Back to school tech that makes the grade! Plus, HP’s wild EliteBoard G1a PC design, and save money while traveling with a Nomad eSIM

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Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
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of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
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of it all, breaking down geek speak into street speak.
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Technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer
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technology each week for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews,
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and how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's
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not and why.
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Hey everyone, welcome to check it Out. It's episode four
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fifty seven. A massive thank you to Visa and Norton,
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two brands that protect you in slightly different ways. I'll
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tell you more about them shortly. But thrilled that ye're
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tuning into the show that breaks down geek speak into
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street speak. As the announcer says, hope you're all doing
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great on this August day and getting the most out
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of the summer. Back to school is almost here, believe
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it or not. We're going to actually chat about some
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back to school gadget, some recommended gear that makes the
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grade in a couple of minutes from now. But we
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have three guests out there. Side of that, We're going
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to kick things off with HP in a moment to
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tell you about a computer with a very unique design.
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Also On this show, professional hockey player Sarah Nurse will
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join us to talk about cozy games in partnership with Nintendo,
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how she unwindes after an Olympic hockey game, or maybe
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playing for the PWHL. Also on the show, what an
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eSIM is and how it's beneficial for travelers, We're going
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to chat with nomad eSIM about saving a ton of
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money when you are in another country instead of roaming
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with your existing carrier. All of this and more on
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a brand new check it out. All right, let's kick
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things off with our first interview forget everything you know
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about what a computer should look like. I know this
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is radio or an audio podcast, but we're going to
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discuss a new HP product that's super unique. It's called
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the HP Elite Board g one A, next gen AIPC
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now joining us to share what it looks like, what
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it can do for you, and who it's for. On
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the line, we've got Caleb Fleming, he manages HP's new
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product production team. Thanks for your time today, Caleb. Good
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to talk to you man.
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I'm really glad to be here.
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Awesome. So, at a high level, what is the Elite
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Board g one A all about? I know it's got
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a longer name than that I mentioned it earlier with
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the AI in it. That's important. Well, I'm sure get
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to that. But it's the Elite Board g one A.
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Oh yeah, we'll get into the aipieces here in a minute.
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Back up, just a minute. Let me show you show
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you what this is. I'll paint a picture. You have
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an all in one on your desk, which is a
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fantastic PC, and the challenges is the PC is probably
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going to get slower before the display is ready to reach.
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Its end of life.
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So we looked at this scene and we thought, where
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can we take the compute for something like and all
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in one? Where can we locate that elsewhere? What we
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landed on I think is the right option, and we
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moved all that compute from behind the screen to inside
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the keyboard. So the Elite Board g one A is
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the world's first AIPC fully integrated into a keyboard. It
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is the entire computer wholl AIPC package right behind those keys.
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So at first blush, it looks like a regular desktop
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computer key board, a wireless keyboard, but under the hood
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is a full PC. What does that form factor allow
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you to do? Exactly?
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You know it's it's pretty cool for different use cases.
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It can come to life in different ways. Let's back up.
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Let's imagine you're a person that works at a couple
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of desks. You have a desk at the office, you
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have a desk at home, and you really spend your
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life moving back and forth between those. You got to
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go to the office for some reasons, you get to
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be home for others. This is the perfect device take
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back and forth. When you sit at that desk at
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the office, plug in a cable directly from your monitor,
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power your entire PC, and at the end of the
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day you're ready to go home, you can unplug that cable,
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stick the keyboard right in your bag, head home, plug
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it back into your at home setup. It'll wake right
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up and you can resume your work. And the nice
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thing about this for a user is it is so
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simple to plug in and turn on. It's wildly powerful
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to boot, but manly, it really changes how you could
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approach your day because now I don't have to carry
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more divice then I really need a lot of people
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keep that lid closed on their notebook. Now I can
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carry a minimal footprint and be flexible to move back
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and forth.
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Right, and it's like half the weight of a laptop.
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We should also like mentally lie right. So the idea
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is that you go to an office, you pull out
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this keyboard connected to a monitor with that one USBC cable,
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and then you unplug it. Take it then to a
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home office and you can plug it into a monitor
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there or a TV or a projector go to a
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hotel do the same thing, Go to a cottage like
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a summer home, rinse and repeat, all with that same hardware,
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which is brilliant because the screen will change depending on
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what it's plugged into, but it remembers everything because it's
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got the internal storage and you don't even have to
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power it down, which we'll get to more in a moment.
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So this implies, though that this is something for a
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professional on the go. Is that fair?
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Like?
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Is that who would you say this is targeted to primarily?
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Definitely, definitely a person that has mobility as a part
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of their job. There's a couple of different audiences that
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it's a really good fit for. Yes, there's some people
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that are mobile to an extent. Between those two fixed locations,
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potentially a couple of places in between.
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Great for them.
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There's a lot of other use cases where this device
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provides a really clean setup and the keyboard always lives
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at that desk. We can talk about that more in
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a minute, but there are two different versions of the device.
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One for that audience that's going to move back and
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forth between desks, and then one for somebody at a
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front desk or a call center or at a fixed
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workstation where this device can be attached and is intended
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to be more stationary, all.
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Right, like a lock, like a little area that you
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can put in a hardware lock exactly.
