Heart Hi-Tech - A technology and gadget blog for beginners

Transfer Music From Your iPhone To Your Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:16:00 +0000

Backing-up the files on your computer is kinda' like flossing - something you know you really should do but can never consistently keep up.

But as we rely on our computers for more and more, the risks of not backing up can be extremely costly.

Take music for example. If you've got an iPod or an iPhone it's likely that your entire music collection is now stored on your computer's hard drive. Perhaps you ripped your entire CD collection and then - like me - decided to sell your CDs because they're just gathering dust in the attic.

But what happens if your hard drive fails and you haven't backed-up your music? While the iPod is a great device, Apple doesn't give people an easy way to transfer music from their iPod/iPhone to their computer.

Thankfully there's 3rd party software out there to help. One of my favorites is Senuti - a Mac only program that makes moving music from iPhone/iPod to computer a breeze. Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Digg: A Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

If you're a frequent Web surfer it's likely you'll have seen an icon at the bottom or next to the content you're reading/watching that reads "Digg" or "Digg This" with a number after it.

In an act of reckless abandon you may have even clicked on one of these links to see exactly what this Digg deal is all about, and after being presented with a pop-up window asking you to create a Digg account you may have closed said window like a startled fox.

Today's post is designed to be an introduction to Digg for beginners. It's really not that scary and some would even say quite useful, but check out the video above to see for yourself. Digg tutorial.

Translate Emails Into Any Language With Gmail

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

My general lack of non-English language skills is at best an embarrassment and at worst an inconvenience, especially since my day-job (yes, I don't just spend all day blogging) involves working with colleagues all over the world.

Google has made a valiant attempt to address this problem by adding a built-in translation feature to its Gmail email program. Simply enable the feature and if you receive an email in a language that is not your native tongue just click a link at the top of the message and it's immediately translated.

The beauty of this feature is that you can control which language you want the email translated into via the Gmail settings (it doesn't just have to be English). So Spanish to French, German to Dutch, or Swedish to English.....you can translate from and into pretty much any major language you can think of.

While the transcription won't be 100 per cent perfect, it WILL be enough to help you understand the content of the email. A real lifesaver to a linguistically challenged individual like myself.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Wolfram Alpha: Nothing For Google To Worry About

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

If ever there was a case of a product living-up perfectly to its tagline, then Wolfram Alpha is surely it.

The text next to the WA logo reads "computational knowledge engine" which sounds like a rather dry, heavy program built by a guy with odd glasses and questionable social skills. And that's actually not too far from the truth.

Strip away the geek jargon and what you have is a product that's essentially an answers engine, not a search engine. Search engines - like Google - return a list of relevant web sites that may help you find what you're looking for. Knowledge engines - like Wofram Alpha - don't return any web pages but instead return actual data and information that it thinks you are looking for.

So search for any town name on Google - let's say Maplewood, NJ - and you'll see a list of results that include links to the official town site, a community site and also an entry for the town name in Wikipedia - plus hundreds of other sites that may or may not be relevant. Perform the same search using Wolfram Alpha and you'll be returned the population size of Maplewood, its weather forecast, location, nearby cities and other facts that may be relevant.

So if you perform a lot of searches that involve finding data Wolfram Alpha will be a vital tool in your arsenal. But for most average joe publics - searching for things like "Miss California, scandalous photographs" or "American Idol" Wolfram Alpha will be all but useless.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through and check out this clip from the Wolfram Alpha creator explaining his invention.

Times Reader: Newspapers Re-invented?

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

To deny that newspapers are in trouble would be like saying that Bernie Madoff scored "somewhat aggressive" in a "What kind of investor are you?" financial quiz.

The publishing industry has been one of the most lucrative money-making vehicles of the last century, but amid a backdrop of collapsing ad markets and content saturation the printing-presses no longer seem to be dripping with gold.

Take the New York Times, for example. After seeing its revenue streams disappear down the toilet The Gray Lady is experimenting with different distribution channels, but its latest project - The Times Reader 2.0 - is actually rather nice.

This downloadable application allows you to read the daily edition of the newspaper with the main 12-15 stories being free and the rest available on a paid-for subscription basis. The experience is really impressive and the way the content is laid-out is simply a joy to read and far superior to any Web site.

Another advantage is that each day's content downloads quietly in the background when you're connected to the Internet, which means you can read each article off-line without worrying about a Web connection.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Spreadtweet: Twitter Disguised as a Spreadsheet

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

What is it with corporations? First they stick you in a gray cube to spend 33 per cent of your day and then they freak out if you spend a few morale boosting minutes catching-up with your Twitter or Facebook friends. Anybody would think we're in a recession or something.

