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Ever get frustrated trying to convert Component to HDMI or convert from one video connector to another because your TV is 10 years only and doesn't support HDMI? Even if you are a home theater guru, the number of converter options and cabling options can be immense and downright confusing.

Well, StarTech.com, a manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity and technology parts, launched the ConXit Connection Wizard, an online tool that helps users find the right converter, extender, splitter, interface card, cable and more. The search tool will help you find the right connector for Bluetooth, BNC, CameraLink, Coax, Compact Flash, Component, Composite, Digital Coax Audio, DVI, eSATA, ExpressCard, HDMI, RJ-11, RJ-45, and more.

This online tool recommends the best products for connecting IT and/or audio-video peripherals after just two easy steps.


Step One - Select the type of connector for the peripheral or device you wish to connect from a drop down list of options.

Step Two - Select the connection type on the host computer or component. The ConXit Wizard will then recommend the best options for making the connection.

Check out the ConXit tool.

fring is finally available for the Google Android. It's about time! One drawback though is that SIP and SkypeOut calls are not yet available on Droid devices. There's always a catch...

In addition to Skype chat and Skype-to-Skype VoIP calling you also get MSN and GoogleTalk support, real-time presence and live chat with  ICQ, Yahoo! and AIM buddies as well. fring even has Twitter support. fring on Android works over 3G, GPRS or Wi-Fi connections. 

So how do you get it?

Two ways:

1) From Android Market
Start the Market application on your phone
Search for fring and install

2) From WAP on your phone
On your Android phone, go to Settings > Applications and check the box to allow 'unknown sources'
Point your phone browser to fring.com and download fring manually

Check out the video:

Via fring blog

Dell just launched the Inspiron Zino HD, a small 8" by 8" x 3.5" cubed-shaped trendy-looking HTPC that aims to sit in your living room and become your centralized home media center. Comparisons of the trendy-looking Zino HD vs. the Mac Mini will undoubtedly be made. Colors for the Zino HD include Piano Black, True Blue, Formula Red, Plum Purple, Spring Green, Promise Pink, Tangerine Orange, Green Scatter, Red Swirls, and Blue Lines. Piano Black is free, but you'll pay $10 or $30 for the other colors.

Starting at a base configuration price of just $229 the Dell Zino HD many home theater fans will seriously consider the Zino HD, though they will no doubt bump up the default specs which includes a AMD Athlon 2650e 512K L2, 1.6GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. You can go as high as the AMD Dual Core Athlon Neo X2 6850e (1MB L2, 1.8GHz) for $110 and up to 8GB of Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz. It comes with a 250GB hard drive but you can go up to 1TB of data storage. Perhaps most importantly, it sports HDMI output for connecting to your HD 1080p TV.

It supports Vista and Windows 7, and sports an optional ($100) Blu-ray drive, TV tuner (coming soon), optional ATI Radeon HD 4330 512MB GPU, 4-in-1 card reader, 4 external USB 2.0 ports, and 2 eSATA connectors. Interestingly, Dell has chosen AMD processors exclusively for the Zino HD product line, marking the first time Dell has launched a product without including Intel processors as an option. Of course, in theory you can wipe the Vista or Windows 7 operating system and install Linux on this bad boy and run Linux-based home media center/HTPC software.

With a wireless remote control (not included) and Windows 7 Media Center software this can be a very powerful home media center computer at a very decent price. The Inspiron Zino HD can record and play your favorite TV shows, stream high-definition content from the Internet, and playback your personal music, video and photos.

Specifications:

• Ultra-small form factor designed to fit almost anywhere.
• Easy personalization with nine color choices for Inspiron Zino HD.
• Choice of AMD processors or dual core Athlon Neo X2 6850e.
• Up to 8GB dual channel DDR 2 memory.
• Up to 1TB internal hard disk storage.
• Combo DVD/CD RW drive with optional Blu-ray Disc combo.
• Integrated 10/100/1000 networking with wireless option.
• Optional TV tuner, wireless keyboard and mouse.
• Built in 2.1 high-definition audio and 4-in-one media card reader.
• Integrated ATI graphics adapter with standard HDMI and VGA video connections, and optional 512MB discrete graphics adapter.
• Four USB ports (2 front/2 rear); two eSATA ports (rear).
• Energy-Star 5.0 compliant.

