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VoIP & Gadget blog with the latest news in the VoIP and gadget space, wireless, mobile phones, product reviews, opinion & analysis.  We know Activision Blizzard loves sequels.A little while ago, it revealed a slate of follow-ups coming this year at an Massive Inc. upfront. An upfront is where publishers showcase their upcoming lineup to advertisers and are a new practice for games. Upfronts occur every year for TV and movies. The idea is quite simple really -- to get advertisers pumped to buy more ads in games. Massive is a Microsoft-owned firm that did the Barack Obama ad in Burnout Paradise. At the meeting, Activision Blizzard showcased new games that would make sense for in-game ads, including the vaguely titled "Guitar Hero 5," which included a screen shot of gameplay with a Burger King ad to the right of the note highway. The publisher confirmed rumors that Tony Hawk will be different this year. "You're not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands," said the company. More at MTV Multiplayer.
Tags: activision blizzard, barack obama, burnout paradise, guitar hero, massive, microsoft, tony hawk
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 Report: Tweeter may open stores to trim its inventory.Tweeter, which abruptly closed its stores this week, may reportedly open up stores temporarily in hopes of liquidating its inventory, which has an estimated value of $15 million. Might be a good time to pick up some good stuff -- at even better than Black Friday prices -- I hope! More at the Boston Herald.
Tags: black friday, tweeter
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 Blockbuster has chosen Reno, Nev., as the test market for a new store concept that combines video rentals with sales of video game accessories, high-definition TVs and other home entertainment products. Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said the company is "selling convenience" with the new design. And you know we gadgeteers love convenience, even if we have to wait for it. We hope the still have snacks! More a the The Cincinnati Enquirer/Gannett News Service.
Tags: blockbuster, HDTV
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 Rich has a great interview with Sangoma's VP Sales and Marketing, Doug Vilim about their new B600 Series of Analog voice cards, which can be used in Asterisk-based systems. Apparently, Sangoma's über customizable & modular cards can be a slight cost detriment for those that don't need such modularity. B600D PCI model. Here's a teaser from Rich's blog: What is the reason for these new cards to be introduced? Some of our OEM customers; those who are building IP PBX appliances Empowered by Sangoma, often do not require the modularity, port customization and single slot expandability that our A-Series analog cards provide. Also, four PSTN lines and one fax connection is a common configuration that creates economies of scale, which can lead to a substantial cost savings for these customers when purchasing in larger volumes. Read full storyAlso, here are the specs:
Tags: analog, asterisk, B600, pci, voip
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 We all know the iPod touch is basically an iPhone minus a microphone and the wireless (3G) phone capability. Well, behold Truphone for iPod touch, which adds phone capabilities using VoIP over WiFi. This isn't the first time someone has enabled VoIP for the iPod touch. Some hackers were able to add a microphone to the iPod touch last December. Later, another group enabled a SIP softphone client for the iPod touch to use with the "hacked-in" microphone.Well, now Truphone for the iPod touch gets in the game allowing you to make free calls to other iPod touch users without a SIM card and no AT&T contract. Not to mention the iPhone cost more. Guess now you truly can call the iPod touch an "iPhone lite". Continue reading Truphone Transforms iPod touch into iPhone...
Tags: app store, Apple, iPhone, iPod touch, truphone, voip
Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog Comments on this Entry: (DJ on Dec 4, 2008 2:17 AM) and fring also did it a few months ago. but I won't confuse you with the facts. (Tom Keating on Dec 4, 2008 8:53 AM) I'm well aware. I mentioned that back in Sept 2007 after discussing Skype on the Apple iPod touch. http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/voip/skype-on-the-apple-ipod-touch.asp
 The beautiful thing about the world of gadgets is that there is always something new every day.So part of the challenge -- or opportunity -- is figuring out what's of interest and then taking a stab at writing something interesting about it. Looking ahead, I wonder what news tomorrow will bring? And I'm wondering if there are any topics, gadgets, issues, oddities that you'd like to see in this personal blogosphere? Don't be shy if you have an opinion or a request...
