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
Protection Plans That Actually Pay Off
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A cracked screen, a fried TV after a lightning strike, a laptop that takes one hard bump in a backpack and suddenly won’t boot, these are the moments when tech becomes expensive fast. We walk through how to think about extended warranties and protection plans like a real risk calculation, not an impulse add-on at checkout. We also explain the practical difference between a manufacturer’s warranty (defects and failures) and protection that covers real life accidents like drops, spills, and everyday damage.
From there, we shift into storm readiness for electronics during Florida hurricane season. We break down surge protection basics, when a whole-house surge protector makes sense, and why a UPS battery backup can save your desktop and internet gear from abrupt shutdowns and data corruption. We also hit the most important habit of all: backing up what you cannot replace, including family photos, tax files, and critical documents.
Then we have some fun with smartphone power features that many people already own but don’t use. We share simple camera upgrades like portrait mode, night mode, grid lines for better framing, and burst mode for action shots. We also dig into AI photo editing, searching your gallery by people and objects, and using your phone as a scanner to create crisp PDFs. Finally, we close with a must-do safety tip: downloading offline maps in Google Maps or Apple Maps so you can still navigate when cell service drops.
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Welcome And Tax-Free Savings
SPEAKER_00Hey there and welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580 Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes, sitting here with Adam Littlefield from the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200, or if you have a comment during the show, go and leave an open mic using the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over at Refresh Computers.net or stop it at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east to buy four. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. And now for Adam Littlefield.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you, Greg, and thank you, everybody, for tuning into this Sunday edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. My name is Adam Littlefield. I'm one of the technicians over at our Refresh Computer Superstore. Today we have a lot of exciting stuff to get into, but before we get into it, I want to just mention that this is the last time you'll be hearing me mention this. We are still within that tax-free holiday season right now. So if you need to replace a laptop, a desktop, monitoring, need new cables, anything computer related, you can still come to our store Monday through Saturday. We are closed today, but you can come Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come in, you can purchase anything up to $1,500. It'll be tax-free. So no sales tax on those items. Check out our website as well, refreshcomputers.net. We have our whole inventory available listed on there. Goes over everything we have on hand. So if you see it on the site, we've got it in our store.
Warranties Versus Protection Plans
SPEAKER_01So today we're going to be going over a bunch of different things. We're going to be going over, you know, extended warranties and protection plans, how to choose one that's actually worth it. You know, a lot of us, uh myself included, we sometimes scoff at the idea of extended warranties, but they they can help more than you'd think. We're also going to be talking a little bit about just getting yourself storm ready. You know, we are still in this kind of inactive hurricane season right now. I've been calling it to a lot of people. Knock on wood. Knock on people. Knock on wood, exactly. Knock on all the wood I see. But we'll go over some tips of how to get yourself storm ready. We'll also go over how your phone is a better camera than you might actually think and how you can get that to improve your photos. And then we'll finish off the show with a good tip of you know getting yourself some navigation when there's no internet connection. So starting off here, extended warranties and protection plans. Greg, let me ask you, when's the last extended warranty or protection plan you remember purchasing or getting?
