You don’t need a degree in computer engineering to remain cybersafe while shopping this holiday season! For some simple tips, we’re joined by Leena Elias, Chief Product Officer at Gen, the parent company to Norton.
- Tech expert Amber Mac drops by with some great holiday gadgets and game ideas – and I’ll share some suggestions, too, many of which are on sale
- Also on the show today, soaring energy costs can really hit your wallet hard. To tell us how we can reduce out monthly utility bill, on the show we’ll have David O'Reilly, VP of Home & Commercial Solutions Division at Schneider Electric
- Thank you to Visa, Norton, and SANDISK for your incredible support!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's not
(00:22):
and why.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey, everyone, welcome to Check it Out Episode four twenty two.
Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving as well as a
successful cyber Monday or a great Giving Tuesday, and whatever
else you may be celebrating this week. Hope you're all
doing well and thank you for making tech it Out
a small part of your day. Maybe you're on a
road trip right now, coming back from Thanksgiving and listening
(00:47):
to tech it Out in the car on your favorite
local talk radio station or as a podcast. Speaking of
talk radio stations, I enjoyed my chat on WTBQ and
WGHT in the New York and New Jersey era. We'll
shout out to you. They run teck it Out twice,
so you may be hearing this as late as December
the fifth. Well, Hey, as you may or may not
(01:07):
know Norton has joined Visa as a major partner on
Tech it Out. Interestingly, both companies aim to protect consumers
in slightly different ways. I'll tell you more about Visa shortly,
but speaking of Norton, we're going to kick off the
show with them today to talk with us about cyber
safety Sunday. That's another special day like Cyber Monday. So
(01:28):
we're going to learn what makes this one different with
Norton in a moment. Tech expert Amber Mac is also
here to talk about gadget gift ideas ahead of the holidays,
and I'll share some as well. And Schneider Electric will
join us to talk about saving money on your monthly
energy bills, your utility bills in the home by embracing
(01:48):
smart technology. All of this and more on today's teck
it Out. All right, let's kick things off. What better
time than the annual Cyber Safety Sunday to chat about
online shopping safety, just ahead of the busy shopping season,
of course, And so I wanted to invite onto the
show Lena Elias. She's chief product officer at GEN that's
(02:09):
the parent company to brands that you know such as Norton,
and she's here to share some insights and tips with us.
Welcome Lena, and happy almost holidays too. Thanks for your time, Thanks.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
For having me Mark, It's great to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Awesome. So why don't we start off with Cyber Safety Sunday,
which maybe on the day our listeners are hearing this interview,
or could have been a few days ago. It's all
tied to holiday shopping and staying safe while doing so.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, that's exactly right. So Cyber Safety Sunday is really
for us, it's really a call to action. Norton has
declared the day before Cyber Monday as Cyber Safety Sunday.
This year, that's November thirtieth, and it's really a day
of action for consumers to start preparing themselves to shop
smart by doing things like updating your passwords, installing protection
(02:54):
on the devices that you use to shop, and generally
just staying vigilant and on the lookout for scams, especially
on social media during a period of time when there
are a lot of those scams out there when people
are shopping online.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Fair I'm going to ask you to elaborate on some
of those tips in a couple of minutes from now,
like password protection, suggestions and protecting your devices with anti
malware anti malicious software software. Well, so we're going to
get to all of that. There's one thing that I
know a lot of my listeners use already, and it's
called a VPN, or virtual private network. Can you explain
(03:27):
what this is and why it's a good idea?
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, of course if I can maybe put it in
the simplest way I can. I can think of imagine
your online activity as a postcard, and on that postcard
is the writing on a postcard is your online activity?
Anyone who's handling the postcard can read it and see
what you're doing online. A VPN is like putting that
postcard inside a sealed envelope so that only you and
(03:52):
the person you're sending it to can actually see what's inside.
So it's really a way for you to protect your
private data while you're shopping online.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
That's a great analogy. I like that a lot, Lina.
The one I've used is imagine you know, you're on
the super Information Highway and everybody can see where you're
driving because of helicopters. The VPN would be like an
underground tunnel where you're still going to get to your destination,
but you can't be seen. I think I like your
postcard analogy better. That's a really good one. Thank you
for that. So a VPN is a great way to
(04:22):
remain anonymous online, you know, away from the prying eyes
of advertisers and search engine companies and your ISP, your
Internet service provider and cyber criminals too. You can't be
targeted if they don't know where you are. Your VPN
not just masks your identity, but your location too. And
is there a reason why you would recommend Norton VPN.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, we've we've really tried to simplify the usage of
a VPN as as much as possible. We've included within
our VPN what we think are the most important features
for an everyday user to be able to get online
and feel safe online. And so our basic VPN is
a very comprehensive product that not only helps protect you
(05:03):
while you're surfing online, but also protects your data. But
we've also included in our higher tiers some additional features
that users might be interested in having, things like a
comprehensive family solution along with identity theft protection and parental controls.
So these are some of the bells and whistles that
we've added into our VPN offering so that we really
(05:24):
can offer the most comprehensive protection for everyday users.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, thanks for that. And I think you've kind of
hinted at this when you talked about data protection, is
that there are some free VPNs out there that will
sell your data. It's anonymized, but it's still your surfing habits,
which is contradictory to the whole point of a VPN.
So good to know that customer data is protected, stays
(05:48):
within Norton again, part of the Gen family. That's Geen,
and we are chatting with Lena Alias, she's chief product
officer at the company to share some cyber safety tips
for us ahead of the shopping season. DP. Good idea.
Thank you for explaining why Norton and speaking of the company,
they do also have a suite of other products, right
I mentioned anti malware, which we used to call it antivirus,
(06:09):
I guess, but it's a lot more than that today.
There's also a password manager that Norton has. There's LifeLock
for personal protection. Can you tell us a bit more
about the family of products at a high level.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, of course you started with anti malware protection. So
our flagship product, Norton three sixty is a really comprehensive
product that protects at the most basic level, protects the
devices that you have from being infected with a virus
or with malware. And we have a virus protection guarantee,
(06:42):
meaning you know, we're pretty sure we're going to protect
your device from any type of malware that's out there,
and so you can feel confident when you have n
three sixty installed on your machine that you are going
to be protected. In addition to that, we offer a
number of other solutions that help users stay safe, not
only protecting your device, but also protecting things like your data,
and so that's where a VPN comes in. We talked
(07:03):
about that already a little bit. We have an anti
track solution, for example, that helps protect you from being
tracked online and so it masks your IP address, but
also masks some of the other data that you might
be sharing, like your digital fingerprint when you're online. You
mentioned identity that protection. We have our LifeLock solution that
(07:24):
offers a number of features to protect your credit card information,
your personal data like your social security number, bank accounts,
and also provides a number of alerts when we see
any sort of suspicious activity that has to do with
any of your personal information. And we also offer comprehensive
(07:44):
insurance through the LifeLock product as well. So that's just
a little bit more about some of the products that
we have. You mentioned also a password manager. Using a
password manager, especially when you know when you're shopping online
and during the holiday season, is extremely important. A lot
of people think they can manage their path passwords with
their own sort of methodology or algorithm, but the truth is,
if you can come up with a safe password, it's
(08:06):
probably a password that is pretty easy to guess, and
so using a password manager is really important. And Norton
offers a password manager for free in our portfolio.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So obviously a very comprehensive full circle protection on several fronts,
including a password manager. Good to hear that it is free.
That is obviously something that you use one master password
to access and then you've got all your other passwords
in there. Because we all get lazy, we get complacent,
We use the same passwords for a lot of our activity.
But once there's one breach, even if it's a super long,
(08:37):
complicated twenty character password, with upper case and lowercase and
punctuation and all that. If you use that more than once,
if there is a breach on the other end, then
the cyber criminals have the keys to the kingdom, so
to speak, all of your accounts compromise. Speaking of passwords,
let's end off on some safety tips for listeners, again
especially over the holidays, but is relevant any time of
the year. A good password is one thing. What about
(09:00):
making sure that it's an encrypted connection, like a little
padlock in the browser before you give out your credit
card when you shop online? Is that something that Norton suggests.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, absolutely, so definitely you want to stick to trusted
retailers that you know, and a really good rule of
thumb is to start with websites that start with an HTTPS.
That's a good way for you to know that it
is a secure site.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And that's like having that postcard inside of a sealed envelope,
so only you and the retailer have access to your info.
