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December 2007

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Google Android Mystery

December 31, 2007

Greg Galitzine forwarded me an interesting email claiming to be the "rumored" Google Android in action and Greg asked me to investigate. First, I should point to a funny parody of the supposed Google Android on Youtube, which takes the concept of Google Adsense (ads based on keywords on the webpage) and extends it to speech-recognition of words spoken on the phone to "speak" relevant ads.


Ok, now let me share the email Greg received:

Here's an interesting piece of tip. As you know, Google Android aka Dream Phone is a mobile phone platform based on the Linux operating system and developed by the Open Handset Alliance.

There have been many rumors about what it will ultimately look like, with several parodies of it circling YouTube, especially this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naUnXplUtrQ

Even though that's just a cute play on Google Ads, I've stumbled across something that might actually be a working demo of Google Android in action here:

http://69.57.168.29/asr/











I decided to check out the URL http://69.57.168.29/asr/.






DirecTV Screws Fast Forward

December 31, 2007

DirecTV, my satellite TV provider, recently changed the firmware on my two DirecTV Plus DVR boxes and totally hosed the ability to fast forward easily. I noticed this on my upstairs receiver about 2 weeks ago. Basically, with the DirecTV Plus DVD receiver you can press the Fast Forward button up to 3 times to fast forward (2x, 3x, 4x). The problem is the damn Fast Forward Correction.

Skype Journal's VoIP Predictions

December 28, 2007

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.



Gadgets for Christmas

December 27, 2007

I got a couple of cool gadget gifts for Christmas, both of which were from my wife. The first gadget was a Men's Digital Photo Wallet from Brookstone featuring a built-in (yet removable) 1.4" color LCD screen for displaying up to 55 digital photos. The LCD unit is fairly thin, but will add some thickness to your wallet. I have to say, my old wallet was starting to rival George Costanza's overstuffed wallet which made him sit at a tilt with it in his back pocket, forcing him to even it out by stuffing his other back pocket with napkins.

More 3D Avatars

December 20, 2007

3D animated avatars using either "cartoonish" or even realistic photos are nothing new. Gizmoz was one of the first to allow you to animate avatars that were based on real photos of yourself. The software would automatically detect and add facial movement, mouth movement, eyebrow movement, etc. when you spoke or moves certain facial features.

Google be Patient? Nah...

December 20, 2007

Greg has an interesting post about Google where he thinks the Google developers need to be more patient. Specifically, developers are a little miffed over some bugs in Google Android SDK. I would have to disagree with Greg on this one. Google is the great aggregator of the universe's knowledge (hence the Google Universe).

Creative InPerson Wi-Fi Videophone

December 20, 2007

Creative leaked the Creative InPerson Wi-Fi videophone via their FCC filing.


It features H.264 video with SIP support, high video quality (up to VGA resolution and 2 Mbps bit-rate) and claims to perform well under low light. It features a wide-angle lens, and dual microphones with acoustic echo cancellation and noise. It comes with a lithium-ion rechargeable battery that will power the 7-inch, 16.7 million color LCD for about 2 hours.


RIM Garners 10% of Smartphone Market

December 20, 2007

According to ABI Research, Research In Motion (RIM) is likely to end 2007 with around 10% share of the smartphone market. In terms of device shipments, RIM will be the second largest smartphone vendor in 2007, after Nokia. RIM’s share in the smartphone market has steadily increased in the last five quarters — from 7.2% in 3Q 2006 to 9.5% in 3Q 2007.

The report points out that RIM’s business is still predominantly in North America and stresses that RIM needs to focus on bringing their smartphones to the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and other regions. RIM's Blackberry, Curve, Pearl, and other models have changed the email landscape forever, when they enabled 100% continuous anywhere email access with an easy to use interface (large screen + QWERTY keyboard).

With all the hype surrounding the Apple iPhone, I'd be curious what percentage of the smartphone market share it now holds.



