Coolest Gadget Reviews » Internet Gadgets

Skype To Bring HD Video Calls To Internet TV’s

Zack — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:30:11 +0000

Everyone knew it was going to come eventually, but Skype finally announced that the latest version of its video-calling software will now support HD-quality VoIP calls. But that’s not all — Skype is also planning to partner with Panasonic and LG to eventually bring the HD video calls to Internet-compatible TV’s, too.

That means that you don’t have to sit in front of your PC when you have to take or make a Skype call — now you can do so right in your living room. I’m not sure how that setup will work when you have to take a TV video call while your friends are watching the big game, but I guess Panasonic and LG are sold on the idea. Skyping on your HDTV will be possible later this year.

You’ll need an HD webcam to make video calls on your HDTV, though, and Skype will be unveiling a line of HD webcams very soon. The FV Touchcam N1 will be available next month for an estimated $70 to $100, and the FreeTalk HD Pro ($120) will hit virtual shelves the month after.

It’s great to see Skype making their already great VoIP service even better.

Via: Geek Sugar

© Coolest Gadget Reviews, 2010.
Coated brings you the coolest gadgets and best geek toys.
Skype To Bring HD Video Calls To Internet TV’s | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: HD, Skype

Coke Zero Introduces Facebook Facial Profiler

Zack — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:59:32 +0000

Coke Zero has just recently teamed up with social media platform Facebook in launching their Facial profile application, which lets Facebook users search the world for other people who look like them. The cola company believes that if Coke Zero tastes just like real Coke, then it’s likely everyone has a look-alike somewhere around the world.

The Facial Profiler Facebook App basically scours the ‘Net for people who look like you. If you want to try it, all you have to do is to download the App and upload your photo to the database. Coke Zero has claimed that the database is already returning matches, and believes more matches will be made as the database grows.

I think the Facial Profiler Facebook App is fun at the very least. It isn’t likely to have the same goof-ups that HP’s “racist webcam” once did, when it failed to recognize ethnic faces. Overall, if you’d like to know how “common” your face is, try the App out and see for yourself.

Hopefully security agencies and governments can use such technology to find criminals and bring them to justice one day.

Via: Now Public

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Coke Zero Introduces Facebook Facial Profiler | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: Coke, facebook

Firefox 3.5 Now World’s Most Widely-Used Browser

Zack — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:48:58 +0000

The guys at Mozilla Firefox have a lot to be cheerful about this holiday season — it was announced earlier this week that Firefox 3.5, Mozilla’s latest browser offering, has overtaken Internet Explorer 7.0 as the world’s most widely-used browser, capturing 22% of the browser market.

The news comes off the heels of news earlier this month that Firefox had overtaken IE in overall use in Germany. While Internet Explorer as a whole still leads the worldwide browser market with a 55% share, Mozilla has increased their own chunk of the market to 32% and has been steadily gaining ground on Microsoft.

Meanwhile, IE’s own latest browser offering, IE 8.0, is still neck and neck with Firefox 3.5 with a 20% market share. Both companies have seen a decline in their last-generation browsers, seemingly after users upgraded to the newer versions.

What about Google’s Chrome? Based on the buzz, it’s creeping up on Firefox as well, offering more flexibility and faster boot-up times. Whether or not it will surpass IE as well remains to be seen.

Via: Read Write Web

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Firefox 3.5 Now World’s Most Widely-Used Browser | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: browser, firefox, Internet Explorer

Firefox Mobile Browser Close

Mike — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:55:09 +0000

Firefox, one of the most popular internet web browsers will be launching as a mobile version called Fennec very soon. In fact, the launch date could be as close as just a few “days away” from now.

When Fennec does launch, it will initially be available through the Ovi app store for the Nokia N900 smartphone. From there, Fennec will roll out to other mobile phones. Mozilla is also planning on releasing mobile versions for Google Android and Windows Mobile but it’s unlikely Apple iPhone users would have access Fennec any time soon.

The open source mobile browser comes with some handy features including the ability to synchronize with the desktop version, scaled pages and web page zooming through tapping. It will also support add-ons, a very popular Firefox feature, though there is word that the plugins may be different “because it is a browser for a mobile device.” As such, the plugins may take advantage of some of the features currently present on the mobile device such as geo-location.

