When Tech Moves Faster Than People Can Learn

DJI is getting pulled off US shelves, and that’s not just “drone hobbyist” news. We walk through what the DJI ban means for anyone who flies for fun, shoots video at weddings, inspects roofs and job sites, or depends on drones for fast situational awareness. Adam shares why DJI became the go-to brand in the first place, and we dig into the real reason this story keeps coming back: national security concerns tied to data, GPS location, video capture, and how regulators treat connected hardware on covered lists. 

We also connect the ban to the bigger drone ecosystem, including FAA realities like registration thresholds, pilot licensing, and the Remote ID era where newer drones broadcast identifying info. Then we zoom out to the future: drone delivery is expanding through programs like Amazon Prime Air and Walmart’s partnership with Wing, rolling into more cities and reshaping expectations around “get it to my yard in 30 minutes” convenience. 

To balance the big-picture news, we shift into practical, everyday tech help. We share “hidden” accessibility features on iPhone, Android, and Windows that make devices easier for everyone: magnifier and zoom tools, shortcut buttons, live captions for calls and videos, hearing aid integration, sound recognition alerts, and voice control for anyone who struggles with small screens or dexterity. We wrap with a money-saving Windows tip: the built-in Snipping Tool can record your screen as a video, great for training or showing a tech exactly what’s going wrong. 

If you found this useful, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share the episode with a friend who’s stuck on a tech problem, and leave a review to help more people find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And What’s Ahead

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Hey then, welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, president and founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you have a comment during the show, go and use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over at Refresh Computers.net or stop at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east of I-4 in Longwood. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., which means if you're listening to the show here on Saturday, you still have time to stop by. They'll be open until 7 p.m. today. And now for David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

All right. Thanks, Greg. And thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. We have another action-packed show today. Not really action-packed. Tech-packed show today.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

But it's exciting, you know, it's it's tech is always changing, and there's always rules and regulations that are changing too.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Oh, we're going to do that. So we're going to get into that today. Well, big time, big time, especially if you're into drones, right? Because we're going to start the show off today talking about a huge ban on drones in the United States. It was just landed down or slapped down maybe by the federal government.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

One of the major brands of drones as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

The largest one, I think, is the DJI. And so we're going to talk get into some more details and what that might mean for you. You drone enthusiasts. And even if you're not a drone enthusiast, you know, there's a lot of companies that use these drones and for a lot of different things, and you know, very handy and helpful things. But we'll get into that too and how it could affect you, whether you're into drones or not. This is a band that can that can affect a lot of people. And then we're going to get into some ways to make it easier to maybe make it a little front less frustrating for you in your tech world. We're going to talk about some technology changes that are coming fast and what you can do to help navigate through all those big changes that's going on right now. Everything's moving so fast these days. That's tech. It's tech. It's a great world to be in for from my perspective. But it's a scary world for a lot of people because it's changing so fast it's hard to keep up. And so we're going to get into a few ways to help alleviate some of the pain that that's causing. And then we're going to talk about making your phone and your computer easier to use. There's some hidden features. I always like it when people say hidden features. Because why are they hiding? What have they done? You know, but they're features that are not easy to find. Let's put it that way. So I don't know that any manufacturer intentionally hides features, but we're going to talk about some of those features that are very difficult to find, and that's going to make your life a lot easier on your phone and on your computer. And then we're going to end the show today with another Windows tip, how to record your screen as a video and without buying an add-on or using some other needed for that. Built into Windows. And so, you know, there's some tools out there that you can buy or you can download and use for free, but you don't need it. You can you can do video screenshots of your computer with through Windows. Right. There's a way to do that. So we're going to talk

The DJI Drone Ban Breakdown

SPEAKER_02 3:42

about that. So let's get into this DJI ban. Adam, what's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 3:48

