The bizarre and macabre world of Skype Phones

Okay, so I wasn't too kind to Skype's new Prime feature yesterday, however, I am a big fan of Skype overall. I have now replaced my 'landline replacement' phone service at home with Skype (I am still using an Ol' Skool POTS line for most calls), and I have found the quality to be pretty darn good. Recently, I have been coming across a wide swath of Skype Phones and devices, and they range from the normal to the quite eccentric. While Skype's own Gear Blog seems to provide good insight and reviews on the latest and greatest products for Skype, I thought I would take a specific look at some of the more 'portable' gadgets for Skype, since many of us Skype users travel with our laptops and use Skype to call home from whereever we are at the moment. Obviously, we all like to travel light, so here are some interesting, if not weird options:

1. The Sony USB Mouse Phone (above Right), if you normally lug a mouse with you on the road, this option is essentially a mouse the folds open into a phone. This is very stealthy looking device, and it very sexy and functional in the classic sony style, but it begs the one question: Let's say I'm on the Skype Call, how do I use my computer?

Next up is the Panasonic Skype Router phone. Panasonic followed the lead of others like D-Link and Linksys and created a travel router. These small form factor routers are designed for travelers to create a hotspot out of your hotel room's wired connection. This one also comes with a Skype Phone as well (however, it is unclear to me if this is a true wi-fi skype phone than can be used with any open hotspot, or if it will only work with this hotspot). Again, an interesting concept, complete with a leather travel case, but do you really want to shlep this around on business trips, when you can by the Belkin or Netgear phones for less?



Finally, the Kensington's PC Card phone rounds out this interesting trio. Essentially, this is a bluetooth Skype Handset. No LCD, nothing fancy, just your average bluetooth headset but in a handset form factor. But here is the kicker - it fits into a PC card slot and charges itself off of your computer's battery - I smell a winner.

If by chance you make skype gadgets, and you want me to review one, please feel free to contact me :)

If only it came in my Toyota

BMW and Google announced today that you can now send Google maps directions and info straight from Google Maps to the BMW's Assist GPS system. While the likelihood of me ever owning a Bimmer is slim, this shows that Car manufacturers are embracing technology more and more. C|Net now even offers a Car Tech site, where they review all of the latest in-car technology. It seems that every car now has a factory-installed Bluetooth hands-free option that let's you talk over the stereo system, and many more offer various iPod and MP3 intergration options. Still, the Bimmer is probably one of the first to be net-connected.

Interestingly enough, about 3 years ago, I was at a conference and saw a presentation by someone from Microsoft regarding where they felt mobile technology was going. The presentation showed a demo of someone walking into his car and having it automatically recognize his PDA. The car could read incoming e-mails and voicemails (integrated into one inbox) and could also access the PDA's contact database to make phone calls via voice dialing.

While we are not quite there yet, we've definitely come a long way baby!

Web 2.0 Mashups are so yesterday

While everyone and their sister is trying to come up with code mashups (i.e. plot your flickr pictures on Google Maps), a guy named Chris Hughes (see the accompanying video), has found a way to use a Nintendo Wii remotes motion sensing capabilities to control his Roomba. This is such a great concept. 20 years ago, even our phones were closed boxes, now everyone can be their own hacker. Don't like your alarm clock? Want to use your cell phone to shut your lights on and off. And if you don't want to go onto the Internet, you could just as easily buy books on these subjects in your local bookstore.

Kudos to you Chris Hughes, and all of the other people out there who don't ask why, but why not.

The second end of the VoIP Candle

As Murphy's law dictates, a newer better technology will come along the day after you bought the latest and greatest technology, rendering it obsolete. Just the other day, I blogged about SkypeOut and my new Skype phone, and today I discovered that T-Mobile has rolled out its Hotspot@Home service. Essentially, for an extra $20/month on top of your T-Mobile bill you get a phone that can connect to either a wi-fi network (your home or any other public wi-fi network) or to the cellular network. When on Wi-Fi calling is free anywhere in the US and unlimited. It can also supposedly switch over seemlessly from Wi-Fi to cellular networks and back again.

