What's going on.
Rich Zmuro here, rich on Tech and welcome to rich on Tech Live. This is the podcast where I help you get the most out of your gadgets, answering your tech questions live, talking about some of the cool things that happened in technology over the past week. But most importantly, I take your phone calls where you can talk to me. The phone number is three one zero five to nine four three zero zero three, three one zero five to
nine four three zero zero three. I'll take your calls in just a bit, So think about what you need to know when it comes to your tech world. There's a lot going on, and this week was all about the Samsung Galaxy S nine. All the reviews came out for the S nine, and uh, here's the general consensus about the Samsung Galaxy S nine. It's a great device. They really did a nice job of fixing all the problems that anyone had with the S eight, which mainly
was the fingerprint reader. That was it, and they fix that and that's it.
Story closed. I mean, the book is done.
It's there's not much more to say about this device. Is that if you're looking for an Android device. Ninety nine point nine percent of people are going to buy the Samsung Galaxy. They're gonna buy the S eight, the S seven, D S nine, one of those three phones. If you're an Apple person, you're gonna buy the iPhone. Now, I will say this will probably be the phone that causes some iPhone folks to want to come over and jump over to the Android side. And I think that's
not a bad idea. The problem is people that are on iPhone have become accustomed to several things, one of those things being FaceTime, which you can get around they all, they all, they have these these apps that work on both platforms. But I'm just saying people are used to it. And the other thing that people are used to is really I Message, and I Message of course, only works on iOS devices. You don't need I Message. It's nice
to have, but it's not a necessity. So I think that this phone will get the interest of some people that are on iPhone. So let me just go through some of the headlines that some of the writers had. My thought on the phone is that anyone who buys this is gonna be very happy. It's snappy, it's fast, the camera's really nice. Isn't the best camera in the world. No, the Google Pixel has the best camera in the world,
But does that really matter? Probably not now, I will say the only thing I did notice with the camera that I was a little unhappy about is when I was taking pictures of my kids with this camera, I got a lot of blurred movement. And I'm not sure what the reason for that is. I don't notice that on my other phones. When I take pictures with the iPhone ten, I do not notice that, Nor do I
notice that when I take pictures with the Pixel. It only happens on the Samsung right now, and so I'm wondering if that's like a software update or if something is a little off. I don't know what that is, but that's the only thing that concerned me was that I was noticing a lot more blurry pictures and a lot more blurry parts, like not really blurry pictures, but just like this, Like you know, if their hand was
moving a little bit. On my other phones, it would kind of capture that and just be fine, But on this you saw a little bit of a blur low light. I think the s nine is going to do a really nice job. I also my other downside of the S nine is really the selfie camera. It's just not very good. I notice a lot of blurry pictures on that as well, and very your face looks sort of blurred out, and I think a lot of people will like that because it doesn't show a lot of your wrinkles or anything like that.
But it's just a weird kind of look.
It doesn't look as natural as the iPhone or the Pixel. But other than that, I really have no problem with the S nine. I think it is a fantastic device. I think that those two things that I'm talking about are very nitpicky, and I don't think a lot of people will even have a problem with those things.
I'm just saying.
I noticed a little bit of a lag when I press the shutter button compared to the Pixel and the iPhone, a little bit more blur.
And on the front facing camera.
I noticed that it's just a little bit out of focus. Sometimes it doesn't kind of snap into focus as fast as you'd like. But that's it. Otherwise, I think that this is a very solid device. I think that Samsung did an amazing job. I will recommend if you purchase this phone that you need a case because it's really thin on both sides, which makes it kind of tough
to hold. I found that I love the size. The form factor is way better than the pixel, and I actually like it better than the iPhone too because it's just a little bit bigger.
But it's just it's not easy to hold.
They are not easy to I guess grip because it.
Feels like it's gonna fall out of your hand.
All right, So some of the reviews that are in let's see, let's see what they say. Android Central says a fantastic phone for the mass is not an exciting phone. This doesn't need to be an exciting phone. It's the top device out there for Samsung. They don't need to make it crazy. It just needs to do a lot of good stuff. Wall Street Journal says it's impressive and infuriating, and he's talking about the software. Everyone everyone gets all mad about the Samsung software. I don't get that mad
about it. I think that, yes, there is a lot of stuff on there you may not need. But when you're talking about the average person, they're not buying a pixel. A Google Pixel is for the super duper nerd like myself who wants to have the pure Google experience. And then add every little feature in that I want. When you buy a Samsung or an iPhone, you're getting all the features. You don't have to download that much software
to get a lot of these features. And I think that's what these reviewers forget, is that the average person, like my mom or just the random Joe, they're not sitting there thinking about what markup tool they want to use on their photos. They just want to press edit and use their finger to write on the picture. They don't have to go to the app store and figure out which one of these apps is going to be best for doing that.
Now I like to do that.
They don't want to have to do that same thing when you're scanning in a business card or a picture of a you know, or a PDF or something like that. They don't want to sit there and go through the app store and download fifteen different apps like Office Lens or Scannable or.
Google Drive and see which one works the best.
They just want to go, hey, let me scan a document for my phone, and that's it. It works.
That's the reality of these things.
So I think these reviewers kind of lose touch just a little bit when they talk about what they're doing now I feel like i'm because I do TV on a very broad level for people that aren't necessarily techies. I think that that's why I have a better understanding, because I get emails every single day from you guys basically asking me questions that are you know, that are things that I might take for granted. But I'm like, huh,
that's interesting. I didn't think of that perspective. Whereas if you're writing for Wired or the Wall Street Journal, you're just assuming a lot of these people that are reading the tech section are very tech savvy and smart about tech, which I get it. So that's why you're sort of forgetting the fact that there's a whole bunch of people out there that just kind of, you know, use their gadget and they're not sitting there trying to be crazy about it. Let's see what else. Yeah, I mean, all
the reviews are pretty darn good. People are saying that it's not necessarily the best camera in the world, but it's definitely an improvement over the S eight and the fingerprint readers in the right place. So and by the way, it also has a headphone jack, which I really like. So I've been talking a lot so I kind of missed a lot of what you guys are saying on here.