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's a great question. I've probably I haven't made a lot of big purchases recently. Usually I take into account how much it is versus what the replacement cost of something would be in four years. Probably the last one was when I bought my newest TV. Okay. I think it was $20 for an additional two years on the replacement plan.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And that's that's not bad on that. And you know, that's one that is a uh protection plan, you said, right? So covers any damages that could happen. Anything that, you know, isn't really going to be covered by a factory warranty. Exactly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00No, this isn't uh for if there was an issue with the the board inside the TV. This is if my toddler knocks it off the uh countertop. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right. So, you know, thinking about it, new phones right now, they can run you eight hundred, a thousand dollars, twelve hundred. Some of the ones I've been looking at are about eighteen hundred right now to two thousand. Some flip folds for certain. Yeah, the new folds. You know, protection plans on these devices, really good ideas, especially like you know, laptops now. Those are something that a lot of us every day carry with us. They go in a bag, they get jostled around. Those are items I would even recommend getting a good protection plan on. Especially if you're somebody on the go for sure. Exactly. You know, these devices, they are expensive up front, but I can tell you some of some repairs for these devices can be pretty brutal. They can sometimes be almost as much as the device is even worth. A protection plan, it it can kind of turn that into a predictable cost. I'll put it that way. You know, instead of scrambling around because now you've got a big bill that you have to cover because something broke, it's nothing more than a quick claim, you know, figuring out what you've got to do to get that protection plan claimed and get a replacement device or a repair, and that's it. You're you're off and going. There's no in-between figuring out how to how to pay for that repair. A lot of families, you know, that that can take a lot of surprise off the table. Um, I know my family specifically, we hate when a TV goes out or, you know, like my fam, my family members just had to both replace their phones because those were just destroyed. This is something that can really just help with. Now, there are there is a big difference between an extended warranty and a protection plan. You know, I'm gonna get down into the the beginning of it. Every new device that you purchase right now pretty much comes with a manufacturer's warranty, but there's a catch to that. It's not just a warranty that may cover, you know, a worn-out battery or a screen going out. These only generally cover defects, you know, the factory's mistakes. It doesn't cover things that happen in real life. Right.
SPEAKER_00If they made a soldering mistake, or if, like I mentioned, if the board fails, things like that. Not so much if your toddler drops it while taking pictures of himself.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You know, those are those are all scenarios that you know you try to contact the phone manufacturer, and you know, the you'll get an email back that's that feels like nothing more than just a chuckle through the screen and a no. So that's where a good protection plan comes in. You know, it gives you that peace of mind that your new device, say, you know, your toddler drops it, cracks the screen, something spilled on it, battery starts going out, just everyday accidents. Most, and I'll say that, most protection plans places offer, you know, protect you from those damages. Specifically, I know with phones and laptops, those are our most mobile devices that we have. Our phones live in our pockets, our laptops more than likely live in a bag, you know, in at the front door. I know some people keep them in their cars. I wouldn't suggest keeping, you know, laptops and cars. It does wear the batteries down. And if if you're starting to notice some some less charge and you keep it in the in the car, that wouldn't be covered under the manufacturer's warranty. A protection plan, though, might actually cover it. So, what kind of stuff is going to benefit most from this? I know I've said laptops, phones, these live in our bags, our pockets, our hands. Everywhere that accidents happen, there are also mobile gaming handheld devices. Nintendo Switch is one of them. So those devices as well, at time of purchase, if you have the offer of a protection plan, it might be worth getting it, especially if that device is going to a kid. Kids are prone to dropping stuff, spilling stuff. So you want to make sure you're protected, especially, you know, with how prices have been on some of these new devices. Oh, yeah. It's it now is no better of a time to spend the extra $20 or $50 to save yourself that, you know, $1,000 or $2,000 repair down the road. Me personally, I don't really buy extended warranties on stuff or protection plans, but I have a lot of different personal practices, as I'll say. You know, I I try to keep my devices as safe as possible. I put cases on everything, screen protectors on everything, and I just kind of throw caution to the wind beyond that. And, you know, it's it's bit me in the butt twice. That's it.
SPEAKER_00Only twice. I will say I've I have one specific scenario where that it's really paid off, which is why I am also so pro having these done on higher value items. So I've had multiple televisions that have been replaced based around having these extended protection plans. So the extended warranty or the extended protection plan that's offered. I've had multiple televisions that either were fried via lightning strikes or somebody, again, I won't I won't name individuals here, somebody was getting a little too rowdy and knocked the TV off of a uh off of a pedal pedestal stand, things like that. Right. But it's really come back and saved me a lot of money and a lot of hassle, honestly, because they've they've the company that I used made it so easy to file the claim that a technician came out the next day.
SPEAKER_01Right. And you know, that's that's a very good point, actually, to put it in as well, Greg, is it depends kind of on the environment that these devices are around. True. You know, having younger kids in a household, inherently devices are just at risk. They are, let's face it. You know, a TV being pushed off of a uh entertainment center, a phone being, you know, accidentally, no, I'll put air quotes around that sometimes, accidentally chucked across the room. Accident. A protection plan is is gonna save you there. But you know, for myself, I've got a dog and a cat. That that's my worries for my devices at home. And I'll tell you what, my cat doesn't chew on cables, and my dog is more scared of her own farts, so she's not gonna be messing around anything like a large television that we have on our entertainment stage.