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Configuration Page

Aww darn, no more cool explosions from exploding laptop batteries! STOBA, a new material technology will steal the joy of seeing your laptop explode from faulty batteries. Boy, it seemed like a week didn't pass without Apple, Toshiba, Sony, Dell, Sanyo, Lenova, or some other laptop manufacturer issuing a battery recall due to exploding batteries. Well, apparently STOBA will make consumer electronics safer.

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has developed STOBA, a material technology that prevents lithium-ion batteries from overheating, catching fire or exploding.

Check out a video of how the technology works, including a demonstration on why lithium-ion batteries explode. There is an animated explosion in the demo, so enjoy.


Release after the break:

A fascinating if not predictable report from AdMob was just released yesterday showing explosive mobile phone web surfing growth. In their September 2009 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report AdMob received more than 100 million ad requests from 14 countries, and more than 10 million ad requests from 64 countries. This data was collected using AdMob's network of more than 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications. Of course, just about everyone is now using their mobile phone to check email, surf the web, tweet via Twitter, check their Facebook, update their statuses, etc. So of course there will be a growth spurt in mobile data. I will say that if mobile manufacturers had come up with a decent browsing experience 10 years ago (i.e. the iPhone browsing experience) I think we would have seen a much earlier adoption of high-end smartphones and a much earlier spike in mobile Internet usage.

The report highlights the rapid growth in usage of mobile Web sites and applications on new devices in the past year. Surprisingly in September 2008, the Motorola RAZR still holds on as the "top device" in the US, and the iPhone was the only touchscreen device in the Top 10. Apparently, there are still a lot of legacy phones out there or lots of people just can't afford to upgrade to a smartphone.

In September 2009, the list of the top 10 devices includes five with touchscreens, six with Wi-Fi capabilities, and six with application stores.  These devices are responsible for a much higher percentage of mobile usage than their share of handsets sold. However feature phones like the Samsung R450 and Motorola RAZR V3 still represent 60 percent of ad requests in the US.  The strong mobile Web usage on these feature phones is likely driven by unlimited data plans.

Highlights from the September 2009 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report include:
•    In September 2007 AdMob had 1.6 billion ad requests, in September 2008 5.1 billion, and in September 2009 10.2 billion.
•    Nearly every region of the world experienced immense growth in the past two years, with North America, Asia, Western Europe, Oceania and Latin America seeing a six-fold increase in traffic since September 2007.
•    Worldwide iPhone and iPod touch traffic increased 19 times from September 2008 to September 2009 in the AdMob network.
•    In September 2009 42 percent of requests in the US were made from Wi-Fi capable devices. 18 percent of actual US requests were made over a Wi-Fi connection in September 2009 compared to only 5 percent in September 2008.
•    Devices running on the Android Operating System (OS) accounted for 17 percent of smartphone traffic in AdMob's network in the US in September 2009, up from 13 percent in August 2009. The HTC Dream (G1) was the number three device and the HTC Magic was the number 10 device in September 2009 in the US. As with the iPhone OS, much of the Android traffic in AdMob's network came from applications.

GE's Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt unveiled the new Vscan an ultra-small ultrasound. According to GE, "For critical care clinicians, Vscan can offer an immediate look beyond patient vital signs with the potential to identify critical issues, like fluid around the heart, which could be a sign of congestive heart failure. And for cardiologists, Vscan provides a dependable visual evaluation of how well the heart is pumping at a glance, so they can treat patients more efficiently."

It's certainly small enough to be portable - about the size of a mobile phone and could even have some home-use potential - assuming the costs are low.

I can see it now...

Man: "Hey honey, forget about going for an ultrasound and paying a $30 copay, the wasted time and gas money, etc. I can give you an ultrasound right here in the comfort of our house! Let me slap some gel on and give this a whirl!"

Pregnant woman: "Yeah. Right...  Good luck with that."

