Samsung Omnia makes official Verizon appearance

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/samsung-omnia-makes-official-verizon-appearance/

Not that we've any reason to be shocked here, but Samsung's Omnia is indeed coming to Verizon Wireless. 'Course, most everyone with any remote affiliation to Big Red is frenzied over that other phone today, but those with a soft spot for Windows Mobile 6.1 may want to give this one a bit of attention. You know the highlight specs by now -- a 5-megapixel camera / camcorder, full HTML browser and an expansive touchscreen -- but the nitty-gritty details are still being withheld. As of now, the link on Samsung's website tunnels straight to an error page, forcing us to be content with the knowledge that somehow, someday, this phone is destined for a life on VZW's shelves. Enlarged screengrab is after the jump.

Continue reading Samsung Omnia makes official Verizon appearance

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Omnia makes official Verizon appearance originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung shows clean lines on 1080p SyncMaster 2494HS LCD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/samsung-shows-clean-lines-on-1080p-syncmaster-2494hs-lcd/

It's missing the nearly iconic glossy black bezel that has become such an expectation on Samsung displays, but the SyncMaster 2494HS would still be welcome at our cluttered work desk. The 23.6-inch panel sports an all-business, matte black motif with a native 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 300 nits of brightness, a 5-millisecond response time, 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, inbuilt stereo speakers and DVI / VGA / HDMI inputs. The LCD is expected to go on sale in Japan next month for around ¥40,000 ($423), but if we were the betting type (an we're not), we'd expect it to roll onto fresh, moist US soil in due time.

[Via Impress]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Samsung shows clean lines on 1080p SyncMaster 2494HS LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujifilm's 3D camera gets the hands-on treatment

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/fujifilms-3d-camera-gets-the-hands-on-treatment/

It's been a few months since Fujifilm showed off a prototype 3D shooter at the Photokina show in Cologne, and CNET Asia has now managed to spend a little time with the chunky bronze and gunmetal box. Unlike other tech we've seen that does 3D in one shot, this one sports a pair of lenses and sensors to capture light in stereo, while on the back a 2.8-inch LCD alternates between the two images at 60 fps to give an apparently convincing 3D effect. Better, though, should be the 8.4-inch 3D photo frame under development, and Fuji's Frontier photo labs are also being upgraded to produce lenticular prints (the sort you can tilt left and right to see different things) that are said be "really good." The camera itself is scheduled to drop around September of 2009, but since even looking at the results of your work is going to be a bit of a challenge at first we're not entirely sure how popular the thing will be. Regardless, we're glad someone is paving the way.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Fujifilm's 3D camera gets the hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:11:00 EST. Please see our terms f! or use o f feeds.

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Scalado demonstrates zero-lag cellphone camera

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/scalado-demonstrates-zero-lag-cellphone-camera/

Great news for all you aspiring paparazzi -- it looks like someone has finally figured out how to eliminate that nasty camera phone shutter lag. By sending image data directly to the camera's display and capturing it as a modified SpeedTagged JPEG when the time comes to immortalize that precious moment (or romantic indiscretion), the Scalado Camera Solution not only takes nigh-on instantaneous photos, but also provides high quality, real-time preview, pan and zoom. With several camera phone sensor and module manufacturers (including Aptina, OmniVision Samsung, and MtekVision) already on the SpeedTags tip, it looks like that laggedy old camera phone may soon be a thing of the past. Don't believe us? Take a look at the demo video yourself. It's after the break.

[Via Slashphone]

Continue reading Scalado demonstrates zero-lag cellphone camera

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Scalado demonstrates zero-lag cellphone camera originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee PC 1002HA hands-on and video: looks a lot like the S101

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/asus-eee-pc-1002ha-hands-on-and-video-looks-a-lot-like-the-s101/

The folks over at Laptop have gotten some quality face time with a pre-production model of ASUS' 10-inch Eee PC 1002 HA, and they seem to like a lot of what they're seeing. It boasts stylings reminiscent of both the Eee PC S101 (trackpad) and the 1000H (keyboard), and as such is basically a hybridized version of the two, though the test model "wouldn't power on" so we can't got much further than that. We do however, know that it'll house a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive, and that it'll have a two-cell battery which ASUS claims will give users five hours of juice (though that sounds pretty suspect to us). The Eee PC 1002 HA is expected to ready to roar on the first of December for $499, but if you simply can't wait until then to have a look at it, hit the read like for more photos and a really, really interesting video.