SPEAKER_00So your dog never ate your homework? Okay.
SPEAKER_01Nope, she never has. Thank goodness. She has chewed up quite a few socks lately. I don't know why she's gotten into that. But, you know, it's it's just a couple things like that that's gonna really save you. And again, it's something that you do pay a little bit of money for up front, but you could save yourself thousands of dollars of repair down the road from something that just happens. Life happens, and it's a saying I use all the time: life is lifing. Every time something happens, I just say to myself, life is lifing because it's it happens to everybody. And that's that's what these plans are here for. Now, you got to think about it too. What makes a
How To Spot A Bad Plan
SPEAKER_01good protection plan and what doesn't? So the good ones are like Greg and I have been talking about, the ones that cover the accidental damage, you know, the drops, the spills, the cracks, not just factory defects. That's the whole point of a protection plan to make sure that it's there in case life starts lifing. The second is gonna be easy claims, you know, something that you're not gonna be arguing for months with the protection plan company about how the damage was sustained. And can you send us the 60th photo of the damage, please? You know, something like that. You can do a little research about the plan, figure out the company because, and and this is a good third reason, figuring out who's backing it. A lot of a lot of protection plans I see now online on online markets are being sold by just actual insurance companies rather than you know just being sold by the seller. So, for example, just to throw one name out there, maybe you're online shopping on Amazon and it offers some protection plan. Some devices are offered by like an Amazon protection plan, others are offered by a third-party insurance company.
SPEAKER_00And we all know how it is to deal with insurance companies.
SPEAKER_01And I was about to say, the couple times I've had people come in who are doing their insurance through or their uh warranty plan through that insurance company, they're told to bring their device to a repair shop, pay for it out of pocket, and then they'll be reimbursed. And they may see that reimbursement within six to eight months after the case is completed. Now, I don't know about any of our listeners out there, but myself, I would be screaming at that point.
SPEAKER_00Wildly skeptical.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You know, that's not something I would, that's not flaming hoops I want to be jumping through just because my phone slipped out of my pocket. So it's it's something like that kind of to think of. You know, you don't want no name places backing those warranties because sometimes, and I hate to say it, there are companies out there that sell a protection plan and then they just don't offer honor it. They they try to say something voided it, and they're just it's there's just some shady acting behind it, stuff that makes me uncomfortable. So those are kind of the things to look out for. That's something we offer at Refresh Computers as well, is we offer extended warranties on all of our devices. So, you know, covers hardware-related things, the battery, keyboard, screen, and we don't make it a game to get a claim. You come in and we take a look at it. We do assess, you know, what's going on, but I can tell you all of the warranty repairs I've ever done, I've made them as easy as possible because I've been on the other side of it. I know how it is to be on that other end, and I don't want the the arbitration, I think is the word I'm looking for here. That works the arguing of trying to get it done. So that's that's something you just got to think about where that plan is coming from.
SPEAKER_00And that's why it's so important to be able to deal with somebody in your local community that you're able to talk to and see and bring these concerns to instead of an anonymous person on the end of a 1-800 line.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You know, that's that's the thing I do like with our warranties is that you know, you can bring the device in, we take a look at it. I do I'm not required to charge just to even look at something. You know, you can bring it in, we do a lot of free diagnostics. And I'll I'll tell you, even a lot of the times when we had thoughts that maybe something had to be a warranty replacement, it ended up actually being just a setting or two that we had to change, and that's it, just out the door. Again, no charge on that. We really try to do the best we can for that because it's, you know, end of the, we're all we're all humans there. End of the day, we don't want hardships for anybody. You know, we try to just be personable, try to make everything painless and easy to go. So, again, I uh I want to throw out there before we go to this next break our tax-free holiday season. That's gonna be ending on the 20th. It is important that if you are thinking of replacing a machine right now, now is the time to do it. You're gonna save yourself a lot of money just on no sales tax alone. But checking out our our inventory, refreshcomputers.net, you know, you're gonna be saving a lot more money buying a refurbished computer, a professionally refurbished computer, rather than buying something brand new from those big box stores. So we'll be getting back to you um after this break. We'll be talking a little bit about how to get yourself storm ready.
