Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog - Personal Archives

TMCnet Blogger Family Grows

2009-04-27T15:44:47Z

Today I'm proud to welcome our latest TMCnet blogger, Chuck Rutledge who will be sharing his insights and opinions via his new "Now Market It" blog.

I've known Chuck for over a decade, and he has always been a fantastic resource for articles I was working on and he was always ready to present compelling content at the ITEXPO conferences. Most recently Chuck served as the VP of Corporate Marketing at NET, a leading provider of VoIP equipment to enterprise, service providers and the government, where he joined via the acquisition of Quintum Technologies. Chuck had been VP of Marketing and Business Development with Quintum since the firm's early start-up days.

Today he is Managing Director at Precise Insights, a high tech marketing consulting company.

Please join me in welcoming Chuck to our family of TMCnet bloggers, a family that continues to grow with each passing week. In fact we are fast approaching the 50-contributor milestone on our blogs page.

If you are interested in reaching a diverse, highly technical, highly knowledgeable audience of up to 2 million people per month, drop me a line to ggalitzine (at) tmcnet.com and we can discuss setting up a blog for you too.

The Web: The Best is Yet to Come

2009-04-23T14:51:33Z

If you think the Internet's a crowded place today, guess what? One of the Internets founders (insert Al Gore jokes here) Tim Berners-Lee, keynoting at the 18^th Annual World Wide Web conference in Madrid this week, believes that the best of the Internet is yet to come.

"The Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past," he said.

The ITU report, Measuring the Information Society, The ICT Development Index, finds that only 23% of the global population currently uses the Internet, as compared to over 60% of the world's population that is currently subscribing to mobile cellular phone services.

An article on Breitbart quotes Internet co-founder Vinton Cerf who says, "We will have more Internet, larger numbers of users, more mobile access, more speed, more things online and more appliances we can control over the Internet."

I for one, think we all can agree that the future of the Web is mobile. As smartphones proliferate and becomes less expensive; as next-generation wireless networks bring Internet access into every far-flung corner of the globe; as more people are able to get access to more information, we will see the truly transformational power of the Internet facilitate a freer exchange of ideas, resulting in new advances in technology, society, etc...

Now if only we can do away with e-Mail spam...

Manhattan School of Music Teaches the World

2009-04-14T13:41:31Z

Back in a previous life (GG:BTMC) I worked on Manhattan's Upper West Side managing a stationery store that was an outgrowth of a successful private bookstore serving the needs of the students at Columbia University, Barnard College, and Manhattan School of Music (MSM).

It was a fun period of my life and I was treated to a pleasant reminder of that time by a news item that came across my desk today, namely that MSM was leveraging distance learning powered by Polycom's HD Telepresence solutions to extend their classrooms to the world.

MSM has reportedly been using distance learning since 1996, allowing approximately 1,700 students around the world to participate in classes, workshops, and clinics to help them master their craft. Currently they are using the Polycom HDX 8000 and HDX 9000 series room telepresence and VSX 8000 series video conferencing systems to reach their audience.

As the technology evolved so too did the opportunity to reach more students, more effectively.

According to composer/conductor Robert Sirota, president of MSM, "Our use of visual communication has changed the way we do music instruction at this school in a very profound way."

"It's effective because it quickly becomes invisible," added Sirota. "After 10 or 15 minutes of using the system, you're less and less aware that you're engaged in a high-tech video call. You're simply working. You're talking and you're teaching across the world."

Polycom solutions are equally at home in the classroom and the doctor's office as well as enterprises across the world of course. My upcoming VoIP Authority column covers the release of their latest desk phone (the VVX 1500) and their latest offering for the healthcare space (Polycom Practitioner Cart HDX series).

Toddler's iPhone Obsession

2009-04-10T14:49:23Z

Kara Swisher who writes for the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital, has a very interesting video showing a toddler's iPhone obsession, and frankly it made me think of a bunch of people I know and how they sometimes let their gadget obsessions get the best of them.

Of course I love a cool tech toy as much as anyone, but I'm a bit of a laggard when it comes to laying my hands on the latest and greatest.

Sometimes I think I'm just on a different schedule, that's all. For example I can't wait to accessorize my aging (banged up, with a cracked screen) KRZR with a new handset accessory, like the one from Novophone (pictured).

There is something comforting about that retro look.

Maybe then I'll consider the iPhone. I wonder if they'll reissue it in the classic Princess form factor... They do have a deal with AT&T, don't they?

