Refresh Computers Tech Talk
Help and advice are given on a range of technical issues from computers to everything internet-related.
Refresh Computers Tech Talk
New Smart Watch Tech + Road Trip Tech: Apps and Gear for Summer Driving
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Your wrist can do more than show the time now. We talk through how today’s smartwatches are evolving into practical safety tools, including fall detection that can automatically call 911, crash and collision alerts, and location sharing that helps first responders find you fast. If you have ever wondered whether an Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, or other smartwatch is actually worth it, this conversation lays out what the tech can do in real life, not just on a spec sheet.
We also get honest about the limits. Features like heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and on-watch ECG can be incredibly useful for spotting patterns and creating a report you can share with a doctor, but they are not a medical diagnosis. The goal is a timely warning, a nudge to follow up, and better awareness of your own health data over weeks and months.
Then we shift gears to a listener-favorite topic: why buying local tech beats the big box store and giant website experience when something breaks. Real people, real warranty help, and diagnostics you can bring in person can save you time, money, and a lot of frustration. We wrap with summer road trip tech, including iExit for fuel and food by exit, iOverlander for RV stops, PlugShare and ChargePoint for EV charging, plus navigation tips with Waze, offline maps, dash cams, phone mounts, and driving modes that auto-reply to texts so you stay focused.
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Welcome And What We Cover
SPEAKER_01Welcome 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 at refreshcomputers.net or stop it at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east of I-4. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. till 7 p.m. And now for David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.
SPEAKER_02All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to this Sunday edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. Today we're going to talk about a lot of exciting things. As usual, we're going to talk about smartphones. I'm going to let Adam talk about that when we in in just a few minutes here. Not smartphones, smart watches, I should say. Right. And then we're going to also talk about why buying local beats the big box stores. And then we'll get into road trip tech. So the gears and apps that make the gear and apps that make summer driving better. Right up your alley, too, isn't it? That's right. Oh yeah. Coming up soon, too. And then we'll also talk about allowing your phone to answer text for you while you're driving and how you can set that up. So if you missed any of yesterday's show, which was a semi-quincentennial edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers, the only semi-quincentennial edition that'll ever will be of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers because it only happens once, right? Right. Yes. And you can listen to it in its entirety. We talked about a lot of really cool things. And you go to the website at refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link in the upper right hand corner, and you can listen to that show. And then you can also listen to this show if you miss any of it. You want to recap it, you can go to that website, refreshcomputers.net, click on the podcast link and hear the show in its entirety, or the one we did yesterday celebrating the semi-quincentennial. And so, Adam, before we get into today's topic on smart watches, I want to which I want you to talk about because uh you know a lot more about that topic than I do. We talked uh during the break, right? Right before we started today's show about uh another name for the semi-quincentennial, which is you know, so it quinc quincentennial would be 500.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02So semi would be half of that. So just to get a little nerdy technical here, right? Right. But the word bi would be also half. Exactly. And so so why didn't they use that? Or what did they use that?
SPEAKER_00Well, I'll tell you probably why, and it's because people like myself can barely pronounce the other word for it. And that other word was bi sinquinquasionary. What? I'll say it one more time. Bi senquinquasionary. It's it's a longer form of uh biquinnial or or semi-quincentennial. And honestly, for me, I would stick with semi-quincentennial any day because that is just it rolls off the tongue so much easier, I would say. Someone who talks for a living, exactly.
SPEAKER_01I'm probably a hard time trying to figure out how to say that word. But yeah, no thanks. I'll stick with the semi-sinquenten semi-quincentennial.
SPEAKER_02But I wonder why it wasn't called the biquinnial.
SPEAKER_01So that would be a thousand, though. That would be a thousand. You think two? Bi. So two. Two of those would be a thousand. Right. So semi would be half. Exactly. Think semicircle. Right. Half a circle.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay. I guess that makes sense. Thanks. Thanks for educating me there.