I'm I hate to say it. I'm not surprised. I've I've been in the drone space since I think like 2018. So I've I've always followed DJI. They were one of the first drones I got. And then just I've gotten another one from them, and they're they're a really good brand. They're one of the best brands, at least I've had with drones.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Probably the largest drone manufacturer in the world. And they are manufactured where? In China. Yeah. And why is the ban? Because they're China, they're made in China. Yep. And so, you know, fortunately for me, I don't know. A little selfish thing. I just got my DJI Mini drone, the latest version. Right. And if you're looking to get one of those, they're good, they're being pulled off the shelves. Yep. Folks. Very fast. So, and I haven't checked the price on those, but I would imagine because of this ban, they also got a lot more expensive if you can find one. Yeah. So but the good news is, the good news, is there really a good news thing? Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Well, that's a tough one because again, if you you mentioned that DJI, it's a really recognizable name brand, even to people outside of the tech space. If you're going to talk about drones and you're going to talk about a company, it's probably DJI is the one that people are going to recognize. So it's uh it might be a little bit of a little bit of a knock for the drone comp for the drone companies here. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 5:12

There's there's a lot of uh there's a lot of spaces that drones are in now, you know. I've seen them at uh at weddings, I've seen them for inspecting construction sites, roofs.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Um Orlando Police Department just made a major announcement here over the last week that they're installing them in the $700,000 for 10 drones. Yeah, it that is true. 10 drone locations. They're like pods of drones that they're gonna be having that they're gonna be able to dispatch for emergency calls. Yeah. So they're supposed to be select areas around the city that they'll be able to respond to emergencies, uh, according to OPD chief Smith there, that they're gonna be able to respond to these quicker than they have in the past. So there's uh there's continuing spaces for these drones to be occupying, it seems right.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

And that's the thing is you know, drones are very versatile pieces of technology. They're not just used for one thing, like for me, I always used it for FPV flights where it's first person viewing.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

So I I always would fly drones like that, but there are concerts that I know that use drones for for lights, same thing with fireworks shows. There's tons of applications that now they're gonna have to kind of rethink how they're gonna be doing it.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

And that's why I started the this segment off with the fact that whether you're into drones or not, yes, this will affect you in some way, most likely. Right. Because it's uh again, it's it. I mean, I know there's other drone manufacturers out there and that'll you know try to fill the void. And but this is a big hit. It's like a I think a $1.5 billion hit on DJI. That's that's how what they expect to lose.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

And and they were planning on launching, I think about 25 new products in the US over the course of this year. So, you know, it's they're getting cut off a lot there, more than just, you know, the the consumer market, the the everyday person using them. So many applications for them. And you know, really the main thing that a drone is is it's just a camera on propellers. It's it's a plain camera.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Yeah. Right? Well, for the most part. For the most part, yeah. For the most part.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

But I mean, as far as like consumer grade drones. Yeah, the consumer grade ones are like that. And you know, even like from my use point, I don't even really use the camera other than for vision. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

We're not talking about the SUV-sized ones that they saw in Uber New Jersey. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

The jihad drones in Iran. No, not those.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

So, you know, I'm uh the main thing with this ban that I think really stinks is you're not gonna be able to get a new drone, you know, in the coming months. Right. All of this is gonna be pulled. But, you know, and you know, like you said, Dave, the good news, if there is good news, if you own one, they're not just gonna shut down the drone up.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

They're not gonna shut that one down. I believe that was a concern previously when they talked about this band. They did, they talked about it a long time ago, right? Right. And then you mentioned that they're pulling off these new, they're pulling these new products. Well, I mean, that's kind of on DJI, right? They knew that this ban was possibly coming. Right. It's been in the it's been in the kind of the the back workings for a while now. So the idea that they are just now being surprised by this, there were talks that they were going to be disabling their entire frequency. Anything that was on the DJI frequencies that they have to register with all the FAA and all these different other organizations, they were gonna shut it down. You wouldn't be able to use them anymore. So I think that's a that's a that's a win, at least for the people that are already a part of that market, right?

