Blog Posts by Marc Saltzman

Readers of my blog posts might be aware of one of my odd hobbies: collecting and listening to "old time radio" shows.

Huh? Why would a future-looking gadget geek want to fill up his smartphone with radio dramas popularized in the '40s and '50s?

Yes, I see the irony -- but hey, a great story is a great story. In fact, these bite-sized old-time radio (“OTR”) shows are awesome for combating boredom while spending time in the car. They’re typically 20- to 40-minutes in length, so they’re perfect for those who commute on trains, planes and automobiles.

As someone who travels a lot, I find nothing beats listening to one of these well-written and superbly-acted plays while resting my eyes on a plane. Or, in many instances, I'm playing a game on my phone or tablet while listening to these shows at the same time.

Just like other media – such as books, movies, television shows and video games – there are different genres for different tastes. Comedy fans, for example, might prefer to hear the

Forget dollhouses, footballs and jigsaw puzzles – kids today want tech in their toys.

Whether it’s products designed for learning, such as the stellar Leapfrog offerings, or straight-up toys for toys sake, many of 2013’s most wanted fuse entertainment with electronics.

Heck, even LEGO has evolved into buildable robots with “on-brick programming," while many classic board games let you place your iPad in the middle of the action -- including Hasbro’s zAPPed editions of The Game of Life, Monopoly and Battleship.

The following is a look at a few of bigger tech-infused toys expected to debut this year:

Action figures + video games

How do you top Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders Giants, which have sold more than 100 million toys between the two games? If you’re Activision, you announce the third installment in the billion dollar franchise.

As with its predecessors, Skylanders SWAP Force marries a video game with action figures, placed on a Portal of Power that‘s connected to

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ComiXology!

The smartphone and tablet app for comic book fans is so popular, in fact, a recent giveaway of more than 700 free Marvel comics caused ComiXology’s servers to overload, prompting an apology from the CEO. Oops.

For the uninitiated, ComiXology lets you browse, buy and read digital comic books on your iOS or Android device (or if you prefer, on a PC or Mac web browser). Most of the major comic book publishers sell their wares on this platform, including Marvel and DC Comics/DC Universe, as well as IDW, Image, Disney, Archie, The Simpsons, and others (curiously missing, however, is Dark Horse).

More than 30,000 comics are now available at the marketplace, each of which can be read page by page, like its paper counterpart, or in the slick “Guided View,” that cleverly glides and zooms from frame to frame with the swipe of a finger.

ComiXology has now opened its virtual doors to independent comic book artists and graphic novelists. Profits are

The Apple rumor mill is churning once again – not just about the expected summer release of a new iPhone (or two), but you bet a new iPad is in the works for 2013.

After all, more than 100 million tablets have sold since 2010, as of October 2012 – and that’s before the 4th generation iPad (dubbed iPad with Retina Display) and iPad mini made its debut – so if you were Apple, wouldn’t you want to keep the momentum going? And lest we forget Android tabs are gaining ground, especially from the Samsung camp.

If you don’t have the time or desire to scour tech sites for the latest rumors on the tablet, the following are 5 things you can expect from the iPad 5 – though be aware none of these so-called facts or features have been confirmed by Cupertino.

Design

According to a number of sources, Apple's iPad 5 will have a design similar to 7.9-inch iPad mini -- with its thin bezels, “diamond-cut” edges and flush back.

There’s also buzz the iPad will move to an all-glass body like its iPhone 5

Whether you're one of the 2.2 million Americans living with epilepsy, or have friends or family affected by the neurological disorder, a new app serves as an excellent resource for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Called E-Action Info, this free App Store download provides medical info, media and an educational game -- all designed to teach about epilepsy in a clear, accessible manner.

For those living with epilepsy, the app covers management tips, a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section, an interactive and color-coded 3D model of the brain (zoom and rotate to learn about all of its areas and functions), links to epilepsy associations and the option to start a journal, called MyEpilepsyDiary, to help keep an accurate account of when seizures happen.

Be aware, however, this diary feature links to a login page at epilepsy.com opposed to an integrated diary located within the app. While this requires an Internet connection, at least the info is not located on the iOS device itself,

If you enjoy solving head-scratching puzzles but are growing tired of slow-paced, story-driven adventures, a new game called Fetch ($4.99) might just be the download you seek at the App Store.

The latest from Big Fish Games cleverly combines action, platforming and puzzle-solving, in a game suitable for both kids and kids at heart.

Despite its brevity and some strange “real world” objects placed in a futuristic fantasy romp, this charming iPad game is a delight.

In Fetch, you play as a young boy whose dog, Bear, gets swallowed up by a fire hydrant and dognapped by an underground robot. You follow suit and must overcome obstacles to get closer to your beloved pet – beginning with this underground level, and then followed by a jungle, shark-infested ocean and museum. While solving puzzles, such as reuniting three blind mice and turning valves to stop and start the flow of water, you’ll discover who the culprit is and why he’s after your pooch (and many others).

Along with 50

If you’re itching to treat yourself to a tablet this spring -- but don’t have $500 for an iPad or even $200 for a Kindle Fire HD – you can now pick up a 7-inch Kobo Vox tablet for $100.

Yes, this is last year’s model opposed to the newer Kobo Arc, but at half the cost there’s a lot of bang for the buck, here – plus you’ve got full access to the Google Play store and its more than 800,000 apps.

At its core, the Kobo Vox is a 7-inch color e-book reader, capable of wirelessly downloading and displaying books, magazines and newspapers. The FFS+ backlit LCD screen (1,024 x 600) is optimized for reading outdoors. You’ve got access to the Kobo Store, with nearly 3 million books, in total -- one-third of which are free classics. While reading, you can select from one of seven font styles and 42 available sizes.

A social media feature called Kobo Pulse lets you connect with other readers, such as seeing how many people are reading what you’re reading, what others think of the passage you just

With all the high-profile hacks, data breaches and malware (“malicious software”) in the news these days, you might be afraid to spend time online.

But as long as you exercise a little common sense and follow a few simple steps, your computer -- and more importantly, the data that resides on it -- can be protected from various Internet threats.

And no, you don’t need to be a computer engineer to bump up your online security.

The following are five suggestions to help you get started.

1. Use antimalware software

Now that security software is bundled in Windows 8, not to mention many free versions available at C|Net’s Download.com, there really isn’t an excuse for not having an antimalware solution installed on your computer, which includes antivirus, antispyware, a firewall, and more.

Free services are better than none at all, of course, but there are much more robust online security solutions for about $40 a year – such as those offered by Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky – that can