SPEAKER_00So with this episode of the semi-quincentennial plus one episode, that's what I'm
Smartwatch Safety And Health Alerts
SPEAKER_00going to call it today. You know, we're going to be talking a lot about uh smart devices, specifically your smartwatches. I'm sure a lot of people out there you've heard of different uh smart devices we have out there right now. We have tons of them around our lives, and a lot of them live right on a lot of people's wrists now with smartwatches. You know, we have uh companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, those are like the big manufacturers right now in this health smartwatch race, I would say, to try to just make the best smartwatches. But, you know, what exactly are they? What exactly can they do for you? Because, you know, you you think of a watch, right? And it's how you tell time on your your wrist.
SPEAKER_02Well, one of the reasons I wanted to hand this over to you is because I I've never worn a watch. Right. I mean, I I just find them intrusive. I mean, uh, they're just maybe being in the technical field around electricity a lot in my younger, you know, we weren't allowed to wear watches anyway. You had to wear a grounding strap, right? Yeah, right. Grounding strap, and and you just couldn't wear anything because we couldn't even wear rings. You know, like like I still don't have my wedding ring on. So I I used to go to work every day when I worked for technology company back in the day, many, many, many years ago. I used to have to go to work without my rings, without my watches on not nothing. Right. Nothing that could conduct electricity for safety reasons.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say there there are a lot of safety reasons. You know, you can catch your watch or your ring on a lot of things and a lot of different jobs that can cause a lot of bodily harm, I would say. But now, you know, they're starting to say that these watches on your wrists might actually, you know, could save your life possibly one day.
SPEAKER_02So tell me about the technology and what it can do and and how it can save your life.
SPEAKER_00So a lot of smartwatches today, they are able to detect things like in a regular heartbeat. They can uh warn you about possible high blood pressure, they screen your sleeping quality so they can see, you know, if you woke up in the middle of the night, maybe you don't just remember it, and it's a quick little wake up, or they can even detect sleep apnea I've seen now. And they can even call 911 automatically if you fall and you don't get up. I know I've actually seen some of them that respond to uh collisions, like car collisions. So there are a lot of ways that these devices can really help you now, more than just viewing the time or seeing, you know, the a text message right on your wrist.
SPEAKER_01That's been the most interesting one to me is the collision detection. So I've even heard of people like being out on like a biking trail and things like that, and they've fallen off their bike and have gone unconscious. Yeah. And it actually will notify first responders of your location and be able to help people find you for the help that you obviously need if you're unable to respond to the watch asking if you're okay. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02So I would imagine initially it's going to be but maybe buzz in your wrist or alerting you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00There is a there is a exactly, there is a buzz on it. It'll constantly vibrate, kind of like a smartphone with small detec uh fall detection will do. And it will basically give you a grace period of saying, hey, are you okay? If you can respond, you know, tap this button or click a button to let the watch know you're okay so it doesn't call EMS accidentally, you know, because I've seen actually, you know, some people drop their phones or their smartwatches. Sometimes that is just enough to set a false positive off with it.
SPEAKER_02Now, last week we talked about the health app on your smartphone. So how does this watch does it integrate with that with that health app? And can it do a similar thing as the health app on your it does?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, with a lot of health integrations now, uh specifically on Samsung and Apple devices. Um, I think Google as well. They do have a dedicated health app that it will integrate into so it can show you a graph of your heart rate throughout the day, throughout the month. It can show you your sleep quality as well. You know, maybe you you can see in a a week you were really stressed out with work, and you can see your your sleep quality just wasn't as good that week. You know, that you get that kind of information. And I've actually seen um with the Apple watches, and I don't know if Samsung's up to it just yet, but I know I've experimented with it on Apple. Is the the higher models of their watches can even perform a simple ECG now. So you you just click a button on it, hold your finger to the side of the watch, and it'll read out an ECG for you that saves directly to your phone that you then can export and you know email directly to a doctor, for example.
SPEAKER_01Now I will say I have a Samsung watch four. So it's a it's a few years older model now at this point, and it does have that ECG feature where it will monitor your heart rate and conduct that electrocardiogram, trying to find if there is any kind of mismatch. Now it's not a diagnosis of anything. No, exactly. It's definitely something that you can consult your doctor with, though, and let them know hey, this is what my current health app is saying. What do you think? It's basically a a signal, a notification.
