Cool Tech Reviews

Microsoft NX-6000 LifeCam

There’s no shortage of webcams for PC attachment and Microsoft has a good reputation for PC peripherals like mice, keyboards, and webcams, but they have missed the mark with their NX-6000 LifeCam which promises but fails to deliver high resolution video.

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If you have the computer firepower, ABC wants you to try out high definition video streaming of some their popular TV shows from their website:

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The news that Symantec was working on a anti-botnet protection tool was fine and dandy except for the fact that they want an additional $29.95 yearly subscription. If you are beginning to wonder how many different security programs Symantec can think up to separate you from your cash, so is Ryan Naraine:

The anti-botnet tool is being marketed as “complementary solution to existing antivirus or security suites,” adding yet another application to the list of security tools needed by PC users to avoid computer takeover attacks.

Here’s a list of the products sitting on your machine, sucking valuable system resources under the guise of protecting you from hacker attacks: Anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, anti-spam, drive-by browser protection, etc., etc.

It has to be the biggest con job in IT to convince consumers that they should pay a separate subscription for each of the above “protection” products.

$29.95 here and $29.95 there - sooner or later it adds up to real money.

If you’re of a vintage similar to mine, then you likely have a collection of record albums gathering dust somewhere. I rarely look at them because I don’t have a turntable to play them on anymore, but I often wish I could get some of the music off them. Well, there’s a solution from Ion Audio who offers record turntables that you can connect to your PC via USB and who just came out with two new models, the iTTUSB05 and iTTUSB10 at list prices of $149.99 and $249.99 respectively.

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Matt Richtel in the NY Times reports that SunRocket is no more:

SunRocket, one of the largest start-up companies offering Internet phone service, has ceased operation and is moving its customers to one or more other companies, a person briefed on its status said yesterday.

A message on SunRocket’s customer service line said the company was “no longer taking customer service or sales calls.” Executives of SunRocket, which is based in Vienna, Va., and had 200,000 subscribers as of April, could not be reached for comment.

The development underlined the struggles of start-ups trying to make a business out of providing Internet-based phone service, telecommunications industry analysts said.

The companies face enormous pressure from the biggest competitors in the industry, both cable and traditional phone service providers. The cable companies in particular have made a strong push into the telephone market by offering the service as part of a package with television and Internet access.

SunRocket was reportedly the second largest independent VoIP company after Vonage.

LG is one of the manufacturers experimenting with computer monitors connected via USB 2.0 and they have teamed up with DisplayLink to launch their first one, the L206WU, in the USA:

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