When we buy our devices hot off the shelf, there are often a few bugs which were not discovered during the initial user testing phase. There are often some features that have not been fully implemented on our devices, probably because the manufacturer wanted to get the device on the market straight away, before it was really ready. As the weeks and months go on, the manufacturer releases firmware updates (software to run hardware) to fix these bugs and add some extra features.

Firmware upgrades are available for most types of hardware including Phones, Pocket PC’s, routers and motherboards just to name a few.

To see if your device can be upgraded, go to your manufacturer’s website and look at the support pages for your device. I have often found that some of the more annoying features of my devices were fixed after doing an upgrade. It is like you are giving your device a second life.

Take caution and do a little research before you do this as:

• Firmware upgrades can void your warranty.
• You will most likely lose all the data on your device (but if syncing with a PC this can easily be recovered).
• If you do it wrong, it is possible destroy your device.

Many manufacturers have made their firmware applications much more user friendly than they used to be because of these risks. They guide you through step by step and tell you whatNOT to do at each stage of the upgrade.

You may find that you can take your device to where you bought it from, or a service center to have your firmware upgraded. This is especially the case for Mobile Phones.

I don’t want to make the process sound too scary as this is a very good and worthwhile thing to do.

Already at Inspect my gadget, I have given you a How-to which shows you how to have your computer alert you of the incoming calls to your mobile/cell phone. Now it is time to do the same for your landline phone. Using old technology we can easily acheive this. You will never miss a call again unless you choose to.

There are many free tools which can assist you in achieving this. Attach your computer to a modem and you have a complete call management system. You are even able to use your computer as an answering machine, with advanced features such as replying with a pre recorded message depending on who the caller is.

This could work well in the workplace depending on your workplaces’ phone system. We always feel the need to answer a phone immediately, dropping everything we are doing, no matter the importance just to find out it is a telemarketer on the other end. Most other methods of communication don’t require this speedy response, such as email. To get out of the habit of dropping everything, this will give you the choice. You can always call the caller back, as once this is set up your computer will log all incoming phone numbers.

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Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) has been around for a few years now and is used in many call centres and homes as a secondary line. There is no denying that it is incredibly cheap, but is it as good as a Tel-co phone line direct to your house ?

I have had Engin VOIP as the main line in my house for a year now. I got married and moved out of home. The new house already had a cable internet connection so I decided to stick with it. Signing up to the Engin VOIP service meant I would not have to rent a phone line for phone or internet services. This seemed like the ideal solution, embracing new technology to save myself money.

This article will explain my experience with the Engin service in Australia and show you the positives and negatives of using VOIP services.

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Would you like to see who is calling your mobile on your PC? Are you in an environment where your phone has to be silent? Do you miss calls?

This walkthrough will show you how to connect your Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone to your Windows XP PC via Bluetooth. This is likely to work for most Bluetooth phones and all operating systems that support Bluetooth though the method will be slightly different on other platforms.

This method also works for Windows Vista. I have not had success in getting caller ID information, but a message does show up on the screen saying that there is an incoming call. Be careful not to attach Vistas voice gateway service as your calls will be answered automatically. To get this going in Vista, follow the steps below as the set up for Vista and XP are almost identical.

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Would you like to see who is calling your mobile on your PC? Are you in an environment where your phone has to be silent? Do you miss calls?

This walk through will show you how to connect your Symbian Smart-phone to your Windows XP PC via Bluetooth. This is likely to work for most Bluetooth phones and all operating systems that support Bluetooth though the method will be slightly different on other platforms.

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