Phone New Update: June 2009

Zenofone free credit offers is back !!

Few days back, we posted about Zenofon. Zenofon was offering free calling credit worth $10 but when Zenofon grew up they reduced the offered free credit to $1.25.

Later, the free credit offer was suspended., but now the free credit offer by Zenofon is back. Zenofon is offering all its new users free credit worth $1. You can use this free credit to call anywhere in world. Yes this works for making free calls to India. Only thing to note is that Zenofon free credit offer is effectively valid for USA users because you need a USA number to use Zenofon.

The calls are made via access number (Pin less dialing). But, if you have a USA phone number (many of you must be having), then you can use Zenofon.

One more point to be noted is that you can register with Zenofon only via invite (only then you get this free credit). So, better to register as soon as possibe as Zenofon can again suspend this offer. Hurry !! Register with Zenofon.

Canon PowerShot SD880 IS

The 10 megapixel PowerShot SD880 IS Digital Elph is the follow up to the popular SD870 IS, and what a worthy successor it is. It's capable of producing truly excellent pictures for a camera of its size and it has nice components for a sub $300 model including a wide angle lens and optical image stabilization. There are a couple weaknesses, but nothing that keeps it from being an excellent point and shoot camera.

At 6.3 ounces and measuring 3.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 0.9 inch deep, it'll fit more comfortably in a pants or coat pocket than a shirt pocket, but it's by no means big. Compared with the SD870 IS, the SD880 IS has the latest version of Canon's image processing engine, Digic 4, jumps from 8 megapixels to 10, and offers a few more scene modes. The 4x f2.8-5.8 28-112mm lens is a highlight of the camera the wide angle is so nice to have on a camera this small, and it's a tad longer zoom than on the SD870.

It also records video using the H.264 codec instead of Motion JPEG. The directional pad is pretty standard; instead it's the thumb dial that adds interest here. In SCN mode, the dial is used for rifling through your options. It's also used for swapping between Auto and Program in Shooting mode and tone control in Video. It works well, but you can barely feel stops when spinning the dial making it just a little too easy to switch out of whichever mode you want.

The dial can be used for navigating Menu settings, too. Overall, I like the key design and wheel, but I can also see it confusing new users to the point of frustration. The buttons have a pillowy, convex shape, which is not only attractive, but makes for unmistakable presses. The Print and Share button can be turned into a shortcut key to access one of nine shooting functions. As for performance, the SD880 IS is fractionally slower than the first rate SD870 IS.

Time to first shot is 1.2 seconds and you can shoot again in 1.9 seconds. Shutter lag was great just 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.8 in dim. The only marked decrease in speed is if you're using the flash. The shot to shot time extends to 3.2 seconds, which is a generally slow time and nearly a second longer than the SD870 IS. The typical burst speed is a respectable 1.4 frames per second.

The 3 inch Canon PureColor LCD II performed well in direct light and has a wide viewing angle. More impressive than the SD880 IS's speed is the picture quality. Colors were always natural and vibrant. White balance was accurate and pictures showed good detail and sharpness at ISO 200 and below. Also, if you take a lot of landscape photos, note that the SD880 IS is prone to fringing. Video is better than average considering it tops out at 640x480.

Kodak EasyShare M1033

Measuring 2.3 inches tall by 3.7 inches wide by 0.8 inch deep, the M1033 slides easily into a back pocket, and at 5.2 ounces, it won't weigh you down, either. The camera's mostly metal body comes in six colors black, silver, pink, copper, red, and gray feels sturdy, and has a clear cut design, so you can hand the camera to anyone and let them shoot away. Buttons for the shutter, power, flash, and mode selections are on top, flush with the body, adding to the camera's streamlined looks.

On back is a 3 inch LCD that's bright enough to remain visible in sunlight. A relatively large rocker zoom switch for the 3x 35-105mm equivalent f3.1-5.7 lens is well positioned to the top left of the screen. Below it sits a five way joystick for navigating menus and for the playing of images and video. That's flanked by Delete, Playback, Menu, and Kodak's standard Share button, which lets you tag an image to be printed or e-mailed the next time the camera is connected to a computer.

Powering on to first shot takes 1.7 seconds on average and typically takes the same amount of time from shot to shot. Using the flash adds nearly a second to that. Shutter lag is very good for its class at only 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.9 in dim. Burst mode offers only a three shot spurt in approximately 1.4 seconds. It's important to note that if you let it by pressing the shutter button completely rather than halfway and waiting for a focus confirmation will take a picture without locking focus.

This does let you capture images extremely quickly, but they'll frequently be blurry. Press the Mode button and you get four options Smart Capture, Program, Scene, and Video. Smart Capture mode integrates scene and face detection, optimized auto ISO, and a broader dynamic range among other things, so you truly don't have to worry about a setting to take a decent picture. This mode also applies Kodak's PerfectTouch technology to help improve detail and contrast.

In general this system works, producing fine photos regardless of subject or lighting conditions. Which is good, since the camera always starts in Smart Capture, regardless of your settings at power off. Kodak EasyShare M1033 also has 22 Scene modes you can switch to in seconds. These include standards like portrait and landscape as well as things like in camera panorama (left to right and right to left), candle light, panning, and blur reduction. The Program mode gives you slightly more control for exposure compensation and metering, color (natural, low, black and white, sepia), white balance, and ISO. It's nice to have, though I'm not sure it's wholly necessary.

Google Voice Service opens up : Apply and register

Sometime back, we blogged about the Google voice service. Actually Google took over Grandcentral voip service and launched it in the name of Google Voice. Earlier the Google Voice service was available to only already registered grandcentral users, but now Google Voice service has opened up for other people too.

Google Voice gives users a single number for all their phones. With already such a big name in the internt world, Google Voice is sure to get a huge number of users pretty soon. Google has always been the leader in whatever field it enters, and I am sure its entering the Voip world will create some sort of insecurity in minds of other voip providers.

So, if you have already requested for invitation from Google Voice, you should have got an invite to join their service (or will get it in a few more days). But if you have not filled for an invitation, its time to do so. Just fill this page of Google Voice, and they will send you an invitation to join their service.

