Consumer Reviews

Microsoft Office Roundtable will help companies communicate among its employees, vendors and Clients more efficiently. Microsoft Office RoundTable is a five camera telecommunication device that brings teleconferencing to an all new level!

The MS Office RoundTable has 5 built in cameras which create a panoramic view of the conference table. This takes the cool factor to the top of the bar. Another real cool feature is the 6 microphones that can tell which direction the sound is coming from.

This device is designed to work With MS Office Office Live Meeting 2007 or with Office Communication Server 2007. I suspect most people will choose MS Office Live Meeting, but it’s nice to have a choice.

The RoundTable has two views. One is a panoramic view of the confernece area and then there is a “speaker” view which centers up the speaker in the camera shot. Again, too cool!

The base of the MS Office RoundTable houses the controls of this mother ship. It’s uses a LCD screen as a dial pad to set up several different configurations. There are also by golly real push buttons to increase or decrease speaker volume. These buttons also are used for: a mute audio or halt a video button, Flash button, on/off hook, and an info button.

This unit comes with both a RJ11 and RJ45 networking jacks.

Don’t rush out to by the Microsoft Office RoundTable just yet, the best guess of when it will be available to the public is sometime next year. So stay tuned and I’ll let you know when it comes to a store nearest you.

Can you feel the suspense building about the iPhone? Sources say that the demand for an iPhone will be overwhelming and many consumers will be disappointed when they don’t find an iPhone at the end of the day.

Here are a few tips on where to find an iPhone when the hit the stores June 29th.

• The Apple Store - Go to the Apple store and sign up for updates. The phone will go on sale online at the Apple store at 6 p.m.
• AT&T eCommerce Internet Site - Forget about it. AT&T said they will not have the iPhone’s available initially at the online store.
• Your Local AT&T Store - All we know is that this is likely your best bet at scoring an iPhone when they come out. Even Steve Jobs said that this was the best chance at you scoring an iPhone. You may want to call them in advance to see how many they will be getting and then take your chances at the store that says they’re getting the most. Most are “first come, first served” but some may have waiting list. It pays to ask.
• Camp out at your local Apple Store or AT&T Store - These local stores are stating that they will be keeping normal business hours but iPhone Parties are bound to happen. Just make sure you’re one of the first to arrive because no one is telling how many iPhones the local stores will receive.
• If you don’t succeed at first, wait until the hype dies down. If it dies down! You’re also likely to find more bargains that way.

Chances are slim to none that if you wait to get in line that you’re not going to be a happy owner of an iPhone June 30th. Expect long lines, go prepaired! (food, water, etc)

The launch of the Apple iPhone is expected to be one of the biggest tech launches in years. Trust us when we say there will be waiting lines for the hottest tech gadget in a long time, the Apple iPhone! And remmber, we told you where to find an Applie iPhone!

Joost is coming. Actually, Joost is already here in beta form. What is Joost you ask? Joost is a service that is brought to you by the same people who invented Skype. Joost will allow you to watch your favorite TV shows from you computer plus be interactive with the internet, such as Chat, Forums, IM’s,etc.

Here’s a discription of their service from the Joost website:

What’s Joost? It’s free TV, with the choice to watch alone or with friends. Joost is packed with internet tools such as instant messaging and channel chat, allowing people to really share the TV experience. It’s a completely secure platform for content owners that respects their rights, while protecting and enhancing their brands. And it’s an incredibly flexible way for advertisers to reach a truly global audience, in ways that really work. Joost isn’t just video on the internet - it’s the next generation of television for viewers, content owners and advertisers everywhere.

There is one catch to getting Joost at this time. It’s still in Beta so the only way you can get the program, is to get an invite. Don’t worry, Your Boy here scored a link for you to get a Joost invite!

I downloaded the Beta version to try out and this service Rocks!

I can get whole Cable channels like Fight Network, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit on Demand, Comedy Central, MTV, National Geographic and more. All on demand, all the time.  Take a look at their Channel offerings here.

One thing you can’t get with Joost at this time is TV shows from the major networks, but the folks at Joost are working on that. Another thing you won’t be getting is current TV shows. Think of Joost as your TiVo. The shows availabe are previously ran episodes.

The best part of Joost? It’s FREE! And it works great on my computer. I can’t wait until they go all out. Take a look for yourself. If you’re a big TV fan (or even a small fan ) you should check out this service.

I found the installation very simple. Just download and follow the instructions and before long, you’ll be watching all your favorite TV shows on your computer with all the interactivity of the Internet. Now I have no reason to leave my desk…except for food and water..lol

Well, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I was going to have to upgrade some hardware on my aging Sony PC. So the first thing anyone should do when upgrading, is upgrade the memory first. So I went down to Fry’s Electronics and bought a pair of 512 mb, pc2100 Patriot Memory modules.

A Word About Fry’s Electronics

I have to say that my trip to Fry’s was the first trip there in person. I normally order my components or buy them at a closer store like Best Buy, Circuit City or CompUSA. However I knew Fry’s carried memory, something the people answering the phones at the other mentioned places weren’t quite sure whether or not they did.

Back in the mid to late 90’s, people online hated Fry’s. I’m not real sure why. Back then I lived “out in the sticks” and there wasn’t a Fry’s for 300 miles so I didn’t worry about them.

So you can imagine my surprise to walk in and see that the place was spic and span and the people very helpful and friendly. They also knew what they were selling!

Back to the Patriot Memory Review

So I got back home and snapped both modules in place. The installation was effortless. After getting everything back together and plugged back in the kazillion cords in the back, I was ready to try these two new memory modules out!

You know, until you add memory, you’ll never realize how peppy your programs are! I went through my desktop opening programs at random to see the difference. I left many of them open while opening others. I wanted to put this new memory through it’s paces. It came through with shining colors!

I can’t say enough about Patriot Memory and Fry’s Electronics! Give them a little shopping love soon!