Of course, I am trying to see the real benefit in this? I guess this works if you have broadband at home but bad cellular coverage, or if you talk a lot in proximity to wi-fi networks and the $20 unlimited will provide you with cost savings. It goes without saying that if I am in a Foreign country and I can get my US phone to ring without having to pay international roaming, this would be tremendously beneficial.

But all that aside, the concept of UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access), and T-Mobile's launch of it, shows that the VoIP candle is being burned on both ends. On one side you have startups like Skype and Vonage that are trying to bridge VoIP to traditional phone networks using PSTN access points, and on the other you have cellular carriers looking to roam seamlessly between their Cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

A couple of years ago I made a prediction that in 3-5 years everything will be running off a giant IP-based platform. At least one of my predictions is coming slowly to fruition

My Review of the iPhone (uh... the Linksys CIT 300)

I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately I do not have the 'Inside Scoop from Infinite Loop'. I do however enjoy the many benefits of VoIP. While I have been using Skype for a while, I never quite viewed it as a true VoIP phone, in the vane of VoIP providers like Vonage, OptimumVoice, and Broadvoice who actually provide me with something akin to a traditional phone experience. Skype was too IM-like for me to consider using. But then the lovely folks at Skype offered free calling to any phone in the US and Canada for free to the end of 2006. Since my phone calls at work are metered (we are only allowed a certain amount of long distance calls for non-business use per month), I starte using Skype to make long distance calls via the PC. And while it wasn't perfect, I was definitely impressed with the call clarity, and its ease of use. Although I didn't use them, Skype also had dirt-cheap rates for international calling.

Still, as impressed as I was, I didn't look to skype as a full-time replacement for my VoIP phone - that is until last week. Last week Skype upped the ante in the VoIP wars - it began offering a full year of unlimited calls to the US and Canada for $29.95 (only $14.95 if you sign up before 12/31/06). In essence, Skype's annual rate is what its competitors charge monthly! While I was very intrigued by this, I knew that I couldn't sell skype to my wife without having a 'real' phone to call on. Since our VoIP phones offer low international rates, we actually use that as the only source to keep up with family and friends overseas.

Thankfully, I discovered the CIT 300 - one of new Linksys's new iPhones (touche Apple!) that connects to your PC and landline (i.e. it's a two-line phone) so that you can choose to make calls either from Skype or your home phone. I also discovered that with a $10 Linksys Rebate and Google Checkout's $20 discount, I was able to get this phone for $50 (a lot cheaper than the current Wi-Fi skype phones which run about $150 on the street).

So I bought the CIT 300, and have since installed it half-way (I don't have an available landline near my PC) and here are some of my impressions so far:

For starters, the phone has several large drawbacks. First and formost, this phone is just like all of the other USB phones that one can use for Skype in that it requires you to interact with the existing Skype application to work. This means that your computer will always need to be turned on with Skype running and you being logged in. Essentially, the Skype phone is set up so that all of your audio for Skype calls is routed through the phone. This means that if you don't have the phone handy (or if someone else is using it for a landline call), you won't be able to answer a skype call with your PC. In addition, there is no way (that I have discovered yet) to make a call directly from your PC without dialing it from the handset. So if you are sitting at the computer and want to call someone, you need to initiate it from the phone first, or change your Audio settings.

Another inherent issue with Skype is that it allows you to log in from multiple places at once. If someone tries to call you on Skype, and you are logged in at Work and at home, it will ring in both places, but whoever picks up first, wins. So if your CIT 300 is at home, and someone answers it while you are waiting for a work call, you won't be able to pick it up. It can also be annoying to have the phone ring at home even if they know not to pick up.

2 other pet peeves of mine about this phone - to dial a landline using Skype, you need to either prefix your number with 001 or a + sign, otherwise it won't go through. In addition, there is no way to bridge the gap between the landline and Skype - so if you want to make a three way call, you will need to do it with SkypeOut and not the landlines.

