A Wireless USB Stick that Expands your Phone’s Storage (And a Giveaway)

What do you do when your mobile phone has limited storage and there’s no option to add an external SD card? How do you carry all your videos and documents where there’s not an iota of space left on the device? Yes, you do have cloud-based services like Dropbox or Google Drive that add virtually unlimited storage to your phone but you’ve to be connected to the Internet to access your files.

This week I’ve been testing a wireless USB stick from Sandisk that adds storage to your phones and tablets much like a regular USB drive. To get started, you plug the USB device into your laptop or desktop computer and let it charge for about an hour or two. You can also transfer the files to the stick from the computer through Windows Explorer or Finder on Mac.

Once the device is charged, you tap the little power button on the stick to turn it on. Now install the Sandisk Connect app on your mobile phone, go to WiFi settings on your phone and connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot created by the USB stick. That’s it.

The content of the USB drive can now be accessed from your mobile phone. You can stream audio and video files stored on the stick, you can browse photos, open PDF files and other documents in associated mobile apps and you can easily transfer files between the phone and the wireless drive. It is much like plugging a USB stick into your mobile phone but without the wires.

The Wi-Fi network has no security by default but you do have an option to add a password to prevent other nearby devices from connecting to the USB stick.

Unlike using cloud storage, Sandisk’s Connect USB stick requires no Internet connection (it will create a hotspot that your mobile device will connect to) and multiple devices can connect to the same USB drive over Wi-Fi. So if you are carrying an iPad and an Android phone, not only can the two devices connect to the stick simultaneously but it can be used as a temporary medium to transfer files between the iOS and Android device.

The USB stick itself is solidly built with a transparent protective casing though it is obviously heavier and looks bigger than regular USB sticks. The Sandisk mobile app does have some issues but none of them are a deal breaker. In my testing, the iPad app frequently crashed especially when reading big PDF files. The Android app would not allow me to browse the web using cellular connection while the phone was connected to USB drive over Wifi.

Sandisk Connect (Amazon, Flipkart) is compatible with both Android and iOS devices and is available in various capacities from 16GB to 128GB. If you are running out of storage space on your mobile phone and upgrading is not an option, the Connect stick is probably the easiest way to expand your phone’s existing storage.

SanDisk Connect Giveway

SanDisk India is giving away 5 units of the SanDisk Connect Wireless USB stick to @labnol readers in India. All you have to do is fill this short form to participate in the giveaway. SanDisk will announce the winners on November 30 (Monday). Good luck!

Apple devices are top Black Friday sellers at Target

Apple products sold well at Target during Black Friday

Target sold one Apple iPad every second during Thanksgiving. That includes sales made online and in brick and mortar Target stores. In fact, Apple products did quite well during Black Friday at the discount retailer. Inside the physical stores, Apple Watch was a strong seller. Both of those products were on Target's Top Ten Best Selling items list for its holiday sales.

Also selling well during the last two days at Target was another product now associated with Apple. The Beats Solo 2 headphone was rung up quite often by Target cashiers. Last year, Apple purchased Beats Audio for $3 billion, making it the company's largest acquisition ever. Apple will shut down streaming music provider Beats Music at the end of this month, leaving the headphones as the only part of the purchase that Apple is keeping alive. 

Target offered consumers a $100 gift card with the purchase of an Apple Watch. The store carried Apple Watch Sport models starting from $349, and Apple Watch timepieces priced up to $649. Those purchasing the Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi  during the sale (16GB priced at $499, 64GB priced at $599 and 128GB priced at $699) received a $150 Target gift card. Buyers of the Apple iPad Air Wi-Fi ($399 for 16GB, $449 for 32GB and $599 for 64GB) received a $100 Target gift card, as did those who bought the Apple iPad mini 4 ($499 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model, $599 for the 128GB Wi-Fi version, and $629 for the 64GB Wi-Fi+ Cellular tablet).

The Beats Solo 2 headphones are normally priced at $199.99. Target had them on sale for Black Friday at $96.99.

YU mocks Apple iPhones with Yutopia’s latest teaser, reveals a key feature for the upcoming flagship

YU has been teasing its upcoming smartphone, the Yutopia, for a while now. In its latest teaser for the flagship, YU has mockedApple iPhones for their battery performance.

