Global-Shopper.net

The guys at Labrats have a video up on how to increase the quality of your Skype calls. For both the video-phobic and the work-bound, here’s a summary of what they talk about:

1. Set your router to give your Skype PC a static IP address.
2. Open a Skypish port to that static IP.
3. Give this port number to skype.

4. Set priority to that port over other ports/PCs. Only applicable if you have a router that supports this.

All straightforward stuff that may help you if you’re having some quality problems with your Skype calls.

Watch Video [Labrats via Digg]

Instructions [Labrats]

There has been quite some drama going on over at Cingular’s website today. The BlackBerry Pearl was available for pre-order. Then magically it was actually available. Now it seems to have vanished completely as mysteriously as it once came.

Before all of the smoke and mirrors the Pearl was priced at $579.99, however with a contract and some soul signing you could lower it all the way down to $229.99. – Ben Longo

More Cingular Pearl peek-a-boo-boo

After the Treo 680 unceremoniously made its appearance (finally) November 24 for $199, you’d expect the Treo 750 to come soon as well. Not quite, as Palm CEO Ed Colligan pointed out yesterday.

Even though Cingular’s eventually going to get the Treo 750, which has been out in Europe for a while, stability problems have pushed the release back into the 3rd quarter of fiscal year ‘07. This means sometime between March 1 to May 30, for those not familiar with the fiscal calendar (Palm’s is off by a month). – Jason Chen

Update: Palm’s Q3 is December ‘06 to Feb ‘07, which means it’s probably coming sooner than we think.

Treo 750 delayed [Clieuk via Crunchgear]

With all the weird digital clocks we feature, we thought it’d be a nice change of pace to show you an analog one for giggles. The Flipperoo clock has hand-drawn words and numbers that flips as the days pass, letting you know that you’re one day closer to your eternal slumber.

The manufacturer’s only making 200 pieces in this batch, and they’re going for $60 each. However, we have no doubt that they’ll make lots more once they sell out thanks to all the Gizmodo readers snatching them up. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Gama-Go]

Boston and Portland, Oregon has lucked out and became the first cities offering Comcast’s mobile phone service. Comcast will be offering a “triple play” (or three-way, as I like to call it because you are getting boned multiple times) package that will include cable TV, Internet and mobile phone service. The mobile service will tack on an extra $33 per month for 200 minutes of service and include the usual voicemail, and other services.

Other cable companies such as Time Warner and Cox will also be jumping on the mobile phone bandwagon with service available in 2007. – Travis Hudson

Comcast starts offering wireless phone service [Reuters]

•Samsung SCH-B630 Cellphone: DMB-TV, TV-Out and Plenty Thin
•Helios H4000 Upconverting DivX/DVD Player Reviewed (Verdict: Pirate-tastic)
•First Look: MyTVPal Player Streams HDTV over IP, Shows Potential
•Samsung to Ship 70-Inch 1080p LCD Early Next Year
•Xerox Reinvents Paper, Trees Rejoice

Comment of the Day: Magic Volcanic Face Spray Blocks Cell Phone Radiation

“Eww…like i would want millions of undersea germs running around on my face. Let me deal wiht my acne first, then let me put more bacteriums on it…”–bmg50barrett

•US unleashes bomb-sniffing bees [The Register]
•Intel spends a billion to invest in WiMAX [The Inquirer]
•Verizon Wireless, YouTube ink video content agreement [Ars Technica]
•Palm Revenues Affected by Treo 750 Delay [PC World]
•TiVo selling ad space at end of recordings [Ars Technica]

How big is too big? No such thing when you’re talking about computer monitors. Siemens lashed together eight LCDs, making this gigantic display about which precious little information is available. All we know is, we want one. – Charlie White

Product Page [Siemens, via BornRich]

Here’s Jason’s take on it. Because Jason was too stupid to realize Charlie already covered this, and wrote it up anyway.

Used only for monitoring nuclear power plants and a prop for my weekend “Learn to Point” learning annex class, this Seimens LCD is the craziest monitor this side of Leibermann’s photoshop files.

Actually made out of eight separate, Voltron-esque LCDs, this monitor is undoubtedly out of everyone save for the richest Bond villains. But just imagine playing Gears of War on this baby. Duck and roll baby. Duck and roll! – Jason Chen

Opera, the web browser for people who think Firefox is just way too mainstream, has just released version 3.0 of their Mini mobile browser. Bringing RSS feeds, photo sharing, and secure surfing to any Java MIDP-capable phone, it’s one of the better ways to surf from your mobile. It’s different than Opera Mobile, which is Opera’s browser for smartphones and more beefy devices, so if you’ve got one of those you might want to look into that as well.