SPEAKER_02It's not a diagnosis. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00So that's a big thing I do want to put out there, too, is well, these are good devices for monitoring your heart, monitoring your uh stress, your sleep levels, especially, you know, taking these ECGs, the sleep apnea screenings, these are not medically approved devices, you know, so they can't give you a guaranteed diagnosis, but they may be able to put up that little you know yellow flag that just says, hey, you should probably get this checked out soon.
SPEAKER_02Well, it can alert your family members also, right? Right, yeah, yeah. So it's not not just that it will dial 911, you can program them to you know maybe for for the elderly or something, right? And and you want to know if you know your elder your loved ones, if elderly might have fallen or something, taking a fall if they had this watch on, it that can alert you to that.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. And with smartwatches now, you know, you can do everything, including like texting and and taking calls through those watches. So I I imagine with providing you know emergency contact information and it contacting EMS, I'm sure they would try to also call and possibly speak to you through that device. So it's almost a little bit like a a life alert button, you know. I've seen a lot of those and known about those for you know decades. Yeah, that's kind of what this is now, just expanded, you know. With with data. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02A life alert button with data.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you know, these watches, they also provide the newer ones are providing satellite communications. So we've we've talked about that on the show before. Satellite communication GPS. So, you know, like Greg said, if you're out on a bike trail, you fall and you have no service, it can connect to a satellite, call EMS that way, give them your GPS location so they can find you in the middle of that trail. Where, you know, if it were just like a regular, you know, life alert button or something like that, it's it's not as easy to find,
ECG Data And Medical Limits
SPEAKER_00you know.
SPEAKER_02I looked up the price of these smartwatches, and I was a little surprised. They're not as expensive as I thought they were. I mean, and what tell tell me how much they cost.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I know with Apple, their uh budget range of smartwatches starts around $250, going all the way up to their ultra range, which is around $800. You know, that's a large price range, but that's where a lot of smartwatches overall come in at. You've got Apple, Google, and Samsung. I know there are also developers like Garmin, for example, that makes heavy-duty ones with exceptional like battery life on them. So you have like like those out there. There's also another company called AmazeFit, which theirs are a lot more health-oriented rather than assistance.
SPEAKER_01Even some of your more traditional watchmakers are getting in on that as well. I I know I have a fossil smartwatch at home. Oh, really? Yeah. Fossil. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah. And another another name that actually I just thought of now is uh Fitbit. Fitbit is starting to make their own watches rather than just the little tracker that you'd have on your on your ribs.
SPEAKER_02Fitbit, I remember Fitbit. They were really big and maybe I guess they still are. I don't know. But the years ago, actually. And before smartwatches, even I think they they were around. They had this little it was like a watch, right? I guess you could call it a smartwatch, but it wasn't it wasn't called a smartwatch.
SPEAKER_00It wasn't. It was it was like I don't even remember what they really call it. Or like a health tracker, the a step tracker was their main thing. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it tracks how many steps you take and that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00And and that's another thing, too, that these smart watches track are it's an odometer, so it tracks your your steps. I've even seen on some of them that when you begin exercising, the watch can intelligently tell you've started weightlifting, for example, or you started cardio training. So it will track how long you do that, estimate calories you might have burned. It can use its sensors to see if you've been running on an incline. There's a ton of information it can pull like that that it then saves to a health app for you to look at later and say, oh yeah, that was a really good workout. I burned a you know 800 calories on that run.
SPEAKER_01I did want to touch back on the price of these devices. Like I mentioned, I have a Samsung Watch 4. I bought it a couple of years after it came out. Brand new. This is the top level of when it came out for $100.
SPEAKER_02$100.
SPEAKER_01For $100. So something to keep in mind with it's the same thing as everything else. Every year they have to come out with a new one of these. Yeah. That doesn't mean they sold out of the old ones. Right. So you can always keep an eye out for some deals on some of these devices as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And like your computer at home, you know, buying refurbished tech like a smartwatch, for example, is a very viable option.