Digium reaches 1 million download milestone

December 19, 2007

Flashphone adds SIP Call Me Button

December 18, 2007

Flashphone, which I reviewed here, has created a CallMe widget which allows you to put CallMe button on your site and then use your own SIP account to connect it to your PSTN number. It can also make a SIP call to SIP URI or make a call to the flashphone Flash-based VoIP client.

I'll include a screenshot of the Flash widget followed by the actually embedding of the Flash widget which looks similar to Youtube embedded code. (including both in case you can't view embedded Flash):



If you click the Call Me button, it will initiate a call to a Russian auto-attendant. This is just a demo that Flashphone setup for me, so don't abuse it please.





Launch of VoIP on iPod touch now official

December 18, 2007

We all know iPod Touch Mods is hard at work to hack the iPod touch to enable SIP-based VoIP, right? Well, it'll be a Happy New Year with the official release on January 1st, 2008.



SIP-VoIP for the iPod touch is free, but they're accepting donations. Jailbreakers will enjoy the software, which I assume will be a relatively easy installation.



Ribbit Launches

December 17, 2007

Ribbit is a development platform launching today, which enables developers to integrate communications solutions into their web applications. A proprietary softswitch (the Ribbit SmartSwitch) mediates communication across protocols, networks and devices. That includes MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger (soon) and Skype.

Essentially Ribbit is a back-end multi-protocol softswitch (called SmartSwitch) that allows communication between different networks, carriers and device types. The Ribbit SmartSwitch is their own proprietary Lucent-tested CLASS 5 softswitch.

Vonage Outage

December 15, 2007

Glow in the Dark Cats

December 14, 2007


South Korean scientists have cloned three Turkish Angora cats that have the ability to glow-in-the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. They modified the gene by inserting a virus into the skin cells of a mother cat and placing those cells into the womb, thus proving that it was possible to clone an animal with a manipulated gene.

The stated goal is for a better understanding of human genetic diseases, but this is a very slippery slope if you ask me and for multiple reasons.

For instance, how long before the trendoids start asking their local breeders for glow-in-the-dark cats? "Can I get a orange kitty that glows blue and a white kitty that glows red?"

Well, that crazy ole cat lady down the street will certainly have the brightest house in the neighborhood.


[via NBC30]









Microsoft OCS 2007 Training

December 14, 2007


I've written about the complexities of deploying OCS 2007 in the past. Because I wrote an extensive review of OCS 2007, I've had several of my readers ask if TMC provides OCS 2007 training and a couple of readers asking me to do some personal consulting work to help them with their OCS 2007 deployment. Unfortunately, Rich Tehrani, my slave driver, umm I mean boss, keeps me pretty busy to try and do consulting work on the side.

The good news however is that TMC is launching a special OCS 2007 training session at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo (ITEXPO). Those of you looking to learn more about OCS 2007 should seriously consider this conference training session.


Venturer SHD7001 HD DVD player

December 14, 2007


Our friends across the pond (the Brits) get a sweet HD DVD player deal that just got sweeter. The eagerly awaited, low cost Venturer SHD7001 High Definition (HD) DVD player from Venturer will not only offer an add on package worth around £50.00 (two HD DVDs; Hulk and Troy, and a free HDMI cable) it will also now include a voucher that enables customers to redeem 5 more free HD DVDs courtesy of the European HD DVD Promotional Group. That's right, for £50.00 you get a total of 7 HD DVDs and a free HDMI cable. Personally, I think all HD DVD players should come with a HDMI cable anyway.

Firefox VoIP Extension open to any SIP provider

December 13, 2007

Luca just emailed me that his company just launched a new version of their Firefox VoIP extension that is open to any SIP provider. Luca writes, "A new version of the VoIP Extension is now available for download and it’s not limited to the Abbeyphone VoIP service only. You can insert your favorite VoIP service or even your company’s Asterisk PBX."

That's weird, because September 2006, in my Firefox VoIP extensions, I wrote, "Also, while many Firefox VoIP extensions are SIP compliant, they can be tied to a specific VoIP service provider, thus you are stuck using their VoIP service plans. More proprietary games. Fortunately, with AbbeyPhone at least, you can enter your own SIP credentials to a 3rd-party VoIP service provider or even a SIP-based IP-PBX, such as Asterisk."

