This week we're learning that Microsoft's new Outloook webmail service is actually pretty awesome, that you can watch the olympics online, in real time, for free, and that Amazon's CloudPlayer service is actually worth a look again. Also, we're answering your questions about cloud music, uTorrent, and mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.
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News and Discussion
Microsoft Outlook for the Web Is Actually Awesome
Microsoft launched its latest revision to Hotmail/Windows Live Mail and is now calling it Outlook. It's surprisingly awesome. Check out our first look.
Hulu Web Update, Comes to Apple TV
The Apple TV got a little more interesting last week when Apple added Hulu+ to its available channels. With each new service on the device, its becoming less and less of a hobby and closer to having its own app store. We've still got our fingers crossed! For those of you using Hulu on the web, the latest update brings a major face-lift that'll make watching video a more engaging experience.
Amazon CloudPlayer Updates
Amazon CloudPlayer received a nice update that provides it with iTunes Match-like features and a simple price point. Now the service will scan your iTunes or Windows Media Player library to find all your music and match any songs already existing in Amazon's library. If it can't find a song, it'll upload your copy to the service. Every account gets 250 songs stored free on Amazon's servers, and unlimited accounts cost only $25 per year. This change puts the service as a nice hybrid between iTunes Match and Google Music. If you've written it off in the past, it's worth checking out again.
Additionally, Amazon released a Prime Instant Video app for iPad that allows streaming video to your computer. Right now it's pretty limited, in the sense that you can't access Amazon's entire instant streaming library, but the app is a pretty nice start.
Overcoming #NBCFail and Watching the Olympics Online
If you're in the US, watching the Olympics hasn't exactly been a treat with NBC time-shifting the events. If you want to watch each competition when it's on, you can turn to the internet. Thorin explains a simple way to watch online in just a few minutes.
Questions and Answers
Each week we answer five questions from readers and listeners. Here's what we tackled this week.
How can I use my Android phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot?
With apps! We've got a post with details here.
How can I burn a CD and share music easily when all my music is in the cloud?
You can't, really. You need to have a hard copy. This is the primary disadvantage of the cloud. We go over the problems in more detail and offer a few pseudo-solutions in the podcast.
What is the point of the DAT files in µTorrent?
When you download a torrent with multiple files, you can choose to ignore some of them—perfect if you only want a few small files in a big torrent. However, because BitTorrent splits up groups of files into pieces, sometimes one "piece" can span two different files. The DAT files store the data that you download, but don't want. In effect, they're harmless, and you can just ignore them—when you delete the torrent from µTorrent, they'll go away.
Downloads of the Week
Each week we talk about our favorite downloads. Here are our picks for this week.
Windows: Trackpad++
If you're running Windows on your killer Mac hardware, then you've probably noticed that the trackpad isn't quite as smooth and feature-filled as it is in OS X. Trackpad++ Brings more gestures, better scrolling, and lots more to Mac trackpads in Windows 7.
OS X: Lost Photos
IChances are you've received your share of photos in your email over the years, and you've likely lost track of some of those pictures. You could scrounge through your email by looking through all your attachments, but Lost Photos is an app that does the work for you.
Android: Tasker / Tasker App Factory
If you've ever thought "I wish my Android phone would do [X] whenever [Y] happened"-for example, text your significant other whenever you leave work; silence your phone when you walk into a movie; or turn on your ringer when you wake up in the morning-Tasker makes it possible. We've mentioned Tasker before, but Alan runs down several great uses for the app that make it worth another look.
Download Tasker and Tasker App Factory
iOS: Aphex Audio Xciter
Aphex Xciter is just like your iPhone's standard music app, but it processes the signal to add clarity and richness to your music (and other audio content). It has a few limitations on how long you can use it for free, but you can upgrade for $3.
Chrome: Gmail Shortcuts
Gmail has tons of great shortcuts, but they're only as good as how often you remember to use them. Shortcuts for Gmail is a Chrome extension that will let you know every time you do something that you could have done with a shortcut by displaying the shortcut on-screen. With luck, you'll remember it for next time.
How Do I Submit a Question?
There are three ways to send in your question:
Record a video, upload it somewhere, and send a link to [email protected]
Call (347) 687-8109 and record a question. Calls are awesome! We like them!
Email your question to [email protected].
Please keep your questions as brief as possible. This means about 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions can be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they'll apply to more people. For example, "how can I breathe new life into my old PDA?" is much better than "what can I do with an old HP iPAQ 210?" Either way, we look forward to hearing from you!
This podcast was edited by Kyle J. Norris.
Newspaper, Computer, and Clock (by Brandon Hopkins) provided by the Noun Project.