Special thanks to Orig Audio (@origaudio) for sponsoring our giveaway!

How to enter the contest (TWO Options):

Option 1:

1. Become a Facebook Fan of Skatter Tech
2. Use Facebook Connect to leave a comment below

Option 2:

1. Follow @skattertech on Twitter
2. Click here to retweet the following message

Some Rules Apply:

• Don’t try to enter more than once. (We have robots!)
• Must live in the United States. 13 and older only.
• Winner is randomly chosen by computer auto generator.
• Entries close after Thursday 01/22/10 11:59 PM (PST).
• Winner will be announced on this post on the next day.
• Winner has 24 hours to respond to DM or Facebook Message.

That’s pretty much it. If you don’t know what Facebook Connect is, it’s simple. Just click on “FB Connect” next to the comment box and login with your Facebook Account. If you do that and become a Fan of Skatter Tech, you’re in! And for Twitter, if you don’t have an account, just get one! It’s quick!

UPDATE: Contest entries closed. We’ll be posting results shortly.

The Results: The winners are: Poline Chuon, David Chang, Dev Butt, Mariela Elizabeth Lopez, and Tuyen Nguyen! We’ll be contacting you shortly to get you your free set of OrigAudio Speakers!

Right off the bat, Ubuntu earned my respect. Installing the entire OS, after deleting and creating new partitions, on my less-than-average HP dv5z took less than 20 minutes. (Side note- the HP dv5z disappoints me greatly. I do not recommend this slow, unstable, and easily-overheating laptop to anyone. I hope the new laptops in this series fare better than this.) I thought it would take a painful hour or more, so finishing the installation in this amount of time pleased me. After downloading all the necessary updates for the system, which went by pretty quickly, I restarted my computer (Ubuntu booted up in about 20 seconds), took a deep breath, and dove in.

The simple layout of the desktop and destinations make using this system fairly easy. The three tabs at the top—Applications, Places, and System—are the Ubuntu equivalent of the Windows Start, Explorer, and Control Panel functions. However, Ubuntu organizes all the files, folders, and programs better. For example, in Ubuntu, if I want to open up the mouse preferences, I simply go  to System, then from the drop-down menu hover over “Administration”, and then click on the “Mouse” preferences. In the cluttered Windows XP & Vista, I click on the Start Menu, then on the Control Panel. I then have to browse through the control panel in search for the Mouse preferences item. That once again opens up another window. With Ubuntu, only one window opened up, the Mouse preferences, unlike Windows where I had several already. Everything feels faster to do too. And like I said above, I can click on any file or program up in this fashion and do it quickly and cleanly. Also, as an alternative and supplement for Linux users, Ubuntu features a console and similar Linux programs.

In addition, I enjoyed toying around with the highly customizable user interface. One of my favorite features, I get to change almost every aspect of the desktop. I can add new panels (a.k.a. taskbars) and place folders or programs on them. In addition to changing to the provided theme, I can make a completely new one, with my own color, image, and font scheme. Other than the desktop, the animation effects increased the fun and cool factor using the OS. By downloading free software called Compiz, I am able to use many different effects including making my windows wobble, opening/closing files using a “magic lamp” animation, or starting a really big multicolored fire on my screen. A user can spend hours customizing by just using Compiz: the possibilities are endless. While some of those features are definitely gimmicks, others truly help with productivity.

Continuing on the idea of possibilities, by going to the Ubuntu Software Center, I have the ability to download almost any open-source program or software for free. There are many alternatives to replace programs on Windows or Mac. A few main stream ones, such as Mozilla Firefox or the VLC Media player, can already run on Ubuntu. Others, such as Adobe Photoshop, cannot, but Ubuntu remedied this problem by finding a somewhat comparable alternative to download, in this case, Gimp. I found every program that I used on Windows, whether it be the Linux version or an alternative one through the Ubuntu Software Center. Even if I did not like the comparable Ubuntu software or if I run into issues, there’s plenty of new applications being added by developers from all over the world and a huge community to offer support.

