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GizmoProject posts

Filed under: Video, Windows, Freeware, VoIP

New Gizmo Project beta adds N810 support

If desktop VoIP calling program Gizmo Project previously had a reputation as a Skype Killer, it's now official: Skype is dead. Gizmo has always done things Skype couldn't--like custom on-hold music, SIP compatibility, meta-IM with support for Yahoo, MSN, and Google Talk, and a slew (that means dozens) of other things. Indeed, some of us here at Download Squad haven't had Skype in our startup items for a year or more.

Gizmo Project 4.0 beta just hit the wild. New in this edition are a reworked avatar system, tabbed text chatting, a totally redesigned user interface, and video calling, a feature that we got a first look at with an earlier beta release last month.

Ordinarily, Gizmo Project's creator, SIPPhone Inc., does a good job of getting features to their Mac and Linux editions in a hurry (though 4.0 beta isn't yet available for Mac). In this case, however, the Nokia N800/N810 version is also ready to rock, which really excites us, since Nokia's Internet Tablets have built-in cameras that are ideal for video calling.

As with previous versions of the Project, you can still make outgoing (and receive incoming) telephone calls, and make yourself reachable via a sipphone.com URI. So, with the last nail in Skype's coffin being hammered in by the good folks at SIPPhone, we're asking ourselves if we'll ever need to run Skype again. After all, with services like GrandCentral supporting Gizmo Project, and with the availability of a native Gizmo Project client for mobile phones, it looks like Gizmo Project is ready to bury eBay's redheaded stepchild.

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Symbian, Freeware, VoIP, BlackBerry, Mobile Minute

Gizmo for Mobile in public beta

Gizmo for MobileGizmo for Mobile, from SIPPhone, the makers of Gizmo Project, lets you do chat, VoIP calls, and file transfers on your smart phone. Whether your buddies are on the Gizmo network, MSN, Yahoo, or AIM, you'll be able to text chat, which will help you avoid those SMS fees if you don't have unlimited texting. In addition, the rates for voice calling using Gizmo's call-out credits are very tempting--especially if you call across international boundaries. Ever call the UK from the States on your mobile phone? Ouch.

Gizmo for Mobile can be installed directly to your mobile phone using its browser, and SIPPphone claims support for 200 mobile phone models including Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, Treo, and Samsung. Oh, and if you have a Linux-based mobile device like the Nokia N800, Gizmo Project will run on that, too.

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, VoIP

The age of free phoning has arrived

As many have predicted for the last few years, free telephone service is here, today. You just can't get it from your local phone company. You've got to use the Internet to connect to a service that can route your calls for free.

First to jump headfirst into the free phone action was Skype, offering free PC-to-phone calls for the rest of the year, and now Gizmo Project has joined Skype by creating their All Calls Free program. In case you've never heard of Gizmo Project, it's a fantastic VoIP desktop communication tool for Mac, Windows, and Linux. As my VoIP industry buddy Andy Abramson points out here, this is probably a ploy aimed at acquisition of Gizmo's parent company than it is an effort to build revenue, but only time will tell. Free calling is here, now, so don't waste any time--get over to gizmoproject.com and download the newest version.

Sightspeed gets up to speed

It wasn't that long ago that I was reviewing the VoIP and video-conferencing tool SightSpeed, which allows Windows and Macintosh users to call each other with excellent quality via the Internet. Sightspeed's big claim to fame is its superior synchronization of audio and video (isn't it annoying when the person you're Skyping is mouthing the words 3 seconds after you hear them?).

Now, Sightspeed has upped the ante on its competitors by adding PC-to-phone calling. So you can call dear old Grandma in Hacketsville, where they don't have broadband yet, via her standard phone.  This brings Sightspeed into the fold with other desktop calling tools like Gizmo Project and Skype, but Sightspeed's superior video implementation and community features puts it clearly in the lead, if you ask me.  Plus, it's hard not to like the Sightspeed Video Guy, pictured here.

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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