I’ve been using a product developed by www.MagicJack.com for the last several months. I can honestly say that this device solves both the “what and the who.” It is brain dead simple to install and use and, yes, it does save you money … and lots of it.

For the uninitiated, MagicJack is a simple little USB device that connects into your computer and either: a) a headset or b) your regular telephone. It uses your broadband connection to make phone calls anywhere in the world. At it’s simplest it’s a VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol phone service. It includes: voice mail, 3-way calling, call waiting, and a DEDICATED phone number. You choose the area code from their list, which is quite extensive. And, it’s AMAZINGLY cheap – $39 for the 1st year and $19 per year thereafter.

I had intended  to use the device from www.MagicJack.com to replace my business phone service. And, of course, I did. I dropped my Comcast service and replaced it with MagicJack. If that was all I did, that would have been great. I would have saved about $600 per year. But, the buck did not stop there.

I also have a virtual assistant in the Philippines. I had actually bought two of these devices from www.MagicJack.com, one for my home office and the other to send to my assistant. And, guess what? This is where the REAL magic appears. My assistant in the Philippines can MAKE and ANSWER phone calls from the Phillipines to and from the US, WITHOUT incurring any international long distance charges. YES, you heard me correctly – NO international calling charges.

Imagine the savings! I figure with the amount of phone calls she makes every day to / from the US, I’ve probably already saved upwards of $1,500 … in just three short months.

The other magical aspect of this device / service is that I can call forward from any of these numbers without incurring any call forwarding charges. Unlike Sprint or perhaps other mobile sevice provider, call forwarding is free.

There are  many more aspects to this service that I’m planning to implement. But, I can’t give away all of my secrets, yet. The fact remains that the MagicJack is a disruptive technology that could displace traditional phone service from AT&T and others. In addition, it’s also magnitudes cheaper than Vonage and all of the other VOIP service providers.

And, the best thing about it is … it works!

Are you an avid Blockbuster video store nut? If you’re not, who are all those people I constantly witness heading in and out of that place? I would say that any Blockbuster video store has to pull in a good sum of cash each and every day. Of course much more on the weekends. There’s just something about movies. None of us can ever seem to get enough of them. We watch and we watch and we watch. Then when we’re finished with all that watching, we plop down on the sofa and watch a little more. You know, to wind down from all the watching. The great thing about renting movies these days is the new-age access. We can almost say goodbye to the classic Blockbuster video store, and say hello to cyberspace. As I’m sure you’ve encountered at one point or another, you can literally rent movies from your laptop now days. I’m talking about a Blockbuster video store on the World-Wide-Web. Not to mention its competitors. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Convenience is our middle name. I’m referring too human beings of course.

Are you searching for a local Blockbuster video store, but coming up short? Hey, don’t worry about it. You can find a Blockbuster video store closer than you thought. Blockbuster video rentals are available online now and check out the infinite movie rentals at your disposal. In today’s world of entertainment, you can have your cake and eat it too. Or should I say popcorn?

>> http://everypathnbeyond.com/blockbuster

I’d imagine, though, that with 160,000 plus workers, AT&T is bloated just like many government and private companies. It’s always sad to hear when someone / anyone loses their job. It’s especially discouraging when it happens during the Christmas holiday season.

This layoff is particularly interesting because of how it might affect iPhone sales and service. However, it appears that the layoffs are targeted toward employees who are primarily on the voice side of the business. The traditional voice business has been steadily losing customers to wireless / cell phone service for the last several years. AT&T also said that they would be hiring employees on their more profitable cell phone business.

These layoffs AND hiring come on the heels of consumers moving rapidly to adopt cell phones as their primary communication method.

Times are a-changing indeed in this industry. There so many cell phone / pda options for people now that consumers will likely see some real benefits from these slow economic times. For example, one of the latest rumors is that Walmart will start selling a $99 iPhone. The rumor continues that this will be a 4G version which was very popular, especially when the first iPod Touches were released.

Additionally, Google, of course, launched their heralded G1 a couple of months back. Reviews of this device have been lukewarm. But, it does speak to the fact that competition is healthy and will get even more intense as mobile device manufacturers try to knock off the king of the hill – Apple.

However, I don’t see widespread consumer adoption of any one device or operator until one of the big carriers drops their cost / min, cost / text, cost / data plan significantly. All of the operators continue to hold onto what little margins they have by increasing prices in one area or the other.

I know this is true for the iPhone for example. One cannot buy an Apple iPhone without at least buying the $30 data plan. And, a minimum, ya gotta have texting. Kaching … add at least $5 per month for 200 messages. And finally, ya also gotta get a minimum voice plan of $70. That’s a WHOPPING $105 for an individual plan. Talk about sockin’ it to you!

