For the geek that has to do presentations, iSpring Free is a neat little tool that converts your PowerPoint presentations into Adobe Flash slideshows. So no more sticking this slides up on the Web, and needing your visitors to download then open up on their computer (and they need to have Powerpoint Viewer at a minimum too).
iSpring runs on Windows supports PowerPoint 2000/XP/2003/2007.
You may love your gadgets, but hate the mess of cables that it typically involves. If you’ve got a bit of extra cash to spend on the ‘problem’, then you should take a look at FlatWire Technologies which is a company that makes FlatWire, ultra-thin, surface mounted wiring for audio, video, data and even low-voltage lighting.
FlatWire boasts the ability to be applied flat against walls and other surfaces non-invasively, then covered up with the same coloring, make 90 degree turns and run all types of signaling over it. Depending on the type of connection you need, there are specific interconnects that you need to buy.
While FlatWire by itself is more expensive than traditional cylindrical wires, the company touts total installation costs as being competitive. Of course, if you put a high value on aesthetics, then FlatWire will definitely win out.
PricePirates is a piece of Windows freeware that lets you compare prices in eBay auctions ( you can select what country), Amazon.com and Shopping.com. Each of those product sources show up in different tabs in the software and automatically populated once you switch to a tab. There is also a tab with a Web search (although I don’t know why you would bother with this when there are much better search engines out there).
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There’s a new kid on the Webmail block – GMX.com. GMX Internet Services, Inc. claims to have over 10 million Internet mail accounts, and has attracted 100,000 users in the beta testing of their new webmail service. Built with a lot of AJAX features, the GMX interface resembles Outlook and Hotmail more than Gmail or even Yahoo Mail, and sports 5GB of storage.
Here are my initial thoughts where I compare GMX mainly to Gmail as that’s my primary webmail client.
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This is simply wicked cool. Although I’m not a huge fan of the iPhone, in terms of it being a cell phone, I’m immensely impressed by its touch screen interface. Here’s an example of that interface being put to amazing use by a company called Earthscape, who produces a virtual Earth app that is similar to Google Earth. Take a look at this video which shows how you can get the Earth to spin by moving the phone around.
There are two things I am pretty pleased about this week – my new phone and a really useful plugin for Outlook, both of which are allowing me to get much more value out of the technology I use every day.
I have recently changed my mobile phone to a Nokia N95 8GB (from a SE K800i) and so far I am really pleased with its performance. The interface is responsive and the functionality including the wireless connectivity, 5 megapixel camera and N-gage are well worth the upgrade – you can read more about it Welcome to my Nokia N95 8GB.
Xobni (read Inbox backwards) is enabling me to get way more use out of Outlook (Why I need Xobni to manage my e-mail) than I have had before. Two of the key features for me are the contact relationships and the exchanged files indicators. The Contact Relationships part allows me to find a particular email recipient who have been involved a communication chain whilst the exchange file indicators keeps a log of files transmitted between us.
I have also posted the next part in the Web 2.0 series: 42 things about Web 2.0 in 2008, part 2 of 3.
Fantastic. Now you can not only have an Internet connection by way of your cell phone’s data connection (tethered to your laptop), but you can also share it to create your very own WiFi hotspot! The Cradlepoint Personal Hotspot 300 is a fully featured WiFi router that uses your mobile phone’s data connection as its conn to the Net.
While it includes an AC adapter, its internal battery can be charged up for full portability. Wherever you want to work, now you can. No longer do you have to find some coffee shop and pay them $10 to get online.
The PHS300 support 802.11b/g computers, and its WiFi router includes a full set of the security and access controls that you’ve come to expect in popular home-based broadband routers.
Gimme!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $149.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)
This is news- (and drool-) worthy. Intel just announced the first 10 Gigabit server adapter that will work over copper cables. They’re teaming up with Dell to have these adapters offered in PowerEdge servers. These 10GBe adapters will work over Cat 6 & 6a cable.
Expect them to start showing up by the end of June for $1000. Here’s the Fact Sheet (in PDF).
via GigaOM.
It took a while, but now DSL is starting to compete with cable modem service on speed, as Qwest announces that they’ll be offering 12 and 20 Mbps DSL service in 23 markets. When you call up, just ask for Qwest Titanium, or Qwest Quantum, as the services will be dubbed.
Sorry, but will I know you’re drooling over this, you’ll have to wait closer to the end of the year if not early 2009, and you’ll need to be prepared to shell out $65/mo for the 12Mbps and $100/mo for 20. Hmm… perhaps cable may still win this speed war.
As much as this seems like too much government to me, there’s a part of me that wishes I lived in France where the French government is requiring builders to install fiber-optic cabling in new apartment complexes. The goal is that by 2010, all buildings with more than 25 apartments should be wired for broadband.