If you have a boss who's prone to lurk over your shoulder just as you're making a critical status udpate, Spreadtweet is the program for you. This brilliantly inventive application lets you manage your Twitter account via an interface that looks exactly like an Excel spreadsheet (even down to a fake toolbar). So if anybody take a peek at your monitor they'll think you're crunching numbers rather than pissing away more of your life on online buddies that you vaguely know and will probably never meet.

Check out my video review above for a full walk-through.

RSS Made Easy With Google Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:50:00 +0000

Back in January I featured a tutorial that provided an introduction to RSS.

I love RSS and think it's still the fastest and most efficient way to receive targeted content.

Today I want to look at what I think is the easiest, most intuitive RSS Reader on the market - and that's Google Reader.

Check out my video review above for a full walk-through.

Food.com: The Ultimate Recipe Finder

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:44:00 +0000

There are hundreds of recipe sites on the Web that all give their unique take on everything from ribs to roast potatoes. But navigating the wealth of information that's out there can be time consuming - I mean exactly how many ways can there really be to cook carrots?

Food.com attempts to address this by aggregating recipes from across the Web. Simply search for your favorite dish and Food.com calls in recipes from some of the top cooking sites. In addition you can save your favorite recipes to a personalized recipe box which is a useful feature for the regular cook.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Find People on Google With Google Profiles

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Admit it, at some point in the past you've Googled your own name. Or your boss' name. Or the name of that weird sounding kid who just started working at your company and has something Dahmer-like about him.

But when you search for somebody on Google you'll find Web sites that mention that person's name - if any exist - but the results can often be sketchy at best.

This has all changed with the advent of Google Profiles. By creating a Google profile you can choose how to represent yourself on Google. Profiles contain a variety of personal information such as your name, location, occupation, bio and even a profile pic. Once your profile is complete, it will appear at the bottom of the search results page as a standalone entry whenever somebody Googles your name.

Check out the video above for a full walk through.

Manage Facebook & Twitter Friends With Seesmic

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Anyone with more than 15 connections on either Facebook or Twitter will quickly realize that managing their social relationships is a pain.

Between tracking status updates, looking at new pictures from a friend's vacation and managing new Twitter follows, there's a certain level of commitment involved with social networking.

Thankfully the good people at Seesmic have helped ease some of the pain courtesy of a lightweight, desktop application. The app connects directly to your Twitter and Facebook accounts allowing you to easily view and manage all your online friends.

Perhaps my favorite feature is the "User Lists" functionality which allows you to organized your contacts via customizable lists - something that people with hundreds or thousands of social networking friends will really appreciate.

Check out my video review above for a full walk-through.

Enhanced Image Search With Google Similar Images

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Google has just enhanced its image search feature thanks to a new product called Google Similar Images.

As the name suggests, it's now possible to filter image searches by telling Google to display similar looking images - which can be a really great time saving feature.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Turn Your Mac Into a Media Center With Plex

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Back in January I reviewed Boxee which is a very slick application to manage music, videos and pictures.

If you're a Mac user, another strong contender in the media center world is Plex.

Plex boasts a stunning, highly visual interface and allows you to play a wide range of media from either your hard drive or from a Web-based sources such as YouTube and Netflix.

Check out my video review above for a full walk-through.

Play Your Music At A Consistent Volume

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0000

One of the drawbacks of having a wide variety of digital music is the wide variety of volume levels that different tracks play at.

There's nothing more jarring than when a a low-key folk song that requires full volume on your iPod is quickly followed by a hardcore rock number which rips out your eardrums with brutal efficiency.

If you use an iPod and iTunes this problem can be solved by using an in-built feature called Sound Check which - when enabled - plays back your entire music library at exactly the same volume.

In order to get the benefit of both, you'll need to switch-on Sound Check in both iTunes and on your iPod. Here's how to do it:

iTunes

1. Open iTunes
2. At the top of the screen go to iTunes>>Preferences (for Mac) or Edit>>Preferences (for PC)
3. In the pop-up window that appears, click on the "Playback" tab
4. Tick the box next to "Sound Check"

This will ensure that within iTunes all your music will play at approximately the same level.

iPod/iPhone

1. On the iPod main menu, choose "Settings"
2. Scroll down and select "Sound Check" to turn the feature on

You can now go to the gym with your iPod on "shuffle" without worrying about having to play with the volume control!

Turn Your iPhone Into a Portable Hard Drive With Air Sharing

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Probably the best thing about the iPhone is its multi-skilled versatility. You can make calls, surf the web, check emails, send text messages, shoot pictures.....and the list goes on.

