A great software company

Visual IT produces software for PDA devices and smartphones. I've used their street maps and London Underground journey planners on a number of devices over the years. I recently downloaded Tube 2 for my Nokia E65 and discovered that the journey detail text was difficult to read because of the way it was formatted. I highlighted the issue to Visual IT's support team and within five days they'd updated the software and fixed the problem. A pity that not all software companies are as responsive! Tube 2 is well worth downloading and only costs £5.86 for the Java version. Prices for other platforms will vary.

Google Checkout in the UK

Google Checkout has just launched in the UK with a great launch promotion. Get £10 off every order for £30 and over at participating merchants.

If you're looking for PC stuff Ebuyer is worth a visit.

Organic gems

Something a bit different, but if you're interested in beautiful gems, have a look at Maggie Campbell-Pedersen's website. Maggie is an expert in the field of organic gems and now writes an online periodical on the subject.

Property prices in your area

Find out the prices of property in your area with OurProperty.co.uk. This is a sister website to PetrolPrices.com (see below). If you register you can receive price alerts when houses are sold in your area.

Cheapest petrol in your area

Put your postcode into PetrolPrices.com and find out where to buy the cheapest petrol in your area. If you register you can receive a daily email listing petrol prices at local filling stations.

Make international calls out of inclusive mobile minutes

Rebtel allows you to use your inclusive mobile minutes to make international calls (or make international calls at local rates) by providing you with a local number for each of your overseas contacts. Find out how by watching the two minute movie 'your mobile operator doesn't want you to see'! Rebtel uses the power of voice over the Internet (VoIP) to circumvent the mobile operators' international call charges. It's a great product that really works!

You can use Rebtel from your landline as well.

The Rebtel blog is also worth following.

Upgrading the memory on your PC

Upgrading the memory (RAM) on your PC is usually rated the single most effective way of improving your PC's performance. However it's a challenge knowing what memory to buy and going to the PC manufacturer's website isn't necessarily the easiest or most cost effective way to find it. Crucial.com provides a simple tool to identify what memory your PC already has and what the options are to upgrade. Having identified what you need, you can see the cost and then place an order if you want to proceed. I've used Crucial several times with excellent results.

Protect your software for nothing

Good article from Martin Lewis on the importance of protecting your PC from the nasties 'out there'.

Also take a look at Martin's website Moneysavingexpert.

Wireless security

A timely reminder from The Times about the importance of securing your wireless network.

New from Google

Google TiSP is a new free in-home wireless home broadband service from Google. 1st April - a good day to launch the service ... The get started page is particularly fascinating!

Truphone

I've just installed Truphone on my Nokia E65. What a brilliant VoIP application - free calls using my home WiFi router from my mobile phone. It seamlessly integrates with the E65 software so when making a call, the handset will automatically attempt to complete the call via WiFi and if there's no WiFi available it will use the cellular network.

Truphone gives you another mobile number which will deliver calls to your handset via WiFi when in coverage or via forwarding to your regular mobile number when Truphone isn't available (outside WiFi coverage). Calls to other Truphone users are free and until the end of June calls to 40 countries worldwide are also free.

Next step - I'm looking forward to trying Truphone in a The Cloud wireless hotspot.

The Truphone blog is worth a read.