Check out the video demo given by Mike Barber, Vice President of healthymagination, provides a closer look at the new Vscan technology:

Livestream today is launching the world's first solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality by bonding six load-balanced 3G/EVDO modems over three carriers. Called Livepack, this unique solution enables you to have a roaming live video studio anywhere you can get 3G/EVDO connectivity. Livestream says it can stream HD video at far lower costs than traditional solutions such as broadcast trucks.

 Of course, bonding six 3G/EVDO modems together has some other fringe benefits - like ludicrous wireless Internet speed! Wonder if you can tether the Livepack to your laptop and get super high-speed Internet access while on the road? Imagine streaming HD Netflix movies or downloading Bittorrent files while driving down the road. - your passenger doing the laptop mouse & keystrokes of course!

Livepack fits in a custom-designed backpack and is a turn-key hardware solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality to thousands of viewers on the web using encoding hardware, Firewire cable, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.

Livestream said: "Livepack is ideal for live broadcasting any events including concerts, interviews, sporting events, town hall meetings, paparazzi, university graduations, weddings, ceremonies, transmission from a moving car, and a variety of enterprise applications."

"Livepack is like having a satellite television truck in a backpack," said Max Haot, CEO and co-founder of Livestream. "If you want to live stream in high quality at an event where you don't have a reliable fixed Internet connection, broadcasting with a cell phone cannot yet deliver either the high video quality or network reliability you need. The only other solution available is a traditional broadcast truck and satellite signal which can cost up to $50,000 a day."

Livepack is an integrated solution using hardware provided by Livestream's partner, LiveU, that has been fully integrated with Livestream's streaming video platform and content delivery network (CDN). 

Livepack product details and recordings of live videos can be viewed at www.livestream.com/livepack. Livepack was recently used for coverage of the MTV Video Music Awards, NY Fashion Week, Harry Potter movie premiere and Pixie Lott Live,

Livestream's groundbreaking Livepack redefines simplicity for live mobile HD quality video streaming. Once Livepack is powered up, and a DV camera is connected, all it takes is just one press of a button to start the live streaming, enabling broadcasters to deliver live, on the scene, video coverage at just a fraction of what a satellite truck costs to rent and operate.

Livepack quickly establishes a reliable Internet connection and is not tied to one wireless network, as it includes six 3G/EVDO modems for redundancy. Because it integrates with Livestream's streaming video platform, Livepack does not require any additional re-encoding or server in your offices to reach its destination. Once the video reaches the Livestream content delivery network the video is immediately streamed in your Livestream player, as well as being captured and securely archived.

Availability and Pricing
Livestream Livepack is available in the U.S. for monthly or yearly rental directly from Livestream, and includes the hardware unit, custom designed backpack, dedicated IP address for the Livestream channel, all 3G/EVDO network charges, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.  Neither a DV camera nor tripod are included. Month-to-month rental without commitment is $2,500 per month plus the cost of shipping. Yearly rental is $1,500 per month plus the cost of shipping.

I tested Siphon, a SIP-based VoIP application for the iPhone, in California at ITEXPO. Interestingly, Siphon worked perfectly in California over AT&T's 3G data network. Yes, you read that right - VoIP over 3G! I couldn't contain my giddiness when I realized I could now register my iPhone with TMC's Asterisk-based IP-PBX and make/receive calls. I've tried Siphon a few times in the past and it never worked over 3G - only WiFi. I thought perhaps AT&T was now easy their restrictions and allowing it. (silly me)

However, once back in Connecticut I tested it again and it didn't work. Apparently, in some parts of the country AT&T is blocking port 5060, the default SIP port. I did some port testing on my iPhone and indeed AT&T is blocking outbound port 5060. While I was in Los Angeles I was able to use Siphone to make & receive VoIP calls over the 3G data connection through my corporate Asterisk-based PBX. I was able to receive calls to my TMC extension as well. Guess it was good while it lasted...

Now, Siphon does let you change the local SIP port from the default 5060. In theory, the Siphon application can be modified to use a different outbound port and then you could setup some port forwarding rules on your firewall, i.e. map the 'always open' port 80 (web) on your firewall to forward to port 5060 when connecting to your SIP-based IP-PBX's IP address. Or if you IP-PBX is already using port 80, there are plenty of other outbound ports that AT&T doesn't block.