Security Concerns And FAA Rules

SPEAKER_00 8:36

And I know the the main concern really that DJA got put on this, what the FCC is calling a covered list. Basically, it's a list, you know, that certain manufacturers can be put on over, you know, national security concerns. And it's because, you know, like we said earlier, it's it's a Chinese company. They're worried how the data that those drones are collecting is being used because there is a lot of data that they collect, you know, speeds, um, GPS location. Obviously, they have a camera, so there's some sort of visual processing that goes on there.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Sounds kind of like the same list that TP Link was put on earlier. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, with this happening, you know, Dave, you just said you bought a brand new drone. So it's I I would say it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Brand new DJI. Yeah. The ones that that are being banned right now. Right. But if you own one already, and if you're lucky enough to get one if you really want a DJI, the DJI Mini is the one I bought, and it's just fantastic, fantastic drone. I will say this. And it's just an ounce or two under the federal limit, which is why I bought this one, where you don't need an FCC license. Right. Because it's you need an FCC license to fly a drone based on the size or the weight. The size and the weight. FAA, right? That's FAA. FAA, FAA, not FCC. I'm getting all my alphabets mixed up. Yeah, and when I the FAA's license, a drone pilot's license.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

That's what I had to do. I had to get a drone's pilot license just to be able to fly it, and I think it's flight up to about 300 or so feet. But even they were changing the regulations on, you know, just recreational flight. So there's there's been a lot of workings that's been going with this. And, you know, we started off the show saying technology changes and the rules change, and that's exactly what's happening right now.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Is they're deciding, you know, now DJI just can't sell in the United States anymore. There's hopefully going to be another company that can step up to the plate with it, but I don't know if they're going to do as good as DJI really has.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

It's like, for an example, like if you were to remove Apple out of the marketplace, right? There are companies that could absolutely step in and replace an iPhone, but is it going to be as good as the iPhone? Probably not. And are you going to still kind of have that tie to that old company that you have really come to rely on? It could be really kind of hard to shake that.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

I love that analogy. It's a great analogy. Yeah. Because it's, you know, DJI is like no small potatoes, right? Like we we talked about, like Apple is no small potatoes. And so when DJI is removed from the picture, there's there's a void that has to be filled.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

And there are competitors that I'm sure want to fill it, but again, are they going to do as good as you know DJI would?

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Well, and I'll throw this out there. I really did a lot of research before I bought my drone because I wanted it to be capable of a lot of things, and I did not want to have to get an FAA license. Right. And so this one is just under the weight limit. And as a matter of fact, if you buy the max batteries, the battery, the upgraded batteries, they're a little bit heavier. It puts you right at the limit. Oh wow. So you gotta be careful using the extended batteries on these. And the other thing I liked about the fact that it has a follow-me function. I can just you know, I can get it up in the air, I can touch the screen and say, follow that thing, whatever it is. It could be a vehicle, could be me standing there, and it'll just follow me. Right. And which would make some for some dramatic video, I think, when we take our trip to Alaska, we're gonna be taking this summer. And so, you know, that's why I bought it. And and and I did this research and landed on DJI because nobody else made it, made something like it. Right. It just was not something else out there that was as good. And so that's gonna be something that's gonna be, you know, these other manufacturers are gonna have to fill the void and you know, feel kind of bad for DJI.

Drone Delivery Expands Nationwide

SPEAKER_02 12:31

I know they're a Chinese company, but man, I'm telling you, hey, we got a couple other big news things concerning drones, by the way, while we're on the drone subject, is you know, remember the you know package delivery service that drones are gonna be providing, and and they're doing it in some places in you know test modes, right? So we got Amazon, they it's called Prime Air, right? So if you can get something via Prime Air on Amazon and Walmart, uh Walmart Wing, right? Well, they're actually partnering with a company called Wing, and they are expanding their drone delivery to a lot more cities. Recently they added places like Memphis, New Orleans, Phoenix, and San Diego. So the idea is it's only going to be, of course, small light items, right? They're not gonna be delivering your your new mattress.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

You mean you mean to tell me I can't get an air-delivered treadmill in 30 minutes or less?