Attending HIMSS - Healthcare Meets IT

2009-04-07T14:54:26Z

Just a quick note to say I'm in Chicago at the McCormick Center, attending the HIMSS conference, which covers IT in the Healthcare space.

I prearranged a bunch of meetings and I'll be jetting from booth to booth starting in about 15 minutes.

For those paying attention to all the nasty windy weather we've been experiencing (and flying in) I have to say today was a smoooooooth flight from the NY area out to O'Hare.

Let's hope tonight's flight back is the same.

Looking forward to my meetings, and I'll keep you updated as time allows.

In the meantime don't forget to stay up to speed on the latest healthcare and related news at our TMCnet Healthcare vertical site. If the intersection of healthcare and technology is your market - bookmark this site today!

Busy Week Inches to a Close

2009-04-03T03:56:56Z

It's been quite a good week. The Dow is steadily rising (let's see what Friday brings: profit taking or Dow 8,000) and in less than 10 hours, it's wheels up for this Galitzine, heading home after a jam-packed week of IP communications at a couple of trade shows in Orlando and Las Vegas.

I've posted a few items already, covering some of the companies I met with and I have a few write-ups to go, but the bulk of the content will be coming to you in the form of videos posted to our TMC Newsroom. I can't remember such a busy schedule. I would say I met with well over 80 people this week, each with an interesting story to tell.

Truth be told the general feeling I walk away with after all these meetings is that innovation continues unabated, the economic malaise has to some degree spared a telecom sector that may have been prepared courtesy of the previous financial meltdown, and end users (you and me both) are growing ever more hungry for new apps - check that - new bandwidth hungry apps.

I'll be mostly out of pocket tomorrow as I'm flying back East across 3 time zones, but I look forward to hitting the ground running in short order.

Skype Party - Rich's Photos

2009-04-02T15:21:58Z

Rich has some great photos from the Skype party we attended last night. Thanks to the Skype team and congrats on the new launch!

DIRECTV Tops for Would-Be TV Service Switchers... Really?

2009-03-26T13:15:12Z

Seeking Alpha has an article titled, Who's Winning the Cable Service Provider Wars? that discusses a recent ChangeWave survey.

While some of the results make perfect sense, other results may surprise you as they did me.

ChangeWave surveyed 2,830 respondents and found that price is now the key issue when consumers decide to switch TV service providers. Given the state of the economy, that's not too surprising. Apparently 48% of respondents who plan to switch their cable, satellite or fiber-optic TV provider in the next six months say price is the primary reason.

Slightly more surprising, but perhaps understandable is the fact that when asked how satisfied they were with their current TV service provider, respondents overwhelmingly gave fiber-optic TV services high marks.

According to the research, Verizon's FiOS service tops the list in terms of having the highest percentage of customers who say they are Very or Somewhat Satisfied with their provider. AT&T's U-Verse service is second. DIRECTV and DISH Network came in third and fourth respectively, followed by cable.

That surprises me. The part about cable being last. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt?

But what really surprises me is that the survey results say that DIRECTV tops the list of providers that switchers plan to move to in the next 6 months. Following behind, Verizon's FiOS and AT&T's U-Verse services drew the same level of interest.

If it's based on price alone, then I would assume it's because DIRECTV offers the best deal. I know they have a basic package for ~$30/ month, but I didn't really research how it compares with other offerings from competitors, so I can't say what kind of value that brings to the table.

I had looked into switching to FiOS, but it was unavailable in my town as of now, and I assume that fiber is more reliable than satellite, and would offer higher bandwidth throughput.

AT&T's U-Verse must be doing some serious advertising, because of all the people in our office who have been tempted to switch, exactly none of them were satisfied with the experience, be it for lack of bandwidth to support multiple HD streams, or simply a lack of availability. (Don't service providers generally know whose house they can reach before they send a truck?)

For what it's worth, I am satisfied with my cable provider (Cablevision) and with the variety of programming that's available. Sure the price could be lower, but the service works, and it's reliable. The HD is satisfactory, and they just started offering a WiFi service in the area (Optimum WiFi - see Rich's blog for his take on this enticement). And yes I subscribe to a three-service bundle, (with excellent Internet and very good phone service) which helps my overall perception.

And I should mention I live in a hilly area, with lots of trees and frequent cloud cover, and I don't see many dishes in our neighborhood, so I'm not sure if that affects my perception of satellite-based television service, but I'm just a bit surprised that DIRECTV was tops on the list for people who were planning to switch.

Flying Home, WIsh I Nabbed a "Demo Unit" From TI

2009-03-06T12:17:01Z

I'm at DFW, waiting on my early flight back to the New York area.