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS Eee PC 1002HA hands-on and video: looks a lot like the S101 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: Writers on the Storm

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/switched-on-writers-on-the-storm/

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

What happens when the efficient menu-driven user experience of the BlackBerry meets the discoverable new user experience of finger-driven touch? The answer for the BlackBerry Storm has been that the BlackBerry experience wins, and who loses depends on what you were expecting from RIM's first departure from a physical keyboard. While adorned with a few on-screen buttons and simple gesture support, the Storm is much less of an iPhone-like experience than, say, the T-Mobile G1.

The Storm's main advantage over other BlackBerry devices is that it has a larger screen, not necessarily one that is controlled by touch. However, to accommodate the removal of its trademark keyboard, RIM has taken touch-screens into a literal new dimension by requiring users to depress the screen to activate a button on the screen, which lowers and springs back like a giant keyboard key.

The screen's ability to respond to presses as a physical button (like the trackpad in Apple's new MacBooks), helps provide a more natural feel to typing on the Storm; the feedback is certainly more satisfying than the solely visual feedback that the iPhone gives. Just because it feels good, though, doesn't mean you should do it.

Continue reading Switched On: Writers on the Storm

Filed under: Cellphones

Switched On: Writers on the Storm originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP's Shanghai-packing xw9400 workstation available now

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/22/hps-shanghai-packing-xw9400-workstation-available-now/

We caught a glimpse of the HP xw9400 quite a while back when it was first announced, but it's now available on HP's site and we've got the full details on the mammoth's innards. There are quite a few customizable options, including AMD's Dual-Core Shanghai Opteron CPUs (from 2.0GHz to 2.5GHz), up to 32GB MHz DDR SDRAM, NIVIDIA nForce Professional 3600 or 3050 chipsets, and available NVIDIA Quadro FX cards with up to 1GB of memory. There are also five internal and two external drive bays and eight USB 2.0 ports. The behemoth starts at $2,399 and runs as high as $6,299. Hit the read link for the widest array of specifications you can possibly ever imagine.

[Via Information Week]

Filed under: Desktops

HP's Shanghai-packing xw9400 workstation available now originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP's Shanghai-packing xw9400 workstation available now

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/22/hps-shanghai-packing-xw9400-workstation-available-now/

We caught a glimpse of the HP xw9400 quite a while back when it was first announced, but it's now available on HP's site and we've got the full details on the mammoth's innards. There are quite a few customizable options, including AMD's Dual-Core Shanghai Opteron CPUs (from 2.0GHz to 2.5GHz), up to 32GB MHz DDR SDRAM, NIVIDIA nForce Professional 3600 or 3050 chipsets, and available NVIDIA Quadro FX cards with up to 1GB of memory. There are also five internal and two external drive bays and eight USB 2.0 ports. The behemoth starts at $2,399 and runs as high as $6,299. Hit the read link for the widest array of specifications you can possibly ever imagine.

[Via Information Week]

Filed under: Desktops

HP's Shanghai-packing xw9400 workstation available now originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sagem Orga Crams AGPS System Aboard SIM Card For Non-GPS Phones [GPS]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com:80/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ylFM7mOHEYo/sagem-orga-crams-agps-system-aboard-sim-card-for-non+gps-phones

Sagem Orga, in partnership with BlueSky is targeting the array of cellphones (and presumably mobile-internet enabled PCs and such) that currently don't have GPS with this new invention: a SIM card with AGPS aboard. Clever stuff indeed, packing all the chips for a "highly accurate GPS receiver", wiring and antenna into a thumbnail-sized space. We've got to wonder how good its satellite fixes will be with such a small device though, and since it looks like every gadget that comes out has GPS aboard nowadays, adding GPS to a device via its SIM card might just be a temporary stopgap option. But it'll undeniably have lots of applications when it hits the market. [BGR]

