Amazon announces a $139 Kindle to be available at the end of August.

Locked in a fierce war against some formidable competitors like Barnes & Nobles and Sony and a host of new entrants, Amazon the maker of Kindle and a pioneer in the area of e-readers, has just introduced two new versions of the Kindle e-readers last week. With competitors like Barne & Noble and its Nook e-reader which starting last June was offered at the low price of $ 149, Amazon could not stay on the sidelines too long and watch risking loosing some market share. It comes up with a $139 Kindle version that has the particularity of connecting to the Internet using Wi-Fi only unlike the previous versions.
The other model introduced is the new Kindle 2 slated to go on sale at the same price as the older one or $189. Both new models are smaller and lighter than previous ones and with higher contrast screens with the ability to deliver crisper texts. They also boost twice the storage capacity of previous ones, up to 3,500 book according to the New York Times.

For more, see NYTimes.com

Using Skype mobile on your cellphone.

As it continues to grow, Skype, which offers telephone services for free or nearly free to users via VoIP or voice-over-Internet protocol through their computers, has expanded its service into the mobile phone arena. Even before Skype made the move, other companies were already offering software that allowed certain phones to work with Skype.
The Skype software for mobile is available free for smartphone like the iPhone, Samsung, Nokia, Windows and Android phones etc, and other devices like the iPod Touch, Sony PSP etc.
With these various devices, Skype offers different levels of services and connectivity. But in general, Skype mobile works under the same principle as the one on computers by allowing users to make calls and send instant messages to other Skype users free, and pay lower rates than the ones from the phone companies when calling landlines or other mobile phones.
There are other restrictions like the one imposed by Apple to only allow Skype mobile calls to be made through WI-FI connection and not over the network of its carrier partners like AT&T.

For more, see NYTimes.com