As I mentioned in my last post, I learned this week that Sipera is up to some interesting things.

I also stopped by Texas Instruments on this trip, and in addition to getting a run down on their OMAP 4 strategy I learned about some of the other things they just showcased at the Mobile World Congress show.

Robert Tolbert, platform marketing manager, OMAP platform business unit shared the company's recent news, and explained the company's activity in TI's quest to continue to improve user experience and the power properties of the devices that TI chips are deployed in.

Tolbert also discussed the company's recent announcement (with Samsung) of PicoDLP technology, which will be available in a Samsung handset soon,

After the briefing we took a tour of TI's Wireless Application Center (WAC), where I got to see the PicoDLP technology up close and personal. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a tiny projector, which can take your source video (as an example) and project it onto any nearby surface, such as a wall, or the back of an airplane seat. The quality is amazing, but to me the fact that this technology is available in a handset or a standalone device smaller than a deck of cards is pretty remarkable.

I almost wish I could have taken a "review copy" of the device to trial on my flight home today. It would be a great way to catch up on some of the movies I have yet to watch, or perhaps just review the video interviews that I conducted in Dallas this week. (These will be available from our video library shortly.)

While in the WAC, I also saw a demo of several devices based on TI's ZOOM Mobile development platform, which is a software development tool designed for the open source community. The kit includes all the key components for developer to build applications, be it on the Android operating system, Windows 6.5, or the latest version of Symbian.

It's always exciting to get a glimpse of the future when visiting with a company like TI, where often we're treated to demo versions or prototypes that will not see the mainstream store shelves for 12-24 months. Maybe that's why I am always loath to upgrade my own personal tech (I still carry a KRZR, which is a phone that's really good as a ... phone). How do you make the leap to today's devices when you've seen what's coming down the road?

Well, we're boarding soon, so I'm off for now...

F-f-flying to Dallas?

2009-03-02T13:29:11Z

It's cold (20) here in NY this morning. Cold, snowy, windy, and yet they think they're going to get our flight off the ground in this "lull" or window between storms.

My colleagues have been rebooked on later flight as was I, but when I got to LaGuardia this morning, they told me that an earlier seat opened up, so I'm going for it.

We board in 15...

I hear it's like 70 in Dallas.

Can't wait. Just noticed I need to adjust my camera's date/time function. It's not 2006, is it?

PowerSquid Surge 3000 Calamari Review

2009-02-19T03:44:50Z

More often than not, there is a better way. Take that tangle of wires and bulky plugs under or behind your desk/computer workstation for example. Everybody knows what I mean. First of all even the most basic setup includes a PC/CPU, a monitor, a printer, a set of speakers... and so on. Add a modem nearby, a wireless router, perhaps a phone, fax machine, scanner, and we're talking a holy mess of wires, bulky plugs, inflexible power cords, maybe several power strips anchoring this all together. It's a recipe for organization disaster.

The creative folks at PowerSquid have come up with a series of surge protectors that will make sense of your mess, ranging from a basic $18 version (outlet multiplier only - no surge protection) to a $69 top of the line PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari model. Get it? PowerSquid? Calamari?

The Calamari edition is designed to protect all sorts of electronic equipment from computers and accessories, to home theater electronics including TVs, DVD players, and more.

The device is truly something to look at -- living up to its "breakthrough cephalopod design." There are six "tentacles" of varying lengths (2 @ 6"; 2 @ 8"; and 2 @ 10") and an 8' cord to plug into the wall outlet. The tentacles accept standard three-prong plugs. The cord ends in a 360-degree swiveling flat profile plug. Very convenient indeed.

Once you plug it in three different LEDs light up showing you that the device is powered up, that it's protecting the equipment, and that the surge protector is grounded. Speaking of lighting up, the two 10-inch tentacles are illuminated, which makes them easier to find in the dark.

One unique feature of this top of the line model is an audible alarm that sounds when the device has been tripped, essentially letting you know when it's time to replace the unit.

As far as the speeds and feeds numbers the PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari edition, here's the skinny, straight from the manufacturer's site:

· 3240Joules w/ Ultra-MOV™ technology

· 330V Clamping

· 58dB Purestream™ EMI/RFI power filtering

· $500,000 Limited Connected Equipment Warranty

· Tripwire™ Circuit

· 15 Amp Breaker

The Calamari also includes protection for cable and DSL lines.

