The iPhone has taken America by storm since its much-vaunted release. The rest of the world is slowly working on giving a crap, but to the States the iPhone represents the current holy grail of mobile phones. New handsets with high expectations are relentlessly branded ‘iPhone killers’, though has any phone even come close to knocking the iPhone from its pedestal in the minds of its users? Not even close.

However, during these times of economic uncertainty, a little bit of fiddling you can give your iTouch essentially the same features as the iPhone. Sure, you won’t have an inbuilt camera, but you can’t send MMS messages or record video anyway, so what are you really missing out on? The kink in the plan here is that you need to be in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot to use your iTouch-Phone, but with the ever-increasing number of public hotspots, it’s likely that if you live in an urban area you’re probably not too far away from one most of the time. The only money you’ll need to spend is on a microphone, since sadly the iPod Touch has no built-in mic.

The great news is that besides having to spend a bit of cash on your microphone solution, all the software used in this tutorial to give your snazzy iPod Touch the functionality of the iPhone is totally free. So what are you waiting for?

There’s no need to jailbreak your iTouch or modify it in any way – all you need is an iPod Touch on 2.x.x firmware, a pair of headphones with a microphone, a WiFi network, and access to Apple’s App Store so you can download and use Fring – a free app which supports several different chat protocols.

1. Choose your microphone

Philips iPhone Mic Adapter $9.99 from Target	Apple Earphones with Remote & Mic (MB770) $29.00 from Apple Store	Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote & Mic (MA850) $79.00 from Apple Store

I’d recommend the Philips mic adapter, mainly because it costs under $10 compared with Apple’s habitually expensive alternatives, but also because it allows you to use your own headphones. However, you’ll lose out on having the remote. If you prefer a hands-free approach, SwitchEasy’s ThumbTacks might be more your style. Thanks to Apple’s proprietary chip in the new iPod shuffle remote/mic combo earphones, pickings are a little slim at the time of writing.

For 1st generation iPod Touch users, you’ll have to come up with a solution that uses the iPod’s docking port, since the 1st gen doesn’t support line-in through the earphone connection. Sadly, the new fancy Apple earphones are not backwards compatible with the 1G iPod Touch. However, there are some alternative solutions which use the 30-pin dock connecter, such as the popular iVoice3.

Once you’ve sorted out your mic, you’re ready to start setting up your VoIP application.

The alternative to Fring is downloading the new Skype for iPhone/iPod Touch application, which was released last Tuesday. How do the two compare, though? Well, Skype is a very recent release and I’ve found that it tends to crash occasionally, though it’s still very much useable. Fring’s current release (v1.0.0.2.4) is very stable in comparison. Both allow you to import contacts from your iTouch’s contact list, and support both text and voice chat… but what really sets Fring apart is its ability to support not only the Skype VoIP protocol, but also 3rd party SIP accounts, MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and Google Talk. It even has plugins for Twitter and last.fm, which make it the winner in my book. However, you can add SkypeOut credit and dial any phone in the world from the Skype application, so if you’d rather stick with a brand you know already, go ahead and download Skype for free and have fun making calls on your iPod!

Personally, I have both, since I prefer the look and feel of the Skype application, but love having the extra functionality of Fring.

2. Install Fring

Step 1: Search for Fring in the App Store with your iPod, and download and install it for free.	Step 2: Once installed, fire up Fring and register a new user account (or sign in if you’re already a Fring member).
Step 3: Now simply pick a User ID, nickname, password and email address (only used to retrieve your password if you forget it).	Step 4: Next, link your Fring account to an active Skype account, and a SIP provider if you have one (I recommend voipstunt.com – it’s free!)
Step 5: Your contact list should now populate with your Skype contacts. Just click their names to call and chat.	Step 6: Click the Dialer and… hey presto! Dial the number you want (don’t forget the leading 00s) and hit the green “SIP” button to dial over your own VoIP provider, or “Skype Out” to use your outgoing Skype credit.

Congratulations! You can now make as well as Skype-to-Skype and Fring-to-Fring calls with other users, absolutely free. Add some SkypeOut credit and you can use that, but watch out – if you don’t make a call for 180 days, they’ll wipe off any credit on your account.