But let's see here.
Catherine says, I've had the Samsung S six the edge. Now I'm thinking of S eight or S nine. Catherine, I'd probably say go with the S nine if he can. I would see how much the trade in is for the S six. I think you're gonnaet one hundred and fifty bucks for that, but definitely checked it out. And this thing, just this thing does not you know, next time, I'm gonna make an hour long one.
Of these, because this just does not want to repeat.
It doesn't like my U doesn't like my repeat. So let's see what's better, uhat Shrevath Strevrath says, which one is better? S nine or S nine plus Samsung camera versus iPhone ten. I think the camera on the S nine, well, the cameras are the same on the S nine and the S nine plus. The big difference that the S nine plus has at dual camera setup. So if you like zooming in, you know, like getting double the image, like double closeness, then go with the S nine plus.
But otherwise they have the same main camera versus the iPhone ten. You know, I think they both have their pros and cons. The iPhone ten is a really solid camera overall. I find that the Samsung kind of looks a little bit more poppy, like the colors are more saturated on there. So you know, it really comes down to a matter of preference. I find that the iPhone ten has a much darker look to all the pictures. And if you want to see this, you can go
on my website rich on tech dot TV. I took a bunch of pictures with the iPhone, the Samsung, and also the Pixel, so you can compare them and see what you think. All right, the phone lines are open if you want to call in three one zero five nine four three zero zero three three one zero five nine four three zero zero three call in with your tech questions. Let me know what's going on, and you know, we'll get some of your questions answered. Roberto says, I'm
so happy with my Google Pixel. It is awesome, and yeah, I agree. The Google Pixel is one of my favorite devices. Talk about boring though, I mean, it really is a boring device, and that's what people love about it. It's very simple, it has the base software that Google gives you, and then you can add on and do whatever you want. And people like that simplicity, especially when you're kind of like a super user. You don't want anything extra on
your device that you have not installed. That's always the way I've been with everything, and the iPhone is kind of like that as well, except it does have a lot of features built in.
Let's see where else are we going here?
Every week?
Oh, MARTA's getting onto.
MARTA's saying, every week there's an update on the iPhone or iOS eleven on the iPad. What's going on?
Why so many updates?
And every time I device malfunctions after each update? I agree. I was just talking to my mom about this and she agrees. She's like, why is there have to be an update every single day for all this stuff? I mean, really do we need this many updates? And the answer is yeah, apparently you do because they're always fixing little things like the software, the the viruses, like all these little bugs that they find they just fix and that's
why we have all these updates now. I will say that iPhone used to have updates very few and far between, especially when it was between iOS launches. It was like maybe once a year. Or twice a year. Now, it's like, literally just so many times. It's kind of insane how many times. Let's see here, man, we have a lot of Melanireene says for us simple minded folks, what is the best phone for the book? A more all around simple,
yet reliable. Uh. If I was gonna say what the best phone is for you guys that don't really care about all the craziness, I'm gonna go with the Moto G five plus. And the reason why I like this device is because, first off, it's unlocked, so you can buy it right from Amazon. And it's one hundred and Oh my gosh, what they do they got rid of it? Oh no? Uh oh, I guess that means a new one's coming out. Oh shoot, they must have I think they got rid of that. Or they guess they're coming
out with some new phones. So oh, here we go. Here it is Moto G five plus. I guess they came up with the wrong one, but here it is two hundred and fifty nine bucks and it's a lot cheaper. Oh, if you're Amazon Prime, it's two fifty nine sixty four gigabyte. You can get a thirty two gigabyte for a lot cheaper two hundred and four bucks, So two hundred and five dollars for the Moto G Plus, and it has
everything you need. Plus it's unlocked, so that means all you have to do is bring it to your carrier. It's right here, it says you can see it says AT and T, T Mobile, Sprint and Verizon fully compatible. And I like this phone because there's not a lot of junk installed on it. Now, the camera's not gonna be the best in the world. It's not gonna be like an iPhone camera, but it's gonna be a nice little device that just sort of works. And you can get your calls, you can take calls, you can send
your text. It runs a nice version of Android. So you're gonna be just fine with this and you're talking, you're out the door. Two hundred and five dollars. That's a pretty good deal. And it's got a fingerprint sensor as well, so that to me is a very high quality, kind of good all around device if you're looking for something like that. So a good question, because I always
I always get that question. I always recommend that phone. Now, if you want to take a little step up, I would recommend this the one plus five T, but this is going to be a little bit more expensive, and the one plus five T is a really nice device, but it's five hundred bucks, so now you're getting kind of like half the price of one of these main phones.
But this is like, this is a serious device.
This is really really nice, and you're gonna get a very high quality device. There three one zero five nine four three zero zero three three one zero five nine four three zero zero three.
Don't be shy.
You can call in and have your your question answered on air.
So give me a call. Eight oh five.
You're on with Rich Really Wow, Hello.
Hi Rich, this is Michael. I'm from Seamy Valley.
Michael, what's going on?
You picked up really quick, so I was like thrown off. I was expecting to hear dead music or something.
No, it's just me.
It's a one man show, so it's just pick.
It up and you're on.
Great. Well, I have a couple of ques sincetoria. First of all, I just dumped direct TV, cut the chord, I guess, and got DirecTV. Now, okay, congrat which for the most part, I'm happy with a couple of questions about that, Sure, First of all, I'm kind of upset that they don't make it very clear that it does not output any kind of five point one sound. Oh yeah, and that's kind of a drag, because there's some great shows on that. You know, this surround is a great
effect to that. Do you know of any live TV services that do output five point one?
You know, it's not something you hear about very often. I have not heard that. Let's see now, so I'm looking at I'm looking at an article. It looks like it is five point one on certain channels with DirecTV Now. So there's a great website called chord Cutter's News, and they I think they're based actually in LA I always follow them.
But let's see.
According to some readers who are beta testers for DirecTV Now, five point one audio is being offered on some channels, including MTV, but not all channels, so so, I mean, unless you're watching a lot of MTV. But so, I think it sounds like it's on a case by case basis.
