Oh god, I’m in viewing bliss. After buying a 22″ widescreen from Acer just weeks ago, I saw this baby at costco yesterday for only $10 more, and it’s got speakers! Forget about paying $400+ for a small lcd tv, just buy this thing and you’re good to go!

It’s got hdmi, vga, and dvi in, and wouldn’t you know it, they ship it will ALL THREE cables. I’ve had a smile on my face all day. Do yourself a favor though and put it at least 3 ft from you, it’s a little overwhelming at closer distances.

I just realized the other day that the amount I’ve spent on Logitech Equipment in the last few years would buy me almost two new laptops (Acer Aspire I @ $300/ea). Beyond the fact that this is a fantastic company that has produced phenomenal interface equipment, I found it interesting how much money I’ve spent not so much with this one company, but that my spending on devices and gadgets has gone through the roof over the last few years. I just read about a new development in the ‘Cloud Computing’ field of modular components for all gadgets, and realize how ludicrous that market is going to become in the next 3-5 years.

The article I read mentioned that there are a few companies working on modular components for all electronic devices, such as battery, cpu/processor modules, etc. I consider that great news, as I’ve gotten quite sick of how compartmentalized the device market has been ever since its inception. I mean, seriously, how many different connector types do they have to make to send essentially the same charge voltage to a Lithium-Ion battery on a cell phone? It’s things like these that need to go: charge chords, connectors, adapters, etc.

I look forward to the days that may lie ahead, where I won’t have a cellphone, mp3 player, remote, streaming media device, etc to have to keep track of, all I have is my other ‘Brain(s)’. For home, you can stack a few of the CPU and memory modules together for extra power serving up HI DEF media throughout the house, as well as using a (GACK) chord to just tap right into your home electrical service. From there, for recharging the portable module batteries – inductive surfaces (which can also be used for all of your movable kitchen accessories: blender, coffee maker/grinder, etc).

Market adoption of a set of standards for this which uses all current technologies as a base would be sweet, but I can’t hope too far in that area. If anyone has 500M they’d like to drop on me, I’d be happy to help

I was reading the new GameInformer and saw this newsclip about a new console. *Sigh* right? Not exactly. Go watch this movie and then come back. I really dont need to say much about this ‘console’ and basicly new way of playing games, other than YESSSS!!!!! Here’s why I think it’s gonna redefine gaming for everyone, not just console users:

1. Portability
   Anywhere there is broadband there is the service. Forget about toting around your console and games, they’re all online.
2. Upgradeability
   I haven’t researched the hardware in any great depth yet, but it looks like the games are delivered as a service, so you dont have to worry about your hardware going out of date as quickly as the consoles appear to (at least with XBOX).
4. Integrated Community
   PC and Console users together (at last?)
5. Easier to preview and purchase and/or rent games

More demos, A service which (I belive) allows you to play On-Demand style.

So if i said or hinted at anything incorrectly here’s a few links for you to check out.
NerdWorld, GameInformer

Either way this thing is Doooope! Hope it’s not a jillion dollers because I’m gonna want one!

Just read in the new Maximum PC about EFI now being available for OSX on any PC, sawwweeet! The price isn’t too too bad, considering what you will have access too, but I would honestly wait until it drops down as it takes more market share. Here’s the retail link to buy, keep an eye on this good stuff! I would honestly even look into buying the Motherboard combo from that company, looks like a solid deal all around. For the Uubernerds out there, check this article out from Intel. If anyone buys this hardware please add your comments here I’d love to hear about it! Happy OsX’ing!

Samsung are suggesting that their SSD “Awesomeness” test rig was intended to show the flexibility and speed of solid-state drives. I think they just want to prompt screenshots like this one, with twenty-four 256GB SATA-II SSDs spilling out of a massive RAID setup, offering 6TB raw capacity and 2121.29MB/sec sequential read and 2000.195MB/sec sequential write speeds. Video after the break.

The stats are pretty darn impressive: the test rig is capable of loading the entirety of Microsoft Office in half a second, while ripping a full 700MB DVD took a little longer at 0.8 seconds. Opening 53 full apps took place in 18.09 seconds.

Of course, if you want to set up your own system using 24 of Samsung’s 256GB SATA-II SSDs, you’ll need to have a fair amount in savings. Final pricing for the drive hasn’t been announced, but previous estimates have pegged it at roughly $500 per unit; that means $12,000 on storage alone, before you take into account the rest of the RAID hardware needed.

