January 2006 Archives

Philips is also launching a Skype phone at CES. I don't have a photo or more information (yet) - just the news release. But wanted to share this news ASAP and then update this post when I find out more. Sounds more similar to the Linksys CIT200 (requires USB connectivity to a PC) than the launch today of the NETGEAR standalone Skype phone I blogged today.Though, I'm not sure. I read somewhere that the Philips Skype phone is PC-less but cannot confirm. It does use DECT though, which is similar to the Linksys CIT200.
You can pick up a Philips VoIP321 Skype phone on Amazon.com for $139.00 or less.

Combining the optimum in mobility, voice quality and ease of use, Philips Electronics is teaming up with global Internet communications company Skype to introduce a new Internet phone, the VoIP321. The new cordless phone has dual functionality so consumers can make free Skype calls, as well as ordinary landline calls - giving them maximum freedom and the ability to toggle between both communications mediums.Through Skype and Philips' joint product, consumers can experience a new level of communication simplicity.

"The introduction of Skype compatibility to our devices is great news for consumers, enabling them to communicate in new ways with friends and family far away," said Nick Dosanjh, vice president and general manager, Philips Home Communication. "Philips is actively working with a number of companies to provide consumers with innovative entertainment and communication solutions.The VoIP321 is designed to allow the consumer to experience Skype's service with the convenience of a familiar cordless telephone and the simplicity and ease of use expected from Philips."

The VoIP321 was developed to combine the key benefits of Skype with the advantages of Philips' home cordless technology.Skype's rich features include: free worldwide calls, conferencing, video calls and chats with other Skype users.Users of the VoIP321 can make and receive both Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Internet calls from a single handset. Enabling users to carry their contact list anywhere in the home, the new VoIP321 allows consumers to view who is available on Skype by simply looking at the cordless phone display. The handset allows specific polyphonic ring tones to distinguish Skype and landline calls.

"The Philips brand is associated with quality and exceptional design, and we are pleased to offer consumers feature rich, user-friendly Skype enabled products for the home and office.Our collaboration with Philips demonstrates how Skype is revolutionizing communications," said James Bilefield, vice president of business development for Skype.

The innovative Internet phone operates on Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephone (DECT) technology. The new DECT technology enhances the sound and security available in a cordless phone. Consumers will experience crystal clear sound and reduced noise interference with the new DECT technology.

The VoIP321 is easy to use. Just a press on the Skype key allows you to access your Skype contacts list and see who from your friends and family are connected.Busy consumers also can multi-task and experience hands-free conversations via the speakerphone feature.

The VoIP321 represents an important development in Philips' 'Connected Planet' vision that enables users to enjoy wireless content and communication anytime, anywhere.By merging telecommunications and information with entertainment, the VoIP321 frees consumers to benefit from wireless and Internet technology wherever they are within the home.
Philips will launch the VoIP321 in Europe in May 2006 and in the U.S. in July 2006.

You can pick up one on Amazon on the cheap

According to NETGEAR, this is the first mobile WiFi internet calling phone announced on the market - unlike other Internet calling devices, you do not need to connect to a PC. In fact, unlike the Linksys CIT 200 Skype phone that I reviewed which connects to the PC's USB port, the NETGEAR phone simply needs Internet access. Apparently, they've embedded the Skype software into the phone itself.

NETGEAR, a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, and Skype, the global Internet communications company, today announced they are working on a family of innovative new products, including the world's first Skype wireless mobile telephone and a router equipped to optimize Skype.

The NETGEAR WiFi phone will make mobile Internet telephony a reality for Skype users. Unlike other devices that must connect with a PC, NETGEAR's Skype WiFi phone will work wherever a consumer is connected to a wireless Internet access point - be that in a home, office, cafe, open public hotspot, or any open municipal wireless access point being deployed worldwide. The Skype experience remains the same, in that users can make free domestic and international calls, as well as host conference calls and chat, with other Skype users anywhere in the world, and to non-Skype users for a small fee. With this device, headphones or USB phones plugged into a laptop or PC are not required.