I think what's happening, Michael, with all these services is there they're still very much in their infancy, you know, they're just trying to get the basics down right, now, which when I go on DirecTV Now, which I have, I've had it since day one, by the way, and it's still it's still not there all the time, Like there are times that I'm watching, like the other night when I was watching the what was on the oscars, I actually had to switch to my antenna because I
was getting a lot of kind of like the picture was going in and out kind of thing. And so I find that that happens now. I switched my mom to it as well. She loves it. She cut the cord. But I again, I think that these five point one and this kind of stuff, the four K video is really like maybe down the line because DirecTV Now doesn't even have a DVR fund yet, so they're still trying to work on that, and they've promised a lot of stuff.
I saw something today that it looks like they're working on something as far as the DVR.
Yeah, they've been working on it for a long time.
They promised it a long time ago, and it's just it's been I don't know what the problem is if they're just having a lot of issues with it, but I know I'm trying to get on the beta testing list, but they won't put me on because I'm a journalist and they don't want me kind of seeing it before TV because I asked them they don't want Yeah, exactly. But that's the big thing. So what uh, what I mean, what have you noticed? What's the biggest difference between direct TV now and kind.
Of your your old cable. What did you have before you had direct TV?
I had regular direct TV?
Yeah, okay, it's not that much difference.
Well, no, and actually it looks great for the most part, but I did not this last night. You know, some shimmering going on, you know, that digital kind of effect that that isn't so pretty. It's especially noticeable on my sixty inch LCD. I have a thirty two inch LCD in the kitchen that uses Roku. And yeah, so I've got Roku and Firestick and Apple TV in the house now, so yeah.
You've got more s than I do.
But uh, what was I saying? Oh, on the sixty inches it's really noticeable.
Yeah, well, and that's that's a good point you bring up when people are like, why do we need? People keep asking, you know, you hear about four K and then you hear about eight K, and people keep asking why do we need these clear you know, four K, eight K kind of stuff. Like DVDs were just fine. HD is great. But the difference is and this is what you kind of noticed, is that when you get into those bigger screen sizes, that's when you start to notice the quality of the picture going down.
Because well, especially like if you.
Look at a DVD quality, you know, four to eighty on a sixty inch TV, you it looks it looked terrible. And that's kind of what we're realizing is people keep upgrading their TVs. Right now, the sweet spot is about fifty five inches, but now people are pushing into that sixty sixty five because prices are coming down, and you're going to notice that. You will notice a slight difference in HD on a sixty inch versus you know, a forty inch that we all started.
Out well, most definitely the imperfections become more noticeable the bigger they get. Yeah, most definitely. Yeah. I go to seeees every year or so, Oh you do I seen I've seen AK. I thought AKS five six years ago. Sharp was showing it and you know on an eighty inch screen and you can get you can put your face right up to it and you can see the details and the little tiny bricks and in the streets and everything.
It's amazing.
It's pretty awesome.
It's really amazing. I think that the four K and the eight K is going to take a lot longer to kind of come down the line, just because broadcasters paid so much to upgrade to HD just recently. You know how many how many years ago was that ten whatever? I know, So I think they're all kind of in a they're like just holding out as long as humanly possible for the four K stuff. And you know, now with these streaming services, you know they're really I mean
the four K on there. I mean you're talking much more bandwidth, many more issues with people saying like, hey, I'm paying for four K, but I'm not getting it because my internet's not fast enough. So all these services, I mean Netflix obviously and and Amazon have a lot of four K content. I mean Netflix, all the new shows are in four K. And it does look pretty good if you have a.
Four really good. So I do, and it looks really really good. I have one other question for sir. I'm in seeing you now. I'll go with my direct TV now, So how do I get short of mirroring. You know, I can stream it on my phone and mirror it to my Apple TV, but I don't have Apple TV in the kitchen where I'm at at five o'clock in the morning, so.
I know it's it's a problem.
I had to get an antenna to see because I cord cut as well, so I have an antenna that does the channel five KTLA is the only channel just for the folks watching and listening that's not on any of these streaming services right now. Now, do I think that's gonna change? Absolutely?
Do I know when?
No, But I think if I had to guess, I think that we're gonna be there, like just literally it will happen overnight. It'll just be like I mean, they're working on it, I think because they know they understand that we're not there. But these things take time for our company, you know, we're you know, the other companies, a lot of them are like the Fox affiliates, the NBC affiliates, the CBS affiliates. They do sort of a package deal with like NBC to say, hey, we're gonna
have all of our affiliates. We're different because we're independent and we're not an NBC or CBS affiliate. So that's why it's kind of taken a little bit longer, I think, but we're gonna be there.
But antenda.
The only other thing I can say, Michael, is the other kind of hack you can do is you can watch the live stream on Apple on a fire TV through the web browser. So that's what a lot of people have been doing a video on my face.
Page about that.
So it's not perfect, but it's there, you know.
Yeah, like I said, I Michigan, hopefully it'll come to But funny thing is, you guys were the first ones to broadcast in HD when you did the Rose Parade way back when.
I know, the first and the first and HD. But then you know, it's one of these things. Believe me, I'm in I'm in the office every day asking so I am. I am always like when are we? When are we going to be on? Because that's I get the most emails every single It used to be the number one email I got was what cell phone do I get? And now it's when is KTLA going to be on the streaming services? And I really don't have an answer. I ask every day and I don't think
that anyone's going to know until it happens. So all right, Michael, thanks so much for calling in. Enjoy that direct TV now, thank you, all right, have a good day. Uh, there you have it. Three one zero five nine four three zero zero three. So Jill says on that line, which antenna to get? And I'm actually going to do a segment on these. But the one that I like the best, and I feel like I've mentioned this before is the Moho Leaf Glide. So the Mohu Leaf is pretty simple.