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There's a security lock on the side, and for that
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version of the device, there's no battery, it's not needed,
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and there's a fixed cable to the back of the keyboard.
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It's all really clean looking. And then for the others
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the cable can be removed. There's that battery on the inside.
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Yeah, let's talk about that. So that's the version that
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I had a chance to play around with in July.
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So it does have a built in battery. The advantage
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there is that you don't have to plug it into
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the wall for a certain period of time. I don't
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know how many hours it will last, but the idea
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is that when you roll up to your office and
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you plug it into a monitor, it wakes up right away.
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You don't have to wait to boot it up because
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you didn't fully power it down before you left the
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home office, for example. Right like you can just unplug
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and go. You don't have to power it down like
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you might a regular PC. Right, it just goes to sleep.
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Absolutely absolutely, as soon as you unplug that cable, it'll
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put itself in sleep mode. It's not going to wake
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itself back up in your backpack or your bag on
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the way home. And then you can you can reconnect
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now that battery. If you were going to connect it
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to a portable display and you were going to be
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completely wireless, not connected to anything, you get a handful
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hours of productivity out of it. It's a corner case,
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but it's nice to have that flexibility. For Hey, I
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need to stop at the coffee shop for an hour
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and a half. I really got to crank this thing out.
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My boss's call on right now, still got the battery
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life in there, so you can pull it up and
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you can do that. Primarily though, it's so you can
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get back up and running as soon as you're to
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your next desk without any hesitation.
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You can even plug it into a power bank, like
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a good size you know, ten thousand million plus power
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bank as well.
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Yeah, yeah, and you CAI is the right one. It's got.
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There's a lot of flexibility in it too, right. There's
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an ideal use case you connect it to a monitor
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that's going to give you powered data and video through
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one cable. But if you've got maybe an older monitor
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and it doesn't offer power delivery, each one of them
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ships with a dongle, so you can attach power cables
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the wall and you can put all that stuff back
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behind your desk. You get all sorts of options, right,
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because you don't know what environment is this going to
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land in? Sometimes you don't know, so it comes with
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the pieces you need to make.
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Sure it's used belfore you that's a good point. Depending
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on the cable you're using and the monitor, you may
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be powering the computer at the same time. It's not
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just for the data transfer and the video, but it's
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like a three fur it's power, video and data. Right,
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So yeah, very cool. Yeah. We are chatting with Caleb Fleming.
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He manages HP's new product introduction team at the company,
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and that includes the new HP Elite Board g one,
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a next gen AIPC. So this looks like a computer keyboard,
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but it's a full fledged power Windows eleven PC with
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a ton of security which we'll get to. Also has
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AI baked in as well, so this.
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Is designed with all of that performance and the NPU
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the neural processor on there to be ready for hey,
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the next wave of AI tasks or agentic AI tasks.
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Now, speaking of data, it's critical, especially for the professionals
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who use computers for work, to remain secure. This is
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called the Wolf Pro Security Edition PC. What does that mean?
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Now?
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The wolf Pro Security Edition is an indicator that we
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put on some of our products for a special suite
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of software that comes included with a device to make
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sure that that security is wildly efficient. Yes, as you know,
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security is best delivered in layers. It's like walls around
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a castle. You've got the moat, you've got the spikes,
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you got the doors, You've got one thing after another
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to stop, to stop, to stop it. And the Wolf
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Pro Security Edition PC includes so many of those layers
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inside of it. It starts with an actual hardware difference
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inside the device. It's called the endpoint security can roller
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super fancy name, but basically what that means is there's
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a portion of the motherboard inside this computer that is
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sole job is to make sure that security is always consistent,
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that it's always available, and that it can't be tampered with.
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All right, So I mentioned this is like a computer
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keyboard with the PC built in, but you obviously need
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a mouse as well. There's no track pad like on
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a laptop. You do get an external Bluetooth mouse with
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this as well. That's correct.
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There is not a built in track pad, but every
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Elite Board that is sold comes with a prepaired Bluetooth
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mouse inside the box. Got a dongle if you want
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to use it.
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You can also switch it over to be in Bluetooth mode.
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But that means during setup you don't have to go
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fish a mouse out of a drawer someplace, supply it
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somewhere else. Everything you need is right here in the box.
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All right, we're doing a call over Zoom audio right now.
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What if I wanted to pair Bluetooth earbuds with the
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Elite Board g one a computer.
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Oh, absolutely no problem at all. You could use the
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built in Mike camera on your monitor if you happen
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to have one, you could connect your extern webcam, poly
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earbuds whatever.
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It happens to be a nice plug for Polly, very nice. Polly,
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of course, is a brand owned by HP that's largely
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tied to accessories for professionals, like for productivity sake. Nicely done, Caleb. Finally,
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where can our listeners learn more about the Elite Board
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g one, a next gen AI PC, including pricing and
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retail support?
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Oh yeah, the best place to go is to HP
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dot com. You can navigate through our business devices on there,
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find all the information you would need and more.
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That's the right spot to go to.
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Yeah, this is really one of those products. You got
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to see it. Radio and an audio podcast just doesn't
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do it justice because you've got to see that this
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is a full PC inside of a keyboard. It's wild,
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you know what.
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Mark.
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It's actually kind of hard to pitch in person sometimes too,
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because it looks like a keyboard.
