Skype’s voice and video calling technology will be embedded in upcoming high-definition televisions with Internet capabilities.
Skype said Tuesday that its Internet phone service will be included in Panasonic’s 2010 VIERA CAST-enabled HD TVs and LG’s new LCD and plasma HD TVs with NetCast Entertainment Access. The televisions are expected to be available in the middle of the year.
LG and Panasonic will sell webcams that support the 720p high-definition format and are meant for making video calls with the televisions.
Wireless charging lineup broadens
Powermat USA helped consumers cut some power cords last year by selling mats that juiced up gadgets placed on top of them. They weren’t seamless solutions, though, because they required add-ons such as special cell phone cases.
Now, the company is trying to streamline wireless charging with a battery that replaces the one that comes in your cell phone. Called the Powerpack, it lets users charge phones by just plopping them down on one of the company’s mats.
Powermat was announcing the Powerpack on Tuesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, along with other wireless charging products it will release this year.
The batteries are expected to cost $40 and begin selling in May.
Oregon phone ban has loophole
Oregon police officers may hear some arguing when they start pulling motorists over for violating a new law banning them from talking on hand-held cell phones while driving.
The new law, which took effect Friday, exempts motorists who are on their hand-held cell phones “in the scope of the person’s employment if operation of the motor vehicle is necessary for the person’s job.” The exemption was intended for taxi drivers, delivery trucks, tow trucks and the like.
Law enforcement officials are getting ready for some motorists to try to drive through that legal loophole by insisting, for example, that a call to a co-worker who also happens to be a friend is really for business purposes.
With the new law, Oregon joins a half-dozen other states that ban drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones while driving. Police officers can pull someone over under the Oregon law and violators face a minimum fine of $142.
However, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that only Oregon has included such a broadly worded exemption. Other states that ban cell phones allow use by emergency responders or tow truck drivers, the industry group says.
“It doesn’t make sense to carve out this exemption if you want the law to have some bite,” spokesman Russ Rader said. “You just make it more likely that drivers will believe that even if they are stopped by a police officer they can get out of getting a ticket.”
Associated Press
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