December 2006 Archives

I've noticed that on occasion, when I've been connected to someone on their mobile phone, Skype will, without warning, drop the call and end the call session. It seems that for some reason, Skype is being "tricked" into assuming the call is finished when it in fact, isn't. Is anyone else having this problem?

Just when we started getting comfy with the term Web 2.0, along comes the term Web 3.0.

Web 3.0, according to most of what I've read, refers to a "Semantic  Web" that relies on attaching metadata to information residing on Web pages to create a framework for turning the Web into one humongous, relational database. The advantages are said to be much deeper and flexible Web searching, and much tighter integration between all manner of applications.

For more information, check out this piece from the International Herald Tribune.

Here's a good cautionary tale for those looking to make the plunge into buying their first HDTV or getting a second or third set for the bedroom and study. With prices finally coming down to earth, many people have decided they've waited long enough and are snatching up the plasma or LCD thin screens of their dreams.

According to this great piece on Cnet.com by David Carnoy, a new HDMI standard -- specifically HDMI 1.3 -- is slated for incorporation into HDTV's starting around the second quarter of 2007. Based on this information, you just might want to hold off a little while longer before buying that snazzy new set.

What is HDMI 1.3? HDMI, which stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, is a successor to DVI, and is the highest quality A/V connection available today that can transmit both digital audio and video signals. HDMI 1.3 supposedly supports twice the bandwidth as HDMI 1.2 (10.2Gbps vs. 4.95Gbps) and supports "Deep Color" --  10-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit color depths -- while HDMI 1.2 supports only 8-bit color. That translates into 17 million colors at 8-bit, and 1 billion at 10-bit.

Other benefits supposedly include:

• a new mini connector (for HD camcorders and still cameras)
• better backward compatibility
• automatic A/V synching (so characters' lip movements accurately match the soundtrack)
• support for new multichannel HD lossless audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-D Master Audio

The evolution of IP communications technology has wrought profound changes in the way communications networks and systems are architected and designed -- and is surely well on its way towards completely replacing our legacy, TDM infrastructure.

But aside from the disruption this technology is creating within the global telecommunications industry, and the wealth of new features and capabilities being delivered to users, little is being written or said about some of the profound changes occuring in user behavior and expectations as a result of these new capabilities.

For example, I'm sure many Skype users (and I expect members of other competing Web telephony cum "voice community" services) have received calls from complete and total strangers -- even without the "Skype Me" status selected that invites such serendipitous communications.
Recently, I received a surprise call from a student from Moldova looking to make some new friends in America and an opportunity to practice her English speaking skills, which turned out to be fairly decent. (I was surprised since my Skype status was set to "away", and as a result I was not expecting to receive any calls.)

At first, I was sort of taken aback, uncertain how to respond. OK, l'll admit it -- I was suspicious -- deeply suspicious. I wondered if this was some scammer, looking to perpetrate some nefarious crime. After a while, though, I started to realize that my hesistation to engage in conversation with a complete stranger was firmly tied to the old TDM telecom world, where you would NEVER, EVER dialup a stranger, except of course when misdialing a number. You'd certainly never try to engage a stranger in conversation -- they'd surely think you were some kind of kook, making a phony phone call, or worse, and just hang up.

And in addition to the social incorrectness of it all, the prospect of significant toll charges are a great inhibitor to making International TDM calls -- especially from somewhere like Moldova to the U.S.

It turned out she was quite fun and pleasant, and we had a great conversation. After spending a few minutes with her, I realized that she was a new Skype user and was simply enjoying her newfound Skypeness.  She was doing what is a normal -- and indeed encouraged -- practice in terms of the Skype culture. And it didn't hurt that the call was completely free.

Her excitement reminded me of the excitement I felt, when many years ago, I made a telephone ring in Moscow the day International circuits went live between the US and the Soviet Union (I'm sure I made it onto some government watch list as a result

So, it's clear that the open, opt-in communications culture of Skype and it's ilk is changing  social practices and people's behavior with respect to engaging in live, voice communications. There is a grand experiment occuring before our very eyes (and ears), and it's going to be quite interesting to see how it all plays out in the years ahead. And it raises some interesting questions -- especially about protecting our privacy -- in this brave new world.

What do you think? Have you had any amusing, interesting (or even scary) Skype moments you'd like to share?

'Tis the season for VoIP deals a plenty. Also, the new, annual "all you can eat" plan from Skype was bound to make waves in the industry, and lo and behold, the competitive response from other service providers are beginning to sound out.

This morning, ViaTalk, a  New York-based VoIP service provider that provides residential broadband telephony service of the same ilk as Vonage (they also have SMB plans), announced that they too are putting a little something extra under the Christmas tree this year. As part of a special holiday promotion, new ViaTalk customers can get a free year of telephone service when they pay for the first year of service in advance.

The residential service is normally $199/year -- with the promotion, new customers can get a full year of unlimited calls to the tune of $99.50 a year for two years. It's doesn't pack the same punch as Skype's deal, but then again, ViaTalk is competing primarily against Vonage and other broadband VoIP providers, not Skype.

