Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Texting (SMS) is certainly popular, especially amongst the younger crowd. In fact, one teenaged girl sends more than 600 text messages in a day — almost double what an average American sends/receives in a month. A 29-year-old man travelled from San Francisco to Green Bay to meet a woman he met via text message. It was love at first texting.

We’ve all heard of the term “speed dating”, which allows you to meet many people on several mini-dates usually lasting from 3 to 8 minutes. Well, how bout speed SMS dating, where you meet other texters with common interests simply using your mobile phone and Bouncephone. Bouncephone is free (standard carrier texting rates apply) and it’s accessible entirely from your mobile phone.

Here’s how it works.

Continue reading Single Texting Addicts - Meet Speed SMS Dating…

Tags: Bouncephone, dating, SMS, texting

Related Entries
• VoxOx Skype killer? -
  Nov 03, 2008
• Phonevite API released at ITEXPO -
  Sep 16, 2008
• Texting 911 for Help & Targeting Terrorists who SMS with Hellfire Missiles -
  Jul 16, 2008
• Pope Gets into Texting (Yes, That’s Right) -
  Jul 16, 2008
• Animal Crossing: City Folk adds VoIP & SMS -
  Jul 15, 2008
• truphone summer credit giveaway -
  Jul 01, 2008
• Mi⡝ mobile VoIP app -
  Jan 29, 2008
• Truphone 3.0 Released -
  Jun 29, 2007
• Skype cuts SMS rates again -
  Jun 04, 2007
• Skype cuts SMS prices -
  May 03, 2007

TrackBacks
| Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | VoIP & Gadgets Blog Home | Permalink: Single Texting Addicts - Meet Speed SMS Dating

Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

It’s been awhile (or a long while, in the case of the ARES CG6155) since we’ve heard about these machines, but ASUS has at long last decided to start shipping ‘em to retailers. The aforesaid gaming desktop still doesn’t have a publicly available price tag, but ASUS assures us that it’s out there now for those who know where to look. Thankfully, it was a bit (and we stress “bit”) more forthcoming with details on the G50 and G71 gaming notebooks, which are also available as we speak for $1,249.99 and take-your-best-guess, respectively.

Read - ASUS ARES CG6155
Read - ASUS G50 and G71

Permalink | Email this&nbsp|&nbspComments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

Dousing your gaming rig in oil is a technique we’ve seen from custom shops before, but not quite like the offerings from Minnesota-based start-up Hardcore Computer. Its Reactor line of submerged gaming rigs, shipping to real, live customers in about a month, use custom enclosures to dunk everything from the CPU to the SSDs in a blue-dyed, non-conductive concoction that we hope is mineral oil (it doesn’t break down and go rancid like canola). A pump circulates the liquid through a side-mounted radiator for cooling while all the wet components slide out of the top for potentially mess-free maintenance. You can get your choice of Core 2 Extreme processors, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, and even three GeForce GTX 280 GPUs stacked right on top of each other if you have the bank. Prices start at about $4,500, which isn’t as bad for a crazy setup like this, with a well-spec’d, triple-SLI machine coming in just under $10k. We’d certainly call that hardcore — despite the gushy center.

[Thanks, Havok and Jamie]

Read | Permalink | Email this&nbsp|&nbspComments

Original post by Tim Stevens

The Sling Media SlingCatcher media extender goes on sale today. It seems like we’ve been waiting for this product for about as long as we’ve awaited Guns and Roses′ “Chinese Democracy” album. In fact, I originally saw this product at CES back in 2007, and we still haven’t gotten our hands on it for more than a half hour, so I’d take this announcement with a large grain of salt.

The SlingCatcher ($299.99 direct) gives you access to all of types of digital content on your television–basically, if you can see it on your PC monitor, you’ll be able to see it on your TV. With the player you can stream content from your hard drive or the Web to your television.

Sling gave us a demo in our Labs recently, and we were able to stream YouTube, “South Park,” and Hulu.com videos to our television with a few mouse clicks. Unfortunately, the device does not also have Sling Media’s Slingbox functionality, but the interface does give you access to any devices connected to a Slingbox, if you have one. So you will be able to use it to watch Slingbox content on multiple TVs in your home, or really, anywhere.

In addition to streaming content to your television, you can attach a USB storage device directly to the SlingCatcher and broadcast content that way. The player currently supports WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, and Xvid, as well as a number of file formats including AVE, VOB, IFO, MPG, MOV, and WMA. The company is currently working on a program called SlingSync that will convert incompatible file formats into files that can be played on your television via the SlingCatcher.