So was AbbeyPhone "open" back in 2006, then "closed" soon after, and then re-opened to any SIP provider today?



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.


The Grinch Discovers Top Trends in Networking for 2008

December 12, 2007

Steve Brown over at Network Observer has an interesting list of the top networking trends for 2008. One very notable "trend" is the "blurring of Business and Personal Application Demands on IT". Steve explains, "While the blurring of personal and business applications began with the Blackberry and iPod, the trend will accelerate as employees use new hybrid devices like the iPhone. Although some of these devices can be used in business, they can present new security risks and network use implications that will need to be considered."

As CTO for TMC in charge of our network, I definitely have seen a huge increase in the amount of bandwidth sucked up by non-business applications - not to mention the increased risk of virus exposure from devices brought into my beautiful pristine network.

You know what, I say ban the iPhone!



Movable Type goes 100% Open Source

December 12, 2007

Wow, just read that Movable Type has gone 100% open source. This from Anil Dash:

As of today, and forever forward, Movable Type is open source. This means you can freely modify, redistribute, and use Movable Type for any purpose you choose. Just want the details and downloads?


Congrats to Netgear - wins Top 10 Gadgets 2007 Award

December 12, 2007

Netgear is #3 on Time Magazine's Top 10 Gadgets of 2007 for their Wi-Fi Skype phone - the Netgear SPH200W. The Netgear SPH200W sports 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, around four hours of talk time, WEP / WPA / WPA2 support, and of course the ability to take and make Skype calls wherever there's WiFi. This Skype phone also allows you to manage up to 500 contacts and has a built-in speakerphone. Netgear made the list along with (of course) the Apple iPhone, Palm Centro, Nikon Coolpix S51c, and other cool gadgets, so Netgear is in good company. Congrats Netgear!

Time also announced their Top 10 lists for Toys, Websites, Video Games, Sports Matches, and Sports Moments, as well as Best & Worst Business Deals.

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.

MySpaceIM with Skype launches

December 11, 2007

MySpaceIM with Skype is now available to the MySpace and Skype global communities. In case you hadn't heard, MySpaceIM with Skype integrates MySpace’s IM client with Skype’s free VoIP calling capability.

According to the news, it is being launched in 20 countries where MySpace has localized communities, MySpaceIM with Skype enables millions of users to place free Skype Internet calls to other MySpace or Skype users.

The partnership, which does not require MySpace users to download any additional Skype software, will also enable users to link their MySpace profiles and photos or avatars to their accounts on Skype.

Users can head on over to http://www.myspace.com/myspaceim to download it.





R2-D2 Home Theater System DLP projector

December 11, 2007


Who wouldn't love R2-D2 in their living room projecting not just Princess Leia, but any damn movie you please. Hammacher Schlemmer, who carries the Skype R2-D2 I oggled over, has done it again with The R2-D2® Home Theater System a home theater system modeled after the famous droid from the Star Wars films. (note: Nikko Home Electronics makes this)



R2-D2's head houses a DLP projection system with superb 1,500:1 contrast, that can project DVD movies, TV shows, images, and video games from his radar eye at 1024 x 768 resolution onto walls up to 16 1/2' away, equivalent to an 80" screen. Further, he can also rotate the viewing angle up to 65° to project images onto your ceiling.




Nerd Vittles Delivers some Asterisk Christmas Goodies

December 11, 2007

Just last month, PBX in a Flash launched. Well, Nerd Vittles aka 'Santa Claus for Asterisk', has been busy in his workshop building and adding features to PBX in a Flash. Well Nerd Vittles has finally put on his Santa Claus hat today to deliver some Christmas goodies a wee-bit early. (14 days early to be exact.) Oh and if you're looking for the top Christmas gifts of the year, check out Amazon's list of top gifts.

Nerd writes:
Text-to-Speech Returns! If you've been following Nerd Vittles for a while, you already know that our favorite applications for any telephony server are text-to-speech apps.