The offer is available for a limited time, and is open to new customers who have not had ViaTalk within the past 60 days.

A new market survey, conducted by BBDO Consulting and commissioned by Outsmart Ltd., a provider of network convergence, IMS, and IN-based solutions, reveals that over 65% of fixed and mobile operators plan to implement Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) services into their product suites over the next three years. The survey also found the dual-mode handset to be the most recognizable type of FMC service.

The survey participants included operators, vendors, analysts, VCs, SI and others. When asked to define the types of services or benefits they associate with FMC, and being able to mention more than one, 75% of respondents chose a dual-mode handset. Others solutions included one phone bill (34%), a home zone rate plan (27%), voicemail convergence (13%), a Skype-like solution (9%), or other (11%).

As for planning to implement FMC into their services, 26% of respondents said they have already implemented it, 11% said they planned on implementing some services by the end of the year, 18% said they planned on doing it by next year, while 13% said they intended to implement some FMC services within the next 3 years.

With regards to specific types of FMC services, such as a converged service that allows one to make calls on their mobile line over a PC, more than 91% of respondents said they would use the product either while traveling abroad, at home, or in the office, while just 9% said they would not use the product at all.

84% of respondents said they would use FMC services, with 55% saying they would use it both at home and in the office, 21% saying they would use it only at home, 8% saying they would use it only for the office, and 13% saying the wouldn’t use these services at all.

In addition to focusing on the FMC market in general, the survey also focused on specific brand recognition of major FMC service providers and their products. Outsmart was named as one of the top recognized companies to offer FMC products and solutions, along with Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens.

Skype seems to have dominated the VoIP news and blogosphere today, with their announcement of a new $29.95 annual, "all you can eat" calling plan today. What makes it even sweeter is they are offering a 50% discount to those that sign up before Jan 31, 2007, and throwing in a gaggle of extra bonuses. Check out Tom Keating's lowdow and assessment of the goodies, here.

Unlike Tom, I think this whole move is positive and a sweet deal to boot, and although it may open the door a bit wider for competitors like Jajah and Raketu who are sticking to totally free calling plans, I'm not sure this is going to make the doors swing open that much more for them.

My colleague and blogger buddy Jon Arnold has also written up a great analysis of the announcement, and I agree with everything he has to say on the matter, so I defer to his own words.

Thanks Greg...much appreciated

Hmmm, ok, here goes:

Five Things You Don't Know About Me:

1. I'm much better looking than the picture of me that's posted on my blog (and other TMCnet.com pages that contain my words of wisdom) -- at least that's what everybody tells me. And although I may look 30, I'm really going on 47 (thank you Grandma Mickey for your genes --  she recently passed at 99)...

2. I may appear to some to be a "money is no object" type of guy  -- willing to throw money to the wind -- but in reality I'm a rabid, bargain-hunting thrill seeker -- flea markets, tag sales, eBay -- even the occasional dump -- those are my preferred hunting grounds.

3. I'm a great handyman and love fixing things -- and my neighbors know it, much to my chagrin

4. Although I love it, I start to hiccup uncontrollably if I eat foods that are a bit too spicy hot (like certain Indian, Mexican, Thai and Chinese dishes).

5. I've worked some interesting odd jobs in my youth -- as a boiler room operator (in college); a waiter at  The Council on Foreign Relations in New York where I met and overheard many a great statesmen present and met the late; great Peter Jennings; as a copy editor for the New York Yellow Pages (hated it); as a workman on a team of house renovators (loved it); and started my first  business with my brother Glenn when I was 11 and he was 10, doing all sorts of odd jobs for rich homeowners in the neighborhood -- it was called "Glenarc".

Ok, so I guess it's my turn to tag others (forgive me if they've already been tagged by someone else): I tag Jon Arnold, Rich Tehrani,  Richard "Zippy" Grigonis (not sure if he's started blogging yet -- and I'm also not sure if this experiment is just limited to bloggers or not) but as Exec Editor of TMC's Internet Telephony, SIP and IMS magazines, I'm sure he can devote some analog print space and ink), Tom Keating, and Om Malik.

The folks at blog VoIP Lowdown have come up with a great list of ten leading-edge VoIP, VoIM, IP and mobile applications we should all be keeping our eyes on -- apps that go WAY BEYOND plain vanilla VoIP calls. The writer -- the mysterious "ewriter" -- is definitely a person after my own heart.

According to People's Daily Online and China Daily, the market for IPTV is expected to take off in China next year as fixed line operators look for ways to grow.

In an interview with China Daily on the sidelines of the ITU Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong, Huang Dabin, vice-president of the network division of China's No 2 telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. predicted the number of IPTV subscribers in China could exceed 1 million next year, skyrocketing from the current 100,000 subscribers.

According to the publication, fixed-line operators China Telecom and China Netcom have been aggressively building trial IPTV networks since last year. This year, some commercial IPTV services have been operational in cities such as Shanghai.