As great as Ubuntu runs, there are a couple problems that cannot be overlooked. For one, the wireless connectivity, at least for me, works poorly. More often than not, I cannot connect to a network. If I do end up connecting, the connection to that network frequently drops. Although a solution to this problem most likely exists, it is nonetheless still an annoyance. But again, this only happens with a few of my connections, not all of them. (It could also be an issue with my HP hardware.) Another issue I can now overlook, but probably will come up again concerns the use of software. Although alternative software remedies this issue, it does not solve it. If a new updates hits the internet, I am unable to use it because it will most likely only run on Windows and Mac. Also, popular PC games, such as Call of Duty or Halo, can’t run on Ubuntu. Fortunately, I mostly play on consoles, so this did not bother me greatly. Also, though I have yet to download any, Ubuntu advertises over 400 free online games of all genres.

All in all, Ubuntu rocks. After using it for a couple weeks, I became accustomed to it and enjoy it throughly. Much more stable and organized, Ubuntu performs well in my book. However, out of my two computers, I only switched one of my computers to Ubuntu, leaving the other one using a Windows operating system. Being a student with little to no free time, downloading alternative software and learning how to use it turns me off from Ubuntu a bit. I know how to use a lot of the most popular applications as well, but some of those can’t be found on Ubuntu. Other than this and the wireless connectivity issue, I do encourage anyone to give Ubuntu a shot. I will definitely be keeping Ubuntu on my poor-performing laptop since the OS significantly improves my laptop’s usability. I wrongly feared Ubuntu: as the developers put it, Ubuntu most certainly is “Linux for Human Beings!”

Links: Ubuntu.com

Special thanks to Powermat (@powermat) for sponsoring our giveaway!

How to enter the contest:

1. Become a Facebook Fan of Skatter Tech
2. Use Facebook Connect to leave a comment below

Some Rules Apply:

• Don’t try to enter more than once. (We have robots!)
• Must live in the United States. 13 and older only.
• Winner is randomly chosen by computer generator.
• Entries close after Thursday 12/03/09 11:59 PM (PST).
• Winner will be announced on this post on 12/04/09.
• Winner has 24 hours to respond to Facebook Message.

That’s pretty much it. If you don’t know what Facebook Connect is, it’s simple. Just click on “FB Connect” next to the comment box and login with your Facebook Account. When you post a comment you’ll see your mugshot and name in the comments! If you do that and become a Fan of Skatter Tech, you’re in!

Update 12/04/09: After throwing the names into Excel and using the Rand function, we finally came up with a winner who had both left a comment and was a Facebook Fan of Skatter Tech.

Congratulations: Arjun Patel!

We hope that you send us a snap of the Powermat in use and tell everyone what you think about it!

So what’s new with version 9.10? A Lot. It offers encryption to better protect your files. It features the latest version of the GNOME interface. The Pidgin chat client has been replaced with Empathy. A file syncing service called Ubuntu One, similar to Dropbox, is included. There’s a lot of performance improvements when it comes to startup. It also uses a new Intel Video Card architecture, the new ext4 file system, and the GRUB 2 boot loader. There’s even better power management handling. So what does that mean for average consumers? It’s more compatible and much faster than ever before.

Ubuntu 9.10 also includes plenty of graphical improvements as well. There’s a new sharp looking login screen, new wallpapers, a new default color scheme, and cleaner looking icons. When you are done using your computer, it even has a clean animation for that! I’ve used the last few iterations of Ubuntu on netbooks, laptops, old desktops, and even in VirtualBox for the past few years. It’s a great OS whether you are a programmer, a geek, or just don’t want to spend the cash on Windows 7 or Snow Leopard. Plus it’s probably the most secure and it’s something unique to show off. If you are interested in giving Ubuntu 9.10 a shot, it will become available for download on October 29th, 2009.

P.S. If you can’t wait, the Release Candidate is already available for download here.