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That's all.
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It is, just a keyboard.
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Walk right past that one.
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You've got to slow down and look at it and
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realize there's not a computer tucked away someplace under the
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desk behind the screen.
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This is it well as the HP new product introduction
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team lead and you've got your work cut out for
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you with this. But hopefully this interview helped let people
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know what they can expect HP dot com again it's
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called the Elite Board. One word g one a thank
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you so much for your time, Caleb. Great to time
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with you.
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Thanks Mark.
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Three time Olympic hockey player Sarah Nurse joins us when
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we return on check it Out to chat about cozy gaming.
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Be right back, stick.
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With us, listen to check it out.
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Whenever you want to find the check it Out podcast,
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did I too, or wherever you get your.
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Podcasts, Welcome back to check it Out. I wanted to
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take a moment to thank Norton and give them a
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shout out. They are an official partner on check it Out.
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com slash tech it out. That's Norton dot Com forward
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slash teck it out. Talk about accomplished. Our next guest,
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Sarah Nurse, is a star pro hockey player of course,
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with the PWHL and Canada's women's nationalized hockey team in fact,
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she won Olympic gold at the twenty twenty two Winter Olympics,
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where she was named best Forward and set Olympic records
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for most points when off the ice. From what I understand,
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Sarah likes to unwind with video games. Who doesn't. Well,
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we're going to explore that right now, if she's on
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the line with us. Hey, Sarah, thanks for your time today.
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Hey, of course, thanks for having me.
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Awesome as a professional hockey player, no doubt, you do
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need to find ways to unwind and relax. I know
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you got travel in your schedule quite a bit. But
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even before the Professional Women's Hockey League and Winter Olympics,
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have you always been into gaming, even casually while growing up.
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I have.
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Yeah, It's it's something that's kind of like funny about me.
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I guess I've always been a little bit introverted. So
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I do like my lone time, and I like to
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take time by myself to recharge and so to be
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able to use like the.
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Nintendo Switch too, and my favorite cozy games.
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It's a great way to decompress and unwind and recharge
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a little bit.
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All right, we are going to talk about cozy gaming
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in a moment. Do you remember what maybe your first
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game was. Did you grow up playing like Nintendo sixty
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four or any of these you know, these classic consoles.
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I did.
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Yeah, one of my good friends actually had a Nintendo
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sixty four way back in the day, and so we
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would go over and play some games at her house,
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which was a lot of fun.
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But I feel like I grew up with like Mario.
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Kart and Mario Party and those like iconic games, and
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so it's cool to see the evolution of those games
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and how they're still known and loved today and being
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played on new systems like the Nintendo Switch too.
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Yeah.
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Amen, But yeah, games I think are awesome for when
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you are feeling like you want to just be alone
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between you and the content. But there's also that other
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side of things where you socialized while playing games, you know,
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maybe a sports game online with a strangers or friends
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and have fun trash talking or on the same couch,
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you know, beside you. But yeah, I know what you mean.
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There's those special kind of games where you just want
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to decompress and you want to just you know, relax
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with the game. And so this is this trend called
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cozy gaming that we've been hearing a lot about Can
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you explain that genre to our audience and maybe tell
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us about some of your favorite games in this space. Yeah.
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I think when I think of like a cozy game,
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it's a game that it just kind of creates a
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space where you can choose your own adventure and take
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it at your own pace. I think sometimes we think
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of traditional video games, we think of you know, high.
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Intensity, different challenges.
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And things that you have to accomplish, and in cozy games,
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it's so much like you can just choose what you
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want to do. You can choose your experience, and so
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different games like with farming or unpacking or different things
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like that. So I currently am loving Pokemon Pacopia.
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It's really an immersive world that you can get into.
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You can do the different challenges and experiences at your
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own pace as you want to, or you can just
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take time to meet other Pokemon and create the world,
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build the world that you really want to and.
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Love love that. Yeah, and games like Animal Crossing also
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come to mind, where you can just again there's no
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set rules per se. You can just live in this
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sort of interactive adventure at your own leisure, at your
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own pace, and be one with that experience. So yeah,
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Pokemon Po coopia, that's a great pick. I've recently chatted
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about that on TV. Love it that you play that
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and cozy gaming yeah, super popular. You know, whether you're
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a professional athlete like yourself or even on the go professionals.
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I guess it's kind of like the Yin Yang thing,
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like you just need to offset potentially stressful you know,
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work or hobbies that are super intense with something that
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is quite the opposite. Is that fair? What do you
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think is appealing about cozy gaming?
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I think that for me, you know, playing professional hockey
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it's a pretty high intensity environment.
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You know, there's a lot of people relying on you,
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whether that.
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Be your teammates, your coaches, the fans who are watching,
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and obviously we're competitive and we want to like there's
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a goal at the end of the day, that's to
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win hockey games, and so we need to kind of
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remove ourselves from that space a little bit because that
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does become overwhelming.
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You can't be up all of the time.
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And so to be able to have something like a
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cozy game and just decompress, kind of take yourself away.
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You can be very present in the moment and just
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really enjoy your time for a short amount of time,
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a longer amount of time. It's really all up to you,
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and it's just a way to take your mind off
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life for you know, one second, and it really imburse
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yourself into a new world.