SPEAKER_02 13:29

But it could be flown to your yard in under 30 minutes. Yeah. So and and so they're testing these in these other cities, and actually they're rolling them out in these other cities. So that's coming. I'm not sure if they have it in Central Florida. I haven't checked, but I don't think so. We probably would have heard that from Greg in one of his morning news shows. So, and again, it's still limited, but it's rolling out city by city. So, and so anyway, if you want to fly your own drone, again, if it's over about a half a pound, I think is the weight, you have to register the drone with the FAA, and you have to get your FAA drone pilot's license, which you can do online. It's pretty simple and basically a way for the government to get a few bucks out of you, also. So, newer drones. By the way, newer drones, they they all broadcast this remote ID, so it's all tracked by the government anyway. Right. Whether you have the ones that's under the half a pound or the ones, you know, the government knows where all these drones are all the time. They're always being tracked. So just keep that in mind as well. And so that's it for this segment. When we come back after the break, we're going to talk a little bit about how we can make it easier for you with your tech frustrations that you may be feeling right now.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Does this DJI news change your ideas about drones moving forward? Let us know. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. We'd love to hear what you have to say about it. You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580.

Making Tech Less Frustrating

SPEAKER_01 15:14

And then welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, president and founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you have a comment during the show, we'd love to hear it. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. And now back to David and Adam.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

All right, thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. Quick reminder that if you want to recap anything that we're talking about, it's real easy to do. Just go to the RefreshComputers.net website, click on that podcast link in the upper right hand corner, and then you'll be able to listen to the show in its entirety right from there. Better yet, go down to the bottom of any page at refreshcomputers.net, put in your email address, click submit, and you will be notified as soon as one of these shows turned into podcasts are available to be listened to. And one of the cool features is when you click on that link to go to the podcast, you'll see a nice bulleted explanation of what we talked about, summary. And if there's anything that's of detail that that you would want to write down because you know you need to check it out later, it it's it'll be bulleted in there in that podcast, right there, right there on the on the page at refreshcomputers.net, you'll see all those things. And you know, if there are special instructions that we talk about. We use really sophisticated AI technology to convert these shows. And what they do is they basically take the show and transcribe the whole show and then go back. And then if I mention anything on the show about how to do something on your computer, it'll automatically insert that in the comments right there on the home, right there on the website. So when you click on that podcast link, you can listen to the podcast, but you'll also see whatever instructions I had given that you can do with your computer. So we're gonna talk a little bit right now about making it easy with tech. And and so hopefully, you know, these podcasts help in that way. And that's why I wanted to explain in detail that when you click on that podcast link at refreshcomputers.net, you're getting to the podcast page for this show, and anything in there that it that is pertinent that you might want to make a note of is already noted in the comments in that in the podcast section. So you don't even have to listen to the whole thing. You you know, we we hope that you listen to the show. We hope you like it enough to do that. But there's bullet points in there. So that's one way we kind of make it easy for you to listen to this show and take take notes.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

We make a lot of things easier as well. You know, we everybody at our store understands that you know technology is annoying, it's always changing. And you know, it's not just that you as an individual person are bad with computers anymore. You know, it's it's genuinely confusing some of this stuff that's been changed around now. And I can even say my personal experience, there's been a couple settings in Windows that have changed locations five times now.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Yeah. So just do it. And it's completely normal to feel like you can't keep up. So, you know, you're not like bad with computers, you know. It's just this stuff is genuinely confusing.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Right. It's even the computer people that are saying this is genuinely confusing. So don't feel so bad. Don't be so hard on yourself.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Yeah. And and a big part of what we do at Refresh Computers, I mean, it's not just, you know, we're there to fix things. Of course, we're we do that. We sell a lot of really nice refurbished computers, and we have all these accessories and everything there. Yeah. But one of our main tasks, if not the main thing, the reason that we even exist is to make technology make sense for everyday people.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

We just we try to help. You know, there's there's a lot of things we really do help with. It's, you know, everything from setting up a new computer, trying to get a printer configured, your your phone or your email maybe. And even, you know, a lot of times we get calls, you know, saying, hey, I I'm not connected to my Wi-Fi, and we can help trying to get that done too. Because a lot of times, you know, there's not a one-stop shop, an easy way to just see all of these answers.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

There's not. And, you know, and we'll sit down with you. You know, we we do that in the store. You can bring your device there, or you can call us and we'll come to your home or your business and sit down with you and do the same thing. We just helped the customer set up a whole bunch of blink cameras, right? Because it was technology they just didn't want to have to try to figure out. And I get that. Folks, uh, when we come back after the break news break, we're gonna get into ways to make your phone and computer easier to use using some quote-unquote hidden features that help everyone.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, President and Founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200, or you can always leave an open mic using the open mic feature in the WDBO app. Don't forget to check out the website at refreshcomputers.net or stop in at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east of I-4 in Longwood. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., which means if you're listening to the show here on Saturday, you still have time to stop by. They'll be open until 7 p.m. today. And now for David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computer. So happy to be with you here on this Saturday.