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You've seen the recent blogs about how nine of the top 10 best-selling items so far this holiday shopping season are gadgets -- but how about them Ugg boots!
Seriousl  y, we've seen how this is the season of Blu-ray and this isn't the season for Blu-ray. Honestly, what do you think?For me personally, I'm still busy with DVDs, some PayPerView and even some old video cassettes if the movie is good enough -- but granted, those DVDs do look better! So I'm not too close to plunking down greenbacks for Blu-ray, but if the hardware prices keep drop, drop, dropping and the software prices keep drop, drop, dropping, then perhaps I will take the plunge. But how many gadgets can I stack up in an AV home theater system anyway? And time for some new cables, too!
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 Environmental concerns are playing an even bigger role in consumer electronics.To state it plainly, the world of gadgets is becoming increasingly eco-friendly. You can see this all across the landscape, from better product designs, lower power usage and better end user responsibility -- unplug those desktops at night, OK? But what more can we do? We have so many of these wondrous devices, large and small? What else can we do about waste disposal, energy conservation and other environmental issues so that we all become more environmentally conscious consumers at the same time that companies become more environmentally responsible? Reduce, recycle, reuse! Let us know what you are doing!
Tags: eco-friendly, reduce recycle reuse
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 The Nokia N97 sports a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It's heavily focused on social sites like Facebook with its "always open" window to favorite Internet or social networking sites. The N97 also features HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 3.5-mm head jack, and 32GB of on-board memory. With a microSD expansion you can go up to 48GB total memory. The battery is capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5 hours video. Continue reading Nokia N97 Sweet!...
Tags: HSDPA, mobile phone, Nokia, Nokia N97
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 Raketu today released its Raketu Mobile for Google's G1 Android mobile adding VoIP support to the Android phone. Raketu already supports iPhone, Nokia, WinMobile and BlackBerry mobile phones The new service allows anyone with a G1 using roaming data services or WiFi to connect to the Raketu mobile services to make phone-to-phone calls, send sms-text messages and email, send and receive instant messages, store and share pictures, and more, all without a download. Current Raketu users can start using the new services immediately, and new users can sign up at http://G1.Raketu.com or http://Android.Raketu.com.
Tags: Google Android, Google G1, mobile phone, raketu, voip
Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog Comments on this Entry: (Rupali on Dec 3, 2008 7:33 AM) This is great. I wish I could get mu hands on an Android phone and try this. Rupali Voipoholic (DJ on Dec 3, 2008 11:41 AM) C'mon, you of all people should know the difference between an application and a web service. It's a web page not an application. So what's the big deal here? that it was optimized for the G1?!?!? oh, that's great. Every phone has a web browser... it's just a PR... nothing more. (Tom Keating on Dec 3, 2008 12:15 PM) My bad. I know Raketu offers a Windows Mobile application download (as well as a web-based app). So I just assumed from their news release wording that it too was a download app like their Windows Mobile app. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!
 Scott Oseychik over on the MSDN blogs has a good post today about federation issues between OCS 2005/2007 and AOL. Apparently, American Online changed their root certificates on their SIP Access Gateway at approximately 12/2/2008, 4:00 AM EST.Via Scott's post: If your organization leverages Public Internet Connectivity (aka: "PIC") in conjunction with their Live Communication Server 2005 and/or Office Communications Server 2007 servers, you may not be able to successfully communicate with (or see the presence status of) America Online Instant Messenger users. Read more (including a video walkthrough on how to resolve the issue)
Tags: American Online, AOL, Microsoft, OCS 2007, Office Communicator, PIC, presence, Public Internet Connectivity
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I hate to say I told you so, but today's PriceGrabber.com gadget report on Black Friday sales, once again proves my opinion that this Christmas will be a "black" Blu-ray Christmas! My opinion goes against conventional wisdom that Blu-ray won't succeed, and that streaming HD using Roku/Netflix, and cable providers offering HD content is now closing the window of opportunity for Blu-ray. I'm not buying that theory. Additionally, several other articles, including CRN's Consumers Not Planning a Blu-Ray Christmas article and Register Hardware's 'A Blu-ray Christmas? Don't bank on it' don't believe my opinion that it will be a Blu-ray Christmas.The most popular products on Black Friday - specifically look at #3, the Blu-ray player:
Also, as previously blogged, here are the Top 10 categories and percent growth over Black Friday 2007. Once again look at #3, which sports a 147% increase!
