scattered technology news

Skatter Tech Mobile - Saturday, December 30, 2006

Over the past few days Skatter Tech has been working on a mobile version of our site and it is finally up and running. To access our site from a mobile phone simply enter skattertech.com into the address as you would on any computer (no special URLs required). The portable web pages are XHTML complaint and should work on most WAP 2.0 phones, PDAs, Pocket PCs, and similar devices. From our testing, we found it to work on Verizon WAP 2.0 supported phones, Windows-based Pocket PCs, and on the Blackberry. (also works on the PSP!) If you’ve got a mobile device with a browser, let us know what you are using and whether our site works.

Links: skattertech.com
Related: Skatter Tech Forums

FREE - LG VX8500 Chocolate - Thursday, December 28, 2006

If you are looking for a decent phone with features such as a camera, bluetooth, music playback, microSD expansion, and navigator, the LG Chocolate (aka VX8500) is a great phone. The VX8500 has become quite popular over the last six months since many are purchasing it as a multi-functioning replacement for their iPod. The phone usually retails about $500 without any service and still costs over $99 with a new contract from Verizon Wireless stores. Amazon.com has pretty neat deal in which the phone’s final cost will be FREE after signing a new service contract and submitting a mail-in-rebate, which are usually trustworthy.

We do however feel that Verizon will be throwing out this phone in the coming months, so we don’t recommend purchasing this phone if you are some one who always wants the latest gadgets. We recently took a look at other phones, which we liked much better, such as the VX8600 (looks similar to the Chocolate, except in the form of a flip-phone) and the LG VX9900 (aka enV). Amazon.com is also offering large rebates on phones such as the LG enV and Motorola KRZR, which both will only cost $50 with a new service plan. No clue how long these offers will last so don’t wait if you want one.

Link: LG VX8500 (Chocolate)
Price: $75 (with contract) - $75 (rebate) = $0
Related: LG enV | Motorola K1m KRZR

Skatter Tech Boards! - Monday, December 25, 2006

After two years running and thousands of requests, Skatter Tech has finally created some message boards. All our readers are more than welcome to participate. Consider this new feature “beta” as there are still a ton of changes that will need to be made. Anyways for now the forum has got a few categories and sections. Feel free to post any questions you have and help others out by answering theirs. If you have any suggestions please let us know.

Also note from this point on, please avoid posting supported-related questions on the comment feature on this portion of the site and direct them to the message boards. We feel that by doing this it will be easier for everyone to communicate with each other using a forum system. The phpBB-based forum unfortunately requires registration unlike the comments on this part of the site. Please take a minute to register and get it over with, you’ll never have to deal with it again, I promise.

Links: Skatter Tech Boards (boards.skattertech.com)

Update: (02/14/07) The NEW NEW Skatter Tech Forums are now up and running! Just visit http://forums.skattertech.com or press “Forums” link.

Google: Multipoint Directions - Sunday, December 24, 2006

Google recently added a new feature into their mapping service, Google Maps, which now allows creating multiple destinations. Previously, the service only allowed use of “point A to point B” directions, however today users may create as many points as they want. Although this feature is new for Google Map users, services such as Yahoo! Maps has already had this feature for several months.

When using Google Maps, destinations can easily be reorganized by simply dragging them to a different point on the time line. One thing we found to be quite annoying is the fact that the entire page must be reloaded before a destination can be added. Therefore the page must be refreshed 5 times before your final map is ready if you plan to add 5 locations. I would expect Google to add the ability to enter multiple points at once in the future before asking your browser to refresh. Overall, the new feature makes Google Maps a more powerful tool. We suggest checking out both Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps. (Please let us know which one you prefer!)

Links: Google Maps | Multipoint Example
Related: Yahoo! Maps | Live Local

Skype: End Of Free Calls - Saturday, December 23, 2006

As stated by Skype earlier this year, free calls within the United States and Canada will be discontinued on December 31, 2006. PC-PC calls and chatting through the Skype software will not be affected and will remain free as always. If you wish to continue making calls Skype has a $15/year (not month, it’s year!) plan which will allow unlimited calls to the United States or Canada for 2007. Pricing will double to $30/year after Jan 31st, 2007, so make sure you sign up before it’s too late. SkypeIn numbers are also available to turn your computer into a digital “land line” for ~$38/year.