Philips VOIP841 Review

December 11, 2007

I'm been testing the Philips VOIP841 for review for a few months now. Let me start by saying I constantly have various VoIP products and gadgets on my desk for testing, but they typically only stay there for a short while. The Skype-based Philips VoIP841 wireless DECT phone is the rare exception - it's been on my desk for over 4 months. Why? Because the darn thing works and works very well as a Skype phone.

VoIP on iPod Touch

December 10, 2007

VoIP on the iPod touch requires a few hacks. First, we need to hack in a microphone using Touch-4-VoIP. Check. Next, get someone to hack in a SIP application by loading the app from the command line into the iPod touch.

Spirit DSP Lands Huawei Technologies

December 10, 2007

TMCNet is reporting that Spirit DSP has landed China-based networking giant Huawei Technologies. Huawei will license SPIRIT's TeamSpirit 3.0 Voice Engine PC which enhanced the voice quality for VoIP calls.

Alex Kravchenko, VP Sales & Marketing at SPIRIT DSP, said "Huawei's choice underscores the enormous demand for wideband VoIP. TeamSpirit Voice Engine PC is backed by award-winning proprietary technology that offers unprecedented quality. We are proud to partner with such a significant player in the global market to help operators to attract new customers and deliver new exciting, rich, interactive, multimedia services on market demand."

You know, I used to consider Global IP Sound (GIPS) the leader in voice engines, but I may have to reconsider that opinion.



trixbo Pro updates

December 8, 2007

Kerry Garrison blogged about some major updates to trixbox Pro, and Asterisk-based IP-PBX. He also told me, "The highlights being the ability to take a phone right out of the box, plug it into your network and automatically provisions itself with the next available extension. This is a major time saver for installers as it creates the phone device, creates an extension, and maps the phone to it. It takes less than a minute for the entire process and the phone is ready to make and receive phone calls.

Ribbit Flash VoIP App Launch

December 7, 2007

Back in September in my Skype Could Trump Facebook in Social Networking post, I talked about how Skype could beat Facebook, but I also discussed how Flash VoIP apps could be a major played in the VoIP space. One company I highlighted was Ribbit:

I recently came across a company called Ribbit that built an application in Flex and which runs on the Flash Player, and therefore doesn't requires a download and supports full telephone capabilities. According to the website, "The RibbitPhone Component will give Rich internet application developers the ability to make and receive calls, record/send and receive voicemail, as well as add and manage contacts."

A cool VoIP application utilizing Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) was created simulating the Apple iPhone UI called the AIR iPhone. Using the AIR iPhone combined with the RibbitPhone component you can make VoIP calls using the simulated iPhone.


Well, word is that they will be unleashing their Developer Platform on December 13th in San Francisco.


Delkin Devices 16GB UDMA enabled CompactFlash PRO card

December 7, 2007

Get yer 1.21 Gigawatts Flux Capacitor

December 7, 2007

Back to the Future fans/geeks can now turn their vehicle into a time travel machine with the new Flux Capacitor being offered by Things from Another World.

The Flux Capacitor replica recreates the 1.21 gigawatts heart of the original 1985 De Lorean time machine. Measuring over 16" tall and 12" wide, each replica features hand-numbering with a matching box and Certificate of Authenticity.

It'll cost you $220 bucks, but hey you can go back in time to 2004 and bet on the Red Sox beating the Yankees after being down 0-3 to the Yankees. Those must have been 1,000,000 to 1 odds.

Plutonium and De Lorean not included.

(click 'Play' below to hear the famous 1.21 gigawatts line in Back to the Future)











JetBlue offering free WiFi in the Sky

December 6, 2007

According to Reuters, JetBlue, Yahoo! and Research in Motion plan to offer free, in-flight, Wi-Fi web connections for laptop computers and advanced cell phones, Rim said on Thursday.

The service will allow passengers to access customized Yahoo mail and Yahoo instant messenger services on their laptops or to access corporate e-mails on Wi-Fi enabled versions of the popular Blackberry device from Rim.