The company took to Twitter, and posted an image with Apple’s logo with low battery demonstration, along with a caption in the middle, “Would you enjoy an apple that doesn’t last long?”. The message below the image read, “High on price, low on juice! High time; #ThinkDifferent #RaiseTheBar! #Yutopia.”

It looks like YU’s strategy to hint users that the Yutopia will feature a big battery. It could be the main selling point for the device as well, as who wouldn’t look for a smartphone with high battery capacity. To recap, in its previous teasers, YU had also revealed that the Yutopia will come in metal unibody design with chamfered edges. Other teasers for the smartphone also stated that the device might also feature QHD screen, and fast charging technology.

The YU Yutopia is being dubbed as the company’s first flagship smartphone, so it might be priced higher than the 10k bracket, unlike previous devices by YU. The pre-registrations for the device have already begun on YU’s website, and this time has no plans to sell it via flash sales.

The YU Yutopia is expected to run Android 5.1.1 Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12.1, and feature a 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels, a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, 4G LTE connectivity, a 21-megapixel primary camera with 4K video recording, and an 8-megapixel secondary camera. If these specifications turn out to be true, the device will compete with the likes of the OnePlus 2, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, theMotorola Moto X Style, and the Sony Xperia Z5.

Instagram Now Testing Support For Account Switching, No Log Out Required

A feature Instagram users have wanted for some time – support for switching between multiple accounts directly in the app – is now being tested, according to a new report out this morning. Select members in Instagram’s official beta testing group for Androidhave spotted the option in Instagram’s settings in their beta build of the mobile application. The feature allows users to add or create additional accounts for use in Instagram that you can then switch between without first having to sign out of your current account.

News of the beta test was first discovered by the blog Android Police, which was pointed to the feature by way of a tipster who also provided screenshots of account switching in action.

Instagram declined to comment on the tests, when reached earlier this morning.

However, we have been able to duplicate this report independently.

 

 

To access the new option, beta testers can scroll down to the bottom to the bottom of the Settings page in Instagram, then look for the “Add Account” option just below “Clear Search History” and above “Log Out.”

From here, you’re able to enter in another set of Instagram credentials or set up a new account using either a username and password combination, or by authenticating with Facebook. After the account has been added, you can then switch between them using a new selector that appears at the top left of the screen on your user profile page. Instagram’s app also confirms when you’ve switched accounts by way of a green pop-up banner notification.

The option to switch between multiple accounts is something Instagram users have been demanding for some time. And the request doesn’t only come from those whose jobs require them to maintain different accounts, like social media managers, for example.

While obviously useful for those in the business world, account switching is a common activity among Instagram’s younger user base, as well. In fact, there’s even teenage slang related to this – “finstagram,” or “finsta” for short, stands for “fake Instagram account.”

This is a separate account teens maintain outside of their “real” Instagrams, which are far more polished. Ironically, the teens’ finstagrams actually portray a truer version of their lives. They are filled with the photos that only their close friends get to see – like unflattering pictures, screenshots of text messages, and other, more mundane images that don’t make the cut for their real Instagrams that are shown to the world.

The rise of these secondary accounts came about because many teens felt their main Instagrams weren’t presenting an authentic images of their real lives. As is the case on a lot of social media services, users tend to present the best version of themselves in their posts, but that can also be limiting. Teens’ real Instagrams, sometimes called “rinstagrams” or “rinstas,” are filled with aesthetically pleasing photos, those that make them appear popular and successful, and are also safe to show to parents. Finstagrams include everything else.

It’s unclear at what point Instagram will finalize testing of the account switching option and then roll it out to the larger Instagram user base, or if such plans are even on its roadmap. The company may also consider trialing different means of offering this option before committing to a public release.

In the meantime, Instagram users interested in testing account switching for themselves can join the Instagram beta test group here, then install the updated version of Instagram on their supported Android device.

At 6.9mm Thin, Japanese Yemada Denki Wins the Title of Thinnest Windows Phone Ever

A lot is going on in the Windows ecosystem these days and just when we thought it started to get a tad bit boring, a Japanese phone maker has come up with a weirdly named phone which ironically holds the title for the Thinnest Windows phone ever. Named “Yemada Denki”, which literally translates to Every Phone in Japanese, is an entry level Windows 10 smartphone selling at an USD equivalent of $320.

The Yemada Denki is propelled by a Snapdragon 410 clocked at 1.2GHz and paired with a 2GB of RAM. On the storage front the device offers 32GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot. The smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch display set at a resolution of 720p, and the imaging front is managed by a 13-Megapixel primary sensor and a 5-Megapixel secondary sensor.

