Should you take a walk on Amazon Sidewalk?

from the desk of Rich on Tech

Greetings!

Hope you’re having a great weekend and you didn’t mistakenly disconnect every component of your smart home from Google Assistant as I did… No idea what happened, but last night I was going through and doing some Google account housekeeping, and boom, next thing you know my smart home stuff is gone.

Now, I always tell people that they can’t really break anything when it comes to tech, but apparently you can. I’m still not sure what exactly I did, but I was going through the permissions on my Google account - the third-party services are linked to it - and clearly, I deleted a connection that needed to remain there. I’ll keep you posted on that…

But the other thing I’ve been doing is going through my Google storage with a fine-toothed comb. Now that Google will soon begin charging for anything over 15 gigabytes, I want to pair down my files, photos, and Gmail so I stay under the 2 terabyte limit I pay $10 a month for. Right now I’m at 1.7 out of 2, which is comfortable but I still think I can do better.

Going through, I found several huge files, including a few 7-gigabyte recordings my kids made on their iPads just fixed out the window for an hour at a time. Wonder who they were spying on? I also politely transferred many gigabytes of photos I’ve been storing for family members over the years to their rightful accounts.

If you’re curious, you can see the large files in your Google Drive using this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/quota.

OK, enough about my tech issues, let’s get to the newsletter!

Amazon Sidewalk privacy concerns

Amazon is set to activate a new type of “neighborhood” wireless network called Sidewalk. It’s broadcast out of Echo and Ring devices (their spotlight and floodlight cameras, not doorbells) using a bit of users’ home internet connections.

The Sidewalk network will make it easier to set up new devices and keep devices connected even if your WiFi connection goes out (they would fall back on the Sidewalk network to continue to work or send you notifications to fix your internet!). Sidewalk would also work with tracking devices like Tile, greatly increasing the likelihood that you could locate them.

Whether you agree or disagree with Amazon’s plan, the part that has many people upset is the fact that Amazon is automatically turning on this feature on devices by default - you have to tell them you don’t want to be a part of it.

On my podcast, I share more of my thoughts about the network and the pros and cons of being a part of it. You can watch my TV segment, which gives a top-level explanation, using this link:

https://ktla.com/morning-news/technology/got-an-echo-or-ring-soon-amazon-will-use-them-to-share-your-internet-with-a-new-sidewalk-network-unless-you-opt-out/

Then, you can decide if you want to be a part of it. If not, you can opt-out using these directions:

Shopping tools to save this holiday shopping season

The holiday shopping season is in full effect and it’s hard to believe gift-giving days are just weeks away.

This year, it’s all about shopping online, so I’m sharing some of the tools I’ve been using to find the best deals.

I wrote these articles for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, but all of the sites I mention are still great resources for finding deals every day.

Deal sites:

https://ktla.com/morning-news/technology/black-friday-deals-2020-best-websites-richontech/

How to price check deals:

https://ktla.com/morning-news/technology/price-check-cyber-monday-2020-deals-richontech/

Finding a PS5 or new Xbox

I can’t believe how popular these systems are this holiday season. The new gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft have been impossible to find. The best advice I can give is to be persistent.

You have to make it a daily routine to check stock and figure out a way to get your hands on one. That is if you actually need one of these systems the first month they’re launched.

You can easily wait a few months and they might be easier to get, have more games available and software bugs worked out. Just sayin.

Here are some of the sites I recommend that will help you check inventory and send alerts if and when the Xbox or PS5 is available.

https://ktla.com/morning-news/technology/where-to-find-playstation-5-xbox-series-x-in-stock/

Boba making robot

I’ve only had Boba tea twice in my life but I can tell you it is indeed delicious. So, when I heard about a Boba making robot, I jumped at the opportunity to see it in action.

A Santa Monica company called Bobacino is making an automated Boba kiosk. You make your order and it springs into action, creating your drink from start to finish autonomously.

It’s still pretty early, and they were literally still tweaking the programming as we were recording our TV segment, but it worked! The Boba was delicious.

You can watch my TV segment here:

https://ktla.com/morning-news/technology/bobacino-robot-boba-tea-bar-demo-richontech/

If you want to see the entire process from start to finish, you can watch my YouTube video on Bobacino.

Rich on Tech Podcast

In my podcast, I talk about the tech stuff I think you should know about and answer the questions you send me!

In this week’s show:

Amazon Sidewalk will turn on by default on Echo and Ring devices; Wyze $20 smartwatch; Warner Bros. streams same day as theater releases; Verizon offers unlimited cloud storage; Fire TV Cube gets video calling support; Google Play music goes away for reals.

Listeners ask about the Microsoft Edge web browser, how to get rid of the U2 album in Apple Music, stopping spam text messages, best tablet for a senior that's not Apple and Sonos versus HomePods.

Listen to the latest episode for free using this link and be sure to subscribe so you never miss a new show!

https://bit.ly/RichOnTechPodcast

Tech Tidbits

Google will soon delete your files if you’re inactive for two years.

Flipstik says it can stick your phone to most smooth surfaces.

Create a personalized Santa video thanks to this AI Santa.

Tweet of the week

Rich DeMuro @richontech

Last of its kind

That’s all, folks!

Thanks, as always, for reading! I do appreciate all of the comments and feedback you leave me in just about every way you can… from FB wall posts to comments to Instagram DMs to Twitter replies and even texts and not to mention the many, many emails. I do try to get to a majority of them but it’s not always possible… but I never take it for granted.

Have a fantastic weekend and don’t forget to hit that heart below on the way out so I know you enjoyed this. Also, follow me on Instagram!

Rich