According to a spokesperson for Rim the first JetBlue flight offering the service will be on December 11.

Wow, free TV, free WiFi when flying on JetBlue. Why would anyone fly anything other than JetBlue? Heck I'd even pay $10-$20 more just for the Wi-Fi and free TV access over their airline competitors. American, Delta and all the rest need to get their act together. Seriously.

Though I'm trying to figure out if this is only limited to Yahoo mail, Yahoo IM, and corporate email via Blackberry.







Tech Bubble 2.0 video

December 6, 2007

JAJAH Apple iPhone and iPod Touch App Launches

December 6, 2007

Tomorrow, JAJAH will launch their new JAJAH iPhone app, which comes with the 'look and feel' of the iPhone's dial pad and address book and also works on the iPod Touch. JAJAH as you know allows users to make low-cost global calling. All you have to do is point your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch's mobile Safari browser to http://iphone.jajah.com and type in the number you want to call.

You can also select the name in your JAJAH contacts and click on the number you want to call. JAJAH will call your phone, you pick up, and you will be connected to the desired international number.

Skype Soap Opera

December 6, 2007

Just read a funny post on ZDNet UK about why Skype was having 10,000 page faults per second. Some Skype users reported to the Skype forums the problems to Skype, who initially said it was "by design" then later admitted it was a faulty thread used for troubleshooting another Skype issue but they wouldn't disclose exactly why it was there. It's a funny thread that really exposes Skype's denials, to a belated admission, to conspiracy theories over what the thread's "true" purpose is. Apparently, the thread keeps many unexplained network connections open, which some find quite troubling.

QueueMetrics launches new features

December 6, 2007

QueueMetrics is a popular call center monitoring application that works with the Asterisk IP-PBX and featuring over 150 quantitative metrics to see what is happening in your call center(s). Some of its main features include the ability to view a detailed report of call center activity, down to each call on each queue, and run reports by single queues, or by user-created queue groups, both on inbound and outbound traffic. You can also listen to recorded calls and see activity statistics and duration by call stage, with daily, hourly (or shorter), weekly breakdowns. Today, QueueMetrics 1.41 was released adding several new features.

Here's what's new:

- New editors for users, classes, queues, agents, locations, call outcome codes and pause codes.



Lowering Screen Resolution = You're Getting Old

December 6, 2007

According to a recent study done by TPK Research, Inc., as computer users get older their near vision and ability to focus begins to decline, forcing computer users to change from their favorite higher screen resolutions to lower screen resolutions. The lower screen resolutions result in larger text and graphics that are easier to read and less strain on aging eyes.

Although I am far-sighted (not near sighted), lately even my near vision has gotten weaker. I recently downgraded my 21" flat screen monitor from 1600x1200 down to 1280x1024. Although I can see the text better at this resolution, I much prefer the 1600x1200 resolution because I typically have anywhere from 10-20 Firefox tabs open, 10-20 Avant Browser (uses Internet Explorer engine) tabs, Adobe Photoshop, Skype, various other IM/VoIP applications, and other apps open.

Touch-4-VoIP Adds Microphone for iPod touch

December 6, 2007

VoIP on the Apple iPod touch just became a reality with the help of some iPod touch enthusiasts/hackers over at Touchmods. Touchmods writes, "As promised, we can make you some Mics built into the DockConnector with the preamp." The Touch-4-VoIP connects to the touch's dock connector thereby enabling audio-input via the microphone. This can then be used for voice annotated notes and of course VoIP! Boy, life is good!

If you recall, I hypothesized about VoIP support on the iPod touch back in September.

Yahoo Messenger for Vista

December 6, 2007

According to the Yahoo! Messenger blog, the Yahoo! Messenger for Vista has arrived - well at least the preview release anyway. Yahoo! Messenger for Vista, is built from the ground up for the Windows Vista operating system.

No more Phone Pretexting!

December 5, 2007

Due to a new FCC regulation requirement, you won't be able to perform pretexting (pretend to be someone else) to gain access to Paris Hilton's phone or other celebs for that matter. Damn, just when I was having fun too! Not to mention the whole HP pretexting debacle.

