Mobile Computing News, Reviews, & Tips
Review: Credit-Card-Sized VoIP Phone
How's this for cool? Kensington's Vo200 BT Internet Phone ($90 list) is slim and small enough to fit into a laptop's PC Card slot for storage and recharging. Pop it out, flip it open, and use Skype or other VoIP service for low-cost voice calls. The phone connects to the Internet via a Bluetooth connection to your Internet-connected PC. Unfortunately, the phone has no keypad; you have to initiate calls using your PC. But PC World reviewer Michael Lasky says the audio quality is surprisingly clear.
Review: Sleek BlackBerry 8800 Adds GPS
RIM's BlackBerry 8800 sports a sleek look, a full QWERTY keyboard, plenty of multimedia features, and built-in GPS (the service costs an additional $10 per month, however). It's a good-looking phone, though the keypad feels crowded and at 4.7 ounces, the 8800 is heavier than some competitors. It's $350 with a two-year AT&T/Cingular contract.
Review: Firefox Portable Browser
Mozilla's Firefox Portable lets you store the browser and your saved bookmarks and passwords on a USB drive, then use the drive on any PC. PC World Contributing Editor Scott Spanbauer notes there are some limitations, however: Not every extension or plug-in will install or work correctly with Firefox Portable, especially Java.
Suggestion Box
Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.
Contributing Editor James A. Martin offers tools, tips, and product recommendations to help you make the most of computing on the go. Martin is also author of the Traveler 2.0 blog. Sign up to have the Mobile Computing Newsletter e-mailed to you each week.
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