Original post by Dan Evans

Some interesting 2Q08 VoIP numbers to share put out by iLocus. VoIP shows some slowing in some sectors, but growth in others. Considering the unstable U.S. economy, these numbers are still very impressive.

7.7 million VoIP access lines shipped during the quarter, down from 7.9 million lines in 1Q08. This represents second sequentially quarterly decline from 4Q07. Of the 7.7 million lines shipped during the quarter, estimated 6.8 million went towards residential VoBB. The remaining were deployed as IP Centrex lines.

6.8 million Class 4 VoIP softswitch licenses shipped during the quarter, down from 7.1 million in 1Q08.

8.9 million service provider media gateways ports shipped during 2ᾬ, up significantly from 8.1 million ports in the previous quarter.

5.2 million SBC sessions capacity shipped in 2ᾬ, down from 8.9 million in 1ᾬ. Revenue, however, did now show such a depression Q-o-Q. Revenue decreased 1.3% sequentially.
more…

via Packet Data Everywhere!

Tags: 2ᾬ, access lines, Class 4, iLocus, media gateways, Q2, sbc, voip, VoIP softswitch

Related Entries
• Number Portability problems -
  Sep 05, 2006
• SBC wants to extort VoIP service providers -
  Oct 31, 2005
• Digium Major Announcement - what can it be? -
  Sep 25, 2008
• Jazinga IP-PBX Launches -
  Sep 23, 2008
• Microsoft Office Communication Server ̶ ships in December plus Hosted OCS Coming -
  Sep 23, 2008
• HUD 3.0 for trixbox CE and any other Asterisk IP-PBX! -
  Sep 23, 2008
• Laughable Blog Aggregator and Linking to news sources -
  Sep 22, 2008
• Pro vs. G.I. Joe using SightSpeed Video/VoIP App -
  Sep 22, 2008
• Polycom KIRK DECT SIP Phones -
  Sep 22, 2008
• Fonality Targets Call Centers with Advanced Call Center Features -
  Sep 18, 2008

TrackBacks
| Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | VoIP & Gadgets Blog Home | Permalink: Q2 2008 VoIP Numbers

Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Desktops

Looks like EA’s about to cash in on all that “can it run Crysis” chatter — Crysis Warhead will be accompanied by the launch of a $699 Ultra-built gaming tower that should manage a consistent 30fps. Crytek has been testing on the so-called “Warhead PC” since early on the dev process, tweaking the engine to make sure the game ran well on the 2.66GHz 򪏔 Core 2 Duo, 512MB GeForce 9800GT and 2GB of RAM– the rule was “if it sucks on this, the whole thing sucks” — and it apparently cranks out consistently solid framerates at high quality settings. No word on an exact release date, but for $699 it’s not a bad deal — and hey, it plays Crysis.

[Via CNET]

Read - Article on Warhead PC’s development
Read - Tiger Direct info page

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Be warned: what you’re about to see, hear and experience should you venture down beyond the break is exceptionally odd. Like, bordering on creepy. It’s not so much the machine that’s eerie — after all, it’s just a home built image scanning sequencer that uses LDRs to measure grey-scales and trigger MIDI notes from a selected threshold — it’s the audio we’re concerned about. We’re talking funeral tunes at their finest, which is honestly a bit heavy at this point in the morning. Those who can take it know where to head.

[Via MAKE]

Continue reading Image scanning sequencer excites our ears, leaves blank looks on our faces

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

From all the coffee shop musicians here at Engadget, we’d like to sincerely thank Belkin for producing this marvelous device. For the rest of us who run around on stage like madmen, we have our doubts about how well this will work. Nevertheless, the BreakFree Connectors were designed to add a magnetic breakaway point in your 1/4-inch cable, meaning that things will simply snap away if too much pressure is applied. Sure, this could save you a mint in shredded cable costs, but we’d venture to say that only the calmer performers in attendance will really find it useful. Snatch (gently, of course) the BreakFree this September for $19.99 and grab a few extra tips for $9.99 per pair.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Read | Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Text messaging rates have always been a little ridiculous, but a new class-action suit filed in Mississippi alleges that virtually every wireless carrier you can think of is basically cheating you by charging you for received texts and not allowing you to turn the service off. The suit names AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, Cellular South, and Virgin Mobile (surprisingly, T-Mobile didn’t make the cut), and says that members of the class are entitled to relief for the unauthorized charges, wrongful collection, and unjust enrichment. Of course, this will all likely end in a useless settlement that nets subscribers like three extra text messages and a 20 percent discount on an “approved accessory,” while the plaintiff’s law firm banks millions, but we’ll see how things go.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