YupeePhone adds Bangladesh to Free destination list

As we know that calling Bangladesh is quite expensive. Not many voip providers offers cheap calls to Bangladesh. Specially for calling Bangladesh mobiles, the call rates are high. Earlier Nymgo was offering unlimited plan to Bangladesh but now they have removed their plan.

But people who want to call bangladesh have many reasons to cheer about. YupeePhone has added Bangladesh Mobile to the free destinations for which the company offers 120 free minutes every month. (under its pay as you go plan).

The offer is active and all YupeePhone customers will be able to call Bangladesh Mobile for free, as long as they deposit $20 in their account every four months. The offer applies to existing and new customers. If a customer deposited $20 in the last 4 months, he/she will have 120 free minutes every month to call Bangladesh Mobile. These minutes are totally free and there will be no charge for them. The $20 will be available to use.

YupeePhone rate for calling bangladesh is 3.65 cents per minute (you can use your $20, hey those 120 fre minutes are apart from this).

Zenofone : Free Calling credit : Make Free Voip calls

ZenoFon, a brazil based new voip provider is offering a great voip deal. Zenofon is offering free calling credit to test their service. Initially Zenofon was offering $10 credit but now they have reduced this free calling credit to $1.25. (I guess this will be reduced further as more and more people join this new service). So, better to join it now !!

Mr. Hitesh, a regular reader of this blog first informed about Zenofon to us. Vikas also mailed about the same offer to us. You need not to have any credit card, paypal account to get this free credit. All you need to do is sign up with Zenofon and you will get your free credit worth $1.25.

The bonus credit is only through referral or Invitation. So you need to use our (or any other) referral link in order to register with Zenofon and get free credit.

The calling rates of Zenofon are cheap, so you will get most of your free talktime. No Pin needed. They give you USA numbers that you can forward to your International contacts. Call right from your cell phonebook, NO PINS or access numbers.

Change your Caller-ID
Pick the caller-ID that shows up when you call people. Keep people on a need to know basis.

Invite (referral system) to get commission (more free talktime) :
Everytime a new friend joins Zenofon using your referral, you get commissions. Just invite your friends and earn commission which can be redeemed for the free calls. You get 50 cents for each friend you refer.

So, register with Zenofon, get your free credit and make free calls.

YupeePhone offers $1 free credit : One Day offer

Our last post on YupeePhone received a good response, many people liked the offer. At present, YupeePhone offers one of the cheapest call rates to India. YupeePhone is currently charging just 1.65 cents per minute to call Indian mobile.

Well YupeePhone has come up with another great offer so that more and more people can take the benefit. YupeePhone will offer 2000 free accounts on Thursday June 25, 2009. The offer will begin at 1pm (EST).

The best part is new account holders need not to purchase any plan (credit), nor do they need to have any credit card, or paypal account. Each account will have $1 to make free calls anywhere in the world.

You can use this credit to call anywhere in world, viz if you call Indian mobile you will get approx 60 minutes of free calls. So that makes this offer effectively "Free one hour calls to India"....Howz dat..?

Accounts will be given automatically to the first 2000 users who will correctly submit the signup form. The offer is valid for new CallerIDs only. Existing customers may signup, however they have to use the offer from another phone number and not from a number already registered with a YupeePhone account.

Panasonic TC-P54V10

The same basic story stays true for the TC-PV10 series, but it's even better than the G10. This Panasonic plasma has the same deep blacks that grace its less expensive little brother, and adds a couple of key improvements: better video processing to handle 1080p/24 sources, and more picture adjustments that allow it to transcend the limitations of THX mode. Its picture should satisfy all but the pickiest of videophiles, and it also outperforms any LCD based display, LED or otherwise, we've ever tested.

Beyond image quality, the V10 delivers plenty of features and an eye catching one sheet of glass design, for a combination that deserves serious consideration from buyers willing to pay for it. The 50 inch Panasonic TC-P50V10, but this review also applies to the 54 inch Panasonic TC-P54V10. The two sizes share identical specs and should have very similar picture quality.

The Panasonic TC-PV10 series also includes 58 and 65 inch models, but we will review those larger sizes separately when review samples are available later in 2009. Panasonic TC-PV10 is one sleek plasma. Its main external differentiator is what the company calls "one sheet of glass" design, where a pane of glass extends beyond the edge of the screen and over the bezel itself, leading to a seamless look that's even more impressive in person than in pictures.

(It's worth noting that only the 50 and 54 inch models feature the one sheet design the larger members of the series have the more traditional, visually separate bezel around the screen). The V10 series eschews the relatively bright silver fade along the bottom of the frame seen on the company's step down TC-PG10 models, instead opting for a much subtler silver accent that arcs slightly upward in the middle.

We think the V10 looks more attractive and sophisticated than the G10, and indeed it's one of the coolest looking TV designs we've seen this year. As Panasonic's nearly top of the line plasma series, excepting the Z1, the V10 models offer a couple of extras. One is the ability to refresh the screen at 96Hz, which allows the TV to properly maintain the cadence of film when fed a 1080p/24 source typically from a Blu-ray player (the refresh rate remains fixed at the standard 60Hz for non-1080p/24 sources).

The V10 also has a 48Hz setting, but we recommend using 96Hz instead since the 48Hz option can introduce flicker. (Here's where we mention that, like all Panasonic plasmas, the V10's spec sheet includes mention of a 600Hz subfield drive. Our best advice is to ignore this spec it has no visible bearing on picture quality, aside from a slight improvement in motion resolution that's extremely difficult to see.)

Panasonic TC-P50G10

Panasonic announced the TC-PG10 series at CES, we immediately knew it would go up against the Kuro in our lab. What we didn't know is that Pioneer would stop producing HDTVs, leaving the hill wide open for anybody to claim the king's throne. Panasonic G10 series is the new king. No, it's not as good overall as the soon to be extinct Kuro Elite, but it comes closer than ever in the arena of black level performance, and mounts a good fight in just about every other field of picture quality, with the exception of some color accuracy issues.

Panasonic steeped the G10 in extra features compared with its less expensive brethren, adding a THX mode that's largely responsible for its excellent picture, along with VieraCast for access to a limited range of Internet extras. The downside, as always, is that it costs significantly more than lower end models, but if you're looking for the best picture quality in a post Kuro world. The Panasonic TC-PG10 series is the safest bet so far this year.

