On Wednesday, February 20th, I answered YOUR tech questions LIVE on the TODAY Show! In case you missed the segment, you can check out the video above, or my more detailed answered below!
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Question #1 – What Is The Easiest Way To Stream Content On My TV? (Daniel – NYC)
Answer:
Viewing content form the web on your TV really opens up a whole new world of viewing options. If you don’t already have a smart TV, there are a lot of options. You can use different devices like Apple TV, a Roku box, most blu-ray players, your computer, or even gaming systems like the Xbox 360 or Nintendo’s Wii U. The question is what is the right option for you. Id suggest if you are an Apple household and have a lot of content on your apple devices you would really like the Apple TV option because it can also do some neat features beyond streaming like mirroring whats on your Mac, iPhone or iPad wirelessly on your tv. Imagine showing family photos or video from your iPad to your TV without wires.
Cost: $99 from Apple.com
For non Apple households Id take a look at Roku, I love this little box. Best of all its easy to setup, just connect to your tv and then connect to your home network. It comes with its own remote and will get you access to all types of content. over 150,000 movies and shows & over 700 channels, instantly available, form streaming companies like Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle. Plus you can use their app to put your photos on the tv as well.
Starts at $49 from Amazon, Best Buy, and Roku.com
Question #2 – I Have About 3000 Pictures, Most In Albums, But Would Like To Put Them On A USB Stick. Is There A Quick And Easy Scanner That Can Do This? (Roy – Detroit, MI)
Answer: A great question. We all have tons of photos printed and in albums or worse in shoeboxes. Trapped in those cardboard containers are snapshots from family reunions, birthday parties, weddings, vacations, and, sometimes most importantly, the simple moments in life. The best way to protect those family memories and keep them for generations to come is to digitize them . This also protects old photos from fading and damage. 3,000 is A LOT of photos so id recommend 2 things:
1. A scanner that can scan multiple images at once- $132.00 Canon – CanoScan 5600F Flatbed Color Scanner– The great thing is, you can scan more than one picture at a time and it’s smart enough to create separate files for each picture on the glass. One downside, the size of this scanner is a little large so you’ll need to give up some room on your desk.
2. If you don’t want to spend the money on a scanner then you could take them to a store like a Walgreens, Walmart etc where you can scan images at their location and have them put on a dvd for you.
3. BEWARE: there are services where you can ship your photos to them and let them do all the work BUT you absolutely need to make sure they are top notch before sending off your only copies. Maybe send a small test run first to see how it goes.
Question #3 – What Can I Do To Preserve All The Videos I Have Recorded On My iPhone? (Ron – Dover, DE)
Answer:
You have a few options: the best way is to backup the videos to a computer, this way you’ll have them archived and you’ll be able to use software to edit them as well. You need to connect your iPhone to your computer with its usb cable.
The process for backing up is different depending on what type of computer you have:
If you have a Mac:
1. Once connected, open the iPhoto software
2. Click on your iPhone device and choose the videos you want to import and it will back up to your iPhoto folder
(note to self—some people may think iCloud is a solid option but to me that is not the best option for backing up video especially if the videos saved in your device’s Camera Roll regularly exceed 1 GB in size or you tend to have very large backups)
If you have a windows computer:
1. Connect your phone to your windows computer
2. A pop up box should appear asking you to click if you want to “Import Pictures and Videos using Windows”
Question #4 – Do I Really Need Antivirus Software For My Mac? (Dan – Savage, MN)
Answer: This is one of those questions that regularly comes up. Part of the reason for getting a Mac by many people is that they don’t get hit with viruses like windows computers do. But I always feel horrible telling people you don’t need virus protection. I checked in with my Apple expert Dana of MacMedics because he’s repairing macs all the time and agree that a virus program called Intego Virus Barrier will do the trick. Its efficient and effective.
Cost: about $40 (intego.com)