SPEAKER_00Are you someone that's used one of these protection plans that's really kind of saved you from that really big bill? Let us know. Use an open mic feature inside the WDBO app. We'd love to hear about your experience. You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO, 1073 FM and AM580. Hey there, and welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073 FM and AM580, Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes, sitting here with Adam Littlefield from the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline, 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 Adam.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Greg. And again, thank you, everybody, for tuning into this Sunday episode of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. We talked a lot about in the last segment uh extended warranties, protection plans, tons of great information there, stuff that's going to save you a bunch of money, you know, if and when accidents happen. If you missed any of that, I would say go to our website, refreshcomputers.net, click that podcast link in the top right corner. You can listen back to this show, yesterday's show, and shows going back years of just all different stuff we've talked about, all this nerdy tech stuff we've been covering over the years. And it's it kind of gives you a good perspective of how things have been changing over the last couple of years. I know, even, man, the last six months of episodes, there's been just so much change in the tech industry. So again, refreshcomputers.net, check out that podcast link. There's tons of stuff to learn there. So
Storm Prep For Electronics
SPEAKER_01in this segment, I do want to go over just a little bit about getting yourself storm ready. You know, electronics are susceptible to lightning storms, and it is something that it's become a lot more normal now to think about when storms are rolling through. We we are in the middle of hurricane season right now. It's been knock on wood here again, a pretty inactive for the state of Florida, but we have had our fair share of you know storm systems in the last couple weeks, and I can't tell you how many computers I've still had coming in from power outages, from power surges. So I do kind of want to go over some stuff, some tips that you can do to get yourself protected. And the main one that I already mentioned a little bit is surge protection. Having really good surge protection in your house is going to save you a ton of money for when that, you know, the power flickers. And knowing the state of Florida, if you've lived here, you know sometimes it can be sunny as day out and the sun will flicker because two miles east it is downpouring. You know, everything is breaking loose over there, and your power flickers. That power flicker can sometimes be enough to fry something that's pulling power. Don't discount Florida man probably having something to do with that too. Exactly. He's got himself over there with his alligators or something. So again, surge protection, that's going to be the most important thing because your computer, you know, even like some large appliances should be on surge protection because I'll tell you, it really sucks to watch the power flicker and suddenly you have to replace your washing machine. Whole house surge protection is becoming a larger thing now. You can get a whole house surge protector installed on your grid for your home. If it's something that you can feasibly afford, I would suggest springing for that. Having power strips that are surge protectors are good for, you know, small spots where you need to only protect one or two things over here or, you know, five or six things on the other side of the house. But, you know, ease of mind, having a whole house search protector, that's just gonna just protect you overall and you don't really have to think about it. Out of sight, out of mind is what I'll say. Another thing I would suggest battery backups or kind of what we call UPSs, uninterrupted power sources. These can keep your desktop, your internet gear running through short outages, and you know, just as important, these let you shut down those devices safely if the power does fully go out. Windows does not like being shut down abruptly. If you do, I mean it can cause, you know, sometimes software corruption. So this will kind of smooth out that that flicker, that loss of data, and especially corruption. Biggest thing, and this is the big one have a backup of your data, your photos, your documents, your tax files. You can get an external drive, load all of those files onto it, lock it into a fire safe lockbox. It's something that isn't reproducible. You can't easily reproduce, you know, those photos of your child as they were growing up. So keeping those protected, they're gonna be living in your house. You might as well put them somewhere that, you know, no matter what, an active God, it's gonna be safe.
SPEAKER_00Now, when it comes to these battery backups and some of these surge protection strips, those are offered right there at the refresh computer superstore, is that right?