The 46 inch model, the TC-P46G10 ($1,699 street price), but our remarks on picture quality also apply to at least two other models in the series, the 42 inch TC-P42G10 ($1,299) and the 50 inch TC-P50G10 ($1,999) all three share identical specifications except screen size. The largest model in the series, the TC-P54G10, also shares similar specifications, but the screen size difference is great enough to warrant another hands on evaluation when that model becomes available.

YupeePhone offers 120 free minutes every month : Cheap Voip calls

Few days back Tuitalk decreased their free minutes to India, Actionvoip increased their call rates to India. But you need not to worry as we have found another good cheap deal for calling India.

YupeePhone was discussed on this blog about 6-7 months back when they started their voip service. YupeePhone offered monthly plans for calling India, Pakistan and it was a big hit. However with time the popularity faded out But YupeePhone has again picked a boom in the voip market. This time YupeePhone has come up with some amazing plans, cheapest rates, good customer support, many calling options and lots of other features.

Though YupeePhone offers some great plans for calling a lot of countries, lets first discuss the plans for India.

YupeePhone Pay as you go Plan : You can test the YupeePhone service for as low as $2 (yeah unlike betamax it does offers you flexibility to buy such minimum credit).

The calling rate to India is just 1.65 cent per minute to mobiles. The cost for every phone call is calculated per minute and there are no connecting fees, weekly fees, or maintenance fees.

The best part (a good deal offered by YupeePhone)
All customers in the Pay As You Go plan can receive 120 free minutes every month to select destinations (INDIA included). In order to activate the offer you have to add at least an initial payment of $20 into your account and to keep it you have to add one $20 payment every 4 months. If you do not want to add more funds, you will just use your existing credit with our low rates and no free minutes.

If you use Free Pc to Phone unique YupeePhone link then you will additionally get 10% discount on all your YupeePhone deals.

YupeePhone monthly plan to call India (Family plan) :
Baby Freedom Plan ($19.95/mo)- India - 1200 Minutes per month. You can use the 1200 minutes to call landlines (fixed) and mobiles in India. You can call from AS MANY phone lines as you want. Your effective calling rates is just 1.67 cents per minute.

YupeePhone service can be used via SIP (using IP adapters) or Pc to Phone calling service using its softphone. You can also use access numbers (like a calling card). It offers access numbers in USA, Canada. It also offers callback feature.

For people for whom voip is blocked, YupeePhone offers a Free VPN connection even with the Pay as you go plan.

In my opinion, YupeePhone is sure worth a try. I am sure you will like the YupeePhone service. Are you using YupeePhone ? Do share your feedback with us, people from YupeePhone visit this blog regularly, so you will surely be heard.

Samsung Preston S5600

Samsung Preston S5600 mobile phone in global market. Boasting a compact design and intuitive usability, the new smartphone answers today�s customer needs of a full touch phone at an affordable price. Supporting 3G networks, Samsung is able to expand its full touch product portfolio and target various consumers.

Prior to the market availability, Samsung Preston has attracted tremendous market interest and demands. Samsung Preston attracts style conscious users with its slim and compact design. Full Internet browsing support with an accelerometer sensor for auto rotation also gives users exciting mobile Internet experiences via 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity.

Equipped with a 2.8 inch QVGA full touch screen, Samsung Preston adopted the TouchWiz User Interface and "Gesture Lock" feature, designed to customize and personalize the way you use your phone. Mobile widgets can be placed on the screen for one click access to your favorite applications.

Samsung Preston comes with a 3.2 mega pixel camera, Music Recognition using Shazam's "Find Music" service, and Multi codec support including H.263, MPEG4, and WMV. The handset's generous memory (80MB and Micro SD slot up to 8GB) ensures ample storage space for multimedia content. Samsung Preston will be available in Sweet pink, Snow white, and Charcoal grey colors. Samsung S5600 Preston will be available in Europe and Asia.

Samsung Jet S8000

Samsung Jet mobile phone offers the very best in speed, power, and dominant performance and will be at the subject of Samsung�s latest advertising campaign 'Impatience is a Virtue'. Samsung S8000 Jet is not simply another full touch mobile phone it is the must have product for those who live fast paced lives and want to pack more of everything in their day.

Samsung Jet epitomises speed, quality and choice with vivid display and a super fast processor which makes Jet the fastest full touch handset on the market today. Samsung Jet also supports the latest smartphone features which include multi task manager and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, bringing user friendly menu navigations in a sleek and compact design. Samsung Jet cell phone will be supported by a �5 million advertising campaign �Impatience is a Virtue'.

The campaign will run during the months of July and August and will challenge the assumption that impatience is bad, and look to emphasise how consumers increasingly want more of everything in their day to day life and how new Samsung Jet can provide this. Samsung Jet smartphone boasts worlds first in both display technology and speed of performance.

Its pioneering 16M WVGA AMOLED display (3.1") offers the most vivid and colorful full touch mobile experience available the WVGA AMOLED screen provides a resolution that is four times higher than a WQVGA screen. Its 800MHz application processor delivers breathtaking speed and stunning performance, making Jet the fastest full touch handset on the market today.

With its eye catching brilliant screen, Samsung's latest TouchWiz 2.0 user interface gives an unrivalled user experience and includes iconic new features such as motion UI, smart unlock, customisable widget screen, which are all perfect for managing your life at work and at play giving you what you want, faster than ever before..

ActionVoip again increases call rates to India

Are voip companies again moving towards the high call rates for India..? Is calling India free still not possible..?

Yesterday we talked about the Tuitalk now offering just 2 min /per call free to India. The post has received a lot of negative comments about the Tuitalk offer and I think Tuitalk seriously needs to think about their step.

The cheapest calling rate to India was offered by ActionVoip. Though the ActionVoip sites claim to offer about 1.2 cent per min to Indian landlines and 1.4 cent per min to Indian Mobiles but people posted comments on ActionVoip post that they are being charged more by this betamax company ActionVoip (about 2 cent per minute). This has been quite usual with betamax services (the reason I am not in favour of betamax).

I guess, its now time to find you some new options to make cheap calls to India. Pingo Calling card is a good option if you prefer calling card phone to phone calls. (Offering about 2 cent per min to India).

Are you also not satisfied with ActionVoip.? How much are you being charged by ActionVoip for making calls to India.