That's a really cheap one. I think it starts at like forty bucks. But the Glide is going to give you a better, better signal for sure, but it's gonna be a little bit more expensive. You're talking ninety dollars. Now, that's expensive. But let me just see how much it is on Amazon. I'm curious. Maybe it's the same price, maybe it's a little cheaper. The Glide is eighty seven eighty seven bucks, and let me just see how much
the leaf is. The Mohu Leaf is eighteen bucks. If you want to get the premium on just just look at Mohumhu and see what antennas they have. They all their antennas are really phenomenal. They just really are. They do a really nice job, and they kind of are inside your house as well.
All right, let's see who else do we have here.
Duke looks like he's back to the question of the Samsung S eight versus the Note eight. I think that they're basically the same when it comes to the camera. The Say Plus supposedly it's a little bit better due to the memory and the software, but the Note eight kind of has the same camera setup. So if you want the big phone with the stylist, go at the essay. I think that's gonna work. Colin says, Oh, Michael says, I forgot to mention we can't get any signal in Seemi Valley.
Oh well, then that's a problem.
You're gonna yeah, that's this. Someone's got to come up with a solution for this whole KTLA thing not being on. Colin says, I worked on test shoots with four K cameras about twelve years ago.
It will probably be another six to twelve.
Years before everything is broadcasted in four K. Wow, so that's a yeah, six to twelve years, So I would agree. I bet you it's probably gonna be at least five years before four K takes off on the broadcast level three one zero five.
Nine four three zero zero three. So I'm going green.
By the way, with my iPad here, I'm trying to I usually print out all the stories I want to talk about, but this time I put them all on my iPad so I can not have to waste all this paper. So let's see which one that I want to talk about next. Let's talk about Netflix. So Netflix, this is an interesting little study. I guess. They revealed some data to journalists and at recode they talked about
people watching Netflix. So and this is not really it's not stuff that you wouldn't think basically, it's kind of a no brainer. But basically what they're saying is most people sign up for Netflix from their computer, Okay forty percent of sign ups, and then the phone is thirty percent. But guess where they end up watching Netflix the most?
Their TV?
Seventy percent of streams end up on connected TVs instead of phones, tablets, or PCs.
And why is this interesting? Well, it's interesting.
Because the whole point of Netflix and all these kind of services that work everywhere on all your devices is that at the end of the day, people are still sitting down on their couch in their living room and they're watching Netflix on the best screen in the house. So seventy percent of Netflix is consumed on TV screens.
And you might find that kind of interesting.
With all the people out there with smartphones and tablets and travelers and this and that and all to talk about having TV everywhere, at the end of the day, people still just want their TV on their TV, even with Netflix, where you can watch on literally anything. Now, do I think it's awesome that you can use Netflix everywhere? Yes, And that's part of the reason why I cut the cord. It wasn't about the money I was paying to Direct TV and before that at and T, but it was
really about the flexibility of my signal. I can watch direct TV now from anywhere I want, and that is what I think is really cool about it. And I think that's cool about all the services like Sling TV and YouTube TV, is that you get TV on your terms. And that's really kind of what's going on here, and it's kind of funny. The ironic part is that most people are just watching Netflix on their regular TV. Let
me talk about this. This is another thing related to Netflix, they have more parntal controls now, so they basically made it so that you can control what your kids are watching on the TV. Now here's the deal. Netflix is not very good when it comes to all these printal controls. I feel like they're just stumbling their way through, like all their growth, but they are realizing that parents want a little bit more control. I did a blog post about how I wanted to turn off auto play for
the next episode for my kids. I turned it off from my account because it gives me so much stress when I don't binge watch. So I'm sitting there watching a show and next thing you know, it's like counting down ten seconds, and I feel like the time for between shows has gotten so short. It's like it used to be like thirty seconds. Now it's like eight seconds before the next one just starts playing. I don't want that.
I guess I'm in the minority here because a lot of you commented on my Facebook page that you know you like that, so you can binge watch stuff I don't personally, so I figured out how to turn it off for myself. Then when I went to look for my kids, I was like, this is not very easy. So it took me a little slew thing, but I figured it out. And the deal is, I wrote the whole.
I wrote the whole like blog post. But the bottom line is you basically have to go into your profiles, edit them, turn off your kids profile so it basically becomes an adult profile for a little bit, go into their account, turn off auto play, and then turn it back into a kid's profile.
I know, who lots of work to do that.
Netflix, Come on, we got to have like a master thing where I can change all the profiles. One other thing they added that's kind of cool too with the pin is that you can now block specific titles. So for a long time, I would not let my kid watch SpongeBob. That's all he wanted to watch, even as like a two year old, and I was like, no, you're not watching this. I don't even know anything about this show. So I want to make sure that this show is okay. Well, now, but every time you'd see
it on Netflix, you click it. Well, now you can go in and take certain titles out, so it will literally not let your kid play those titles. And one more thing, and this I think is actually brilliant on Netflix's part. They are now showing you the rating of a program when you press the play button. So that means that, like every time my kids were watching like a new show on Netflix, I'm like, what is this show?
How'd you find it?
What's the rating on it? And I have to go back like eight screens to find the rating. Now, when you press the play button, it will show you the rating right off the bat. And now it doesn't say exactly if like you pause the show and you press play again, if it shows the rating again. I hope that's how they did it, because that would make it
much easier for parents and say, hey, let me see something. Pause, see the rating, press play and the rating comes up, and then you can let their kids be on their merry way. So yeah, there you go. Three one zero five nine four three zero zero three. Don't be shy three one zero five to nine four three zero zero three. If you have a question for me, go ahead and let me know what your question is. And Nicole says, that has been there for at least the past two years.
I've had a pin up my kids stuff for the last two years. Yes, that is true, has been there, but now they give you much more finer control with that pin, so you can actually, you know, like I said, do the blocking of specific shows, and you can also block certain maturity levels which you couldn't do before. So yes, the pin has been there, but they did do some
more work with that as well. Let's see here, Mel says, do you know if there's gonna be anything with our technology that promotes youth to go to their local libraries and pick up a book?
You know, that's a that's a good question.
I mean do they have to? I don't know. I mean, I'm all into technology and I still love my books, So I think that really comes down to personal preference. Now, with kids and the Internet and Wikipedia and all that good stuff, do they need to go to the library to do as much research?
I don't know, but that's a good question.
