Last week I installed the latest version of Skype on my Windows mobile PDA. The effect of this was that I upgraded from version 2.x to 3.0. My main motivation for doing this was that version 3.0 supports file transfers. I thought that this could be useful for when I am travelling and I take photos with my PDA that I want to share immediately with friends. Sending files via Skype has the advantage that everything is fully encrypted end-to-end, so it does not matter if the WiFi connection is not encrypted.
I had some difficulty obtaining the latest CAB files. Unfortunately, Skype has decided to stop supporting Windows Mobile according to Why can’t I download Skype Lite or Skype for Windows phones?. That is a real pity :(
The currently supported mobile devices are listed in Skype on your mobile. However, many of these versions are crippled so that they do not allow you to make voice calls using the telephone network. I guess that it would be too much of a loss to the network operators :o
Luckily, you can still download the CAB file directly from Skype’s website using the following URL: http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-winmobile-cab
If any readers of this blog are unable to obtain a copy of the CAB file, then let me know and I will share my copy ;)
Tags: PDA, Skype
I read an interesting article in The Irish Times recently about Microsoft’s view on cloud computing data centres in Ireland. The article covers comments by John Vassallo who is Microsoft’s Vice-President of EU Affairs, and it can be read online at Data centres may attract 20,000 firms.
It is a short (and slightly meaningless) article. However, one comment by John Vassallo really caught my attention:
Mr Vassallo added that Ireland was cited in a recent publication as “a beautiful place for a data centre” due to its climate.
It is difficult to interpret this comment! I am not even sure if this is serious! Perhaps the cloud analogy is being taken too far :D
Tags: Ireland, Microsoft, The Irish Times
I attended a very interesting webinar recently about Cloud Computing. It featured a case study about a Spanish company called Yoigo. It was claimed that Yoigo used a Cloud Computing backend to become operational in 150 days!
This is actually quite funny, because according to Yoigo the company had the license for the previous six years during which it was not used!
Tags: Yoigo
The Irish Times has an interesting article about popular iPhone applications: App-solutely fabulous.
I do not use an iPhone, so I do not know how usefule these applications really are :)
Tags: The Irish Times
There has been a lot of media coverage of Nokia’s MeeGo announcement this week. The best summary article I read was Nokia and Intel team up on Smartphone development.
I am quite surprised by this development! I would have thought that Nokia would have been better-off to adopt Android!
Tags: MeeGo, Nokia
Google announced its latest offering during the week. It is called Buzz, and it represents Google’s entry in social networking (again).
More opinions of Buzz are contained in Google takes on Facebook and Twitter with network site and Google Buzz - Gmail mod for the Tweetbook set.
I think that it looks like a good idea, and it should certainly appeal to people who already use Google’s other services.
Tags: Google
Hacker pilfers browser GPS location via router attack
Even if it is a month late :)
Oh - and Happy New Year while I am posting :D
Tags: GPS
No - the term gigapixel is not a typing mistake!
I came across two interesting gigapixel photos this week:
Vodafone has updated its Irish website recently. The two changes that excite me the most are:
- I can now send 600 free SMS messages every month! I send the majority of my SMS messages online!
- I can now send SMS messages to mobile phones in other countries.
The timing of these changes is perfect for me to send all my Christmas greetings :)
Tags: Ireland, SMS, Vodafone
I have almost completed my Christmas shopping for 2009. I did all of this online for the second year in a row! (Last year’s shopping is described in Online Christmas Shopping 2008.)
I did not buy a single item in Ireland this year, and this was mainly due to the ridiculously high costs. I understand that part of this is due to the higher VAT on items in Ireland (see Online Shopping just got Cheaper), but I also think that retailers are still ripping-off consumers. Indeed, the most expensive single item I bought was a piece of Japanese electronics. The Irish price was over 50% more expensive than the price I bought it for abroad!
While I am writing about shopping, I came across a very entertaining online shop - http://producten.hema.nl/ (You need sound, and a small amount of patience, for this :D )
Tags: eShopping, Ireland, Tax
