc.

So wait just a few more months to go out and get a new tablet.  Unless you want an oversized iPhone, avoid the iPad like the plague¹.  If you must have one now, go with the Moto Xoom, or, for those on a budget, pick up the B&N Nook Color and drop cyanogen mod on top for your very own homebrew tablet.

¹ I am not a fan of Apple products. I never have been, and probably never will be, so please don’t troll because i comment on what i perceive (rightly or wrongly) to be inferior products.

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