I mean it's I think that we've been in this technology stuff for so short right now that we don't know what the effect is, and I think that's all kind of evolving.
Six sund with Rich.
Hi, Rich, this is Laura calling from Pasadena.
Hey Laura, how are you doing good?
How are you?
I'm doing great? What's on your mind?
Watch you every day?
Thank you?
Because I went to take advantage of the new battery for the iPhone the offer, and my existing battery was at eighty percent and they said it was time to replace it.
Is that true?
I mean it's well, what phone do you have?
Six s?
Okay, you have the success I would probably replace it. I mean, eighty percent is actually pretty good for a phone that's you know, you're talking what three to two and a half two years old? Two and a half years old?
Yees?
Two years old?
So two years old. I mean I don't think you.
I don't think it's a Have you noticed that your phone's slowing down a lot?
It did slow It was slowing down.
Yes, Okay, here's the thing. You could do two things.
So there's gonna be an update for for iOS coming out in the next type probably say six months, if not earlier, iOS eleven point three. That's going to give you the ability to turn off the slowdown on your iPhone, so even though your battery has been degrading. And this whole thing for people that are listening is that Apple said, look, we know that batteries go bad over the years, So what we want to do is we kind of throttle
your phone back a little bit. So that the battery doesn't shut off the phone unexpectedly, or you don't get an unexpected restart, or apps don't crash, So we slow your phone down just a little bit because we want
to make sure the battery can handle that speed. So what they're saying is in the next version of iOS, they're going to give that option to the user to say, you know what, I'll deal with the occasional crash, the occasional app not working, but I'd rather have my full speed phone even if my battery is kind of degraded. So you can wait for that and kind of go through that. But it's I mean, how.
Much do they ask you for the battery to be replaced?
Thirty bucks?
Yeah, thirty bucks.
Yeah. So if you just want to do it, because this is a time where you know, they don't usually offer that. Usually it's eighty dollars to do this, and you have the thirty dollars and it makes you feel better, then maybe do it and you you will see an improvement in your phone.
But again, you could wait for that software too.
Okay, thanks a lot. I appreciate it, all.
Right, Laura, that's good word.
Okay, thank you so much.
Thanks for watching.
I appreciate it all right.
Uh five oh nine.
You're on with Rich.
Hi, Rich, This is Glenda.
Glenda, what's going on?
Where are you calling from Washington? Oh? My gosh, I used to live up in Yakama.
I know.
Oh okay, what's going on?
So we ordered my husband ordered the Galaxy S nine plus. Okay, so work, I'm excited to get it.
Oh you're gonna love it?
Really, no, I think.
So what do you want right now?
The S eight plus?
Oh wow, so you're you're already doing the upgrade.
That's a You've got a great husband.
That's like, uh, well I didn't get anything for Valentine's Day and our anniversary, our seventeen anniversary is coming up.
So okay, well that's a good gift I have that. That's uh, that's a quick upgrade. Now what are you gonna do with the old phone? You're trading it in?
What's happening with that?
Trading in?
Okay?
So trading it in? So what can I help you with?
So are there anything that you can tell me that is going to be more than the S eight plus? And then what cases do you recommend?
Okay? So the S eight plus versus the S nine plus. You're gonna you're not going to see a huge difference. You're gonna you're gonna be like, Okay, this is great. Obviously, the software is going to be newer. You have a new, you know, new version of Android on there. The you know, everything got kind of a little tiny makeover with the soft for you know this little refinements here and there. The camera has been improved with the software and some
of the extra processing they do on it. So this camera's going to take more pictures, especially in low light, and it's gonna make them look better. So your low light pictures, you're definitely gonna notice a difference. You're also gonna notice they added this gets a little bit crazy, but in low light it lets a lot more it lets a lot more light in, and so that's something they've added as well. And then they've also added new dual speakers, so you're gonna have stereo sound for the
first time through your phone. So it's gonna just sound better, louder, clear, But the screen's gonna look great.
It's gonna kind of be similar to what you have. The other thing.
I think you're gonna notice that you're really gonna like is the the fingerprint reader is in a much easier to access place. And I'm sure if you've been using the say Plus over the past year, you've kind of gotten used to where the fingerprint reader is. But I think you're gonna realize that this is in a much better place and it's going to be so much easier to sort of unlock. So I think you're really gonna like it. And I think that it's a it's I mean,
it's one of the best Android phones out there. There's not really a better Android phone. The pixel might take better pictures in certain circumstances, but I think overall, this is probably this is the device I'll be recommending most to people that want the best Android device out there. So you did a good job. The other thing is you asked about a case, So.
It's tough. I think a case is a very personal thing.
Do do you want something that offers a lot of protection on the phone or something that looks good or something.
That's thin, protection and fashion?
Okay, protection and fashion. So I'll tell you the number one selling case in the world is this one. It's a let's see, it's like the gosh, it's the cell iris like sparkle case, which I think you've probably seen a lot of people have. I'm trying to find it, but it's just the funny. It's like literally the it's the case that has like the liquid in the back
with the little sparkles and I'm trying to find a picture. Okay, but that's like I went into the Verizon store when I was doing a segment with them, and I said, Hey, what's the top selling you know case overall, And that's the one. They said, let's see. I'm just there we go. Casemate. That's it, Casemate sparkle case. Oh there it is, Okay, let me show you guys on the live stream. So this is it. This is the top selling case in America. Basically, this is it. So it's got like the liquid in
the back and the little sparkles that move around. It's called the Casemate. I don't know if they say with the like specific name, but there's a rhinestone version and then there's a sparkle version. But those are the ones that people love. Yeah, it's a glitter in the back, someone's saying on the live chat. Now, my personal favorite case overall is this case, which is the spec Presidio grip and this case I think is just fantastic. So
it's a it's been they've been making it forever. Speck kind of made their brand name on this case, and it's just it's the most standard case they make. It's got these great grips. You will never drop your phone with this case on it. But it's it's bulky. It's gotten less bulky because they made it about twenty percent thinner this time around. But it's a big case. But I think that's the case. If I was getting a case for the SS nine plus, that's the case I
would get because I really like it. And it comes to a bunch of different colors you can get. You don't have to get black like I would get. You can get some other more fun colors as well. But those are my two. The other cases I would look at are Tech twenty one. I really like that brand. I think they make some really fantastic cases and that's kind of my picks that I have now.