Quirks aside, this is a good phone. All of my skype contacts come through to the handset for speed dialing (both Skype contacts and landlines that I have added to Skype as SkypeOut contacts), and the speaker phone is great. Call Quality is as good as your skype quality - i.e. it's not the phone's fault, and the backlit keys make it easy to dial in the dark.

All told, this phone is a decent option if you want to use Skype for VoIP, but if you can afford it, you will get a little more flexibility with a Wi-Fi skype phone or Linksys' CIT-400 iPhone (which has skype built-in, and doesn't require your computer to be on to work).

One more note, it seems that these Linksys phones allow for multiple handsets, but I have yet to find where they offer an individual handset for sale. However, since they just released some new products in the 'iPhone' line, it could be that those are not too far away.

Off the Spot?

A while ago, there was a lot of buzz about Microsoft's SPOT Technology. SPOT was an information delivery technology that used FM radio frequencies to send data updates to small devices like watches and clocks. In addition to getting atomic time, you could also get stock quotes, sports scores and the weather. While people initially greeted it with great fanfare, it seems to have fizzled out a little bit.

Yes, just like Microsoft always does, it seems to be fiddling with new uses for it, and maybe in the 3rd round of revisions they will get it right, but I wonder, will its promise be utilized? Melitta thinks so, they created a coffee maker with SPOT built-in to give you the weather and time along with your daily grind. I wonder what comes next for SPOT? I wonder if Microsoft has any SPOT announcements brewing (pun intended) for CES?

Regardless of the early adopter caché of such devices, will people really shell out $200 for a coffee maker that tells you the weather?

Would you pay almost $300 for a headset to use with a free service?

Sometimes I feel like I work for Google :). Okay, wishful thinking, I know, but I do use and like a lot of their products. I happen to like their e-mail, Calendar and talk products a whole lot. I was pleased to see that Google started to sell headsets for Google Talk, but to my chagrin, the wireless one (to the right) costs almost $300! I can imagine that there are a handful of people out there willing to shell out for something with a Google logo on it. But if you really want a wireless headset to use with Google talk or any other VoIP or Voice chat service, why not get a bluetooth one? For under $100 you can get a decent bluetooth headset and probably even a USB Bluetooth adapter so that you can use it on your PC, and even better, you can use the same headset for your Bluetooth phone to boot.

Now I need to decide on which Voice chat client I like best and then get other people to start using it.

Verizon One Phone - First Impressions

If you are like me, or any other broadband user, you have the 'desk'. This desk probably has 3 or 4 devices on it - A telephone, a wired or wireless router, a cable/dsl modem and/or your computer. It is probably also a mess of cables and clutter as well. The there is the power issue too - All of those devices and their huge power bricks probably make it difficult for you to find space to plug them all in. The premise of the new Verizon One phone from Verizon is to consolidate all of that.

The Verizon One phone is not only a cordless land line phone, (with a base station speakerphone, I might add) but also combines a DSL modem, and Wired and Wireless router all into one unit. This of course might have started to Pique your interest, but as the infomercial salesman says - 'But wait, there's more!'

The Verizon One has a nice 7-inch touch-screen LCD screen that helps it serve as an internet connected appliance. Not only does it show caller IDs, the time and weather, but it can also serve up web snippets, the local weather, your calendar, and hand-scrawled notes for others in your family. Some might say that it's trying to replace not only the mass of cables and boxes on your desk, but the notes and calendars magneted to the fridge.

'But that's not all!'

You can also upload pictures to it and use them as the screensaver, so in essence, the phone becomes a digital picture frame as well.

I've been using a version of the phone (thanks Yussie!) for the past few days and so far the basic setup was relatively straightforward. However, I have still yet to access the advanced features - i.e. the online calendar integration and screensaver. I hope to get them working and update my review soon.

So far the only bad thing that I have to say about the device is that from the on-screen menu the only wireless setting that I can configure in the SSID. While the Verizon One does support WEP, WPA and some other standard wireless settings that most routers support, I had to access them by logging into the Verizon One's web admin tool, something that might not be so simple to do for the average wireless user. To be fair though, my phone might have an earlier version of the software, and the production versions might have improved upon this.

More to come.