The connectivity features include the standard Bluetooth 4.0, LTE support for band one, three and nineteen. As for the thinnest phone badge, the Yemada phone achieves it by maintaining a thinness of 6.9-inch which is incidentally the same thickness as the iPhone 6S. If not anything else, this phone inadvertently reminds me how thick and bulky Windows phones have been.

The Every Phone will be up for sale upright at a price of $325 and if that seems like quiet a lot of money, you can also go for the monthly payment of $14.63 spread over a time period of two years. The deal is further sweetened by the fact that first 3000 buyers of the phone will be treated with free Bluetooth keyboard and screen protector, the phone will however come with two-year warranty.

The very fact that manufacturers are rushing to release a range of Windows 10 handset is a good vibe for Microsoft. Features like Continuum and Cortana seem to be primary reason for people to be excited about the new crop of Windows phones.

Amazon Is Giving Away Unlimited Cloud Storage For $5.00

Amid a slew of deep discounts appearing on the web today as a part of the shopping holiday Black Friday, Amazon has introduced one deal that’s sort of a no brainer. The company is giving away unlimited online storage on its cloud servers for just five dollars. The normal price for this is $60 per year, so this – 92% off – represents a significant savings.

The deal is aimed at promoting Amazon’s Cloud Drive service – an online storage site that competes with similar services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft’s OneDrive, and more. Cloud Drive allows you to store documents, music, photos, videos and other files in the cloud, which you can access from any web-connected device, including smartphones and tablets by way of Amazon’s Cloud Drive mobile applications.

However, be aware that if you’re planning to use the now $5 service primarily for photo backups, you may already have that option enabled. Amazon Prime currently offers free, unlimited photo backup as one of its benefits, so you may not need to sign up for Cloud Drive if you don’t need to archive other file types, as well.

What’s also great about this deal is that it’s not just being offered to newcomers, as a way to incentivize them to try out Amazon Cloud Drive for the first time. Current customers can take advantage of discount, too, says Amazon – you’ll be given a prorated refund on your current plan after you buy the $5.00 deal.

But be aware that the $5.00 is not a one-time fee. Cloud Drive is sold as an annual subscription, which means when the service comes up for renewal, you may be again paying full price (unless the company runs a similar promotion, of course.)

For Amazon, giving away storage space – basically a commodity at this point – is not much of a burden. The company introduced the option for unlimited cloud storage earlier this year, with the simplified pricing to make it competitive with tiered-based services that charge more than Amazon’s $5 per month to host so many files.

But at the end of the day, consumers may not choose their storage service based solely on price – user experience, including ease-of-use and feature set, will also come into play. While Amazon’s software has gotten better over the past months, it’s still not as developed or as polished a service as those from rivals like Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, Box and others. Competitors’ cloud drives tie into their other services – like their software for collaborate document editing in the cloud, for example, among other things.

But for $5.00, there’s really not much reason not to grab a huge chunk of online storage space for yourself – at least for the year ahead.

How To Hire A Dedicated Boyfriend!

*This is a fictional piece, written for entertainment purposes only*

Anika was nursing her fourth messy break-up in two months.

Was it her own high demands the reason behind the heartbreaks? Or was she expecting just too much out of a relationship?

Did anybody really have a ‘happily ever after’, she wondered.

While she was browsing through the newspapers, a thought struck her. Why not ‘hire’ a boyfriend? A custom-designed guy who would hang out with her and be a dedicated partner for life. And if she manages to fall in love with him, great! She would immediately arrange for a screening process where prospective ‘boyfriends’ can come and get ‘hired’. She would also pay them handsomely, so more and more guys would apply.

She was never really worried about the turnout. After all, it’s the same society where Rakhi Sawant’s swayamwar gets more mileage than politics. She was worried about what and what not to ask, in order to filter out the flak from the bunch. Once she saw the number of guys who had come for the ‘job’, she instinctively knew what to do.

She took a deep breath and called her first ‘prospect’ to the interview chambers.

‘Hey, thanks for coming. Your name?’ She asked. Her tone was playful bordering on sing-song so that the guy didn’t feel nervous about the whole ‘weird’ set up.

‘Ajay. Don’t thank me. I am here only for the money.’ He said. His tone was playful too.