"Customers can now call anyone on Skype, anywhere in the world for free without using a PC anytime they are connected to WiFi. We're extremely proud to deliver the world's first mobile phone enabling customers to enjoy all the benefits of Skype," said Patrick Lo, NETGEAR's chairman and chief executive officer. "Moreover, Skype integration with our RangeMax wireless router will further extend our leadership in innovative networking devices. Skype offers the simplicity, WiFi offers the connectivity, and NETGEAR offers the technology to innovate these market-changing products. Our teamwork with Skype is yet another way that NETGEAR is helping people to connect, all around the world."

An October report from Jupiter Research forecasts that by 2010, 20.4 million U.S. households will subscribe to some form of Internet-based broadband phone service, while In-Stat holds that widespread adoption of Internet calling in both the business and consumer markets depends on the availability of compatible wireless handsets (August 2005 report).

The NETGEAR device will combine the best of Internet calling and wireless. The NETGEAR phone is pre-loaded with Skype's software, ready out-of-the-box to use with a wireless network. All a user needs to do after turning on the phone is enter a Skype username and password. The Skype software pulls up the user's full contact list, displays the connection status on the phone screen, and allows the consumer to connect to any other Skype user for free. The phone will also allow users to connect to non-Skype users with the SkypeOut feature. More information on NETGEAR's Skype WiFi phone, including pricing and availability, is planned for the first quarter of 2006.

"By collaborating with NETGEAR, Skype's reach is extended to a new, important consumer platform. This new phone allows Skype to offer its global users improved mobility," said James Bilefield, vice president of business development for Skype. "Simplicity and style were two qualities we looked for in a mobile phone and NETGEAR's new device will offer both to Skype users."

In addition to the Skype Wifi phone, NETGEAR and Skype also announced that the NETGEAR RangeMax Wireless Router (WPN824) with Smart MIMO technology, a 2006 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award honoree and the industry's #1 selling MIMO-G product, will be equipped to optimize Skype. Adapting to changing wireless conditions is unique to NETGEAR's RangeMax technology, and RangeMax routers dynamically avoid interference from neighboring wireless networks and eliminate dead spots to maintain the most reliable, high-performance, long-range network connections to each client, making them ideal for supporting applications such as Skype.

Just like New Year's Day follows New Year's Eve, the giant annual consumer electronics clambake in the desert known as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off a few days after New Year's -- in this case tomorrow -- in Las Vegas. With more than 2,500 exhibitors, the show (always huge) has grown even larger as the computer and consumer electronics industries move ever closer together.

In fact, CES is the largest trade show in the U.S. and Canada, according to Tradeshow Week Magazine.  Last year, more than 140,000 people from 115 countries attended the CES.

It used to be that COMDEX, the giant computer show, was huge, but that show has gone the way of buggy whip (anyone know what that is?) so we now have one SUPER HUGE show that will wear out the shoe leather of any journalist.

We'll have plenty to report from the show, but take a look at some of the areas that this show covers (and let me know if any are of particular interest to you:

• Mobile electronics -- car audio and video, navigation systems, satellite radio, security
• "The Download" -- legal file sharing technologies
• Audio -- high-performance audio, portable entertainment devices, satellite radio, home studio products, HD-radio
• Video -- home, portable,l mobile, recording and playback
• Wireless and broadband -- need I say more?
• Robotics -- sure to become increasingly important -- and integrated -- into CE products
• Digital imaging -- cameras, software, hardware in more ways than you can imagine
• Electronic gaming -- hardware, software, handheld, online (who would have thought this would have become so big?)

Like I said, it all starts tomorrow -- all 1.5 million square feet of it!

In my 2006 Predictions, I predicted that Microsoft would buy Level3. It was more of a "should" than "would" prediction. I intertwined some "should" predictions into my "would" predictions. In any event, the rumor mill is churning around a Microsoft buyout of Yahoo for $80 billion. Ironically, Yahoo's primary bandwidth provider is... you guessed it - Level 3. Very interesting. Maybe Microsoft should buy Level 3 first, which would then make Yahoo! a bandwidth customer of Microsoft's. This might lessen the psychological blow of "selling out" to their rival Microsoft. It may even give Microsoft some leveraging power on the stock price. Kill three birds with one stone. Gain a search engine (Yahoo), tons of bandwidth (Level 3), and gain a foothole in the lucrative VoIP market (Level 3). Course, then they'd have to rename MCI Web Calling for Windows Live Call (dumbest product name of 2005) and MCI wouldn't be too happy over Microsoft acquiring their rival, Level3.