SPEAKER_01They are, yeah. We have UPSs in store. We also have surge protectors. I think we have some with like obnoxiously long cords. I bought one for myself, took it out of the box, and man, I think the cord was like 10 or 15 feet on it. So we we do have those there. And I'll tell you what, it's better to buy a $15, $20 surge protector and have that peace of mind rather than to replace a whole computer. So we're gonna be going to this break. Um, when we come back, we're gonna be talking a little bit about your phone and why it may be a better camera than you think.
SPEAKER_00You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Hey there, and welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with Adam Littlefield, a technician from the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200, or if you have a comment during the show, go and use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. Don't forget to check out the website over at RefreshComputers.net, or you can 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 Adam Littlefield.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you, Greg, and again, thank you everybody for tuning into this Sunday edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers, a 26-year-old Central Orlando tech company providing just all sorts of tech support, tech repairs in the Central Orlando area. We are open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. So if you're tuning in, you're listening today, we are closed, but we do open again tomorrow at 9 a.m. So if you've got any computer problems going on, any questions, you can come in on Monday at 9 a.m. or give us a call and we'll be there ready to help you.
Phone Camera Upgrades Fast
SPEAKER_01So in this uh segment, we're gonna be talking a little bit about your phone, your mobile phone, your smartphone, and how it's a better camera than you think. And, you know, I'll I'll be the first to say I've taken quite a few photos on my phone, and I've just they they never really came out how I wanted them to, how I imagined them to. I'm sure you've had The same thing happened, Greg, before taking photos.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'm pretty good at taking uh photos of the phone. You're pretty good with photos. So I'm I'm I'm someone that's used a lot of these tips and I've definitely developed them over time. A lot of the stuff that you'll see on the WDBO Instagram and things like that. You see a lot of videos that I post from the sporting events and things like that. Those are all done from my camera phone.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's a nice little plug there for your uh for your for your shots on Instagram. So and you know that that'll also be a really good example of what some of these tips can do for you. You know, we're getting into the point now where a lot of AI tools that come free with your phone can start working on your photos. They can turn snapshots into something that you're actu you feel proud of that you took, you know, that you can save items without needing a scanner or a photocopier. You don't need a photo editing degree. This is all built into your phone. So I'm gonna be going over the first two uh modes that instantly just make everything better. The first one's gonna be portrait mode. So, what portrait mode does is it basically blurs the background and kind of makes the subject of your photo pop. Whatever you tap on on the screen, it'll take that as a subject and it'll blur the background, gives a little more pop, kind of the way an expensive camera does. A DSLR camera, for example, kind of does this on its own. This can be used on people, pets, heck, even a plate of food. And it it already will pull that professional look into that photo.
SPEAKER_00It definitely helps to make it pop a little bit. And that's also adjustable too. So different scenes are going to require different amounts of blur, right? So you're able to have a like a really hard blur on the background, or you can have it a little bit softer if you want to be able to show what's happening in the background as well.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And the blur really gives some depth of field, I would say, to your photos. So instead of it just being a flat image, it actually feels you can actually feel the environment going back in the photo as it blurs more and more. Another mode I would suggest looking into is night mode. This is something I've used a lot. This is specifically great to be used in low light. Basically, you take a photo and you just hold your phone still for a second or two. Most phones now will pop up a little timer that'll tell you, you know, hold still two, one counts down for you. And the phone will actually hold its shutter open for a little bit longer, collects more light, turning that dark, grainy mess into a clearer shot. This actually sometimes will kick in on its own on more premium smartphones. I know on like the Samsung S series, it normally will kick in automatically. But the main thing to know with that is you have to keep your hands steady. Right. It's something that I know I actually found out using night mode before it was very good at getting like a quick looks like a time-lapse photo, but not a time lapse. So you can see like a streaks of light from moving the phone. So instead of having to have something sit there, as it captures and the exposure, you can actually use night mode to pull off a picture like that. Now, a main thing that a lot of pros use, again, it's built into your phone. Not a lot of us really enable it, but it is there. The grid lines in your camera settings. These are something that will actually help you with framing the photo. It kind of splits the screen into a tic-tac-toe board. So you put your subject where the lines cross instead of the dead center, and your photos are gonna come out a little more balanced. It's something for me that I know I'm very guilty that with whenever I'm taking photos, I just dead center my subject every time. And every photo I will tell you looks almost exactly the same.