If you’re in the market for a new gaming system, have a look at Shuttle’s liquid-cooled SDXi Carbon, a fancily painted machine that checks in at 7.3- x 7.9- x 12.2-inches and gets powered by a 3GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU. Other specs include 2/4/8GB of RAM, between 250GB and 2TB of hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray writer, your choice of NVIDIA GPU, gigabit Ethernet and optional WiFi. The starting price on this mini-behemoth is an amazing $2,599, and if you plan on customizing the base configuration whatsoever, you should probably plan on taking out yet another line of credit on what’s left of your home.

While the digital divide widens, computers and mobile phones fill landfills at home and charities like the Youth for Technology Foundation try their hardest to improve the lives of impoverished Africans communities by introducing computers to help them achieve independence, Apple Computer has been busy getting laborers to smash a rubbish skip full of computers in a Sydney warehouse, many of them in seemingly working order says whistleblower.

Filmmaker James Johnston (not his real name) supplements his income with factory work through several large corporate recruitment centers that routinely contract out staff for warehousing duties. Johnston assumed he was in for an everyday job until he saw what he estimated to be $200,000 worth of Apple hardware, peripherals and equipment.

“There were up to nine pallets,” Johnston remembers, “two were of MacBooks, both Pro and 13 inch versions, two were of iMacs, two were of Mac Pro towers, one had few Xservers on it and a few Mac Pros and one had Mighty Mice and a copy of Final Cut Studio – we went as far as manually tearing up the manuals.”

Assuming the equipment was all irreparably damaged, Johnston and co-workers were amazed to find many of the Macs started up without any problem, proving that at a bare minimum, the batteries in the machines were still good and the displays could have been salvaged for spare parts. “Several machines in the first batch I was involved in had emails included in the box or taped to the outside,” he recalls. “Correspondence between repairmen and Apple usually listing the problems each machine had and saying the client had asked for a replacement rather than repair.

“Someone who’d been there about nine months said Apple had replaced the units because it was too expensive to send them to China for repair.”

But instead of being stacked on pallets for re-conditioning, resale or donation, Johnston and his colleagues were instructed to destroy it all. “The supervisor told someone to get some tools and they came back with two hammers and several screwdrivers. They wanted us to separate the two halves of the MacBooks and smash the screens of the iMacs with hammers.

When asked who gave the order, Johnston mentions another worker who represents Apple and occupies the site permanently. When the crew initially dumped the equipment into a large dumpster bin outside the facility his supervisor reported that someone had complained because the units were visible over the top of the dumpster’s edge. The next step was to use a forklift to crush the smashed Apple machinery even further down so as to render it invisible.

Contacted for comment, Apple Australia Marketing Director Rob Small claimed that Apple does not smash perfectly good Macs and put them in bins. “We only destroy stock that’s either beyond economic repair or is been deemed not fit for sale to a customer again,” Small added.

When asked where such machinery ends up, Small was equally emphatic of the clean disposal of unusable Apple products. “Anything we recycle is done responsibly through certified recyclers. Nothing goes to landfill and we do not donate second hand products to charity or move them off-shore.”

But the photographic evidence seems to contradict Small’s claim. Does Apple really have an environmentally responsible disposal system for computers it considers ‘beyond economic repair’?

In the age of subcontracting and outsourcing such duties to external providers, how many other companies are involved in making sure Apple’s wishes are carried out? And in this case, which one is lax in their agreement by leaving so many apparently working Apple devices out in the rubbish?

There are some things on the market that make sense however when it comes to HDMI sense is thrown out the window and the price sky rockets. Well low and behold I have found a sensible device worth reviewing.

My specific purpose of purchasing the1×2 HDMI splitter is for competitive gaming. I have always been annoyed when people uploaded youtube video or other videos of gaming and the quality was crap to begin with and flash compression amplified it. All good video professionals know to start from the highest of quality and then compress for specific use.

Well the HDMI splitter does a seamlessly transfer from my PS3 & Xbox 360 to my computer and TV simultaneously. I use the Intensity HDMI card for on my computer to record the raw HDMI stream that comes in and is not for the faint hearted since a single 10 minute CoD4 match will be about 4gb. I’ll go into further depth with HDMI recording in another reivew at another time.