Going back to your previous analogy, what about too good
to be true scams out there as well, where people
are getting messages over social media sometimes like DMS direct
messages saying hey, you can buy an iPhone seventeen for
way lower than anywhere else. Your spidy senses should be
(09:43):
tingling there too, right of course.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yeah, if you're receiving text messages or emails, especially from
people that you don't know, or you know, just a
sender that you don't recognize, definitely beyond the alert. A
lot of what we see in terms of victims of scams,
they're getting scammed through those texts and emails. We're also
that consumers today are receiving scams more and more through
not only through SMS and email, but also through social media.
(10:08):
So being really vigilant about watching what you see coming
through on social media, tracking what you're seeing from people
that you don't know, and just staying vigilant about not
responding to anything that's asking you for money is going
to be really really important.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
A couple more tips that are really easy to set
up during the holiday season are to do things like
enabling your fraud alerts on your credit card or your
bank account to help monitor any sort of unusual activity
on those accounts and then remember to report anything suspicious
right away. Another thing that you can do is track
your orders when you're ordering online, make sure you know
(10:43):
when to expect deliveries because delivery scams are actually really
prevalent during the holiday season as well, and so it's
a good time to be aware of fake notifications that
might be trying to trick you into spending more money.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
These are all great tips. Thank you so much, Lena.
As our website you could recommend.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Yeah, definitely check out www dot Norton dot com and
you can learn about all of the different products that
we offer to help keep you safe online during the
holiday season.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Speaking of which, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas. Thank you so
much for your time, Lena, all the best, good to
chat with you.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, thank you, same to you.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
She was a great interview. When we return on tech
it Out, tech expert Ambramac shared some of our favorite
gadget gift ideas ahead of the holidays.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
We'll be right back listen to check it Out whenever
you want to find the check it Out podcast, Did
I Do?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Welcome back to tech it Out. We cover cybersecurity a
lot on this program and how you can best protect
yourself in the digital age even if you're not super
tech savvy. One part of the solution is securely shopping online,
and so I'm thrilled about my partnership with Visa on
tech it out, as they've made some significant investments in
fraud prevent over the past five years, as much as
(12:02):
ten billion dollars Yes that's billion with a bee to
support Visa's brand promise to protect the financial information of
individuals and businesses. Zero liability means peace of mind when
you shop online using your Visa card. There can be
no half measures when it comes to cybersecurity, which is
why the company takes an aggressive and multi layered approach
(12:22):
to combating the rising threat of malicious software and other
threats by well funded and global criminal enterprises. Read more
about Visa and how securing the world's payments is priority
one at Visa dot com slash security. That's Visa dot
Com slash Security. Speaking of shopping, believe it or not,
the holidays are just a few weeks away, and if
(12:44):
you're looking for a few great gift ideas, tech Expert
and super Mom and Primac is here with the newest,
coolest and most popular tech pics for the entire family.
Hi Aver, thanks for your time today.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
Always great chatting with you, Ay Mark, It's always great
to check about holiday tech and I have a bunch
of cool picks on my list this year, all stuff
that I'm trying out at home with my entire family.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Awesome, why don't we start off with something for tweens
and teens. I know you have a teenager under the roof,
so maybe you can start there.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
Yeah, let's start with the Cricket Joy Extra and Everything bundle.
You and I are both familiar with Cricket. It is
such a fantastic company that makes it really easy for
crafting beginners as well as DIY enthusiasts, so that you
can create personalized gifts. You can create holiday decor with
people's names on it, and it's been so fun. My
son and I have been using Cricket for a really
(13:32):
long time. And what I love about this bundle is
that you get everything that you need to get started
with all of your crafting and projects, and so it
really helps you to sort of have an experience using
technology that is so hands on and so creative. And
I think every family absolutely loves that idea.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Awesome all right, and for our listeners, Cricket is spelled
cri cut. If you haven't seen or have used the
brand before, so Cricket, Joy Extra Plus Everything bundle is
a great pick. And my wife Kelly, was just decorating
some coffee mugs. So cool, all right, and then gaming,
let's pivot and talk about what's hot when it comes
to console gaming. I think I know which brand you're
(14:12):
going to refer to.
Speaker 6 (14:13):
Yeah, I think you know a lot about this pick.
The Nintendo Switch to is really all the rage these days.
It's great to play at home or take on the go.
It has a bigger screen, great color, great clarity as well.
The new Joycon two controllers snap on magnetically, which is
really cool. And a bunch of games as well that
are hot this holiday season. My son is a huge
(14:34):
Zelda fan, so we really love High Role Warriors Age
of Imprisonment. There are other games out there too, but Mark,
this is kind of the perfect gift for any gamer
in your family, and again, fun for the whole family.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
The brand new Metroid Prime four Beyond is out as
well as Pokemon Legends said ay, and that's a lot
of fun as well. Heading back to Lumeo City, so
really great stuff there. Let's now shift gears Amber and
about smart home tech. It's incredibly popular because it's relatively affordable,
but so practical and fun too.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
I would say, yeah, I mean it is really fun
and like you said, really practical. So the first one
that I'm going to talk about is the Teeping Link
Tapo smart Wi Fi door lock. So this is a
really easy to install door lock, and with the Tabo app,
you can remotely manage the lock. You can monitor the
entry logs. That means you can see who's using what
code to come in and out, and you can set
(15:27):
temporary codes for guests. I have a really big family
and so I love this idea when people come to
visit that I'm able to give them a temporary code
and it's easy, like I said, to install. There's a
built in doorbell and there are backup keys as well.
So this is really a great gift for anyone on
your list who doesn't have a smart door lock.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I love the idea of having that integrated doorbell.
A lot of people, including us, We have our smart
door lock on a side door where we don't normally
have a doorbell, so that's a nice extra feature to have.
We are chatting with ambermac tech expert and mom Extra.
Let's now chat about a robotic vac and mop hybrid.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
Yeah, so this is the robo rock q Revo Curve
robot vacuum and mop, so it's in all in one
for hands free cleaning. It has this great technology called
hyperforce that means that it can get a really deep,
powerful clean by lifting up debris, hair and dust. I'm
going to stick on that hair word mark because I
have two dogs. So I love the fact that the
(16:26):
dual anti tangle system prevents hair clogs. And I love
the fact that not only can it vacuum, but it
can also mop as well. The all in one doc
takes care of that with seventy five degree celsius hot
water mop washing and warm air drying.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So this does a lot. And then let's end off
on tablets. What do you have there, because I know
that's a very popular product category because they're so versatile.
Speaker 6 (16:51):
So this is the first time I'm seeing this product,
the Samsung Galaxy at tab s eleven Ultra. I've been
playing with it for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
This is just absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
It's slimmer, it's brighter, it's lighter, it has a bunch
of AI tools that built in as well. So great
for productivity, for creativity, for entertainment. Got this over at
the Best Buy Holiday Gift Guide. So if you are
looking for gift ideas a great place to go. I
love that you can order online and pick up in
as little as one hour, and there are also always
(17:20):
lots of great deals there as well over the next
few weeks. So a really great pick for that tablet
lover in your family, and a tablet is really I
think practical gift again, really for anyone.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, and I'm an avid reader and I was just
reading last night on a plane on my tablet on
the way home. It's great. So that's the Samsung Galaxy
tab S eleven ultra great for gaming as well with
your fingertips. Amber always amazing chatting with you. Where's a
website that our listeners can go to to see some
of these items?
Speaker 6 (17:45):
Yeah, absolutely, so you can head on over to ambermac
dot com and one of the most recent blog posts
will be my holiday tech gift picks and you can
get links to the products, see some of the local
pricing as well. And Market's always fun to chat with
you this time of year.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Thanks again, Amber, Ambermac dot com. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas.
Are you spending too much on your home's utility bills?
Your monthly energy costs? Well, if we're going to chat
with Schneider Electric on a solution. When we return on
tech it Out.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Want to follow Mark Google Mark with a Z and
Saltzman with a Z breaking down geeks peak into street speak.
This is check it Out. Check it Out with.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Welcome back everyone. You're listening to Check it Out. Homeowners
know the struggle is real. As if mortgage payments and
property taxes weren't bad enough, repairs, soaring energy costs can
really hit your wallet hard. And so I've been writing
a lot over the last couple of years about Schneider
Electrics products as they can help you understand and thus
(19:00):
change what you're doing in the home to help reduce
your monthly utility bills. Joining us on the line to
chat is David O'Reilly. He's vice president of Home and
Commercial Solutions Division at Schneider Electric. Welcome to the show, David,
good to chat with you.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Thanks very much, Mark, I'm really happy to be here
with you.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, awesome. I'm looking forward to this personally and professionally.
