Gizmocall.com - Skype Killer 2.0

It has now been close to two weeks since Michael Robertson announced the launch of GizmoCall.com, his latest attempt at a Skype killer. The service allows the making of a free voip call using just a browser via a Flash plugin.

My experience has been awful to the point of unusable, over several calls. This surprised me as I have been using both the Gizmoproject softphone and a SIP handset logged into GizmoProject over several months with no issues.

The danger of course is that GizmoCall will destroy any reputation that the GizmoProject has built and maybe even taint SIP as unreliable and poor quality VOIP, at least in the mind of the masses.

Maybe what we need for mass adoption is a Google buyout of SIPphone.com (the company behind GizmoProject), as Google seems incapable of launching their own SIP service.

Warning: Google Maps Australia will get you lost!

Recently Google announced the enhancement of Google Maps Australia by enabling business search and what they describe as "driving directions".

In a move I find surprising, the map data they are using is terrible inaccurate, to the point that it is useless, as no sane person would (should) rely on it.

In a simple task of navigating a few suburbs, (North Epping to Pennant Hills in Sydney's North West) Google Maps Australia selected a route that included a large shortcut that saves kilometres of travel by suggesting that you navigate several hundred metres through bushland followed by no less than two non-through roads, all in less than 10km.

The accurate shortest route is this one

Google Maps Australia has this disclaimer:
These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the map results.

How about reality may differ from map results?

All this is a shame as their Google Maps for Mobile is otherwise a killer mobile app. (By the way where is Google Talk for Mobile?)