By
Andrew Brennan on May 23, 2008 in 3 Skypephone, Mobile, Webcams.
Here are some recent stories about Skype gear in the news:
It's all after the jump...
By
Andrew Brennan on May 15, 2008 in 3 Skypephone, Miscellaneous, Mobile, Nokia, Sony.
You may have already heard about the Skype Nomad--intrepid Australian Rebecca Campbell is travelling the world for 33 days, only sleeping while on the move, blogging about her trip, and raising money for charity (Motivation). She's using Skype to stay in touch and plan parts of her trip (you can send her recommendations and tips--she's 'theskypenomad').
In addition to all her travelling and photo-taking and blog writing, Rebecca's been writing a column in the UK's Telegraph. But one thing that she hasn't mentioned yet is the full list of gear she's carrying. There are tons of ways to use Skype on the go, but Rebecca is perhaps taking it to the extreme--when you're constantly on the move, light gear is of utmost importance.
Here's her full list:
She's got some neat stuff with her--and with the 3 Skypephone and 3 broadband dongle she can get online really easily whenever she's in a 3 territory. Still, she's already found that WiFi isn't exactly ubiquitous and you can't always be connected.
Rebecca's going to be passing through the UK later on her trip, and I'm going to try to be one of the many meeting up with her when she's stopping at Skype's office in London. Do you have any questions you'd like me to ask Rebecca? Leave 'em in the comments.
By
Andrew Brennan on January 25, 2008 in 3 Skypephone, Skype Mobile.
Our friends over at 3mobilebuzz continue to scour the web for great news and reviews of the 3 Skypephone. (I'm still loving mine, by the way--porting my mobile number over to 3 was quite painless and now I'm using my 3 Skypephone exclusively, which is great). Anyways, until the end of this month 3mobilebuzz are running another competition in the UK, this time through Facebook. They're looking for people who have racked up big phone bills from making international calls from their mobiles. The person who made the most expensive call last year is the winner, and gets £500 to pay off the bill. He or she also gets a pair of 3 Skypephones, so calls like that will never have to happen again. (Three runners-up also get a pair of phones.)
All the relevant details (including terms and conditions) are on the Facebook page. Head on over, become a fan and share your story on the wall. There are some great ones on there already...
By
Andrew Brennan on December 18, 2007 in 3 Skypephone, Awards, Competitions, Mobile, Netgear, Webcams, Wifi phones.
Several interesting bits of Skype Gear-related news from the blogosphere recently, on a variety of devices that show off many of the different ways you can use Skype.
- Video: great story about usage and a Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF review
- Mobile: Results to 3mobilebuzz's recent contest: Why I need a 3 Skypephone
- WiFi phone: Netgear SPH200W one of Time's top 10 gadgets of 2007
- Headsets: A look at the FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset
My full take after the jump...
Continue reading "Gear News Roundup: A little bit of everything" »
By
Andrew Brennan on November 9, 2007 in 3 Skypephone, Skype Mobile.
News on the 3 Skypephone continues to tear up the blogosphere--and the team at 3mobilebuzz have been doing a great job of collecting it all: reviews, forum discussions, blog posts, competitions--there's a lot there. After a week of 3 Skypephone availability in stores, here are a few more highlights they've spotted:
The TFTS Hands On Review:
Of course, a great deal of this is down to Skype being so intuitive to set up and use in the first place, but where 3 have to be wholly commended is that, in bringing the service to a mobile device they have not, in any way, placed any barrier in the way of usability. This phone, then, positively oozes the very spirit of Skype – and that is to bring crystal clear VOIP technology to the masses - in a package that is as simple as dialling from a landline (if not simpler).
3 Skypephone as a video player:
Fresh Plastic has noted a program (SUPER) and some good settings for converting videos you've downloaded to play on the 3 Skypephone. The 3 Skypephone has a nice interface for YouTube built in, but if you want to save YouTube videos to watch whenever you want, you can use Zamzar (and convert them to 3gp for the phone in the process).
More applications for the 3 Skypephone:
Gerrymoth found (and put together in a single download) a bunch of java applications that work on the 3 Skypephone, including mWallet, GoDiary and Wikipedia. I haven't tried them all (I'm still enamoured with java Google Mail and Maps, which work great), but it's pretty neat that the phone is so expandable.
Speaking of Java apps, I've got a a highlight of my own for the 3 Skypephone. This week Opera Mini 4 came out of beta--it's a java-based browser that renders whole web pages with a neat zoom feature; it works well on the 3 Skypephone. Opera Mini 4 also has support for RSS feeds and synching bookmarks with the desktop version of Opera. The browser built in to the 3 Skypephone is perfectly fine, but the Opera Mini zoom feature really puts the whole internet in your pocket--it goes well with the Skype that's always in your pocket. You can get more information (or download it onto your handset using the 3 Skypephone browser) by going to operamini.com.
By
Andrew Brennan on November 1, 2007 in 3 Skypephone, Skype Mobile.
Have you seen 3mobilebuzz yet? It's a new site from 3 "bringing you all the buzz about 3's mobiles, price plans, products and services." It just launched and so far it's been focusing on the 3 Skypephone, chronicling (in impressive detail) reactions from journalists and bloggers (including yours truly) to the new phone.
It already has a ton of great content; I've got a few favorite posts which include:
Posts on the site are going up like wildfire--it's becoming a fantastic resource. Check it out here.
By
Andrew Brennan on November 1, 2007 in 3 Skypephone, Skype Mobile.
I've made a little video on the 3 Skypephone, showing off the Skype interface, mobile TV / media player, camera, settings, and Java on the phone:
This is my first video for the blog, so (be gentle!) apologies that the audio levels are a bit wonky. Any other features you want to see or learn more about? Let me know in the comments.
By
Andrew Brennan on October 30, 2007 in 3 Skypephone, Skype Mobile.
After yesterday's announcement (and before it's in stores on Friday) I thought you might like to see some photos of what the 3 Skypephone's user interface looks like. It runs Qualcomm's BREW platform.
When you first turn on the phone, you see the 3 logo (followed by the Skype logo and then the iSkoot logo--iSkoot is the company that helped develop the Skype software in the phone.). On the right you see the phone's main home screen. The top soft buttons launch 3's Launcher and Planet3 web services, and the Skype button opens up the Skype client.
