Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Gadgets

Gadgets

Gadget Lovers Rejoice! AAA Battery Delivery!

August 29, 2012

Have you ever had a gadget or toy stop working because the batteries died? Of course you have. Worse, have you or Santa Claus forgotten to include batteries in the Christmas stockings to be used with the various children's toys and games? If you've ever had to experience your own child with those sad, sullen eyes looking up at you in disappointment because they cannot play with their newfangled toy on Christmas, you know it is not a fun feeling.

Making a battery run on Christmas is no fun and most stores are closed.

New Samsung Series 7 & Series 5 All-in-One PCs Feature Windows 8 & Gesture Recognition

August 28, 2012


Samsung today unveiled the Series 7 and Series 5 computers which are all-in-one PCs running Windows 8 with a touch-screen and gesture recognition. The Series 7 will be available in 23" and 27" versions, both of which utilize a 1080p touchscreen. It includes a small keyboard, which can be tucked under the display's metal stand saving on desk space. The 23" Series 7 runs a Core i5 CPU with 6GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and Intel Graphics 4000.

24's Jack Bauer Bakes Explosive Cupcakes for Hilarious Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook Ad

August 22, 2012

Ion Audio's WATER ROCKER Waterproof Floating Speaker

July 12, 2012

Show of hands - who doesn't want floating speakers in their pool or hot tub controlled by you, the master DJ using your iPhone, iPad or any other audio source that works with a 1/8-inch audio jack? Sure you could break out your 80s boombox and play some FM radio or play some CDs, but you don't want to look uncool now do you? Now what's cooler than a floating speaker in the middle of the pool so your party guests, family and friends can enjoy your 'Top 50 Most Played' iPhone music playlist with the music playing just inches away? Well, check out Ion Audio's Water Rocker:

Beacon Audio's The Phoenix Portable Bluetooth Speaker Launches

July 11, 2012


Tired of your tinny mobile phone or tablet speakers and want portable high-quality speakers? Well check out Beacon's The Phoenix, a Bluetooth-activated, rechargeable, take-with-you-everywhere speaker, which is available in 3 colors - vibrant Blue or Red, as well as a more classic Black color option.

Weighing in at just seven ounces with dimensions of 3.2 x 3.2 x 2.9 inches, the Phoenix is smaller than a coffee mug yet still manages to provide crisp, clear sound and enough volume to fill a room, loudly. The unit also features a wireless range of 35 feet. On the rear of the speaker, an auxilary input exists for all non-­Bluetooth enabled devices.


Maaii VoIP app Now on Android - Free Voice and Texts

July 9, 2012



Maaii, the app for free talk and text is now available on Android. Maaii,  allows users to make calls and send text messages to contacts and social network friends for free, today announced the launch of its beta on Google Play. As you may recall from my review, Maaii gives you 100 free minutes per day, which is great for low volume users.

According to Maaii, in the six months since Maaii’s iOS launch, the mobile app has signed up more than 1 million registered users.



Microsoft Store in Danbury Fair Mall Is No Apple Store

July 9, 2012


The new Microsoft Store had its grand opening in Danbury Fair Mall recently and I wanted to check it out. I happened to be in the Danbury Fair Mall to (ironically) visit the Apple Store to have my busted iPhone replaced. [Side note - none of the Apple Store employees had ever seen my shaking screen problem and they were all oohing and ahhing over the oddity.]

Anyway, after getting my iPhone replaced I headed over to the Microsoft store, which had just opened a couple weeks earlier. I fully expected the Microsoft Store to be a cheap knockoff or clone of the Apple Store and to smirk at the audacity of Microsoft copying Apple's retail idea.


iPhone 4S GPU Busted - Icons & Screen Shaking Problem!

July 6, 2012

My iPhone 4S apparently has a busted GPU that gets progressively worse the more I utilize the GPU, especially graphics-intensive apps like games which no doubt heat up the GPU. Symptoms include shaking / wiggling icons, banding of screen drawing on right-side, top of screen pixels appears at bottom of screen. Funky! Check out the photo of this happening (yellow arrows):


When it gets really bad the screen moves up 40-50% making it near impossible to enter my lock code by looking at the screen.


magicJack vs netTALK vs Ooma vs. Obihai

June 22, 2012


Now that I have tested magicJack, netTALK, and Ooma, three of the leading super low-cost phone service providers, I thought it was time to do a detailed comparison of these VoIP providers, as well as a relatively new wildcard - Obihai, a BYOD VoIP hardware provider. First, if interested in the in-depth standalone reviews I've done in the past, you can check these out:
Each of the four have their strengths and weaknesses and none of them is immune to typical VoIP problems such as latency, jitter, or packet loss. Ooma however stands slightly above magicJack and netTALK when it comes to mitigating VoIP voice quality problems. The reason is two fold.

Buy a PC get a Free Xbox 360 - Hot Microsoft Promo!

June 19, 2012


Microsoft is offering a free Xbox 360 to students simply by buying a Windows 7 PC. You'll receive a a promo code good for an Xbox 360 4GB ($199 retail value) when you purchase a qualifying Windows 7 PC (priced $699 or more) from the Microsoft Store. But get the only requirement - a valid .edu email address! "Only available for students with a valid and verifiable .edu email address.
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