Podcast

PCM004 Podcast: Why Apple Watch Will Flop and Other Tech Predictions for 2015

It’s a new year and in this New Year Episode of the PC Mike podcast, I preview the tech trends that will be shaping 2015, from Apple Watch to the apps that can help us keep our new year resolutions when it comes to losing weight and getting in shape. Plus, I have a really nifty dashboard camera you may want to install in your vehicle to document your drives.

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Shownotes for Episode 004

Tech News of the Week

The Apple Watch will be the big product of the year. It is expected to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2015. I share why I think Apple Watch will be a flop, except for the most rabid of Apple fanboys and fangirls willing to shell out $349 for the basic model.

I also tell why the Consumer Electronics Show has become a waster of time and money for me and why I’m staying away from Las Vegas.

Tech Review of the Week – The Dash Cam

I’m having a ball with my new dash cam, or dashboard camera.

Dash cams have been hugely popular in Europe, and especially Russia, for several years now.

I’m predicting that 2015 is going to see them really take off in the U.S., especially among RVers.

Use of a dash cam revolves on a simple concept: Documentation of your drive, be it across the United States or to the corner convenience store.

Prices online run the gamut – from cheap, no-brand dash cams that cost about $10 to more elaborate versions that run into the hundreds of dollars. Many of the cheapest seem to look almost exactly the same as the more expensive versions. Further complicating matters is the fact that there isn’t a dash cam industry-leading company. There isn’t a GoPro for vehicles, in other words. That makes it that much more important to know how you are going to use your dash cam so you can know what features to look for and how much to spend.

The best place to search and find one is Amazon. Here’s a whole page of dash cams.

The one I bought was from a company called Windsheld Witness. I bought mine for around $200 and chose a 32 GB memory card, good for about 11 hours of recording. The one I got was one of their last units. Their website says they are now sold out and temporarily not taking new orders. I bought because of a friend’s suggestion. A big feature for me in choosing the one I got is that it has a flip down video screen that can show me what the camera is seeing. The mount also can swivel the camera around, to capture video of the inside of my RV. And it also picks up and records audio.

A word about the memory card. Make sure it is a Class 10. Any other class of card may not be able to adequately capture HD video. I can pull out the card and transfer the video directly to my computer for editing. For you geeks it is H.264/MPEG4 video. It draws power from a cigarette plug.

App of the Week – Keep your Weight Loss Resolutions

I profile three apps to lose weight and get in shape – MyFitnessPal, LoseIt and Diet Assistant

Geeky Tech Trends for 2015

I interview Newstips Bulletin Editor Marty Winston, who  talks about tech trends fort 2015, including:

  • The coming networking bottleneck
  • Hardware firewalls to keep out hackers and shut you off from the outside world
  • The new wider bandwidth standards for cable TV
  • LED lighting advances for the home and for personal technology gadgets
  • Automotive tech advances for safety and convenience
  • Z-Wave and home remote control conveniences
  • More embedded chips and secure wireless authentication for credit cards
  • Increasing health monitoring through apps that integrate with electronic medical records
  • Better battery life for personal devices

Mike’s Personal Tech Goal – Mastering Evernote and Going Paperless

I want to use Evernote to totally manage my life, a great personal productivity and organizational app to keep track of documents, files, to-do lists and any file, image or report I scan into it with the the Fujitsi Scansnap IX500 scanner. Between Evernote and the scanner, I’m well on my way to being paperless.

I Need Your Help!

As we begin a new podcast like this, it’s very important to get a bunch of reviews to be able to show well in the iTunes listings. So if you can, I’d sure appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave me your rating and review.

Here’s how:

First, open up the iTunes app on your computer or mobile device. Click on Podcasts on top
> From the iTunes Podcasts page, use the “Search Store” field up at the top right corner of the page. Type in PC Mike Techcast under the Podcasts category.
> Click on the logo image of the PC Mike Techcast on the search return page
> From there, you can:

1) Subscribe

2) Choose and Click on a star (1-5) that reflects your rating. Five stars means you really like it, one star not so much.

3) Leave a written review.

Thanks to all for the kind reviews we’ve received so far. I read and appreciate every review! If you haven’t left a review please do so. I will be so grateful!

And remember, you can appear in future episodes. Ask a question or voice your comments by clicking the Leave Voicemail tab on the right side of this page here at pcmike.com. You can then use the microphone on your computer to record your question.

Thank you!

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.