None the less my experience have not yielded any cons to this device and would serve multi-room entertainment greatly if need be. This device does cause a delay in the initial display output however that is because it has an awesome built auto detection to if there is a valid output in the HDMI jacks. The only thing that comes to mind right now is sports bars. This device is simply superb and I highly recommend it.

Nowhere in the specs of the Sony Ericsson C720 does it say that it’s completely waterproof-just dust and splash proof. Although one chap decided to give a ‘swirly’ in an attempt to prove its worthyness of a full liquid submersive.

Check out the you tube video, too bad there wasn’t any blue cleaning tabs to let him remember to wash them after this disgusting stunt.

A new product will revolutionize (and simplify) the process of installing OS X on a PC — and that product is called the EFiX. A USB dongle which pops into a free port and allows you to install the retail version of the Apple operating system on just about any system by automatically locating the proper hacks and drivers needed.

OSX86 Hacker Netkas has demoed a beta unit on video and claims that it’s working as it should. The manufacturer is aiming to have models available for purchase by June 23rd. This sounds like a much more reasonable solution than marketing a Mac clone such as Pystar.

As usual, Apple’s capped off the day’s news by posting the video of the keynote. Just in case you missed the action in today’s liveblog (or you want to relive the moment where Steve says “3G” and the audience spontaneously combusts), hit the link below. Us? We’ll be taking a breather.

Two men were arrested Monday after, police say, they allegedly stole three Xbox 360s and then tried to sell one back to the same store. Lets all laugh and point fingers at the idiots whom you would think may have a grain of common sense bouncing around in their noggins. We have all seen similar game cases console thefts however most of the related to the PS3 and its launch or people whom registered the stolen goods but this tops the cake.

Kevin Phillips, 18, was arrested at FYE, a music store at Broadway and Rural roads in Tempe, when police say he tried to sell back a stolen Xbox 360 console valued at $349.99.

Charles Willis, 20, of Tempe, was arrested after Phillips informed police of his location.

According to police records, Phillips entered the FYE store on May 30 and removed an Xbox 360 from the store manager’s office. Police say he left through an emergency exit without paying.

The following day Willis reportedly entered the same location and grabbed two Xbox 306 consoles while Phillips acted as a lookout. They once again left through an emergency exit without paying, the police reports stated.

Phillips returned to the store on June 2 and attempted to sell back one of the stolen items, police said. That’s when he was arrested.

Both males were booked into city jail on suspicion of third degree burglary.

Excuse me, my paranoia is inflamed again.

According to Fox News, you know, an absolutely reliable source of information, there is some unrest in Internet town. WiMAX, what is occasionally praised as a strong signaled answer to WiFi, is rumored to again be considered a contender in the long distance connection game. While not exactly new technology, it is being groomed to take the place of its, as Fox claims, soon-to-be predecessor.

What’s the Big Deal?

Coming hot on the heels of Starbucks announcing that it cannot handle the free Wi-Fi capacity that it had originally offered, the debate concerning whether Wi-Fi is, indeed, outdated has begun again.

Robert Morrow, a retired Air Force Academy electrical engineering professor, recently published an article in Science claiming that WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) could be the predominant telecommuncations source in the next five years. Currently, Pakistan harbors one of the world’s only fully-functional WiMAX networks, which spans miles utilizing Motorola brand technology.

That, my friends, is the big deal. Morrow’s claims, while perhaps speculation, hold an element of truth; how can businesses capitalize on Internet hot spots? Simple, they charge service fees.

WiMAX will work much like a cell phone. Users pay monthly fees, and in turn get wide-range signals that they can enjoy without being tied to a Starbucks. I suppose that could be a good thing. In 2006, Sprint, Nextel, Clearwire, Google, Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner announced that they would combine their efforts to create a vast, and hopefully stable, WiMAX infastructure which they planned to call Clearwire. They pooled their services and finances in order to beat out competitors and offer powerful wireless alternatives to Broadband or DSL for consumers. Yes, because extremely large conglomerations always have consumers in mind.

So What’s My Problem?

I like change. I’m not afraid of technology. I suppose I simply have a problem with technological advances that take the place of what was once a free service. When television companies announced that everyone would have to switch to digital by 2009, my heart sank; how could I ever hope to enjoy Dateline and prune juice without succumbing to their whims? It was then that I predicted an abundance of television shows being uploaded to YouTube, which continues to remain free of cost…for now.