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Love that we are chatting with Sarah Nurse. She's of
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course a pro hockey player born in Hamilton. If I'm
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not mistaken, but you play out wes primarily in Vancouver. Yeah,
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well you've made us so proud as Canadians, especially with
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I think you've been at the Winter Olympics three times
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if I'm not mistaken, right, Yes, amazing. Well, look again,
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I just wanted to thank you for your time, Sarah.
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Keep up the great work. What's the best place where
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we can follow you on and off the ice?
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Yes, I'm on Instagram, I'm on TikTok, I'm on YouTube.
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So I'm at Nursey sixteen on Instagram and then at
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Sarah Nurse on book, TikTok and YouTube.
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So a lot of fun and I can't wait to
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see all there.
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Thanks so much for your time, Sarah, Safe travels be
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well perfect.
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Thank you.
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YouTube the best tech for students in twenty twenty six,
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we'll chat back to school gear when we return on
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teck it out.
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I want to follow Mark Google up, Mark with a
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C and Saltsman with a Z breaking down geeks peak
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00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:33.200
into street speak.
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This is check it out to check it out.
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With technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
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Welcome back everyone, you're listening to check it out. As
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00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:46.400
I mentioned earlier in the show, I've been going on
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TV and talking about back to school tech. It is
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00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.559
that time of year. I know, cue the eye rolling kids,
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00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:57.039
but get that champagne on nice parents, and so I
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thought I would share a half dozen tech Right commendations
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00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:04.839
and yeah for pricing, because it can vary, including back
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to school deals, thankfully, make sure you go to the
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website that I plug at the end, because it doesn't
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make sense to give you a price that's wrong. So
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I'm gonna go through my recommendations. But if you're interested
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00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.799
in any of these, if they peak your interests, then
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definitely go online and look forward any deals that you
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00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:25.440
may find. Let's start off with a laptop, arguably the
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00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:28.880
most important tool a students should have, I would say
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00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.519
middle school and up. The A sus Zen book A
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00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:35.599
sixteen is my top pick for a few reasons. Number one,
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00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:39.759
it's a super lightweight sixteen inch laptop, so a big screen.
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00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:42.799
It's a three k O lead touch screen, but it's
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00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:46.400
lighter than most fourteen inch laptops. It's only one point
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00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.519
two kilograms, unbelievably light. You will not feel this in
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00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:52.599
your backpack. It is the lightest sixteen inch zen book
436
00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:55.279
to date, says a sus and I'm not surprised. It
437
00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:58.119
feels like it's fake when I lift it up, you know,
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00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.200
it's like ever go to Iikia and they have like
439
00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.160
the rooms that are staged with like fake props. It
440
00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.559
feels like it's not real, but it is indeed real.
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00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.759
Up to twenty one hours of battery life means days
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00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.759
of classes without bringing a charger with you, and under
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00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:15.559
the hood is the fastest Snapdragon powered laptop to date.
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00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:19.279
It's an eighteen core AI Copilot plus PC, a lot
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00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.960
of power there, and as I mentioned, for AI tasks
446
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.960
as well. There's also a fourteen inch model of this
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00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:28.200
ASU zen Book that's only nine hundred and ninety grams
448
00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:31.359
and offers more than thirty three hours of battery life.
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00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.799
Head on over to Asus dot com to read more
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00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.319
about the Asus zen Book A sixteen or if you
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00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:39.960
prefer the A fourteen next up and all in one printer,
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00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.519
scanner and copier is great for not just students actually,
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00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.599
but the entire family. Everybody can use that. And a
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00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:50.400
versatile pick for an all in one wireless printer is
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00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.880
the Epsen Eco tank Et forty nine fifty. So this
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00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:58.279
is one of those super tank printers that don't take cartridges. Instead,
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00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:00.839
you get bottles in the box that give you up
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00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:03.599
to three years worth of ink, how about that black
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00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:05.599
and color, and then when it is time to buy
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00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.319
more ink. They're affordable and they last a long time,
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00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:12.960
unlike those small, overpriced cartridges that always seem to run
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00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.400
out at the most inopportune times. Right, no more late
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00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:19.000
night out of ingk panics during midterms or when you've
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00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.400
got an important book report to the next day. Other
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00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.680
features of this all in one include two sided printing
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00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:29.039
sometimes referred to as duplex printing, a thirty sheet autodocument feeder,
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00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:32.160
and smart speaker support. So if you have an Alexa
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00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:34.240
or a Google smart speaker, then you can use your
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00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:37.559
voice to print coloring sheets you know, to entertain the kids,
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00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:39.720
or a graph paper or a line paper. Very cool.