SPEAKER_02Definitely is a viable option.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's something I would suggest personally because a lot of these newer functions that these watches now are starting to provide, like monitoring your oxygen level and your readiness and attentiveness, aren't functions that we, you know, everybody needs in their daily lives. Myself, I would love to know all that information because I just love knowing everything. But, you know, sometimes you just want, you know, something that can eat just track a fall and just keep track of you.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. One of my favorite lines is technology always has a way of replacing itself. Right. Always finds a way to replace itself. And uh, it's certainly doing that with the smartwatch industry as well. So, folks, thanks for listening to this segment of Tech Talk with Refreshed
Prices Deals And Refurb Options
SPEAKER_02Computers. When we come back after the break, we're gonna talk a little bit about why buying local beats those big box stores every single time.
SPEAKER_01You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. 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_02All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers on a Sunday morning. We're happy to have you here. And if there's anything that you want to recap that we have talked about already, which was updating you on smartwatch technology, you can go to refreshcomputers.net and click on that podcast link in the upper right hand corner, and you'll be able to hear the show in its entirety. It'll take you right to the podcast page for this show. Where on that page will also be bulleted items of everything that we talked about, including all the different types of smartwatches that are available out there today. And price range and stuff like that will automatically be displayed right there on that page, on that podcast broadcast page at refreshcomputers.net.
Why Local Support Beats Big Box
SPEAKER_02And in this segment, we want to talk about why buying local beats the big box store every single time. And the big box store website. Right. So, you know, so here we go. Somebody buys a computer from a giant website, right? And something goes wrong within three months, right? And they discovered that the support is what? A chatbot.
SPEAKER_00Someone overseas that maybe you have trouble understanding. That's right. Yep. Or, you know, a return window or a warranty window that just closed and you didn't even know it existed.
SPEAKER_02And even if you could take it someplace, you which you would probably have to ship it someplace. And then, but if you could take it someplace, they ship it someplace else because none of the big box stores have actual repair centers in them anymore. Right. They they stop, they ship all their stuff off. They're just a processing center now. They ship it all off to another facility where all the techs live. Right.
SPEAKER_01You mean they don't have black tie service there anymore?
SPEAKER_02No. And so what buying from a local shop like Refresh Computers actually gets you? You get a real warranty from real people that you can drive to. Hey, imagine that. And you guys don't wear ties, which makes you much more ties. Right. And if there is something wrong, you just bring it in, and a human being who works on computers every single day will take a look at it.
SPEAKER_00And that's that's a big divide that I can uh say is the difference between these big box stores and websites compared to a local business's. You know, especially with technology, if you have something that goes on with it, how much easier is it that you can bring it in somewhere and show someone what it's doing rather than having to take it to a big box store, they box it up, you ship it out, and then you get a notice two months later, hey, we didn't find anything wrong, we're sending your device back.
SPEAKER_02Well, I would go as far, I would go as far as saying that the whole reason we even exist after 26 years in business still is the fact that we have that human element where you can just bring it in, or you can call. We have a free tech support hotline, which is 407-478-8200, by the way. And you know, you have a real human being local to you that can actually help you and assist you with you know anything, any issue you might have on your computer, how to set it up, how to download an app or a program. You're not going to get that anywhere else. No, you know, so it's that personal interaction that you get at Refresh Computers is the main reason that we are still there today. Because we do provide that personal level of service that quite frankly you just can't find anywhere else. And then you get straight answers from us too. And that's the one thing that I'm really proud of. You know, people come in all the time, right, Adam, with a laptop or a computer. They think it's broken beyond repair. Oh, I'm I need you to get the data off of this because I'm here to buy another one. And you can transfer that data onto the one, the one I'm going to buy here, which is a service we provide. How many times? I would say probably more than half the time. We we convince the people, no, you don't have to buy another computer. As much as we would like to sell you one, you don't need to. You here, it's a simple fix. Let's do this or that. And then you're on your way, and you didn't have to spend hardly any money at all. Sometimes no money at all.
SPEAKER_00So And that's that's a big difference, too. That you know, with big box stores, is just you walk in, you say you have a you know trouble after your sale. There is almost virtually no support with any of these big box places. Whereas with refresh computers, if you have something comes up that needs some diagnostics, like you said, Dave, we do those free diagnostics. It's true.
