SMRPodcast

SMRpodcast episode #280 is online and ready for download.   We've got a full crew this week, but, the show definitely takes on a Chicken Wings and Beer kind of feel as we talk everything from Windows 10 Mobile first thoughts to NCAA Pay for Play. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Rod Simmons -- @rodsimmons   Picks: Destiny Gear Buster Beta -- bungie.net/en/Gear/Manager Yahoo Video Guide -- https://goo.gl/JrM26b

Episode #279 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download.  Rod is out this week, but, Chris and Robb are joined by Terrance Gaines, a.k.a, BrothaTech, and we don't miss a beat talking tech and stuff from the past week. This week's show almost has a chicken wings and beer feel to it as we start off the show with talk of Ronda Rousey getting epically knocked out by a perfectly placed roundhouse kick clean to right side of her face by Holly Holm.  We also talk about Cam Newton dropping the "Dab" on the Titans during his end zone celebration. Once we get to tech we talk about why the iPad Pro really shouldn't be compared to the Surface Pro 4 and we explain why Apple has seen declining iPad sales for 7 consecutive quarters. Chris is loving his Coin 2 digital credit card but small vendors aren't embracing it or mobile payments from NFC enabled smartphones. Google+ has rebranded itself... again... and is now focusing on groups.  The entire crew is pretty skeptical that Google has the right sauce this time, but, think that Googe+ has the best interface and features of any mobile social networking app. Robb goes off an a tangent about Slack,  Terrance is piloting a new video podcast, and Chris wants all skip laggers in Destiny Public events to be flogged.  We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #279 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Guest Host: Terrance Gaines -- @brothatech Picks: MileIQ -- GPS based mileage tracking app on steroids Google Authenticator --  Two-Factor Authentication mechanism provided by Google YouTube Music --  Yet another streaming music service out of Google

Episode #278 if the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download. Rod is out this week but Chris and Robb are joined by the awesome Allison Sheridan from the NosillaCast podcast who picked up a couple of new toys from Apple that she wants to tell us all about. We start the show off with Allison's thoughts on the new Apple TV.  The setup of the Apple TV is kind of awesome and infuriatingly frustrating at the same time.  Once you get it set up, it appears to be better than older models in every way.  Just be careful with the remote as there are reports that it is a little fragile. Allison also picked up the new iPad Pro yesterday.  It's a bit early for Allison's full review, but, her initial impression is that it is large, has awesome speakers, and the full keyboard will take some getting used to if you have muscle memory from the compact keyboards on smaller models of the iPad. We talk about T-Mobile's Binge On unlimited video streaming for customers with at least a 3GB data plan, how Comcast's capped data plans are completely bogus, rumors that Google is planning to standardize Android chipsets, and Apple Music is now live on Android.  We've got all this, our picks and more in episode #278 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Guest Host Allison Sheridan -- @podfeet Picks: Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 --  The latest in the long line of one of the best FPS franchises ever. MacPhun Photo App Aurora -   HDR PRO Surface Book --  Microsoft's new laptop 2-in-1  

Episode #277 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download.  We've got a full crew this week and Robb, Chris, and Rod waste no time getting into the tech news. The biggest news this week comes out of Microsoft.  For reasons unknown the biggest software company on the planet decided to create a PR nightmare for itself by reneging on it's promise of unlimited storage within Office 365 just over a year after announcing it.  The company has also reduced it's free OneDrive cloud storage from 15 gigs down to 5.  DropBox, Google Drive, Box, and other cloud storage solutions promptly thanked Microsoft for sending so many customers their way. Google announces that it will stop trusting Symantec backed SSL as of June 1st, 2016 unless it gives a thorough accounting of its certificate authority process (jumps through a bunch of hoops) after issuing thousands of bogus certificates.  Google is basically threatening to have the most popular web browser in the world pop up a security warning every time a user visits a site which uses Symantec SSL.  Although companies behind other browsers have yet to weigh in on Symantec's bogus keys, the entire crew thinks that Symantec is going to have catch an L on this one and cater to Googles demands which actually seem pretty fair. Facebook videos are seen 8 billion times per day,  Google has come up with a way to automatically reply to emails via Inbox, Google denies plans to merge Chrome OS with Android, and the owner of RedBox buys cellphone trade-n company Gazelle on the cheap.  We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #277 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Rod Simmons -- @rodsimmons Picks: TextExpand -- OS integrated Text Expansion App for Android NBC shows Blindspot and The Player -- Fall TV lineup favorites Road Rage -- Book by Joe Hill and Stephen King  

Episode #276 of the SRMpodcast is online and ready for download.  We've got a full crew this week and a few of us got brand new toys.  We talk SurfaceBook, Halo, Xbox Controllers, and a little social commentary.  We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #276 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information       Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Rod Simmons -- @rodsimmons Picks: XBox Elite Wireless Controller -- High end Xbox controller from Microsoft Halo 5:  Gaurdians -- Lastest series in the Halo Universe Coocheer Compact Car Jump Starter and Portable Charger Emergency Power Bank  