The publication continues: China Telecom and China Netcom have been coping with a slowdown in their fixed-line voice businesses. The two firms have been lobbying the government for a licence to enter the lucrative mobile phone sector. But the government has been denying the licenses, forcing the two fixed-line operators to promote Xiaolingtong, or PHS (personal handyphone system), a limited mobility service in the country.

Some interesting China stats, as of this October: There were 93.4 million PHS users, compared to 85.3 million at the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). China also had 370 million fixed-line telephone subscribers and 449 million mobile phone subscribers. In addition, the booming Chinese broadband Internet business is giving a boost to the IPTV market there. China had 49.8 million broadband Internet users.

Or at least while traveling through airports or getting through customs in a foreign country.

A new service called The Luggage Club will ship your goods, luggage, skiis, surfboards, golf clubs -- or whatever -- to anywhere within the U.S. or to any of 220 countries around the world -- door-to-door, and overnight. In many cases, The Luggage Club shipping charges are much less than what FedX or UPS charges.

The company also offers a number of "frequent shipper" membership plans -- a Platinum Plan provides for 30 deliveries of cargo for $6,795 a year. Too much? Less expensive Gold and Silver plans are also available.

The numbers are in for the first three quarters of 2006: According to Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst and Young, venture capital firms have invested $455.5 million in 79 deals involving Web 2.0 companies -- more than double the deal flow of the same period in 2005.

The amount represents 28% of the $1.6 billion VCs have plowed into consumer technology firms, and the interest is no doubt due to froth created by the recent Google/YouTube and News Corp./MySpace deals and the hope to get a front row seat for the next great buyout or IPO.

Are we in tech bubble territory? A number of firms feel that too much money is chasing too few good deals, and that there is a sort of "lemming effect" in operation.

However, many still believe that there are still opportunities in the market, and I for one believe that one area that can help an up-and-coming Web 2.0 company distinguish itself in this increasingly crowded space is to integrate VoIP, Video and other IP communications capabilities within their social networking framework. The technology has the capability to act as superglue for an online community -- providing a foundation for incredibly rich collaboration and other applications.

I've written a bit about this juicy opportunity before, most recently in my Internet Telephony magazine Mind Share 2.0 column, VoIP Mash-Ups in a Web 2.0 World.

I'm sure there are a bunch of great examples of IP Comm/Web 2.0 combinations out there -- and I'm all ears if you know of any -- and if so, please feel free to comment!

Please forgive this departure from the content of my regularly scheduled posts, but I felt it was of overriding importance to make note of the just released report on Iraq by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. I even created a new "National Interest"  blog category for this post, that's how important I feel this is right now.

The full report is now available for download, and the findings are refreshingly candid and unblinking -- It is an honest attempt to tell it like it is, and to not hide behind doubletalk and tired propaganda.

The key problems in Iraq, according to the report are as follows:

• The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating
• A slide toward chaos could topple Iraqi government and trigger humanitarian catastrophe
• Sectarian conflict is principal challenge to stability
• Iraqi elected government not adequately advancing national reconciliation, providing basic security or essential services

The report's key recommendations are also well considered:

• Change diplomatic and military missions
• Engage Iran and Syria to address border, insurgency and reconciliation issues
• Renew commitment to comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace and provide additional support to Afghanistan as part of regional approach
• Evolve U.S. military role to support Iraqi Army units as Iraq moves to take responsibility for security sooner
• Move all U.S. combat brigades not needed for protection out of Iraq by first quarter of 2008
• Make no open-ended commitment to Iraq to keep large numbers of U.S. troops in Iraq
• Improve Iraq's criminal justice system, oil sector, U.S. reconstruction efforts
• Implement recommendations in coordinated fashion

Now that the report is out, the real challenges are still before us -- namely, effectively implementing the recommendations above and others contained in the full report. However, I believe this is a good start to establishing a national consensus about the Iraq situation and the specific actions we as a country need to take there and elsewhere in the Middle East.

It is my hope that this will help us to take the right path that will ultimately lead to a successful conclusion of hostilities and allow us to bring our brave troops home.

With some dismay, I noticed that my favorite ecommerce site for cheap inkjet toner cartridges has slowly but surely been nudging prices higher -- despite the frequent 15-25% discounts that are regularly provided. The prices in the last couple of months have jumped from $2.15 to $4.50 for cartridges for my Epson CX6600.

Since I posted about Supermediastore.com, I have nothing but good things to report regarding using compatible cartridges -- they seem to deliver the same page count per cartridge and the same quality printouts as much, much more expensive OEM cartridges. And my printers don't seem to mind the switch one bit.

So, I started to search for other bargains, and the good news is that there are a host of alternative sites selling cartridges for less. Here's the results of a Yahoo! Shopping search that gives you an idea of the options available to you if you're in the market for such consumables.

I found one highly recommended site -- inkforsale.net -- that sells the cartridges I'm looking for for a measly $2.45.

Locking down an enterprise network to protect VoIP communications is becoming an increasingly vital endeavor -- and a task that can be a bit daunting.

To help clarify the specific security-related tasks that should be performed, the blog site VoIP Lowdown has compiled a pretty decent list of tips. Definitely worth checking out.