TMCnet

Facebook Recommends Strippers & Exotic Dancers? WTH?

July 11, 2012

I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed on my iPhone when I saw this:

Apparently, I might like "Shamrock Entertainment" located over a hundred miles away in Lynn, Massachusetts. Really Facebook?

Posted in Personal and Humor, Social Networking, TMCnet

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.

Posted in Apple, Computer Hardware, Computer Software, Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Tablets, Technology and Science, Video Games & Gaming, Video Hardware & Software

VoIPGuides Blog DELETED By Google. Why?

July 6, 2012

Vinay Rasam, fellow VoIP blogger over at VoIPGuides.blogspot.com reached out to me to tell me that for no rhyme or reason Google deleted his popular VoIP blog called VoIPGuides and hosted by Google's Blogger/Blogspot. If you attempt to go to VoIPGuides.blogspot.com you will see this error:

I chatted with Vinay Rasam via Facebook to find out what happened. He explained that Blogger accidentally deleted his blog and classified it as SPAM with this message: "Your blog is marked as spam blog by automated classification system"

There is a restore button, which basically sends a support request to Google, but who knows when Google will ever get to it. You can view a cached article page to sample Vinay's content here, showing it's unique content and that he even has commenters.

Posted in Google, TMCnet, VoIP

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.

Posted in Apple, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Video Games & Gaming, Video Hardware & Software

Panasonic KX-UT670 Android IP Phone Review

June 26, 2012

The Panasonic KX-UT670 IP Phone is an impressive and cool looking 7" touchscreen phone running the Android 2.2 operating system. It's interesting how long it has taken for a non-proprietary operating system to come to the IP phone market, especially when you consider Asterisk, the open source IP-PBX came out in 1999 - more than a decade ago, yet the phones from major IP phone vendors like Aastra, Cisco, Polycom, ShoreTel, snom, and others all use their own proprietary, relatively closed operating systems. So when I learned about the Panasonic KX-UT670 running Android I was very intrigued and had Panasonic send me a unit for a review.

The Panasonic KX-UT670 is one step removed (not portable) from my prediction that a tablet running Apple iOS or Android could replace the desktop phone.

Posted in Asterisk, Cisco, Polycom, ShoreTel, TMCnet, VoIP

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.

Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, SIP, TMCnet, VoIP

Microsoft Surface Surfaces With Dual Mic Skype!

June 18, 2012

The verdict is in and alas the new Microsoft Surface does not support PixelSense as I first theorized. The good news there is a lot to like about the new Microsoft Surface. First off, Surface sports a 10.6", 16:9 widescreen HD Display along with Microsoft's ClearType HD Display technology and multitouch. It also has an ultra-wide viewing angle and comes with an integrated Kickstand and what Microsoft calls a "revolutionary, 3mm thin, pressure sensitive cover" that doubles as a fully functioning keyboard and trackpad.

Posted in Gadgets, Microsoft, PDAs & Handhelds, Skype, TMCnet, Tablets, Technology and Science, VoIP

Microsoft XBOX Surface To Feature PixelSense?

June 18, 2012

Today is the big Microsoft "reveal", with everything pointing towards a Microsoft designed tablet. One rumored spec sheet via Shift2U is very fascinating detailing a new device called Xbox Surface:

At first glance I saw the 250GB 2.5" SCSI 10K RPM disk drive, which is way too thick and heavy for a tablet device. But then I read the rumored announcement is actually two devices. The other intriguing spec I saw was the maximum resolution of 1280x720, which seemed to be pretty small for a 7" tablet device.

Posted in Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, PDAs & Handhelds, Skype, TMCnet, Video Conferencing, Video Games & Gaming, Video Hardware & Software, VoIP

The VoIP Revolution - from Caveman to VoIP in an Infographic

June 14, 2012

Ah, real-time human communication - from caveman grunts to the spoken word to smoke signals/drums/horns to Morse code to the telephone to the cell phone to VoIP. It's been a fun ride. Most of us have been around for everything past Morse code. Well, what would the VoIP revolution be without an Infographic to tell the story? I give you this fun infographic courtesy of Voipium:

Source: Global VoIP Revolution [Infographic]

While we're feeling nostalgic about communications history, check out my VoIP history article as well as my Top 20 VoIP Innovators of All Time, which includes a slideshow and a few of the companies listed in the infographic above.

Posted in Skype, TMCnet, VoIP, Wireless

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