Links: Ubuntu.com | 9.10 Release Notes

So if you find yourself getting sick of the on-flight entertainment, just pull out your laptop and get online. Even mobile devices such as a Blackberry or iPhone are allowed to connect to the WiFi network as long as the cellular component is turned off. I haven’t had a chance to test the network speed, but they are suppose to be decent. Google claims it to be comparable to “the mobile broadband experience on the ground.” However that probably won’t be the case this holiday season. With flight full of passengers connecting to the network since it’s free, rather than the usual few business folks, it will probably slow down a lot. If you’ve tried in-flight WiFi, please share your thoughts below!

Links: Google Holiday WiFi aboard Virgin America

Setting up Dropbox is easy. Just visit GetDropbox.com and download the installer for Windows, Macintosh, or Linux. The program will prompt you to register for an account if you are a first time user. A folder named “My Dropbox” will automatically be created. If you have a second or third computer, install Dropbox on those and login with the same username and password. If you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, grab the free Dropbox App from the iTunes App Store. Next just copy any files or folders into the “My Dropbox” folder. Assuming that you are connected to the internet, the files placed in there will automatically be synced to and stored on all your other computers. If you add, delete, or modify files, the changes are relayed over to all your other devices.

The devices I used to test the service included a HP DV2000 laptop running Windows Vista and an iPod Touch. Skatter Tech’s Senior Editor, Sahas Katta, also tested the service with a Dell XPS M1530 laptop running Windows 7, a Dell Mini 9 netbook running Windows XP, an ancient Desktop running Ubuntu 9.04, and an iPhone 3GS. With Dropbox setup on all those mentioned devices, the service worked across every single device flawlessly. Dropbox is truly a cross-platform marvel.

I tested the service by dropping some documents (PDF, DOC, PPT), music (MP3, AAC), and videos (AVI, MP4) into the “My Dropbox” folder. The small document files only took a few seconds to sync and appear on the other devices, however the larger video files took a lot longer. And say you don’t have access to any of your devices, but need to get to your files. Just visit GetDropbox.com from any web browser, login, and a copy of all your files is accessible through the web interface. The service also creates quick “share links” you can email or instant message to friends to give them access to certain files or folders.

While the free version limits space to just 2GB, you can get more space in two ways. If you invite friends to use the service using the referral program Dropbox recently launched, you’ll be given more space each time someone signs up using your link. And if truly need a lot more space, Dropbox charges $10/month for a 50GB account and $20/month for a 100GB account. As someone who mainly uses for documents, which barely take up any space, the free version suffices. However with how useful the service has been for my productivity since I began using it, if I do end up needing more space I wouldn’t mind paying. Overall, Dropbox is simply a convenient, easy to use, and foolproof service that saves you the time of having to manually manage your data across multiple machines. Plus with their new mobile iPhone App, I can quickly load and view the majority of documents while away from a computer. Other than slow sync times due to my occasionally slow internet connection, I couldn’t find a single flaw in the service. If you constantly move data between two or more machines, give this a shot!

Links: GetDropbox.com
Video: What is Dropbox?

Note: This article was co-written and edited by Sahas Katta.

2009 is the year for the launch of two new next generation operating systems: Apple’s OS X Snow Leopard and Microsoft’s Windows 7. Just as with every prior version of both those operating systems, they come with a set new stunning backgrounds. If you aren’t willing to spend the cash to upgrade or can’t afford to do so in these difficult times, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to enjoy these new wallpapers. So as a treat, our readers can download the entire set of backdrops included with both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard in full high resolution glory!

The download includes 31 Windows 7 Backgrounds plus two bonus ones we’ve thrown in all at a 1920×1200 resolution. And it also includes 35 Snow Leopard Backgrounds, all at a whopping 2560×1600 resolution. So what are you waiting for? Download a copy and let us know which set you like best!

Download:
next-gen-wallpapers.zip (~79.8 MB)
Note: Download only contains JPG images, we never distribute spyware/malware/adware.

