Hands down thee days, the most popular apps out there are messaging apps. And why not? Messaging is cheaper, faster and more efficient than regular text and because of that, new and more powerful apps are headed toward your smartphone.
Streaming media delivers a lot more choice and flexibility when it comes to consuming content, but it’s also creating a ton of media hype and confusion.
So says Dan Rayburn, executive vice president of StreamingMedia.com and principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan, on this week’s PC Mike Podcast.
“The thing we’re seeing in the market is that consumers have more choice and more flexibility with how they want to watch their content,” Rayburn says. “That being said, it’s still a very fragmented market.”
Rayburn says the availability of so many devices (Google Chromecast vs. Roku, for example), each seemingly delivering different kinds of content and services like Netflix – not to mention varying levels of quality – can leave consumers’ heads spinning, and often not getting what they want.
Add in other factors, such as media hype over the notion that traditional cable service is going to soon disappear, and things aren’t any easier to figure out.
On this episode of the PC Mike podcast, however, Rayburn helps put things in perspective for the burgeoning streaming media industry, providing great insider insight from the business side of things and how consumers could be affected as well as guidance on what questions you should ask yourself when it comes to your own content needs. Specifically, Rayburn addresses:
The idea behind Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player is enticing – broadcast to your HDTV whatever you would watch on your smartphone or tablet, from Netflix and Hulu to movies, music, and photos stored on your computer. After six months of frustration with it, however, I know for sure of just about one thing it can do without issue: fly fast across the room.
Steve Weisman – one of America’s foremost experts on cybersecurity and online scams – says hacking isn’t as bad as you think — it’s worse.
That’s just one of the foreboding comments from Weisman on PC Mike Podcast 006, where he was our featured guest in light of all the recent hacking incidents making news, including just this week when U.S. Military’s Central Command was allegedly cyber attacked.
The biggest problem?
“The Internet wasn’t really created with security in mind,” Weisman tells PC Mike.
Weisman is a lawyer, college professor at Bentley University, and among the country’s leading experts on scams and identity theft. He has written several books relating to scams and identify theft and is a columnist for USA Today. Also, he is the founder of Scamicide.com, a website dedicated to informing the public about the dangers of scams and providing the public with the latest information about this important topic.
Attorney and cyber expert Steve Weisman
In the interview, we learn how the government and business try to keep you from knowing how bad the problem has become and what you can do to protect yourself. Also, you will hear Weisman address:
– Startling revelations about hacks much more frightening than the Sony hack
– How credit card companies cover up the extent of their vulnerabilities
– How it is safer to use a credit card online than to give it to a retail sales person, waiter or waitress
– How the IRS loses billions annually in an easily fixable scam
– How 100 or so computer geniuses around the world are behind so much chaos
– If the kinds of technology you use can make a difference (credit card vs. debit, Mac vs. PC)
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The one thing we all use our computers for is word processing. But don’t think Microsoft Word is the final word on this. I’ve been trying out several alternate word processors and am delighted by what I am finding. You may not want to ditch Word just yet, but if you have some specialized writing needs, I just may have a better solution.
Robots and powerful sensors are everywhere. And they are able to track your every move, measure your every action. That’s probably the biggest development we’ve seen from the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where we learned that drones — soon to be a billion dollar a year industry — as well as robotic cars and wearable tech gizmos that monitor and track your body movements are about to become hot personal technology trends.
With the new year comes a new emphasis on getting organized and keeping track of our finances. If that’s one of your goals for 2015, I can help with some very handy apps.
