Free stuff is always better

Until 11:59 p.m. EST, you can get free Skype Access. So you can surf the Web, send emails and “make free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls.” But it’s only free if you’re at one of the hotspots.

These hotspots are in a number of places the majority of including international airports. A few months ago Google did something similar by offering free Wi-Fi in 47 U.S. airports. Although that deal lasted a bit longer to cover the holiday season and then some. Offering free stuff is always nice for the people getting it, but like I pointed out last time, it’s good for the company offering it because it gets some nice publicity.

The cool thing about Skype’s offer is that it’s a test drive for some people. Never used Skype before? Why not try it while you’re trapped in the airport? Essentially, Skype believes that if you just try its product, you’ll like it enough to shell out money for it. And you can’t feel annoyed that you have to start paying in the future, because you know going into it that the free access is a very limited time offer.

So if volcanic ash is keeping you grounded, try to get something fun and free out of it.

What slipped between the cracks, 4/5 to 4/11

Now that the month is halfway through, maybe the iPad fervor will die down a little for some news that isn’t related to Apple’s tablet. Of course the iPad wasn’t mentioned in all of the posts here this week (though it wasn’t always the main focus). And there’s still something to mull over:

Rumors were circulating that Apple will make a mini iPad. The size of the pint-sized tablet would only be slightly larger than an iPhone, which would make it… and iPhone that can’t call. Gizmodo doesn’t believe the Digitimes report.

There’s a video for iPad competitor HP Slate. HP believes that the real gem of its tablet, and what will give it an edge over the iPad, is the ability to Skype and take pictures to upload.

Something I never thought about before is what to do when taking your tablet or e-reader along on vacation, but you apparently don’t have to worry about anything smaller than a laptop. And that includes small netbooks.

Think the iPad is going to herald the future of technology? So does Gartner. The IT research group expects that by 2015 more than half of the computers bought for kids under 15 years of age will have touchscreens. This means that people will buy touchscreen computers not for themselves but for the younger generation, probably because they realize the technology is something people will be using for years.

What slipped between the cracks

Here’s a quick round up of some other stories that happened this week:

Twenty-four global phone carriers have come together to combat Apple by creating one large app store that can deliver applications to all mobile users.

The Mobile World Conference was held on Monday in Barcelona, Spain and there was an Android tablet.

Also at the MWC was the announcement that Verizon is bringing Skype to its users in March.

TechCrunch brought to light the Web site called Please Rob Me, which uses location-based services, like Foursquare, to see who is not at home. Basically, if you check in somewhere that isn’t at your house, it streams to this site.

Lastly, if you like fashion with your tech, fashion designer Vivienne Tam has designed in-ear headphones that will put you back $200.