Beer and VoIP go hand-in-hand like New York Yankee championships in October.

Bob McKenzie: "No way, hoser. You mean Red Sox."

Doug McKenzie: "Take off, eh. Aaron Boone walk off home run against the Red Sox. That was beauty, eh!"

Bob McKenzie: "You hoser, that was 3 years ago. 2004 was beauty, eh. Red Sox defeated the Yankees in 7 games."

Doug McKenzie: "No way, eh. That never happened. That Red Sox championship was just a dream I had, I mean a nightmare, eh. Of course I had 159 beers in 72 hours so that Series is a bit of a blur to me, eh."

Bob McKenzie: "Yeah way, you knob! But you were pretty drunk. You were so drunk somebody horked your clothes, eh."

Doug McKenzie: "Yeah, that sucked, eh."

Bob McKenzie: "Hey, remembered that time we got drunk and both ran onto the field at Yankee Stadium, eh."

Doug McKenzie: "Yeah that was beauty, eh. You even almost made it to home plate, till New York's finest tackled you, eh."

I could go on and on with more parodies of the McKenzie brothers from the movie Strange Brew, but I'll stop there. If you've seen Strange Brew, you get the humor which is on the same level as Beavis & Butthead. The point of this blog post? Well, Computing,co.uk reports, that Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries is installing voice over IP-based (VoIP) systems to improve services and reduce costs. I couldn't help myself but intertwine the famous beer movie and VoIP. Anyway, according to the article, "The independent brewing and pub company, whose brands include Marston's Pedigree and the 2,300-strong chain of Pathfinder and Union Pubs, plans to use the technology initially for telephony in its contact centres, but will later extend it to cover data services." more...

A few years ago (2002), the big news in computer storage was Hitachi buying IBM's disk drive business to become a major player in the computer storage market. Now, as the storage market continues to expand at the enterprise, SMB and consumer levels, industry leader Seagate has announced that it is buying its long-time rival, Maxtor.

With a major competitor out of the way, look for Seagate to grow -- and invest in -- all facets of its business; it's a major player across all of the storage sectors. In fact, the consumer area may be a renewed area of focus. Look at all the data that we need to store on all of the gadgets we own! Will be interesting to see how this develops and how a growing market reduces the number of industry players ...

Rich Tehrani said a few weeks ago that Kodak should partner with someone in VoIP. Looks like he gets the nod for accurately making the first 2006 prediction accurately. Kodak and Skype partnered. Wonder if his other 2006 predictions will come to fruition? Or mine for that matter. Though Yahoo! Photos lets you "talk" about the photos using VoIP ala Yahoo! Messenger, so maybe he isn't such a prognosticator?

Motorola, claims that it "broke down the barrier between traditional home and wireless phone service." They are speaking of their new innovative Motorola Residential Seamless Mobility Gateway (RSG) lets consumers use the same mobile device -- and the same number -- as they roam in and out of their homes. The real takeway from this announcement is that this product takes WiFi-to-cellular handover control out of the hands of the carrier and into the hands of the consumer. TMCnet writer Robert Liu has some interesting insights on this news as well. One tidbit is he writes, "The announcement could breathe new life to dual-mode handsets market, which has been greatly hampered by the control that cellular network operators have exerted over the handover exchange process."

Here's the release Motorola put out today.

Creating an Innovative Home Communications Experience

The Motorola RSG family of products packs powerful communication features for your home. The product includes an 802.11b/g wireless access point, a four-port router, and a built-in Voice-over-IP adapter. This technology allows the RSG to run your home network, power standard telephones, and act as a hotspot for your mobile phone.