When MovieBeam shut down operations last December, we had a feeling we wouldn’t be mourning for long, but we definitely didn’t see it playing out like this. Reportedly, Movie Gallery is asking for bankruptcy court approval to sell its VOD service to one Dar Capital Limited for a cool $2.25 million. Should the deal go down, the firm would technically pick up 1,800 customers who had once shelled out for the dedicated set-top-box — but really, why on Earth would any halfway sane investor exhume this thoroughly decomposed corpse and attempt to breathe new life into it?

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Portable Audio, Wearables

Comically enough, these aren’t the first sunglasses we’ve seen with a hidden camera built right in, but for those who don’t need full motion video to catch someone red-handed, this much cheaper alternative should certainly do the trick. As you can tell from the not-at-all-noticeable modules flanking the sides, there’s a 1.3-megapixel camera up there along with a rechargeable Li-ion, 1GB of storage and a pair of earbuds to keep the elevator music going even after you reach the eleventh floor. You’ll also find USB 2.0 connectivity and a remote control for slyly snapping shots, but really, if you roll into a debutante ball with these gracing your face, expect your cover to be blown in record time.

[Via The Red Ferret Journal]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Household

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Kwikset_s_SmartKey_gives_lock_bumpers_a_whole_new_challenge’; No, we don′t recommend testing out your lock bumping skills on any building which you don’t own, but just in case you’ve fallen victim to a bumper in the past, Kwikset is out to put you back in charge of whatever’s behind door number three. Available in handsets, deadbolts, knobs and levers, the SmartKey technology effectively eliminates the possibility of using a rigged key to exploit the lock, and better still, the included Learn Tool enables owners to re-key a lock in under half a minute if necessary. Reportedly, the side-locking bar deadbolt system features ANSI Grade 1 certification and has passed “the most stringent lock picking standard.” ‘Course, it’s only a matter of time before the tinkerers of the world have even this all figured out, but hey, at least SmartKey puts you ever-so-slightly ahead of the curve, right?

[Via Apartment Therapy]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, HDTV

On the same day that Texas Instruments chose to showcase a new chip that would enable HD recording capabilities on cellphones, On2 Technologies is taking a moment from its hectic day in Barcelona to trumpet an all new 1080p hardware RTL video decoder. The Hantro 8190 reportedly supports Adobe Flash along with H.263, H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark and VP6 video formats, and it can even handle JPEG images up to 16-megapixels. According to On2, the device was created to be easily integrated with ARM, MIPS and “other embedded CPU and DSP cores,” and can supposedly decode 1080p H.264 video at 30 frames-per-second using a clock frequency of just 165MHz. As it stands, the Hantro 8190 is currently available for licensing, but only time will tell who’s going to bite.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Not to be confused with the Zune 2.3 firmware update, Microsoft is today pushing out the Zune 2.3 software update, which brings with it a whole slew of fixes but no real new features. If the rundown of those fixes given by the ever-helpful Cesar of the Zune Insider blog are any indication, however, it seems that there are few areas of that software that aren’t touched by the update. Among the problems getting ironed out are various Marketplace issues, as well as some some nagging podcast problems (like not being able to subscribe to anything larger than 10MB), setup issues, and UI mishaps, not to mention a whole mess of sync issues that have supposedly now been sorted, to name a few things. In other words, the sort of update you probably want, and no doubt wish you never needed.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Peripherals

The absence of built-in power in eSATA devices has left many scratching their heads in frustration — not to mention the zanily designed devices that have been created to cope — but it seems someone up there feels our pain. And by “up there,” we mean the SATA-IO, which has finally sparked up a Power Over eSATA initiative in order to “provide power to eSATA devices sans the need for a separate power connection.” Put simply, the group is hoping to design a specification where power can be passed directly through a Power Over eSATA cable, and yes, they are aiming to “maintain compatibility with the existing eSATA connector form factor.” Looking for a date of completion to circle? Try “the second half of 2008″ — and that’s just for finalizing the paperwork.

[Image courtesy of ExtremeTech]
[Via Tom’s Hardware, thanks Stephen]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph