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  • 5 Top Residential VoIP Providers in 2014


    There are several competing VoIP providers that make the service available at affordable rates to residential users. With VoIP services now having considerable demand, residential buyers are able access the services at cheap monthly fees. MyVoipProvider.com came up with the list of 2014’s top residential VoIP providers based on their customer care packages, prices, customer satisfaction, and scalability.

    ITP

    ITP’s high flexibility rate has placed it among the top 5 residential VoIP service providers. They have a metered package for home or work customers with low call volumes which go for less than 3 cents per minute. Special discounts are offered for additional services and lines that a customer may subscribe to. Some of their extra service features include; unlimited international calling packages, good discounts, and a phone adapter in the service plan. They also have a remarkable customer support system available 24/7 for any assistance.

    Phone Power

    Phone power’s success in managing their various services and having a wide variety of customers makes it one of the top residential VoIP providers. Customers can have a long term contract with the company to be able to get low rates and a financially sound monthly package. Extra features include free 60 minute for international calls, extra equipment and an additional line.

    VoIPo

    VoIPo residential VoIP services are clear and simple, which makes customers happy. Their package plans are well organized for both business and residential VoIP services, having very few differences between the two. Clients for home or small business lines can subscribe to their $15 monthly contract or $8.25 annual contract to enjoy unlimited calls to the US and Canada.

    MagicJack

    MajicJack's affordability placed it among the 5 best residential VoIP providers. Residential buyers can get an annual package goes for as low as $19.95 per line. Customers get to use the service on computer by plugging in a USB drives and the MagicJack Plus allows customers to receive calls even without the computer on.

    Phone.com

    Phone.com has several interesting packages for both residential and business VoIP customers, which is quite impressive. Phone.com’s business VoIP plans are based on the number of minutes purchased. They offer between 300 and 2500 minutes monthly in their four plans. All the plans have similar main features and the extras have the same price in each plan. Customers have to sign a contract with them but there is an option between a monthly and an annual contract.

  • Sprint inches closer to voice-over-LTE, selecting Broadsoft for VoIP

    In addition to the VoIP service that Sprint provides, Broadsoft’s server will enable them to add layers on messaging, video and other IP communications which is a move in the right direction and commendable.

    MetroPCS have failed to deliver on their service with the strike they had with voice-over-LTE where the long awaited migration of mobile voice calls to 4G data networks has not yet happened which is very disappointing but things are looking better for the VoLTE service especially with the coming in of Sprint.

    Sprint is keen on upgrading their VoIP services and has strategically made the important move of partnering with BroadSoft as a service provider. According to BroadSoft on Wednesday, its server for BroadWorks IP applications will be used to run VoLTE services coming in the foreseeable future.

    Sprint have a very well established 2G network that is well spread and optimal for voice calls but since their interest is not only in voice, investing and upgrading to VoLTE is a decision that was long anticipated. BroadWorks will enable Sprint to combine web interfaces and enterprise PBX systems with the VoLTE to be implemented on top of layering on the video, presence and messaging that already exists with them.

    We are still waiting on word on the official VoLTE commercial launch date but judging from the time consuming LTE rollout by Sprint, we could assume that the CDMA – LTE voice transition will not be happening in the near future. But still, getting together with Broadsoft looks like a light at the end of the tunnel because of the high quality features it provides. Sprint’s communications platform could be made more effective when unified through efforts and innovations brought by broadsoft to serve its enterprise customers some time soon.

  • High-tech components in this curved Samsung 4K TV make for wonderful picture quality


    This year, when it comes to new TV technology, all eyes are on the curved 4K TVs as was the case at this early January’s CES. The Samsung UN65HU9000 stood out at the show because apart from its attractive stature, it paraded remarkable UHD (other name for 4K) image. This is what caught our eyes. 

    The quality of the picture is just amazing. Let’s just say that the HU9000 has outdone many 4K TVs at picture quality and this includes all the Samsung and LG 4K televisions that we reviewed last year so I could say it’s quite an impressive TV. The pack of high tech features fitted into this 65 – inch television have done a good job of up scaling its quality of pictures.

    The wide color range and high color saturation that are this TV’s major strongholds are owed to the innovative PurColor engine from Samsung which makes it possible for colors to appear close to their original picture; almost like being at a movie theatre. It is important to note that 4K TVs resolution is 4 times that of your usual HD television so pictures have to be up scaled for these TVs for better, sharper images enabled by its technology.

    The local – dimming is another of HU9000’s secret to its crispy images. The way it works is that pixels are deactivated on parts of the screen to get the deep contrast that plasma TV viewers enjoy and this feature is coming at an opportune time when plasma TVs are reducing so it couldn’t be more welcome.

    Nothing is final about the picture quality until we have a look at the TV in the lab but Samsung’s good record of producing high quality TVs could back this one up. The UN65HU9000 will be in the stores this year and will be a TV to look forward to for UHD TV enthusiasts.

    The curved design and other features

    Curved TVs have the better picture quality and aura than flat TV and this is from a practical demonstration which made me really like the new curved TVs. To me, the curved UN65HU9000 is just stunning.

    The ‘Areno Arena’ is Samsung’s name for this design. The curved silver stand does a good job at complementing the curved metallic gray screen. Viewers who prefer their TV on the wall can do so even with the curves 1.2 inch panel.

