Nov/090
Fring adds Skype video support on S60
Considering the proliferation of 3G, WiFi, in-home broadband, and front-facing cameras on phones, you’d think that there’d be far more obvious ways to bridge video calls between phones and PCs — but alas, it’s virtually impossible, particularly in the States where carriers have a complete aversion to the topic. Enter Fring — one of the mobile industry’s VoIP pioneers that has spread its love from Symbian to almost every smartphone platform worth mentioning over the years — which is stepping out today with a new build for S60 handsets that offers video support through Skype. The way we see it, this is great news for a couple of reasons: one, Skype is one of the few videoconferencing systems with widespread traction, and two, this suddenly makes front-facing cams useful to a whole swath of Nokia users on networks (ahem, AT&T and T-Mobile) that don’t offer video calling themselves. Whether we actually use it is another story altogether, but hey, it’s cool to have it if we absolutely must see your beautiful face face right now in stunning low fidelity.
Nov/090
Atlona HDAiR Now Comes With Audio, a Purpose
Nowadays, it seems there’s an adapter for anything. Whether you need an eSATA port, more USB ports or God knows what unheard of type of connection, there is an adapter that will make that happen even if your computer cannot theoretically handle it. And they keep getting better and better. Speaking of upgraded devices, the Atlona HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA slash HDMI adapter now comes with audio support as well.
The new HDAiR now comes with the ability of outputting audio in 3.5mm analog form, but it is also embedded on the HDMI output itself. It is compatible with any projector or HD TV and can output images at resolutions of 1440 x 1050 (VESA) or 720p (PC). As far as the actual range is concerned, the computer can be accessed from as much as 30 feet (that’s ten meters, if you’d rather have the metric measurement). As far as aspect ratios are concerned, images will be shown in either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios.
It is able to mirror or extend the display and comes with the VGA and HDMI connectivity, both of which are active at the same time. It is compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows XP, with drivers offering Windows 7 compatibility being made available in early December. Seeing how, without the addition of audio, the device was quite useless, the Atlona HDAiR has now become quite the interesting gadget.
With the holiday season coming, you probably want to get it for yourself or make it a gift to your Gears of War-playing grandma. Well, it is available for purchase at a suggested price of 219 USD. Whether you get it to show off your character’s might in World of Warcraft or stream media from HULU or YouTube, the HDAiR will help you do it.