Apple has rejected and blocked Siphon from the App Store. Interestingly, Apple allows other SIP clients (WiFi-only) to be downloaded from the App Store, including iPico, fring, iSip (supports push notifications of calls), Acrobits Softphone, WeePhone SIP, and Nimbuzz. What's interesting about the Siphon app is the whole saga the developer had to go through with Apple when submitting this SIP application to the App Store. It wasn't pretty...

The short story is that even when Siphon didn't support VoIP over 3G a few versions ago, Apple still rejected the app providing a lame excuse. Then after several attempts, Siphon went "underground" and provided their SIP app to Cydia, the primary jailbroken app store - with full VoIP over 3G functionality. If you can't beat em', screw em'! That's why a lot of apps have gone to the Cydia App Store to get around Apple's ridiculous restrictions.

Check out this screenshot of my iPhone showing how you can enable Siphon over EDGE/3G:



Unfortunately, like I said earlier, AT&T is blocking outbound port 5060 in some parts of the country, so simply enabling Siphon over Edge/3G by itself won't work if they block it. Apparently, the AT&T cellular network in Los Angeles, California works though. If anyone else has gotten Siphon to work over the AT&T 3G network, post a comment - or even if it didn't work. Would be a good gauge of how widespread they allow/disallow this.

The day is coming when the carriers will have to allow VoIP over 3G. Look at what VoIP, and especially Vonage did to the traditional landline industry. We went from paying long distance minutes by the minute to an UNLIMITED plan with UNLIMITED minutes for a flat rate. The mobile industry will soon have to follow suit.

In fact, the first wireless carrier that lets me register my cell phone to my SIP-based IP-PBX over a 3G data connection will become my new wireless service provider and have my business. I'm sure millions of others feel the same. Heck, charge me a few cents for terminating or originating my SIP-based calls. I'd pay for the ability to use my corporate identity (CallerID) when making business calls on my personal cell phone. Or just count SIP calls as 1.5x or 2x per minute of usage towards my current monthly plan's bucket of minutes. Of course, the carriers would have to detect when a SIP call originates or terminates, which is a technical challenge. They'd have to do packet inspection on a mass scale to support this.

Still, there has to be an appropriate revenue-generating business model for the wireless carriers that will allow their customers to use SIP over 3G. Make it $5/month extra or something. Vonage took the traditional landline providers by surprise, causing the defection of millions of users. So if the wireless carriers wait too long, some new wireless carrier is going to come along and do the same by offering VoIP/SIP over 3G. You mark my words...

TANDBERG announced that their PrecisionHD™ USB camera is now shipping. The PrecisionHD™ USB camera is the first webcam to offer 720p high definition with 30 frames per second and is interoperable with Microsoft OCS.

The camera does not require additional drivers or software installations to operate the camera which is always nice - just plug and play.

I wonder how this HD camera compares with the HD-capable Microsoft LifeCam Cinema which is supposed to be coming out soon?

Below is a pic of the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema HD camera:

TomTom for the iPhone is finally here! The $99 app can be purchased on the Apple App store as of today.

TomTom for the iPhone comes with turn-by-turn voice guided directions and full maps of the U.S. and Canada. Maps for Europe, Australia, and New Zealand are available separately to buy.

The TomTom app uses their IQ Routes technology, a sort of peer-to-peer (P2P) GPS routing functionality I predicted one day would happen . Instead of recommending the quickest route based on travel time, IQ Routes analyzes the actual experiences of other TomTom drivers to determine the fastest route to take. According to TomTom, this technology lets people reach their destinations quicker up to 35 percent of the time.

The new app runs on the iPhone 3G or 3GS and requires iPhone OS 3.0. Support for the iPod Touch and older iPhone models is coming soon according to TomTom. If you buy the cradle from TomTom then it will work with the iPod Touch and first generation iPhones because it includes a GPS chip. Competitors include AT&T's $9.99/month Navigator, Navigon MobileNavigator, and xGPS, a free app leveraging Google Maps & TTS, but it only works on jailbroken iPhones.

You can download the TomTom app from the iTunes App Store here.

Wonder how long before a cracked version appears on Installous for use on jailbroken iPhones? I'm guessing by the end of the day.