In any event, the FCC recently issued a new Customer Proprietary Network Information (or “CPNI”) order back in April that is intended to safeguard your calling records and/or billing information from unauthorized third parties who might try to acquire this information by impersonating customers, i.e. 'pretexting".

Nokia Siemens Launches SIM USB Communication Key

December 4, 2007

Nokia Siemens Networks is combining VoIP with it's strength in the cellular network by  introducing the Communication Key, a USB device with SIM authentication that lets subscribers take VoIP and other rich communications on the road.

According to the release, at the Nokia World event in Amsterdam, Nokia Siemens Networks is showcasing a novel way to enjoy easy Voice over IP (VoIP) communications from any Internet-connected PC. The Communication Key is a USB device with built-in SIM authentication that allows PC users to engage in not only voice calls, but also video sharing and other rich communications with the same ease and convenience as making mobile phone calls. It helps a mobile operator reinforce its role as the preferred service provider in the face of growing competition from new Internet players. The Communication Key will be available in Q3 2008.

Logitech Quickcam Orbit AF Review

December 4, 2007

The Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF is Logitech's best webcam money can buy. The QuickCam Orbit AF is Logitech's flagship webcam featuring Carl Zeiss optics, integrated microphone, and a cool motorized tracking that automatically follows your every move. The QuickCam Orbit AF (AF = autofocus) also has premium autofocus, up to 30fps, a true 2-megapixel sensor, with up to 8-megapixel photos (enhanced), 960 by 720 pixels, 24-bit true color Video capture, and RightLight 2 Technology which adjusts intelligently to produce true-to-life clear images in dim or poor backlight settings.

The QuickCam Orbit AF also has a 'trick' up it's sleeve. Not only can it sit low in its base, but it also comes with a 9" long stem that lets you mount the camera up high.

PushCall.com Another Flash VoIP Player

December 4, 2007


Kees van Nuland, Managing director of PushCall.com contacted Rich about their Flash-based VoIP application after seeing Rich's post. Just to recap the Flash VoIP landscape, we have FlashPhone, which I broke the story in early November, and yesterday I found out about TringMe's TringPhone. And of course there is the big honcho Adobe, working on a Flash VoIP solution codenamed Pacifica. According to the Adobe Pacifica blog site, Pacifica enables point-to-point (P2P) transmission of the media channel once the connection is established.

Lap-"topless" meetings - Good or Bad?

December 3, 2007

Somehow I never thought I'd used the words "lap" and "topless" in an article title due to the images they convey.  In any event, many businesses allow their employees to take their laptops and Blackberries into corporate meetings. There are pluses and minuses to allowing laptops and other communications devices in to meetings. The plus side is that the employee can multi-task.

tringme TringPhone Flash VoIP App Launches

December 3, 2007

Looks like we've got another Adobe Flash-based VoIP phone to go along with the Russian flashphone I reviewed last month and which coincidentally launched some new features today.

This one comes from India called TringMe, with the application aptly named TringPhone. It works with any SIP-based service provider. Just add your SIP credentials and dial away simply using the Web-based Flash-based applet.

According to their website, they offer widgets "to allow your website visitors, friends and customers to call or leave a voicemail to you - directly from the web. You can instantly receive call or voicemail on your existing cell phone, landline, Gtalk or via e-mail." It also has a one-click putton for leaving voicemail, as seen here:


Of course, this software requires an existing SIP provider where as the flashphone app gives you up to 3 minutes of free calls.






Buh Bye Payphone

December 3, 2007

RTTNews is reporting that AT&T will quit payphone business by 2008 due to competition from cell phones. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the number of pay phones nationally has dwindled to 1 million as of 2006 from 2.08 million in 1997. My only question is "What took so long for AT&T to drop payphones?"

I honestly haven't used a payphone since 1992 and before I even had a cell phone. When I drive by pay phones they are usually not being used, unless you're in the "shadier" parts of some towns.

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.

Flash-based flashphone adds new features

December 3, 2007

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