I’d recommend signing up with VoIPstunt for your free VoIP service – they offer 100% free calls to the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries in Europe, South America and Asia (see the full list here). All you need to do is top up your account with a little bit of credit every 120 days to keep it active. Best of all, Fring supports it out of the box – just enter your username and password and you’re away.

3. Get SMS working
Now that we’ve got the microphone and phone sorted, you’re only missing SMS. Well, you’ve got plenty of options here. For a long time there were apps available that granted jailbroken iPod Touch users completely free text messaging, but sadly a lot of these have been banned, obsoleted, or have not been updated in a long time.

Right now, your best options are:

1. http://sms.dynadel.com (Worldwide, free)
   Open this web page in Safari on your iPod (or even better, make a bookmark and put it on your home screen), choose your country/carrier and type in your friend’s number, type your message and press send. Done.
2. Using the AIM client (Worldwide, free)
   Download the AIM client for iPhone from the App Store on your iPod Touch. Once installed and signed in, you can text anybody by creating a new buddy contact, and set their AIM address as their complete mobile phone number, with country and area code, preceded by a plus (+), for example: +12065550559. It might be better to log on AIM using your computer so you can add friends’ cell numbers more easily. Now you can simply tap the buddy number on your iPod Touch, compose your message, and click Send. Any replies you receive will show up in your AIM client as part of the chat! This method may also work on Fring, as it supports AIM chat – but I didn’t get round to testing it yet.
3. http://www.txtdrop.com/iphone/ (US/Canada only, free)
   Open this address in Safari and send a free text to any US or Canada cellphone.
4. http://www.cbfsms.com (UK only, free)
   Another web-based one, open in Safari and send free UK text messages.
5. http://www.jellysms.com (Worldwide, paid)
   You can purchase the JellySMS app from the App Store for around $3.49 (there’s also an ad-assisted version for half the price). Then simply sign up with a one of the many free VoIP providers they give you, and you can send cheap text messages. OK, so it’s not free, but it seems to be more reliable than the free alternatives, it’s contained within its own app (which supports landscape texting!), and you can set your own caller ID so you can direct replies to the number of your choice.
6. Send SMS through email (US/Canada only, free)
   Quite a nice feature of North American providers is that you can actually send an email to a number via a provider, and it will convert it into a text and send it for you. Try using the iPod’s native Mail app and email your messages to the following addresses, replacing {phone#} with the recipient’s phone number. You will have to know which carrier they’re with, however:

If you’ve got any other working methods for sending and/or receiving SMS on the iPod Touch, let us know! Unfortunately you’ll always need a wi-fi network nearby to use your iPod-come-iPhone mobile phone, but hey! It’s easy to do and it’s a really neat feature.

Many thanks to everybody who helped me out with info for this tutorial! I got most of the info from the iPod Touch Fans forum and Macrumors – check them out if you need even more info on making the most out of your iPod Touch!

Smell my flash storage!

Maxell Europe have decided to improve on the standard features of USB storage and make their flash drives smell of nice things like chocolate and oranges, in fact the full list of ‘flavours’ are: Strawberry, Apple, Chocolate, Lemon and Orange. Gimmicks aside, the flash drives are splashproof and shockproof (but last time i looked so is any normal USB flash device).

I wonder if they’ll try a Walkers-esque marketing campaign of new flavours… fish ‘n’ chips scented flash drives anyone?

I couldn’t find an official site for the Maxell Aroma range of flash drives, but you can pick them up at Play.com – £12 for 8Gb.

Ooh shiny.

Whilst recently searching for new drivers for my Razer Copperhead mouse i stumbled across Razer’s new offering, the Razer “Mamba” which quite frankly looks awesome. The mouse is both wireless and wired, and as far as I know it’s the first wireless mouse Razer have produced. It also features 5600dpi tracking, which is a number so big it can’t be bad, but unfortunately the price is equally as big, at around £120 ($176).

Battery life is stated to be  14hrs of continuous gaming, and 72 hours of ‘normal gaming usage’… I don’t actually know what consitutes ‘normal gaming usage’, when I’m gaming normally it tends to be continuous anyway, for many sweaty hours.

Price point aside, worth checking out if you’re a gamer that fancies a bit of expensive but lag and wire free gaming.