But one of the missing links was the ability to use your phone as a portable hard drive by moving files from your computer to your phone, and vice versa.

There are a few iPhone apps that you can download from the Apple App Store that solve this problem, but my particular favorite is Air Sharing.

It costs $4.99 to download and once installed will allow you to upload files to your iPhone from any Web browser, and download any files from your iPhone to your computer using the same method.

It's breathtakingly simple to use and works wirelessly - so no need for any messy USB cables. So if you need a quick way to carry around that important spreadsheet or presentation and you don't want to carry around an extra hard drive to do so, Air Sharing is definitely worth checking out.

Watch the video above for a full walk-through.

Read It Later: Your Reading List For The Web

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0000

The Internet is a big place and surfers who visit numerous sites daily will likely find plenty of content they want to digest.

But maybe a user doesn't have the time to read everything in a single sitting, and if that's the case what are the choices?

a) Bookmark the page and come back later to read it
b) Leave the Web page open on your computer and read it later
c) Try and remember all the pages you need to come back and visit later

All three of these options are unwieldy in their own way - so wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to build a temporary list of Web pages that you could access at any point during the day?

This - and more - is possible thanks to a nifty little service called Read It Later.

Simply install a small browser extension for Firefox and Flock and you're good to go. Whenever you visit a web page that you want to save for later, just click on a tick icon in your browser address bar and the site is added to your Read It Later list. Add as many sites as you want and view the full list anytime by clicking on the Read It Later icon on your browser.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Hunch: Your Decision Making Assistant

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Life is full of decisions and indecisive people. Mac or PC? Honda or Toyota? Merlot or Pinot Noir? Too many choices often leave us paralyzed by inaction - terrified of making the wrong choice.

Hunch is a new service that aims to leverage the power of community to help people with the decisions life throws at them. First browse through the numerous topics available in Hunch - and then pick a question you need to help with (let's say "Should I buy a Mac or PC?). Hunch then asks you a series of 5-10 questions and - based on your answers - recommends what you should do.

Each of the topics in Hunch is submitted by other users and are vetted and approved by the Hunch team. Hunch also claims to be smart - so the more the use it the more it understands you as a person and can offer more accurate and personalized decision making recommendations.

Hunch isn't available to the general public yet, but you can sign-up for an invitation. Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Skype Hits the iPhone and Blackberry

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Skype is one of the very few online services that I couldn't live without.

As a marble-mouthed Brit who suffers from occasional bouts of homesickness, Skype lets me stay in touch with friends and family for little or no cost. If you want to read more about some of the benefits of Skype, watch my video review for a full walk-through.

The only drawback with Skype is that you have to be tethered to your laptop or desktop computer to be able to use it. So if I had the urge while sitting on the train or bus to leave abusive voicemails to members my ever dwindling UK-based social group, I'd be forced to pay the near-criminal international rates from America's worst cell phone provider - AT&T.

But all that has now changed after Skype announced it's releasing both iPhone and Blackberry versions of its software. The iPhone application is available for download now, with the Blackberry version available in May.

So how does it work, I hear you cry? First you download the app and install it onto your phone. If you don't have a Skype account you can set one up, but if you're already registered simply log-on with your existing username and password.

Once signed-on, you can make calls to other Skype users for free or you can call mobile or landline phones using Skype Out credits at very low rates. So if you've got a friend in Australia who's signed-on to Skype, you can call him or her for free on your iPhone or Blackberry....and that's enough to get my shriveled little heart beating slightly faster.

But there is a catch. And surprise surprise, that catch is courtesy of - you guessed it - the beloved cell-phone companies. You can only use Skype via a Wi-Fi connection which means you need to be somewhere where there's a Wi-Fi hotspot. You can't simply make a Skype call over your phone's regular cell connection (you know, the one that you pay AT&T about 100 bucks a month for).

Services like Skype are theoretically a big threat to cell companies, so they're making sure to protect their core business. But even with this slightly annoying limitation, the Skype application is quick, easy, graceful and most importantly the call quality is excellent.

So if you have social circle that extends beyond the end of your block, Skype is worth checking out - and if you have an iPhone or Blackberry this should become a valuable feather in your communications bow.

Track Your Blog Comments With coComment

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Blogs without comments are like Milli without Vanilli - each is dependent on the other in order to create a truly fulfilling experience.

But if you visit numerous blogs on a daily basis it becomes increasingly hard to remember exactly which posts you commented on, and more importantly track any replies to your comments.