Tuitalk reduces call duration to 2 min per call to India

I am sure every regular reader of this blog must be aware of Tuitalk. Tuitalker gained much popularity only when it started offering free calls to India (though they were offering free international calls to many other countries about 40).

Tuitalk free international calls offer (specially to India was a big hit). Tuitalk, a Free Pc to Phone calling service, initially it was even offering free India to India calls but later restricted calls from other countries to India. (People of India were restricted from usin Tuitalk software). I myself used the service for a good period of time. Earlier the call duration was of 10 min (it offered 10min/day free minutes).

Tuitalk post has recently received many user comments informing us about the reduction of free minutes. Tuitalk has reduced the call duration to just 2min/per to a max of 3 calls per day. That makes a total of just 6 min per day.....lol. Are they kiddin...???

When the call rates of Pc to Phone services like Nymgo, call rates of Betamax services and even call rates of calling card like Pingo is so less, why would people still go for these 2min/call deal. (this means you save only 2-3 cents...lol..not even Rs 1.).

I guess Tuitalk seriously needs to think about their update. I am sure a lot many people would stop using their free service. I guess either they are not finding advertisers to pay for calls or whatever reason they need to work it out.

MSI X340

MSI X340 is the first laptop we've reviewed with the single core SU3500 processor, and it seems like an excellent test case a superslim 13 inch that reminds us of much more expensive systems such as the Dell Adamo or MacBook Air, albeit with a much more plastic feel. At the same time, MSI X340 ends up in the same murky middle ground as systems with AMD's new Neo processor that are aimed at Netbook users who want to trade up to a bit more power for a bit more money, but without buying a standard sub-$1,000 Intel Core 2 Duo mainstream laptop, or Apple's $999 basic 13 inch MacBook.

We've never met anyone who admitted being part of this highly specific target demographic. But while X340's price may seem excessive viewed through the prism of low power 11 and 12 inch Netbooks, it seems much more reasonable when compared with traditional ultraportable systems or the aforementioned slim 13 inch models, which can cost $1,500 to $2,000 or more.

MSI X340 scores points for feeling much lighter than it looks like it should. It's also among the slimmer 13 inch systems we've seen, matching up nicely with the MacBook Air and Dell Adamo. The somewhat schizophrenic chassis mars the look a little, with a glossy black lid and screen bezel, but a matte black keyboard tray and wrist rest.

The large flat key keyboard is similar to what you'd find on an Apple or Sony laptop, and is well laid out, with the exception of a shortened right shift key and a shortened backspace key, which made it far too easy to hit the "Home" key just to its right. Our main complaint was that the keyboard flexed a great deal while typing, making the entire system feel flimsy. The large, indented touch pad gave us plenty of room to mouse, but we'd prefer separate left and right mouse buttons, rather than the one long rocker style button included here.

The F5 key is also labeled "Eco," and using it with the Fn function key cycles through several screen brightness presets, including a very dim "turbo battery" mode. The 13.4 inch display has a 1,366x768 pixel native resolution, standard for a 16:9 display this size. While it lacks the clean looking edge to glass of more expensive 13 inch systems, this display was clear and bright, and not excessively glossy.

Rebtel Offers 30% discount : calls to Ghana

Not many voip providers are offering cheap calls to African Countries. A lot of calls are made each day to these destinations. Aim of this blog is to provide readers with the best voip deals to enable them to make cheap and free voip calls.

Rebtel, a well known voip providers (a lot of Free Pc to Phone calls readers use it) is offering some discount on calls to Ghana and Nigeria.

Rebtel is offering 30% discount on calls made to Ghana. Normal rates to call Ghana are 6.9 cents for landlines and 14.9 cents for mobiles. That means your effective calling rate would be just 4.83 for calling Ghana Landlines.

Similarly it is also offering 50% calls made to Nigeria phones. I guess these voip deals are good for those who want to make Phone to Phone calls to African Countries. Guys do check out
Rebtel (offering 2.9 cents/min to India).

Samsung Tocco

Although it is considered a trend, not everybody seems keen to rely solely on a touchscreen, and it are exactly these consumers that demand a general keypad. They're hesitant to switch to a full touchscreen operated mobile phone. The solution for this group is the Samsung Tocco. This mobile phone combines a general numeric keypad with a touchscreen, thus providing the user with two operating options.

Samsung Tocco handset (also called Samsung Ultra Touch, and Samsung S8300), with the included accessories located one level below. The phone comes standard with a battery charger, a headset, a memory card of 1GB including adapter, a data cable, instruction manuals and a software CD. Samsung Tocco can be considered compact yet bulky at the same time it may seem reasonably compact for a touchscreen phone, but for a slider, it is still rather bulky.

The handset is colored in grey or black with several red details. The edge around the screen is brushed aluminum and quite scratch prone, unlike the rest of the phone. The first impression is good, although the phone is slightly smaller than expected it to be. Samsung Tocco is its dual operation touchscreen and general numeric keypad at the same time. The idea is appreciated people who are not sure whether they like a touchscreen will still get a chance to work with it.

In fact, the common keys are superfluous, since every action can be done via the touchscreen. It is simply an extra option to enter phone numbers or write text messages. From experience, we know that you will start by using the keys, but from there you will soon move on to the touchscreen. It only takes some time to get used to, and it really does work well. You'd soon open the phone when in use, even if you don't use the keys.

Personally, I don't really like the phone's hand-fit when using the keys. As said before, the handset is just a tad too big for a slider phone. You will really notice it when sending a text message using one hand the space bar is located bottom right, and if you use it, the phone becomes top heavy.

You also have to confirm every setting via the touchscreen, there are no general keys available below the screen except for the answer or end call buttons. However, it is always an extra option to fall back on if you prefer not to use the touchscreen for sending text messages. I expect the user to work via the touchscreen in the end, which makes the phone needlessly heavy and bulky due to the available numeric keys.

Samsung Alias 2

Samsung Alias 2 mobile phone, also known as Samsung SCH-U750, gives you the convenience of a QWERTY keypad in a unique flip style format. The Samsung Alias 2 cell phone from Verizon Wireless has the same dual hinge design that made the original Alias a hit, but Alias 2 adds a touch of magic a Magic Key keypad using e-ink technology. In phone mode, it�s a standard phone keypad.

