Watch live TV on your cell phone

Slingbox’s Mobile software that allows you to watch live TV on your cell phone is the latest in combining cell phones with mp3s, satellite radio, pdas, and now television. How does this video to cell phone software work? According to the San Francisco Gate’s SlingPlayer for Mobile review:

“A user buys a $250 Slingbox and connects it to either the cable or satellite set-top box. The television signal that normally goes to the TV is channeled instead through the owner’s Internet router and is streamed to a laptop or a mobile device equipped with the Slingbox software.”

A Sample of the cellphones that support SlingPlayer Mobile :

Verizon Palm Treo 700

Sprint PPC-6700 ($449.99)

Verizon XV6700

T-Mobile MDA

Cingular 8125

Nextel i930

T-Mobile SDA handset

In MSNBC’s Live TV hits the road on your cell phone, reviewer Gary Krakow recommends the SlingPlayer Mobile highly.

“Slingbox is a terrific device.  Their new mobile software for cell phones is terrific.  Once you have it, you’ll wonder why everyone else doesn’t.

If you were on the fence about buying a Slingbox, now is the time. For the next month or so you get the mobile software for free. That’s like getting a $50 rebate on the Slingbox itself. I can tell you from experience that you’ll be getting yourself into a win-win situation.”

New low-cost internet phone options

With the new internet phone services coming online the days of expensive long-distance and phone services seem to be behind us. Starting with Vonage and Skype, now Lycos and Jajah, the options for PC to phone calling continue to grow.

Competition between the services is growing too, and the incentives the PC-to-phone companies offer to new users are getting good. Lycos is offering free calls, as well as a free US telephone number for incoming calls, simply for signing up for promotions from advertisers and viewing banner ads, while Jajah is offering international calls for less than 2 cents a minute between US and Europe.

Wifi Hotspot Finder Websites

In our modern “digital” age keeping in touch has never been easier. In just 15 years the cell phone has gone from an extravagant luxury to a necessity, and now WiFi wireless internet connections allows us to to access the information super highway easily without having to plug in to a fixed location.

I was in New Orleans in December visiting a friend who has a laptop but can’t get his home wired for the internet due to delays after Hurricane Katrina. Since his laptop has an Intel Centrino processor, he is able to access the internet from a selection of WiFi hotspots downtown. We found a nice spot outside a coffee shop near the French Quarter and logged on to get our email and visit some websites.

New WiFi hotspots are popping up everyday around the world, and according to a new report from JiWire there are over 100,000 WiFi Hotspots worldwide now. I have found a few WiFi directory sites that have updated lists of the addresses and the wireless network providers available. Each of these hotspot directories has information that can be useful, so if you are having trouble finding WiFi hotspots on one directory site try the others.

WiFinder (I think Mexico will be surprised to find out it’s in South America, according to WiFinder )

WiFi Hotspot List

JiWire WiFi Hotspot Directory

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