Gadgets and VoIP

VHS Is Dead

This web site often talks about new or emerging technologies. Perhaps it is time to note the death of another technology that nearly all of us have used in the past.

In case you haven't heard, VHS videotape is dead.

Nobody manufactures VHS videotapes anymore. The major chain stores, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, stopped selling VHS recorders and players some years ago. Not long after, the manufacturers of videotapes stopped manufacturing them, due to a lack of sales outlets and a lack of sales.

The same companies stopped manufacturing VHS video recorders as well. The reason was the same: declining sales. However, several manufacturers still produce combination VHS and DVD recorders, designed to copy your old VHS tapes to modern CD or DVD disks.

Readers' Comments Are Now Available as an RSS Newsfeed

Many readers use RSS newsreaders to quickly and easily retrieve the articles from this web site. Newsreaders are computer programs that automatically retrieve information from web sites that support the RSS standard and then store the information on a user's computer. Information available in RSS format includes this newsletter's articles as well as news, weather forecasts, stock market information, airline arrival times, UPS shipping information, and much more.

RSS provides a faster and easier method of having the latest information available from as many sites as the user wishes to monitor, including new articles published at this web site.

I recently added something new to this web site: RSS newsfeeds of the comments that others post to the various articles published here. I have been testing it and everything seems to work well. I think now is the time to announce the service.

Install Your Own Cellular Network Cell at Home

Product not yet tested by editor. The following description is from the manufacturer.

Do you have poor cell phone coverage at home or at the office? Do you use Sprint as your cell phone provider? Do you have a broadband internet connection?

If you answered "yes" to all three questions, there is a new solution for you. Sprint is now selling femto cell equipment.

The Sprint unit is called an AIRAVE. It provides cell phone coverage in areas that do not receive strong signals from a nearby cell tower. This unit is not a repeater or a signal booster. It does not connect to a cell tower at all. While you use your cell phone in the normal manner, the telephone calls (or "backhaul") are carried over any broadband cable modem, DSL, or fiber optic Internet connection. (Satellite Internet coverage is not recommended.)

Cowon S9 Media Player is Now Available

The Cowon S9 media player was introduced at the IFA 2008 in August. This is one of the coolest-looking devices available today. It has a 3.3 inch AMOLED color display and a curved backside. It features a 3.3 inch color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with 480x272px resolution and 16m colors.

Other features of the Cowon S9 include 500Mhz Dual Core CPU, T-DMB TV, Bluetooth, FM tuner, voice recorder, G-Sensor, TV-Out, 40 hour music playback on a single battery charge, music, video and photo player, and Macromedia Flash User interface.

Prices vary from $174.99 for the 16 gigabyte model to $279.99 for the 32 gigabyte model in white and $289.99 for the same thing in black.

Convert the iPod Touch Into a Mobile Phone

The Apple iPod Touch has often been described as an iPhone without the cell phone part. It does most everything the iPhone does except place and receive telephone calls. It is an MP3 player, a calendar, and much more. Now the iPod Touch can be transformed into a mobile phone with the help of a free application from Truphone.

Keep in mind that there is one major drawback to the Truphone product: it only works with a wi-fi network connection. It does not communicate with cell phone company networks. You can place and receive calls while at home or at the local Starbucks or McDonald's or other wi-fi equipped location. However, you won't be making calls while driving down the highway.

Given the safety implications, perhaps that should be listed as an improvement, not a drawback.

EPHONE M8 TV cell phone

This thing sure looks like the product from Apple. Can you spell "clone," boys and girls? How about "blatant copy?"

This is an unlocked GSM cell phone for all the international cell phone bands: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz for $159.99 US. Drop in a SIM card and go.

Click here to check out the EPHONE M8 TV cell phone.

How to Connect to the Internet From (Almost) Anywhere

I will admit to being a “gadget freak.” I am interested in most any device that either makes life easier or else allows a person to do things that were not possible without the device. I have obtained a gadget that I find fascinating. It allows me to function in areas where I could not do so previously and I save money besides.

In fact, I am using the new gadget now as I write this article, using a laptop computer on a Greyhound bus traveling from Boston to New York City. I do not have any wires connected to my laptop. There is no power connection and no network connection. I am using a wireless network connection but not the so-called “Wi-Fi” wireless. The wireless connection I am using can communicate with cell phone towers many miles away.

My London Telephone Number

Attention U.K. readers: I now have a London telephone number: +44 208 133 8002. That is in addition to my USA telephone number and my worldwide Skype number. I obtained the London number as a convenience for the U.K. readers of this web site: You can also make a toll-free telephone call to me from anywhere in the world if you use Skype.

Anyone anywhere in the world can always contact me by going to most any page on the newsletter's web site and clicking on "Contact Us" in the Navigation menu in the upper right part of the page. Once on the "Contact Us" page, you can send me an e-mail and you will also see my USA telephone number, my London telephone number, my Skype contact information and my FAX number.

Make free or low-cost phone calls

Gizmo has added a new gadget that allows you to call Gizmo users, many toll-free numbers in the U.S., England, and the Netherlands, plus some SIP phones free of charge. Calls to regular landline and cell phones anywhere in the world are available at modest fees. For instance, calls to the U.S. and Canada are 1.9 cents a minute, Australia and New Zealand are less than 3 cents a minute, calls to Singapore are 2 cents a minute, etc.

Best of all, you do not need to load any software into your computer. This works on all modern Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. Plug in a headset and try this:

Is a $400 Netbook Useful?

A year ago I published a Plus Edition article describing a $400 "netbook" that I had just purchased. A "netbook" is a new term for a tiny, low-powered laptop computer, usually weighing two pounds of less. These are small computers that are cheaper and lighter than full-scale laptops.

In the year since I purchased mine, I have traveled extensively and have used it to check e-mail from many hotel rooms, airports, and other places. I have written newsletter articles using its built-in word processor and have also created web pages for the eogn.com web site using an HTML editor that I downloaded and installed on the netbook.

In short, I have used this two-pound, $400 netbook to perform almost all the same applications that I typically do with my older $1,000+ laptop.