My wife knows I curse a blues streak when I
open up our electric bill, gas water, all that kind
of stuff. Before we talk reducing energy home costs, please
tell us a bit about se Schneider Electric.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Absolutely, well, it's fascinating company, global leader and energy management
and automation. It's really focused on driving innovation and sustainability
into residential, commercial, industrial environments. All of our solutions really
focus on making energy safer, more reliable, more efficient for
the homeowners and the business. So really goes beyond just
smart tech as a tagline, and we're really committed to
(19:51):
helping customers reduce the carbon footprint, knowing how much energy
they're using and at the same time enhancing how they
live and work great.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
I think the company is French. It is, Yes, it's
been around for a long time. With that in mind,
what's one thing that maybe most people don't know about
Schneider Electric that you think is pretty cool?
Speaker 4 (20:08):
Well, so one thing is certainly how far back the
company goes. Company was actually founded in eighteen thirty six
in France as a steel and iron company to originally
forge cannons for Napoleon the Third's army. Wow So we
haven't always been in the electrical business, but we've certainly
evolved into that. We've had a long standing commitment to
sustainability is the key message here. We were actually voted
(20:30):
recently by Corporate Knights as the most sustainable company in
the world for the second time in three years. That's
because we made such advancements in home energy management, powering
home owners with tools to monitor and optimize INTERVI use,
and it's really starting to make an impact.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Awesome, So let's talk about those tools. As I mentioned
in my introduction, many homeowners are feeling the pinch when
it comes to our utility costs. Why do they keep
going up? And what can we do about them?
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah, they're really hitting us all in the pocketbook, aren't they.
There's a few reasons for these costs going up, Certainly,
first and foremost is just increased energy demand. Right. If
you look at how we're living and working today, we're
just using.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
More energy and a lot of people are working from
home too.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
The energy demands on the residential home grids now are
significantly higher than they were pre COVID, Right. And then
you add to that, look at I mean, we've got
aging infrastructure we're still using one hundred plus year old
model of central power generation with long haul distribution. That
then gets transformed down into how we use energy at home.
As the energy demands increase, you know, this is going
(21:31):
to be harder and harder for the grids to generate
and distribute energy in that in that fashion, right, which
is really why what we're really focused on is how
can we make the home more sustainable and help homeowners
that want to create or generate load within their home
residential environment, given that the tools to do that, the
(21:53):
power to do that. This is what we're all about
right now.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
So I know one or more of your solutions, David,
has to do with connecting to your electrical panel and
it gives you an insight in real time into the
energy that you're using throughout the home and when and
where and can you talk to us about that.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Yeah, So what you're talking about there is our Wiser
Home Energy monitoring system. This provides the homeowner with insights
like they've never had before. The homeowner always needs to
get anything that's touched on the panel first of all,
as you said, you'll always need a professional to do that,
so you know, engage with a professional, licensed electrician contractor
to get this looked at or installer considered for your home.
(22:31):
But essentially, what WISER does is it hooks onto the
main panel and then has the ability to go out
and search through the home using AI interfaces, give the
homeowner a perspective on the load that they're using at
every outlet and receptacle in the home. So what I
mean by this it can intuitively tell you without you
(22:52):
having to name it that the refrigerator is plugged in
and it's pulling this much energy. The vacuum currently plugged
in not being used in the living room, now it's
being used. Now it's been moved to the dining room.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Right.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
What this does for the homeowner is something that you know,
simple thermostats, a lot of other smart technology just can't
do it. Monitors the load that's being used through the
panel to the receptacle in the switch that power for
the homeowner can help them really not just use less,
but use more more efficiently, more wisely part in the pun.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Right, Yeah, nicely done, nicely done.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
And look it's significant. In our home, we had new windows,
we had new doors. It's not an older home, so
we knew we had solid insulation. We had LED lights.
We thought we'd pretty much done everything.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Mark, Yeah, it sounds like us. We've tried to chip away,
same with you. We didn't replace the doors or windows,
but we put in LED lights. We have a room
had an electric heating. We change it to gas because
it costs less for that part of the home. And
other little tweaks, and the PR firm that represents Schneider
Electric was nice enough to send me something to show
on TV. It is this Wiser solution you're talking about,
(23:59):
but I have not had someone install it, so I
can't speak firsthand as to how much to save, but
I'd love to hear you quantify. You said it can
make a significant impact, So could you put that into
dollars and cents or percentage?
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Anything that is pulling electrical load it will monitor, so
electric hot water tanks, peat pumps, it'll watch everything that
connects to the panel. Right, and on average, what we're
seeing is a range of percentage savings. You know, we
can safely say that homeowners, if they use it properly,
can see twenty to twenty five percent reduction in their
(24:33):
energy use at home. And so you know, you think
about that you've done everything else correctly where you're in
the process of doing it. This now is just another
layer that gives you insight that you just wouldn't have
had before.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Wow, that is significant. We're going to continue chatting with
David O'Reilly from Schneider Electric in a couple of moments
from now, will continue talking about ways to save money
on your home's energy bills. This is something that's personal
to me because where I live, I am always complaining
about high rates and trying to find efficiencies. There's a
(25:04):
few different things you can do, and Schneider Electric seems
to have some really good solutions, So I wanted to
invite David onto the program to chat if you've got
anything you'd like to share. I always love interacting with
tech it Out listeners. I'll spell my name in a moment,
but I'm on all the major social media platforms, whether
you want to write something publicly and tag me or
use the hashtag tech it out, or you can DM
(25:26):
me Direct message me. But you can find me on
x formerly, Twitter, threads, blue Sky, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn,
and a couple of others that I forgot about. But yes,
it's Mark Saltzman, mar C s A L t z
m an Mark Saltzman, Mark with a C Saltsman with
(25:46):
a Z. If you prefer email, you can hit me
up on my website, Mark Saltzman dot com just as
it sounds. You'll find a way to write me a
message there. If you're not so much into social media, however,
you like to reach out, let me know where you're
tuning in from. I always like learning where you're listening
to the show from and how you're listening, if it's
the podcast or your favorite local talk radio station. All right,
(26:08):
when we return on Tech it Out, we're going to
continue chatting with Schneider Electric on ways to save money
on your monthly energy bills. Something that I know is
resonating with a lot of listeners right now.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Stick with us.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
We'll be right back breaking down geek speak into street speak.
Speaker 7 (26:23):
Check it Out, closted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Welcome back to Check it Out. We're chatting with David O'Reilly,
VP of Home and Commercial Solutions Division at Schneider Electric.
We are chatting about ways to reduce the amount you
spend every month on your homes utility bills. I understand
there's an app that is kind of like your dashboard.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yeah, so, great question. So the interface for you is
through your smartphone, either Android or iOS. That gives you
the power rate your personal device to be able to see,
but not just see. You can actually manage when you
layer in other technology that we have, right which is
our smart breakers, our smart relays, not only can you
see the energy you're using, but now you can also
use it for on off capability if you'd like, see
(27:14):
you go out, you forget the lights are on. It
does have the functionality and the ability to actually help
you with that closed blnes curtains if you've got that
technology in your home. But the interface is through your smartphone.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Tell us about some of the other products that you've
just hinted at that Schneider Electric has. And you can
also schedule things to run at different times of the day.
Right like where I live, it's cheaper to run your
appliances such as like a dishwasher. You can have it
run late at night or early in the morning when
your off peak rates are lower than middle of the day.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
That's right. Yeah, So by integrating smart relays, smart smart
breakers into the panel, in addition to Wiser. What you're
really doing is you're no longer a consumer of energy.
You're now a prosumer, meaning that you're proactively involved with
how you managed to distribute view turn off on devices
when you use energy and mark. The really interesting thing
(28:04):
is as we move our residential environments to becoming more sustainable,
meaning that they're they're they're they're generating a certain amount
of load themselves, either through examples like solar or wind.
The power of Wiser really goes just beyond simple on
off simply telling you how much energy using the power
of it becomes. When you become a prosumer, is that
now you've got everything in your home electrified, including the
(28:27):
car in the driveway, right, And maybe you want to
use some of the energy from the car back into
the home or send it back to the grid. The
power of the Wiser Home Energy system can take you
there also, right. So now you're truly proactively involved in
how you're using and directing the energy from the home,
and some of that energy might even be generated at
the home. Awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
And then before I let you go, David, it would
be remiss to have you on the show and not
ask about any other tips that you may have for
us on making a dent on our monthly energy bills.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Certainly, yeah, and we look at this a lot, right,
So a lot of this sometimes goes beyond what shnager
can do, but certainly simple steps like ceiling drafts, considering
windows and doors, using energy efficient appliances, installing programmable thermostats,
this can all make a super big difference. As you're
making this shift to becoming a pro sumer. Eventually consider
shifting energy to off peak hours whenever possible. I mean,
I know we have to do that in our home,
(29:17):
and every small change really adds up.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
And then finally, where are your products available and what's
the best place to learn more about becoming a prosumer
with Schneider Electrics help?
