Category: Articles

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Group Video Calling Now Free on Skype

skype group calling free

Skype set the standard for one on one video calling, but services like Facetime on the Mac and Hangouts through Google quickly ran with group video chat for free.

Skype offered a “Pro” version where you could conference call, but that was an additional cost over the free service. Announced today on the Skype blog, video group calls will now be coming to all for free. Initially available on the Mac, PC, and XBox One, free group calling will eventually make its way to all other platforms as well.

The one area Skype will still be behind is in video broadcast. Google scored a hit with Hangouts on Air, allowing users to broadcast publicly live, and automatically uploading that vid to Youtube. For folks coordinating podcasts, Skype could do well to offer some kind of video capture service to compete.

You can read Skype’s full PR below.

Continue reading “Group Video Calling Now Free on Skype”

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OnePlus Smash Your Phone Contest: When PR Encourages Irresponsible Behavior

oneplus one smash your phoneWhen you’re a newcomer you’ve got to build buzz. OnePlus is waking into a very mature market, so they need to get people talking. They need those internet points and hashtags and Youtubes. Their hook however is borderline irresponsible.

The OnePlus One smartphone looks like it could be an attractive competitor. The specs are cutting edge, comparable to many flagship devices currently on the market, and people are already talking about the intro level price of $299. It would seem that’s not good enough though.

The first batch of 100 One phones will be filtered out to a select few contest winners. What’s the contest requirement? Smash your current high end phone, and you might be selected to be one of the first hundred.

Not just any phone will do either, the list is very specific limited to phones manufactured within the last two years. HTC Ones, Galaxy S3-5’s, LG G2’s, and high end Lumias. The current cream of the smartphone crop, all still functional and competitive handsets.

The messaging is clear if a bit mean-spirited:

“Look at all these folks ready to smash their own flagship phones for a CHANCE to get our phone. That means it’s desirable!”

Using customers’ own social media followers to spread videos, hope for a few viral hits, and a good chunk of their marketing is tackled for cheap.

It’s all in good fun right? Continue reading “OnePlus Smash Your Phone Contest: When PR Encourages Irresponsible Behavior”

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Please don’t buy this MicroUSB adapter for the Galaxy S5…

microusb adapterIn the past, we used to have to deal with the scourge of proprietary phone connectors. Buy a new phone, toss all your old accessories and re-buy cables and chargers. Then Mini-USB started catching on, and everything got a lot easier. Sure, the transition from Mini-USB to Micro-USB meant re-buying stuff, as did the iPhone switch from the old Dock Connector to the Lightning port, but you could better count on a number of people around you using the same accessories as you. It was an actual ecosystem.

Whenever something like a connector changes, people freak out, but the nice thing about the move from MicroUSB2 to MicroUSB3, is that you won’t need any adapters or new cables. The port INCLUDES a USB2 connection. It only adds a couple pins for additional speed and feature support. All of you old cables will still work, so that adapter shown at the top is pretty much useless. It’s a placebo. Please, don’t buy it.

galaxy s5 microusb3 port

If you need any confirmation, below is a video demo of using a MicroUSB2 Flash Drive adapter on the Galaxy S5’s MicroUSB3 port.

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Help SomeGadgetGuy: What’s Your Favorite Cooking/Recipe App?

jalepeno pepper macro picShort and sweet folks. I love cooking. I love tech. I’m looking to combine those passions more, so:

What’s your favorite app to help you manage your kitchen activities?

Make sure you list what platform it works on too.
We’ll collect the list and write it up on Monday!

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FCC Backpedals on Net Neutrality: The Death of the Fair Internet

FCCBroken by the Wall Street Journal, in a disappointing turn around from their previous position on protecting fair pricing and net neutrality, the FCC will be proposing new rules allowing internet carriers to negotiate individual rates with content providers for a guaranteed “high speed lane”.

This means a company like Netflix will have to undergo distinct negotiations with TimeWarner, Verizon FiOS, Comcast, and every other ISP, to pay additional rates for bandwidth and to reduce the threat of their service getting throttled.

ISP’s can also negotiate separate rates for different services, meaning they can be the gate keepers. They can decide which services will be successful on their networks. If they choose, blocking certain services from competing.