Along with announcing the year of free calls, they also released Skype 3.0. The new program includes an updated interface which has some performance improvements and a new look. Skype has also added “live” chat talk rooms similar to Yahoo’s feature. Another neat feature Skype includes is a plugin for Firefox, which automatically converts any phone number on a page into a special Skype link. When clicked on, the number will automatically be dialed in Skype right from within your browser. Skype is currently available for Windows, Macs OS X, and Linux. If you have a previous version we suggest updating since this is a major upgrade.

Links: SkypeOut | Download Skype
Related: Skype Press Release

CraigsNumber (beta) - Friday, December 22, 2006

Today when ID theft is so widespread, it is very important to avoid giving away personal information away as much as possible. Unfortunately most people, having no choice, end up giving away their personal phone numbers when posting on services such as Craigslist. Today a new service, CraigsNumber, offers a safe solution. The free service will provide a temporary local number, which can be posted or given away to others. When the line is called, the caller will be transferred to your real number.

CraigsNumber currently provides numbers for San Francisco, Washington DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, and New York. The number you are provided with automatically expires, but can be set to work for as long as a week at a time. Craigslist already protects your email address by creating random forwarding email address. If you use services such as Craiglist to buy or sell, we strongly suggest using CraigsNumber to protect your privacy.

If you know of any other similar services, which help protect your privacy, let us know!

Links: CraigsNumber.com | CraigsList

Firefox & Thunderbird Upgrades - Thursday, December 21, 2006

Mozilla has just pushed out two new updates for Firefox and Thunderbird. The new Firefox update, 2.0.0.1, is the first patch to become available for Firefox 2.0 since its launch in October. According to Mozilla, the patch fixes about 8 different security issues and will now support Windows Vista for early adapters. If you are already using Firefox 2.0 and you haven’t already been notified of the update just go to “Help -> Check for Updates…” and Firefox will do the rest. Updating isn’t critical, but if you have a few seconds to spare, we recommend upgrading.

As for Thunderbird, a small update, 1.5.0.9, is now available. This patch “improves product stability” and also fixes about 7 security issues. As far as we know, Thunderbird 2.0 is on its way (expected 1st Quarter ‘07) and it will include many new new features such as tags, tabbed email, and alerts. If you wish to test it out the beta is available from Mozilla’s website.

Links: Mozilla Firefox | Mozilla Thunderbird
Related: Firefox 2.0 Released

Proporta - iPod Shuffle Cases - Sunday, December 3, 2006

Apple released the new 2nd generation iPod Shuffle last month. Many have complained that the unit is too small, making it quite easy to drop. Although the shuffle has been proven to withstand occasional drops, since it is an item that is constantly handled, we still would recommend purchasing a case. Proporta was generous enough to provide Skatter Tech with three of the iPod Shuffle cases they recently released: steel sleeve, crystal sleeve, and silicone sleeve. (continue reading for a 10% off coupon code)

Protection:
All three of the cases protect the front and sides of the iPod Shuffle. In addition, the crystal and silicone sleeves protect the top and bottom. The silicone sleeve is the only one of the three that also protects the click-wheel. The steel sleeve has an inner lining of foam to prevent scratching the unit and is the strongest. Despite this, we would still rate the silicone sleeves to offer the best protection for your iPod Shuffles.

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PS3 & Wii Games: December - Friday, December 1, 2006

Although November was a crazy month for the gaming industry, amazingly only a handful of games will be launched in December. Most would expect Sony and Nintendo to try to force developers to push out a ton of games in time for Christmas, however the PS3 and Wii will be getting two and five games, respectively. From the looks of it, Far Cry will be a big for the Wii, while Blazing Angels Sqadrons will be probably the only game those who were lucky enough to get a PS3 and still have money may consider buying.

PlayStation 3:

• Fight Night Round 3 - Electronic Arts
• Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII - Ubisoft

Wii:

• The Ant Bully - Midway Home Entertainment
• Elebits - Konami
• Super Swing Golf - Tecmo
• World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions - Activision
• Far Cry: Vengeance - Ubisoft

Note: The items mentioned above are games for the PlayStation 3 and Wii that are planned to be launched in December 2006. The list is accurate as of 11/30/06, however game may be added or removed. Therefore check Nintendo’s and/or Sony’s webpage for any changes.

Did you get a Wii or PS3? What games do you plan to get? - let us know

Links: Nintendo Wii’s Game List | Sony PS3 Game List
Related: Upcoming PSP Games: November