Pre-Order: Snow Leopard | Windows 7

Ever wanted to watch any episode of South Park? Well now you can, thanks to South Park Digital Studios, a joint venture between South Park and Comedy Central. SouthParkStudios.com features every full-length episodes from all twelve seasons which can be legally streamed to your computer for free. This seems to be a new trend which many studios are following. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, also a part of Comedy Central, made a similar move last year making every clip ever filmed available online at no cost to the viewer. Hulu, a News Corp and NBC Universal project, went public earlier this month offering hundreds of high quality full length episodes of TV shows.

“We got really sick of having to download our own show illegally all the time so we gave ourselves a legal alternative.” said Stone and Parker, when asked about the launch of the new site.

This move is beneficial to viewers since they won’t have to deal with downloading content illegally and to studios since they can rake in extra profits through ad revenue. At this time the content will unfortunately not be available for viewers in other countries rather than the United States due to contract issues, however they are working to change that. New episodes of South Park will appear on the site as soon as it is aired on TV, however will be removed after 7 days. The episode will become permanently available 30-days after the original air date. Lets hope more studios follow what Comedy Central has done with South Park and the Daily Show and NBC has done by launching Hulu.

Links: South Park Studios
Related: Hulu Goes Public

After about a week of unofficial hints and rumors, early this morning Hulu opened themselves up to the public. Anyone located within the United States can visit Hulu.com and watch high-quality TV shows, nightly highlights, full length movies, full games, and short clips. Hulu limited to a audience of private beta users since October 2007. In addition to previous studios partnerships, Hulu now features content from Warner Bros. Lionsgate, NBA, HHL, and 20 other new providers. All content is viewable right through your browser without any additional plugins or software other than Adobe Flash. And to clarify the content isn’t user uploaded content, but rather high quality shows such as Family Guy, The Office, 30 Rock, House, Heroes, 24, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

“Today, Hulu is crossing a milestone in its mission to help people find and enjoy the world’s premium content, when where and how they want it,” said Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu. “With full-length episodes of current and archived television shows, feature films, sports and news, we believe the Hulu service is a step forward in giving consumers entertainment on their terms.

In return for access to the premium content which is freely available on Hulu, viewers will be required to watch short 15 and 30 second ads a few times throughout each show. From most of the content I’ve viewed, there were only around two to three ads for a half-hour show which is a whole lot better than TV commercials. Hulu seems to be a big winner at the moment. With services such as these, the amount of illegally distributed copies of these shows should drop drastically. Due to the fact that Hulu was a joint venture between News Corp and NBC Universal, they were able to gain support from a lot of production studios which other competitors such as Joost failed to do. Plus with the freedom to embed full episodes onto any web page or social networking sites, I expect Hulu to spread faster than ever!

Links: Hulu.com
Download: Hulu Programming Guide

Skatter Tech recently got access to Hulu, a new service launched by News Corporation and NBC Universal, which offers streaming access to high quality TV Shows and short videos. When we say TV Shows, we don’t mean random content, we mean real actual prime time shows that you would watch on TV such as The Office, Heroes, The Simpsons, House, Chuck, Prison Break, and 24. Even talk shows and comedy sketches including Saturday Night Live (SNL), Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are available through Hulu. The premium content will be distributed by streaming the video directly to your browser using flash player, so no additional plugins or software is needed. The player is quite advance and allows pausing, forwarding/rewinding, controlling volume, and even watching in full screen. And even when I played an episode of Scrubs in full screen, although the frame rate was a bit low, it was still much better than any other service I have seen to date. Viewers will have the ability to email the show to friends or embed them onto their own blogs and web pages.

So how much does this all cost? Absolutely nothing! Unfortunately the service is in beta and access is limited to testers, but should be opened to the public soon. We’ve included a embedded a full video of the latest episode of Heroes for your entertainment. In general, new shows will become available on Hulu once it has been broadcasted on television throughout the United States. (So, after it airs in Hawaii.) TV shows are automatically purged after approximately five weeks or five new episodes of that series has been added to collection. The content will obviously not be available for an infinite amount of time since studios will obviously loose revenue from DVD sales. Despite this, you now have free, legal, and high quality access to all your favorite TV shows.