A rather handy solution to this problem is coComment which is a graceful and intuitive solution that lets you stay on top of your blog contributions.

coComment offers a handy browser extension that works with either Firefox or Flock. Once installed, every comment you make on a blog is automatically tracked by coComment. As soon as you receive any replies, a small envelope icon appears at the bottom right of your browser to alert you. Click on the icon and you're taken through to your coComment page where you can click through to see your original comment and all the corresponding replies.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Access Your Music From Anywhere With Lala

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Every now and again a Web site comes along that's genuinely useful in a "that's something I'd use daily" way. Lala.com is one of those sites.

Lala joins the crowded digital music space but it offers two things that I think really set it apart from the competition.

The first is music management. Once you've signed-up for an account, you can upload your entire music library to Lala. This can take a few hours but it means that you can access and play your music from any computer - which is a really useful feature.

The second is purchasing music. The majority of online music stores (like iTunes for example) charge users a flat fee to download music. The average price is about 99c per track.

Lala handles things a little differently by offering two tiers of purchasing. The first tier lets you download a track and listen to it whenever you're logged-in to your Lala account. However, you're prohibited from downloading the track to your hard-drive or from transferring it to an iPod or other device. This may sound somewhat restrictive but here's the sweetener - these "Web only" tunes only cost 10c per track. If you listen to most of your music at home, that's a great price to buy legal, fully licensed music.

If you prefer to "own" the track and have the freedom to do whatever you want with it (like transfer it to your iPod) you can still buy-it to download at a cost of 89c.

Each song in the Lala store offers both pricing tiers and when you sign-up for an account you'll receive 50 "Web only" songs for free.

One last feature that's also pretty cool. You can play the full version of any song in Lala once. This is a great "try before you buy" feature and runs rings around the 30 second preview you get in iTunes.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Listen To Pandora Radio Through Boxee

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Turner and Hooch. Kibbles and Bits. There are some things in life that just belong together.

Another pairing to add to the list is Boxee and Pandora. I reviewed Boxee back in January and was generally impressed with its slick interface and set of tools for managing images, videos and music under a single umbrella.

One notable absence from Boxee was the ability to access Internet radio through Pandora. I also reviewed Pandora in January and it's one of the best ways to discover new music based on your favorite bands and artists.

Well now the two have joined together in matrimonial bliss (although it's somewhat of a polygamous affair because Boxee shares a bed with numerous other partners) with the announcement that the new Boxee release includes Pandora integration.

In addition to Pandora, Boxee users can also access PBS if they need a quick fix of obscure science documentaries and nature shows.

All-in-all, Boxee is starting to mature into the number one media manager for both Mac and PC. From Netflix and YouTube to the BBC and Hulu, the range of content you can access from Boxee is really impressive.

If you want in on the action, check out the Boxee site for more.

Find Cheap Gas With Bill Shrink

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Question: What happens when the world's banks decide to organize a 5-year-long poker party using our mortgages as chips?

Answer: The World loses its shirt

With the recession continuing to churn relentlessly like Carnie Wilson's stomach after a midnight trip to Cold Stone, most of us are looking to conserve cash wherever and whenever we can.

BillShrink might just be the site to help you do that. After creating an account, you're asked some questions regarding your credit card usage, commute to work and cell phone usage. BillShrink then works its magic and suggests ways you can make savings.

For credit cards and cell phone plans it's quite simple. After analyzing your answers to a few simple questions you'll be introduced to alternative credit cards or cell phone plans that could help you conserve some cash. In the case of cell phones, you can even upload your most recent cell phone bill to allow BillShrink to perform a highly detailed analysis.

The gas feature is really interesting. Simply enter the start and end points of your daily commute along with your car make, model and year and BillShrink will analyze your route and map-out the cheapest gas stations along the way. Since this data changes frequently, you can also sign-up to receive updates via email.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Create a Personalized Facebook URL

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

In the unlikely event that a mentally impaired acquaintance or politely small talking colleague wanted to find me on Facebook, they'd simply need to check out the following url:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=721480775

Problem is that the Web address of my personal page is not that easy to remember so unless you hang around with MIT Blackjack card counters you probably won't get many visitors.

"But Hills you lanky streak of piss, not so fast," I hear you cry. "What about the Facebook search feature?". Well that's a fair point, but it really depends on who you're looking for and how common their name is.

A quick search on Facebook for "Jonathan Hills" reveals three pages of people who have all been bestowed with the same name. More common names such as "Paul Smith" bring up pages and pages of results. So in order to find the "Paul Smith" that I'm looking for, I'd need to sift through hundreds of Pauls while squinting at each thumbnail photograph in a vain attempt to recognize somebody I may not have seen for 15 years.