But in texting mode, the keys change into a full QWERTY keypad. It makes everything you do faster and easier. Samsung Alias 2 handset also has a large 2.6" QVGA display for crisper, clearer viewing, a 2.0 megapixel digital camera and dedicated hot keys for one touch access to the features you use most. Who says sequels are never better than the originals?

Samsung Alias 2 mobile phone has the same dual hinge design that made the original Alias so special open one way to call and open the other way to text. And with One Touch Access, you will always be one touch away from texting, Bluetooth, Visual Voicemail, games and more. With a Bluetooth headset you can go hands free and wireless with the Samsung Alias 2. Now it's easier than ever to carry on conversations without putting your job (or your life) on hold.

Pingo lowers call rates to India

Another great offer for voip users who want to call India. Pingo Calling cards have reduced their call rates to India and combined with the already running promotion, the call rate is very competitive.

If you prefer Pc to Phone calls, then Nymgo is good option but what if you prefer Phone to Phone calls (and yes don't want to try risk with betamax services having bad name), then Pingo calling card is very good option.

I won't go into much details about Pingo like good voice quality, customer support as it has been discussed a lot of times on this blog. Pingo similar to other calling cards offers access number to make calls, but best part it also offers a softphone (to make Pc to Phone calls) for those not having access numbers in their country.

Let me come staright to the calling rates offered by Pingo Calling card. Pingo has lowered its call rate to India (landlines and mobiles both) to just 2.9 cent per minute. Now under the may promotion, if you buy a 10$ calling card you will get 5$ free. Similarly if you buy 20$ card you get additional 10$ credit. That's like 33% discount.

So the effective call rate to India comes down to 2 cent per minute (ain't it cheap for a calling card). Now it is also offering half rates on Wednesdays for next two months, that means effective rate of just 1 cent per minute (on Wednesdays).

Overall a very nice deal Pingo Calling cards.

Jumblo : Cheap Voip Phone Calls to India by Jumblo Voip

Jumblo Voip Service, the new launch by Betamax. And this time too betamax (Jumblo Voip) has succeeded to provide some cheap deals. Jumblo Rates are very cheap international calls as compared to other international calling card providers. Thanks to our regular reader Mr. Seva for informing about Jumblo to us. Well I know the betamax companies have not a good reputation and many other providers like Nymgo offer cheap calls, but you can't deny the fact that many people still use betamax services and off course the cheapest call rates (India). So, you can give a try to Jumblo Voip Service (aka Jumblo Calling Card).

Jumblo is now the cheapest calls provider to India. ActionVoip and SmartVoip also offer cheap calls but the cheapest tag is now held by this new provider Jumblo. Seems that betamax keeps on switching rates between various voip providers, with one being offering lower rates and other increasing their call rates. And its time for Jumblo now !

If you are using Jumblo for making cheap calls to India, then you have to pay just 1 cent per minute for calling Indian mobiles and 1.4 cent per minute for calling Indian landlines.

Yeah the rates too low and I just hope that this time betamax (Jumblo) keep these rates stable for atleast sometime. I would suggest you guys to buy the minimum credit from Jumblo (and always buy min credit from betamax) as they can increase their calling rates anytime. Also keep a watch on Jumblo, it may increase their calling rates to India anytime.

Jumblo also offer SuperDeal, that is you are entitled to make calls to listed countries (about 40) for 90 days (all this once you buy some credit).

Apart from making Phone to Phone calls (you can even try Jumblo for free), and Pc to Phone calls (using their Voip Pc application : Jumblo Download) you can also make SIP calls using Jumblo.

SIP settings of Jumblo :

SIP port : 5060

Registrar : sip.jumblo.com

Proxy server : sip.jumblo.com

Outbound proxy server : leave empty

Account name : your Jumblo username

Password : your Jumblo password

Display name/number : your Jumblo username or voipnumber

Stunserver (option) : stun.jumblo.com

You can also use Jumblo on your iPhone, Jumlo on iPod Touch, Jumblo on iPad. Similarly Jumblo provides Android Voip application to use Jumblo on Android Mobile. Jumblo works equally great on your Mac !

Have you tried Jumblo ? Are you satisfied with betamax companies ? What all problems are you facing ? Do share this information with us. Let us know if you face any problems with Jumblo Voip Service. Hope we can help you out.

Update : Localphone is running a promotional offer. When you sigh up with $1 credit, you will get $2.5 credit. That's additional $1.5 credit as bonus.

$1.5 credit is worth 100 minutes to India. This makes cheapest voip provider to India with effective rate of just 0.6 cents per minute. This offer can be used to call other countries as well. What are you waiting for. Just try Localphone.

(No expiry of credit, good voice quality, and sign up with as low as $1).

Casio Exilim C721

Casio has decided to combine the Exilim camera brand with its rugged handset philosophy, resulting in Casio Exilim C721, possibly the country's first high end megapixel camera phone built to be water and shock resistant. Indeed, the C721 has a 5.1 megapixel camera with plenty of features that rival that of standalone point and shoots. It even has a rotating display that fold out to act as a camera viewfinder. On top of that, it comes with a music player, EV-DO Rev.

A, and a HTML Web browser. If you want a high quality feature phone built to withstand the elements, Casio Exilim C721 is certainly the one to get. Still, the C721 won't be cheap it'll cost $279.99 with a two year service agreement and a $50 mail in rebate, which is pricier than most smartphones. Casio Exilim C721 does not look a thing like a ruggedized phone. Unlike its G'zOne brethren, Casio Exilim C721 has a sleek, smooth, and stylish exterior, which is more indicative of the Exilim brand.

You would never think that the Exilim C721 is military certified (under code MIL-STD 810F) to withstand immersion in water, blowing rain, shock, dust, vibration salt fog, humidity, solar radiation, and high altitudes. The chassis is a hard plastic shell, and the headset and microSD ports are protected with tight rubber seals. There's also a slide lock mechanism for the battery cover.

Though we didn't submit Casio Exilim C721 to the same battery of tests as the military, we did dunk it in water and throw it on the floor a few times to test its durability. It kept on working without a problem. We even managed to take a couple of photos with the camera while it was still in a tank of water. Measuring 4.06 inches long by 1.97 inches wide by 0.77 inch thick and weighing 4.76 ounces, Casio Exilim C721 is wide yet slim, and has a nice solid heft in the hand.