‘Umm…right. Well, what qualities you have that I should hire you?’

‘As I said, I am here for the big bucks. So, I will stay faithful as long as crap doesn’t hit the roof’. He paused and looked her in the eye. He was the type who knew what he wanted. ‘Anything else?’

‘Did you ever have a girlfriend?’

‘If I did, I wouldn’t be here. You’ll be my first’. Hmmm.

‘Please drop your CV and application form here. I shall let you know.’

He walked away without as much as a glance in her direction. She didn’t bother about it either. It was her parade, after all.

The second guy to walk in was quite cool. She liked him. Hmm.

‘Hi, thanks for coming. Your name?’

‘Rahul, mam’, he smiled. He had a nice smile…hmm.

‘Tell me…why do you want to apply for this post?’

‘I have been FB-stalking, Instgram-stalking, iOS-mapping and generally following you around since you moved into my neighbourhood two months ago.’

‘Wha…?’ She was stunned. Who the hell was this guy!

‘Yes, mam. I didn’t like your third boyfriend. Cheap tipper. But the second one? He was okay. I liked the last one…a little bossy, but cute.’

‘Get out’

‘Uh? I am here to get hired right away’

‘Get out of here, you freak’

‘Oh…I am the freak? You have organized this crazy shit. Who ‘hires’ love?’

‘Goddamn it. This is just to get back with my ex. Now get out!’

‘Which ex?’

‘Get out or I will call the security…WATCHMAN!’

‘Mam, I am the watchman’. He smiled. His smile was blank, his eyes were blank, but his hands were slowly reaching out to his favourite ‘malkin’.

10 Funny Matrimonial Ads That Will Leave You In Splits

Marriage is an important ‘ritual’ in our society. And a fair bride is even more important. Unlike the west where couples meet, date, fall in love and walk down the aisle. In our culture, the couple first ties the knot and then falls in love (if at all).

So it’s no wonder that we have plenty of funny matrimonial ads that will leave you in splits. We bring to you ten of the best from our lot…Read on!

#1: “Require girl for marriage she should be very pretty very sleem and have one brother one sister.”

Don’t know why he specifically wants one brother and one sister…hmm. We are confused too!

#2: “i am very handsome and pretty I want marry very beautiful girl who will respect my family pets etc’ 

You know he is for keeps when he uses ‘etc’ in the ad.

#3: ‘I am very good cook I want girl also very good cook. Please contact me very early as i am waiting to get married.’

At least he can cook!

#4: ‘in every part of my life only her image exists…see in your self she is with you…if you love her then every one afterter…I love pets’

Does he want a pet or a wife?!

#5: ‘I want very much enjoyment in life so i want to get marry…if you also want to enjoy please contact me’

Somebody tell him that marriage isn’t that enjoyable!

#6: ‘Want very fair girl for immediate marrige’

Yes, sir. No time like the present.

#7: ‘I am Brahmin cast but eat all non-veg items. If you like non-veg items accept my marriage’Please marry him before he publishes more such ads.

#8: ‘I am very much love marry and want great awesome wife thanks’

He is the man.

#9: ‘if my mother like her then i will marry her please send all pictures to mother’

He is a mamma’s boy. Clearly.

#10: ‘I am very honest good looking boy. I want poor rich beautiful girl’
Poor, rich? Wha!

Girls, we hope you are having a good mid-week ROFL moment.

But on a serious note, would you marry somebody like those mentioned above?!

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Places A Big Bet On Containers

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is launching a slew of updates and new products related to containers at Docker’s developer conference in Barcelona today. Together, all of these amount to a big bet on containers on HPE’s part.

“We view containers as a disruptive technology,” HPE’s acting VP in charge of the company’s incubator partners and strategic alliances Tana Rosenblatt told me. “Not that containers are a new technology, but it’s relevant as enterprises look to a hybrid environment. We view the partnership with Docker — which we are formalizing — as a very important one because we like their approach, we like what they have to offer. Our strategy is: embrace and extend. We have a lot of IP that we have developed around dev and ops and the bridging of the two. And we believe that combined with Docker, this makes it even more of a value proposition for our enterprise customers.”

In practice, this means the new HP Helion Development Platform 2.0, HPE’s Platform-as-a-Service offering for hybrid clouds which is also launching today, now supports Docker out of the box. Developers and IT operators will now be able to use the service to deploy microservices packed as Docker containers, for example.