Tags: 1080p, Blu-ray Christmas, Blu-ray Disc Player, blu-ray player, gadgets, Sony BDP-S350
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 Thanks to recent changes in government regulations, a reliable, long-lasting fuel cell to power today's electronic gadgets may be right around the corner. "We are closer, much closer, than even two years ago in terms of the companies' internal designs, how they've met their milestones and just the amount of testing and evaluation that's going on right now," said Sara Bradford, an energy and power systems consultant for Frost & Sullivan. Now wouldn't that be nice! Cars next, please! Google/The Associated Press has more.
Tags: fuel cell
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 Worldwide demand for used PCs is greater than supply, yet less than half of PCs entering the secondary market get reused.Only one in five PCs targeted for reuse find their way from a mature to a developing economy, tech consulting firm Gartner said in a report. Of those machines that actually make it, only 44% get used. Major hindrances include export tariffs and high transportation costs. "The secondary PC market offers great opportunity to specialized intermediaries, resellers, or vendors, but it is a highly fragmented and competitive market," Gartner analyst Meike Escherich said in a statement. Refurbished PCs typically offer equal or better profit margins than new PCs, ranging from $10 to $50 for a 3-year-old machine. More at InformationWeek. (And thanks to freegeekchicago.org for the photo.)
Tags: gartner, recycled computers
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 Despite one of the worst economic climates in decades, consumer spending on Black Friday hit $10.6 billion, 3% higher than the day after Thanksgiving in 2007, according to researcher ShopperTrak. Gadgets accounted for nine of the top 10 most popular Black Friday products, PriceGrabber said. Data from PriceGrabber.com shows that online consumers are taking advantage of promotions on popular electronics, including LCD and plasma TVs, Blu-ray disc players, digital SLR cameras, laptops and video game consoles. The most popular products on Black Friday:
Tags: acer, black friday, canon, nintendo, panasonic, samsung, sennheiser, sony
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 Knowing I'm a Disney fanatic, Rich just sent me this amazing Disney World deal that gives you 3 nights free and includes Disney World theme park tickets.  This deal is via a partnership with American Airlines. You'll also receive a $200 gift card when you travel January 4 - March 29, 2009.I have a Disney World timeshare that requires I use my points towards my vacation, so this doesn't help me any, but it might help you, so enjoy! Here's the details: This Deal Will Have You Floating On Air Buy 4 Nights, Get 3 Free Includes Disney Theme Park Tickets  
What will you celebrate? There's so much in life worth celebrating. So during 2009, the Walt Disney World® Resort will make it easier for you to magnify the moment in wonderful Disney style! This is the year to gather with all the people who make you the happiest and celebrate at the place where dreams come true.
Featured Hotels  Value - Disney's Pop Century Resort Whether they're themed to music, sports, movies or 20th-century pop culture, Disney Value Resorts are big on everything but price! They also offer themed pool areas, food courts, pizza delivery and laundry facilities.
 Moderate - Disney's Port Orleans Resort They're the perfect combination of value and amenities. With Disney Moderate Resorts you can choose to be in a variety of imaginatively themed locations, from the colorful Caribbean to the best of the Big Easy. Fantastic themed pools with slides let you soak up some watery fun. Food courts and full-service dining offer all-time favorites.
 Deluxe - Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Offering the highest level of quality, convenience and Lobby Concierge services available, Disney Deluxe Resorts immerse you in fantastic worlds and faraway lands. Magical theming is everywhere, from beautiful rooms to elaborately themed pools. Acclaimed restaurants offer award-winning cuisine while others feature enchanting Character Dining. For more info, go here.