The entire front surface of Casio Exilim C721 is clad in glossy black save for the Verizon logo at the bottom. However, if you activate the phone, you will see a monochrome OLED display that shows the signal strength, battery life, and a digital or analog clock (you can choose the clock format in the settings). It also displays caller ID, and if you have any new messages or missed calls. It even shows the currently playing track if you have the music player activated.

Of course, it doesn't support photo caller ID, and you can't adjust things like backlight or font size. On the left of the phone are a microSD card slot and a charging pad. On the right are a headset jack, a back button that doubles as a rewind or previous track key for the music player, volume controls that can be used to navigate the camera's menu and as camera zoom controls when in camera mode, a side control key that can only be used in camera mode for selecting functions and settings, and the camera shutter button. On the back of Casio Exilim C721 are the camera lens, a very bright LED flash that can also act as a flashlight, and an external speaker.

BudgetSIP : Cheap Voip SIP Calls to India

Though I myself not in favour of Betamax services but the cheapest rates offered by them has led many to use Betamax voip providers. Making cheap calls to India aint a big deal now. A lot of voip providers are offering very cheap calls to India in the range of 1-2 cents per minute.

You may be successfully using ActionVoip or SmartVoip for making voip calls to India, but we thought to look for other options or betamax services which are offering similar low cost calling deals. Few days back we discussed VoipLip (a new launch by betamax offering very cheap calls to India).

Today we discuss about BudgetSip. BudgetSip has been talked about on this blog in initial days of its launch. BudgetSip is very popular among voip callers. BudgetSip is a very good option for making cheap voip calls to India.

India is included in the SuperDeal of BudgetSip (Many betamax providers offer really cheap to countries included in SuperDeal).

You would be charged 1.9 cents per minutes by BudgetSip making calls to Indian landlines and would be charged 1.7cents per minute for making calls to Indian mobiles.

Offcourse you can download the voip software (PC application) for making Pc to Phone calls, but many people now prefer making Phone to Phone calls using SIP (a widely used option now).
SIP Details of BudgetSip :

SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.budgetsip.com
Proxy server : sip.budgetsip.com
Outbound proxy server : leave empty
Account name : your budgetsip username
Password : your budgetsip password
Display name/number : your sipusername or sipnumber
Stunserver (option) : stun.budgetsip.com

Have you used BudgetSip..? What is your take on BudgetSip..? Would you recommend this service ?

Sony Ericsson W995a

Despite its many features, Sony Ericsson W995a manages to be rather compact (3.8 inches tall by 1.9 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick) and lightweight (4.0 ounces). The phone travels well and it has a solid feel, but we noticed that the slider mechanism wobbled just a bit. The W995a comes in progressive black, cosmic silver, and energetic red, though the features are the same on all models. Sony Ericsson W995a's real estate is dominated by a gorgeous 2.6 inch display.

Supporting 16.7 million colors (320x240 pixels), it lends itself well to still graphics, photos, and simple animations. The menu interface is standard Sony Ericsson you can choose from four styles, but we consider the list and grid options to be the most intuitive. You can adjust the brightness to your liking. Sony Ericsson can stumble when designing navigation controls, but the W995's come off pretty well.

The circular toggle and central OK button are large and pleasantly tactile. The surrounding navigation controls, which are shaped like half circles, are a bit small, but they're also raised above the surface of the phone. You'll find two soft keys, a clear button, and a control that activates a user customizable shortcut menu. Spacious Talk and End or power keys sit on either side of its navigation array. The keypad doesn't fare quite as well, unfortunately.

The buttons are rather small and they have a slippery feel. Compared with other slider phones we could dial without looking, but it wasn't the most comfortable experience for rapid dialing or texting. Also, we're worried about long term durability since the area that surrounds the keys "gives" just a bit when we pressed down. It's worth noting that a similar phone the Sony Ericsson W580i developed cracks over time.

On the left spine you'll find a Walkman player shortcut and the proprietary Sony Ericsson headset jack. We're hoping that before too long Sony Ericsson joins other manufacturers in moving to a standard Micro-USB charger connection. On the right spine are a camera shortcut, music player controls, and a volume rocker. The latter doubles as a zoom control for the camera, though it's a little too small for our tastes.

The 3.5 millimeter headset jack rests conveniently on the top of the phone between stereo speakers. You'll be able to use your own headset while carrying the phone in a pocket. On the rear side are the camera lens, flash, and kickstand. The former two are in the top right corner so that Sony Ericsson W995a resembles a standalone camera from behind. The camera controls are easily accessible when the phone is the horizontal position just be sure to keep your fingers out of the way.

As we mentioned, you can use the kickstand to prop the W995 on a table without resting it against your hand or a book. It certainly makes for convenient media viewing, though the kickstand's hinge is rather loose. We'd prefer that it click into place in the open position. And for what it's worth, we'd like it even better if the display offered better video quality.

VoipLip : Offering Free Voip Credit to make Cheap Phone Calls

Another entry to this voip market with a nice deal. VoipLip, a french voip provider is a free program that uses Voip to bring high-quality voice communications to people all over the world. It promised to offer cheap voip phone calls.

VoipLip looks like another betamax provider (this is because of the silimar web interface). Now lets talk about the calling rates offered by VoipLip. Though not the cheapest in the market but the calling rates are competitive. VoipLip offers following calling rates
(without promotion)
India [FIX] 0,01800 €
India [MOB] 0,01600 €

Actually the best part about VoipLip is the trial deal it is offering.

Under the promotion, VoipLip is offering 1 EUR credit if you pay make your first payment (pay € 50 cents). You need to make a payment of € 0,5 (50 cents) and VoipLip credit you 1 €, so you can test the service. This offer is reserved for new users and limited to once per user. However there is one more catch in this scheme. You need to pay these 50 cents only from your PAYPAL account. Use this link of VoipLip for making this purchase.

So after making use of the promotion your effective calling rates to India

India [FIX] 0,009 €
India [MOB] 0,008 €

Guys, the procedure of signing up is a bit slow. After you have made account with VoipLip, it may take upto one day for confirmation email. Only after that transfer credit from your paypal account.