HPE is also expanding its StormRunner cloud load and performance testing solution and its AppPulse mobile performance monitoring tools to allow developers to test, deploy and monitor Dockerize applications.

HPE Sitescope, the company’s cloud monitoring tool, now also includes support for Docker Swarm clusters. With this, admins can now map and monitor all the layers of a Docker cluster from Swarm to cluster notes, the Docker daemon, running containers and specific workloads.

Also new is Docker support in the HPE Codar release management service and support for Docker images in the HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage arrays and the HPE StoreVirtual software-defined storage solutions.

To tie all of this together, HPE will also soon offer 24×7 enterprise container support, as well as a Docker reference architecture and a new reference guide for developers who want to deploy containers in their hybrid clouds.

Rosenblatt tells me that HPE (or HP, at the time), decided to make this bet on containers about a year and a half ago. While HP has long worked with container technology in some form or another, Docker clearly galvanized interest in this technology. “Docker has made the timing now,” she said. “We really doubled down in January.” She also stressed that HPE wants to offer its customers a container solution that spans from “physical to cloud.”

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY ANNOUNCED FOR 2016 KAWASAKI MODELS IN UK

Pricing and availability announced for 2016 Kawasaki models in UK – and exclusive K-Options finance offer available on ZX-10R
Kawasaki UK has announced the prices for the full 2016 range – including the brand new Ninja ZX-10R, J125, ZZR1400 and ZZR1400 Performance Sport models.





Developed directly with the Kawasaki Racing Team, the new Ninja ZX-10R is the closest thing customers will get to riding the World Superbike machine. Featuring a whole host of new innovations in terms of chassis, engine and electronic upgrades, the potential of the new machine as a track day weapon and a road riders dream is considerable. It will be priced at £13,649 for the Metallic Matt Carbon grey and £13,799 for the KRT Colour scheme.

Just 75 Winter Edition ZX-10R machines are arriving in the UK. With the same matt black and white livery as the Ninja’s tested by the World Superbike Team, the new machine features the KRT ‘Snowflake’ logo, plus the Japanese kanji ‘fuyu’ character which means winter. It comes with a road-legal Akrapovic silencer as standard, as well as stainless plates on the yoke denoting its limited edition status as ‘One of only 75’ 2016 Winter Test editions. Grab yourself a piece of Kawasaki history for £14,399. Ninja ZX-10R’s are due in UK showrooms in the last week of January.

Also joining the 2016 range are the special Z800 and Z1000 ‘Sugomi Editions’ – machines that take Kawasaki’s styling and engineering concept to the next level with new Candy Crimson Red and black colour treatments, plus accent anodising and model specific Akrapovic silencers for each machine. The Z800 Sugomi Edition is priced at £8,349 and the Z1000 is £10,749.

Ultimate Guide to Setup VoIP and Make Free Calls

For starters, let me tell you a few things about VoIP. This is a technology that lets users make calls over the internet (Voice over Internet Protocol). VoIP is a part of a larger system, we call Internet Telephony, the system that allows sharing files or sending text messages over the internet. It basically moves the use of a phone on the internet.

What is VoIP? How you can use it to reduce Telephone bills?

Although, to use an internet system such as VoIP, you will need a smartphone connected to the internet or a telephony adapter, for your phone back home (this TA plugs into your DSL modem or cable and into the phone), but, nowadays these are all over the place, and you can get them at reasonable prices, it’s not that much of a drawback. I’m sure by now, the question on everyone’s mind is: “Why would I want VoIP? My PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) connection works well.” My answer to this question is: “Money!”, VoIP is the cheapest method of calling you will ever find.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I’ll talk about 2 categories: first of all, it’s the land line VoIP service (hardware based). This service uses the TA to connect your old telephone to the internet. This system requires you to have an internet connection, and furthermore, to make a subscription to one of many VoIP plans available from different carriers, also you will need to buy the hardware necessary to set up your VoIP system (such as TA and/or telephone), these do not come cheap, I’ve seen this equipment from $50 and up to $300.

These VoIP services cost way less than regular phone subscriptions, so you will definitely even out your investment, but they do have some minor setbacks. For example, if you are using your broadband connection intensely (downloading a movie or something data intensive), the quality of your call might be slightly lower. But apart from that, you have a really good telephone service with the lowest cost you could find (some offer unlimited calls in the US and Canada, and as low as $0.30/min for international calls).