Vizio intros 55-inch 1080p XVT HDTV, soundbar, more goodies

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/vizio-intros-55-inch-1080p-xvt-hdtv-soundbar-more-goodies/

Chrismakwanzika has come early for anyone remotely interested in Vizio kit, and quite honestly, even for those that aren't. From the top, we've got the 55-inch VF550XVT1A, a 1080p HDTV with 120Hz Smooth Motion Video technology, a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, five HDMI inputs, SRS TruSurround HD and a $1,999 MSRP. Next up is the firm's own soundbar and wireless subwoofer kit (VSB210WS), which has finally escaped rumor purgatory to pop official. The kit sports four 3-inch speakers alongside a single 1-inch tweeter for each channel, and the long throw 6.5-inch subbie makes sure the lows are well addressed, too. Just a single cable is needed to connect the VSB210WS to any flat-panel, and just $349.99 is needed to bring it home. On deck are a trio of smaller LCDs: the 19-inch VA19 ($249.99), 22-inch VA22 ($349.99) and 26-inch VA26 ($449.99), with the middle guy becoming Vizio's smallest 1080p HDTV ever. Closing things out is the 26-inch VMM26, a 25.5-inch "multimedia monitor" with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, HDMI / USB ports, touch-activated menus and a $429.99 sticker. All but the first two products mentioned are on sale now, while the first two will be available just before your '09 Super Bowl bash.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Vizio intros 55-inch 1080p XVT HDTV, soundbar, more goodies originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Sync for BlackBerry gets into your contacts

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/google-sync-for-blackberry-gets-into-your-contacts/

If you're a BlackBerry user or a prospective user, and also happen to be a Gmail enthusiast, you're going to be a lot happier than you were yesterday, because Google's just added over-the-air contact syncing to its Google Sync application. Previously, the app was only able to sync up calendars between the cloud and RIM devices every two hours. Now you can get your names and numbers in the mix, so it looks like the nightmare days of having one list of contacts in Gmail and another, totally different one in your 'Berry are apparently at an end. Sure, Google's timing on this seems a little convenient to us, coming as it does just before the BlackBerry Storm launch, but we're not going to complain about something that makes ours lives easier, okay?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones

Google Sync for BlackBerry gets into your contacts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Upcoming dual-processor Nehalem EP machine benchmarked -- yeah, it's fast

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/upcoming-dual-processer-nehalem-ep-machine-benchmarked-yeah/

Intel's new Core i7 chip has been showing up in tons of silly-spec'd high-end gaming rigs for about three days now, so it's obviously time to get bored and move on -- and right on cue, TechRadar's got the first benchmarks we've seen of the upcoming dual-processor Nehalem EP platform. The secret test machine featured two 2.8GHz Nehalem EP chips (likely to hit retail in 2009 as the Xeon X5560) and 24GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM controlled by the new Quick Path Interconnect and on-die memory controllers, which together cranked out a SPECfp base rate of 160 -- way above the 90 posted by current 3.4GHz Xeon setups, and higher than the 105 scored by a 2.7GHz dual-processor rig with AMD's new Shanghai chips. Yeah, that's silly fast, and it's bound to get even faster when these bad boys launch with a 3.2GHz part along for the ride. Now if Intel could just siphon some of that speed into these pokey Atoms we can actually afford, we'd be grins-a-plenty.

