SMRPodcast #208: Under the Weather

Recorded: Â May 6th, 2014
Published: Â May 7th, 2014
Duration: 01hr 23min 00sec

Posted May 7, 2014

Episode #208 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download. It's just a two man show this week with Robb and Rod, as Chris is a bit under the weather.

After a bit of talk of how hectic schedules become right before a high school senior graduates, we jump into a bit of tech news starting with Microsoft's announcement of a May 20th event expected to be the release of a a Surface Mini tablet. This is a device that even “Anti Microsoft Robb” is interested in, so long as MS gets the pricing right.

Google and Intel have announced that they are releasing a plethora of new ChromeBooks powered by Intel's new Bay Trail Chip. Robb really likes his HP ChromeBook 11, but, admits that it is not a replacement for laptop for higher end users.

We discus the merits of a class action law suit which claims that Google's Mobile Application Distribution Agreements which force manufacturers to install multiple Google Apps like Google Voice Search, and Network Location Provider if they want to install popular Google apps like Google Play and YouTube, is anti competitive and creates a monopoly which harms consumers.

Google Hangouts will never beat truly cross platform mobile IM clients, McAfee's Chadder really has no shot with out iOS support, and LastPass app sign-on in Android is awesome. We've got all this, our picks, and more in episode #208 of the SMRpodcast.