SPEAKER_02And so stay tuned, folks, after the newsbreak, we're gonna talk about gear and apps that make your summer driving better.
SPEAKER_01Usually you'd say these guys are the real deal. They are the real geeks. You've been listening to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073 FM 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, use an open mic feature inside the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over 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. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. And now for David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.
SPEAKER_02All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to this edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. We talked a lot about smart watches in the beginning of the show. We also talked about why it's so smart to buy a refurbished computer at your local computer store like Refresh Computers. And if you miss any of that and you want to recap, go to refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link in the upper right-hand corner, and you'll be able to hear this show in its entirety. And all basically all the shows we've done in the last four years or so are now in podcast form on that website. So you can check out anything. And you can also go to the bottom of any page at refreshcomputers.net, put in your email address. We don't ask you for a whole bunch of information. We don't need to know your name unless it's in your email address. We don't need to know your phone number. We're not asking for your address, just your email. That's all you got to do is just put in your email, click submit, and that will sign you up to receive an email notification of when the next podcast has been published. So it's basically the radio show at WDBO turned into a podcast, and then it's published, and then it's on our website when it's published, and you'll get that email notification that it's there. That you can listen to it and also read all the bullet points that we covered in the show for the particular day that that you want to listen
Summer Road Trip Tech Setup
SPEAKER_02to. And so in this segment, we are going to talk about well, it's you know it's summer, summer driving time, right? A lot of vacations happening right now, 72.2 million Americans on the road. So over the holiday weekend.
SPEAKER_00Yep, to celebrate that semi-quincentennial celebration of the United States. Good job, Ed.
SPEAKER_02I got it, yes. What was the what's the uh other name for it? Oh, I don't even remember anymore. It's by something, right? Yep. Anyhow, so in you know, out of the 72.2 million traveling, 61 million of them are actually doing driving, right? Right. So, and we all know right here at home that I-4 stretch between Tampa and Daytona Beach were going right through Orlando. Well, Orlando projected to be the number one destination for a lot of those people. So it is, and and and that traffic swells by 80% this weekend. 80% more traffic. So that's crazy. So, I mean, even without all that extra traffic, it's crazy. It is crazy, yes. So, you know, so the summer road trip season definitely is in full swing. So, and I have a big one coming up myself, and and I'm gonna talk about that just a little bit here, a little later on. And a big, big, big, big road trip coming. And so, and I'm gonna be using a lot of this technology that we're talking about right now that makes these long trips safer, smoother, and hopefully a lot less stressful. So, one of my favorite apps is not a map app, it's actually an app called iExit.
iExit For Gas Food And Stops
SPEAKER_02If you're traveling the interstate, look for iExit. Just I, the letter I, E X, I T. It is an awesome app. Because what it will do is it will show you all of the upcoming exits, and you can tell it, well, just show me which ones have fuel, and it'll show you all the exits that you're coming up to automatically because it's tracking you, and it'll tell you the price of the fuel, today's price of the fuel at all those exits. You can also just click on restaurants and it'll show you all the restaurants right off the exits. And then while you're doing that, it'll also give you, you can click on give me directions to this specific one, and it'll give you directions to that specific one, even though it's right there off the interstate. And it only works on the interstates, just so you know, only on the interstates and the turnpike. It does work on the Florida Turnpike too. And so I exit just a great, great app. And no, they're not paying me a penny. It's just an app. There's one that you love when I'm when I'm traveling. And you can actually even program it to tell it what type of gas. So like my RV takes diesel. And so when I'm driving to my RV, I switch it, I tell the app I'm you I use diesel. So it shows me gas stations with diesel prices, right? And if you're using regular gasoline, they'll show you prices with you can just select gasoline, they'll show you gas stations with gasoline prices. So it's a pretty, pretty cool app to supplement your Google maps or your Apple maps, if you like those, which are the ones we're gonna talk about now in the course, Waze. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01Your description on iExit before we leave that app, your description on it sold me on it. I literally downloaded it while you were having a conversation about it. That's a that's an amazing tool. I'm always looking for restaurants when I'm on these. I want to know where I went to.