Further, the Motorola RSG can seamlessly transfer voice calls between the home wireless network (WLAN) and the cellular network without interrupting the call, when paired with a dual-mode handset (DMH) and connected to a network and service that supports this feature. Dual-mode handsets are mobile devices that can access both cellular and in-home wireless networks.

Motorola RSG products give consumers freedom for personal communications: The products eliminate the hassle of finding a good reception zone in the home, and of managing separate bills, individual calling plans, or "bonus" minutes. Consumers can simply dial a number, and the intelligence in the gateway will automatically route the call to the best available network or service option.

Motorola is showcasing the RSG series of products this week at the 2006 International CES trade show (Las Vegas, NV), Central Hall, Booth #8545.

Additional features of the Motorola RSG Series include:

-- Single-Number Access - Calls made from a dual-mode mobile handset in
the home enable consumers to reduce cellular bills.
-- Home Network Connectivity - Access your high-speed data connection from
anywhere in the home with an 802.11 b/g wireless access point and a
four-port wired router. For mobile voice calls, use your home wireless
network to compensate for cellular service "dead-spots" within the
home.
-- Voice Prioritization - Ensure high-quality voice calls while accessing
the Internet.
-- Portability - Easily plugs into any broadband connection.
-- Rich Digital Phone Features - Caller ID, call waiting, three-way
calling, and call forwarding.
-- Multiple lines - Allows for a shared "family" number as well as
individual mobile and landline numbers.
-- Power Management - Optimizes the battery life of users' handset through
802.11e U-APSD, radio resource management, and 802.11k measurement
pilot.
-- Advanced Security - Protect your voice calls and your data with 802.11i
security and pre-authentication, IPSEC/PPTP/L2TP NAT tunneling (for VPN
pass-through), storage for X.509 device certificate and operator public
key as well as mobile pairing.

There are two products in the Motorola RSG family: the RSG2500, expected availability Winter 2006, and the RSG3500, expected availability Summer 2006, which adds the ability to power two lines of primary VoIP telephone service within the home.

"Consumers today want the flexibility of a single number and handset that can be used both in and out of the home, and a solution that can bridge landline, cellular and digital phone services. This latest Motorola innovation breaks traditional concepts of personal communication without sacrificing ease of use or functionality," said Charles Dougherty, Motorola corporate vice president and general manager, Connected Home Solutions. "The Motorola RSG creates one integrated system for communicating in and out of the home, helping consumers realize the economical advantage of simplified billing and improved service."

Introducing an All-In-One Cable Modem Gateway

Motorola today also introduced the SVG2500 Wireless VoIP Cable Modem Gateway, an all-in-one home communications hub that integrates digital phone service and a wireless access point with a reliable Motorola cable modem. Soon, the SVG family will support the fixed-mobile convergence features of the RSG service mentioned above, offering service providers an integrated product for delivering 'quadruple play' offering of voice, video, data, and wireless services to customers.

The Motorola SVG2500 enables the simultaneous use of digital phone and high-speed data services, and also supports a variety of popular phone services including caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and more. The product's advanced routing features allow for multiple PCs to be connected without the need for a stand-alone hub or router - reducing both cost and clutter.
The SVG2500 is easy to set-up and use, featuring plug-and-play installation and an intuitive Web-based diagnostic function for quick troubleshooting. The product is expected to be available in Spring 2006.

Slingbox plans on adding a software client to complement their popular Slingbox streaming video content hardware device. According to IP Democracy:

Place-shifting pioneer SlingBox is slated to announce
at CES this week a new software client that allows any Windows Media-capable device to serve as a viewing platform for a customers' multichannel video or PVR service. This is a phenomenal development given that SlingBox is cutting across the top-line business priorities of motion picture studios, TV program producers, cable operators, wireless phone providers and even Apple Computer, which hopes to build a business on mobile video.

IP Democracy hits the nail on the head when it states, "So far, not a peep from the litigious studios, or even a threatened lawsuit from cable or satellite operators. I suspect that it's difficult to come up with a legal rationale against what Sling is doing -- this is not unauthorized copying or transmission of content. It's merely controlling the set-top box from a distance; in some cases thousands of miles. Secondly, Sling hasn't caught on yet and so doesn't pose a tangible threat to the media power structure."

