Are you a Skype user? If you are, listen up! This free VoIP service will be heading to mobile phones in March! The Skype and Verizon partnership will make that possible. Nine of the Verizon Wireless’ 3G smartphones will be installed with this service. These smartphones are Blackberry Storm, Storm 2, Curve 8330, Curve 8530, Tour 9630, and 8830 World Edition; Motorola Droid and Devour as well as HTC Driod Eris. Those who own any of these handsets will be able to enjoy unlimited free calls to other Skype users.

Another well-known personality has joined the Twitter sphere! It’s Bill Gates! I really thought he’s been a part of this micro-blogging site for a long time now. I was wrong. He joined Twitter just yesterday, and his first tweet? Two precious but well-worn words, “Hello World”; but this was followed by “Hard at work on my foundation letter - publishing on 1/25.”

Bill Gates was immediately welcomed into the site by some of the most followed celebrities, Ashton Kutcher as well as Ryan Seacrest. In his reply to their welcoming message, Bill Gates acknowledges that he still has a lot to learn about Twitter.

Downloading online content to any device won’t be a problem anymore with the launch of DivX TV. This service is an all-inclusive embedded Internet TV platform wherein subscribers can gain access to diverse media content. This new service is surely a cause of rejoicing for many people because they won’t need a separate device or computer in order to download content from DivX TV. They can do so on any connected device from any maker.

Amazon has released a new update that will make Kindle fans really glad! I think this is one thing that a lot of them have been waiting for. Actually, there are two updates from Amazon. One is the PDF support. Amazon must have felt that its Kindle is getting left behind by competitors like the Reader and the Nook that are both capable of reading PDF formats.

So, with this upgrade everything will be easier for users because they no longer have to convert their PDF files in order to be readable in the Kindle. You can just imagine their inconvenience.

Today is the last day of the 2009 GITEX Technology Week. Have you witnessed any of the events that went on? If not, you still have a few hours! Don’t pass up this chance because next year all goodies that will be presented will already be different. But for this year, what were some of the new gadgets and technologies unveiled? Well, let’s take a look.

Panasonic unleashed its breakthrough 3D technology in the form of the Full HD 3D Plasma Home Theater System. It is composed of a Panasonic 103-inch Plasma HDTV and a Panasonic Blu-ray Disc player. Through this system you can view true-to-life Full HD 3D images. Wow, this opens up a new way to enjoy movies!

One of the most-awaited technology events is now in full swing! The 2009 GITEX Technology Week is an event that techies mustn’t miss. The event was proclaimed officially open on October 18 by His highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

2009 GITEX will run from October 18 until October 22. This year, over 3,000 companies from 65 countries are participating in the event. Well-established companies as well as new institutions are taking part this year. Thousands of innovative products and technologies are being unveiled at the said event being held at the International Convention and Exhibition Center in Dubai. Big companies are showing off their new IT platforms and other services that will be of great benefit to global companies. Apart from that, there are also hundreds of new gadgets, games, laptops...well, you name it and I’m sure GITEX 2009 has it!

There’s a new way of having solar energy at home without compromising aesthetics! SRS Energy of Philadelphia has come up with solar panels shaped like a roof tile. This innovative product is called Solé Power Tile. You’ll never think that this product is actually a solar device because of its excellent design and finish. The dark blue Solé tiles are made of polymer that is characteristically unbreakable, lightweight, and recyclable. These qualities are indeed important since the tiles will be exposed to harmful elements.
The solar technology is imbedded right inside each tile so each one can function on its own. If one malfunctions, the others won’t be affected.

Is recession to blame for the collapse of i-Mate? This UAE-based smartphone maker closed shop permanently yesterday. On Wednesday, employees were told to have compulsory two-month unpaid leave and only to find that the office was shut-down the next day. i-Mate’s retail partners were just notified that the company is no more and won’t be delivering goods anymore. The company’s shut-down comes as a complete surprise to everyone; although i-Mate’s silence over the past few weeks could have been an indication that people simply didn’t take notice of.

It’s official. Yahoo! has acquired Matkoob.com. For those who do not know what Maktoob is, well, it’s the largest online Arab community. The announcement was made on Tuesday during the press conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai by the Maktoob group and the Yahoo! Emerging Markets team. The financial part of the deal was not disclosed. It was made clear that only the Maktoob.com portal including the Maktoob Research, Bentelhalal, and many others. Some of the other companies like Soug.com, CashU, Tahadi, Araby and the new E-marketing MENA are not included in the deal and will take on a new name Jabbar Internet Group (JIG).

Instead of using barcodes, how would you feel about using Bokodes instead? We may have to open our minds to this particular change because it may just happen very soon. Bokeh-code or Bokode for short is a barcode design which is has lenses over the pattern. This new development is going to be presented by its developer, MIT, next week at the Siggraph conference in New Orleans. One of its developers, Dr. Ankit Mohan, is very enthusiastic about the Bokode because of its potential to open up a new way of tagging.

Got Adobe in your PC? Here’s a warning for you and me. There seems to be a bug going around that rides on the Adobe Flash Player 9, Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.1.2 . The bug gets into the PC when a new feature, interactive Flash (SWF), is added into PDF files. Some experts tested it and found out that when the SWF files were present in the aforementioned programs, they come up with a suspicious code which then makes the infected PC vulnerable to attacks coming from a remote PC. And take note, this bug is not a joke because one it infects your PC, it can result to the PC locking up and who knows what else! Even the idea that dangerous people can gain access to your PC is very scary indeed!

Very soon the HDMI cables you use will have an even better use. Its usefulness won’t only be confined to connecting your Plasma or LCD to DVD players, cable boxes, receivers or your PS3. In the coming days we can look forward to these High-Definition Multimedia Interface cables having the capability to connect to the Internet. Great news isn’t it? Yes, through HDMI you can simply connect your TV directly to the Internet, that’s according to HDMI Licensing. This exciting and very useful feature will be integrated specifically in the HDMI 1.4.

Pretty soon, we will have a new breed of DVDs in the market. This upcoming DVD disc is unlike what we have today because it can store up to 2,000 movies. Yup, that’s just in a single disc! What’s more amazing about it is this, it is still just the same size as the conventional disc.

This is made possible because it uses nano-technology that allows the development of “five dimensional” discs with bigger capacities. The scientists from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia discovered that this nano-structured material can be integrated in the disc without needing to increase the disc’s size.

It’s not only we, humans that suffer from the economic crisis. Your cute and adorable Pleo robotic dinosaur is the latest victim of recession. This could be the second time that dinosaurs will go extinct, maybe forever! Pleo’s maker Ugobe is so deep in debt that there’s very little chance that production of these delightful creatures will go on as before. However, Ugobe is still doing what it can to preserve Pleo. In fact, it’s trying to auction the right to Pleo; but it’s not really a guarantee.