Filed under: Desktops

Upcoming dual-processor Nehalem EP machine benchmarked -- yeah, it's fast originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Orb 2.0 streams live TV to your iPhone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/orb-2-0-streams-live-tv-to-your-iphone/

We knew Orb was working on an iPhone port of its media-streaming app, and it looks like Orb 2.0 just stealthily went live in the App Store. The $10 app lets TV junkies watch live TV from a tuner connected to a Windows PC, as well as stream music, videos, and photos from their libraries. Even cooler, Orb allows you to monitor a webcam, so you can finally nail those Diet Coke thieves from the comfort of your cube (or keep an eye on your infant, whatever.) Sadly there's no date for the Mac and Linux versions, but Orb says they're on the way. Alright Sling, looks like the ball's in your court.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Filed under: Cellphones

Orb 2.0 streams live TV to your iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AOC keeps it simple with $160 F19 LCD monitor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/aoc-keeps-it-simple-with-160-f19-lcd-monitor/

AOC's never been one to charge a premium for sex appeal, but it's stooping even lower given the current economic conditions in order to get more monitors in more homes. The 19-inch F19 sports a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 5-millisecond response time, a glossy black piano finish (with a white back for that splash of contrast) and VGA / DVI inputs. Not too shabby for $159.99 -- we mean, who can say no to puppies? Full release is after the jump.

Continue reading AOC keeps it simple with $160 F19 LCD monitor

Filed under: Displays

AOC keeps it simple with $160 F19 LCD monitor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony demos 19-inch FED display running Gran Turismo 5 at 240 fps

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/sony-demos-19-inch-fed-display-running-gran-turismo-5-at-240-fps/

FED (or Field Emission Display) hasn't quite caught on as quickly as some other display technologies, but Sony's still out there doing its best to move things forward, and it certainly looks to have turned more than a few heads with its latest demo. Apparently not content with simply showing off a new 19-inch display from its spin-off, Field Emission Technologies, Sony went so far as to demo it with a customized version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue that's playable at 240 fps. To do that, Sony used four PS3s to increase the frame rate, something it had previously done to run the game at quadruple the resolution of 1080p on a Sony SXHD projector. While that setup is out of the reach of most folks, Field Emission Technologies says that FED displays are now finally heading to market, and that some high-end professional FED video monitors up to 32-inches in size will be available sometime next year.

[Via OLED-Display.info]

Filed under: Displays

Sony demos 19-inch FED display running Gran Turismo 5 at 240 fps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee Top climbing to 20- and 22-inches by June

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/asus-eee-top-climbing-to-20-and-22-inches-by-june/

Like the Eee Top all-in-one PC but 15.6-inches is just too wee for your taste? Fine, you'll have the chance to grapple with 20- and 22-inchers, according to ASUS CEO Jerry Shen, sometime in the first half of 2009. Drop Windows 7 into these touchscreen monuments to mediocrity and we're in.

Filed under: Desktops

ASUS Eee Top climbing to 20- and 22-inches by June originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gigantic LED display board goes live at Walgreens in Times Square

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/gigantic-led-display-board-goes-live-at-walgreens-in-times-squar/

Remember that LED display board that was scheduled to be lit up at Walgreens in Times Square? You know, that 17,000-square foot one touting 12 million LEDs? Sure you do. The board, which was designed by D3 LED, was finally activated in the heart of New York City, and its creators are asserting that it's one of the most complex in existence. If you're wondering if this is worth a trip up (along with having a peek at the giant tree in Rockefeller Center), you might want to hit the read link first, but you should probably understand that almost nothing in NYC can hold a candle in terms of magnitude to downtown Dubai.

Filed under: Displays

Gigantic LED display board goes live at Walgreens in Times Square originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android Teases Me

by Steve Smith , Thursday, November 20, 2008

IF YOU WANT A GLIMPSE of a wildly promising mobile future, grab some geek buddy's T-Mobile G1 phone and fire up the ShopSaavvy app. Integrated with the phone's camera, you can aim the device at any product UPC code and pull down product details, online pricing and shopping opportunities, Web site references, and reviews, when available. Of course suppliers like Mobot and ScanBuy have been working with this sort of visual search model for a while, But I have never seen the mobile scanning process implemented so smoothly and with such tight integration with the hardware. Best of all, the process delivers information that is rich and relevant to the user, not just to an advertiser.

My iPhone can't do that...

continue reading... 