Yeah, Tech twenty one.
Yeah, I mean if you like that, I mean, what do you think of that one?
I've had it for a little almost well quite a year, and I haven't changed cases. My other one I had, I had like, oh.
Wow, you're you're as bad as me.
I'm like changing cases every day now if if you really want to get crazy now and don't. I don't recommend this for most people, but this is my One of my favorite cases is called Peel, and this is.
Basically super duper thin.
It's like almost like putting a like plastic wrap on your phone, that's how thin it is. It's just a tiny sleeve you put on there and it only prevents scratches on your phone, like when you put it on the table or something like that. Yeah, that's uh, that's a really thin case. I always buy one of those from my phones because they look they do not protect your phone at all. But I'm just telling you about
different cases. Peel is one of my favorites as well, and a lot of people are chiming in on on the the chat saying about all the cases they like, and Peter says, or there's some super cheap but good cases out there. Yes, the one that I always order that's super cheap is Speagan uh S P I G E N. And those you can get on Amazon for like less than ten bucks, and they're they're pretty cheap, but they're good. They're good quality, so I like those as well.
So does that answer your question, Glinda?
It definitely does.
All right.
And by the way, if you will what's.
That, I'll be able to watch this act so I can look at what cases you recommended.
Yes, absolutely, this will be once the show is over. There's like a live replay. You can watch that or you can download the podcast, subscribe in your podcasting app and you can listen that way.
So either way, all right, all right, thanks so much for calling in.
Appreciate it. Enjoy the new phone.
All right, thank you so much.
Bye bye. All right, six sixth one, you're on with Rich sixty sixth one. You're on with Rich.
Hello, Oh who's this?
This is Ah. This is Triman Travis. What's up, Travis. I'm fantastic. Where are you calling from?
Quartz Hill?
Quartz Hill?
Okay, I'd be lying if I said I know where that is, but I assume that's somewhere in Los Angeles. Rights, Lancaster, Okay, got it, Lancaster.
All right, awesome, So what's what question?
Is your mom? Your mom is too embarrassed to go on the live show, so you're calling in for I love it. Okay, she's driving. Okay, well, in that case, I love it even more because she's being safe and that is smart, so awesome. So what what's the question?
Her question is she's trying to divorce our cable company, and she was wondering, what's.
Our best options for an internet provider? Oh, what's the best option for internet? Now you're in Lancaster, you probably don't have that many options. That's the problem, and that's the problem for pretty much everyone in America.
Is that we usually have one to two choices.
For internet in our homes and our apartments as are sometimes even worse, sometimes you only have one choice.
So that's the problem. Who do you have right now?
Yes, Spectrum? Okay?
And what don't you like about Spectrum?
Are you trying to get rid of cable or cable internet or both? Pretty much?
Yeah?
Pretty much everything?
Yeah, they are getting expensive. Here's the thing. Okay, So the website, I recommend you got to look up this website to see what's available in your area.
Okay, So that's the first thing you have to do.
And the website is called all connect dot com A L L C O N N E C T Allconnect dot com You pop in your address and it will tell you all the providers that are in your area, or most of them. It's not always perfect, but most of the time it gets it right. So that's the main thing you have to do. And then you're going to find that you probably only have a choice of either the internet, the cable company, or the T or the phone company.
And you know, if the.
Phone company is good, if it's decent, if it's AT and T or something or FiOS, that's probably better. But with Spectrum, you're probably that's probably gonna be your best bet. You just have to figure out when you cancel cable with them, they're gonna be they're gonna.
Want to charge you more for your Internet. That's really how it works.
So that's.
How much are they asking for?
Uh?
They won eighty dollars for just the internet service?
Yeah, that's a lot.
That's that's eighty bucks a month is a lot for just internet. Now, I will say their average, if you're not on a promotion, is about sixty a month. So I would say, here's what you need to do with with Spectrum. Have you called and asked for the Have you called and said I want to cancel I get.
I did, Yes, I did.
But that's what they said.
If you want to cancel, cancel because the thing is that we used to be the other cable company. What Time Warner.
Yeah, it's done.
How they have me underd Time Warner Expectrum and my rate right now with them just for TV and cables one hundred and fifty dollars.
Let's stop, right, that's all great, that's a lot. Yeah. Boy.
I called them and I say, hey, I need to cancel this. It's not working for me. You know, it's too much money. So they said, if I want to cancel a kind cable, they will charge me eighty dollars for you.
Okay, yeah, Internet, Yes, and that is true. They will do that. But here's the deal. Did you ever get transferred to a different department. No, okay, so that's what you need to do. So I just did this. I just went through this with my mom and she was doing the same thing. I called up the first time and they said, yeah, just you're gonna pay eighty bucks a month whatever it was ninety dollars a month, and
I said, okay, well then we'd like to cancel. And that's when they transfer you to the person that can actually cut you a deal. So that's my recommendation is to call in again and you can either ask directly for the re tension department or you can say, Hi, I'd like to cancel my service. Can you please transfer me to the operator. The normal operators that are answering are not the people that cancel your service. They want to give you one last deal before you go, So
that's what you need to do. And yeah, ask for the retention department, and I think you're going to get a better deal.
Aim for that sixty.
Dollars a month factor if you get If you can get fifty, that'd be amazing. But really you're probably gonna end up paying about sixty bucks a month for internet. That's that's kind of the going rate these cable companies. And thanks so much for the call. These cable companies are realizing that people are cutting the cord. So what do you think They're not going to sort of say, oh, no problem, we're gonna let you cut the cord and
you know, no big deal. No, they really want to make sure that they're getting their money's worth out of you. So if you cut the cord for cable, they're just going to charge you a little bit more for the internet three one zero five nine four three zero zero three. And by the way, I'm in that same boat right now. I've got I was paying about forty five a month for my spectrum and now it's gone up to sixty. And the first person I call was like, yeah, that's
just the deal. You can't get another deal. So I'm gonna keep calling back until I do. Well, we'll get it in there one of these days, let's see, uh before I take well, I'll take one more call before the show ends because we've been on for man how long we've been on? Oh fifty minutes? Okay, but let me just talk about Zagit really quick. It was a
gat whatever you want to call it. But you know, this was a brand that when I came to LA for the first time, zagit was like it you when you went to a restaurant you checked the zagut rating, right, I mean, you just knew it had those three ratings.