And, what is this nonsense about being charged to pay your bill? How absurd is that? If you decide to use a “live” operator rather than an automated system, you “could” be subject to a fee.

Remember the good old days when you went to fill up your gas tank. The attendant came out washed your windows, checked your oil, and then filled up your tank? Some of them even shook you hand.

No more …

True price reductions will only come from healthy competition, both on the DEVICE side and on the PLAN side. I applaud Google for bring some competition to the device side. But, hey, these devices are pretty much a commodity anyway.

One of the big carriers needs to start pushing the envelope on cellular rate plans. Then, the average consumer can begin to see the real benefits of affordable pricing.

Call your congressman today!

I was intrigued about this idea ever since a colleague of mine told me about it over dinner. He told me that he bought a MagicJack device and used it while travelin to India to call back to the US. I had to admit that I was pretty skeptical of this product.

But, after another colleague told me about MagicJack, I decided to give it a try. What the heck … it was only $39.95 to get the product, which includes the first year of phone service. Each year thereafter it’s $19.95.

Within 2 days of placing my order, I had my MagicJack. In fact, I actually bought two MagicJacks, because I was sending one overseas to my relative in Australia.

Setting up the MagicJack couldn’t be easier, especially after my last experience trying to install Vonage. With the Vonage, I literally spent 2 hours trying to get it to work. Only after I was on the phone with the technician did I / we realize that the instructions in the box were wrong.

So, back to the MagicJack. You simply plug the USB device into an open USB port on your computer and a regular telephone into the other end. Within seconds a screen pops up that says it is downloading the software to your PC. After about a minute or two you are presented with a screen to enter your name and email address. And then finally you are asked to identify an area code for which you want your phone number to be attached. And, voila, you have a new virtual phone number.

At that point, you can simply make a phone call.

Here are some extra goodies that come with the MagicJack. Imagine, you have your own phone service literally within the palm of your hand. The phone service goes with you wherever you are traveling. With this service you get: call waiting, call forwarding, caller id and, yes, voice mail. One of the coolest features though is that you can travel to India, London, Australia, wherever … as long as you get have an Internet connection, you can use your phone. You can call the US and anybody can reach you.

I had my relative in Australia call me last night. It worked like a charm. The phone number showed up accordingly and I was able to hear him without a hitch.  Not only that, but he is traveling to London over the next week or so and I’ll be able to report on that experience, as well.

The one downside to the MagicJack is that there is no call forwarding feature yet. So for example, if you want someone to answer your calls and then transfer them to your phone, it doesn’t exist. I don’t know how big of a problem that is for people though.

All, in all, for a $19.95 per year service contract, how can you beat it? Unlimited US and Canada calling plus calling back to the US from abroad – FREE.

Doesn’t get any better than that.

Like most business professionals, you probably also travel the world in order to keep your business active and profitable. One of the main concerns that business people have with cell phones is whether or not they will be able to use their phone in a foreign country, especially if they are visiting for an extended period of time. I know I do. That is why I want you to know that you can use your iPhone overseas.

Like most cell phones, the iPhone works with a particular cell phone carrier, and in this case you have your service through AT&T/Cingular. Many business professionals want the security in knowing that their cell phone service will not be disrupted simply because they travel from country to country. Since the iPhone is serviced by AT&T/Cingular, you will not have to worry about loosing service, or features, because the iPhone uses the GSM system. GSM is an acronym that stands for Global System for Mobile communication, thus allowing you to use your cell phone in many different countries. Actually, there are over one hundred countries around the world that use GSM. This allows you to keep using your Apple iPhone without any hindrance to cell service.

Many business travelers go to Europe and Asia, and since their iPhone uses GSM, they are able to have excellent service throughout both of these locations. However, there are some precautions that you will want to take before you leave the country with your Apple iPhone. Speaking as someone traveling from America — if you have ever traveled throughout the world and used your cell phone, you were probably surprised by extremely high charges for phone and data use.

This is because your number is an American telephone number, thus every call you make within another country is looked upon by your carrier as an international call. If you are overseas for quite some time, than it is easy to accumulate several hundred dollars worth of fees and roaming charges, this is why you will want to alter you calling plan if you travel overseas frequently.

AT&T/Cingular has really great international calling plans that are very cost effective. Thus you are able to still travel the world without having to worry about roaming and international call fees. Also, if you use data on your iPhone, which most of us do, you will want to make sure that you have an international data plan as well. The worst homecoming surprise you can get is opening your cell phone bill only to find several hundred dollars worth of extra charges and fees. However, if you plan ahead and make sure that you obtain a new service plan that includes international cell phone use, you will not have to worry about extremely high charges.