Even though this is "personal & fair use" time-shifting of your own recorded TV content transmitting the video content over IP to your remote laptop/PC instead of directly to your TV, I'm sure the Hollywood lawyers will come up with some loophole to try and block this "fair use" technology. Heck, they're trying to block the "analog" copying loophole. Yep, that's right, not only does the government want to protect digital content from being recorded (perfect copies) but now it doesn't even want you recording analog copies (lossy video) either. Streaming from a Slingbox to your mobile device / phone would be cool.

Of course, what Slingbox is doing is nothing new - Orb Networks has been offering streaming video/live TV/recorded TV and music to any Web-enabled device for "free" for quite some time now. I've used it on my Windows Media Center 2005 PC before and it works quite well.

BREAKING! Symbol has two new ruggedized mobile devices coming out called the MC9094 and the MC9097, running Windows Mobile 5.0 with cellular/mobile phone access, a touch-screen, and a full-sized keyboard + dialpad that aims to dethrone the Blackberry. (Update: See my updated thoughts on the MC9097/MC9094 analogy with the Blackberry below) The difference between the two mobile devices is that the MC9094 supports the GSM cellular standard and the MC9097 supports OFDM and the IDEN two-way paging cellular standard created by Motorola. Both devices will support SMS and Bluetooth. This information is according to documents I obtained from the FCC's website.

If this follows the rest of Symbol's 9000 series, then this model will also feature a noise-cancelling, volume-controlled headset and voice recognition software, as maybe even a bar code scanner (the MC9060 has one, but no cellphone capability). Although, I'd be surprised if the MC9094 and MC9097 follows the MC9060 lead in embedding a bar code scanner, since it looks like Symbol is targetting this product to your traditional "Blackberry-type" user and not just "warehouse inventory/management-type" employees. More to follow when I find out more details...

(Update: Upon further reflection I realized that perhaps 'dethrone the Blackberry' is a bit misleading. Symbol's product is more of a "ruggedized mobile phone" that is bulkier than a Blackberry. It's probably more comparable to the Treo 700 mobile phone, but even that analogy is somewhat of a stretch due to the "ruggedized" casing of the MC9094 and MC9097, which lends itself to specific industries and not general enterprise or consumer usage. Thus, its target market is much different than a Blackberry with a specfic
"niche" audience.)

This past weekend my wife and I picked up a used (2000) Jeep Grand Cherokee. We hadn't planned on buying a Jeep for at least a couple months, however when our Ford Taurus was side-swiped smashing in both passenger doors and my 3000GT's clutch died in the same week, our plans changed. The ironic thing is that we planned on trading in the 1999 Ford Taurus until we learned it was probably worth only $500 due to its 150,000 miles. While I am never a fan of getting into an accident, "Providence" must have been on our side since the car that side swiped the Taurus was at fault resulting in $2700 in damage to the Taurus. His auto insurance cut us a check and we decided we were better off using the money to buy a Jeep rather than repair the Taurus.

So we did some car shopping last week via AutoTrader.com and narrowed it down to 8 Jeep Grand Cherokees, 4 of which we visited in person and then whittled it down to two Jeeps. One was a 2001 red Grand Cherokee Laredo and the other a 2000 grey Grand Cherokee Laredo depicted in the photo above. If we went with the red one, we'd have three red vehicles in the family - Viper, 3000GT, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I was rooting for the red one, but it has 9000 more miles and cloth seats. The grey one is fairly unique in that it has a leather interior. Most Laredos do not have leather and as such you have to go with the more expensive Limited V8 edition to get leather. The red one was a year newer, but the fact that we have two labradors that shed hair and leather is much easier to clean than dog hair sticking to cloth was the main deciding factor.