It was like out of thirty.
It was like, you know, service decor I forget what the three things work. But it was like, you know those three little terms.
One was service, one.
Was food, and I forget what the other one was Ambiance maybe, but that company, you know, as we got Yelp in the Internet, they kind of got you know, passed over. And then Google bought them back in twenty eleven and one hundred and fifty one million dollars, and they thought, oh, this is gonna be great. They're gonna bring zagit into the digital age. Of course you have Google Maps, you can mix it in. They did all
that stuff. Nothing happened. Is no one talks about zagut ratings anymore, sadly, because I still think they're really fun. Like I always loved them. I love the way they wrote them. I always loved everything about them. Well, now Google is selling it, is selling it. I don't know how much they sold it for.
It doesn't really say.
But they passed it on to a new owner, an upstart restaurant review company called The Infatuation. And they said they were very excited about this because zagit was started in nineteen seventy nine as a kind of a way to help friends find the best restaurants, and similarly, the Infatuation was built in two thousand and nine to help people find the best restaurants.
So now they're going to own them. It's called the Infatuation.
Let's see what their website looks like, because I've never heard of that, the infatuation. So here's the thing that's kind of annoying though, is that the infatuation is gonna run zagit separately. So that's kind of weird. It's like, why can't you just run it, like, let's mix this up, let's get it. Okay, So here's the article on it that they're getting zagat So maybe it's a gap, I don't know, but anyway, let's just find Let's see if I put in Los Angeles, let's see what this says
for the restaurants. Okay, so it's got the greatest hits list. Oh you guys, sorry, I forgot to switch this thing. The best new restaurants in Los Angeles, the best sushi and rest the best sushi. Let's see the best sushi is thirty one. Best sushi places, let's see everyday sushi kiro. Interesting. I'm definitely not a sushi aficionado, so I don't really know. I know, like one sushi place and that's it.
But this is interesting. Okay, So they do kind of like.
A rating as well, eight point four. But we'll see. So I don't know. I'm I have a lot of nostalgia for Zagit because I always had the book and I would always look up restaurants and that was the way to go to restaurants in Los Angeles for so many years. And it just you know, now it's it's totally kind of gone down. Back to our last conversation, Irwin says, I called Spectrum last week and I asked for the retention department and they cut my bill down to twenty dollars less a month. Look at that.
Whoo Because we talked about it.
On the last podcast, which was two weeks ago, and I talked about the retention department and yeah, that's what everyone's That's what everyone did. So that's awesome.
Let's see here, what else do we have we've got?
Oh, Grace says, I was able to lower my Spectrum Internet down to fifty two a month, all right, so there's hope. So it looks like fifty two is good, okay, And Anastasia, I'm jumping around a lot today. Anastasia says, I never checked that rating. Always look at yelp. Now I know we all look at YELP. Let me give you my little way, I search Yelp because I do
it a little bit differently than everyone else. So when I'm in an area, I go to Yelp and I search, you know, restaurants, and then I do so sort by most reviewed.
So the most.
Reviewed restaurant basically gives you, kind of, wherever you are, the restaurant that the most people are going to. It's not always the best or the finest, or the most expensive or the best food, but it kind of usually is known for something. So if you're it's just kind of a fun thing I do because I'm in that area, I want to know the restaurant that everyone's sort of going to. But I will tell you one time this
kind of backfired on me. I was doing a sometimes I fill in for Leo Laporte, the tech guy, on his show, his syndicated radio show, which I'll be doing, by the way in April. But I was up there in Sonoma County. I think it's Sonoma. Petaluma is where they do it. I think it's Sonoma County. And of course I looked at Yelp to I was there for you know, the two nights I do the show, and I wanted to find a good restaurant, and so I looked in the first restaurant that came up with some
random place. It's called Garlic Joe's or something like that, whatever it was. I'm like, I'm not going there. And I realized after I left, because it had like three thousand ratings everything else had like, you know, a hundre or two hundred. I realized that the restaurant is the Guy Fierre restaurant. And so I was like, Oh, it didn't hit me till like six months later that it's I've let's see what's what's his restaurant called Guy Fiery And uh, let's see Garlic Garlic.
Uh, I don't.
I don't know. Maybe he did, Maybe he doesn't have Johnny Garlics. Oh he ditched it. Never mind, I guess he Uh, I guess he's out. Okay, he's out at Johnny Garlics and text with Sabby, So I guess he's not an owner anymore. But anyway, I had a lot of reviews and I didn't end up going to it. But uh, that's I guess that's why. Anyway. So that's my point is that's the way I like to search yelp. It's just kind of fun. I mean, everyone has a different way of searching yelp. But yeah, all right, let's
get some comments before. Lorraine says, when are you filling in for Leo? I think it's public knowledge because someone texted me, tweeted me about it, and I guess he must have mentioned it on his show.
But it's gonna be the uh, it's gonna be the end of April.
I'll be up there so I'll have more details when when I can share them. I guess when I know I can share them. I hope I didn't, and let's see. Michael Moffett says, I look for the most reviewed, realizing that people will go out of their way to complain if they've had a bad experience, then those who will rave That is very true.
Uh.
Darryl says, great show, Thank you, Daryl.
Uh Dushawn says, Rich You're awesome, love your tips. Thank you, and uh Leo Laporte, Yeah, you guys.
I did this once before.
I feel actually I filled in for him twice, once on the local level here just for KFI, and then once up at the national level for a syndicated show. And then they asked me back.
So I was that was nice?
Right?
All right, let's take one more call here six six one, you're on with Rich.