SPEAKER_00Like we mentioned, it gives you a little bit of that access to more of the background and kind of more of the story that the picture can tell. It's called the rule of thirds, is often what you'll hear some of the photographers talk about with it.
SPEAKER_01Right. And you know, it's that was something for me that going through photography learning, I always thought, you know, oh, that doesn't matter. You want your subject in the middle, you want it to be the most important thing. Sometimes the story around your objects is going to be more important than what you're actually taking a picture of. So this is definitely something I would say use. It doesn't keep that tic-tac-toe over the photo once you take it. Right. So it's kind of just a reference for you to look at, put it where you want it, tap the screen on whatever you want, sharp before you shoot. And that's pretty much it. It's right there. You're good to go. Again, Greg said it's the rule of thirds, you said. That's right. So keeps you, you know, a little more professional looking than even yourself might give yourself credit for.
SPEAKER_00Oftentimes in that same screen, it'll also give you the option of turning on a balancer as well. So you can kind of see how how level your shot is. That way you're not getting those little bit of a little bit of a crookedness to your shot. You can actually try and get that as level as possible, too. It's very handy.
SPEAKER_01And you know, there are some shots that you may want to take at a specific angle, maybe at a 15% angle. That balancer that will help you specifically with that. Your phone does have a gyroscope sensor in it, so it can tell when it's tilted to the side, when it's not. And the camera can actually really help capture that angle, and it looks a lot better normally, just getting that little bit of
AI Edits And Photo Search
SPEAKER_01an angle. Now, this is the one that surprises most people. I know it surprised my uh family members getting their new phones the other day. AI uh magic that you're able to pull off now with photos is something I never really even dreamed of until now. Yep. You know, modern phones can now just, for example, erase things out of a photo. Going through looking at a bunch of photos I had, you know, on my phone, I actually have an option that I can smart select something, select it and tell my phone to use AI to remove a person or remove an object out of the image. And what surprised me, one of the photos I edited, I think was in a restaurant. There was an image of the menu. The person's arm was over. Selected the person, removed it, and the phone not only removed them, it filled in the portion of the table they were covering. It even filled in the menu. And the menu was blurry enough you couldn't read it. Right. But at the same time, you know, looking at the photo, you couldn't even tell there was a person there anymore.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, it's it's amazing how well they do with a lot of those different kinds of editing techniques. I think what what a lot of people will use it for is that random person in the background of your beach pitch picture that you were so excited to finally get also helps get rid of those pesky X's out of some pictures that you might want to hold on to a little longer.
SPEAKER_01The famous photo bombers. That's always the ones that you know this would be a really good thing for. And this is something that me, myself, I took classes in high school for Photoshop to cover how to do this in Photoshop. And I remember it took multiple days going through that class, so that was four or five hours of work just to do something as simple as remove somebody and to restore, you know, details behind them. Matching colors, building lines, all those fun things. Now it's just a uh tap of a button at this point. Now it's just select what you want, tap of a button, that's it. Some AI, you know, Grok, for example, you can upload an image to it and you can select a portion of the image and tell it what you want it to change. You can tell it to change the table to a bright red cherry color, and Grok will be able to spit out the image, and everything will be just almost like you had a professional Photoshopper do it for you. So that's something that's really, really good. And especially with AI now, we're getting to the point where blurry shots, you can actually use AI upscaling to kind of sharpen those photos, and you know, you can fix lighting on a too dark picture with one tap, even clean up a face. This this is something that has been evolving, I guess I'll put it. It really started with older iPhones when you could select to remove red eye. If you remember on a lot of photos, the red eye uh capture from a photo lens, you could actually on older smartphones say to remove that. And the phone actually had some programming to remove that, edit it, and restore, you know, the actual color of the person's eyes, for example. That's kind of what AI's doing, but there's a lot more magic behind it now. And I I always use that word magic with AI, but that's kind of what it feels like, Greg, isn't it? It feels like magic sometimes, yeah. It is, and you know, that's that's exactly what this is because now it is something as simple as you look for an edit button, you you hit enhance or turn on an auto option for AI, and that's it. It just does the work for you. That's that's the the magical part to me, is it just does it without you having to ask. With this, you can also search through your photos, you know, like magic. You can open your camera app and use the search bar, type in dog, beach, birthday cake, or even a person's name. And more often than not, it'll actually find a matching photo instantly on your phone. Your phone actually can recognize people, it can recognize objects. I know specifically on my S26 Ultra, opening up the gallery, it'll ask me sometimes, what is the name of this person? And every time I'll go through, I'll add it. Maybe it's the name of my brother, my girlfriend, and Google will actually go through. So whenever I look up that person's name, every single image of that person will come up from that search in my phone.