SPEAKER_02Such a great app. It's great. And if if if you're I'll I'll give you another one then before we go into some of these uh map apps.
iOverlander For RV Camping Spots
SPEAKER_02Maybe not for you, Greg, unless you own an RV. So if you own an RV or if you like to, you know, maybe sometimes go off the beaten path, there is an app called iOverlander. So the letter iOverlander. A great, great app. And what this app will do for RV driver, you know, if you drive an RV, it will tell you in a similar fashion as iExit, except it's all the places that you can find water, propane, dump your tanks, or camp out, and even places that are off the beaten path, parks, you know, places where you can get you get a free night's sleep. And a lot of people use iOverland, iOverlander for that. I use iOverlander all the time because I'm always looking for the place where I don't have to pay because I have the type of RV that's self-containing for many, many, many days. I don't need an RV park, and I don't, quite frankly, I don't like RV parks. And so we're spending the night a lot at Cracker Barrel, for example. Cracker Barrel is one of those places where they allow RVs to park overnight. Right. It's just about every cracker barrel in the country. And they're just uh happen to be off the interstate all over the place. So that's an iOverlander will pick those out. And what's really cool about iOverlander also is it's a social app. So in other words, as I stay in one of these places, I open up the app and I say, Yes, I spent the night here last night. It was great, there was no issue, security was great, well lit, there was Wi-Fi, you know, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01You're able to give a review of that area. And an update review as well.
SPEAKER_02And when we were traveling out west a few years ago, we were in Wyoming, and I think it was Cheyenne, Wyoming, and uh, we ended up parking at us in the in the City Park, like downtown. I mean, we found on the iOver lander app. And it's oh look, they they they uh and then you get all the user experiences, you can see the history of the users that have stayed there before, which is really cool. And they so and also sometimes you know we've avoided places because of what the users have said and places. So that's another cool app if you have an RV.
SPEAKER_00So back to I actually had a couple that I was gonna throw
EV Charging With PlugShare And ChargePoint
SPEAKER_00in as well. Okay, because with me having an electrical electric vehicle, there you go. There are so many differences to road trips. So for myself, I use two apps all the time: ChargePoint, which is one of the the larger third-party chargers that are out there outside of like Tesla's system, for example. But the main one I really like is an app called Plug Share. You can see all sorts of different chargers, whether it be like superchargers, you can see third-party chargers, what type of connectors they have, because there are different standards of plugs for EVs. And it'll also tell you what the cost is per kilowatt hour, how many people estimate are there right now, what you may have to be waiting until you can plug in. Plug share.
SPEAKER_02Plug share. So wow. So, folks, if you're you don't try to write this down into driving. A lot of information here. But remember, you can always go to the website refreshcomputers.net, click on the podcast link, and you'll see all these places, all these apps that we're talking about. They'll be spelled out right there through the magic of AI. I don't even have to tell it to do that. It'll just automatically be there because I talked about it, or Adam talked about it, or Greg talked about it. It'll show right there so you can catch it. Go refreshcomputers.net, click on the podcast link. That's all you need to know to be able to backtrack and get all this information right there in front of your computer screen or your your smartphone. Yeah. So, you know, and the the other thing about iExit, the app I talked about earlier, it does a similar thing with EV. So you can actually tell it, you know, in the what type of fuel you can say charging stuff. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know Google Maps and Apple Maps, they've integrated that now as well. And it's their integrations on it are good too, because it'll actually kind of give you an estimate on range. So if you put it in a location, tell it what vehicle you're driving, it'll give you an estimate of what your battery might be getting there.
SPEAKER_02And you know, and uh because I guess these charging stations are becoming more and more prevalent as I travel the interstates, which I've been doing a lot, I'm seeing more and more and more Teslas and other electric vehicles on the interstates, where you didn't see them so much unless you're in a urban or you know a downtown. I'm talking about in the middle of nowhere. Interstates are I'm seeing Teslas now, which is kind of is unusual. It's different, yeah. It's different because guess what? They have charging stations just about everywhere in the world.
