Life & Technology – 2GB 24th Jun, 2023

What is a Williams Pocketalker 2.0? 

The Williams Pocketalker 2.0 personal amplifier takes external sound from its internal or external mono microphone, amplifies the 5kHz range, and cuts the lower 400Hz range. It is for those who need help hearing the television or general conversations over a meal. It is not a hearing aid customised to reinforce your hearing frequency weaknesses. 

The simplest description is a pocketable personal amplifier that runs off two AAA batteries (Alkaline or rechargeable NiMH for up to 105 hours of use). Sound is picked up from the internal mono mic, or you can plug in a 3.5mm external mono mic and place it up to 5.5m away using the 3.5mm male-female extension cable. We make the point about mono because that is all you can hear via a mic. You hear through the 3.5mm on-the-ear headphones or the 3.5mm in-ear canal earbuds.

The supplied headphones (HED 024) and earbuds (EAR 042) are similar to those disposable ones you get on a plane. Despite the claim, they provide only minimal passive noise isolation. You can use any 3.5mm headphones/buds as long the maximum impedance is <30 ohms. I recommend an over-the-ear style (ear cups fit over the ear and provide good passive noise isolation). Or if you don’t want to use a 3.5mm cabled head/earphone, you can use an $89.95 Airfly Pro 3.5mm to Bluetooth 5.0 (BT) Audio transmitter and attach up to two sets of BT head/earphones. The internal battery lasts up to 16 hours and is USB-C charged. 

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­Guests and Topics on the Show 

Tax season is here and we wanted to make sure you are safe from any tax scams. We invited Tim Falinski, VP of Consumer Business AMEA from Trend Micro to discuss with us ways on how to stay safe this season.   

Security programs like Trend Micro Device Security Ultimate have several ways to help defend against scams. Available on mobile devices and desktop PCs alike, Device Security Ultimate is ready to protect your data across all kinds of devices.  This software offers multiple layers of protection, securing your data and your devices with several features. 
We also invited Emory Fierlinger, Founder / Developer of the Roadtrip App Magic fuel cost calculator

Roadtrip is a free app that figures out how much fuel will cost from A to B, using your exact car model 🚙 
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