Gadgets

Sony Kills Go!Messenger VoIP Application

February 25, 2009

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced that it plans to shut down Go!Messenger, a VoIP, video chat, and IM application that launched last February. Citing a lack of interest, Go!Messenger was an intriguing PSP app that leveraged the PSP Go!Cam camera for its video chat capabilities.

Sony explained "Although it proved a popular concept, achieving a significant number of registrations, it didn't gain the number of regular users that BT and SCEE were aiming for."

Go!Messenger will end on March 31. But all is not lost. Skype for PSP still works, but it's too bad Skype for PSP doesn't support the Go!Cam for some Skype-to-Skype video chat action.

Related articles by Zemanta

Go!Messenger VoIP app for Sony PSP goes bye bye next month (crunchgear.com)
PSP Go!Messenger No Longer Going Come April [Europe] (kotaku.com)

Posted in Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Skype, Video Conferencing, Video Games & Gaming, VoIP

ooma Telo vs. magicJack

February 23, 2009

Rich met with ooma recently to see their latest wares and hear about their current business model. Recently, ooma ditched the 'P2P voice network' idea where users actually "share" their home landline with others and instead became a traditional VoIP broadband provider. Apparently, the privacy issues were too much to overcome, since users were concerns about fraudulent activity happening on their home landline by outside ooma users. I had my own reservations about the business model as well, since they claimed it would take 2,000 strategicly placed ooma boxes in all the various local exchanges to get good local call coverage for free P2P calls.

Besides becoming a traditional VoIP broadband provider, ooma is now going to start offering high-end media phones, that according to Rich Tehrani will in the future feature a picture frame, in-house sensors and cameras.

Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Technology and Science, VoIP, Wireless

Want to Make Some <em>Sick</em> Money in VoIP?

February 13, 2009

Garrett Smith over at VoIP Supply has an interesting post titled 'Sick of not making money on VoIP hardware?' He's seeing the glass half empty. I see it half-full, which is why my article is titled 'Want to Make Some Sick Money in VoIP?'

Garrett writes:

Remember the good 'ole days? When you actually made fat margins on the VoIP hardware products you sold.

It was great.

Posted in Gadgets, Mobile Phones, SIP, VoIP, Wireless

31 Million IP Phones shipped by Mayan 2012 Doomsday, the Media Phone, & Slow Consumer Adoption

February 13, 2009

According to In-stat, nearly 31 Million Business IP Phones will ship in 2012. That's if the Mayan 2012 Doomsday Prophecy doesn't come to pass. You know, the one where the Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012 - the same date as the Winter Solstice and when the Earth will be in galactic alignment with the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, as well as our sun, resulting in a planetary shift. The date 12-21-12 reads as, A-B-B-A-A-B.

Posted in Avaya, Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Technology and Science, Triple Play, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, VoIP

Free turn-by-turn GPS directions comes to the iPhone

February 11, 2009

Turn-by-turn navigation has come to the iPhone via xGPS. You'll of course have to jailbreak your iPhone for this, but this might be the one app that might entice you to risk bricking your iPhone - or at least drawing the wrath of Steve Jobs. It actually leverages downloaded Google Maps for the GPS coordinates and just recently added a voice engine to "speak" the directions. It also apparently works on the iPod touch, though you'll need an external GPS receiver.

Check out the video demo of turn-by-turn GPS directions on the iPhone:
What's new in the latest version of xGPS?

Wireless Transfer of your map files.

Posted in Apple, GPS, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Wireless

TANDBERG PrecisionHD USB Camera Sports 720p HD Video

February 6, 2009

TANDBERG's new PrecisionHD USB Camera is the first webcam to offer HD video at 720p with 30 frames per second. It is optimized for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2 providing business-quality HD video communication. It also includes a built-in noise canceling microphone and automatic focus.

The webcam can be hooked onto a laptop (as shown above), making this an excellent mobile videoconferencing choice. It's worth noting that OCS 2007 R2 not only supports HD720p (1280x720 1.5Mbps), but it also now supports an "unlimited" video bitrate setting as seen here:

Now we just need someone to build a 1080p webcam! Of course, the bandwidth required for that might be too much to be practical.

Posted in Digital Cameras, Gadgets, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, VoIP

Star Trek VoIP Communicator Helps you save on Intergalactic phone calls

February 6, 2009

Dream Cheeky has created a USB-based VoIP Communicator that looks like a replica of the original Star Trek Communicator from the original TV series. Due out in in a couple months, it sports a speakerphone, mute and volume control functions, and even an assortment of Star Trek sound bites.

The only problem is that it's a USB-based device, which means it's wired - not wireless. Captain Kirk wouldn't be caught dead carrying one of these. Though maybe one of those redshirt security dudes might - they always get killed off anyway.

Via EverythingUSB

Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, VoIP

New HTC Touch Cruise

January 22, 2009

HTC today announced the HTC Touch Cruise, a mobile phone that is optimized to run as a personal navigation handset with its inbuilt GPS and ability to geotag places you go with a photo and audio notes. The new HTC Touch Cruise is an update to last year's popular HTC Touch Cruise model, but it sports a more compact design and several new features.

Of particular note is HTC Footprints, an application that enables you to chronicle places you visit by capturing "digital postcards" on the phone that includes a 3.2MP photo, along with the ability to attach notes and an audio clip to remind you of the location's significance. Footprints will automatically geotag the specific GPS coordinates, and even auto-names each "postcard" with its general location or area.

The HTC Touch Cruise can also be used as an advanced in-car navigation system. Just stick it into its car cradle and the HTC Touch Cruise automatically transforms its user interface into an easy-to-use, one-touch interface with turn-by-turn directions.

It sports a decent 2.8 inch QVGA display along with HTC's TouchFLO technology. Because it's only QVGA, tt's not TouchFLO 3D, but rather TouchFLO 2D. Still, the TouchFLO 2D UI for Windows Mobile 6.1 is an improvement over the regular UI.

Posted in Digital Cameras, GPS, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Reviews, Wireless

TechCrunch Touchpad - Needs 3G/4G/EVDO, Skype, and VoIP

January 19, 2009

TechCrunch has a prototype of their tablet PC featuring a touchscreen, Wi-Fi, an accelerometer, a camera and a four cell battery running on a stripped down version of Linux. Well, actually they're running the prototype on full-fledged Linux, but they promise better performance once they strip out all the extra stuff.

According to TechCrunch:

The device has a 12-inch touchscreen with a 4:3 aspect ratio (which is ideal for web browsing in my opinion). It is powered with a Via Nano processor, which has performed at par with the Intel Atom in our testing. 1 GB of ram (its more than we need) and a 4 GB flash drive to store the OS and browser and any cache.

Posted in Gadgets, Internet, Linux, PDAs & Handhelds, Skype, Video Conferencing, Video Hardware & Software

AT&T TL7610 headset review

January 19, 2009

AT&T sent me their new TL7610 DECT 6.0 headset for review last month and I finally got around to writing up the review. My first impressions were very positive. It sported a nice sleek and ergonomic headset base with well-labeled buttons and LEDs for figuring things out without need for the manual. Like the base, the headset piece was also sleek and ergonomic with a slight curve to the microphone piece.

Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, Headsets, Reviews, Wireless

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