SPEAKER_00And they they they are everywhere, you know. Looking at like the plug share app, there are at least, I think I saw eight charging stations close to where we are at the studio right now. And you can get a quick charge, yep, right in what, 15 minutes, 20 minutes? When I did a road trip just last week, I was stopping for five to ten minutes at most to charge.
SPEAKER_02So in between charging locations, maybe two or three times as long as it would take to get fuel. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right. And I think here in actually in Florida, per EV, we have the highest concentration of electric charging locations. So it's uh it's definitely taking off here in Florida for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I'm not ready for that yet myself, but I can definitely I could do it. I could. I mean, it's not something I would I'm against. I don't know if I put it that way. I think it would be a nice addition. I just don't need it.
SPEAKER_01I think I think my next vehicle will be. I think I'm still a few years away from another vehicle, but my next vehicle is gonna be an EV, I believe.
SPEAKER_02Mine, mine could be. No, not not my RV, although they are they are making E V RVs.
SPEAKER_00They are, and they actually I've actually seen there are a bunch of chargers that have spots to plug in RVs now.
SPEAKER_02So pretty cool. So let's talk about some of the
Waze Reports Offline Maps And Alerts
SPEAKER_02maps. So I I for years I would always just use Waze, right? W-A-Z-E. This was before Google bought them. Right. Because it was a company before Google. It was the first social map app.
SPEAKER_00It was it was the first one, I believe, that actually allowed you to report things like potholes, debris on the road, police, police.
SPEAKER_02My favorite red light ticketing cameras, yep, speed cameras. It would alert you of of all these uh on the road, and and and that's that's the social aspect of the app and why it became so popular is that it allowed you as the user of the app to actually say, Yes, there is a speed camera right here and touch a button, and or there's a cop hiding right over there, boom, touch a button. Right. And it would, you know, you you know the state of Virginia, who for years, right, banned radar detectors, if you're if you're familiar with that. You couldn't own a radar detector in Virginia. And I remember living in Fairfax, Virginia for a year, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. But in a nice city, nice town. I don't want to, you know, but it's just too crowded for me in that area, the DC area. But cops would would point their radar gun at people driving down the interstate and check for brake lights. Yep. And then pull them over. Because you had a radar detector is the only way that you would know. Would would know. And so I don't know if that's still a thing there, but the state of Virginia tried to ban the use of ways. Did you know that? They attempted that it didn't pass the legislature, but there was actually a bill in the state of Virginia because it was alerting people of police activity.
SPEAKER_00I've actually seen a couple stories of that out of Virginia where uh cops actually on shift, sitting there you know, in a speed trap or something, had ways open, and every time a report would come up of where they were, they'd tap it and just hit not hear to try and combat you know the information.
SPEAKER_02That's it's great. Hey, you know what? It's a free country. Exactly. Go for it. As long as you have the ability to see it. I don't care if they have the ability to to do that. That's that's their bus their business.
SPEAKER_00And you know, we've talked a lot about you know these apps that you can use for your trips and you know, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, they allow you to do like off off uh offline downloads so you can actually store those maps in case you're going somewhere that service might be
Must Have Car Gear For Safety
SPEAKER_00a little spotty. Yep. But there there is some gear I would suggest to keep in your car as well, not even just for road trips, but it'll keep you safer in general. A good phone mount, not a not a flimsy four dollar one that you can buy at any big box store. I'm talking like a solid one.
SPEAKER_02I have a really nice one. I can't think of the name or I would tell you what it is, but it sits on the top of my desk and has a thing that spins around and like suction right down on the top. And that thing, you can't pull that off. I mean, unless you unturn it again. Yeah. And it's so sturdy, it's magnetic, so it takes hold my phone right there on the dash because guess what? Can't be holding your phone anymore in the state of Florida while you're driving, right? Right. You need something like that.
SPEAKER_01When you're traveling, that is something to keep in mind as well, some of those different road rules and some of those device rules that you might have to deal with. We're coming up on the break here, but we'll revisit this. We'll keep talking about some of these great apps that you can use here coming up. You've been listening to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. You can also check out their website at refreshcomputers.net. And now back to David and Adam.
