OK, I know it has been awhile, but I moved across the country; so I was a little tied up

I have blogged about a couple of other instant messengers for Blackberries before, and have had various amounts of success with them. There is a new player out there. WebMessenger has been around for awhile, but they recently announced that they were offering their personal instant messenger for FREE!

I tried it out and it was a breeze to set up. One of the biggest issues with Instant Messengers has been to get MSN Messenger, or Live Messenger on a Blackberry. WebMessenger does this without a hitch. RIM has been saying for some time that they would have a version for MSN, but so far only Yahoo and Google Talk.

Before you try to get it working on your Blackberry, you need to set up an account on the WebMessenger site. You simply tell them your logins for each of the IM’s out there and then when you login on the blackberry, all your contacts will be there.

…now if I could just get Rogers to offer a cheap data plan.

How often have you been in a restaurant or a movie, and someone’s cell phone blares out the latest rendition of the owners favorite hip hop track, or the blaring sound of a ring from a phone of the 60’s? I have heard that some places are considering jamming cell phones because of this.

It is annoying and many consider this to be rude.

I have found a solution. I found an MP3 file where someone recorded a sneeze. I then found the site www.coolservice.dk. It allows you to upload any MP3 file, then download it onto your Blackberry, or any phone that has internet access. You simply upload the file, and it gives you a code number. You go to the download site on your Blackberry browser, enter the code and it will be downloaded. You then save the file and it will be listed in your ring tones. Select Profiles on your Blackberry and then change the tone.

Now when your phone rings, it will actually sneeze. I have found this much less obtrusive while in public places.

You can listen and download the mp3 file below.

 

 Sneeze [0:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Recently there has been a few companies that have come out with UMPC’s. Ultra Mobile PC’s. Everyone has complained about how expensive they are and how impractical the small format is. What is important to realize is that these are the "betas" of the UMPC. Like everything else, the first version is expensive. Look at HD-DVD players. They first came out over $1,000. Now pricing is down to $799. This past weekend I received a flyer for an external HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 for $149 Canadian. (which apparently you can install in a PC.)

To really understand where the UMPC is going, simply watch the Intel video below. The only thing I could say after watching this is "I want one of each!"

I recently had the opportunity to test out the Keyspan Tuneview remote control. The biggest feature with this remote control, that makes it different from all others, is the LCD display on the remote mimics the screen on your iPod. All of your Albums, Artists, Genres and Playlists are displayed on the remote, just as if you were using your iPod. If you have a newer iPod with video, you can also connect the dock to your TV to watch the videos.

The installation took 3 minutes. You plug the supplied cable into the back of the dock. You attach the 2 RCA type jacks to your stereo system. You insert the iPod into the dock, turn on the remote and within 5 seconds you have your menu on the remote.

The other benefit of this remote is that it is RF (radio frequency) as opposed to IR (infra-red). This means you do not have to have line of sight to the dock. You can be anywhere in your house and access your iPod. More importantly, you can see what you are playing and what you are accessing.

Watch the video below to see this unit in action.

I recently had the opportunity to test new wireless keyboard from Adesso. This could be the closest to a perfect wireless keyboard for Windows Media Center. There are lots of wireless keyboards out there that use their own methods to connect. Most are good to about 6-8 feet before the signal gets to the point where the keyboard is no longer usable. Adesso uses 2.4 Ghz radio frequency. This is the same signal that wireless phones and wireless networks use. You should be good up to 50 ft. or more with this. (the keyboard supports up to 100 ft. but you may requre binoculars to see the screen at that distance

The keyboard also has an integrated trackball. The mouse buttons are located on the top, as well as another set under your trigger fingers .Scroll wheel on the left and left click on the right. The group of buttons on the top left are all related to media controls. Stop, Play, FF, REW etc.

Setup was the easiest process I have ever seen. There is a USB ‘dongle’ that you plug into any available USB slot. You push the button on the dongle, and an LED starts flashing. You push the ID button on the upper left of the keyboard and you are ready to go.

I recently had an opportunity to test a new WiFi music bridge that allows you to play DRM music from either Apple iTunes or Windows Media Player. The product is called the Sirocco from Sondigo.

Feature List

• Stream your music collection anywhere in 5.1 channel Dolby Digital surround sound!

• Stream wirelessly over your wireless network, or through a connected Ethernet cable

• Send multi-channel audio to your receiver over one digital connection using Dolby™ Digital Live

• Fully compatible with your existing Wireless-G (recommended) or Wireless-B network.

• Multi-channel analog and optical digital outputs

• Easy Installation with the included Sondigo Setup Wizard

• Easy connect with the included 3.5mm stereo, RCA and Optical Digital cables

• Support every audio player application, and every audio file format supported by your PC

• Stream internet radio into your living room

• Supports multiple Sirocco devices on the same network

• Supports every known audio file format, including MP3, WMA, and AAC - even DRM protected files are supported

• Supports all subscription-based music services

• High quality 10 band EQ

• Virtual Speaker Shifter - tune the surround-sound field to your actual speaker placement

• Environmental Effects - EAX2.0, A3D1.0 compatible environmental reverb effects

• If your PC can play it - Sirocco^TM can too!

You don’t need any hardware on your computer. Other than your existing wireless router. The system allows you to play DRM protected music on your stereo system by making your stereo an extension of your computer. Just as if you were plugging speakers into your computer.

And best of all… it lists for $139.99 US.

I recently attended the Mesh 2006 conference. There were a lot of great discussions. The one that interested me was a discussion on wireless and satellite radio. I sat behind Andrew Coyne from the National Post. He coined the phrase Ubiquitious Wireless.

 ubiq·ui·tous : existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered :

This means, wireless everywhere. This is not some future science fiction, but reality in the next 5 to 10 years. It is already happening in San Francisco and Phillidelphia. This means, wireless everywhere. This is not some future science fiction, but reality in the next 5 to 10 years. It is already happening in San Francisco and Phillidelphia.Now imagine for  a minute, if all handheld and portable devices had WiFi capability. From your MP3 player, to your cell phone to your car stereo. Now that you have the hardware, you need the content. Robert Scoble posted an entry in his blog about the sort of filter he would like to see for retrieving content. It could retrieve random information and post it to his iPod. Then as he listens to the information it would track what you liked and remember to download like content the next time. There are music services that do this today. The Pandora project uses math to analyze songs and groups them together. You choose some artists or songs. It presents those and others that fit the same style. Last.FM uses community preferences. If a lot of people who picked your artist or song, also picked these other songs, then it puts those into your playlist. Now take all the above and add it into a car stereo with WiFi. The software or your choice collects the music content for you above and either plays it, or stores it on your car stereo. Cheap flash memory is available today in 8GB sizes. So how does satellite radio compete with this. Or maybe the question is…Can satellite radio compete with this.

I am a big fan of Skype. Who wouldn’t be, free phone calls anywhere in the world. Check out my Skype-me icon on top right. Netgear has introduced a new phone that is Skype compatible and you don’t need a PC to use it. This is the first time I have seen this. There are a lot of Skype compatible phones, but they all plug into PC’s in order to work. This phone can be use anywhere there is WiFi access; like Starbucks or Second Cup for example. You can receive or make phone calls to anyone on your contact list for free. The phone is coming soon, and you can Pre-order Phone Here