The cost of making international calls on your mobile can be one of the most dreaded things about international travel. Thankfully, a new startup called Voxtrot (http://voxtrot.com), has jumped on the scene to help with this problem. Voxtrot™ is a Swiss company  founded by enthusiastic entrepreneurs with a passion for cutting-edge technology and innovation.

Bascally, Voxtrot is a  free mobile network.  On the Voxtrot network it’s as if your mobile carrier is giving you free worldwide mobile calls.  Unlike other “free” call and text services there are no logins, usernames or passwords to forget, and you can use your everyday contact list.  In short, you use your phone as you always have, so long as the person you are calling is also connected to Voxtrot. If that’s the case, the call will be free! It’s a potential international-calling game changer.

Right now Voxtrot is only available on Android™, but other platforms will be supported in the near future.  Although its use is limited to others using the service, this is still a great solution for business since it would be easy to set up everyone in your organization before the next big business trip.

So, how is this possible?  Well, in a nutshell, Voxtrot simply uses the Internet to connect you to any other Voxtrotter in the world. It works anywhere, on all types of networks including EDGE, GPRS, UMTS/3G, HSDPA, and WiFi. Voxtrot works seamlessly with the existing apps on your phone and your current carrier.

You can download Voxtrot from the Android Market or you can get it directly with your mobile browser on join.voxtrot.com
You can find out more about Voxtrot on their beta website and on Facebook and Twitter.

Every day, more and more of our personal information flies around on the Internet and so data security becomes increasingly important.  Unfortunately for average Joe the web user,  security has been stagnant for years; you pick your username and password, and you take your chances.

Fortunately, Google is making some authentication and security options much robust for those who want it.  Enter “two-factor authentication” which was available to Google Apps customers since September and is now rolling out to everyone. The interface is a bit confusing, and the set-up process is cantankerous, but it’s well worth looking into if you’re looking to up your security quotient. You can activate this new security option by hitting the ‘two-step verification’ link on this page.

So, what exactly does it do?  Well, when you login to your Google account, you’ll need to enter both your existing password and a second passcode — one that you can’t write down, memorize, or lose,  because it’s always changing. Because the second passcode is dynamic,  it’s nearly impossible to phish. This second password is generated by new mobile app called ‘Google Authenticator’ which is available for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry. The code can be generated with a non-smartphone by having Google call or send a text message to the phone number that you enter during the feature setup. Much like Agent Maxwell Smart, your generated password will only be good for a short period of time.

It’s not as work intensive as it sounds, because you can elect to only require this second password once per computer.  This is enough to prevent phishing, but doesn’t mean you’re generating new passwords each time you log on. In order to save passwords in most desktop apps, you’ll have to generate a unique app-specific password for each application that you would like to protect. But again, you can save this in your key chain so you only have to do it once per app.

So, maybe you’re thinking “that’s great, but what if I change phones for some reason?”  Well, you can designate a second, backup phone number to which the passcodes can be sent.  Two-factor authentication isn’t a new idea. Business folks probably remember getting a code off of their key fob to access the office VPN for years now. However, giving consumers access to this same protection is a big win for security of personal information.

The iPad’s MobileSafari is a big pretty browser which allows users to use the full version of most websites as opposed to a mobile version or a separate application.  Facebook notably did not make a special app for iPad stating that the browser was powerful enough to support a full Facebook experience. However, iOS’ limitations often cripple the iPad’s browser, especially when it comes to uploading media. Often great sites are slow to produce an app, leaving unreliable 3rd parties to fill the hole. Tumblr is one of these sites that has left iPad users in limbo, sure there is an app designed for iPhone, but it just does not do justice to the 10 inch tablet. In steps Tumblita to bring sexy back to your iPad Tumblr experience.

Tumblr, for the uninitiated, is Twitter for blogs, it was even created by the same folks that created Twitter.  Tumblr is without a doubt my favorite and most used social networking service.  Tumblr is a very powerful social networking tool that is perfect for startups. It is by far the most social of the blogging platforms because of it’s unique feature of letting you reblog others posts. Tumblita lets you view your Tumblr dashboard in a ‘river of information’ style interface seen in many mail applications and RSS readers. There is a large view of a single post which is dynamic, and a static list of other posts, positioned to the side  in landscape mode, and as a pop out list in portrait mode. Tumblita also supports posting new media to your blog, the main feature that was missing when using the mobile browser. You can also easily schedule posts for the future, add tags, and more.  There are still more features that regular Tumblr users would like to see, like asking questions and replying to posts, but Tumblita is still the best Tumblr experience on iPad to date.  With some work this application could be truly great.

The iPad isn’t just in the business of generating revenue for Apple; in many modern small businesses it’s now tracking revenue as well. The super-popular tablet has been appointed (with increasing frequency) to help at the checkout counter and point-of-sale stations in restaurants and retail locations around the world.  Several different vendors offer iOS software which supports order management, payment processing, reporting and remote management.

One of the earliest products to this market was Square software (which also works on the iPhone) and features a custom wooden swivel case – a model of form and function.  Meanwhile, in the midst of busy Grand Central Terminal in New York, Joe coffee uses a discreetly shielded iPad which runs ShopKeep to track inventory and ring up sales. Grand Central is a busy place, and the setup seems to handle the high volume quite well. According to ShopKeep, similar setups are also used in several other Joe and Steve’s Ice Cream area locations.

In Sausalito CA, Lappert’s Fish & Chips uses a Revel Systems Point of Sale terminal to power their checkout. This high-tech setup sports the latest in Brinks style aesthetics, comes with an optional produce scale, and supports multiple payment systems. Table management versions are available, and the ever popular remote-management capability gives managers peace of mind.

In Okinawa, Japan, Global Network Systems offers the FLAVIUS system, which combines the register, customer counter and point-of-purchase stations.  Through FLAVIUS, businesses can use iOS devices like the iPhone or iPod Touch and WiFi to function in place of the traditional point-of-purchase setup. The software also includes integrated attendance management and reporting functions, while politely hiding the cash drawer.

It’s clear that the power of commerce has arrived in the palm of our hands, and the tyranny of expensive point of sale systems is coming to an end…which is great news to small business owners everywhere!

In business, everything’s going “to the cloud” lately.  Riding  this trend, Google has rolled out an update to their recently released Cloud Print product.  This update allows users to print directly to their home printer via mobile Gmail.  Cloud Print was initially a web feature that allowed users to print from any location, but was only available for Chrome OS. Now iPhone and Android users can print anything from mobile Gmail while they’re on the go.
So, when you’re out and about and want to print an email or attachment (like a .doc or .pdf file), just fire up Gmail’s mobile web interface.  Hit the print button from the top right-hand drop-down menu and when you get home, a hard copy will be waiting for you at your printer. To set up Google Cloud Print, head to Chrome’s preferences on your desktop/laptop and go to Under the Hood > Sign in to Google Cloud Print. It should automatically add all printers connected to that computer to your Google Cloud Print manager.  Afterwards, you’ll be able to print from your phone through your Gmail mobile client.   Note: as of right now, it only works on Windows, and you’ll need the latest beta version of Google Chrome to set it up.

HTC has published a teaser web page that strongly suggests it will be unveiling a new handset on January 6. The site has three statements: “The First 4G Phone Ever,” “The First 4G Phone at T-Mobile,” and “The First to 4G, Again — Find out January 6.” The Verizon Wireless press conference is scheduled for January 6 at the Consumer Electronics Show, where it is expected to debut Evo-equipped smartphones.

The teaser site allows you to sign up to receive an alert as soon as the announcement is made.    You can also take a tour of the HTC EVO 4G, whose tag line is ‘you can do anything when your phone can do everything’.  The improved speeds of the 4G network will bring a lot of internet power to these new handsets.  The most interesting, and most highly touted, of these features is definitely the ability to use the phone as a wifi hotspot.  This means that these HTC phones could bring 4G speed to all of your mobile devices, no matter where you are.  Faster speeds also means “streamability” from your handset camera to the web, and the ability to use video conferencing features without an outside WiFi.  The future of mobile networks seems to be just around the corner.

Over on the Google blog they’ve announced that you can now enjoy a full featured version of their popular Google documents with your holiday Gingerbread…or Froyo…or iPad.  This improvement will be fully shipped out and available to all by today.

So what did Google get you for Christmas?
“

• You can work on that important memo…while on the bus or train to work.
• If you’re behind on a group proposal, but really want to make it to the ball game tonight, your whole team can work on it from the bleacher seats.
• You can take minute-by-minute notes at a concert so you’ll always remember the setlist. And your friends can jealously follow in real-time at home.
• …and the list goes on!

“

To try this out,  head on over to docs.google.com and select a document to edit. Then, when you’re viewing it, press the Edit button to switch to the mobile editor- it’s just that simple.  Previously, the live editing feature wasn’t widely available on mobile devices, and so this improvement should be good news to anyone who needs collaboration while away from their main computer.

Google will also support multiple languages as well as editing features for it’s spreadsheets.  These features will be available on Adroid Froyo and Gingerbread, and iOS versions 3.0+.  Happy Holidays!