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00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.839
Epsom dot com has more. Speaking of smart speakers, another
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00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:48.799
recommendation for students of all ages is Alexa Plus, now
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00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:53.200
available and free for Amazon Prime members. Alexa Plus is
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00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:58.599
a much smarter, more conversational, and highly personalized version of Alexa,
475
00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.640
the incredibly populars free voice assistant. So Alexa Plus can
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00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:05.720
remember things now, your likes and your dislikes, and you
477
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:08.519
don't have to keep saying her name when you converse
478
00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.440
with her. She knows that you're in a conversation, unlike
479
00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.039
the previous version of Alexa and along with the fact
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00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:17.599
that it's free for Amazon Prime members, Alexa Plus already
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00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:21.200
works with several Echo smart speakers and displays you may
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00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:25.160
already own, like the popular Echo show eleven, which is
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00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.880
great for dorm rooms and kids' bedrooms, a kitchen countertop,
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00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:32.359
and so on. Alexa Plus helps you manage schedules, get homework,
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00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:36.079
help entertain you after your schoolwork is done, like by
486
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playing videos and music and podcasts. Of course, you can
487
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stay connected with free calls and much more. Amazon dot
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Com slash Alexa Plus. If you're just joining us now,
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I'm recommending some back to school tech we've covered a laptop,
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a printer, and Alexa plus an AI assistant which now
491
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works on many existing Echo smart speakers and displays like
492
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the Echo Show eleven. When it comes to display, it
493
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.000
may be time to upgrade your TV for the family.
494
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And if there's one that you need to see with
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your own eyes, you know what your favorite Big box
496
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retailer It's the tcl QM eight L series TVs. These
497
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new televisions are picture perfect if you will, and range
498
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in sizes from sixty five to ninety eight inches yep,
499
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ninety eight inches. This story here, though, is what's called
500
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super Quantum Dot Mini led technology so SQD. Super Quantum
501
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Dot delivers incredibly rich and vibrant color and amazing brightness
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up to six thousand knits of peak brightness, probably one of,
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if not the brightest TVs you can buy today, so
504
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you can watch whatever you want anytime of the day.
505
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You don't have to shut the blinds or anything. This
506
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is super bright. If you're a gamer, this television has
507
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one hundred and forty four hertz refresh rate, so it'll
508
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keep up with those fast action shooters and driving games.
509
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It's a Google powered smart TV with a voice remote
510
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and so much more so. Tcl dot com has more
511
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on the QM eight L series. Now, look, if you're
512
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looking for an inexpensive dorm room TV that's much smaller,
513
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like forty three inches or two hundred bucks, you can
514
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.720
get something great from TCL as well. Something else to
515
00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:12.720
entertain you between classes, whether you're you know, walking on
516
00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:16.079
campus or hanging out in your dorm after your studies
517
00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:19.160
is a pair of awesome headphones. Maybe one of the
518
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:21.759
most important pieces of tech for a student when it
519
00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:24.640
comes to fund also could help you study listening to
520
00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:27.200
soft music when you're in a library. What have you well,
521
00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:31.000
Staples has listed the Beat Solo for wireless on ear
522
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headphones as a top pick, available in multiple colors. Beat
523
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Solo Ford delivers powerful, balanced sound with all day comfort,
524
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up to fifty hours of battery life, and compatibility with
525
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both Apple and Android devices and other Bluetooth devices too.
526
00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:49.839
Of course, like laptops, these headphones are the perfect student
527
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companion again, super comfortable, amazing lows, mids and highs, and
528
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on sale at Staples they're like one hundred dollars off.
529
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Staples dot com has more and find something that's more
530
00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:05.160
of an app than a gadget perhaps is called whyse.
531
00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.400
So whether you're heading overseas for an exchange semester or
532
00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:11.279
a full year like my son Jacob going to Teachers
533
00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:14.400
College in Scotland last week, whyse is the smartest way
534
00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.160
to move and manage your money for things like groceries,
535
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.759
rent textbooks, and virtually everything else. It's free to open
536
00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:23.960
an account, and you can avoid large credit card fees
537
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.759
and bank markups with whys as they have low and upfront,
538
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.880
transparent fees, with support in more than one hundred and
539
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.680
sixty countries and over forty currencies. There's also an optional
540
00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:37.559
wise card that you can carry with you for spending
541
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:40.599
like a local. My son actually first tried Whise when
542
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:43.400
he was backpacking in Europe earlier this year and now
543
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.160
has the app and card for his school year ahead.
544
00:25:46.359 --> 00:25:48.440
Parents will love it because you can save money on
545
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.960
those fees when you're sending your kid money like we are.
546
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.240
Whis dot com has more again that's wys well, as
547
00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:58.400
you could see no shortage of awesome tech for the
548
00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:01.160
twenty twenty six Back to sk Cool season. You can
549
00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:03.680
check out my website if you want to read more
550
00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:06.920
about it. Mark Saltzman dot com. That's m A R
551
00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:11.559
C S A L T Z M A N dot com.
552
00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.880
So what's an eSIM and why should you care, especially
553
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.480
if you're traveling? All will be answered right after this
554
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.079
short break on Check it Out and stay with us.
555
00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:24.359
Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Check it Out hosted
556
00:26:24.359 --> 00:26:25.200
by Mark Saltzman.
557
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:40.079
Welcome back to Check it Out. Question for you, if
558
00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:41.960
you travel out of the country, how do you stay
559
00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.599
in touch with family, friends, and colleagues. Perhaps because they're
560
00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:48.759
not aware of what they can do, many, if not most,
561
00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:52.119
people will roam on their existing carrier and phone number
562
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:54.559
and often come home to a massive phone bill. Well,
563
00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:57.480
we're going to learn now about eSIMs with a leading
564
00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:01.319
company in this space, Nomadesim've got on the line, Terry Guoh.
