This year, toast the new year on your own [virtual] Waterford champagne flute with Waterford’s Clink-Clink iPhone application. It’s free, and features a picture of a champagne glass that “clinks” when you tip your phone.

If you “clink” with an iPhone of a stranger with the application, you will exchange contact information.

It certainly is a fun idea, but how many of you will be carrying around a virtual glass of champagne in place of a real one?

Remember when I first introduced BuyMyTronics? BuyMyTronics pays you for your new, used, or damaged electronics when you send them in by mail. To receive some money for your “tronic,” you will need to use the provided pull-down menus to describe the condition of your item. BuyMyTronics will then generate an approximate value of your tronic, like a blue book value. Should you choose to accept their offer; BuyMyTronics will reimburse you via check or PayPal for the amount they quoted you within 24 hours of receiving your item.

The service is great and just recently, I had a chance to hear directly from Brett Mosley himself, President of BuyMyTronics.com. I fully support what Mosley has done by allowing one to essentially sell their item and get money for it. Quotes are fair, and the electronics go to a good cause. In a recent email update of his company, Mosley informed me of some exciting changes. In his efforts to grow, we will now see some changes to what they will now accept.

Last year, when I wrote about BuyMyTronics, you may remember me mentioning the company not offering much. Specifically, cell phones such as the iPhone. In a recent announcement, they now accept cell phones to their growing list of items that they purchase, broken and used, making BuyMyTronics one of the only major companies that accept broken electronics. That is great news. How many of us (like myself) have quite a few cell phones lying around because of constant upgrades? I’m sure many of you all do. Look no further than BuyMyTronics!

They are able to pay up to $225 for a broken iPhone and up to $220 for a Used Blackberry. They now purchase Cell Phones, iPods, iPhones, Smart Phones, PDAs, Game Consoles, and Zunes with more types coming soon! “So, how exactly are they making money,” do you ask? They answer is one that I absolutely love and can be summed up in one word: Green.

They are able to make money by taking the working parts of devices and use them to fix others. It is a win-win solution. E-Waste stays out of landfills and they are able to put cash in people’s pockets. And speaking of going green, Mosley informed me that they are delighted to announce that BuyMyTronics.com is now 100% wind powered which has lowered the harmful impact on the environment, which is a very smart move in my opinion.

I look forward to following the company closely for more exciting changes to come. If you would like more information about the company and have more questions, visit here and make sure to get rid of those tronics you have!

 I have been using Hulu for a couple of weeks now and I must say, I do love it. The TV networks have really come together to create one great solution for internet TV. Hulu has a clean interface and is user friendly. It is not over-done with ads or extra stuff. The animations are smooth, with lots of scrollover popups and transparency, and buttons for all of the few things you can do with a video. Grays and blacks surround the video in a widescreen format, making it easier on your eyes.

It is easy to search for and find a TV show or episode. By clicking “Browse Titles” you can, by default, view all of the TV shows Hulu offers by what’s “Most Popular.” If you prefer you can also view the shows alphabetically or by network/studio or by clicking a “On Air” button you can view what shows Hulu has that are currently being shown on television. You can also search for shows or episodes using the search engine, I found it to be quite effective at recognizing keywords, whether it is the name of a television show, episode, or the name of a cast member.

I am a little concerned about the fact that Hulu does not put shows up quickly enough after they air of a few things. It is still faster to download a torrent right after Heroes airs than to wait for it to drop on Hulu.

In addition, it is an incomplete archive, with new episodes pushing out older ones. This is probably  to continue DVD sales, but if I haven’t bought it, I am not going to. I want to be able to watch all shows from all seasons, not from the second episode of the latest season of Heroes, but I digress.  

It is not far to compare Hulu to Joost mostly because Hulu has not been around as long, and is still in private beta, but I really think Hulu, or Hulu “like” websites are the future. I think we are getting close to the day when all video, TV shows, and maybe even movies are available free and legal over the Internet and Hulu is a great start.

If you like software, I have a surprise for you…

With the intent to introduce you to all the amazing software developers and publishers out there, a website will offer free licensed software that you would probably have to pay for otherwise.

Giveaway of the Day, is a website that speaks for itself. You are given an application each day. There is one problem though – You must download it within 24 hours! That is not much of a problem for some, as some of the software titles that are offered are worthy of being downloaded ASAP!

“Basically, every day we nominate one software title that will be a Giveaway title of that day. The software will be available for download for 24 hours (or more, if agreed by software publisher) and that software will be absolutely free. That means – not a trial, not a limited version – but a registered and legal version of the software will be free for our visitors*.”

I was somewhat skeptical, but one day, there was an application that allowed me to convert DVDs into a variety of formats. I downloaded the application, installed it, and the software was activated with the key that was given. Not bad. Cool, easy, and free.

There is a countdown so if you see a software title you like, but can’t download it right away, don’t think you are going to be able to download it the next day. The “free download” link will go away and the software will go back to a paid version.

So how does this help software developers and publishers?

Scenario 1 (Out of many): Say you download a giveaway that you really enjoy and perhaps a friend is messing around on your computer one day, and asks you where you got this amazing product. You tell them that you got it from a site that gives a free download away each day but unfortunately, the application is no longer free. They ask for the name of the application because they have to have it. They purchase it and not only do you win, but also the software publishers win. They are also paid by Giveaway of the Day to give their product away.

“Giveaway of the day is a win-win solution for both publishers and clients”

Check it out. You have 15 hours remaining…

If you would like to enter into our own giveaway for a nice PSP, then click here for details.

There is a new VOIP service in town and it is free, for a little while at least. JaJah is a VoIP service that allows you to make free calls from your landline to another landline.The way it works is not much explained, but you basically go online and register your number, then get your contact to register their number. Once you’re both registered, you click the Call This Landline Number button within the JaJah application. After a short pause, your phone will ring and an automated voice will ask you to wait while you’re connected to the other person. Once they answer their phone, you can talk for free.

I couldn’t really test it out because I can talk for free anyway with my cell phone, and I don’t have any friends overseas. I didn’t however, get a friend to register just to try out the quality. It was not bad at all. Very clear with no hickups at all.

Even better, if you want to call a landline number in a different country, you can do it free or very inexpensively. Registered users within USA, Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong Taiwan or Taiwan can talk for free to and from any combination of landline and mobile phones.

A feature I really like, and that I find is being incorporated into many services these days, is the ability to call for free without even using a computer to connect two landlines. All you will have to do is text JaJah the number you want to call and the same process as with landlines will follow – They call you, you answer, and wait to be connected!

So what does this service do that the giant (Skype) can’t do? Not much actually, but the differences may be big to you. JaJah allows you to use your own phone instead of an awkward Skype USB phone or headset and you do not have to install any software. In addition, JaJah is free in most cases, and you cannot beat that. So check it out. They offer a demo on their site before you register.