Episode #275 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download.  We've got a full crew this week and Robb, Rod, and Chris waste no time getting to the tech news over the past week. 1PassWord Leaks Your data, but, not really,  Paul Thurrott believes only Android can save Windows Phone, The 1 Terabyte Surface Book costs a bit more than many used cars, and Apple Music losing nearly half of its free subscribers is not nearly as big a deal as many make it out to be. We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #275 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information       Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Rod Simmons -- @rodsimmons Picks: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 --  Arguably one of the best Android devices currently on the market. Revival by Stephen King -- A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life Tip - Coin users must validate their identity via the mobile app

SMRpodcast episode #274 is online and ready for download.  It was a slow week as we are still recovering from the all the Microsoft announcements from last week, however, Chris and Robb give you their takes on a few tech goings on from the last 7 days. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Picks: Planters Flavored Peanuts, Sea Salt and Vinegar -- Flavored Peanuts that Chris has fallen in love with. Original 1979 Big Track --  Programmable Electronic Tank from Robb's childhood.  

SMRpodcast episode #274 is online and ready for download.  Rod is out, so, the two big fellas hit you with Chicken Wings and Beer, Part 35. We definitely spend time on new stuff coming out of Microsoft, particularly the new Surface Book, the Lumia 950 and 950XL flagship Windows Phones, and the, the Microsoft Band.  This is, however, CWB, so we discuss the tussle between Matt Barnes and Derek Fisher, Robb's favorite new TV, shows, and we talk a little Destiny. We've got all this, our picks, and more in this week's episode of the SMRpodcasts, and, be sure to come check us out over on the official SMRpodcast Facebook Page where we keep the conversation going. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood -- @robbdunewood Picks: Hunt The Truth Podcast --  Show about Master Chief from Halo Slack -- Cross platform real-time messaging app for teams.

SMRpodcast episode #272 is online and ready for download. Robb had to miss this show but Brandon Watson from DataLogix stepped in and kept the conversation going.  The Podcasting PC is obviously on its last leg as it rudely bluescreened at the end of the show, followed by an epic skype crash.  A new PC will be purchased soon thanks to our contributors. We learned how the with of a piece of tape brought Brandon to tears and how his next adventure is a 500 mile 8 day mountain bike ride in South Africa. We learned much about what Brandon has been up to but and got some details about working at Amazon or any high pressure environment with huge goals. The Tesla Model X was a topic of conversation as we all realized the purchase price was more than any of us desired to spend on a vehicle.  It is a home price for most Americans. VW came up yet again.  Not to be forgotten we touched on the Google announcement of the Pixel C, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5x.  Somehow we forgot to cover the other devices announced. Brandon and Chris put Rod to sleep as they talked about Destiny and something about a master king or forgotten leader or maybe it was to orphaned prince, regardless it was about the how Chris completed the latest challenge on the coat tails of others. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Rod Simmons -- @rodsimmons Guest: Brandon Watson @brandonwatson http://www.manyniches.com/ Picks: 1Blocker  -- Ad Blocker for iOS Scosche Rhythm+ -- Heart Rate Monitor Armband NFL for Windows - NFL app for Windows 10  

SMRpodcast episode #271 is online and ready for download.  We've got a full crew with Robb, Rod, and Chris all on the line and we start the conversation with thoughts on the Skype outage, which actually may have been the cause for many of the audio problems we had during the recording of this show. We also discuss Ad blocking technology and how iOS ad blocking app Peace, was pulled from the App Store after sitting as the number one paid app for 36 hours.  Robb and Rod don't really disagree on the technology, but, are at polar opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to using it. Volkswagon has admitted to utilizing technology in it's diesel cars which detects when the car is being tested for emmisions and puts the vehicle in a clean running mode.  Testers have uncovered that norma emmisions from select cars is 40 times worse than what Volkswagon claimed. Some publications feel that Apple bias is warranted, Citrix is trying to sell itself to Dell, and Martin Shkreli wins the worst person of the week award for buying the drug Daraprim which aids HIV and cancer patients fight deadly infections and raising the price per pill from $13.50 to $700, a 5000% increase.  We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #271 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood — @RobbDunewood Rod Simmons -- @rodsimmons Picks: ESPN Fantasy Football App --  Fantasy Football app for iPhone and Android Makayama Movie Mount for iPad Air --  Ipad Air /Air 2 case mount for taking video and still pictures Crystal for iOS -- Ad Blocker for iOS

Episode #266 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download.  Rod is out for the second week in a row, so, Chris and Robb hit you with Chicken Wings and Beer Part 34. We start of talking about Geno Smith and his broken jaw.  Can you actually be sucker punched when you are stand toe to toe with another man with your finger in his chest? Google is now a wholly owned subsidiary of it's new parent (shell) corporation alphabet.  Several of the moonshot projects and other lines of business like Nest, the driverless car, Project Fi, etc., now fall under alphabet.  Everything you think if when you traditionally think Google like Search, web service, chrome, Android, YouTube, etc. are still under Google. In other news, the SMRpodcast is know a whole owned subsidiary of it's new parent company Roman Numeral. Verizon gets rid of 2-year contracts, Twitter removes the 140-character limit in direct messages, At&T and Direct TV now offering NFL Sunday Ticket as an internet streaming subscription to some consumers, and BlackBerry Messenger now integrates directly with PayPal.  We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #266 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood — @RobbDunewood Picks: Ego Lawn Mower --  Battery powered electric lawnmower Drupe -- Dialer replacement app for Android