565
00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.480
He's president and co founder of Lotus Flair that's the
566
00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:06.359
parent company to NOMADESIM.
567
00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:08.720
Welcome to the show, Terry, Thanks for having me Mark.
568
00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:13.000
Before we talk about nomadesim and the services that you offer,
569
00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:15.599
why don't we first, at a high level, just explain
570
00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.720
what an eSIM is all about, and we'll then of
571
00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:21.359
course dive into the benefits of why this is ideal
572
00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:22.240
for those who travel.
573
00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:23.480
All right, So, Mark.
574
00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:26.799
Maybe before I even talk about eSIM, what ISESIM, we
575
00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:29.559
talk about what a SIM card is. A simcard is
576
00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:32.599
a secure id your phone needs to connect to a
577
00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:36.759
wireless network. So for example, if you're AT and T customer,
578
00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:39.960
you would buy an AT and T simcard and for
579
00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:42.759
your phone. And if you are a Team Mobile customer,
580
00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:45.039
you would have a T Mobile simcard, and that's the
581
00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:48.359
secure identity that allows your phone to connect to their
582
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:49.559
respective networks.
583
00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:51.279
Right. It used to be a little piece of plastic
584
00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:53.599
with some circuitry on it that you had to open
585
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:56.240
up your phone with a little pin and place it
586
00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:59.039
in the tray. Right, That's what a simcard was.
587
00:27:59.160 --> 00:27:59.359
Right.
588
00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:01.880
There are many form factors. So if you look at
589
00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:04.799
the progression of SIM cards, it used to be what's
590
00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.119
called a mini sim card, so those are the larger
591
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.200
kind of SIM cards. Then that evolved into a microsimcard,
592
00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:13.519
and now there are nanosim cards. These are all kind
593
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:15.920
of SIM cards that come in a physical form. The
594
00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:18.319
way to think about SIM I always explain this to people.
595
00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:21.839
It's essentially another form factor, and that form factor is
596
00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:24.720
that it's not a physical form factor, it's a digital
597
00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:27.759
version of it. It gets downloaded over the air to
598
00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.440
your mobile device that supports eSIM, and that downloading process
599
00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:35.240
is equivalent to you inserting a physical SIM card.
600
00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:38.839
I know some phones today, like iPhone seventeen, they don't
601
00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:41.079
even have a SIM card tray anymore.
602
00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:41.960
Exactly.
603
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:47.359
It's most of the modern smartphones today supports eSIM. In fact,
604
00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.559
if you exactly what you said, if you look at
605
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:53.000
all the iPhones that's been produced in the US and Canada,
606
00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:55.039
they only support eSIM.
607
00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:57.640
So you're not going to find a physical SIM tray.
608
00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:00.599
All right. So an eSIM is a virtual or digital
609
00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:04.799
SIM And when you travel and you're going to another country,
610
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:08.720
if you don't buy an eSIM, then you are roaming
611
00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:12.480
on your existing carrier provider in your country, and that
612
00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:15.680
can often be very expensive. So before we talk about
613
00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:20.160
why NOMADESIM your company, why eSIMs for travelers.
614
00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:21.519
You already alluded to this.
615
00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:25.359
The traditional way of getting connectivity when you travel is
616
00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:29.000
through roaming, and that typically is very expensive and it's.
617
00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:30.839
Also not as predictable because.
618
00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:34.079
When you're in a different country, typically your home operator
619
00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:37.559
would have just one kind of relationship with an operator
620
00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:41.319
on the ground. Through eSIM, not only is it more affordable,
621
00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.519
but it is also more reliable in many cases.
622
00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:48.160
So the idea is you're traveling to let's just say
623
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:50.720
I don't know, Paris, France, and instead of roaming on
624
00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:54.240
your existing provider where you live in North America, you
625
00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:58.440
can then buy an eSIM from several different companies and
626
00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:01.839
you're one of the bigger players NOMADESIM, and it's a
627
00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:04.920
lot more affordable and reliable. As you said, So we'll
628
00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.319
walk through the process in a moment. But what would
629
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:10.680
you say separates nomad eSIM from many of the OTHERESIM
630
00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:11.640
players out there.
631
00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:15.079
Sure, if you look at travel today, it looks very
632
00:30:15.079 --> 00:30:18.319
different from a decade ago. Say, our phones has become
633
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:23.880
essentially our everything, map, your translator, your wallet, that's where
634
00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:27.359
your boarding paths is stored. Staying connected is no longer
635
00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:30.799
kind of a luxury. It's part of the travel experience.
636
00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:33.039
It's essential to the travel experience.
637
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:35.079
I would say, I would agree one hundred percent.
638
00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:38.160
One of the first things many travelers still kind of
639
00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:40.160
worry about when they land is that how do I
640
00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:44.359
get connectivity? And that's the reason why we build Nomad,
641
00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:47.240
And it's to address this kind of biggest pain point
642
00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:50.559
that we believe when it comes to travel or international traveling.
643
00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:54.440
The way we position Nomad is that we want you
644
00:30:54.480 --> 00:30:56.680
to enjoy your trip more. We want you to not
645
00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.519
have to worry about connectivity and our brand. The promise
646
00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:04.480
is that you get more out of every trip, more convenience,
647
00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:08.400
more flexibility, more value, and more confidence. And that's how
648
00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:11.279
we differentiate. Really, we focus on that user experience and
649
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:11.759
the value.