SPEAKER_00Makes it so handy. Instead of just having that giant bin of pictures that your mom has in the closet, now you can just kind of instantly find exactly what you're looking for.
SPEAKER_01Right. And a lot of photos now you can search by place and date, some of them even by time as well. Photos do capture that when you take a photo, they save the time, the date, and if you enable it, they'll also save the location of where you took that photo. Google, I believe, with it with the gallery also integrates location. So you can actually kind of see a collage of where you took the most photos from just on top of a map. So that's something that I think is pretty cool. You don't have to scroll through 10 minutes of photos to find, you know, one receipt or a sunset that you're looking for. But you can also use your phone as a scanner and a photocopier now. Just the other day, I had a couple documents that my my my dad was needing to scan, and he was fighting with our printer. And I mean it, he was about ready to start throwing fists at the printer. And he he got a newer Samsung phone. I told him just take a picture of it and scan it, and that's all it did. He took a picture scanned, he could select text off of it, and actually was able to use AI to take out the background of it, make it almost look like he scanned it right through the printer. That's something that I've utilized a couple times now. Trying to upload, say, like a photo of your ID or something to a to a website. That's something that I'll just I'll crop the background out and I'll save that in its own gallery, in its own album. That way I just have it on hand. And you know, it flattens it out, it straightens it, it'll make it a crisp PDF, whatever you're scanning or editing. And a lot of times that makes it perfect as well for sending to someone, having them sign that form and sending it back. Or, you know, for example, having a receipt for an insurance company.
SPEAKER_00As someone who recently went through the home buying process, this made it so much easier to send over those documents, those signatures, like you mentioned, driver's licenses and IDs. Right. Everything that you could have needed to turn into a PDF that you'd usually use a scanner for. My phone more than was more than capable to make it more than legible for those companies that really do require great detail when they ask for those documents. So it really worked out great for that.
SPEAKER_01Right. And you know, it's it's something that a printer and a scanner isn't in every home anymore. It's not like how it used to be where everybody had to have a printer. Most of us now don't require having one at all. And the moment that you've got to scan something to send to somebody, it it can feel like your heart's dropped. You know, it's just like, oh man, I have to, do I have to go out and buy a whole scanner now just to be able to accomplish, you know, a warranty claim, like you were saying, like for your house or something, Greg. Now it's just as easy as taking a picture with your phone. Another one that I'll I'll get into just before we go to this break here, burst
Burst Mode For Perfect Timing
SPEAKER_01mode. This is something that I've been using a lot more recently. I found that my newer phone does it a lot better than my S23 did. You can hold the shutter button down on the photo that will actually take rapid bursts of photos of whatever subject, you know, kid, a pet, whatever's going around, running around. You can use that to fire a rapid burst of photos that when you go back, you can pick the one frame where nobody blinked, there's no blur, you know, the one frame that you really, really, really want a picture of. All right, so we're going uh into another break, but when we get back, um, we're gonna be ending off our show with a uh nice little tip of how to get yourself some navigation when uh your phone just doesn't have any service.