Not to mention that these plans have been brewing since 2001. After all of the money, time, and endless effort being pumped into WiMAX, wouldn’t one think that a successful network would have already been established? If 3GB is considered ’successful’ nowadays, then maybe. I think I’ll stick to my Broadband for the moment, and lurk in public libraries until the time comes to accept that nothing can be free. However, I will be patient and wait to see how this pans out.

Now, about those microwave signals…
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362462,00.html

After a mildly uncomfortable wait, the very first Netflix set-top-box has landed (the Xbox 360 with plug-ins notwithstanding). Thanks to Roku, users can finally tap into the Netflix browse instant library without having to wait for physical discs to arrive. All access for just $99.99 and the $8.95 month or higher membership fees for the traditional service.

The HDD-less Netflix player can even utilize a wireless signal to pull in streams, though your miles may vary on actual performance. As for ports, you’ll find HDMI, component, composite, Ethernet, S-Video and a Toslink optical audio jack. Initial reports are looking pretty positive from here despite the lack of HD support (480p only).

While there has yet to be an announced release date, an update has been given by the folks over at Kontrol Freek in regards to their upcoming release of the FPS Freek. The FPS Freek is a device to add onto your current Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 controllers analog sticks to add an advantage to your first person shooting abilities.

This is what Kontrol Freek has to say in their recent email update:

Hi everyone, I wanted to send out an email and update you all on what is going on here with the FPS Freek. I really apologize to you all for the delays we are all experiencing. I wish more then anyone that this product was ready for purchase.

Testing: Our product is currently going through some of the most extensive testing that a gaming product could go through. What we are doing is not only letting gamers beta test the product to see how it improves game play, but testing the products in a research lab to see how the product reduces stress in your hands.

Beta Testing: Our beta testing has went very well. All of the gamers that have tested the product (around 40) have responded with great things to say about the product. They all agree that after using it for a while, it has improved their gaming. Some say it took longer to adjust to then others, but after a day or so the controllers just don’t feel right without the product on it. We might be getting more beta testing but we are happy overall with the results of this test.

Lab Testing: I will break down the plan here and explain what we are doing so that you can appreciate the efforts put into this product. I will not be mentioning any names of testers or organizations doing the testing until the test are complete. The test will involve 30 gamers. These 30 gamers will be instructed to play Halo3 for a week without using our product. We will then bring the gamers in and hook them up to a EKG Machine (I am pretty sure this is the name of the machine they are using) and we will monitor the muscle activity and stress in their hands while they play. The gamers will then use our product for a week and return for the same EKG test. The gamers will then return after 2 weeks of using our product for one more test. After the results are totaled up, we should have full medical proof that our product does indeed relieve stress and does require less muscle activity to use.

I hope this helps explain to you all why the production release of our product has been delayed. We strive to be the best accessory on the market, and if delaying the launch of our product to make sure we are the best is what it takes, we will do this. Thanks again and please be patient as we finish up this test and march forward to releasing the greatest FPS gaming accessory to ever hit console gaming.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced late Sunday (May 25th, 2008) that it has developed the world’s fastest, 2.5-inch, 256 Gigabyte (GB) multi-level cell (MLC) based solid state drive (SSD) using a SATA II interface at the fifth annual Samsung Mobile Solution Forum held at the Westin Taipei Hotel. Samsung’s new 256GB SSD is also the thinnest drive with the largest capacity to be offered with a SATA II interface.

With a sequential read speed of 200 megabytes per second (MB/s) and sequential write speed of 160MB/s, Samsung’s MLC-based 2.5-inch 256GB SSD is about 2.4 times faster than a typical HDD.

Furthermore, the new 256 GB SSD is only 9.5millimeters (mm) thick, and measures 100.3×69.85 mm.

Once introduced, the Samsung’s 256GB SSD will mark the largest capacity SSD from the global market leader in SSD sales, effectively eliminating density as a barrier to SSD adoption in the consumer space.

“With development of the 256GB SSD, the notebook PC is on the brink of a second stage of evolution.

This change is comparable to the evolution from the Sony Walkman to NAND memory-based MP3 players, representing an initial step in the shift to thinner, smaller SSD-based notebooks with significantly improved performance and more than ample storage,” said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.

Through major advancements in proprietary controller technology, Samsung’s new MLC 256GB SSD, besides being comparable in speed to an SLC-based SSD, also boasts reliability equal to that of SLC SSDs, with a mean time between failures (MTBF) of one million hours, while costing considerably less.