So on Saturday we went to go look at the grey Jeep and to negotiate price. I whittled him down from $11,495 to $10,700. He didn't take personal checks and it was past 3:30pm so our bank was closed. I decided to call my credit union and finance the car. Unfortunately, the credit union closed in about 30 minutes and we were about 35 minutes away and I didn't know how to get there. Fortunately, my wife decided to splurge this Christmas and got me a Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (retail $699.99) to replace my broken PocketPC GPS. We were able to fly from Naugutuck to North Haven on back roads were weren't familiar with, sign the loan paperwork, pick up the check, and return to the used dealership in no time. We would have had to return another day to pick up the Jeep, so the GPS certainly paid dividends already and so did the Jeep's 4X4 transmission since it snowed twice since we got it.

A few companies are leveraging both WiFi and GPS to pinpoint a location during an emergency, such as an e911 emergency phone call. How does WiFi wireless help pinpoint a location, you ask? Simple, it uses a similar concept to GPS - it uses a known set of WiFi Access Point (AP) fixed locations and triangulation of signal strength of several APs to determine a location. I should point out that Russell Shaw has been harping on using GPS to solve the e911 dilemma, especially on mobile phones, which IMO is only a partial solution at best. Try getting a GPS signal during a bad snow storm. I got lost in a snowstorm and my GPS couldn't get a lock.

And of course, GPS doesn't work indoors at all, so that's where WiFi comes into play to fill that void. Using WiFi APs to triangulate a position requires that the APs stay in a fixed static location and that the AP database contain hundreds or even thousands of APs over a wide area in order to work. It's obviously best suited for high-density AP environments such as metro areas. The nice thing about WiFi triangulation is that this doesn't require that you logon to the AP, which may or may not be WEP/WPA encrypted, or even need to 'see' the IP packets. Instead it simply uses the AP's signal strength and mathematical formulas to determine location. In fact, any company that builds a database of APs doesn't even need to notify the access point owner since they are simply looking at the wireless signal itself and not the private data.

A few years ago, a company called Ekahau exhibited at a TMC tradeshow called Planet PDA and demonstrated this WiFi triangulation technology on the tradeshow floor to map out each of the tradeshow's exhibit booths. You could walk around with a PocketPC and their software and it would show you a graphical map depicting exactly where you were on the trade show floor. I sure could have used this technology at this year's CES, which will be monstrous. Ah damn, I forgot I won't be able to make it to my favorite show.

In any event, Skyhook today announced that it has inked an agreement with Tele Atlas, a leading global geographic content provider (GPS data - they compete with NAVTECH), aimed at delivering next generation location-based services (LBS). The companies will work together to provide a combined street navigation, geo-coding and location database. The two companies will jointly target the E911, local search, fleet management, personal navigation and telecommunications markets. Existing LBS applications can enhance their offerings by improving their position accuracy in downtown and mixed mode environments.

Here's the announcement they made today. I also have a conference call with them later today, so I'll blog any more insights that I learn.

Tele Atlas, a leading global geographic content provider, and Skyhook Wireless, provider of the industry's first Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS), announced today an agreement aimed at delivering next generation location-aware solutions.

The companies will work together to provide application developers with a single source for location-aware geographic content. The agreement will not only expand the addressable market for location-aware applications to any Wi-Fi enabled laptop, PDA or mobile phone, but will also enhance the location coverage available in environments where traditional location technologies fail.

Signals from GPS satellites are often interrupted or disappear completely in complex environments such as urban canyons or mixed indoor/outdoor environments. The software-based WPS from Skyhook Wireless overcomes these shortcomings by leveraging a database of known Wi-Fi access points to accurately calculate location. Unlike GPS, WPS does not require single purpose hardware, and supplements GPS to provide additional reliability, compatibility and coverage for location-aware solutions.

"One of the biggest challenges to the mass adoption of location-based services has been the lack of a seamless integration between geographic data and reliable location determination" said J. Gerry Purdy, Ph.D. principal analyst for Cupertino based the wireless analyst group MobileTrax."The partnership between Tele Atlas and Skyhook Wireless is a step in the right direction for the development of pervasive location-based services."

Combined with highly accurate, up-to-date Tele Atlas geographic data, Wi-Fi enabled devices will be able to consistently position users attempting to find location information or points of interest (POIs) where no adequate GPS signals exist. They can also quickly guide emergency service workers trying to find the location of an individual using a Wi-Fi enabled device, even if that device is well inside a building.