Apple Price Hikes And Repair Limits

SPEAKER_02 21:19

And in this segment, we're going to talk about making your phone and your computer easier to use, some hidden features that's out there that can actually help everyone. But before we do that, Adam, you just pointed at some some news that you wanted to bring up.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, something I uh I saw come up just a couple days ago, actually, is you know, we talked about a while ago price increases across the whole tech space. Right. It was happening. Dell, HP, and Lenovo, those were the big three that we talked about.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Well, because of the RAM shortage, the RAM is still pricey.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

It's still being shorted right now. And we theorized, you know, when is this going to happen to Apple? And it's happened. And I saw recently that they actually rose their prices for their MacBooks and their iPads actually, generally anywhere from a hundred to a three hundred dollar increase on some models. And looking at it now, the fully spec'd out MacBook Pro that they have on their website cost over $10,000.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Okay, you you gotta tell me what's in that MacBook Pro. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Do you have the I don't have the specific specs, but that's the the fully maxed out 16-inch MacBook Pro. I think that maxes out around, I think like two terabytes or four terabytes of storage. And I think if I remember correctly, like 128 gigs of RAM. But 10 grand for a laptop is I don't know if I could swing that.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

That's a lot. I don't know if I'd want to be carrying around $10,000 under my arm. Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

No kidding. Especially a MacBook. They're built like toys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

So just a just a little update there. We finally we finally are seeing Apple kind of fall into the price increase pit, is what I'm gonna call it now. And we knew it was coming eventually, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:01

They'd been the longest holdout. They hadn't made much of a j of an adjustment until really now, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah. And you know, I I do have to say I do like Apple's devices. You know, I always make fun of them because, like Dave said, that feels like they're kind of built like toys almost sometimes. They're the ones that came out with a $10,000 laptop. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

You know, and yeah, and my dig there, uh which is I've been my dig for several years with Apple now, is the fact that you know they they're just so cheaply made, I don't know how else to say it. Right. Just not put together well. They're glued, everything's glued on, and you know, you can't fix them and and and you know, you can't upgrade them. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Yeah, and you hear all of our gripes with their hardware because that's that's what it is, is these are major gripes.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Major gripes, but you know what? As far as actual computing, doing video stuff and digital stuff, they they are in fact very awesome. They are they're awesome machines, they that how they work, right? But don't drop one, don't don't leave one in a hot car. And well, shouldn't leave any hot laptop in a hot car. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

The thing I like with Apple is you know, their their software, everything just kind of works. And you know, it's you don't really have to dig through much of it to get it to work. And that's something that actually we we're gonna talk about with this segment now is you know, with Windows specifically, there's a lot of hidden features, quote unquote, that not a lot of users really know

Hidden Accessibility Features That Help

SPEAKER_00 24:24

about. So, you know, let's let's try to get into some of these. You know, there's there's a lot of settings that are in the accessibility area, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:31

And a lot of people kind of relate that section to uh you know maybe the handicapped or you know, you you know, the hard of hearing, the you the visually impaired, you know, and these these kinds of things. But you're gonna get into some features, Adam, that you know, accessibility, that those sections are very helpful to just about everybody.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

They are, yeah. There's a ton of settings in accessibility that even myself, I sometimes find myself using just because it does make the device easier to use. One of the main things that I know is on iPhones and Androids, and I know integrate into Windows as well, is there's an accessibility tool for zooming. So you can actually just hit a key and it'll bring up a square that'll let you zoom a certain part of the screen.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