Top 5 VoIP Phones to try out

Here are a few VoIP services you would be interested in. Keep in mind that with all of these, you will not have heavy equipment and cables running all over your house, these are all simple systems, that could be used just like regular phones.

1. Skype Phones

Until recently, I never known Skype offered phones. But now that I know, I must admit it’s one of the best VoIP services around. For $80, you will get the Skype Phone (or the USB phone for less than that) and you can enjoy unlimited calls world wide for as little as $13.

2. PhoneGnome

The oldest player here, PhoneGnome is one of the best in the business. They offerunlimited VoIP calls and the VoIP phone for $99. Plus you don’t have a monthly bill. And for $5/month, you can have 10 numbers where you can call unlimited.

3. Ooma

A bit more expensive than PhoneGnome, the equipment costs $250 and you only pay a $12/year tax and that’s it. This service is way more cheaper than your PSTN service. You get the TA and you can plug in any phone you want.

4. Vonage

One of the most known services in this industry with quite an experience, Vonageoffers a full package at $80/equipment and you have to pay a monthly subscription of $25, but you have included unlimited calls in US, Canada and other 60 countries.

5. magicJack

This service is a cross between software and hardware services. The magicJack is a USB device that connects to your computer, and to it you connect your phone. The equipment costs $40 for the first year, and $20/year after that. And that’s all, you call free of charge in the US and Canada, and for international calls you get a pretty low cost (under $0.34/min).

Top 5 VoIP Software

The second way to setup VOIP is software based. This will most likely be the one you are best used to. This type of VoIP can handle video calls and screen sharing (see article about best screen sharing apps) or voice calls. This type of VoIP is more wide spread than the hardware based one because of its flexibility. You can install the app on your PC or smartphone and talk to anyone else who is using it. And since nearly everyone has an IM app (Skype, Yahoo, Google Talk, MSN etc), and because most of these IMs have the option of voice calls, it’s really easy to stay connected.

These services do not need much introduction, you all know what they care capable of and what they offer, but I’ll name a few nonetheless:

1. Skype

Microsoft’s newest acquisition is the the best known VoIP service in the world. It offers a host of features, it has low cost rates and it’s really easy to use, both on PC/Mac or smartphone.

2. Yahoo! Voice

Yahoo! is better known for its Y!M (Yahoo! Messenger) and its really cool mail service. You have seen how good the voice calls on the Y!M are, so it’s not hard to imagine the premium service is even better.

3. Google Voice

Google is the giant when it comes to internet, and lately we have seen Google reach out to TV, mail services, smartphones, and just about every thing working on electricity (inside joke here). The Voice service from Google, available on smartphones is really good, better even than normal calls.

4. wengoPhone

This European service is available for Windows, Mac and Linux users, or via the Firefox add-on and it allows users to call with the unbelievable low cost of 0.006€/min.

5. pfingo

Uniting all the devices into one name: pfingo. This app works on any platform and it lets you call for free other pfingo users world wide, and also, if you like to call to other services, you do that at $0.04/min.

Top 4 VoIP Apps for iPhone/Android

The VoIP service, in my opinion, is best used on smartphones. To avoid carrier fees, it’s a good idea to look for apps that allow you to use Wi-Fi or the network itself to call, but with VoIP costs. This will significantly reduce your bill, and you can enjoy unlimited voice (and sometimes video) calls.

1. ChatTime

This free app allows iOS users to call internationally at VoIP prices, it’s really easy to use and its calls have the quality of carrier calls. You will never know the difference! So if you are looking for an app that allows you to call your mates in China, look no further!

2. Fring

This app for iOS devices and Android handsets lets you call via Wi-Fi or 3G to international numbers at really low costs. It’s nice to see mobile developers bringing apps for both OS, I still find it hard to understand why some choose only iOS or only Android.

3. iCall

A really nice app for iOS users that allows you to use 3G or Wi-Fi networks to make calls anywhere in the US, although, for international calls, you will need to pay a little, but still, way more cheaper than carrier fees.

4. Viber

Viber is an awesome app that allows Android and iPhone users to make calls over Wi-Fi or send text messages completely free of charge. The app is free on Android Market and iTunes, so go and download it and start talking!

So here they are: The best VoIP services, both hardware and software (including mobile apps). This technology has recently picked up, due to higher bandwidths and better internet connections, and in the near future I expect it to become a real threat to the old outdated PSTN networks.