Tags: american airlines, deal, Disney World, vacation
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 An interesting article at the Register claims that a recent uTorrent decision to use UDP for P2P file transfers (instead of TCP) to get around ISP "traffic management" restrictions will cause a meltdown of the Internet. Poppycock you say?It's worth pointing out that traditionally P2P sharing apps such as Bittorrent, use TCP not UDP. So why would UDP cause VoIP apps to fail? Well for one huge reason, TCP allows for congestion control. First, the article explains: The article then adds:
 Yikes! Say goodbye to VoIP. No more Skype. No more fring, Gizmo5, Packet8, Vonage, Bandwidth.com SIP trunks, and all the rest of my beloved VoIP applications and services. May you rest in peace my good friends. [sniff] Now I'll have to change my blog to the "Gadgets Blog".Game over man, game over! Click above to hear this famous audio clip from Alien.
Tags: Bandwidth, Bittorrent, com, fring, Game over man, TCP, UDP, uTorrent, voip, vonage
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 It appears it just might be a Merry Christmas even with the doom & gloom surrounding the economy. I guess President-elect Barack Obama must be the Messiah, since he's already creating miracles and he hasn't even been sworn in yet. Or it could just be that credit card loving Americans just don't know when to quit spending & charging.Check this out: NRF Survey Finds Black Friday Gets Holiday Season Off to Energetic Start -- Great Bargains, Pent-Up Demand Drove Shoppers to Stores, Web Though the holiday season is far from over, retailers across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief after shoppers headed to stores and websites in droves over the weekend. According to the National Retail Federation's 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year.* Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend*, up 7.2 percent over last year's $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion. "Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season's hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again." Friday was clearly the busiest day of the weekend with 73.6 million people hitting stores and websites for doorbuster sales. Though traffic did subside after Friday, retailers were also buoyed by two-day sales as 56.9 million people shopped on Saturday, up from 48.3 million last year, while another 26.2 million people planned to shop on Sunday. Thanksgiving Day also continues to increase in importance as the number of people who shopped on Thursday was up 48 percent over last year (16.2 million people vs. 10.9 million people). Those who shopped on Friday lived by the adage that the early bird catches the worm. The survey found that 23.3 percent of shoppers were at stores by 5 a.m. while more than half (57.6%) were at stores by 9 a.m. Bargains appeared to be so good that people have more of a jumpstart on shopping. According to the findings, Americans have completed slightly more shopping than they had one year ago (39.3% vs. 36.4%), indicating that traffic and sales over the next several weeks will moderate. "Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious," said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. "Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases." Though retailers in all categories were featuring big bargains, a majority of shoppers visited discount stores for holiday deals. According to the survey, more than half (54.7%) of this weekend's shoppers visited discount stores. Nearly half (43.0%) shopped at a traditional department store, up 11.1 percent from 38.7 percent last year. About one-third of shoppers visited specialty stores like clothing or electronics stores (36.0%) and shopped online (34.0%). As expected, many shoppers (50.9%) purchased clothing and accessories over the weekend while 39.0 percent bought books, DVDs, CDs and video games and 35.9 percent purchased consumer electronics. Toys were also big sellers, as 28.5 percent of shoppers bought a toy. Gift card purchasing dropped ten percent with 18.7 percent of shoppers purchasing a gift card over the weekend, down from 21.0 percent last year. NRF continues to project that holiday sales will rise 2.2 percent this year to $470.4 billion. About the Survey The NRF 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. NRF defines the weekend as sales from Thursday, November 27 to Sunday, November 30. The survey, which polled 3,370 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from November 27-29, 2008. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent. BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch's syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace. The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2007 sales of $4.5 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com Via NRF
Tags: Barack Obama, Black Friday, Christmas, National Retail Federation, Thanksgiving
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 Amazon has a special landing page listing all their Cyber Monday deals. Amazon doesn't call it "Cyber Monday" but rather the "Black-Friday-After-Thanksgiving-Sale", so this landing page should be good until Christmas. Maybe they were afraid Cyber Monday was patented, kinda like their one-click ordering patent. Anyway, here's the current category breakdown on the Amazon holiday specials landing page: |
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