Skype 2.5 Beta Reviewed

Skype 2.5 Beta Reviewed
One hundred million downloads and I'm not one of them. So far, I've been immune to the charms of Skype, wanting another instant messaging/voice/webcam service like I want another root canal treatment. That's not to say I haven't used the service, but only on other people's computers. Skype works well, and I understand why people like it; I've just never needed it.

Our reviewer, Davis D. Janowski, says that this is the easiest Skype to date, but current users may suffer from "beta fatigue" if they try to keep up with every new release.

I know people who use Skype in their small businesses, but in my experience, connection quality can sometimes be less than the image I'd want to project.

Read our review of Skype 2.5.

It's Samsung's Q1 "Origami" Handheld--and It's a Yawn

It's Samsung's Q1 "Origami" Handheld--and It's a Yawn
This is another of those "fools rush in" stories. It involves the first product to arrive from the Microsoft/Intel Ultra-Mobile PC development effort. And it proves what we've known all along: It's difficult to create a useful computer that's smaller than today's notebooks, especially at a good price. This new 1.7-pound tablet doesn't do very much and costs a mere $1,100.

Our review tells the whole sad story. If you've been watching the tiny PC space for a while, you already know the complaints: Too small for some things, yet too big for others, no keyboard, not a very good tool for business applications, better for media apps, but--Yipes!--look at the price.

How is it that companies like Samsung always get drawn into projects like this? Next time, they should hold onto their money. What a disappointment.

Read it and weep.

Ring Central's 800-Number "Find Me" Service

Ring Central's 800-Number "Find Me" Service
Here's a way for small businesses to get big company telephone features without spending a pile of money. It's called Ring Central, and it impressed me enough that I've just signed up for a small business that I'm helping a friend to start. (Configuration took less than 15 minutes.)

With Ring Central, we now have a single 800-number that can reach all four of us individually, even though we are spread across four states. Voice mail is delivered to our e-mail inboxes, and the system can also track each of us down to answer a call live, if that's what we want. Ring Central will call several numbers--home office, home, cell--sequentially and then take a message if the person can't be reached. Is this unique? No. But it's simple, easy, inexpensive, and makes our little group much easier for outsiders to find. Plus, we're getting a "vanity" 800 number that's easy for our partners to remember.

Thanks to my pal, Jim Newton, for recommending Ring Central. It turns out we have a 2003 review that's still pretty accurate, but I'm planning to write an update and post it over at Gearlog.com.

Read the review.

A Great Price on a Lenovo Small-Biz Desktop

A Great Price on a Lenovo Small-Biz Desktop
If you're looking for a desktop system for a small business/home office and aren't already under Michael Dell's spell, you might want to check out the Lenovo 3000 J105. This is a low-cost ($390 to $529, less monitor) AMD Athlon-based tower that comes with 512MB RAM and an 80GB hard drive. It's not a stellar performer, but it's attractive (in a businessy way) and seems well built.

I have been surprised at just how quickly Lenovo, the former IBM PC business unit, has cut branding ties to its Big Blue past. This doesn't seem to have hurt them, and quality seems to have held up, which isn't surprising since Lenovo has long been IBM's manufacturing partner and took IBM's old management team as its own.

Read Joel Santo Domingo's review.

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Cingular to spend $2 billion to become AT&T Wireless -- again

After Cingular spent $4 billion to change all AT&T Wireless stores to Cingular, they're spending $2 billion to change back to AT&T Wireless. Unfortunately, the bouncy, orange, person looking thing will be no more.

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'World's oldest person' turns 128

According to national records, Hernandez was born on May 3, 1878, in one of the countryâ??s central provinces, where she gave birth to 13 children. She now has 60 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren and 25 great-great grandchildren.

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Rails-inspired PHP frameworks

A detailed comparison of six popular PHP frameworks inspired by Ruby on Rails: CakePHP, Symfony, PHP on Trax, Code Igniter, Biscuit and Pipeline.

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Israeli Hackers Leave A Message To Iran

To â??celebrateâ?? the 58th independence day of Israel, Israeli hackers hacked several Iranian web sites such as the ministry of sciences and technology (which is responsible for the development of nuclear technology in Iran). Visitors to the sites got messages, and some history and geography lessons to the Muslim world and to the Iranians people .

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Google Is Full ?

Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt: "Those machines are full," he said. "We have a huge machine crisis."

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