This is probably one of the smartest moves production studios have made in a while. Instead of wasting time suing those who distribute or download copyrighted content illegally through P2P Networks or BitTorrent, they have decided to offer the shows themselves. The studios finally realized that if people are always going to find a way to get their content without paying for it, why not at least give it to them in high quality for free. News Corp. and NBC has done by launching Hulu. With this new service, studios are hoping to deter people from downloading their content illegally. The studios will also retain profits since advertisements are embedded into their content. So yes, you’ll have to watch ads. Fortunately they weren’t too bad, there were usually three to four 15-second ads for an hour-long show. Either way, this is a “win win” situation for both consumers and studios, since we get to watch shows for free and that they keep their content locked up in a secure player with ads to retain revenue. As of now, TV Shows will come from 15 different studios including FOX, NBC, Bravo, E! Entertainment, FX, SiFi Network, and USA Networks. (See the PDF for a full list of shows and networks.) Hopefully more networks will join this venture soon.

Links: Hulu.com | About Hulu
Attached Files: Hulu Program Guide (.pdf)

P.S. I sadly don’t have any invites to give away, but go ahead and try signing up anyways. You might get lucky! And as promised, here’s the entire latest episode of Heroes – “Cautionary Tales” (S02E09):

Last week Comedy Central announced the launch of a new website for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” which features clips from every episode which has aired since 1999. (Is also when Jon Stewart signed on as host) Comedy Central also claims that they will soon add full high quality episodes of every show ever filmed. Viacom, the parent company, made a pretty intelligent move by pulling all their clips off YouTube then launching this site. With this launch, viewers will no longer have to visit YouTube for this content and Viacom will make some big bucks through advertising revenue from their new site. This is also a big win for viewers since the content remains free, is now available in high quality, and is fully organized.

“There continues to be a rabid appetite for Comedy Central programming online,” Erik Flannigan VP Digital Media, Comedy Central. “With thedailyshow.com, we have created an online destination that raises the bar by providing an exhaustive video library for everything ‘Daily Show’.”

In addition to allow users to watching videos, The Daily Show’s website offers sharing the clips on a variety of popular social networking and link-sharing sites such as facebook, digg, and del.icio.us. Bloggers and website owners will also have the ability to easily add the clips to their own page. The content has only been made available due to advertisements and sponsors as expected. As a result users will be required to view an advertisement before they can actually begin watching the requested clip. Despite this, Comedy Central has taken a huge step by launching this site. Although NBC, ABC, and FOX now offer the ability to watch new prime-time shows online, no one (to my knowledge) has made their entire history available for free online. Hopefully larger networks will follow Comedy Central’s lead.

Links: The Daily Show | Comedy Central

I recently received an email from a reader asking whether to use Amazon’s new MP3 store or Apple iTunes for purchasing DRM-Free songs. We have used both services and we’ve got to say that they both have some up and downsides. Both Amazon and iTunes offer downloads of individual songs and albums in a DRM-Free 265kbps file format. Amazon uses the widely popular MP3 format, while iTunes Plus uses AAC. Excluding the iPod which uses AAC, the majority of Digital Audio Players (DAP) on the market have primarily been MP3 decoders. Despite this, just about all the new DAPs hitting the market today including the Microsoft Zune, Creative Zen, SanDisk Sanza, and Sony Walkman now support (DRM-Free) AAC. Finally, both stores also have a selection of over two million un-protected songs!

As for prices, iTunes charged $1.29 per song until two days ago, when they dropped the price to the standard $.99. Amazon’s rate is $.99 per song, however over half the songs in their collection are available for 10-cents less. If you are one of those people who constantly purchases popular songs, items in Amazon’s Top 100 list will always cost just $.89! Also if you are an iPod owner and find a song for cheaper on Amazon than iTunes, go ahead and purchase it. Amazon’s MP3 files are 100% compatible on your iPod and can even be added into your iTunes Library.