And fairly simple if you know how to do it, especially handy on something like a smartphone.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Right. And that's that's you know, the main point with a lot of these settings is smartphones have tons of these integrated that nobody really knows that are there to begin with.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

You know, you know what's really crazy too? There are apps that are sold to an advertise to help you see larger text, to help you hear better and things which you don't even need because you don't even realize it's right there in your phone already.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

The the fun comparison I have to that is I had an old iPhone, I think it was an iPhone 5S, and I could not find where to be able to turn the flashlight on and off. And there were apps specifically designed that you pull them up and you hit a big button and it would turn the flashlight on.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

I didn't even know that you just pull down from the top and you hit a flashlight icon. But now, even on some smartphones, there's accessibility options that let you, you know, say double click the power button, for example. I have that on my phone, so you double click and it turns a flashlight on automatically. You can set it to open up an app. You can set it to open up, you know, your text messages, for example. There's a lot of different things that, you know, at the surface of the setup of your phone, they don't even make mention.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Well, and these and to your point, there's especially on an iPhone, I know, is that there are the built-in things that you can do to make it easier for you are you can change them. You can change how they operate. Like you just said, like if you you know, maybe if you touch the the side one of the side buttons a certain way, you can change that from the default in a lot of cases. Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Yet I can't get away from Bixby on my Galaxy phone.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

And and you know, that's an interesting thing to really bring up is Samsung, you know, for the longest time you could not get rid of Bixby. You held down the power button, and that's that was only for their voice what's Bixby that that was their voice assistant.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Yeah, that was their Siri that was the big Siri's rough. Oh man, bad. Oh man. So you said was bad. It's not it's not there anymore. It's not really there anymore. They've moved, they've moved on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Now it's Google Voice Assistant, which is slowly being replaced actually with Gemini. Right. But you know, saying Bixby out there, that that that that lit up a ton of people, I'm sure. And you know, getting still more into like smartphones, they're there, like you said, Dave, there are tons of apps that you know can do these these settings we were talking about that are built into your phones. And one of the biggest ones I actually, you know, had a lot of people use is the magnifier app on their phone.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

And that's uh to be able to basically you can use the camera to zoom in on something on a on a menu or a or label, something that's just not easy to see. And I know I've even had some customers that that come in carrying a little magnifying glass with them, right? Just because they they do need a little bit of extra magnification that you generally can't get otherwise.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

And you know, people struggle finding the settings. That's that's what we find, right? It's just hard to find the settings sometimes. And if you can't find the right setting to do what you want it to do, and and visually, almost anything you can think of, you you you can get your phone to do if you know where to go to do it. And if you're struggling with that, hey, come to your friendly refreshed computer store, bring that device on in. Yeah, we'll just set it up for you right there.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

And and that's you know the perfect point of bringing it in as well because a lot of these settings you do have to crawl through some of their many menus to find. And if you're already having trouble seeing, you know, on the device, it it's a little hard to get to the settings that it's gonna make it easier. So bring it by us. We can we have we have tons of guys there that are experienced and just getting all of this kind of stuff set up and enabled. We have no problem helping you out with that. And to continue on with you know, some of the accessibility options, these ones that I've actually enabled for customers before are the ones that are, you know, just for you know, if you're a little hard of hearing, the computer doesn't get loud enough for you. You just you need some sort of like captions on the device.

Captions Sound Alerts And Voice Control

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Most Windows computers and phones have live captions options that you can enable. There's also actually now the availability on a lot of phones to connect your smart or your uh your hearing aids directly to that phone. So rather than trying to take a call, have it over your hearing aid and tweaking it, trying to tweak it because it's too loud or too quiet. Now it just integrates right into your phone.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

So the how the live captions, basically your phones list, you tell your phone to listen and then just put the caption right there in front of you. So it's basically reading to you what's being what it can hear is being talked about.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Exactly. Could be a phone call, could be a video or a movie that you're watching. You know, it's almost anything that's gonna be on the phone, it can caption for you.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

Another thing I I think is really cool as far as you know your phone listening to things and is is the sound recognition tools that are in there. A lot of people don't realize the sound recognition tools. Do you know anything about those?