    The HU9000 price will go deep into people’s pockets but it may be more affordable than the Sony X950B and even Samsung S9. All in all, we can wait to see how this TV does in the lab.

  • A bigger screen for less money: use a 4K TV instead of a monitor


    A 4K TV could be your best chance of getting great and efficient monitor service without spending an extra coin. According to Brian Hauer who wrote a piece on Tiamat, programmers will be happy to discover the $500 Seiki 39” 4K TV which works very well as a high-output display. Anybody else who works with many windows open will appreciate the productivity enhancement that the TV will add to your work considering other good and affordable 27” or 30” monitors will cost you $400 – $650..

    Just like the other imperfect HD-TVs in the market, the Seiki 4K TV has its set of set – backs according to Hauer.

    One of the most notable draw – back with the TV is that at the 3840 x 2160 resolution, only 30Hx can be supported by the HDMI 1.4 ports. The 30Hz limitation also applies with the Lower end GPUs at the same signature resolution. A GPU belonging to an old desktop PC does not have the capacity to support 3840 x 2160 so if that is what you are using, you will need to stick with it for a while.

    Trouble with the 30 Hz is mainly experienced in screen mouse movements and that is not a big enough issue for most of the users out to exploit its good resolution. The Seiki might not also be the best screen to use for gaming but many other functions perform great with the screen.

    Either way, the Seiki 39” 4K TV is much better than the regular monitor because of the larger number of pixels that the TV offers.

    At this point I think it would be safe to say that 4K TV is definitely built for programmers.

  • Microsoft SkyDrive is now OneDrive

    Microsoft’s newly rebranded OneDrive from the old SkyDrive cloud storage platform came with new features and the company threw in a few promotions during its launch.

    Following a British court ruling that found Microsoft in violation of the British Sky Broadcasting group trademark, Microsoft consented to let go of SkyDrive as the name for its cloud storage platform in July. The OneDrive brand was shared with the public in January and the official rebranding took place early this February.

    The new brand comes with a new feature that enables the sharing of videos and the Android version of it getting an automated photo back up.

    OneDrive is Microsoft’s competition for cloud storage services like Google Drive from Google, DropBox, and iCloud from Apple. The stiff competition has not stopped the growth of the brands popularity as users of the service have reached up to 250 M. OneDrive is an integral part of Microsoft’s ‘One Microsoft’ strategy and with the fresh attention it is getting because of the rebranding, the cloud storage service may be in for some more growth.

    The promotions that Microsoft has come up with might actually do them some good in attracting new users. Everyone gets 7 GB free storage space and an additional 3 GB for mobile phone owners using its photo back up feature. Referring a friend to the service will get you 500 MB for every new invite to a 5GB maximum.
    Microsoft reassured old users of the continuity of the product, mentioning that existing storage would have no impact except the incorporation of the new built-in-video trans-coding feature which enables video storage and adjustment of video resolution to match the viewer’s display.

    Even with its growing brand success, Microsoft seems know that there still exists a challenge when it comes to cross platform usage of the services. They have tried balancing the accessibility of the service on competing devices without affecting the demand of their devices.

    The cloud storage service, for example, is not available on the iPad and Android tablet and this is Microsoft’s strategy of avoiding an effect on the demand for its windows tablet. While the companies deal with the balancing act, we are looking forward to any new products and enhancements coming our way.

  • MWC 2014: The Red Herring Price Goes For – Triple Draw Between Samsung, LG and Sony

    It's split between three big players this year.

    Samsung:

    The core feature Samsung has been touting all MWC long has been the ability of its tablets to run 4 application windows at once. Useful, of course, but… Nothing else?

    LG:

    How long have you been dreaming of a curved mobile phone? Me neither, but the engineers at LG are very happy with its curved battery and screens. The phone doesn't feel specially awesome either.

    Sony:

    Speaking of dreams, we've been always waiting for a waterproof tablet, don't we? No? Yeah. Sony thinks otherwise. In any case, after seeing the impressive feats of the HZO guys I'd rather purchase a water-proofer from them and use the tablet I like.

  • Mobile World Congress 2014: Protect Your Devices Like a Pro – Panzer Glass and HZO Water Proofing


    Pictures explain better than words. See what HZO does to a bare Raspberry Pi:

     

    And see this live video of Panzer's tempered glass screen protector:

  • Mobile World Congress 2014: HTC Keeps Its Pace


    HTC didn't bring anything significantly new on the table at the year's Mobile World Congress. If you ignore the fact that one of its phones can actually drive a huge screen in real time, as seen below.

  • MWC 2014: More Variety is Better – Firefox OS, Tizen and Ubuntu


    "Bare" Android is no longer trendy. We have choices now: Tizen (from the Linux Foundation,) Firefox OS (I guess you know where it is coming from) and Ubuntu OS. Below you can see videos of Firefox OS and Tizen. After playing with more than 20 different devices, I wasn't able to unlock the Ubuntu OS device. There goes great usability.

  • Mobile World Congress 2014: Oppo Making a Big Splash


    A relatively obscure Chinese company, Oppo has just launched its N1 mobile phone, to complement its Find 5 device. With 2 GB of RAM and a Quad Core Snapdragon, it packs some serious punch. It features a custom Android version named Color OS. It felt as one of the fastest phones at this year's Mobile World Congress. You can see a video below.