Including Everything Blog

Archive for the ‘General Posts’ Category

Newegg, Inc. has a new (new to me, anyways) area called Newegg Mall that sells things non-tech.  It’s almost Amazon or Buy.com like.  I purchased a Bulova watch from Newegg Mall out of curiosity the other day and it was received very quickly.  I paid for rush shipping, but Newegg still processed the order same day, even though I had an issue with my shipping address not being on file correctly with American Express.  I resolved the issue with American Express in the morning Tuesday, and Newegg still processed the order on Tuesday with time to have the order ship for receipt on Thursday.  Not bad!

I noticed through correspondence that it was Newegg that placed the order, but the fullfillment was actually through World of  Watches.  It’s interesting to see how they’re leveraging third parties to handle the completion of the orders and expanding their inventory in the process.  Amazon pioneered this model years ago and it seems other companies are following this business model today.  If it works, why deviate, right?

The pricing was the bottom line.  I received a $595 watch for $100.  When taken to the local Fred Meyer jewler to have it sized, I was told that no jewler in the area could possibly have done better in their pricing and that the watch I received was “among the best”.

What’s even more impressive is that Newegg’s re-sold rate for the watch that Word of Watches was fullfilling from its inventory was better than the pricing on World of Watches’ own website.  You can’t beat that!

I would rate their service level at Newegg Mall a 9/10 simple because of their call center having to dispatch my request or call to a customer service rep when I call in, then the rep calls me back.  They’re quick to call back, but it would be less irritating and tedious if I were able to reach a customer service representative at the time of calling in the first time.

Check out Newegg Mall today.  They rival companies like Overstock.com, Buy.com and Amazon.com and were polite when contacted for customer service.

After much talk, Apple is finally considering the tethering option with AT&T to allow connection to the internet on computers using the iPhone as its source of Internet connection.  An interview at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco confirms that this is on the horizon, as AT&T Wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega said Apple and the wireless carrier are working on an official tethering application that will be coming “soon.”  No official timeframe for this has been given.

I’ve witnessed the speed of the internet on a laptop using a jailbroken iPhone lately, and I must say…it’s fast.  The iPhone 3G is connected to one of the quickest carrier networks out there (second only to Sprint’s WiMax I believe), and I’ve seen DSL rivaling speeds.

It’s been said that the carrier will also be likely to charge additional fees for the service or to use the application to cover costs.  I’m sensing this idea of “double dipping” starting to pop up again.  I posted about this a week ago with Verizon trying to do this with SMS messaging not originating from mobile devices.

Read:  Verizon to stunt mobile growth for a few bucks?

I mean, they’re already billing you for so-called “unlimited” data.  This has been discussed for many months in relation to various carriers (not just AT&T) and is starting to irritate the hell out of consumers.  You have a sales guy in the retail store telling you it’s “unlimited data” and signage all over the store also stating the term “unlimited”, yet we have the carrier’s terms and conditions for service stating something like this…

If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly megabyte allowance and additional data usage rates, the parties agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month.  Prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your service.

Increasingly, Internet providers across the country are placing such limits on the amount of data users can upload and download each month, as a way to curb a small number of “bandwidth hogs” who use a lot of the network capacity. For instance, 5 percent of AT&T’s subscribers take up 50 percent of the capacity, spokesman Michael Coe said Tuesday.

To that I say:  ”Why did you say it was unlimited, then?”.  This screams false advertising, doesn’t it?  Let’s just call it what it is.  I sense a class action lawsuit coming of many.

I’ve long used applications for cheap communication on both the PC and Mac.  Tools like Skype, Yahoo! Instant Messenger and Google Talk.  I’ve even used Skype’s outbound calling plans where you pre-pay for credits or minutes and work from a balance of calling credits.

Gizmo5 (owned by SIPphone in San Diego, CA) does all of this and so much more.  Not only can you make free internet calls from your home pc or mobile phone, but it integrates ALL of your instant messaging programs into one while letting you do it, supporting Gizmo5, MSN, AIM, Yahoo! and Jabber…for free.  Other supported features include video calls, file sharing and two-way text messaging, allowing you to send SMS messages directly from your Gizmo5 account.

    

As an iPhone 3G user, I get pretty decent cellular coverage in the Portland, OR metropolitan area, but it’s not always reasonable to use the ATT network for my calls…especially long ones (both inside the US and outside the US).  Gizmo5 answers this need perfectly.

I opt to use Fring as my iPhone VoIP software on the iPhone when connected to a WiFi network.  Fring allows me to leverage multiple platforms beyond what even Gizmo5 lets me have access to in terms of on-the-go voice.  So if I wanted to, I could make calls over Wifi with the iPhone to Gizmo5 users (similar to the other companies), or I can tap “SIP” after dialing a number to reach an outside line.  Call quality is crystal clear and I haven’t had a dropped call once.

Did I mention how much I’m saving at home talking on Gizmo5 SIP over the ATT minutes in my plan?  I’m seriously considering dropping the level of plan that I have just because of this.

It’s rare to see a company that’s encompassed so many needs in one single application.  Big thanks to SIPphone for giving us one application for an incredibly low overhead to accomplish mobile business in today’s mobile world.