From the moment I saw the unit to the moment I plugged in my six devices I was very pleased with the PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari edition. At nearly 70 dollars it might be a bit pricey at first blush, however you certainly get your money's worth in style, convenience, practicality, and a half-million dollar warranty protecting your valued electronic gear.

If you are interested in your own PowerSquid, go to CableOrganizer.com for more on how to get your own Calamari.

Beatles Final Gig - 40 Years On

2009-01-30T13:38:32Z

On this day in 1969, I was but a wee lad with not a care in the world. Across the pond from where I was busy forming my first words, a group of four famous Liverpudlians were making their final public appearance.

It struck me in a way that so many things these days tend to, with a growing realization that the numbers associated with my life keep getting bigger.

13 years at TMC... 16 years married...my kids are how old? When I was growing up the 60's were the near past, the 70's were in full bell bottomed swing and, well ... times were sure different, weren't they?

In any event, 40 years ago (to toss out another big number) the Beatle's held an impromptu gig atop the Apple recording studios in London's Saville Row. Bespoke suits anyone?

There were plans to hold a symbolic commemorative gig today, but guess what? Police pulled the plug on the tribute concert, much the way they did 40 years ago.

Let it be, I say. Let it be.

Analyst: Netbooks to Surge

2009-01-26T16:03:16Z

I bought a netbook, then I returned it without even opening it. It was a good deal, but even still the price was so close to the cost of a full-fledged laptop (with optical drive, bigger hard drive, bigger screen, etc...) that I thought I would either continue to live without or simply wait until the next generation of netbooks arrived.

I have always believed that the holidays are the worst time to buy technology as the stuff they announce at CES a month later is always more exciting. (I take buyer's remorse to extreme levels when it comes to gadgets and tech...)

Maybe waiting was a good thing.

ABI Research just released its forecast for a "market explosion" of netbooks, estimating that in 2009 we can expect to see 35 million netbooks shipped, growing to 139 million by 2013.

ABI Research Practice Director Kevin Burden describes the evolution of the portable computing tool, from the PDAs of "old" to the latest ultra-mobile PCs or UMPCs:

PDA's began our reliance on instant accessible data while traveling. When PDA functionality converged with cellular voice, smartphones became the new darling of mobile professional technology that many expected to evolve into the hub for all data and communication needs for travelling professionals. Today, with a better understanding for what a smartphone is, is not, and may never be, along with a reality check on the usefulness of UMPCs, the market remains open for new device types.

Smartphones did a lot to raise our comfort level with mobile technology as well our expectations for how connected we could be and how accessible information and data should be while on the road. Enter the netbook with its light-weight, medium-sized form factor and low-cost processors leading to moderate overall price points may finally have "right-sized" mobile technology for productive travels.

The jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. Netbooks offer a great space saving form factor and light weight, but most keyboards come in at 15-20% smaller than a traditional laptop. For a poor typist (read: fat fingers) like myself, is it worth that particular pain? Netbooks are the perfect device to leverage the wealth of Web-based apps and "from the cloud" computing tools, but why is it so hard to find one with built-in 3G wireless? What about battery life? When can I expect to get 6-8 hours from a single charge?

I know, I know, I've read the reports of HP's amazing 8-hour battery life and I've heard about Radio Shack's great deal ($99) that combines an Asus netbook with AT&T's 3G service. But that $99 turns into $1,500 bucks when you factor the cost of the service over the 2-year commitment.

Still I am intrigued by the form factor, and I believe that there is definitely a niche, whether it's for people who are extremely cost conscious, or simply looking for an alternate device fort raveling and so on.

Regardless of what I think, ABI believes we're on the verge of some serious netbook deployments. As they say, watch this space...

TMC Blogs: The Week in Review

2009-01-23T16:51:00Z

What was the big story this week? No doubt it was the inauguration of Barack Obama, as the 44^th President of the United States and the first African-American to hold that post. Truly a historic day for our nation: a day when many people put politics aside to welcome our newest leader to his job, and judging by the crowds in Washington, D.C. this past Tuesday it was quite a welcome indeed.

Rich is excited. Not so much from any overtly political stance, but he's psyched that the Obama Administration appears to be well versed in technology and will likely raise the tech-level of the White House and the U.S. government in general to new heights.

In his recent post, Tech Change is Here, Rich notes that technology is not just a "nice to have" but a necessity that drives an organization's ability to compete.

Of course, with ITEXPO just 9 days away, Rich has been hard at work writing about some of the big elements of the show that will take place Feb 2-4, in Miami Beach, FL.

