Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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PDAs & Handhelds

OctroTalk Launches

March 31, 2008

OctroTalk mobile instant messaging client features connectivity to Google Talk/Jabber with MSN, AIM, ICQ and Yahoo, IM capabilities, VoIP, P2P file transfer, folder sharing, quick picture messaging, and more.

OctroTalk works over both low-bandwidth and high-bandwidth connections, including  GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/WiFi/Bluetooth data connections. OctroTalk supports a low bandwidth codec with low CPU usage requirements so it runs quite well on smart phone devices. It currently runs on Windows Mobile smartphones, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, and Symbian S60 3rd Edition. OctroTalk features an easy to use user interface that supports one handed operation and 5-way navigation.

Sony PSP GPS

January 9, 2008

Sony announced GPS functionality for its Sony PSP gaming platform. While the GPS accessory was released in Japan in late 2006, this marks the "demo" launch (at CES) of the product in North America. It was simply a demo at CES, but Sony reps said they expect the product to ship sometime this year.

The GPS device will load map data from an included UMD that's region specific. Updated or additional country maps can be purchased and downloaded to a Memory Stick.

Thin out your George Costanza Wallet with Just One Club Card

December 27, 2007

I previously wrote today about my George Costanza wallet, which was replaced with a Men's Digital Photo Wallet from Brookstone. Even with my new gadgety wallet, I still had to do some pruning of various club cards to reduce the thickness of wallet. For instance, I took out my Mohegan Sun casino club card, Foxwoods, Viper Club of America card, Stop & Shop card, and various other cards.

Well, today, I happened to come across a website called Just One Club Card, which lets you combine your various club cards into a single small sheet of paper, thus saving you from having an overstuffed fat wallet or a backache/buttache from sitting on a fat wallet.

You simply enter in your club card account numbers online and it will generate the barcode images on the web page in a small condensed format that you can stick in your wallet. You can then print it out.



TurboUSB Fastest USB memory?

December 13, 2007


USB memory sticks are more common than President Bush bashing. (exit polling had it as a close call though) Today, yet another USB memory stick launched - the Buffalo SHD-U32GS TurboUSB USB memory stick. Now before you start ho-humming or poo-poohing this as just another USB memory stuck, hear me out. The Buffalo SHD-U32GS TurboUSB features a whopping 32GB of storage and they claim this is the fastest USB memory stick on the market by a clear 20% margin, allowing you to quickly transfer your precious photos, mp3 files, and other large files very quickly.

20% performance over competing memory sticks makes me a bit skeptical, but maybe because this improvement came from Buffalo and not a bigger name like Sandisk or IBM.


Toshiba SCiB Battery Breakthrough

December 12, 2007

Rich writes about a battery breakthrough from Toshiba called SCiB. Toshiba Corp.'s Super Charge ion Battery, or SCiB, can recharge to 90 percent of its full capacity in less than five minutes and has a life cycle of more than 10 years, Toshiba spokeswoman Hiroko Mochida said. Toshiba, said the new rechargeable lithium-ion battery will eventually be used in hybrid and electric cars.

Rich is practically giddy with this news since he is almost as much a gadget freak as I am. He's constantly carrying miscellaneous chargers, extra batteries, etc.

Tougher Penalties for Gadget Theft Passed by Senate

December 3, 2007

Tougher penalties for gadget theft was passed by the Senate. Unfortunately, it's the Philippines Senate and not the U.S. Senate. Cuz I'd like that rat bastard that broke into my rental car and stole my nuvi 350 GPS to serve life in prison if they ever catch the guy.

Apple to nuke unlocked iPhones

September 25, 2007

Apparently Steve Jobs has had enough of the hackers unlocking all those iPhones or AT&T got to him, because the next Apple iPhone update will "brick" unlocked iPhones. In a terse statement, Apple said, "Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed."

Don't you mean unauthorized iPhone programs on the Internet cause unlimited freedom and choice in choosing a wireless carrier? Ok, I get that Apple has an exclusive deal with AT&T in the U.S. and has to try and honor that contract, but c'mon, I have yet to hear of any unlocked iPhone causing "irreparable damage".

iPhone syncs with Exchange Server

June 29, 2007

Apple has stated that the iPhone can sync with Exchange Server using IMAP4. According to eWeek, Microsoft released Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Rollup 3 just in time for the Apple iPhone. Rollup 3 fixes several issues including issues that affect Apple Mac Mail when connecting to Exchange 2007. The issue supposedly fixes an incompatibility between IMAP version 4 and Exchange Server 2007 that affected Apple Mac Mail users and could affect iPhone users as well.

6GB and 8GB microSDHC memory

June 28, 2007


SanDisk announced 6GB and 8GB microSD High Capacity (microSDHC) flash memory cards one-upping their previous maximum capacity of 4 gigabytes announced in February.

SanDisk's Jeff Kost bragged, "any mobile phone with a compatible microSDHC slot will have just as much storage as the largest-capacity iPhone." The ironic thing is Rich Tehrani recently bought a 4GB microSDHC card for his Windows Mobile 5 phone (Verizon XV6700) and it only supports 2GB maximum, so he had to return it. So unfortunately, most existing phones won't support the new higher 6GB and 8GB capacities either. So buyers beware!


Palm Foleo launches

May 30, 2007

The Palm Foleo is a mobile companion for Treos, turns on and off instantly, and runs on Linux. The Foleo has a large screen and full size keyboard to view and edit email and office documents. What's cool about this "mobile companion" device, which Palm claims is the first of its kind, is that edits made on Foleo automatically are reflected on its paired smartphone and vice-versa (via Bluetooth).



It has a battery life of up to 5 hours and accesses the Internet through a built in WiFi radio or through the smartphone’s radio. Palm also says the device is designed for use with Treo’s that have the Palm OS or Windows Mobile, but most Windows Mobile based smartphones should also work.



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