Posted Jan. 3, 2008
Here’s yet another suggested New Year’s resolution: Stop gratuitously wasting money on long-distance phone bills. The new IPEVO SOLO desktop phone makes it easier than ever to use Skype, the voice-over-Internet phone service that lets you make free calls to other Skype members and ridiculously cheap calls to non-Skypers around the world. Skype, as you probably know, has tens of millions of users and the backing of its tech-conglomerate owner, eBay. But despite the promise of slashed phone bills, there’s still plenty of resistance to Skype because it generally requires you to use a special headset or USB phone tethered to your computer. The SOLO, though, connects directly to your broadband. You’ll still need a computer at first to set up a Skype account (at skype.com), but after that the SOLO lives up to its name; you can make and receive calls entirely computer-free. Voice quality on this baby is great, and I really like that you can adjust the angle on its bright 2.4-inch LCD display.
$169.99 at Store.ipevo.com.