Among many other things, Rich blogged about the open source educational opportunities (Asterisk Training Details; Asterisk, Trixbox, and Switchvox Training), and the temperature differential, and he also posted an entry highlighting the series of interviews he conducted with the thought leaders who will be participating at the event (Come Meet the Thought Leaders at ITEXPO).

Back on the political thread... Tom posted his thoughts regarding the reported $40 Billion Broadband stimulus that the Obama Administration was proposing: President-Elect Barack Obama's $40 billion Handout Bailout to Internet Providers

While that was technically last week, this week saw a tremendous amount of activity in the comments section of his blog. There was some really interesting back and forth, and if you have any thoughts on our government spending $40 Billion on broadband, it's worth a look.

Peter Radizeski weighs in with details on the Broadband Stimulus Bill.

Tom also was busy doing what he does best, and that's writing about and reviewing gadgets, such as the Verizon Hub (a Web browsing, VoIP phone gadget...), the TechCrunch Touchpad, the AT&T tl7610 headset, and the HTC Touch Cruise.

Tony Rybczynski opened the week with a simple message: Nortel is Open for Business, underscoring the message that "Nortel plans to emerge more focused, financially sound and competitive."

On his SIP and Serve by a Foodie blog, Broadvox' David Byrd spoke of developments at his firm and some partnerships they announced this week ahead of their participation at ITEXPO.

In today's installment, Byrd also discusses the latest adventures of IP Man:

This week we announced interoperability with Panasonic's new NCP IP PBX and we released the new IP MAN Adventure featuring AudioCodes, episode 5. The new villainess, Echo, is scheduled for launch during the week of IT Expo. It's a fun story with an exciting storyline featuring Panasonic. Like the duck paddling on a pond, our calm exterior hides the furious effort below the water line.

In what's fast becoming one of my favorite features in the TMCnet blogosphere, every Monday, Byrd dishes on what he's been up to in the kitchen over the preceding weekend, in addition to providing insightful commentary on what's happening in the market. This week it was beef short ribs. Yummy.

Over in the Convergence Corner, Erik Linask discussed the significance of Interactive Intelligence integrating with IBM for enterprise-wide unified communications.

Brendan Read offered a Readerboard post on Genesys' double acquisition; Jessica Kostek covered Apple's first quarter financials as well as the "Fall of Kennedy" -- her take on Caroline Kennedy's withdrawal from consideration for the open Senate seat in NY; and Scott Bouchard vented his frustration at being unable to watch the inauguration live on CNN.

Hunter Newby had a pair of interesting posts this week on Skype and Internet-based VoIP Peering as well as the effects of broadband development on the economy.

Tsahi Levent-Levi has some great post-CES follow-up on the video solutions on display at that event, and perhaps the funniest blog post of the week, entitled The Naked Truth About Video Conferencing.

The week also saw Michael Copps named as acting Commissioner of the FCC, Microsoft announcing job cuts, Polycom announcing their quarterly numbers, and a new service guarantee from Ifbyphone.

Hard Times as Nortel Bankruptcy Looms

2009-01-14T13:04:08Z

Rich is reporting in his blog that Nortel will file for bankruptcy today, ending the run for one of Canada's biggest corporations and one of telecom's storied companies.

This marks quite the fall from grace for a company that was once one of the highest-fliers of the tech boom.

According to a story in today's Globe and Mail:

Nortel easily qualified as the country's largest company at the peak of the tech boom in 2000, with a $366-billion (Canadian) market capitalization and 95,000 employees.

While still North America's largest telecom equipment maker, Nortel's shares were worth a total of just $192-million yesterday, and the company has 26,000 staff after a bruising series of layoffs over the past eight years.

Nortel stock that soared to $1,231 at the peak of the tech bubble - reflecting a recent consolidation in shares - closed yesterday at 38.5 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

You can expect the vultures will all be out today, slamming the company's management, pointing to the series of accounting scandals that ultimately doomed this company. You'll hear all about the acquisition of Bay Networks and how that never really turned into the perfect fit that had been hoped for. Yes folks, all the news will be bad, and the blame game will be blown out of proportion.

Nortel still has some great technology, and a customer base and service contracts that will have the scavengers salivating.

Unfortunately for the many great employees of the company the end of Nortel as we know it spells something far worse.

The news reports today speak of breaking up the company and selling off the pieces to competitors. In such cases, some employees will be fortunate enough to stay on, but for too many others it's a time of great uncertainty and worry.

I have been fortunate to work with many wonderful people who represented Nortel over the past 12 years, and I hope that they fare well in the wake of whatever goes down.