Episode #265 of the SMRpodcast is online.  It's just the two big fellas this week, so, Chris and Robb hit you with Chicken Wings and Beer part 33. We start the show of with more talk about Windows 10.  Robb and Chris have both been playing with it for a week and see no reason why 95% of consumers shouldn't download and install it.  Robb believes that 10 runs faster on his nearly 3 year old Dell XPS 10 than did Windows 8. Destiny has a new DLC coming out in September called The Taken King.  Chris covers many of the new features coming in the update which seems more like Destiny 2, than, an extenuation of the existing title. The Android exploit Stage Fright which allows malicious coded in MMS messages to take over over 950 million Android devices has prompted Samsung start pushing security updates monthly.  The is a significant change to the current policy of "whenever Samsung feels like it".  Google is also adopting this policy on the the Nexus line of devices and it isn't hard to imagine that other manufacturers will follow suit. Twitter still hasn't figured out how to make money, there is a Windows 10 upgrade email scam making its way around the net, and we ponder whether Microsoft should bring Android Apps to Windows Phone 10.  We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #265 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood — @RobbDunewood Picks: Turtle Beach Elite 800x Wireless Xbox Headset --  Headsets that are wireless from the Xbox One to your ears     Roku Stick -- Streaming Media HDMI dongle with remote control

SMRpodcast episode #264 has been recorded, posted online, and is ready for download.  For the first time in nearly in over a month you've got Robb, Rod, and Chris all on the show at the same time so we do some catching up while we talk about tech over the last week. The big news this week was definitely the release of Windows 10.  Chris and Robb both installed it having not played with any of the betas and they both like it a lot.  We will hit you with a full review in one of the upcoming episodes. There is a report of a Android MMS exploit from cyber security firm Zimperium which is estimated to affect more than 950 million Android users.  This is a bad one where a malicious code can be attached to an MMS message, which are automatically downloaded to your phone by Google Hangouts.  Google has already released a patch for this exploit, but, the problem for most users is that they must wait until their carrier pushes the update to their device.  This could take months, or, possibly never come if you have an older device. Rod got the new MacBook, Robb got a new timepiece, and Chris ordered a new Nexus 6 while recording this episode so that he can check out Project Fi.  We've got all this, or picks, and more in episode number 264 of the SMRpodcast. Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Robb Dunewood — @RobbDunewood Rod Simmons — @RodSimmons   Picks: Macbook --  Latest ultrabook from Apple Squirt.io -- One word speed reading bookmarklet for webpage reading. Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop -- Keyboard, Mouse and Number Pad  

Episode #263 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download. Robb and Rod are off this week therefore the great BrothaTech has stepped in to cohost the show. While there was not a barrel full of tech news this week, there were definitely stories that we wanted to cover. We take a step back, and get Brotha Tech up to speed on what we expect to be some of the standout consumer features of Windows 10. The latest version of Microsoft’s operating system is expected to start rolling out on July 29th, 2015 and will be bringing the personal assistant Cortana to the desktop as well as many other cool features. BrothaTech has been closely following the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus rumors and brings some of the information to the show. It seems that Apple has finally decided to drop the 16 GB storage version of the iPhone while upping the camera stats. We also take a few moments to discuss which iPhone users should consider this release as their next phone and who should not. On this week’s episode is the delineation of who is a tech civilian and who are to be considered in the mix. The hosts also cover some TV shows, Netflix news and more.   Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Terrance Gaines -- @brothatech Picks: Native Union Jump Cable -- Sync and charge cable Intel Real Sense developer Kit -- USB camera

Episode #262 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download. Robb is out this week, so Chris and Rod are joined by the great Allison Sheridan from the NosillaCast Podcast. This week’s panel cover a wide range of topics from cord cutting to current tech news. Leading off the tech talk is Allison’s objections to Robb's assertions that Google Plus being dead. She talks about her active community as well as some statements from Google executives that state the opposite. The group also take some time to continue to the conversation around Microsoft’s reduction of Windows Phone Devices and even discuss the recent interview between Mary Jo Foley and Satya Nadella. This episode also includes some quick discussions around Apple Music vs. ITunes Match, revenge movie suggestions, and laptop purchase suggestions. We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #262 of the SMRpodcast     Listen Now Show Information     Hosts: Chris Ashley — @bigchrisashley Rod Simmons — @RodSimmons Allison Sheridan -- @podfeet Picks:  -- HooToo TripMate Elite -- Wireless Hard Drive Companion Heads Up - Fun guessing game