Best VoIP Apps Out Right Now

Nowadays, there fewer and fewer people are using their actual voice minutes to make phone calls. In addition, due to globalization, more and more people are making international phone calls these days. In the days of smart phones and internet, phone cards are just not cutting it anymore, and VoIP apps are becoming much more prevalent to make either domestic or international phone calls. Here is a list of a few of the best ones out there.

Skype 

The one and only Skype. As many of you may be aware, Skype was purchased by Microsoft. Whether or not that spells out good news for consumers is a completely different topic, but at the moment, Skype is still on top as one of the most VoIP apps out there. It is available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. You can set up a phone number and even make calls to land lines! It’s a great program over all, and the prices are relatively cheap as well.

Viber

This neat app is pretty much Skype’s main competitor. They offer the same services and similar pricing points. The plus side for this app, however, is that it is available for a wide range of mobile operating systems, which include Android, Blackberry, iOS, Series 40, Symbian, Bada, and Windows Phone.

 

LG U+ Global Call:

This is a new VoIP app with a simple concept: call any phone number at ridiculously cheap rates. This application is only available for iOS and Android, which isn’t really a problem because most people use their smart phones to make the majority of their calls (who uses a computer to make a call these days?) with either an Android or iOS phone. The app will start you off with a few bucks to test it out. Launch date: April 2013.

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New Ouya to be Released Every Year

As many of you may already know, Ouya is a game console centered around its cheap $99 Tegra 3-powered Android platform.  With a traditional sense of a console, it's obvious that the Ouya would become obsolete within 1 or 2 years as developments in mobile processors have been advancing very quickly.  Due to this, Ouya has announced that a new version with updated hardware will be released every year -- much like the smartphones of today.  This decision makes a lot of sense; however, it may also slow down sales of Ouya because most gamers are used to simply buying one console and using it for a minimum of 5 years.  We will have to wait until the Ouya retails in June to see how people like the idea of buying a new Ouya every year or two.

I think Ouya should wait until the Tegra 4 is released so that at least when it launches, it will already be equipped with the latest and greatest instead of the Tegra 3 it currently holds, which is already over a year old.


Source: Engadget

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Superbowl XLVII Commercials

So Superbowl XLVII (that's 47 for you Roman numeral illiterates) has come and gone.  It was quite possibly one of the best Superbowl games I have ever seen.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the commercials.  While there were a few good laughs here and there, it felt like the commercials this year lacked the punch from previous Superbowls.  In any case, there is a compilation of all the Superbowl commercials from this year.

Which was your favorite?

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RIM, er, Blackberry Shows Off Its Hail Mary Z10 and Q10

Research in Motion, the company behind the once widely popular Blackberry phones, has one more chance to bring itself back from the ashes.  To start off the new year for RIM, it has decided to rename its company as simply Blackberry.  Next, Blackberry had an official press release about its newest phones, the Z10 and Q10, to be released in March and April respectively.  Both phones tout a dual-core CPU with 2GB of RAM capable of LTE.  Storage options come in at 16 GB with expandable memory via microSD.  In addition, they sport a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera and a forward-facing 2-megapixel camera.  The only difference between the two phones come from the form factors.  The Z10 sports a 4.2-inch touch screen with a 1280x768 resolution, which brings it to a retina-searing 356 pixels per inch.  The Q10 retains Blackberry's iconic physical keyboard with a 3.1-inch AMOLED 720x720 resolution touch-screen, which also gives this phone a 356 ppi.

Hopefully this new line up, along with some new software (the initial reviews seemed pretty good) will breathe new life into this once glorious but now struggling company.

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Jet Fighters to Have More Pew-Pew and Less Boom-Boom

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or more commonly known as DARPA has plans to add some more pew-pew to jet fighters by 2014.  More specifically, the extra pew-pew comes in the form of two types of lasers currently in development.  The first laser under developments is called HELLADS, which stands for High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System.  This laser will primarily be used offensively, whether to shoot down missiles or possibly other jet fighters with its 150 kilowatts liquid-cooled laser.  The second laser under development is called ABC, or Aero-Adaptive Beam Control.  This laser will be mounted backwards onto a jet fighter to shoot down any incoming missiles.

While all of this sounds AMAZEBALLS, don't expect anything straight out of Star Wars, where a single shot will immediately cause structural damage.  It will still take anywhere from a few seconds to more than just a few seconds for the lasers to heat anything enough to cause structural failure.  So while this news should be taken with a grain of salt, this is the first step towards living a life straight out of Star Wars.