650
00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:14.440
I can tell you anecdotally, Terry and to share with
651
00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:18.480
our listeners for full transparency. Your company gave me an
652
00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:20.440
eSIM for when I was in the UK at the
653
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:24.920
Samsung Unpacked event a couple weeks ago, and it worked flawlessly.
654
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:27.079
It was the first time I tried Nomad to be honest,
655
00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:31.039
and I was with other journalists from North America who
656
00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:35.039
were also on eSIMs. But I had way better connectivity
657
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.720
than they did. So maybe you've got more partners in
658
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:42.039
various countries hence the increased reliability. Not just the fact
659
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:44.880
that it's really affordable to do this, but yeah, I
660
00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:49.559
had connectivity everywhere. So anyways, that's testament to Nomad, So congrats.
661
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:52.640
Yeah, that is something we are constantly working on.
662
00:31:52.759 --> 00:31:55.920
We're always looking for other, more and more providers and
663
00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:59.359
that allows us to get our customers the best connectivity.
664
00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:02.319
Can you walk through how it works? So, assuming your
665
00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:05.599
phone is on a list, like you know it's eSIM compatible,
666
00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:07.880
and I think most phones today are, and I'm sure
667
00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:10.480
your website will have a list of compatible devices. But
668
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:12.680
do you first choose the country you're going to and
669
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:14.319
then for how long? Like, can you walk this through
670
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:14.799
how it works?
671
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:15.799
It's really easy.
672
00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:19.200
You can either download the Nomad app or you can
673
00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:22.680
just visit our website. Then to begin with, you select
674
00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:25.920
the destination or the region you're going to. So we
675
00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:29.640
support both country based plans as well as region based plans.
676
00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:31.599
So for example, if you're going to Europe and you're
677
00:32:31.640 --> 00:32:34.480
not saying in one country, then the best plan is,
678
00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:38.079
for example, in Europe Regional Plan and that covers about
679
00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:41.039
thirty five countries, one of the most popular plans that
680
00:32:41.079 --> 00:32:41.519
we sell.
681
00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:45.640
I'm not surprised. My son Jacob backpacked throughout Europe in
682
00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.240
March with a buddy of his and they hit like
683
00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:51.359
I think ten countries, and so yeah, that's great. When
684
00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.440
you have a regional SIM option. Not all eSIM companies
685
00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:57.079
offer that it could be only by the country. By
686
00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:01.000
the way, Nomad eSIM also has global if you're like
687
00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:04.599
a crazy jet setter. Right when we return on check
688
00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:08.319
it out more with Terry Guo from Nomadesim to talk
689
00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:11.400
about benefits of eSIM technology. We'll be right back.
690
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.359
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
691
00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:24.759
to check it out whenever you want.
692
00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:30.039
We are chatting with Terry Guo. He's president and co
693
00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:34.640
founder of Lotus Flair that's the parent company to Nomadesim,
694
00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:37.759
one of the big players in the ESM space. Ideal
695
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:40.960
especially for travelers who want to save money and have
696
00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:45.000
strong connectivity in the country or countries that they're traveling to.
697
00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:47.759
How does it work, Terry, like, how do you get going?
698
00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:51.880
Once you decide on the destination, then the next choice
699
00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:54.319
to make is, okay, what kind of plan? How many
700
00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:58.160
gigabytes are We also have the option of going unlimited.
701
00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:01.240
That is the next decision you make, and then after
702
00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:03.279
that you choose kind of how long your trip is.
703
00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:06.240
So we have different plans that typically last from seven
704
00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:09.519
days to thirty days and could also be longer. So
705
00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:12.599
once you do that, then you're you're presented with all
706
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:15.519
the kind of available plans and then all you do
707
00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:18.639
is you make a purchase using your Apple Pay or
708
00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:22.880
your credit card and then once that's done, them installation
709
00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:25.480
process kicks off and that typically lasts.
710
00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:26.239
About a minute.
711
00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:29.199
And then after that you have the SIM card on
712
00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:32.119
your device and ready to go. And typically people do
713
00:34:32.199 --> 00:34:34.519
this before they travel, and we see a lot of that,
714
00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:37.559
so they before they leave their home country, they make
715
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:40.039
the purchase, they install the SIM, and then once you
716
00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:43.679
land in your destination. It really simple process too. People
717
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:48.280
love this because before you even disembark from your plane,
718
00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:50.079
you have connectivity.
719
00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:51.599
You can turn it on and you're connected.
720
00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:54.320
Yeah. Essentially, you just go to your settings area of
721
00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:57.960
your phone. You select cellular or connections depending on the
722
00:34:58.039 --> 00:34:59.840
make and model of your phone, and then you just
723
00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:02.840
turn off your existing SIM from the country that you're
724
00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:05.199
from if you want to, I do, and then enable
725
00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:09.119
the eSIM from Nomad and ensure data roaming is enabled
726
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:11.960
if it isn't already. That's just one little tip and
727
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:14.639
then you're good to go. Let's clarify then, Terry to
728
00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:17.440
our listeners that the only let's call it a catch
729
00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:20.320
if you will, is that your local number, your two
730
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:22.639
one two number, your four one six number, what have you?