Via: BBC

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Firefox Mobile Browser Close | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: firefox, mobile phone, Mozilla

Zune HD Twitter App Censors Swearing

Mike — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:14:36 +0000

As of today, Microsoft is offering a free Twitter application for the Zune HD. The software can be downloaded using a PC or via the wireless connection on the Zune HD. The Twitter application comes with the usual functions such as send tweet, retweet, follow/unfollow and timeline navigation. There is however, one notable difference with the Zune HD Twitter application, you can’t swear, at least not on the Zune side.

According to an update on Gizmodo, Microsoft officials are aware of the bug that abbreviates “some explicit words in tweets when viewed on the device; however these explicit words do appear in their full text on the Twitter site or on any other Twitter client.”

Apparently, the Redmond company is currently working on a Microsoft patch that will address this issue in the near future so that Zune HD users can see themselves curse rather then seeing abbreviated words.

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Zune HD Twitter App Censors Swearing | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: microsoft, Twitter, Zune

Pingo Penguin – New Facebook Friend

Mike — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:59:49 +0000

The Pingo Penguin quite literally brings your Facebook friends to life if at least in an cartoonish sort of way. This autonomous robot that is the size of a chicken egg can zoom around your desk singing songs, reading headlines, stock quotes, weather reports and email messages out loud. The device responds to voice commands and just like the family pet, you do need to take good care of your penguin. This can be accomplished by feeding it special vitamins from a Facebook gift page as well as by putting it to sleep by gently cradling and rocking it.

Pingo uses the Facebook application MyDeskFriend to integrate with the owners Facebook page. Once integrated, the owner has the ability to customize Pingo by giving it a name as well as modifying its personality.

Pingo does have some smarts designed into it. First, it will express moods such as feeling sad or happy by changing eye colors. Second, a series of ground and proximity sensors ensures that your $149.99 toy robot doesn’t fall off the table.

Via: CNET, Gadgetlite

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Pingo Penguin – New Facebook Friend | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: facebook, robot, toy

Planex CQW-MRB Autonomous Wireless Router

Mike — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:52:53 +0000

Planex has announced their new wireless router, the autonomous CQW-MRB. The router supports wireless B/G/N WiFi connections and comes with a USB port that can be used to attach a 3G or WiMAX USB dongle which can then be used to share your internet connection with nearby friends through WiFi.

The portable router includes a battery that provides 120 minutes of usage before needing to be recharged. Although this unit is not introducing any new technology, it does offer another alternative to autonomous products currently available on the market.

Currently, the Planex WiFi router will start selling in Japan around the middle of December for 14800 Yen. There is no indication at this time if this product will be made available in other markets.

Via: TechChee, The Cool Gadgets

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Planex CQW-MRB Autonomous Wireless Router | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: router, sharing, wifi, wireless

Microsoft Introduces Bing Maps To Challenge Google Maps

Mike — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:08:59 +0000

Microsoft was the dominant tech company of the 80s/90s and it seems like each day, the Redmond company is playing catchup to remain competitive with Google. For consumers, this arms race between the two is a real plus as it gives us all more opportunities and choices.

The most recent example of this is the new Bing Maps which have gone live and are competing directly with another highly popular mapping service, namely Google Maps. To use Bing Maps, you will need to download and install Microsoft’s free Silverlight plugin which will allow for better rendering of animation graphics, especially when zooming in and out of maps.

Some of the features of the new beta service include Streetside, which is Microsoft’s version of Google Street View. Bing Maps will integrate real time data in the form of Twitter streams. Using geolocation, the tweets will be displayed from the location that they originated and will exist as a layer on a map. Such a feature would help with breaking news where people want up to the minute information.

Another interesting feature to be integrated is Local Lens wherein the search engine will index blog posts based upon the topic of the post and again blanket the digital map with this data depending upon the location where the story is actually taking place.

Via1, Via2

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Microsoft Introduces Bing Maps To Challenge Google Maps | Internet Gadgets | Post tags: Bing, google, maps