Source: Slashgear

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J.J. Abrams Chosen to Direct Star Wars: Episodes VII

A few months after the initial announcement for the plan to create a new Star Wars Film, Disney and Lucasfilm have decided on its director: J.J. Abrams.  As most of you know already, Abrams is best known for directing the critically acclaimed 2009 Star Trek, which grossed over $200 million in the box office and received a 95% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

Star Wars: Episode VII will continue the story after the original Trilogy, and will feature (obviously) a brand new cast and (obviously) a-whole-lotta CG.  With an amazing screenplay writer (Michael Arnt) and now an amazing director, things seem to be looking very good for the tentative 2015 release for this newest addition to the Star Wars series.  Nerdgasm.


Source: MTV

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H.265 Format Approved by ITU

We are now one step closer to being able to stream currently non-existing 4K content.  The new H.265 format will have half the bandwidth requirements of the H.264 format it is replacing, which is crucial for streaming high quality content.  Uncompressed 4K content currently requires about 9 terabytes of storage for a 90 minute movie.  The average compression ratio of H.265 is about 50:1, which means a 9 TB 4K file will be compressed to about 180 GB.  This compression is still not enough to fit into the largest Blu-ray disc currently available, which sits at 128 GB -- and even this 128 GB limit is only available if you have a special Blu-ray player capable of playing BDXL; standard Blu-ray players will not be able to play BDXL files.  So if the estimates for the compression ratio of the new H.265 is true, a 90 minute 4K file will only be about 90 GB -- enough to fit into Blu-ray discs.

For more current applications for the new H.265 format, it can now be used to more easily stream high definition (read: 720p or 1080p) content on mobile devices.  Even the speediest of LTE networks can barely stream 1080p content (but chances are there will be plenty of buffer time during peak usage hours), but the new H.265 will make it much more feasible and practical without eating up all of your limited download cap with a single file.

All we need to wait for now is software and hardware acceleration support, and that should be coming along shortly.

Source: Engadget

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Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm Opening Cinematic Released; Nerdgasm

Have you finished cleaning yourself up yet?  No?  Okay, give yourself a few more minutes to recover.


The March 12th release date isn't coming quickly enough.  AND HURRY UP AND MAKE A MOVIE OUT OF THIS, BLIZZARD!  TAKE MY MONEY, GODDAMMIT!

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8-Inch Samsung Galaxy Note Prepped for Mobile World Congress

It looks like Samsung is trying to start off 2013 on the right foot. And by right foot, I mean dominate the phone market like it did last year.  The first of the confirmed rumors of Samsung's 2013 line up of smart phones is an 8-inch variety of Samsung's ever popular phablet, the Galaxy Note.  While Samsung is calling this the Galaxy Note, there's no doubt that this will be replacing the not-so-popular Galaxy Tab 7 line of phablets, just as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 line was ousted by the Galaxy Note 10.1.  Sticking with what works -- good strategy.  As to rumors on the specs that will come with this 8-inch phablet, it will likely come with the same quad-core Exynos processor as the Galaxy SIII, only with a slight speed bump to 1.6 Ghz, as well as a 4,600 mAh battery, 2 GB of RAM, 16/32 GB of internal storage, 5 MP rear camera, 1.3 MP front camera, 1280x800 screen, and the standard suite of connectivity options such as Bluetooth, WiFi, a-GPS, and one not-so-standard USB 2.0 port.  There has been no speculation of LTE yet, but it will definitely come with 3G on launch.

This 8-inch tablet will be debuted during the Mobile World Congress in February.


Source: Engadget

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Sony Xperia Tablet Z: The Tablet You've Been Waiting For

I have never been one to get excited over a tablet, but Sony's newest iteration may be the money maker Sony has been looking for.  The struggling company has managed to come up with a sexy tablet with amazing specs: a Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, a 10.1-inch 1,920 x 1,200 screen, an 8.1-megapixel Exmor R camera, NFC, LTE, and microSD expansion.  All of this coupled with a 6.9-mm thick, 495-gram light, waterproof and dustproof shell holding a 6,000-mAh battery makes this entire package very appetizing.  The tablet design obviously takes notes from its smart phone counterpart that was unveiled during CES 2013, which is also waterproof and dustproof.

Pricing and availability has not been released yet, but I will definitely update as soon as I find out!


Source: Engadget

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