SPEAKER_00 30:20

I know a little bit about it. Um, the your phone can it can like listen for you know doorbells or like smoke alarms.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

It can distinguish between the different types of sounds that it hears.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

I haven't heard of those before. That's pretty cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Or a knock on the door.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

But you know what's absolutely hilarious to me is smartphones have these integrations for hearing a doorbell or or smoke alarms or a knock at the door, but I still can't get it to hear the wake-up phrase for what I'm trying to activate my voice assistant, saying, Hey, you know, whatever name I gotta put out there, it just will not pick it up. Yeah, that's something that I struggles with. I still can't understand.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

And then what it does when it recognizes a sound that you that you tell it to recognize, it'll do your, you know, you can have your phone flash at you, right? Or even buzz or vibrate. So, and this was good for people that you know, like you said, they're a little harder hearing, maybe. Right. And they need to know when these things are happening, and their the phone will let them know in another way. Yeah. Because the phone is listening, the phone will hear it, the phone will alert you by flashing or buzzing.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Exactly. It gives you more of a tactile response just to sounds that you're not able to hear otherwise. And, you know, bringing in a another setting that I know I've had a couple customers complain about with their phones. So having this setting would help them is there are a lot of access accessibility options for your your hands and your dexterity. So, say, for example, you you've you try you trouble with arthritis or you get you have tremors and you you just keep hitting the wrong thing on your phone. You know, you can control your whole phone basically with your voice.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

You know, you can tell it to open your messages, to scroll down on a page, to call somebody without having to really tap through all those different apps.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

Read your messages, yeah. Respond to messages, right? These kinds of things. So you don't have to sit there and and fumble with it.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Yeah. And you know, I've even seen some of the accessibility options now that I know iPhone has integrated. I can't find it on Android though. Is there actually a lot of motion sickness settings that you can enable now to help looking at a phone and getting a little motion sick?

unknown 32:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

I know a lot of people have complaints of using a phone in a car as a passenger. Looking down at your phone makes you a little queasy. It's a real thing. Yeah. And iPhones, they have a setting that you enable, it'll actually add dots that move on the phone using the gyroscopic sensor to help you combat that vertigo you start getting.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

Counter to what you're exactly what you're experiencing. Right. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

And it's just to make it a little more comfortable. You know, we're talking about making your phone and your devices easier. I think not throwing up from using my phone is a very good feature.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

And well, you know, and don't forget your computer. Right. Right? There's things on your computer that you can also enable.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Right. Right. Windows has a uh a feature called voice uh over assistant, which lets you control the whole computer through your voice. I've gone through it with a customer that trains to your voice so it knows how you say certain things, how you don't say certain things. So there's a lot of recognition there, a lot of training you go through, and then you can just control it with your your voice.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

And that's a that's a really major one because uh, you know, a lot of a lot of laptops now that are like 13, 14-inch laptops, they're a little smaller. You know, the screen on them is smaller, the keyboards on them are smaller. It is a little more difficult sometimes to to use those devices.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Yeah, it just is it is and and don't forget, you know, one of the reasons we're we even exist as a company is to help folks with stuff like this.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

And it's something I'm real proud of that we're able to do. And and in most cases, it don't don't even cost you a penny. No, you know, a lot of times we're a free tech support call away. Exactly. What's the phone number?

SPEAKER_00 34:06

It's 407-478-8200. That'll connect you with any of our technicians in the store. You don't get a you don't get somebody uh sitting at a desk that has no idea about what you're trying to call about. You are connected to one of the guys that would be standing there working with you in-store if you came in.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

That's right. And you can always bring it in. Exactly. And we'll help you set up your device to your liking in the store. Yeah, and honestly, if it takes 10 minutes, 15 minutes, we're probably not even gonna charge you for it. Right. If it's gonna go beyond that, we probably would. Right. But it's probably gonna be something nominal, like a $45 fee or something like that. But for most of these simple setup things, if you just can't figure out how to do it, I get it, it's not easy to get there sometimes. Bring it on into the refresh computer store at 820 East State Road 434 in Longwood, three and a half miles east of I-4, and we'll be able to help you get your phone or your device, your laptop, your tablet, your smartphone. It will help you with all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