731
00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:24.960
Three ten, It's not going to work. When you are
732
00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.599
overseas and you turn off that local line. Instead you
733
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:32.079
get data with an eSIM provider like Nomad. But I
734
00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:35.920
use that then to call people over WhatsApp or FaceTime
735
00:35:36.199 --> 00:35:39.519
or imassage or Facebook Messenger. The list goes on and on.
736
00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:42.280
There's other ways to make calls, but not using your
737
00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:44.519
real number. So we just want to make sure that
738
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:47.159
people know that that if you're waiting for a call
739
00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:50.679
or a text on your local number in North America,
740
00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:53.199
then you may still have to have that enabled. Is
741
00:35:53.239 --> 00:35:53.880
that fair?
742
00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:57.079
So the way typically the way people set this up
743
00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:59.559
is that yes, Nomad or a lot of the other
744
00:36:00.119 --> 00:36:03.719
of travel eSIM product is data only. That means it
745
00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:06.400
doesn't come up with the number, and when you make
746
00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:09.639
voice or SMS calls that you can't use that SIM card.
747
00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:10.920
However, the typical.
748
00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:14.440
Setup is this is that when you turn the NOMADESIM on,
749
00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:17.480
you can set it as hey, this is the SIM
750
00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:20.559
that serves my data needs. In parallel, you can say
751
00:36:20.599 --> 00:36:23.280
my home SIM card can still stay active, and you
752
00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:27.039
can say it from voice and SMS applications, I continue.
753
00:36:26.679 --> 00:36:27.480
To use that card.
754
00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:30.559
So at this point both SIM cards are active. So
755
00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:33.360
even if you're in a foreign country. You use data
756
00:36:33.400 --> 00:36:37.360
through Nomad, you can still receive SMS and make voice
757
00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:39.280
calls using your home simcard.
758
00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:43.400
Nomad Mobile often has discounts and rewards, right yeah.
759
00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:47.920
We run a lot of destination specific promotions throughout the years,
760
00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:50.519
so if you are an existing customer, you would get
761
00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:54.239
these promotions periodically. So that's one way that you can
762
00:36:54.360 --> 00:36:57.320
kind of maximize your Nomad as well.
763
00:36:57.360 --> 00:36:59.639
As we have a reward program.
764
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:03.960
Every dollar you spend with us, you earn points, and
765
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.480
those points can get converted later on into a discount
766
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:11.159
or for purchasing a plan. Outside of the promotions, outside
767
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.280
the rewards, we also have a referral program. It's similar
768
00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:16.639
to a lot of the other referral programs that you
769
00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:19.280
bring a user in or your friends and your family,
770
00:37:19.480 --> 00:37:21.760
and the moment you do that, both you and the
771
00:37:21.800 --> 00:37:25.599
new user can enjoy benefits. So this is typically some
772
00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:27.360
free credit or free points.
773
00:37:27.559 --> 00:37:31.280
All right. The website Terry, is it nomadesim dot com.
774
00:37:31.440 --> 00:37:33.719
Yes, nomad eSIM dot com.
775
00:37:33.880 --> 00:37:36.679
And then to search at the App Store for iPhone
776
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:39.760
or Google Play for Android devices, you could just type
777
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:43.039
in Nomad and then space eSIM E S I M
778
00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:45.079
Terry Great chatting with you. Thanks so much for your
779
00:37:45.079 --> 00:37:48.519
time and congrats on the success of NOMADESIM. Good to
780
00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:50.039
have you on the program for the first time.
781
00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:50.880
Thank you Mark.
782
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:52.679
And by the way, if you want to save twenty
783
00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:56.800
two percent on your eSIM purchase, use the word get
784
00:37:56.920 --> 00:38:01.760
twenty two at checkout. That's get two. I don't benefit
785
00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:04.280
from this, It's not one of those referral codes where
786
00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:06.480
I'll get some money back or anything, but wanted to
787
00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:09.519
share that with all the listeners out there get two
788
00:38:09.559 --> 00:38:12.880
to two at checkout. I wanted to also thank one
789
00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:16.840
more time. Both Visa and Norton amazing partners of mine.
790
00:38:17.159 --> 00:38:20.320
Just as I aim to break down GeekSpeak into street speak,
791
00:38:20.599 --> 00:38:26.519
Visa demystifies payments and shopping online securely, and Norton also
792
00:38:26.760 --> 00:38:30.639
protects you from malware, malicious software as well as identity
793
00:38:30.679 --> 00:38:35.079
theft with its LifeLock solution. Amazing stuff. Norton dot com
794
00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:38.599
slash tech it out to get a discount on Norton's software,
795
00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:41.800
and Visa dot Com to learn more about their efforts.
796
00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:44.800
Speaking of protection, don't forget to back up your important
797
00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:48.000
files on a regular basis. I always trust sand disc
798
00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:51.760
USB drives and micro SD cards and solid state drives
799
00:38:51.800 --> 00:38:55.639
or SSDs. SanDisk dot com has some sales especially this
800
00:38:55.719 --> 00:38:58.719
time of year as well. Hey, have a fantastic rest
801
00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:00.920
of your day everyone, and I look forward to catching
802
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:03.360
up with you next week for another new episode of
803
00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:04.280
Check It Out.