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Well, certainly you can look at all our products on
our website, SE dot com. Everything that I've talked about
today widely available. You can find them at major home
improvement retailers, home depot, ace hardware, etc. Speak to your
local electrical contract or electrician, drop into an electrical distributor,
or check one of them out online and all the
information should be there.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Great, David, thank you so much for taking the time
to chat with us and teaching us ways to reduce
our energy consumption and let us know more about SE
or Schneider Electrics product lineup. Thanks again, Mark Real Pleasure.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Thanks for the interest and the time. Today was wonderful
to talk team.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I already have messages in my inbox and through social
media about saving money on your monthly bills at home.
So yeah, I know this is a topic that would
go over well with our listeners. You are listening to
Tech it Out, I'm your host, Mark Saltzman. You may
be tuning in on your favorite local talk radio station.
There are more than one hundred extraordinary talk radio stations
(30:22):
that pick up tech it Out every weekend. Some air
the show twice, some stations run it during the week
which is pretty cool. Or you may be tuning in
on your favorite podcast platform like Spotify or Amazon, Audible, iHeartRadio,
tune In, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, and all the other
ones that are out there. Very cool to have you along.
Feel free to leave a review that goes a long way,
(30:44):
even if it's just a star rating. And if there's
a share button and you like some of the topics
and guests that I've had, please feel free to flip
it over to a friend, a family member, a colleague
and hit that subscribe button. So sound like every other
podcast out there, hit the subscribe button. Yeah, it does
go a long way. Thank you so much. Before we
take a short break and I share some gadget gift
(31:06):
ideas ahead of the holidays, including some gaming ones, I
wanted to let you know that I will be at
the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, as per usual,
the annual conference that brings in over one hundred thousand,
gosh at one point one hundred and eighty thousand attendees
from around the globe, all to kick the tires on
Tomorrow's Tech Today. I think it's my twenty fifth, twenty
(31:28):
sixth year something like that since the late nineties. But
I'm going to be a judge again for USA Today.
I'll be writing, like last year, my favorite top fifty
gadgets from the Consumer Electronics Show, as well as this year,
I'll be writing about what I found. Also for reviewed
dot com, a place that I write for quite a bit.
They used to be owned by the same parent company
of USA today, Gannett, but now they're with stack Commerce
(31:51):
or Stacksocial. And I'm also going to be covering it
for post Media in Canada, which is one hundred and
thirty different publications in total, like National Posts and Trot
Sun and Vancouver Son and so on. So very excited
about the Consumer Electronics Show CES twenty twenty six. I
will be flying in on the fourth or fifth of
January and then the and then the convention starts on
the six And it's massive. It's like thirty or forty
(32:14):
football fields worth of tech if I remember that correctly,
and that's between the Las Vegas Convention Center the LVCC,
as well as surrounding facilities like the Venetian, the Sans
Expo I think it was called, and other suites. And
you know, it's a massive event. So I'm really excited
to broadcast there for tech it Out listeners as well.
So you bet that I will be doing interviews at
(32:36):
the show as well as sharing with you what my
top picks are. I know a lot of listeners are
excited about what's coming down the road in twenty twenty
six twenty twenty seven. This is the show where all
the big products make its initial debut, like the VCR
back in the day and the DVD player and flat
panel TVs and the Xbox and so on. So yeah,
this is the big show. We'll also see automotive tech
(32:57):
like autonomous vehicles, self driving cars. We'll see the latest
in AI and how that's being embedded in hardware as well.
When we return on tech it out a few gaming
and gadget gift ideas. Stick with us. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
To end off today's show. As I mentioned earlier in
the program, I had a lot of fun last week
doing TV interviews across the country from the quote unquote
North Pole. I was in Huntington Beach, California, on a
green screen set and we made it look like I
was in Santa's workshop to help pack Santa's sleigh with
some great tech leading up to the holidays. We had
(33:49):
a lot of fun with that. I think the TV
stations like the look of that segment really fun. So
I wanted to share those gift ideas with you. Whether
you want to treat loved ones with a great under
the tree or in a stocking, especially if they're into
games and gadgets, or if you want to treat yourself
to something taking advantage of the discounted prices, So let's
get right to it. Playing console games remotely remains incredibly popular,
(34:14):
and with the PlayStation Portal, it brings the PS five
experience to the palm of your hands. So it fits
in your hands, got a controller on each side and
a screen in the middle, and it wirelessly talks to
your PS five So it's perfect for a households where
gamers might need to share their living room TV, or
they just want to play from another room, you know,
maybe lying in bed they want to get their game on.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
Well.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
There's a huge selection of blockbuster titles for PlayStation Portal,
including the critically acclaimed Ghosts of Yota that's the standalone
follow up to the award winning Ghosts of Tsushima where
you're transported to sixteen hundreds Japan and you play as
a vengeful warrior super fun. Ghost of Yota is one
of my favorite games of the year. And speaking of games,
(34:54):
Konami's Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater is a faithful
remake of the original Metal Gear Solid three Snake Eater
released back in two thousand and four, and so it
reintroduces a new generation of players and veteran fans to
the very beginning of the series. You get to climb
into the boots of Solid Snake, a tactical operative deployed
(35:15):
to diffuse a nuclear conflict during the Cold War. It
stars the original voice cast and delivers upgraded visuals and
evolved combat. It's available for PS five, Xbox, and PC,
and I really love the new multiplayer mode called fox Hunt,
also a blast in this metal Gear iteration. Another great
gaming remake is activisions Tony Hawk's pro Skater one through
(35:38):
four bundle, so four legendary games, all fully remade at
an aggressively low price. This collection combines everything fans loved
from the original four Tony Hawk's pro Skater games, but
with new skaters and even more gnarly tricks, an even
better soundtrack, and all new parks. Boy, I never thought
I'd say narly again. It's really a great deal from Activision,
(35:59):
heavily discount even after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Tony
Hawk's pro Skater one through four is available for all
major consoles and PC. Next up, and speaking of games,
before we move on to a recommended gadget for your
home gamers, who need more storage would love unwrapping the
sand Disk Extreme Portable SSD for PlayStation five, console and PC.
(36:20):
So this is officially licensed storage from sand Disc with
enhanced read speeds of up to one thousand megabits per second,
so it lets you quickly transfer games to the PS
five's internal storage, or for PlayStation PC games, you can
store your game library and play directly off the drive.
It's that fast, so it's a speedy drive, reliable and
(36:43):
high capacity so you no longer have to delete previously
installed titles that you still want to play. And it's
durable too, as this portable external sand disk solid state
drive has an IP sixty five rating and impressive drop
protection as well of up to ten feet. Finally, Alexa
Plus is now available, a smarter, more conversational, more personalized,
(37:04):
and more capable assistant. It's available on Amazon Echo devices
like the new Echo Show eleven, a smart display with
a vibrant touchscreen, loud and clear audio, and something called
omnisense technology for all new experiences. The camera can recognize
you and remind you to do things when you walk
past it. How cool is that you can see recipes
(37:25):
and calendars at a glance watch your favorite shows and
even have Alexa Plus book restaurant reservations for you and
much more, all by just using your voice. Well, there
you have it. Look at some games and gadgets just
in time for gift giving season, happy holidays, and don't
forget when you do shop online, use a secure method,
something that gives you buyer protection in the event things
(37:47):
go sour. I'm referring to a credit card like Visa,
a partner of mine on tech it Out. I've been
a Visa customer for like thirty years now when I
was in college. Coming out of university thrill that they
are an official partner on tech it Out. As well
as Norton, who you heard from earlier in the show,
we chatted about some cyber safety tips since it is
(38:09):
Cyber Safety Sunday, which is a great time of the
year to remind shoppers ahead of the holidays how to
remain cyber safe. Norton, of course helped kick off the
show today. Another amazing partner on this program, and I
hope you enjoyed the other interviews as well. We had
Schneider Electric on to talk about how to save money
on your monthly utility bills. Your energy costs in the home,
(38:31):
and we had ambermac on the program. Amber is a
dear friend of the program. She is a veteran tech
expert and does a lot of keynote speeches which we
didn't get to in the interview, but he talked all
around the world about entrepreneurialship and stuff. So she's not
a one trick ponyit like I am. I just say
I want to stay in my lane, right, KED know
it all, even though my wife may say I think
(38:51):
I know it all. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the program.
