Gadgets and VoIP

RedLaser for the iPhone

Do you own an Apple iPhone? If so, get RedLaser. It costs $1.99 and it more than paid for itself the first time I used it. I have now saved perhaps $100 in the past few weeks because of this program.

RedLaser converts your iPhone into an indispensable shopping companion. Have you ever seen a store employee in a grocery store or major chain store scanning product bar codes? Now you can do the same thing: you use the iPhone's built-in camera to scan the bar code on almost any product available for sale.

Now, here is the best part: unlike the store employee who is using a handheld scanner, your iPhone will immediately connect to RedLaser's servers on the Internet and look for a better price, either online, mailorder, or in any local store that has its catalog online.  To find local store prices, RedLaser uses the iPhone's internal GPS to determine your longitude and latitude and then looks for stores within a few miles of your present location.

The program uses the Internet to pull down a list of prices so you can see if you’re getting a good deal. You can scan a bar code and RedLaser will then display a list of stores with better prices within two or three seconds.

Carry a Scanner in Your Pocket

You may not know it, but you may already have a decent scanner in your pocket.

Technically, the typical desktop scanner is really a camera. A somewhat specialized camera, to be sure, but a camera nonetheless. In fact, many people don't use scanners at all. They simply use a good-quality digital camera. Now, thanks to some software, you can use your Apple iPhone camera as a scanner.

Scanner Pro 1.2 is the latest version of a popular iPhone application which transforms the device into portable scanner. You can snap a picture of a document or of an old picture, and Scanner Pro then converts the image to a PDF file in the same manner as a scanner.

The product becomes a bit more interesting when it is used in conjunction with two other products produced by other companies: Dropbox and Print n Share from EuroSmartz.

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.)

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.