You can call from your PC connected to Internet via a softphone downloadable after activating your account or you can also use SIP for making calls directly from your mobile or SIP enabled phone.

SIP Settings of VoipLip :

SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.voipinfocenter.com
Proxy server : sip.voipinfocenter.com
Outbound proxy server : Empty
Account name : your VoipLip username
Password : your VoipLip password
Display name/number : your VoipLip username or voipnumber
Stunserver (optional) : stun.voipinfocenter.com

Have you tried VoipLip for making voip calls..? What about the call quality..? Do you know any cheaper calls provider..? You know about any deal..? Do share all this information with us.

Nokia E75

Nokia E75 smartphone is expected to prolong the success of its predecessor, at which the Nokia messaging feature is very likely to help. One difference between this service and a comparable one such as that of BlackBerry, is that the latter settles for any company network, whereas the Nokia user is dependent on Nokia's network. "Designed for the way we manage our business" this is Nokia's message on the box of Nokia E75.

The visual messages on the box imply Nokia E75 is meant for all round communication. You can gain access to all your email accounts in three steps select 'set email' and start the program. Select manage email account and enter your password, whereupon you, as a Nokia E75 owner, are ready to communicate with the outside world. Nokia E75 has a high quality appearance. The handset features attractive curves and fairly compact dimensions.

Nokia E75 feels solid partly thanks to the materials used. When we slide the device sideways to open it, a QWERTY keyboard appears. In horizontal position, Nokia E75 lies safely and stable in your hand, providing easy operation. The equipment included with Nokia E75 comprises of a set of earplugs (HS-43), USB cable, battery charger, BL-4U Lithium-Ion battery, microSD memory card and an instruction manual. A voice recognition navigation system with maps for a period of 3 months comes with the E75 as a nice extra, although this may vary by region.

For the Nokia E75 review, we received a silver and black version, however the handset is available in several other colors (also depending on the region). Nokia E75 cell phone has a stylish design. Whereas before, the Nokia phone design used to be somewhat conservative, or in other words ordinary and certainly not trendy, Nokia E75 is an eye catcher.

It has a striking appearance and will look good on any desk. The weight of the device is considerable yet not too heavy. It provides essential stability. Compared to its predecessor, the E71, the Nokia E75 is somewhat larger in size. On the other hand, the E71 is wider than the Nokia E75. Altogether, it doesn�t make much of a difference as far as the total dimension is concerned, although personally I do prefer Nokia E75.

The back features a truly attractive finish, and seems to radiate pure luxury. The engraved pattern gives the phone a classic yet modern appearance. The form factor a slider phone with a keyboard that slides open sideways, is new for Nokia. Nokia E75's form factor may in fact signal a new generation of Nokia slider phones.

Toshiba JournE M400

The arrival of digital photo frames allows you to display hundreds of pictures in the living room without having to make prints first. However, some consumers do not settle for slide shows with a preset interval between the pictures they like to have more possibilities with their picture frame. Toshiba meets this demand by launching the JournE series of digital photo frames. The Toshiba M400 supports video, music and even digital TV.

The first thing you notice about the Toshiba M400 is its appearance. The photo frame looks rather bulky and large, due to its dimensions of 12 x 8 x 1.7 cm. However, once you have found the stand on the back of the Toshiba, the device holds its own compared to other photo frames. The Toshiba M400 digital photo frame has attractively chic and durable looking edges. The media player uses a microSD memory card for storage and has a 3mm jack, an on or off slide bar and an expandable antenna.

Everything is well positioned on the media player. Upon activating the media player, a menu similar to that of a TomTom navigation system appears. Instead of routing options, the Toshiba media player allows you to take your pick from music, picture, video, digital TV and radio and settings. The interface is clear, partly thanks to the large buttons and the icons (whether or not clear).

Thanks to the clear menu, you hardly ever, if at all, have to touch the screen twice in order to get the desired action to take place. To my surprise, the operation through the 4.3 inch touchscreen is great, even from the very first touch. The screen feels soft, which makes it very pleasant to navigate by using your finger. Music gets stored on the microSD card and is displayed on the Toshiba the same way you have put it on there, with exactly the same file names etc.

There are two possibilities to listen to your music via the external speaker or via the 3mm jack. The external speaker produces a reasonable sound if you put the M400 on its stand. Naturally, it is impossible to produce a similar sound to that of a genuine speaker, but the M400's external speaker is well on its way. If you listen to the music through headphones or earplugs, you get a similar music quality. The music sound is pleasantly flat: kick, bass, snare and tone, it's all there, nothing more, nothing less.

No music effects that usually deform rather than improve the sound, no equalizer or other music technologies. In almost all cases, this is positive, with the exception of the lounge, soul or R&B genre. Sometimes, these songs sound as if they�re being sung a capella and for these genres, you could have done with music options. It is also annoying there is no possibility to rewind or fast forward your songs. It's not such a problem with songs that last 3 minutes but if you are listening to a mix which lasts for 30 minutes, it would be nice if this option was available.

When you are playing a song, an equalizer animation is played on the screen, but it only serves a visual purpose, nothing else. If you leave this animation to play with your screen on, you will have to recharge the Toshiba M400 very quickly, because it drains the battery faster than the song takes to actually play, as a matter of speech. The Toshiba JournE M400 supports the MP3 format.

Samsung Pixon

Just like many other brands, Samsung too gives its new mobile phones a genuine name. Recently, we have seen this happening with the Samsung INNOV8, the Samsung Omnia, and now once again with the Samsung Pixon. In addition to a more positive feeling, this name giving also offers information about the cell phone, unlike a type number.

For example OMNIA means 'all' in Latin, and applies to the huge applicability of this handset, whilst INNOV8 refers to innovation, 8 Megapixel digital camera and 8GB internal memory, and last but not least; Pixon naturally refers to the integrated digital camera. The mobile phones do not only keep their names but also their type numbers, which means that the mobile phone we have reviewed is called the Samsung Pixon M8800.

Samsung Omnia came in a package bigger than a shoebox, and compared to this, the package of the Samsung Pixon has been kept strikingly compact. On the package, the features of the camera are displayed as well as a same amount of other functions of the mobile phone. Samsung mainly refers to the digital camera when it comes to name, package and promotion of the Pixon.