If you are listening over Thanksgiving weekend, drive safe or
fly safe, however you're getting back home, and I look
forward to catching up with you next weekend for another
brand new episode of Tack It Out.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's not
(00:22):
and why.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey, everyone, welcome to Check it Out Episode four twenty two.
Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving as well as a
successful cyber Monday or a great Giving Tuesday, and whatever
else you may be celebrating this week. Hope you're all
doing well and thank you for making tech it Out
a small part of your day. Maybe you're on a
road trip right now, coming back from Thanksgiving and listening
(00:47):
to tech it Out in the car on your favorite
local talk radio station or as a podcast. Speaking of
talk radio stations, I enjoyed my chat on WTBQ and
WGHT in the New York and New Jersey era. We'll
shout out to you. They run teck it Out twice,
so you may be hearing this as late as December
the fifth. Well, Hey, as you may or may not
(01:07):
know Norton has joined Visa as a major partner on
Tech it Out. Interestingly, both companies aim to protect consumers
in slightly different ways. I'll tell you more about Visa shortly,
but speaking of Norton, we're going to kick off the
show with them today to talk with us about cyber
safety Sunday. That's another special day like Cyber Monday. So
(01:28):
we're going to learn what makes this one different with
Norton in a moment. Tech expert Amber Mac is also
here to talk about gadget gift ideas ahead of the holidays,
and I'll share some as well. And Schneider Electric will
join us to talk about saving money on your monthly
energy bills, your utility bills in the home by embracing
(01:48):
smart technology. All of this and more on today's teck
it Out. All right, let's kick things off. What better
time than the annual Cyber Safety Sunday to chat about
online shopping safety, just ahead of the busy shopping season,
of course, And so I wanted to invite onto the
show Lena Elias. She's chief product officer at GEN that's
(02:09):
the parent company to brands that you know such as Norton,
and she's here to share some insights and tips with us.
Welcome Lena, and happy almost holidays too. Thanks for your time, Thanks.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
For having me Mark, It's great to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Awesome. So why don't we start off with Cyber Safety Sunday,
which maybe on the day our listeners are hearing this interview,
or could have been a few days ago. It's all
tied to holiday shopping and staying safe while doing so.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, that's exactly right. So Cyber Safety Sunday is really
for us, it's really a call to action. Norton has
declared the day before Cyber Monday as Cyber Safety Sunday.
This year, that's November thirtieth, and it's really a day
of action for consumers to start preparing themselves to shop
smart by doing things like updating your passwords, installing protection
(02:54):
on the devices that you use to shop, and generally
just staying vigilant and on the lookout for scams, especially
on social media during a period of time when there
are a lot of those scams out there when people
are shopping online.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Fair I'm going to ask you to elaborate on some
of those tips in a couple of minutes from now,
like password protection, suggestions and protecting your devices with anti
malware anti malicious software software. Well, so we're going to
get to all of that. There's one thing that I
know a lot of my listeners use already, and it's
called a VPN, or virtual private network. Can you explain
(03:27):
what this is and why it's a good idea?
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, of course if I can maybe put it in
the simplest way I can. I can think of imagine
your online activity as a postcard, and on that postcard
is the writing on a postcard is your online activity?
Anyone who's handling the postcard can read it and see
what you're doing online. A VPN is like putting that
postcard inside a sealed envelope so that only you and
(03:52):
the person you're sending it to can actually see what's inside.
So it's really a way for you to protect your
private data while you're shopping online.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
That's a great analogy. I like that a lot, Lina.
The one I've used is imagine you know, you're on
the super Information Highway and everybody can see where you're
driving because of helicopters. The VPN would be like an
underground tunnel where you're still going to get to your destination,
but you can't be seen. I think I like your
postcard analogy better. That's a really good one. Thank you
for that. So a VPN is a great way to
(04:22):
remain anonymous online, you know, away from the prying eyes
of advertisers and search engine companies and your ISP, your
Internet service provider and cyber criminals too. You can't be
targeted if they don't know where you are. Your VPN
not just masks your identity, but your location too. And
is there a reason why you would recommend Norton VPN.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, we've we've really tried to simplify the usage of
a VPN as as much as possible. We've included within
our VPN what we think are the most important features
for an everyday user to be able to get online
and feel safe online. And so our basic VPN is
a very comprehensive product that not only helps protect you
(05:03):
while you're surfing online, but also protects your data. But
we've also included in our higher tiers some additional features
that users might be interested in having, things like a
comprehensive family solution along with identity theft protection and parental controls.
So these are some of the bells and whistles that
we've added into our VPN offering so that we really
(05:24):
can offer the most comprehensive protection for everyday users.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, thanks for that. And I think you've kind of
hinted at this when you talked about data protection, is
that there are some free VPNs out there that will
sell your data. It's anonymized, but it's still your surfing habits,
which is contradictory to the whole point of a VPN.
So good to know that customer data is protected, stays
(05:48):
within Norton again, part of the Gen family. That's Geen,
and we are chatting with Lena Alias, she's chief product
officer at the company to share some cyber safety tips
for us ahead of the shopping season. DP. Good idea.
Thank you for explaining why Norton and speaking of the company,
they do also have a suite of other products, right
I mentioned anti malware, which we used to call it antivirus,
(06:09):
I guess, but it's a lot more than that today.
There's also a password manager that Norton has. There's LifeLock
for personal protection. Can you tell us a bit more
about the family of products at a high level.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, of course you started with anti malware protection. So
our flagship product, Norton three sixty is a really comprehensive
product that protects at the most basic level, protects the
devices that you have from being infected with a virus
or with malware. And we have a virus protection guarantee,
(06:42):
meaning you know, we're pretty sure we're going to protect
your device from any type of malware that's out there,
and so you can feel confident when you have n
three sixty installed on your machine that you are going
to be protected. In addition to that, we offer a
number of other solutions that help users stay safe, not
only protecting your device, but also protecting things like your data,
and so that's where a VPN comes in. We talked
(07:03):
about that already a little bit. We have an anti
track solution, for example, that helps protect you from being
tracked online and so it masks your IP address, but
also masks some of the other data that you might
be sharing, like your digital fingerprint when you're online. You
mentioned identity that protection. We have our LifeLock solution that
(07:24):
offers a number of features to protect your credit card information,
your personal data like your social security number, bank accounts,
and also provides a number of alerts when we see
any sort of suspicious activity that has to do with
any of your personal information. And we also offer comprehensive
(07:44):
insurance through the LifeLock product as well. So that's just
a little bit more about some of the products that
we have. You mentioned also a password manager. Using a
password manager, especially when you know when you're shopping online
and during the holiday season, is extremely important. A lot
of people think they can manage their path passwords with
their own sort of methodology or algorithm, but the truth is,
if you can come up with a safe password, it's
(08:06):
probably a password that is pretty easy to guess, and
so using a password manager is really important. And Norton
offers a password manager for free in our portfolio.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So obviously a very comprehensive full circle protection on several fronts,
including a password manager. Good to hear that it is free.
That is obviously something that you use one master password
to access and then you've got all your other passwords
in there. Because we all get lazy, we get complacent,
We use the same passwords for a lot of our activity.
But once there's one breach, even if it's a super long,
(08:37):
complicated twenty character password, with upper case and lowercase and
punctuation and all that. If you use that more than once,
if there is a breach on the other end, then
the cyber criminals have the keys to the kingdom, so
to speak, all of your accounts compromise. Speaking of passwords,
let's end off on some safety tips for listeners, again
especially over the holidays, but is relevant any time of
the year. A good password is one thing. What about
(09:00):
making sure that it's an encrypted connection, like a little
padlock in the browser before you give out your credit
card when you shop online? Is that something that Norton suggests.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, absolutely, so definitely you want to stick to trusted
retailers that you know, and a really good rule of
thumb is to start with websites that start with an HTTPS.
That's a good way for you to know that it
is a secure site.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And that's like having that postcard inside of a sealed envelope,
so only you and the retailer have access to your info.
Going back to your previous analogy, what about too good
to be true scams out there as well, where people
are getting messages over social media sometimes like DMS direct
messages saying hey, you can buy an iPhone seventeen for
way lower than anywhere else. Your spidy senses should be
(09:43):
tingling there too, right of course.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yeah, if you're receiving text messages or emails, especially from
people that you don't know, or you know, just a
sender that you don't recognize, definitely beyond the alert. A
lot of what we see in terms of victims of scams,
they're getting scammed through those texts and emails. We're also
that consumers today are receiving scams more and more through
not only through SMS and email, but also through social media.
(10:08):
So being really vigilant about watching what you see coming
through on social media, tracking what you're seeing from people
that you don't know, and just staying vigilant about not
responding to anything that's asking you for money is going
to be really really important.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
A couple more tips that are really easy to set
up during the holiday season are to do things like
enabling your fraud alerts on your credit card or your
bank account to help monitor any sort of unusual activity
on those accounts and then remember to report anything suspicious
right away. Another thing that you can do is track
your orders when you're ordering online, make sure you know
(10:43):
when to expect deliveries because delivery scams are actually really
prevalent during the holiday season as well, and so it's
a good time to be aware of fake notifications that
might be trying to trick you into spending more money.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
These are all great tips. Thank you so much, Lena.
As our website you could recommend.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Yeah, definitely check out www dot Norton dot com and
you can learn about all of the different products that
we offer to help keep you safe online during the
holiday season.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Speaking of which, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas. Thank you so
much for your time, Lena, all the best, good to
chat with you.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, thank you, same to you.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
She was a great interview. When we return on tech
it Out, tech expert Ambramac shared some of our favorite
gadget gift ideas ahead of the holidays.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
We'll be right back listen to check it Out whenever
you want to find the check it Out podcast, Did
I Do?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Welcome back to tech it Out. We cover cybersecurity a
lot on this program and how you can best protect
yourself in the digital age even if you're not super
tech savvy. One part of the solution is securely shopping online,
and so I'm thrilled about my partnership with Visa on
tech it out, as they've made some significant investments in
fraud prevent over the past five years, as much as
(12:02):
ten billion dollars Yes that's billion with a bee to
support Visa's brand promise to protect the financial information of
individuals and businesses. Zero liability means peace of mind when
you shop online using your Visa card. There can be
no half measures when it comes to cybersecurity, which is
why the company takes an aggressive and multi layered approach
(12:22):
to combating the rising threat of malicious software and other
threats by well funded and global criminal enterprises. Read more
about Visa and how securing the world's payments is priority
one at Visa dot com slash security. That's Visa dot
Com slash Security. Speaking of shopping, believe it or not,
the holidays are just a few weeks away, and if
(12:44):
you're looking for a few great gift ideas, tech Expert
and super Mom and Primac is here with the newest,
coolest and most popular tech pics for the entire family.
Hi Aver, thanks for your time today.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
Always great chatting with you, Ay Mark, It's always great
to check about holiday tech and I have a bunch
of cool picks on my list this year, all stuff
that I'm trying out at home with my entire family.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Awesome, why don't we start off with something for tweens
and teens. I know you have a teenager under the roof,
so maybe you can start there.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
Yeah, let's start with the Cricket Joy Extra and Everything bundle.
You and I are both familiar with Cricket. It is
such a fantastic company that makes it really easy for
crafting beginners as well as DIY enthusiasts, so that you
can create personalized gifts. You can create holiday decor with
people's names on it, and it's been so fun. My
son and I have been using Cricket for a really
(13:32):
long time. And what I love about this bundle is
that you get everything that you need to get started
with all of your crafting and projects, and so it
really helps you to sort of have an experience using
technology that is so hands on and so creative. And
I think every family absolutely loves that idea.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Awesome all right, and for our listeners, Cricket is spelled
cri cut. If you haven't seen or have used the
brand before, so Cricket, Joy Extra Plus Everything bundle is
a great pick. And my wife Kelly, was just decorating
some coffee mugs. So cool, all right, and then gaming,
let's pivot and talk about what's hot when it comes
to console gaming. I think I know which brand you're
(14:12):
going to refer to.
Speaker 6 (14:13):
Yeah, I think you know a lot about this pick.
The Nintendo Switch to is really all the rage these days.
It's great to play at home or take on the go.
It has a bigger screen, great color, great clarity as well.
The new Joycon two controllers snap on magnetically, which is
really cool. And a bunch of games as well that
are hot this holiday season. My son is a huge
(14:34):
Zelda fan, so we really love High Role Warriors Age
of Imprisonment. There are other games out there too, but Mark,
this is kind of the perfect gift for any gamer
in your family, and again, fun for the whole family.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
The brand new Metroid Prime four Beyond is out as
well as Pokemon Legends said ay, and that's a lot
of fun as well. Heading back to Lumeo City, so
really great stuff there. Let's now shift gears Amber and
about smart home tech. It's incredibly popular because it's relatively affordable,
but so practical and fun too.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
I would say, yeah, I mean it is really fun
and like you said, really practical. So the first one
that I'm going to talk about is the Teeping Link
Tapo smart Wi Fi door lock. So this is a
really easy to install door lock, and with the Tabo app,
you can remotely manage the lock. You can monitor the
entry logs. That means you can see who's using what
code to come in and out, and you can set
(15:27):
temporary codes for guests. I have a really big family
and so I love this idea when people come to
visit that I'm able to give them a temporary code
and it's easy, like I said, to install. There's a
built in doorbell and there are backup keys as well.
So this is really a great gift for anyone on
your list who doesn't have a smart door lock.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I love the idea of having that integrated doorbell.
A lot of people, including us, We have our smart
door lock on a side door where we don't normally
have a doorbell, so that's a nice extra feature to have.
We are chatting with ambermac tech expert and mom Extra.
Let's now chat about a robotic vac and mop hybrid.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
Yeah, so this is the robo rock q Revo Curve
robot vacuum and mop, so it's in all in one
for hands free cleaning. It has this great technology called
hyperforce that means that it can get a really deep,
powerful clean by lifting up debris, hair and dust. I'm
going to stick on that hair word mark because I
have two dogs. So I love the fact that the
(16:26):
dual anti tangle system prevents hair clogs. And I love
the fact that not only can it vacuum, but it
can also mop as well. The all in one doc
takes care of that with seventy five degree celsius hot
water mop washing and warm air drying.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So this does a lot. And then let's end off
on tablets. What do you have there, because I know
that's a very popular product category because they're so versatile.
Speaker 6 (16:51):
So this is the first time I'm seeing this product,
the Samsung Galaxy at tab s eleven Ultra. I've been
playing with it for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
This is just absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
It's slimmer, it's brighter, it's lighter, it has a bunch
of AI tools that built in as well. So great
for productivity, for creativity, for entertainment. Got this over at
the Best Buy Holiday Gift Guide. So if you are
looking for gift ideas a great place to go. I
love that you can order online and pick up in
as little as one hour, and there are also always
(17:20):
lots of great deals there as well over the next
few weeks. So a really great pick for that tablet
lover in your family, and a tablet is really I
think practical gift again, really for anyone.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, and I'm an avid reader and I was just
reading last night on a plane on my tablet on
the way home. It's great. So that's the Samsung Galaxy
tab S eleven ultra great for gaming as well with
your fingertips. Amber always amazing chatting with you. Where's a
website that our listeners can go to to see some
of these items?
Speaker 6 (17:45):
Yeah, absolutely, so you can head on over to ambermac
dot com and one of the most recent blog posts
will be my holiday tech gift picks and you can
get links to the products, see some of the local
pricing as well. And Market's always fun to chat with
you this time of year.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Thanks again, Amber, Ambermac dot com. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas.
Are you spending too much on your home's utility bills?
Your monthly energy costs? Well, if we're going to chat
with Schneider Electric on a solution. When we return on
tech it Out.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Want to follow Mark Google Mark with a Z and
Saltzman with a Z breaking down geeks peak into street speak.
This is check it Out. Check it Out with.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Welcome back everyone. You're listening to Check it Out. Homeowners
know the struggle is real. As if mortgage payments and
property taxes weren't bad enough, repairs, soaring energy costs can
really hit your wallet hard. And so I've been writing
a lot over the last couple of years about Schneider
Electrics products as they can help you understand and thus
(19:00):
change what you're doing in the home to help reduce
your monthly utility bills. Joining us on the line to
chat is David O'Reilly. He's vice president of Home and
Commercial Solutions Division at Schneider Electric. Welcome to the show, David,
good to chat with you.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Thanks very much, Mark, I'm really happy to be here
with you.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, awesome. I'm looking forward to this personally and professionally.
My wife knows I curse a blues streak when I
open up our electric bill, gas water, all that kind
of stuff. Before we talk reducing energy home costs, please
tell us a bit about se Schneider Electric.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Absolutely, well, it's fascinating company, global leader and energy management
and automation. It's really focused on driving innovation and sustainability
into residential, commercial, industrial environments. All of our solutions really
focus on making energy safer, more reliable, more efficient for
the homeowners and the business. So really goes beyond just
smart tech as a tagline, and we're really committed to
(19:51):
helping customers reduce the carbon footprint, knowing how much energy
they're using and at the same time enhancing how they
live and work great.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
I think the company is French. It is, Yes, it's
been around for a long time. With that in mind,
what's one thing that maybe most people don't know about
Schneider Electric that you think is pretty cool?
Speaker 4 (20:08):
Well, so one thing is certainly how far back the
company goes. Company was actually founded in eighteen thirty six
in France as a steel and iron company to originally
forge cannons for Napoleon the Third's army. Wow So we
haven't always been in the electrical business, but we've certainly
evolved into that. We've had a long standing commitment to
sustainability is the key message here. We were actually voted
(20:30):
recently by Corporate Knights as the most sustainable company in
the world for the second time in three years. That's
because we made such advancements in home energy management, powering
home owners with tools to monitor and optimize INTERVI use,
and it's really starting to make an impact.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Awesome, So let's talk about those tools. As I mentioned
in my introduction, many homeowners are feeling the pinch when
it comes to our utility costs. Why do they keep
going up? And what can we do about them?
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah, they're really hitting us all in the pocketbook, aren't they.
There's a few reasons for these costs going up, Certainly,
first and foremost is just increased energy demand. Right. If
you look at how we're living and working today, we're
just using.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
More energy and a lot of people are working from
home too.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
The energy demands on the residential home grids now are
significantly higher than they were pre COVID, Right. And then
you add to that, look at I mean, we've got
aging infrastructure we're still using one hundred plus year old
model of central power generation with long haul distribution. That
then gets transformed down into how we use energy at home.
As the energy demands increase, you know, this is going
(21:31):
to be harder and harder for the grids to generate
and distribute energy in that in that fashion, right, which
is really why what we're really focused on is how
can we make the home more sustainable and help homeowners
that want to create or generate load within their home
residential environment, given that the tools to do that, the
(21:53):
power to do that. This is what we're all about
right now.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
So I know one or more of your solutions, David,
has to do with connecting to your electrical panel and
it gives you an insight in real time into the
energy that you're using throughout the home and when and
where and can you talk to us about that.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Yeah, So what you're talking about there is our Wiser
Home Energy monitoring system. This provides the homeowner with insights
like they've never had before. The homeowner always needs to
get anything that's touched on the panel first of all,
as you said, you'll always need a professional to do that,
so you know, engage with a professional, licensed electrician contractor
to get this looked at or installer considered for your home.
(22:31):
But essentially, what WISER does is it hooks onto the
main panel and then has the ability to go out
and search through the home using AI interfaces, give the
homeowner a perspective on the load that they're using at
every outlet and receptacle in the home. So what I
mean by this it can intuitively tell you without you
(22:52):
having to name it that the refrigerator is plugged in
and it's pulling this much energy. The vacuum currently plugged
in not being used in the living room, now it's
being used. Now it's been moved to the dining room.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Right.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
What this does for the homeowner is something that you know,
simple thermostats, a lot of other smart technology just can't
do it. Monitors the load that's being used through the
panel to the receptacle in the switch that power for
the homeowner can help them really not just use less,
but use more more efficiently, more wisely part in the pun.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Right, Yeah, nicely done, nicely done.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
And look it's significant. In our home, we had new windows,
we had new doors. It's not an older home, so
we knew we had solid insulation. We had LED lights.
We thought we'd pretty much done everything.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Mark, Yeah, it sounds like us. We've tried to chip away,
same with you. We didn't replace the doors or windows,
but we put in LED lights. We have a room
had an electric heating. We change it to gas because
it costs less for that part of the home. And
other little tweaks, and the PR firm that represents Schneider
Electric was nice enough to send me something to show
on TV. It is this Wiser solution you're talking about,
(23:59):
but I have not had someone install it, so I
can't speak firsthand as to how much to save, but
I'd love to hear you quantify. You said it can
make a significant impact, So could you put that into
dollars and cents or percentage?
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Anything that is pulling electrical load it will monitor, so
electric hot water tanks, peat pumps, it'll watch everything that
connects to the panel. Right, and on average, what we're
seeing is a range of percentage savings. You know, we
can safely say that homeowners, if they use it properly,
can see twenty to twenty five percent reduction in their
(24:33):
energy use at home. And so you know, you think
about that you've done everything else correctly where you're in
the process of doing it. This now is just another
layer that gives you insight that you just wouldn't have
had before.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Wow, that is significant. We're going to continue chatting with
David O'Reilly from Schneider Electric in a couple of moments
from now, will continue talking about ways to save money
on your home's energy bills. This is something that's personal
to me because where I live, I am always complaining
about high rates and trying to find efficiencies. There's a
(25:04):
few different things you can do, and Schneider Electric seems
to have some really good solutions, So I wanted to
invite David onto the program to chat if you've got
anything you'd like to share. I always love interacting with
tech it Out listeners. I'll spell my name in a moment,
but I'm on all the major social media platforms, whether
you want to write something publicly and tag me or
use the hashtag tech it out, or you can DM
(25:26):
me Direct message me. But you can find me on
x formerly, Twitter, threads, blue Sky, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn,
and a couple of others that I forgot about. But yes,
it's Mark Saltzman, mar C s A L t z
m an Mark Saltzman, Mark with a C Saltsman with
(25:46):
a Z. If you prefer email, you can hit me
up on my website, Mark Saltzman dot com just as
it sounds. You'll find a way to write me a
message there. If you're not so much into social media, however,
you like to reach out, let me know where you're
tuning in from. I always like learning where you're listening
to the show from and how you're listening, if it's
the podcast or your favorite local talk radio station. All right,
(26:08):
when we return on Tech it Out, we're going to
continue chatting with Schneider Electric on ways to save money
on your monthly energy bills. Something that I know is
resonating with a lot of listeners right now.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Stick with us.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
We'll be right back breaking down geek speak into street speak.
Speaker 7 (26:23):
Check it Out, closted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Welcome back to Check it Out. We're chatting with David O'Reilly,
VP of Home and Commercial Solutions Division at Schneider Electric.
We are chatting about ways to reduce the amount you
spend every month on your homes utility bills. I understand
there's an app that is kind of like your dashboard.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yeah, so, great question. So the interface for you is
through your smartphone, either Android or iOS. That gives you
the power rate your personal device to be able to see,
but not just see. You can actually manage when you
layer in other technology that we have, right which is
our smart breakers, our smart relays, not only can you
see the energy you're using, but now you can also
use it for on off capability if you'd like, see
(27:14):
you go out, you forget the lights are on. It
does have the functionality and the ability to actually help
you with that closed blnes curtains if you've got that
technology in your home. But the interface is through your smartphone.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Tell us about some of the other products that you've
just hinted at that Schneider Electric has. And you can
also schedule things to run at different times of the day.
Right like where I live, it's cheaper to run your
appliances such as like a dishwasher. You can have it
run late at night or early in the morning when
your off peak rates are lower than middle of the day.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
That's right. Yeah, So by integrating smart relays, smart smart
breakers into the panel, in addition to Wiser. What you're
really doing is you're no longer a consumer of energy.
You're now a prosumer, meaning that you're proactively involved with
how you managed to distribute view turn off on devices
when you use energy and mark. The really interesting thing
(28:04):
is as we move our residential environments to becoming more sustainable,
meaning that they're they're they're they're generating a certain amount
of load themselves, either through examples like solar or wind.
The power of Wiser really goes just beyond simple on
off simply telling you how much energy using the power
of it becomes. When you become a prosumer, is that
now you've got everything in your home electrified, including the
(28:27):
car in the driveway, right, And maybe you want to
use some of the energy from the car back into
the home or send it back to the grid. The
power of the Wiser Home Energy system can take you
there also, right. So now you're truly proactively involved in
how you're using and directing the energy from the home,
and some of that energy might even be generated at
the home. Awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
And then before I let you go, David, it would
be remiss to have you on the show and not
ask about any other tips that you may have for
us on making a dent on our monthly energy bills.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Certainly, yeah, and we look at this a lot, right,
So a lot of this sometimes goes beyond what shnager
can do, but certainly simple steps like ceiling drafts, considering
windows and doors, using energy efficient appliances, installing programmable thermostats,
this can all make a super big difference. As you're
making this shift to becoming a pro sumer. Eventually consider
shifting energy to off peak hours whenever possible. I mean,
I know we have to do that in our home,
(29:17):
and every small change really adds up.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
And then finally, where are your products available and what's
the best place to learn more about becoming a prosumer
with Schneider Electrics help?
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Well, certainly you can look at all our products on
our website, SE dot com. Everything that I've talked about
today widely available. You can find them at major home
improvement retailers, home depot, ace hardware, etc. Speak to your
local electrical contract or electrician, drop into an electrical distributor,
or check one of them out online and all the
information should be there.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Great, David, thank you so much for taking the time
to chat with us and teaching us ways to reduce
our energy consumption and let us know more about SE
or Schneider Electrics product lineup. Thanks again, Mark Real Pleasure.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Thanks for the interest and the time. Today was wonderful
to talk team.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I already have messages in my inbox and through social
media about saving money on your monthly bills at home.
So yeah, I know this is a topic that would
go over well with our listeners. You are listening to
Tech it Out, I'm your host, Mark Saltzman. You may
be tuning in on your favorite local talk radio station.
There are more than one hundred extraordinary talk radio stations
(30:22):
that pick up tech it Out every weekend. Some air
the show twice, some stations run it during the week
which is pretty cool. Or you may be tuning in
on your favorite podcast platform like Spotify or Amazon, Audible, iHeartRadio,
tune In, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, and all the other
ones that are out there. Very cool to have you along.
Feel free to leave a review that goes a long way,
(30:44):
even if it's just a star rating. And if there's
a share button and you like some of the topics
and guests that I've had, please feel free to flip
it over to a friend, a family member, a colleague
and hit that subscribe button. So sound like every other
podcast out there, hit the subscribe button. Yeah, it does
go a long way. Thank you so much. Before we
take a short break and I share some gadget gift
(31:06):
ideas ahead of the holidays, including some gaming ones, I
wanted to let you know that I will be at
the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, as per usual,
the annual conference that brings in over one hundred thousand,
gosh at one point one hundred and eighty thousand attendees
from around the globe, all to kick the tires on
Tomorrow's Tech Today. I think it's my twenty fifth, twenty
(31:28):
sixth year something like that since the late nineties. But
I'm going to be a judge again for USA Today.
I'll be writing, like last year, my favorite top fifty
gadgets from the Consumer Electronics Show, as well as this year,
I'll be writing about what I found. Also for reviewed
dot com, a place that I write for quite a bit.
They used to be owned by the same parent company
of USA today, Gannett, but now they're with stack Commerce
(31:51):
or Stacksocial. And I'm also going to be covering it
for post Media in Canada, which is one hundred and
thirty different publications in total, like National Posts and Trot
Sun and Vancouver Son and so on. So very excited
about the Consumer Electronics Show CES twenty twenty six. I
will be flying in on the fourth or fifth of
January and then the and then the convention starts on
the six And it's massive. It's like thirty or forty
(32:14):
football fields worth of tech if I remember that correctly,
and that's between the Las Vegas Convention Center the LVCC,
as well as surrounding facilities like the Venetian, the Sans
Expo I think it was called, and other suites. And
you know, it's a massive event. So I'm really excited
to broadcast there for tech it Out listeners as well.
So you bet that I will be doing interviews at
(32:36):
the show as well as sharing with you what my
top picks are. I know a lot of listeners are
excited about what's coming down the road in twenty twenty
six twenty twenty seven. This is the show where all
the big products make its initial debut, like the VCR
back in the day and the DVD player and flat
panel TVs and the Xbox and so on. So yeah,
this is the big show. We'll also see automotive tech
(32:57):
like autonomous vehicles, self driving cars. We'll see the latest
in AI and how that's being embedded in hardware as well.
When we return on tech it out a few gaming
and gadget gift ideas. Stick with us. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
To end off today's show. As I mentioned earlier in
the program, I had a lot of fun last week
doing TV interviews across the country from the quote unquote
North Pole. I was in Huntington Beach, California, on a
green screen set and we made it look like I
was in Santa's workshop to help pack Santa's sleigh with
some great tech leading up to the holidays. We had
(33:49):
a lot of fun with that. I think the TV
stations like the look of that segment really fun. So
I wanted to share those gift ideas with you. Whether
you want to treat loved ones with a great under
the tree or in a stocking, especially if they're into
games and gadgets, or if you want to treat yourself
to something taking advantage of the discounted prices, So let's
get right to it. Playing console games remotely remains incredibly popular,
(34:14):
and with the PlayStation Portal, it brings the PS five
experience to the palm of your hands. So it fits
in your hands, got a controller on each side and
a screen in the middle, and it wirelessly talks to
your PS five So it's perfect for a households where
gamers might need to share their living room TV, or
they just want to play from another room, you know,
maybe lying in bed they want to get their game on.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
Well.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
There's a huge selection of blockbuster titles for PlayStation Portal,
including the critically acclaimed Ghosts of Yota that's the standalone
follow up to the award winning Ghosts of Tsushima where
you're transported to sixteen hundreds Japan and you play as
a vengeful warrior super fun. Ghost of Yota is one
of my favorite games of the year. And speaking of games,
(34:54):
Konami's Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater is a faithful
remake of the original Metal Gear Solid three Snake Eater
released back in two thousand and four, and so it
reintroduces a new generation of players and veteran fans to
the very beginning of the series. You get to climb
into the boots of Solid Snake, a tactical operative deployed
(35:15):
to diffuse a nuclear conflict during the Cold War. It
stars the original voice cast and delivers upgraded visuals and
evolved combat. It's available for PS five, Xbox, and PC,
and I really love the new multiplayer mode called fox Hunt,
also a blast in this metal Gear iteration. Another great
gaming remake is activisions Tony Hawk's pro Skater one through
(35:38):
four bundle, so four legendary games, all fully remade at
an aggressively low price. This collection combines everything fans loved
from the original four Tony Hawk's pro Skater games, but
with new skaters and even more gnarly tricks, an even
better soundtrack, and all new parks. Boy, I never thought
I'd say narly again. It's really a great deal from Activision,
(35:59):
heavily discount even after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Tony
Hawk's pro Skater one through four is available for all
major consoles and PC. Next up, and speaking of games,
before we move on to a recommended gadget for your
home gamers, who need more storage would love unwrapping the
sand Disk Extreme Portable SSD for PlayStation five, console and PC.
(36:20):
So this is officially licensed storage from sand Disc with
enhanced read speeds of up to one thousand megabits per second,
so it lets you quickly transfer games to the PS
five's internal storage, or for PlayStation PC games, you can
store your game library and play directly off the drive.
It's that fast, so it's a speedy drive, reliable and
(36:43):
high capacity so you no longer have to delete previously
installed titles that you still want to play. And it's
durable too, as this portable external sand disk solid state
drive has an IP sixty five rating and impressive drop
protection as well of up to ten feet. Finally, Alexa
Plus is now available, a smarter, more conversational, more personalized,
(37:04):
and more capable assistant. It's available on Amazon Echo devices
like the new Echo Show eleven, a smart display with
a vibrant touchscreen, loud and clear audio, and something called
omnisense technology for all new experiences. The camera can recognize
you and remind you to do things when you walk
past it. How cool is that you can see recipes
(37:25):
and calendars at a glance watch your favorite shows and
even have Alexa Plus book restaurant reservations for you and
much more, all by just using your voice. Well, there
you have it. Look at some games and gadgets just
in time for gift giving season, happy holidays, and don't
forget when you do shop online, use a secure method,
something that gives you buyer protection in the event things
(37:47):
go sour. I'm referring to a credit card like Visa,
a partner of mine on tech it Out. I've been
a Visa customer for like thirty years now when I
was in college. Coming out of university thrill that they
are an official partner on tech it Out. As well
as Norton, who you heard from earlier in the show,
we chatted about some cyber safety tips since it is
(38:09):
Cyber Safety Sunday, which is a great time of the
year to remind shoppers ahead of the holidays how to
remain cyber safe. Norton, of course helped kick off the
show today. Another amazing partner on this program, and I
hope you enjoyed the other interviews as well. We had
Schneider Electric on to talk about how to save money
on your monthly utility bills. Your energy costs in the home,
(38:31):
and we had ambermac on the program. Amber is a
dear friend of the program. She is a veteran tech
expert and does a lot of keynote speeches which we
didn't get to in the interview, but he talked all
around the world about entrepreneurialship and stuff. So she's not
a one trick ponyit like I am. I just say
I want to stay in my lane, right, KED know
it all, even though my wife may say I think
(38:51):
I know it all. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the program.
If you are listening over Thanksgiving weekend, drive safe or
fly safe, however you're getting back home, and I look
forward to catching up with you next weekend for another
brand new episode of Tack It Out.
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