At the moment one thing that Amazon’s store does lack is a desktop client to organize and purchase music. Despite this, we found Amazon’s online store to be just as easy to browse as iTunes. Also as Web 2.0 apps are beginning to become desktop replacements, there’s no true need for a desktop browser. In addition, once songs are downloaded to your computer using Amazon’s download tool, the files can be automatically added to either Windows Media Player or Apple iTunes. Apple does have the upper edge on this topic since browsing, purchasing, managing, and syncing songs with iPods can all be done in one place. Both Windows and Macintosh users should have the same experience using either of the two services on their computer.

So our conclusion? We would recommend giving Amazon MP3 a shot since they offer plenty of albums at the same quality for a bit cheaper. At this point, only a few weeks after launch, there’s no chance that Amazon’s store will grab a piece of Apple’s market share. However if enough people start to switch over soon, competitive prices may even drive Apple to lower prices on iTunes in the future. From our tests, we didn’t seem to find any problems with Amazon just yet, however if any of you have found a bug or ran into problems let everyone know!

Links: Apple iTunes | Amazon MP3

Nintendo announced silicone “jacket” cover sleeves for the Wii remote control to protect the unit and offer a better grip. Starting today, all purchased consoles, additional remotes, or packages will include these jackets for safety purposes. In addition Nintendo is also offering FREE silicone jackets for current Wii owners. If you have a Wii, you’ll be able to order them by simply visiting Nintendo’s website, entering their console’s serial, and submitting the request. (100% free, no shipping costs, or hidden fees.)

“We’re always looking for ways to improve our products and make sure everyone has a safe and fun experience,” says George Harrison (NA senior vice president of marketing & communications)

This is the second free giveaway Nintendo has thrown to Wii owners, they previously provided replacement straps since many were snapping. Hopefully with a silicone jacket for additional grip and a stronger wrist strap, Wii remotes will remain in people’s hands and not end up sticking out of expensive HDTV sets. Wii owners should at least be glad that Nintendo is considerate enough to provide these extras for free. To order a jacket hit the link below to call 1-866-431-8367.

Update: Apparently this is going to cost Nintendo over $18 million! (But hey, it costs everyone else nothing!)

Links: Order Wii Remote Jacket

Google’s long awaited web-based PowerPoint-like application finally went live this morning. Google Presentation, as it is called, is their latest addition to the Google Docs family. Starting today, anyone in the United States will have the ability to upload, create, share, edit and view presentations online. Google Presentation also includes collaborative tools allowing multiple users to connect together to organize, modify, and present right from a web browser. Since Google Docs’s presentation feature supports Microsoft’s PowerPoint, any document created offline can easily be uploaded. Unfortunately documents created or edited online can only be exported into a HTML format, therefore won’t work with PowerPoint.

This is a pretty big step towards completing an entirely free online version of standard office applications. With Gmail and Google Docs for spreadsheets, word documents, and presentations, they may soon pose a serious threat to Microsoft Office. Although literally all their services are still in beta and are very limited in terms of features when compared to any standard office suite. For example Google Presentation only has 15 themes, basic text formating, limited image modification, no transitions, no sound/video, and lacks much more. This will most likely change as updates are rolled out.

Anyways give this a shot, but if you are still planning on purchasing MS Office keep in mind that Microsoft’s got that $60 deal! If you’d like to avoid that fee too try the new version (v2.3) of OpenOffice.

Links: Google Documents (docs.google.com)
Press: Google Blog – “Our Feature Presentation”

About three days ago, Microsoft announced a very unusual deal for students on Office 2007. Starting on September 20th, Any student with a valid “.edu” e-mail address will have the opportunity to purchase Office Ultimate 2007 for just $60. Offer ends in April 2008. For those of you thinking this is probably just another cut down version such as Home & Student Edition ($100), which has only the basic for processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications, WRONG! The downloadable Office Ulitmate 2007 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher, OneNote, Groove, and InfoPath! Although you probably won’t be using half those applications, we recommend going with this offer.

If you wish to grab this offer it’s available on TheUlimateSteal.com. As for those of you who wish to use an alternative to avoid even the $60, we would recommend OpenOffice which includes just about all the programs you would ever need and is completely open source, therefore free.

P.S. Don’t try lying to get this offer since Microsoft will charge the full $679 price if your student enrollment fails to validate!