Say Comcast wants to promote their own video-on-demand service, why not quadruple the rate Netflix pays for a consistent data stream? If Netflix doesn’t pay it, you can throttle the service which will upset their customers. If they do pay it, chances are pretty good they’ll eventually have to pass those costs down to their customers also upsetting them. It’s a win win for nobody except the ISPs.

This could also have a chilling effect on innovation, as any successful start up which requires any consistent bandwidth will likely be priced out of the market before they have a chance to actually build a fan base.

The proposal was drafted by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, and will be distributed to the four other FCC commissioners Thursday where it can be amended. After the amending process it will be up for a final vote on May 15th.

For those interested, here’s where you can find contact information for the members of the FCC.

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“Nexus Killer” OnePlus One Smartphone unveiled at $299

oneplus-one-official-image-3This is shaping up to be an interesting entry in the Android ecosystem.

The OnePlus One smartphone aims to take down current flagship phones with cutting edge specs at a price point lower than Google’s Nexus. It took me a second to realize the name of the company was “One Plus” and the first phone is the “One”. We’ll have to see if HTC will weigh in on that branding…

“We are not a company looking to go global. We were born global, with employees hailing from all corners of the world.”
-OnePlus Mission Statement

The spec sheet is formidable for a $299 phone. A 5.5″ 1080p screen, protected by Gorilla Glass 3, will be powered by a Qualcomm 801 series chipset. The camera is a 13MP Sony sensor capable of 4K video recording. 16GB of built in storage (though there is no SD card slot), and 3GB of RAM for demanding services and games. A 3100mAh battery should provide almost two day run time. Triple microphone arrangement for stereo recording and noise reduction, and rear firing stereo speakers complete the hardware.

oneplus-one-official-image-9Jumping the price $50 will move you from 16GB of storage to 64GB. A welcome change in pricing as most manufacturers supply an extra 16GB with a $100 price increase.

The radios on board look like they’ll be fully compatible with AT&T’s network. Looking at the various bands included, you should see support for T-Mobile LTE, but it might not work well on their 3G network.

In all this looks like an ambitious device at any price. Moving this phone at roughly half the price of our current flagships certainly opens up some exciting potential.

One area the team might be saving some money is on software. The OnePlus One uses a build of CyanogenMod, a custom version of Android built by a team of developers off of the Android Open Source Project. It’s known for being an aggressively lean and fast flavor of Google’s OS. Since OnePlus isn’t developing their own custom build of Android, and it doesn’t seem that they’re applying skins or themes either, it’s one area the company has been able to pinch some pennies.

Starting April 25th, the first 100 OnePlus One phones will be available via a “Smash” promotion, where customers can secure a One for $1 if they smash their old phone. I find promos like that to be a bit crass, as I’d rather see people recycle, but you can be sure there will be a line of people ready to grab an inexpensive phone even cheaper.

You can see more of the OnePlus One in their teaser video, or scroll lower for the full PR.

Continue reading ““Nexus Killer” OnePlus One Smartphone unveiled at $299″

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Nest Learning Thermostat now on Google Play

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Just in time for Earth day!
For you energy conscious folks out there, Google is now selling the Nest on Google Play!
$249 gets you a thermostat replacement which will connect to your home WiFi and learn your patterns to hopefully help you cut back on your energy usage.

Google purchased Nest back in January for $3 billion. In diversifying their product offerings, Nest looks like one of the first lifestyle products sold directly to consumers on Play.

Nest on Google Play

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HTC One M8 Camera outclassed by Galaxy S5, and it has NOTHING to do with MegaPixels…

Let’s get this out of the way right now. The One M8 camera is good. Maybe it’s even “very good”, but over the last year we’ve seen some excellent cameras bolted onto the backs of our phones by companies like Sony and Nokia.

WP_20140421_21_19_32_ProThe M7 was my favorite camera on an Android phone of last year, and was only bested by the likes of Nokia. It lost the resolution battle with only a 4MP sensor, but the combo of larger “UltraPixels” and Optical Image Stabilization made it one of the best devices to shoot on in indoor and low light environments. Outdoor pics were very good, low light pics were gorgeous, and video was nicely smoothed out by the stabilizing hardware.

My expectations were tremendously high for the M8.

Continue reading “HTC One M8 Camera outclassed by Galaxy S5, and it has NOTHING to do with MegaPixels…”

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