Get it working how you want it to. That's right. And if you're if you've liked these easy making tips, we've got another Windows tip coming for you here coming up after the break. You've been listening to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, president and founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, a technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. You can also check out the website over at refreshcomputers.net. And now back to David and Adam.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

All right. Thanks, Greg. And thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. If you want to recap anything that we've talked about today, we talked about a lot about drones and how DJI is now being banned for sale here in the United States. Probably, I think it's the world's largest drone manufacturer for consumers and also for commercial use. You know, a lot of roofers use them, and we we talked about that and a lot of other weddings and events that go on, right, that they're used for. And and there's a big void there that needs to be filled. And if you miss any of that and want to catch up, or maybe you want to know where you can get your DJI drone right now before they are all off the shelf, uh, listen to this show by going to refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link, and you'll hear the show in its entirety. And in this segment, the final segment for today, we're going to get into a tip about recording your screen as

Record Your Screen With Snipping Tool

SPEAKER_02 36:54

a video. You know, there's a lot of apps out there for your computers these days, your laptop, your desktop that lets you record things going on on your computer. Right. So you can use them later for training or maybe send them to a tech person or something like that. But did you know there's actually something already built into Windows that allows you to do that?

SPEAKER_00 37:14

You don't need a third-party tool for I'll tell you what, I knew that the ability to do screenshots with the snipping tool was there. I never knew you could do recordings of the screen. So I actually use a third-party program on all of my computers to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

And you know, and you're not alone. A lot of people are the same way. I mean there are some, you know, some of the third-party apps may go beyond what the snipping tool can do. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

They give you some additional features, but this really just gives you the bare bones.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

This is basic, but a lot of people just need this basic tool. They don't need the the you know, the all these extra features.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Fancy stuff, the the cloud storage with it that comes with third-party apps.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

So what but when you open your snipping tool, uh, which is a Windows tool, it's when you open that tool, if you can't find it, just go in the little search bar there on your bottom of your screen, just type SNP, it'll it'll find it. And so it comes up in the default setting is for a screenshot. It's a screenshot. Right. So you save the a photo, save a picture of your screen. But right next to that little camera icon, a little video icon that most people miss. You don't even see it, you don't even know it's there, but it's right there.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

It's me. I am most people. I entirely missed this.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

So you just click on the little video icon, and it will prompt you to highlight a section of your screen that you want to video.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Which I like that that's still a part of it because I was thinking that this might just default to record the full screen and then you can crop it later. This lets you actually select the portion of the screen you want it to see.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

And that's what I like about it as opposed to some of the paid for versions, the apps, is because it's just so simple. It just does what you want it to do. So just like you would highlight, you would just expand a square on your screen to do a screenshot, when you click the video icon, you expand that square, excuse me, again, on your screen to video whatever that square is. Right. So if you go from tab to tab on your browser, it'll follow those tabs as long as it's in that screen and in that window.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

And I actually just looked it up as well. And it actually has a uh little it has a feature that lets you track the mouse cursor on the screen, and it'll show when you click a little yellow circle will appear. So you can actually create like little walkthroughs. If you're trying to guide somebody how to do something, you can just take a little screen recording of it and send it off like that.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

So, yeah, so it's real easy. Again, you just click on the video, click new, like you're gonna click do a new video, and then highlight the part of this screen that you're gonna video. And then when you're done, just click stop, and then you can save the video. It saves it in a regular video format, and you can send that video to anyone. So, anyhow, that's all we're gonna have time

Recap And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_02 40:09

for today, folks. I really, really enjoyed today's show, and I hope you did too. If you missed any of it, go to refreshcomputers.net and click on that podcast link, or you can give us a call at our free tech support hotline at 407 478 8200. Stay tuned for tomorrow morning. We're gonna talk about some really cool tech coming to your favorite theme park. It's already at your favorite theme park and maybe you don't know about it. This is David Levitt, signing off for Refresh Computers. We'll be talking to you again tomorrow morning.