National Newspaper Computer Columnist
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Craig Crossman National Newspaper Computer Columnist Click here to see the index of Craig's columns. |
FREE LONG DISTANCE CALLS VIA INTERNET UPDATEDI remember when "voice over IP" technology was introduced and all the fervor it caused. Basically, this technology allows anyone to make free long distance phone calls by using the Internet. Anyone who has downloaded or exchanged MP3 music files knows that you can send audio recordings online, video can be viewed, text can be read and photos displayed. So it was a simple leap to come up with a method to send and receive vocal transmissions. Many thought that phone companies would collapse or at least try and stop the technology. But anyone who has used voice over IP is all too familiar with its poor sound quality along with echoes and noticeable delays. And even though most of these voice over IP services are free aside from the normal Internet access service charges, most find the sound quality and delays so objectionable that they just wind up using the telephone. But it turns out the culprit most responsible for the bad quality really isn't the Internet as most of us have been lead to believe. It's the computer's sound card. The sound card is the device that creates everything you hear when you play computer music, wave files and it's great for when you're playing games like Quake. But sound cards were not designed to handle the rigorous demands placed upon it for real time vocal transmissions. Fortunately, Quicknet Technologies has developed a card specifically designed for voice over IP applications. The Internet PhoneJACK is an Internet phone card with hardware based echo cancellation, full duplex audio and hardware based compression which reduces delay and frees up your computer to perform other tasks. Its Plug and Play and zero IRQ operation make it easy to install since the PhoneJACK card does not replace your existing sound card. You'll still need that for your next game of Doom. After installing the card, you will notice an improvement in quality but the person who will really hear the difference is the one receiving your voice. According to Quicknet, that's because most of the sound, echo and delay problems are on the transmission side when a sound card inadequately tries to create and compress the sounds you are speaking. So the ideal scenario would be to make sure the people you most speak to have an Internet PhoneJACK card in their computer as well. The Internet PhoneJACK works with Windows95 or later. $159.95. www.quicknet.com (415) 864-JACK Eye had a vision
Give your computer the finger
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| Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com |
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