SPEAKER_02All right, thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. So happy to have you listening to us here on this Sunday. And if you missed any part of today's show, it's been a good show. We talked about smart watches, we talked about all kinds of nice smart driving apps that's out there right now. And if you didn't have a chance to write any of that down, don't worry. Just go to refreshcomputers.net, click on the podcast link. It'll take you to the show, and then where when you click on today's show, you will see everything bulletized right there, as well as a place where you can click to listen to the whole show if you want to. But it'll list all these apps that we were talking about. If you missed any of it, you didn't get to write any of it down. It'll be right there for you to take note of and at your leisure, right? Right in front of your computer or on your smartphone, not while you're driving.
SPEAKER_00And what I would suggest too, really quick, actually, is uh you know, our website and tons of other podcast sharing apps that we host our podcast on, you can download. So maybe you want to download a couple of them, listen to them while you're on the road. That way you're not getting the the cut in and out of service.
SPEAKER_02Well, we're on all the popular podcast mediums. So Apple, right? We're on that. Yep, Spotify. And so if you if you're if you are subscribed to any of those, just look for Tech Talk with Refresh Computers, do that search, and you'll find us right there. And you can listen to us right there on your favorite podcast medium. So, you know, we were talking in the last segment about a lot of driving apps, and we were talking about i Exit, which is a great app, Google Maps and Apple Maps. Get to talk a whole lot about, but I think a lot of people are pretty familiar with those. We talked about ways, and then we were talking about some gear that might also help keep you driving safely while you're using some of these apps. Make sure you have a proper phone mount. You're not supposed to be holding your phones in your hands anymore while you're driving.
SPEAKER_00My dash cam is pretty much that's one I suggest to everybody to have, even not on a road trip anymore.
SPEAKER_02Get one that has a forward camera and a rear camera. They're they're not that hard to hook up and really not that expensive to pay somebody to hook up. You probably could do it for a hundred bucks, 150 bucks, plus the cost of the kit dash cam. It comes in real handy if there's an accident or something else that goes on that you need to prove. Oh, you got the proof right there in your dash cam. So not a bad purchase. Uh maybe have a extra battery pack or and uh maybe a real car charger for your phone, right? So your battery will stay active for you. I I have a battery pack for my phone. I that my case is my battery pack. So it's of course it makes my phone a little heavier than than normal, but I I can go all day long with my my battery pack and actually probably into the next day too. You know, another tool that's really cool to have is an electronic tire pressure monitor. Right. So if you don't have a built-in tire pressure monitoring system, you can get these cheap little sensors. They even make valve cap sensors, right? That warn your phone about a slow leak before it becomes a blowout on the shoulder. You might want to check into those things.
Auto Reply Texts While Driving
SPEAKER_02So another thing I wanted to get into is you know, letting your phone answer text while you drive. Right.
SPEAKER_00Texting and driving, it's one of the most dangerous things I think any of us as drivers face on the road, even if we're not the ones doing the texting and driving, because all it takes is one person on the road doing it that can cause a huge pileup.
SPEAKER_02And the worst commercial I've ever heard, and I've heard it right here on WDBO, and it's not a knock on WDBO, it's a knock on the NHTSA, which is the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. They have a commercial that starts off with a ding like you would get from your phone. Right. And then they're followed by an announcer saying, Did you just look down at your phone? I mean, and the and the and the and the theme of it is it's not safe to be texting while you're driving. Well, if they're dinging you, to make you look down at your phone while you're driving. That's a terrible commercial because it could have just caused you to get in an accident because it just distracted you. Maybe they thought that it was you.
SPEAKER_00That's that's one of the major things. And you know, with I know iPhones and Androids, you can actually set up a focus mode or a driving mode that the phone will be able to use GPS location just to tell if you're in a motor vehicle. If somebody texts you, you can set it to actually send an automatic text back that says, I'm driving right now, sent from my car.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And then in the Waze app, for example, also you can set it to alert you when you're speeding, because maybe sometimes you don't realize that you're going over the speed limit. Folks, that's all we have time for today, and we really appreciate you listening to this edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. This is David Levitt, owner and founder of Refresh Computers over over 26 years now. So happy about that. Uh, we'll be talking to you again next week.
