Skype Offers $5.95 Plan for South American Calls

Many business and individuals are finding out about Skype, a leader in Internet communications, and utilizing their services to save on their monthly phone bills. In a press release today, the company announced unlimited service to a number of South American countries for a low $5.95 a month pricing. Countries include Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Puerto Rico and Argentina. The plan is being marketed to US residents with family members in these countries.

Activision Releases X-Men Origins

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an epic  action-adventure game, is being released in stores world wide this week with expectations high for the new release. The new game was developed by Raven Software in connection with Activision and Mavel. A number of voices from the film are utilized for the game including Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, and will.i.am.

This release is reported to be the most realistic Wolverine experience to date in a video game. The story line for the game reflects the theme of the comic books and the film but is entirely unique and compelling. The video is available for XBOX 360, Playstation 3 and Windows.

(C) 2009 ISMagazine.com

iSpeech.org Offers Speech Conversion of Popular Microsoft Formats

In conjunction with Box.net, a popular online storage application, iSpeech.org is now making the conversion from Microsoft Office formats to audio easy. In a press release today iSpeech.org announced that their text to speech technology is available to anyone utilizing the online services at Box.net.

Simply upload your important Microsoft Word, PDF, Powerpoint, Excel, and Web documents to Box.net and they instantly become available in a speech format. The audio files make learning and retrieving reference material much easier and less time consuming than previous methods employed by the 50,000 companies currently using Box.net for their content storage and collaboration, according to the company.

Take a look at Box.net or iSpeech.org for more details.

Sirius Radio is Taking on the NFL Draft

If you are looking for 16 hours of coverage from the floor of Radio City Music Hall on Saturday as the NFL holds their 2009 draft, Sirius Radio (official NFL sponsor) will be providing the coverage you need. Hosts include Gil Brandt, Pat Kirwan, Tim Ryan, and Adam Schein will cover the first two rounds in their entirety interacting with fans on Mad Dog Radio. But that isnt' all, Sirius will return on day two to cover the other rounds as your favorite teams select picks 3 through 7.

Additional Coverage

The coverage is looking to include not only the announced draft picks but also interviews with the draftees, the general managers making the selections, and the coaches of the teams drafting. Listen as the hosts give their unique perspective on each selection as they happen. Pre and Post Draft coverage will also be featured to give you the news before the draft happens and analyze the outcome afterward. Don't miss a draft pick this year, take Sirius XM Radio with you wherever you go this weekend.

Community TV Makes Television Broadcasting Easy

never.no has released a new web-based digital video product this week called Community TV. Community TV allows small organizations to produce television broadcast material easily and more affordably then before. Schools, churches and not-for-profits should be able to take advantage of the advanced features in Community TV to produce high quality video and better prices than previously available.

NAB 2009

Content needs to be produced and viewed by never.no’s TV software but their online solution allows for secure access for editing by offsite technicians in addition to many advanced features. Released at the NAB 2009, the web 2.0 application is ideal for broadcast journalist and mobile journalist alike according to the company.

InformationWeek Releases Global CIO and Think Tank

If you are a  Chief Information Officer (CIO) or aspire to become a CIO for your company than take a look at a new service developed by InformationWeek, Global CIO. The initiative provides CIOs and higher ranking technology managers with information, insights, and tools plus the invitation only Global CIO Think Tank, according to a release this week.

Features

Features of the new website service include InformationWeek articles, analytics reports, virtual environments, webcasts, and local networking events. There will be blogs from InformationWeek writers and guests posts from CIOs. Plus a best practices area which is set to launch in mid-March and promises many useful pieces of information for any IT manager.

CBSSports.com Offers Live Final Four Coverage Online

March Madness on demand just got better with Final Four coverage online. Watch the finals Monday night from your computer with live streaming video. This is only the second time in history a sporting event is being shown live and streaming online. With television ratings up 7% compared to last year for the NCAA tournament, an online option for the Final Four made sense to all parties involved; Including the NCAA and CBS Sports.

Sponsors Make It Free

This standard and high definition coverage is offered for free thanks to a number of sponsors. AT&T, Coca Cola, and Pontiac have been instrumental in bringing this great product to million of viewers online. So catch Michigan State vs North Carolina in high definition from anywhere that has an Internet connection Monday night.

Renter Foreclosure Alerts. What?

RealtyTrac is now offering renters an alert service if their landlord is about to be foreclosed on and they will subsequently be evicted from there rental, according to a press release today. How strange is it when renters need to worry about their landlords losing their properties? Seems that if the rent is coming in, there shouldn't be an issue. But according to RealtyTrac some landlords are using rents for other purposes than paying their mortgage payments.

Landlord Foreclosure

According to national statistics, 30% of all foreclosures are on non-owner occupied homes. And during 2008, 2.3 million homes went into foreclosure. With 2009 possibly having more foreclosures, the number of renters losing their place of residence is more common than some would think. So for $24.95 a year, RealtyTrac will alert you by email about your current residence or properties you are considering moving in to. This is an introductory rate, so cancel before the foreclosure rate in American drops significantly.

Ultimate Steal Promotion Gives Away Microsoft Software

Today Microsoft kicked off their Ultimate Steal Promotion for students at the largest US Black Colleges and Hispanic student organizations at universities across the country.  Students in these select groups can download the complete Ultimate 2007 Office Suite for a small fee of $59.95 which is roughly a 91% discount on the normal price of the top selling Microsoft software package.

Students Use the Tools Extensively

Microsoft is proud of the benefits students achieve by using their office suite for higher education purposes. Students use the software for organizing their work load, making presentations, and managing class projects. Microsoft also feels the exposure to their common business tools will give students a step-up when applying for business careers after graduation.

Internet Explorer 8 is Good for Developers

In a release about Internet Explorer (IE) 8, Microsoft explores why the new browser will be good for developers. At the recent developers conference, Mix09, Big Softie demonstrated why their new browser provides better performance, easy web development, improved security and more. Some larger Internet properties were on hand to explain how they are using the new browser to create a better experience for users.

New Features

A couple enhancements that Microsoft feels will benefit developers are Accelerators and Web Slices. One Riot testified that users using web slices along with better search functionality visited their site 18% more than previously. ESPN likes the ability to offer one click access to much of the content on their site to web surfers that are looking for in-depth sports information.