Power consumption is also exceptionally low at 0.9 watts in active mode.

In addition, the drive offers a sophisticated data encryption process that prevents data stored on the SSD from being accessed in an unauthorized manner, even after the SSD is removed from the PC. Overall, the number of computing units in which SSDs are being offered is expected to increase dramatically once Samsung’s previously announced 128GB SSD and the new 256GB SSD are launched. At present, Samsung is actively involved in high-capacity SSD design-in activities for all of the top PC and server manufacturers from the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Samsung is expected to begin mass producing the 2.5-inch, 256GB SSD by year end, with customer samples available in September. A 1.8-inch version of the 256GB SSD is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2008.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89% more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

I have been using the Harmony One remote for a couple months now however I wanted to give it adequate time of use before giving it a shout out. I am unsure how the remote stands up against the likes of the 800 series of remotes because the 880 model comes in at the same price and the 890 is nearly $100 more. So instead of comparing to those remotes and others I will provide a straight up look inside the Harmony One remote.

Let us start with the aesthetics. This remote comes in a glossy black with a decently sized touch screen. It almost feels like a mini TV itself that you wish can play movies like an iPod. The contours of remote feel very comfortable while holding and the rubber backing does a great job of protecting your nice veneer coffee table. One tidbit is the remote comes with a cleaning cloth and believe me, you will be using it because it attracts a lot of finger prints. However I recommend cleaning it outside of your entertainment area because when cleaning the touch screen, your equipment may go haywire and accidentally send nuclear launch codes.

An annoyance of other Harmony remotes is they often do not rest in their charging cradles very snuggly or easily on the first attempt. The Harmony One does a great job of fixing that and you wont even have to think twice about checking it. An addition to charging, the Harmony software gives you the ability upload your home images to the remote and present a slideshow whilst charging turning the device into a little piece of decoration. Not utterly intrusive either if you have coasters with your wedding pictures or hand towels with your initials on them. A nice feature and I’m still waiting to for Logitech to allow little video clips which is likely possible via a firmware update.

The accompanying software is very intuitive and easy to use. I used the wizard for it and setup my Denon 3808ci, Xbox 360, Samsung DVD, PS2 and Samsung TV without any hitches using the wizard. The wizard doesn’t handle anything other than adding your devices and signifying which device controls your audio for the activity. For sequencing and adding additional controls you must go into manual mode afterwards and rearrange the startup of devices and up/down volume controls if need be. One thing I didn’t like is you are unable to just specify a volume for start up of devices per an activity and instead you can only specify if you want volume up or down but no number.

I have seen this question on many forums and I even had the same, will it control my Xbox 360. The answer is yes. The remote does an excellent job of using its buttons and using the touch screen to display the buttons specific to the 360 like A,B,X,Y, Media Center button, Xbox button, and some additional controls I haven’t seen anywhere else like open/close tray and others. This is a huge plus for those whom use media center extender or simply like to rent a flick from time to time in Microsoft’s horrible Xbox Live Marketplace video store inventory.

While in an activity, you still have the ability to select a device and adjust all of its settings individually while having a quick button to go back to current activity. Be aware that when switching between devices and activities, the remote and all its buttons switch to that mode with the exception of the power button at the top. The power button at the top not switching can be a real annoyance because this remote requires you to continuously point at the devices or they may not turn on. Which you may then need to power toggle that device alone. The only way to do this is by navigating to the device via touch screen and going through its menu to turn it on. This can be a real pain. You can simplify this process by rearranging the button order of the device via the included software too.

There are so many other features this remote in which I cannot cover at this time. The Harmony One in my opinion is the best overall remote on the market however there is certainly room for improvements. I would recommend the Harmony One to anyone out there whose remote just isn’t getting the job done.

Well I broke down and purchased a PSP Slim. The major hesitation on the purchase was it’s price tag. It has great games that brought back fine memories of my GBC and made this system purchase well worth it.

I had a chance to sit down and compare the orignal PSP versus the slim and by far the slim is the way to go. First thing that stands out is the weight. The original is a much bigger system. At times it feels a little to bulky. Especially since the idea is to portable. The slim models shoulder buttons seemed to be laid out better and right where you need them to be. One of the biggest selling points for me was the extra ram. This tends to lessen the blow of the load times. Loading times seem to be the greatest downside of PSP’s.