"The ability to easily pinpoint a specific location on a map - whether indoors or out - is imperative for the fast developing location-based services (LBS) applications market," said Michael Shean, co-founder and vice president of business development, Skyhook Wireless."Tele Atlas has a superior process for ensuring its maps and other geographic content are highly accurate and completely up-to-date, as well as a long heritage of serving the very complex emergency services market. They are also the ideal partner, with the best database, for the emerging location application market."

"Skyhook's WPS technology breaks traditional barriers in metropolitan markets, and will deliver a significant advancement to our partners," said Mike Gerling, chief operating officer, Tele Atlas, the Americas. "The combination of Skyhook's WPS solutions and Tele Atlas street navigation and geocoding data means mobile consumers of all stripes and emergency services personnel can, without interruption, locate any place, product, or person."

A new PDA product from Symbol Technologies called the MC70 (MC-70?) is launching that is a "ruggedized" Blackberry-like device running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0. Symbol told me, "This is going to be your 'extreme Blackberry' which targets workers that need a device that won't break. It can go into puddles, you can run over the unit with a Humvee, can get trampled on. It targets nurses, UPS drivers, retail salesforce, anyone in transportation & logistics. There is going to be a major cell phone carrier in U.S. and Europe involved on the day of the launch."

They also talked about how this PDA device will give you remote access to your Windows Desktop. Symbol said, "This is a Windows Goes Extreme type thing - you can now access Windows anywhere, not just the desktop. Symbol is really creating a a new category with this device - there's nothing out like this."

The product will launch on January 5th at ShowStoppers in Vegas. I'm going to try and get a photo and then update this post. (Updated! 1/11/05)

IPEVO, a US subsidiary of PChome Online, makers if the first Skype certified USB phone for both the Windows and Mac platforms, will launch two new devices at the International CES show in Las Vegas, January 5-8. The new products, FLY.1, a USB cordless handset that compete with the popular 'Linksys CIT 200' cordless 'Skype' handset and Xing, a USB speakerphone, are also designed for both the Windows and Macintosh. Kudos to IPEVO for continuing the trend of supporting both platforms simulataneously and not adding Mac support months after launching a Windows-only version.

Another pixel ad site recently launched called BlogBillboard.com to try and copy the success of The Million Dollar Home Page. Ironically, Vahid Hashemian, TMC's webmaster forwarded me an email about the The Million Dollar Home Page auctioning off the last 1,000 pixels on eBay to "own a piece of history" - in this case the "last" 1,000 pixels of the site that made pixel ads famous. I recently wrote about one copy-cat site called SmashMyViper that is selling pixel ads to key, smash, and otherwise destroy a beautiful Dodge Viper.

Anyway, a few days ago the BlogBillboard's Scott (Sed) King emailed me with the following:

Dear
Blogger,

Happy New Year!
I will be brief in my email. I researched your email because your weblogs are among the top rated on the internet. I have started a VISUAL Blog Directory called "BlogBillboard.com" and I would like you to be one of the founding members.

You may have seen the MillionDollarHomepage recently in the news. I purchased the code in hopes to use it to create an online billboard for bloggers and modified the code so pixels are only 25¢ each. I myself am a young entrepreneur and developed this site to promote Blogs, help pay off student loans, and create an entrepreneur seed fund.

How often can a Blogger have the potential to capture millions of viewers? (Besides Mark Cuban and Bob Parsons) I urge you to take a look at the site, even if you just use it as a resource.
http://www.blogbillboard.com

His flattery of my blog aside, which may be simply to try and get me to promote his pixel ad site, he does seem to be off to a good start with ads from the Onion and the popular gadget site, Gizmodo. Of course, perhaps he "seeded" his site by putting up ads free of charge? Who knows? One unique aspect is his pixels are 1/4th of the typical $1 per pixel you pay. While he may be JACC (Just Another Copy-Cat), if you are looking to promote you blog inexpensively, you might want to consider advertising on the BlogBillBoard.