Cool Tech Reviews

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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