SPEAKER_00You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Hey there, and welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073 FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Grode, sitting here with Adam Littlefield, a technician from the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. And don't forget to check out the website over at refreshcomputers.net. And now back to Adam.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you, Greg, and I want to thank everybody uh for tuning into this episode of Tech Talk here with Refresh Computers. If you missed any of this show today, Sunday I know is an earlier show. So if you missed any of that, go to our website, refreshcomputers.net, click that podcast link in the top right corner. That'll give you this show and tons and tons of other shows that we've talked just over the years of just so much nerdy stuff, but it's it's a lot of good stuff to know as well. We do a lot of, you know, just public announcements, I guess, of just scams that are going on at the time, how to keep yourself safe, things like that. This is going to be one of those segments as well, one of our uh tips.
Offline Maps When Service Drops
SPEAKER_01This is actually about saving offline maps onto your device so you can still actually be able to view it when the signal isn't really happening anymore.
SPEAKER_00So useful, especially if you're driving around some of those more deserted areas of even Florida, right? Or if you're driving through the mountains, I've had a lot of issues that this has come in big time handy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and these are also perfect for, you know, preparing for your storm season, road trips, just anywhere you would expect to drop signal. This is something that I would stress to just do as a backup plan. It is kind of like keeping the paper map, you know, in the glove box that I remember my mom threw out the window years ago. Well, her and my dad are bickering at the top of a mountain because they can't remember which way we're supposed to be headed. The childhood trauma. Love to hear it. Oh, yeah. So, you know, it is something that you can download a whole map onto your phone. And I've seen you can actually do it on tablet devices as well to give you turn-by-turn directional information with no signal and no data. It just lives right on that device. This matters because, you know, in a storm, after a storm, like you were saying, Greg, in deserted areas of a state, when you don't have any signal and you don't know exactly where you are, it is very, very scary to try and think of what you're gonna do next. You know, you don't know where you need to be headed to get to closest contact, to be able to contact somebody, just civilization in general, a town. I know a lot of stretches in Florida, you know, you can go miles without seeing a home or a building. So it's for those kinds of areas. I'm gonna go over how you can do this in Google Maps and Apple Maps too. Those are the two main ones that people generally use. For Google Maps, you'll tap your uh picture in the corner and choose offline maps. From there, you can select your own map and drag a box over the area you would like, your whole region or an evacuation route, and tap download. I've seen you can even also capture almost the whole state of Florida as an offline map. I had somebody come in that was setting up an iPad, and I actually went through, they wanted to use it as a navigational tool, didn't support service, cellular service. So I went through and actually downloaded the maps onto there for them, and that actually helped them use it as a navigational tool rather than just watching YouTube or Netflix sitting at home with it. On iPhone, because Apple Maps can do this too, search for your city, whatever, wherever you are or wherever you're going, and tap on the name and look for the download option. It's the same idea. The map's gonna live on your phone, so you can be completely cut off from any service and open up Google Maps or Apple Maps, and these maps are still gonna load and give you navigation. It's not gonna be able to give you live information like traffic or you know, if there's a collision, something that you need to route around, but it is still gonna give you an idea of where of north is north and you know where civil civilization is gonna be.
SPEAKER_00Think of it much more like the map that Adam's mom threw out the window. Exactly. In my case, we used to drive around with a big atlas
Final Tips And Where To Listen
SPEAKER_00in the tr in the vehicle whenever we'd go on road trips. So we always had at least some form of a map to be able to get around some of these states that you drive through. Just having that basic information really gives you a heads up as to what's coming up next.
SPEAKER_01It does. And you know, while you're going through and doing this, I would suggest, and we've talked about it in the show in another show, but I would suggest setting up your emergency contact, emergency SOS. Share your location too with a family member. Sometimes when data is not there, you can't get map data. There is still GPS locational data that is being streamed. So your family member may be able to see where you are in case you are needing some help. Um, I think we are getting to the end of this show. So, again, this has been the Sunday edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. If you missed any of this, go ahead and listen back on our website on that podcast link. And again, check out our website for the uh tax free holiday season. That's going to be going on again until Thursday, the 20th, this week. My name has been Adam Littlefield, and I look forward to speaking to you guys again next week.