One solution is to try SocialToo. Simply visit the site, create an account and SocialTool will allow you to create a personalized url for your Facebook page. The url takes the form of http://username.socialtoo.com where username is the name you define when creating your SocialToo account.

So, for example, the url to my Facebook page is http://lankybrit76.socialtoo.com
It's short, easy to remember and typing it in to a Web browser takes a user straight to my Facebook page. So think of it as a vanity url for your Facebook profile - something that a lot of people will find attractive.

Aside from the personalized url SocialToo also includes numerous additional features such as automating the following process on Twitter.

So act fast to secure your username on SocialToo and give it a closer look.

Introduction To E-Readers

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Every now and again a gadget or device hits the market and turns out to be a complete game changer.

The Walkman did it in 1980s, bringing the concept of portable music to the masses for the first time. Then there was the CD player which dominated the music landscape for so long before its big brother - the DVD player - did the same for movies. And how can we forget the iPod which totally transformed how we purchase and listen to music?

Well over the last few months a new breed of device has been starting to show signs that it could soon be ready to burst into the mainstream and revolutionize our lives. That device is the E-Reader.

That fact that we're still appending "E" to the front of anything makes it seem clunky by default, but this family of devices could completely transform how we as humans digest the written word.

So for today's post, I want to explain exactly what E-Readers are and why we should even care.....

So what exactly is an e-reader?

E-readers are compact electronic devices that allow you to read books, magazines, newspapers and a whole host of other print-based content.

How do I get a book or a magazine onto my device?

E-readers allow you to to purchase books and magazine/newspaper subscriptions online through special e-reader content stores. Once you've made a purchase, your book/magazine/newspaper is transferred onto your e-reader for you to read anytime. Current E-Readers allow you to store multiple pieces of content, so you could carry around a whole library of book purchases on your E-Reader. Think of it as an iPod for books.

Another bonus is that the content is often cheaper than the paper equivalent. You can buy books for around $9.99 each and there are hundreds of thousands of books currently available for E-Readers. Same is true for magazines, where subscriptions tend to be cheaper than signing-up for the hard copy.

Sounds interesting, but reading books on a computer screen is awful.

That's one of the key selling points of today's E-Readers - they're not simply computer screens. Most E-Readers use electronic ink display technology which eliminates glare and replicates the experience of reading from a printed page. That means no eye strain and no annoying reflections on the screen.

How big are these things?

Most are as thin as any magazine and extremely light - around 10.2 oz.

Who are the major E-Reader players?

There are two big-guns right now - Amazon with its Kindle and Sony with its Reader Digital Book. More companies are developing E-Readers and plan to enter the market this year including Hearst (a major magazine publisher) and others.

How much will one of these set me back?

They're not cheap. Around $300-$359 will get you an Amazon or Sony device. Prices will likely come down as the market becomes more competitive and since the price of books are so much cheaper, if you make a lot of regular book purchases you'll eventually re-coup the cost of the device in savings.

Any drawbacks?

Apart from the high-price of entry there are a couple of points to consider. E-Readers are still relatively new and the market will likely change quickly. Some current E-Readers may become obsolete, while new players may emerge. Think Betamax vs VHS or Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD as similar examples from the past.

Consumers will also have to get used to carrying around yet another device. Some believe that the cell-phone will ultimately satisfy consumers' digital reading news and Amazon E-Books are already available on the iPhone.

So What's The Conclusion?

The publishing industry is hurting and the hunt is on for a new business model that can be just as lucrative as paper and ink has been for the last 50 years. The E-Reader is definitely one to watch and as the price drops and the technology is refined, this could well and truly hit the mainstream as we move into 2010.

"Undo" Emails You Wish You'd Never Sent

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Email regret. We've all been there and experienced the "What the f*** have I just done?" feeling that comes when we let our uncensored emotions gush-out from our outbox.

But once your twitchy finger hits "send", there ain't no turning back. Until now.

Gmail has rolled-out a brand new feature that lets users "undo" emails they've sent.....but you have to be fast. The undo feature only works for 5 seconds after you hit send, but that can give you a valuable window of opportunity to stop emails you think you might regret sending.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Google Voice: Video Review

noreply@blogger.com (Hillsy) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

I posted earlier this week about Google Voice - a new service from Google that allows people to make cheap and free phone calls and SMS text messages. As a former Grand Central user I've been waiting patiently for Google to upgrade my account, and finally they did it earlier this evening.

Check out my video review of the service above - but in short this is VERY cool and could emerge as a serious challenger to Skype.....