Tech Blog for Mike Beeferman Computer Help New York City Brooklyn NYC

Finding Animated Gifs

3/29/2013

A short video from Tekzilla for help with finding animated gifs and transparent images with Google image search.

Yet another iOS update in what seems to be an endless string of recent iOS updates for the iPhone. This update, 6.1.3 is supposed to fix a huge security flaw that allows someone to get past the iPhone's lock screen....even when you have a passcode enabled to unlock your phone.

Connecting a Smartphone To Your Car Stereo

3/15/2013

Leo Laporte on Tech Guy Labs walks you through a few options to connect your smartphone to your car's stereo system:

Connecting a smartphone or mobile device to your car stereo is a great way to listen to music, audiobooks and podcasts while driving. There's a few ways to accomplish this.

Connecting with USB. First of all, if you have a newer car, it may actually have USB built into the stereo. This should work with most phones and iPods, and actually will allow you to access the audio on the device through the native car stereo interface. This is great because in many cases it will allow you to keep your eyes on the road instead of handling a phone while driving, which in many states is illegal.

Connecting through Auxiliary In. This has become standard in newer car stereos, allowing you to connect any device that can play audio to the stereo. This won't allow control of the device through the car stereo, but is very simple to do. Just use an 1/8" to 1/8" auxiliary cable (available at RadioShack or any electronics store) and connect it from your phone's headphone jack to the car stereo's aux input.

Connect with Bluetooth. Some cars come with bluetooth built into the stereo, and if your car has it, check the owner's manual to find out how to pair it with your phone. Like the auxiliary option, you won't have control of the phone through the stereo interface, but it does offer added convenience. It's wireless, and will connect to the stereo automatically when you get in the car. A lot of stereos have built-in mics to handle hands free phone calls as well. If the stereo doesn't have bluetooth built-in, there's also bluetooth car kits that will give you this functionality. The Belkin Bluetooth Car Hands-Free Kit and GOgroove FlexSMART X2 are a couple of great inexpensive options.

Cassette Adapter. This may sound archaic, but for older car stereos, this is still a great way to integrate your phone.

FM transmitters. This is another way to integrate your phone into an older stereo without a direct way to connect. Mileage will vary here, since it depends on whether or not there are a lot of radio stations in the area crowding the dial.

Aftermarket stereos. Of course, you could always get an entirely new head unit that has some of these modern features, and it may not cost as much as you'd think. There are great Alpine head units that start at around $100.

via Techguylabs.com

Airfoil for Mac and PC

3/14/2013

If you've been using Apple's Airplay technology on your Mac or PC to stream audio to an Airplay device (such as an AppleTV or Airport Express) then I think you'll really like Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil software. What's a little frustrating about Airplay is that Apple only allows you to stream audio from their iTunes program on your Mac. With Airfoil, you can now stream audio from ANY application on your computer: Pandora, Spotify, a radio station streaming through your web browser, etc. The software also allows you to send audio from your computer to your Apple devices, your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. I love it because I can listen to podcasts playing on my Mac on my iPhone and carry it with me from room to room as a portable speaker. Why Apple doesn't allow you to do this in the first place is a little hard to understand...I've been trying to figure out how to get this functionality on my Mac for a while and was happy to hear about Airfoil a few days ago!

The software costs $25 bucks but you can demo it for free. Be warned, though: the trial version cuts off the audio after about ten minutes. If you decide to purchase a license for the software, you can save $1 off the price by using the coupon code: BUCKOFF. For me it was $24 well spent.

CBS Releases iOS App

3/14/2013

I just read on Gizmodo that CBS has released an iOS app, so you can watch any of their shows on your iPad or iPhone. My wife will be very happy about this as the Sunday football schedule often played havoc with her DVR recordings of the Good Wife. Let's hope this trend continues with other TV content that wasn't readily available...I don't think any of us mind watching commercials as long as we can stream what we want, when we want.

Finding Animated Gifs

Yet Another iOS Update...

Connecting a Smartphone To Your Car Stereo

Airfoil for Mac and PC

CBS Releases iOS App

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