Onwards to the design, I have to say, I love the big screen. I own a DS Lite and the viewable area is the first thing that stood out. There was never a moment of squinting to see what’s going on. Also the PSP Slim looks nice. It’s a system that you wouldn’t mind showing off and has an iPod feel to it. Of course with an iPod feel the downsides become apparent. The monitor in all it’s glory is a dust and hair magnet. I find myself constantly cleaning it off. There is the lovely smudge effect each time. You know the type where your finger prints are everywhere.

Extra features make this system fantastic including watching movies and browsing the web. The only downside to the internet it is still utilizing wireless b. This of course made me raise an eyebrow. Even the DS has G. Other then that you can customize your opening screen download themes and even listen to mp3’s. Which I think Nintendo should take note of. I’m all about the game system first however playing mp3’s are pretty standard nowadays and watching a movie is always nice.

So far I’ve only played a handful of PSP titles and so far they are GREAT!!! Something that sets this system apart from the DS is the game titles. Most of the games are more adult orientated and the graphics are stunning. Granted it comes with a price ($199). The awesome games such as God of War start at $39.99.

The load times can be a little long and Jeebus that freaking UMD reading noise is one of the most annoying things the system has. Thankfully there are headphones.

Overall I would say this system is a good buy. There are a few downsides to it, the games can be pricey and I still haven’t found that ultimate portable game, most have been great games that I would have played on a console. The idea of the Playstation Store keeps me optimistic that this system has a future especially with original titles that simply make this a great system.

KontrolFreek announced today that its FPS Freek add-on is now available for pre-order. FPS Freek is a little product that extends the length of the Xbox 360 controller thumbsticks to provide more precision. KontrolFreek explains:

“Now, you might ask, how is adding length to the analog stick going to help me play games better. Well here is the answer. Just about everyone out there understands basic physics and ergonomics. If you make a joystick longer, it adds leverage to that joystick, thus making it easier to move. Also, by adding length to the joystick, you add more travel distance to the outer tip of this joystick. How does this help a gamer? Well, two main things this does for the gamer. First, it makes the analogs easier to move with the extra leverage. This should help the stress level your thumbs feel while playing games. Second, it adds travel to the surface of the analog your thumb is on. What, it adds travel? How could this help and not hurt? Well, since you are not having to exert so much force to move the analog, the extra travel really doesn’t bother you. But how does this help? Well imagine while aiming at an opponent in a FPS game. If you add some travel to the analog, you slow down the aiming slightly in the game, thus allowing you to aim more precisely and more accurate. We have found that we might have to adjust our sensitivity a little in bit in the game, but even by doing this, you are still giving a lot more control and precision on aiming.

So to sum it up. More leverage = less force to move. More length = more precise character movement and more precise aiming. Why would any gamer not want a set of these?”

KontrolFreek’s pre-order is more of a mailing list subscription but hopefully they will offer those subscribers the pre-order rate. I personally have signed up and will be ordering a couple pairs to review and post on this site.

KontrolFreek states the following on the current status of the new thumbstick enhancement:

“So far the testing is going good with the prototypes. We have a MLG Halo team testing them “The Whos” and their feedback has been great. Also, we are expecting to see an IGN article hitting the net next week or the week after.”

It would seem things are well on there way to a final product.

The Philips VOIP841 is a completely independent DECT cordless phone that lets you make Skype calls without a PC. With the added flexibility of letting you connect your land line, this phone can take care of all your calling needs.

Out of the box it was extremely easy to setup, has very good voice quality for both landline and Skype, and is sleek. Simply plugin Ethernet to router and Philips modem, power cord and another power cord for the charging station. This essentially makes using Skype as if using a normal cordless.

A huge annoyance of the phone is entering contacts. Simply use your computers Skype software to do so. As well the phone is not geared for conference calls and does not detect that the line has already been answered when picked up by computer or additional phone. It will continue to ring and then display the missed call alert. I imagine this to be more of an issue with Skype service than that of the phone.

I regularly participate in long conference calls within United States and this phone has proven its worthiness to replace a normal landline. (Be weary though, in the US Skype service should not be your only means of calling people in case of an emergency. You will not be able to call 911.)

Overall this is a very good phone and excellent value for your money. The phone is a huge money saver for people whom use a cell phone as their primary phones as it saved me upwards of $80 month.