Easy enough to load up, just go to the Opera Mini website and put in your number to have a download link texted right to you. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [via A Swedish wolf in Norway]

Looks like Wal-Mart is looking for a slice of the movie download business. Starting next week it’s launching its own movie store. The way it works is you buy a DVD at the store and then log onto the Wal-Mart website to get your download (each DVD will have a sticker with a URL and promo code that you punch in to get the process going). Then for $1.97 you can download a version of the movie that’ll play on a portable media player or for $2.97 you can download a version for your PC/laptop. Cough up $3.97 and you have the right to play it on either of the two.

According to Wal-Mart, this gives buyers the freedom to choose what they want. Personally, I prefer to rip copies of any movie that I own and play them where I want, but that’s just me. The service is kicking off with the Superman Returns DVD. Wal-Mart is also working on a more traditional download service, but those details are still under wraps. – Louis Ramirez

Wal-Mart Launches Digital Movie Downloads [via CNNMoney]

The Chinese manufacturer of this skull-shaped webcam must’ve gotten its dates mixed up, this being more of a Halloween item than anything else, but what better way to conjure up a menacing mood for a dreaded WebCam meeting than using this SkullCam?

Look to its glowing eye for inspiration, and humble yourself in the fact that underneath that skin of yours lies a skull somewhat like this one.

What the heck is the point of this, anyway? Next, this manufacturer will release a smiley-faced webcam, just remind you to keep that twinkle in your eye and smile in your voice. Just what we need. – Charlie White

Warped Webcam [TRFJ]

Although we pay as much credence to Apple rumors as K-Fed does to the little voice in his head that says “don’t do that, you’re an idiot”, DigiTimes usually knows what they’re talking about. The Taiwanese website with contacts deep in the Taiwan manufacturing industry says ViewSonic and Apple are both gearing up to launch 17-inch widescreen LCDs in the 1st quarter of 2007.

Even though Apple got out of the 17-inch monitor business a while back, preferring to overcharge people for the 20-, 23-, and 30-inch models, a reentry into the thrifty-end may not be out of the question. – Jason Chen

Apple and ViewSonic to unveil 17-inch widescreen LCD monitors soon [DigiTimes]

If your meat could talk, it would probably scream in a high pitched voice about the cruelty of slaughterhouses, the pain of being cooked on the grill, and the indignity of being eaten by a chubby guy in an A1-stained “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt. Which is why there’s no technology out there to give a voice to the silent meat population, natch.

What there is technology for is a thermometer that talks to tell you when your meat is done being cooked. The Oregon Scientific Talking Wireless BBQ/Oven Thermometer proves that the pleasant sounds of “Your rare steak is done” are much nicer than the disembodied screams of a slaughtered bovine. What’s even nicer is that you can have it tell you that your food is ready in Spanish, German, French, or even Danish if you so desire. Jeres kød er beredvillig! –Adam Frucci

Not as ghetto as the big Wooden Scony cellphones found in Mozambique, these HULGER phones are actually made of wood as a luxury thing. Constructed out of African Ziricote hardwood, which is usually used for decorative objects, the phone has its own wooden box and comes with a case of wax so you can wax your phone. That’s not a euphemism folks.

Fortunately, this is only one of a kind and available for £2000 ($3885) from the Digital Wellbeing Showroom or direct from HULGER. – Jason Chen

Product Site [Hulger]

ZIRICOTE WOODEN PHONE [Hulger]

Here’s a accessory that could prove to be a fine enhancement to the upcoming holiday festivities: LiteCubes that light up your drink like a Christmas tree and have a gel center that you can freeze, cooling off that drink in cool style. They’re available in a variety of colors, each with an LED and battery embedded inside. Some of the LiteCubes, such as the green, blue, white and pink ones, required two batteries inside, rather than the single battery of the red, orange or gold ones.

These aren’t exactly new, but this is a good time to remind you of their existence—we especially like the Rainbow LiteCubes that can be set to different colors, glowing constantly or going into a discotastic color-changing mode. They’re $2.54 each, or $119.52 for a package of 48. – Charlie White

Product Page [Cube Lady, via Shiny Shiny]