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-mamba/

If you’re one of those people who’s guilty of a little too much internet shopping whilst at the office when you should be updating spreadsheets or you’re forever catching up with friends on Facebook when you should be compiling a report for the boss then I say, don’t stop, cover up! (Remember – I’m a full time Mum so I take no responsibility for any loss of employment caused by my blasé advice!) But, anyway, let me get to the point. I know I was often guilty of a tad too much surfing in company time ( net, not wind you understand!), so In think the USB Panic Button is an ingenious device!

Basically, if you’re looking at something you shouldn’t, then hit the Panic Button! This USB Panic Button links to your PC and will instantly cover up your screen with a boring looking document so if the boss or anyone else walks past your PC they’ll think you’re hard at it ( you may be – online shopping can be hard work!).

So don’t add to your guilt by frantically hammering your mouse to close incriminating windows before you’re spotted. Simply hit the Panic Button and smile sweetly. “Can’t stop to chat – far too much work to do!”.

When it comes to entertaining games, it seems it’s often the nosiest ones that hold the most appeal. Bop It drives me absolutely crazy. It’s one of those games that are addictive if you’re playing, but irritating as hell if you’re not. And can you believe – it’s now available in USB! Whether you’re spinning, twisting, flicking or bopping, Bop It is one gadget that will create a real stir! This colourful game shouts the instructions to you, so you know whether to pull or flick! The better you get, the quicker the tempo, the faster this crazy game goes and when you miss a beat, you’ll know about it! Can you keep up with the Bop-it beat?

This USB version of the game means you can now download even more maddening tunes and infuriating beats. You even have the option to record orders – imagine the possibilities – spin it you fool! One of the funniest things is watching how people get what can only be described as ‘a groove on’ when they have Bop It in their hands, passing it quickly back and forth before the next pull, flick or spin. It’s extremely addictive – once you start playing Bop It, you won’t be able to put it down, as you keep trying to beat your own high score, much to the irritation of those around you. Isn’t it funny how a simple gadget can turn grown adults into competitive fiends?

A friendly word of warning – for those participating in a game of Bop It, it’s great fun… but for those of you standing by, you might just lose your minds!

I’m not encouraging you to work too much overtime or to spend loads of time away from your partner or family, but if you often find yourself rushing from the office to an evening out, or more relevantly from a night out to the office the following morning then the retro style USB Shaver could prove invaluable!

The perfect stocking filler for the man who never leaves the office, this lightweight and compact shaver plugs easily into any computer or laptop USB port for a quick shave on the go! Pop it in your desk drawer and if you have an unexpected meeting or need to get rid of some unsightly stubble before going out after work, then you‘ll be prepared (like every good boy scout should be!). It’s also a great gift for men who have frequent business travel trips in their diary. For any man on the move with a laptop it saves the need for another adaptor or the inconvenience of trying to fit your shaver into an awkward plug socket in the hotel bathroom!

So now you can have a close shave at the office!

Anyone in the market for a new Flash Drive should take a look at these bargains. After all, January is a time for snapping up as many bargains as you can!

This cheery Santa sits happily next to your PC to add instant festive cheer to any office! He drums away merrily to get you in the Christmas spirit (admittedly it can get a little tiresome after the 12th rendition!)

I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea! As someone who gets through countless batteries and has put rechargeable into the charger overnight only to discover in the morning that it wasn’t switched on (yes, ok, I’m a fool!), the concept of recharging your batteries using USB gets nothing but the thumbs up from me!

Flat batteries are the bane of my life and my frustration mounts as I race around the house trying to find the battery recharger which I put away in a ‘safe place’ after I used it last! I’d like to shake the hand of the genius who dreamt up these ingenious eco-friendly AA batteries that are recharged via USB. Hey, I use my computer everyday, so it’s not normally a problem to find a spare USB port to step up for recharging duty. These amazing batteries flip open to reveal a USB connector which simply plugs into the USB port of your PC. No bulky chargers or cumbersome cables are necessary. You can recharge your batteries as you catch up on emails or finish that important report for work.

With Christmas fast approaching and the possibility of lots of new battery operated toys and gadgets, I think this USB battery charger is the ideal stocking filler.

It never ceases to amaze me the gadgets that get designed in USB versions,
but I have to say, I quite like this one. This cute USB Hampster links to
your keyboard and is powered when you type so the faster you type the
faster he flys around his wheel. Not only can you brighten things up in
the office, you also won’t have the fear of your little pet escaping and
being sucked up by the hoover!