Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Telephony
How To Make Free Calls on Skype (including Skype for iPhone)
Apr 17th
If you’re too cheap to shell out the $3/month for outbound calls on Skype, you’re limited to free Skype-to-Skype calling.
That’s pretty good as it is since the entire world is waking up to Skype and millions of people are now on Skype. As the network effect grows, I wonder what Skype is going to do after it obtains total world domination (but that’s a different blog post in itself).
It’s catching on so much that eBay, the owner of Skype is spinning off the business as a separate sustainable entity. Sypke for Business is even a legitimate consideration for small business owners or consultants on the road.
But the fact remains that you’re a cheapskate, looking for a way to make completely free long distance calls through your computer to non-pc phones like cell phones, or landlines.
Perhaps you just need outbound calling capability for the rare occasion that your cell phone is not with you, out of batteries, or if you’re not in the USA (and trying to call back home).
Here’s the tip of the day for Skype – which also works on the iPhone as well by the way . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Gain New Super Powers With Your Voice
Mar 18th
Some people are loud mouths.
Now they officially have a reason to be proud. Their voice just gained new super powers.
Demonstrating this new cell phone trick to friends will make you the envy of all.
For example, what if you could simply speak into your cell phone phrase like, “all the things my wife said I had to by at the grocery store” and voila! you get the entire list verbatim. And I mean verbatim!
This new trick may just save your life or at least your hide some day. What is it?
It’s a neat new technology that’s being previewed by Microsoft and available as a free download for Windows Mobile phones right now. . . Read the rest of this entry »
“Mr. Watson. Come here — I want to see you.”
Jan 26th
On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the leap into the world of telecommunications when he “talked through electricity” to his assistant Thomas A. Watson.
“Mr Watson! Come here — I want to see you.” was the first request sent through the beginnings of the telephone.
But today, there’s ways to make that same request REALLY come true, especially the part “…I want to see you“.
A new site, Tokbox.com just might be the Tivo of video conferencing. The free service has simplified the sometimes convoluted act of video conferencing with no downloads or software installations.
Recently, I was 70 miles away from a regularly scheduled group meeting. Instead of missing the meeting or rescheduling becuase I wasn’t available, we just hopped onto tokbox.com and connected live via voice and video.
The beauty of this service is that if you have more then two parties, Read the rest of this entry »
Is 46% Taxes Reasonable?
Jan 10th
VoIP is one of the best things that the Internet era has brought to the world, even if Vonage is having trouble right now staying afloat.
While it’s here, you surely should look at Vonage and other VoIP providers for cheaper long distance for your home or business. That’s one of the main reasons why you get a broadband phone line – save money.
But after looking at your bill, you may not think that VoIP is really there to save you money. Take a look at one of my VoIP line bills that I received from Vonage recently:
How To Make WiFi VOIP Calls On Your Cell Phone
Sep 17th
Convergence is hitting the cell phone.
Walt Mossberg just wrote about T-Mobile’s launch of the wifi/cellphone that automatically switches from one to the other whenever you enter/leave a hotspot. If you start a call on wifi and leave the hotspot coverage area, it automatically switches the call over to the cellular network and vice versa. But what if you don’t want T-mobile? Or want to make voip calls on your own smartphone? Here’s how. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Vonage Deal: Unlimited International Calling to 17 Countries for $6/month
Sep 12th
Talk is cheap these days. You don’t really even care about switching to save money on Long Distance within the USA anymore.
But for international callers, it’s still worth it to look around and find the best deals to pay less and talk more.
Especially for those with family overseas, this is a great time to try VoIP calling plans that offer rates like UNLIMITED talk time to various countries for less than a quarter a day. . .
AT&T Wireless Legally Prohibits the Apple iPhone Users from using VoIP, Steaming Video and more?
Aug 28th
SkypeforIphone.com and other neat services are now starting to emerge that aim to really supercharge the abilities of the Apple iPhone on AT&T Wireless. But user-beware. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems that the AT&T Wireless Terms of Service for the wireless data services portion prohibits a lot of things you may not be aware of — including the fact that AT&T can kill your service without notice if they suspect you are using the iPhone for no-no activities.
Here are some of the interesting snippets that outline what you’re NOT allowed to do with your Apple iPhone: Read the rest of this entry »
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!