Hey Rich from Davy?
Hey, Greg, what's up?
Not much? How are you doing?
I was wondering if I was going to go a whole show without one of my regulars calling in.
I guess I'm the last call.
You are the last call? What's up today?
Kind of problem with my iPhone ever since the last update. You know, when you go into settings and then general, there's been this one. You know how it as if there's an update. It's that there's a one in a red circle. Yes, yes, and I go to software update, but then it says, you know your software is up to date, but that one, you know, the the one is still there.
Yes, okay, I've.
Shut it down, I've did a soft reset, but it's still there.
Okay.
It's something to do with the This is funny.
This actually happened to my my father in law. He was going crazy over it. And basically you have to go there's like, you know how they have like those little settings on iPhone where it's like finished setting up your phone and all this stuff. Yeah, one of those is hanging somehow. So I would go back in and just kind of go through all those menus where basically you click your Apple I D you can go into
your General and kind of look at software update. Let it go through there, and I think the main one you want to go to is your your Apple I D one at the top and kind of see because it's trying there's something that like usually when you change your like your Apple pay or something like that, they want you to like finish something.
So there's something that's.
Hung in there that where where's the I get that It's on your General settings, right, Yeah, And so when you go in there, there's nothing, nothing's highlighted in there at all. No.
Well, you know how when you go into general, there's about and then software update right right, That's that's where the one is. And then when I go into there, it just says my software is up to date. But then when I go back the one is still there.
Interesting, Yeah, it's definitely hung. That's uh, it's kind of a it's like a little ghost setting right there.
That's a hmm.
What if you now you've did a off reset on your phone, Well, do.
You know how you like push the power button, then hold down the the home button. That's all I did. That was gonna ask if I did a reset, would that erase all my settings?
Or there's there's one reset that you can try that will not mess up a lot of things, and that's your your your Let's see here, let me go into the reset. There's a couple Okay, so when you go into your iPhone, there's a couple of reset options. There's reset all settings, erase all content in settings, and then reset network settings. So the two the one that you can try first is reset network Settings. But keep in mind that's going to delete all your Wi Fi passwords
and all your Bluetooth connections. So you can try that if you want. I mean, I've done that before. It's just kind of a way to reset your phone for the network. Reset all settings, which I don't want to proceed too far because I don't really know how much that's gonna do. But the one that you really want to stay away from as the erase all content and settings,
because that one wipes your entire phone. Reset all Settings, I think just brings your phone kind of back to back to kind of let me just see reset all settings iPhone. So Yeah, this will reset let's see, keeps your apps and data, but resets your personal preferences and network settings. So you can try that. I think that that's not going to be as bad, but it might
help you. Now, have you tried just closing out that app, like where you take the settings app and you sort of close it out by what iPhone?
Do you have the eight or the ten?
No?
The six? Ass?
Okay?
Success, So just double click you know, your home button and then you know, you just wipe away the settings and that doesn't get get rid of it either, just get it No until there and so if you go into okay, here's what I want you to go into. I think it's an Apple Pay thing. That's that's my thought. Do you have Apple Pay on this.
No, I've never set it up, never used it.
See, I think they want you to set up Apple Pay. So go into your settings and where it says wallet and Apple Pay. Click there, yeah, and what.
Happens, Uh, there's a Apple pay cash that's off at credit or debit card and double click home button allow excess.
So now go back and is it still there?
Yeah?
Interesting and under your Okay, So now go into your Apple ID and under the name, phone numbers, and email. Try that one as well. There's a lot of information on here. That's a you've stumped me, that's a that's a great How do you always have the oddest problems? That's a that's a that's a stumper right there.
I don't know, that's uh.
I mean, if it's not doing it with a restart, I would think you might want to try those two settings to reset things before you do the reset of the you know, the main reason, not the full reset, but the reset your settings. I would just kind of look at that and see what the deal is with you know, like just kind of research a little bit. But I think you'll be okay. You'll just have to kind of like set up a couple of things here
and there. But I think that's what it needs to run through, that flow of the setup of the phone, because it's obviously hung on something and it's a weird one, okay, Steven says on his mom's phone, it was because she ran out of iCloud backup space, so that could happen.
Are you are you using iCloud?
No.
I usually just connect my phone to the computer and download my pictures through there.
Interesting Yeah, that's weird.
I know. My it's funny because my father in law had the same problem and I did like two steps and I got rid of it, and he was like, oh my gosh, I've been looking at this thing forever.
But it had to do with his on Apple pay.
So I don't know. But all right, Greg, let me know next week what happens with that if you can figure it out. If those two settings will help clear it out.
Okay, okay, we'll do all right, Greg.
Thanks, keep things going there in the AE or A A V A V Y A E. I just combined, I combine the Antelope Valley and the Inland Valley Empire.
Yes, all right, have a good day, Greg.
All right, you do you know, folks, it's a live show. If I want to combine Antalope Valley and Inland Empire into the A V. There you have it or the AE I don't even know what I called it. That's gonna do it for today's show. Thanks so much for listening Rich on tech dot tv if you want to subscribe to the podcast, so again, if you're watching on the Facebook Live, I will post this as a podcast on the weekends that you can listen to in your
car wherever you want. It'll be an audio file. So if you search in your podcast app on your iPhone, just search rich on Tech, hit that subscribe button. You will then get my daily tech updates, which are about five minutes each on a different topic every and then on the weekends you'll get this show, which has the Q and as, so every day of the week you can listen to rich on Tech. I mean, how fantastic is that? But the best thing you can do, and
you can subscribe in any podcast app. If you're on Android, I like an app called pocket Casts. If you're on iPhone there's one called Overcast, which is really cool, or you can just use their podcast app. Stitcher also works as well. Again, you can go to richon tech, dot tv, slash podcast for the link, or just search rich on Tech. And the best thing you can do if you like this show is to give me that thumbs up, press that share button.
On Facebook because that'll get.
More people to see it, and of course comment because Facebook knows that you know, you guys are all watching and annoying it.
Thanks so much for listening.
That's it.
That's gonna do it. For this episode, I will see you guys next time. Gobye