The included standard accessories are a battery charger, headset, data cable, stylus pen to attach to the phone, a short user manual and a small software CD. Samsung Pixon cell phone sports a 3.2 inch touchscreen monitor. Operation mainly happens via this touchscreen monitor. Furthermore, three buttons are found below the screen. The touchscreen is fairly hard and quite sensitive. However, a brief touch is not enough you have to press somewhat more clearly. Still, the operation is easy and pleasant.

A stylus pen, which can be attached to the phone, is also included, although the pen is not really necessary. The large icons and the clear structure make operation with your finger easy. A standard keypad with T9 functionality is available to insert SMS text messages, however if you tilt the phone; a full digital keyboard becomes available. This is extremely handy, as it means you always have the choice between the two, and quickly switching between them is also possible.

Free calls to Pakistan from your Nokia phone

I know the call rates to Pakistan are very high these days. We have found you many solutions to make free calls to India, however there are very less ways to make free calls to Pakistan.

You remember, few months back we posted about Connect2pk and how can it be used to make absolutely free calls to Pakistan. It just requires few steps to setup and bingo you can talk to your parents in Pakistan for free. You can use Connect2pk service from anywhere in world as long you are having internet connection. You an always refer back to our post on Connect2pk to know more about the free voip calling service.

Recently Connect2pk upgraded themselves so that their service can be used from Nokia phones having built in SIP feature. If your Nokia handset support SIP, then its just great, as Connect2Pk now supports Nokia built-in SIP feature that will allow users to receive phone calls right from their handsets - without installing any third party applications!

1. Open settings >> connection settings >> SIP settings.
2. Create a SIP Profile and then enter the SIP account info in the new SIP profile.

Profile Name: Profile
Service Profile (should be IETF)
Default Access Point
Public User Name: connect2pk-username@connect2pk.com:5065
Use Compression (set this to No)
Registration (set to Always On)
Use Security (No)

Proxy Server Address: connect2pk.com
Realm: asterisk
User Name: (Connect2Pk user)
Password: (Connect2Pk password)
Allow Loose Routing (set this to Yes)
Transport Type (set this to Auto)
Port: 5065

In the Registrar server enter following details -:
Registrar Server Address : connect2pk.com
Realm : asterisk
User Name: (Connect2Pk user)
Password: (Connect2Pk password)
Transport Type (AUTO)
Port: 5065

3. Hit back, you should see connected to connect2pk.
4. Go back to the Connection setup menu in the Settings menu >> Internet Tel.
Click on that to create a new Internet Telephone profile. It is here that you will select your default SIP profile and specify how it will connect.
5. Once done, back out and go to the "Communication" menu and then select Options, Settings..
For default Call type select "Internet Call". So, once you are connected to your wi-fi network, your connect2pk will be ready.

This way you can use Connect2Pk service directly in your SIP compatible Nokia phones to make free calls to Pakistan. I am sure this will save you a lot of bucks.

Is anyone of you using Connect2pk for making free calls to Pakistan..? Do you like their service..?? You faced any difficulty in setting things up..? What about the call quality..??

SipGate One : Free Voip service in USA (Free Calls)

Sipgate, a well known provider in Europe has launched its free voip service in USA. This will surely led many people to switch from normal landline telephone service to Voip. Sipgate one is basically a fully featured phone for your broadband service.

Sipgate one comes with a free phone number, free voicemail and free fax capabilities. Best part is, sipgate works on real phones – no need for a computer to call with sipgate.

What you need is just broadband and a phone (a SIP compatible phone, as it uses SIP for making calls). There is no monthly charge, no monthly minimum and no set-up fee. Calls between Sipgate users are free and you will be charged only for calls on mobiles and landlines (Calls to the U.S. and Canada are only 1.9ct per minute. ).

Sipgate is also offering 200 minutes of free calls (first month) when you first sign up. Another good thing about SIPgate One service is that it is giving you a real phone number (US based) which can be called from any phone worldwide. Unlike other VoIP service providers or mobile carriers Sipgate won’t charge you for the calls you receive.

Its very easy to set up, and a tempting deal for those who are still using their old landlines phone service.

Sony Ericsson Satio

The ultimate multimedia experience with the new Sony Ericsson Satio multimedia mobile phone. Feast your eyes on movies, TV series� and video clips thanks to the 3.5 inch screen and crystal clear 16:9 wide screen format just like watching them live. A friend pulling a funny pose? Snap them with the amazing 12.1 megapixel digital camera and share the picture with friends.

Sony Ericsson announced Satio which provides you access to all your media in one place just tap directly into your favorite features with the five standby panels and you're ready to go. First introduced in Barcelona as the �Sony Ericsson Idou', Satio puts the future of mobile entertainment in the palm of your hand. You can watch your favorite movies on the bus or catch up with your TV shows while on your lunch break thanks to Satio.

Download exciting music, movies and games from Sony Ericsson PlayNow arena to personalise your entertainment experience on Sony Ericsson Satio and enjoy them in crystal clear 16:9 wide screen format. The Sony Ericsson PlayNow arena provides a full range of mobile entertainment available by dual download to both your Personal Computer and mobile phone with specially developed ring tones and music tones and DRM-free music tracks and TrackID charts from around the world.

Sony Ericsson Satio features

Visual communication like never before
True 16:9, 3.5 inch wide screen feast your eyes on movies
Express yourself through images 12.1 megapixel camera
Intuitive touch focus, Xenon flash and face and smile detection
Web albums with messages talk through pictures and share info
Intuitive full touch media menu tap into your favorites, from web pages
Symbian Foundation operating system 1000+ applications available online
Music player play your tunes loud and proud

Sony Ericsson Satio technical specifications

Size : 112 x 55 x 13.3 mm
Weight : 126 grams
Colors : Black, Silver and Bordeaux
Main screen : 16.777.216 color nHD TFT
16:9 wide screen
Resolution : 640 x 360 pixels
Size : 3.5 inches
Cell phone memory : 128 MB
Memory Card Support : SanDisk microSD

Sony Ericsson Satio mobile phone supports GSM / GPRS / EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and UMTS / HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100. Sony Ericsson Satio multimedia phone will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colors Black, Silver and Bordeaux. As soon as we receive a Sony Ericsson Satio test sample, we will publish a photo gallery with high resolution pictures, followed by an extended Sony Ericsson Satio review.

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