Amazonâs CloudFront Could Storm Rival CDNs

Source: http://gigaom.com/2008/11/18/amazons-cloudfront-could-storm-rival-cdns/

Today Amazon Web Services launched the beta version of its content delivery network service called CloudFront. As Om mentioned in September when the service was announced, this is a good move for Amazon, and something that may put the hurt on fellow CDNs such as Limelight and Akamai. Amazon will charge a usage-based fee, rather than a long-term contract, bringing CDN prices even lower for smaller web players who don’t have the scale to negotiate lower prices. Here’s how it works from the release:

The service caches copies of content close to end users for low latency delivery, while also providing fast, sustained data transfer rates needed to deliver popular objects to end users at scale. CloudFront works seamlessly with Amazon S3, where users store the original versions of objects delivered through the service. Customers need only put their objects into an Amazon S3 bucket and then register that bucket with the new service using a simple API call, which then returns a domain name used to access content through the network of edge locations.

Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, explains all about CloudFront on his blog.

A content delivery service that would extend Amazon S3 has been something that is very high on the wish list of our customers. They were already successfully using Amazon S3 for some of their content distribution needs, but many wanted the choice to do so with even lower latency and with higher data transfer rates to any place in the world.

He goes on to explain:

Using Amazon CloudFront is dead simple. Many of our private beta customers have reported that it only took them 10-15 minutes from the moment that they first signed up for the service to the moment that Amazon CloudFront was distributing their content.

The second Amazon Web Services principle that sets Amazon CloudFront apart is that no upfront commitments are necessary and you only pay for what you have used. There are no upfront fees or high volume requirements and no negotiations are necessary because we have published low prices from the start.

The second point is the more disruptive one. When Amazon announced its CDN in September we wrote,

Akamai is less likely to be impacted in the near term, but it further commoditizes the CDN business and forces a big shakeout in the industry, taking down the small and the weak. Akamai has been focusing on value-add services, as a way to stay ahead of the commoditization of the basic CDN services.

With prices ranging from 17 cents per gigabyte for the first 10 terabytes sent out a month, to 9 cents per GB for everything over 150 TB, the service seems to undercut the pricing offered by other CDNs for small to medium sized customers. It might be a good thing that Akamai’s looking at diversifying into online advertising.

Want to know more about the rapidly changing Cloud Computing landscape? Preview our Cloud Computing Briefing or purchase the full version.

SC08 Video: Put a Green Supercomputer on Your Desk

Source: http://gigaom.com/2008/11/18/sc08-video-put-a-green-supercomputer-on-your-desk/

I’m intrigued by the idea of personal supercomputers such as the Cray CX1, which was unveiled earlier this year, as well as the Dell Workstation that was given a teraflop boost using an Nvidia Telsa card. So I jumped at the chance to chat with SiCortex, a maker of high-performance computing systems that in March announced a 72-core workstation that runs at 300 watts. The company just closed a $37 million round of funding in September and also has a larger HPC system as well. For more, check out the video.

Battle of the Free Visual Voicemail and Transcription Services [Lifehacker Faceoff]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/aGxQWQWuqt8/battle-of-the-free-visual-voicemail-and-transcription-services

Both YouMail and MessageSling have long offered free services that let nearly any cell phone user listen to and manage their voicemail online, in the style of the iPhone's "visual voicemail." The stakes were raised this month when both also announced new transcription services, allowing you to read that call you just missed in a text message or online before actually listening or responding to it. One offers a limited free service, while the other is offering one-week trials of its paid transcription plans. We've given both a try and compiled each service's feature package for comparison, so read on to see if it might be worth ditching your plain vanilla voicemail for something a bit more useful.

Note: Both services use a basic voicemail-forwarding trick that works on any major carrier's phone, and both respond fairly quickly to get you MP3-quality recordings of your voicemail.

