VoIP has become common place these days with various providers offering free calling to almost anywhere in an effort to compete in this fast growing industry. With an industry that is growing at such a fast pace we can expect to see many new tech toys coming out that will try and capitalize on this new trend, so today for review I have one, actually two of those new tech toys, they are called Verballs. Verballs are sort of a speaker phone for Skype, and other VoIP services. What makes them different is what they look like and what they can do, they are animated with mouth that move to your callers voice, and sort of look like cartoony imps. The company that makes the Verballs was kind enough to send me two of them, one for review an one to give away to one lucky reader at DSM. So read on to learn about this cool little techie toy and learn what you need to do to own your very own for free…
Verballs
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: Aardvark Innovation Ltd. / Verballs
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
What’s a Verball?!
A Verball is a talking internet telephone toy that brings your friends voice to life as you enjoy free calls anywhere in the world! Each talking Verball contains a speaker and a hands free microphone so you can chat to your friends over the internet. Not only can you talk to your friends for free, you can also use your Verball as a USB speaker to listen to your MP3s.
(As I mentioned in the introduction I received two Verballs, one to give away and one for review. Mr V is the one that I will be giving away to someone and Slick Verball is the one that I will use for the review.)
Mr V
With his bling jewelery and customized jeans, Mr V is the Verball of choice for the Hip Hop generation…this is a hugely popular Verball so grab yours now while you can!
Slick Verball
Slick is a firm favorite in offices up and down the country. With a navy pin stripe suit and shoes to die for, he’s a must for any office based Skype addicts out there!
Also on the Verballs website you can find lots more information and they even have a section labeled ‘Studio’. In the Studio you can find cool little additions to use with your Verball, like WAV files, ringtones, voice changers, and avatars for Skype as well.
The Studio: Here you will find the latest and greatest things you can do with your Verball and Skype. From personalising your ringtones, to altering your voice to freak your mates out, we have searched high and low to bring you these cool little extras that work with your Verball!
The price for a Verball is about $45 USD.
Find VoIP Products at ShopZilla!!
A Better Look at Things
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The packaging for the Verballs is very bright and attractive, sure to catch anyone eye if it was sitting on the shelf in a store. The front of the box has a little window so you can see the Verball contained inside.
While the back and sides contain more information about the Verballs.
The box is the same essentially for Mr V as well.
Getting Slick out of his box, we find only him and his instruction manual. Included also with the Verball is 30 free Skypeout minutes to call anywhere in the world with. As for size, Slick and the other Verballs are about as tall as a regular can of soda pop.
Find VoIP Products at ShopZilla!!
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A Better Look at Things
Continued:
Verballs are pretty much all plastic, Slick has a business suit on and furry lines of hair on the top and sides of his head. His right foot has a tiny hole on the top of it, this the microphone, while the left foot has a tiny on/off button on it and volume control knob on side. The mouth also moves when a person talks through the Verball or he’ll lip sync to music.
The back of Slick and other Verballs is where the speaker is, along with microphone and speaker jacks if you wish to use them. All Verballs have tails, these tails actually promote balance.
Looking at the bottom of his feet we an also see the volume control knob on the side of the left foot. The USB cord is about 3 feet long, so it should be long enough for optimal placement anywhere or or around your desktop.
Find VoIP Products at ShopZilla!!
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A Better Look at Things
Continued:
Here’s a couple close up shots of Slicks’ head, you can see the fuzzy hair, and a closer look at the mic and headphone jacks along with the speaker.
The Verballs arms also move and their horns light up as well when receiving a call
Here’s a quick shot of Mr V and Slick together.
Verballs are pretty cool devices, with the popularity of Skype and other VoIP services I’m sure these could become very popular. It’s a toy, but yet it is functional, and useful, it adds a bit of fun to anyones desktop.
Find VoIP Products at ShopZilla!!
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Installation is very easy, but it is a bit different than other products. Once you plug your Verball in Windows XP will recognize it, but then you have to go to the Verballs site and activate your new Verball, there you can download the actual software to use your Verball. You’ll also have to allow Skype to use the Verball, a warning message will come up asking if you want the Verball to have access to Skype.
There are no pictures in this section just five videos of Slick doing a few things for you. Tom was kind enough to help me out with the videos.
The first video is what happens when you receive a call, Slicks horns light up, his arms move a little bit and his mouth moves, while playing a little song to let you know that you are getting a call.
The next video is of Tom reading the descriptions of the Mr V and Slick to show you the mouth movements etc.
This video is a me asking Tom how I sound through the Verball, or the basic sound quality of it.
I found the sound coming through the Verball fairly clear, but it did have a bit of a hollow sound to it, but not that it actually made the person speaking unclear. The quality just isn’t that high, but then this isn’t a high-end speaker setup either.
Find VoIP Products at ShopZilla!!
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Installation, Testing and Comparison Continued:
I decided to have some fun with Slick and see how well he can lip sync to a couple songs. The first is from Godsmack. There is a bit of distortion when the volume is turned up loud, but it’s not meant to be a hi-fi system either.
The next video is of Slick getting his funk on with some Infectious Grooves.
For the last clip I threw in Star Wars Episode 1, there is lots of talking so his mouth really moves for you here.
Overall the sound for using the Verball as an external speaker for music is passable but not great, the speaker just cannot handle the high and lows as it should. As something neat, yeah it’s cool, but I would not want to listen to music through it all the time. The sound for using it as a speaker phone is fine, and it seems that the other person can hear you clearly as well.
Find VoIP Products at ShopZilla!!
Summary:
Verballs are just cool, yes they could use a bit of improvement in the sound department, but for what they are they are perfectly fine. Verballs are mainly made for use with VoIP, and I found the sound quality on the sending and receiving end just fine for talking to people. The addition of being able to use your Verball as an external speaker is just a bonus, not the main selling point here, so focusing just on the phone part of the Verball I found it very useful and creative. Verballs are something that are made for fun, and they are fun, and functional. They make talking to another person not so cold and non-human, the Verballs give your VoIP callers a personality and an interesting face to actually look at while talking to. Verballs are just plain cool and lots of fun.
DragonSteelMods gives the Verballs a 5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Fun, fun and more fun
-Adds a bit of personality to your desktop
-Easy to use and install
-Free Skypeout minutes included
-Customizable
Cons:
-Sound not that great for music playback
I would like to thank Verballs / Aardvark Innovation Ltd. For the chance to review the Verballs and for the extra on to giveaway to a lucky reader at DSM.
CONTEST INFO:
I know you want to know how to win it right? Well you’ll be winning Mr V as I mentioned before, you’ll have to go HERE to find out how to get a chance to win!
