On the 6th of November there was an announcement that Ebay settled its lawsuit with Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Today the Washington Post announced that Google bought Gizmo5 an alternative VOIP client. This move will integrate Google Talk with Google Voice into one service that can be used on any data plan from cell carriers. The battle between phone and text services offered by carriers has heated up because services like Google Voice and Skype have already pushed their way onto cell phones and will only get better now that Google bought Gizmo5 and Skype is clear of legal troubles.

New York Times technology writer David Pogue made a great point when he wrote an article called "The Irksome Cellphone Industry" and launched an accompanying video called "The I-Hate-My-Cellphone Film Festival."

Pogue makes a few great points:

1) Text message fees are exorbitant.

2) Carrier double bill people because they charge both you and the person you are communicating with. In Europe only the person who initiates contact is charged.

3) Pricing is tied to handset subsidies regardless of whether you bought it from your carrier.

4) Cell service is not that great.

Pogue illustrated #1 by refering to "The True Price of SMS Messages," a blog post about the cost of data transferred by cell carriers like AT&T and Verizon compared to data transferred by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like AT&T and Verizon.

Now it looks like on carrier paid attention and T-Mobile revealed a new pricing program called the "Even More Plans" that addresses some of the issues.

1) Contracts are optional.

2) Phone and data service is less connected to the price of a handset.

3) You can choose whether to pay for the handset upfront or you can work out a payment plan with T-Mobile.

This is how to do it. Click here and watch one of the creepiest videos you've ever seen and when you see a black penguin looking thing (around minute 9) and hear some screaming click on it. This will launch a small box where you can put your name and email address. In the contest rules that I have attached to this post you will see that the contest ends on the 13th of November and the winners will be notified on the 20th of November 2009.

After much hype about the Nokia N900, people on maemo.org are speculating that the smartphone will be released at some time during the middle or end of November, even though Nokia USA is saying the end of October. This is highly disappointing because some people pre-ordered the N900 as early as the 29th of August (in some countries). The release date has been pushed around so much that people don't know what to think anymore.

I am someone who was very excited about the device, but the long wait has been quite frustrating and I am beginning to think that the hype about the N900 was completely empty. If you are someone who has pre-ordered the N900 I would suggest that you file a complaint with Nokia because I do not think they get the point (email or call Nokia USA). At least they should be honest and let people know the status of the device. Apple uses the completely opposite marketing tactic because once they announce a product you can buy it almost immediately and all the rumers get put to rest.

I just read an article in the NY Times (here) about how Nokia is trying to regain its market share in the US, but corporate behavior such as with the release of the N900 just make people frustrated and disenchanted with the company.

General walkthrough the Nokia N900 Internet Tablet

Phone functionality of Nokia N900

Web browser on the Nokia N900

Contacts, calendar, and tasks on the Nokia N900

Camera app and media player on the Nokia N900

Link to Nokia Experts

You won't believe this that N900 works with bit torrent. Thanks to UnwiredView.

Check it out. The N900 works really well on T-Mobile's 3G network.

One of the best smartphones todate is coming withing the next few weeks. I am very excited about it and cannot stop watching product videos. Here are a few links to check out:

Did Your N900 Ship Today?

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=32158