Category: Reviews


Xlink Bluetooth Gateway

Your home and cellular communications hub
$75 – $120 per unit; Buy on AMAZON

 

The Xlink Bluetooth Gateway is a device that merges your home or office phone with your mobile phone.  Using bluetooth technology, the device connects with up to three mobile phones and allows you to use them to receive and place calls from your home or office phone. No more having to hold your mobile phone to your ear for long periods of time.  With the Xlink you can now use the comfortable telephone handset from your home or office line, or better yet, you can use a headset.

 

I have been using an Xlink for over two years now in my office with a Blackberry Bold and an iPhone 4S and it is very convenient.  When I enter my office, my mobile phone automatically connects to the Xlink using Bluetooth and all calls are then routed to my office phone which includes a very nice headset, speakerphone and a wireless handset .  It even forwards caller ID information as well to my office phone.  I simply pick up my office phone when I hear it ring.  When placing a call, I have the option to use my office line or my mobile phone.  And if this were in a home setting, up to three mobile phones can be connected so it can accommodate multiple members of a family or is great if you are required to carry more than one mobile phone.  This also allows your mobile phone to stay connected to a charger while in use.

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Spotify Review

Spotify Music Service

“A new way to listen to music”
Free; $4.99 or $9.99 per month

 

 

Spotify is a music service that breaks the constraints previously placed on us by services like iTunes and Pandora.  It allows a user to build a personal collection of music that can be stored on your computer for free or can be expanded to your mobile devices (for $9.99 per month) without having to pay for each individual song or album.  In this regard, it operates in a similar fashion to iTunes expect that you don’t pay per song or album.  Instead, you simply select a song and add it to a playlist or subscribe to one of the many playlists that have already been created and shared by other Spotify users.  For users that want to continually experience new music, Spotify has a radio function that allows you to build stations around the music you like, and similar to Pandora, you are the presented with new music for your review and listening pleasure.  A benefit over Pandora, you can always request a specific song or playlist to play immediately.

 

I personally have been a Spotify Premium subscriber since August 2011 and really enjoy it.  Spotify has replaced both iTunes and Pandora and is even starting to replace my XM Radio subscription in my car.  Having full and immediate access to a library of millions of songs and albums is simply more convenient than paying by the track or album…especially if you download a song that you end up not liking or requested by mistake.  Spotify recently added an “Apps” feature so that developers and music groups can continue adding and expanding an already great service.

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