Links: TheUtlimateSteal | Compare Office 2007 Editions

Have you ever gotten a call and don’t recognize the number? Well with Sullr, getting information on that number couldn’t have been easier. Just enter the area code plus the 7-digit number and the caller’s name or business along with an address and map will be instantly provided. Free reverse phone number lookup services, such as this one, do already exist, however none are clean, Web 2.0 powered, and ajaxified like Sullr. In addition Sullr’s works from just about any mobile phone, just visit ‘wap.sullr.com‘ and get the same results.

At this time Sullr’s beta Web 2.0 service only works in Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy and the USA but they are working to add support for more countries. Just bookmark it and it’s sure come in handy!

Update: Spain and Luxembourg have just been added!

Links: Sullr.com
Related: Do Not Call

Since Skatter Tech is approaching our 300 post, we are offering all our readers a chance of wining a brand new Apple iPod Shuffle. The Shuffle can hold 1GB of storage (~240 songs), has 12hrs of battery life, is available in 5 colors, and costs $79. To enter our FREE giveaway contest you must meet all the requirements stated below and perform the following steps:

How To Sign Up:
1) Add Skatter Tech to your Technorati Favs
2) Leave a comment with the following info:

• a) Your Name (in the name field)
• b) Your Email (in the email field)
• c) Technorati User Name in the comments
• d) Color you want: Silver/Blue/Pink/Green/Orange

3) You are done!

Restrictions:
1) Must live within in the United States, Canada, or U.K.
2) Attempting to sign up more than once will result in disqualification.
3) You still may enter other future contests if you don’t win.

Other Info:
Contestants will be picked randomly until one is found that meets the requirements and has successfully completed instructions. We will not accept any entries made after 03/31/07. The winner of the contest will be announced on April 2, 2007. The winner will be announced here and contacted by the email address he/she has provided.

UPDATE: The winner of the contest is “Dean Patel”! He has already responded to our email, therefore will be receiving a brand new 1GB GREEN iPod Shuffle. Thanks to all who participated in the contest. We plan to have another giveaway within a few months, so check back!

We just received our Wii Replacement Straps from Nintendo a few days ago. Nintendo has been sending out free replacement straps for any Wii owners who requests them. (link below) The new strap is much thicker and stronger than the originals included with the unit. (click image above to enlarge) Although there are numerous complains of Wii remotes “flying” at TVs, windows, walls, and children, we still were unable to break our strap with a decent amount of force. My feeling is that most of these complains came from people who decided not to wear the strap, but then blamed them faulty after they ended up breaking something.

If you own a Wii we suggest order one for just for extra safety. Nintendo will ship out a maximum of four straps per console (not remote). The straps are 100% free, no shipping tax or charges of any sort.

Links: Order Replacement Straps | Nintendo
Related: January 2007 Wii Games

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

After setting up over 180 access points costing over $1 million, Google has finally unleashed free WiFi Internet Access for the residents of Mountain View, CA. Google claims that over 90% of their hometown now has coverage and that their free WiFi service will offer speeds of up to 1MB/s down/up. With the launch of this service, anyone in the area can access the internet at speeds reaching close to what most DSL providers offer in the area. Google hopes to gain revenue in return by driving users through their portal on launch and introducing users to other service. Google also boasted that they may even raise the bandwidth if there is enough demand, however denied any plans of launching free Nationwide WiFi.

“It has been has been tremendously rewarding to partner with the local government, the schools, the library, the neighborhood associations, and all of our trusted testers to introduce the power of free wireless Internet connectivity to the city.” Minnie Ingersoll

To utilize Google’s free WiFi you must be in Mountain View (signal map), have a 802.11b/g network card, and a free Google Account. After finding/connecting to a “GoogleWiFi” access point, open a browser and a Google WiFi page should appear. After logging in, you should have access to the internet. Since the traffic between you computer and the access point is unencrypted, we suggest using Google’s Secure Access software.

Links: Google WiFi FAQs | GoogleBlog Announcement
Related: Google Talk Gets Upgrades