I tested one of YouMail's free transcription services, which the company says "vary in quality" compared to paid plans, and are limited to one contact or five messages from anybody, against MessageSling's one-week trial of their 20-message-per-month "Basic" plan. I'd have liked to compare a YouMail paid service against MessageSling, but "ordering" a free plan from YouMail somehow blocked my attempts to buy a paid plan. If and when I can try out a paid plan, I'll post the transcription results here.

YouMail

What's free:

• Web-based visual voicemail listings and dial-in voicemail checking
• Caller ID service
• Customized greetings for specific contacts or groups
• Download messages as MP3s
• Folder organizing and archiving of messages
• Unwanted caller blocking (hang-up before voicemail)
Non-Fla sh site for iPhone/Blackberry/WinMobile

Message notification: Email with direct link to Flash voicemail player, or text message with caller ID, number, and voicemail stats (left or not, duration), with transcription stub if enabled.

Ads?: Corner ad on notification emails (in-house at the moment), banners and right-side box ads on voicemail page, and text ads at bottom of SMS notifications.

Transcription Plans:

Transcription accuracy (free plan):
What was said (MP3):

Hi Kevin, it's, uh, Kevin. I'm calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Bye.

What came in the text:

Hi Kevin it s uh Kevin. I m calling 2 test out transcription. See u (cut off).

Online transcription:

Hi Kevin it s uh Kevin. I m calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow bye.

Your web-based inbox:

MessageSling

What's free:

• Web-based visual voicemail listings and dial-in voicemail checking
• Customized greetings for specific contacts and groups
• Download messages as MP3s
• Gmail-style message labeling and search
• Can edit transcripts of voicemails and update.

Ads?: None in emails, text alerts, or on site (so far).

Message notification: Email with message MP3 attached and voicemail stats, and/or text messa! ge with phone number (and contact, if in book), voicemail stats, and transcription stub if enabled.

Transcription Plans:

Transcription accuracy ("Basic" plan):
What was said (MP3):

Hi Kevin, it's, uh, Kevin. I'm calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Bye.

What came in the text:

Hi Kevin, it's Kevin. I'm calling to test out transcription. S (cut off).

Online transcription:

Hi Kevin, it's Kevin. I'm calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Bye.

Your web-based inbox:

That's enough from our side of the screen—let's hear how users of the two services, and those just catching up on them, split the difference in the poll below. If you've got another similar service that does the job for you, choose "Other" and tell us about it in the comments.

Which voicemail replacement service appeals to you?
( polls)

Get $25 Restaurant Gift Cards for $1.50 [Deals]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/_IsOCS_1dQY/get-25-restaurant-gift-cards-for-150

Thanks to some sweet, sweet discount serendipity, $25 gift cards to restaurants around the country from Restaurant.com can be had through tomorrow, for $1.50 using a coupon code and a FatWallet link code. It's pretty much the same offer as we previously posted, just a bit cheaper and, well, back again. The details: Head to Restaurant.com, see what restaurants are participating near your ZIP code (and what caveats a gift card might entail, such as a minimum purchase amount or menu restrictions). Use FatWallet's 25 percent off discount link to actually buy the gift card, and enter the coupon code SURPRISE at checkout. You'll need a FatWallet account to claim your 50 cent savings, and the coupon code is only good through Nov. 20, 2008. If you're stuck for gift ideas for a food-loving friend, this is a pretty cheap way to knock one off the list. Tell us any catches or successes you find in the comments.

Restaurant.com Gift Certificates [via Wise Bread]

Zapr Makes File Sharing Painless [Featured Windows Download]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/aUOLehuD_0w/zapr-makes-file-sharing-painless

Windows only: Zapr is a new file-sharing application that promises to make remote file sharing extremely simple. Users download the Zapr application, set up a free account, and can immediately begin sharing files with friends. Only the person doing the sharing needs to have the application installed, all others simply need the URL the file sharer gives them. The files are hosted locally, with the Zapr server only providing directions between the file sharer and the people seeking the file. Files can be shared unprotected or with passwords. There is no restriction on file type or file size. For another simply way to share files without FTP, check out GBridge. Zapr is freeware, Windows only.

Zapr [via WebWorkerDaily]