GO TXT - A free SMS site

Want to send free SMS messages? Absolutely, positively free?

I do too. And that’s why I’m so happy with the new GO TXT.com.au. Unlike the vast majority of other so-called ‘free’ SMS services, GO TXT actually is.

GO TXT lets you send up to 5 free messages every day, and it gives you bonus credits if you complete some short offers for advertisers on the website.

All the messages I’ve sent have been received, so as far as reliability goes, they’re one of the better providers. Processing time varies slightly, but most messages seem to get delivered in just a few seconds.

One of their new services is the ability to set an SMS reminder, which is really just a scheduled SMS. It’s pretty useful, but you will need to either pay for their ‘premium credits’ or complete one of their advertisers’ offers to be able to use this particular feature.

On the website you can also partake in discussions on the obligatory forums or by commenting on blog posts. Such actions will earn you ‘GO Points’ which are - somewhat confusing - different to ‘Premium Credits’. You can convert between the two though, and hence use your forum posts to get some extra SMS credits.

I’m going to give it 4/5 - it’s useful, but not yet perfect.

Check it out - Free SMS @ GOTXT

HD DVD is no more

Toshiba has pulled out the plug on HD DVD. The company will scale down production with the aim to finally stop producing HD DVD players and recorders by March 2008. Blu-ray is finally the victor in the high-definition DVD format war.

The company may continue to produce HD DVD drives for notebook PCs, they said.

“While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality,” commented Atsutoshi Nishida, CEO of Toshiba.

Toshiba has not commented whether they will move into producing Blu-ray players or recorders.

And that’s it. The format war is over and finally we can all go out and buy a high-def DVD player without making a rather expensive and risky gamble.

iiNet’s Naked DSL

After recently moving into a rental property I was faced with a dilemma of enormous proportions: what ISP to go with? At first it seemed like quite a daunting task. Being in a rental, cable is ruled out, as it requires a physical installation, meaning lots of real-estate related bureaucracy. ADSL looked like a possibility, except that it requires an existing land line connection which I neither have nor am willing to pay for. Even wireless broadband is still well on its way to becoming a viable alternative, as it offers neither the speed nor download capacity ( unless one is willing to pay excessive amounts of money) that fixed connections offer. It seemed that my chances of obtaining a useful and affordable broadband connection were rather slim.

It wasn’t until well into my search for an ISP that I stumbled across iiNet’s Naked DSL. And while im sure some of you are conjuring up images of a broadband connection with certain…let’s say…benefits…the idea is actually a spot of genius. iiNet physically switches your phone line at the exchange to their 0wn equipment, meaning high speed broadband (ADSL 2+) with no messy installation problems and no line rental.

To get started, all I needed to do was check the availability through the website (Naked DSL is available in most areas of all the major capital cities) and purchase a modem. Its then a 10-20 day waiting period whilst Telstra reconnects your phone line to iiNet.

Despite it being costly to set up ( there is a $150 connection fee, which is waived if you subscribe to a 24 month plan, plus the cost of a modem), iiNet has quite an affordable array of no obligation plans to choose from, starting at $49.95 a month for 4gb of download (2gb Peak/2gb off-peak). All Naked DSL plans come with a free VOIP account ( including free local and national calls as well as very reasonable international rates), access to unmetered sites (including iTunes) and fantastic online and phone based support. There are also no extra download charges if you exceed your quota, they just stream your connection to 64kbps.

As a broadband consumer (who am I kidding, junkie!) with limited finances , Naked DSL really is the best solution, and by far best value broadband service I have seen on the Australian market. In what is a market dominated by a few key players, iiNet have done very well to provide such a fantastic product.

• No line rental
• Well priced range of plans
• No contracts
• Great Speed
• Free VOIP
• High upfront costs
• Need to purchase modem from iiNet to access VOIP (from $169)
• Currently only available in capital cities
• iinet.com.au

Netgear Wi-Fi Skype Phone

Netgear’s Wi-Fi Skype phone is a great little phone. It looks like a mobile, but instead of relaying messages using traditional mobile towers at traditionally expensive call rates, the Netgear phone connects your call through voip (voice over IP) provider Skype. What does that mean? Well, call rates are really, really cheap.

The phone basically sports the Skype application’s interface minus any IM features. Which is a bit of a shame, it would be fairly redundant on the mobile keypad, but I’m sure it would not have been too hard to add to the wi-fi phone.

Whilst we are on the negative aspects of the phone, it doesn’t support SMS messages (which Skype does) and being a wi-fi phone it does leave you chained to your wireless router.

However, because I purchased the phone primarily as a second phone number (by coupling it with a Skype-In number so others think they’re calling a normal landline) I don’t mind overlooking these other shortcomings. It works exactly as you would expect, and it is fairly clear and responsive. There isn’t the traditional voip lag either, though that is probably attributable to my ADSL 2+ net connection.

So if you’re looking for a good voip phone then I would look into Netgear’s Skype phone. It’s especially attractive with wi-fi connectivity.