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Kodak and Skype
This is really weird. I wrote about how a VoIP provider should work with Kodak just about a week ago now Skype and Kodak have teamed up. I obviously think this is a smart move for Kodak and Skype.
Here are some excerpts from the article:
"Today's families and social networks are scattered around the globe. Staying connected through photo sharing remains an important element in maintaining closer personal relationships," said Sandra Morris, general manager of Consumer Imaging Services at Kodak. "Traditional social gatherings that once took place around the radio, television or telephone are now happening around the computer, mobile phone or camera. KODAK Photo Voice marks the next step in this evolution."
KODAK Photo Voice allows two people to simultaneously view a customized slideshow, and to talk about and react to each picture. After downloading KODAK Photo Voice and Skype, the host then selects pictures from a KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery album or from their PC, compiles them into a KODAK Photo Voice presentation and calls a friend via Skype to watch the slideshow live. Hosts submit orders for prints and other merchandise that guests select through KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery and have them mailed directly to the guest's home.
"Our goal is to make technology easy to use and Skype is a simple Internet communications service that is changing the way people stay in touch," said James Bilefield, vice president of business development for Skype. "The combination of Skype's service and KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery's photo sharing capabilities will make sharing memories even more simple and rewarding for consumers around the globe."
I wonder when other service providers will start getting more aggressive. Skype is not only free but it is integrating with Kodak's industry leading photography web portal. If other service providers want to compete they need to do it better than Skype... Not worse. I have mentioned this before and other providers better wake up soon or they will be gone.
I think the integration of VoIP into online services such as this are just more validation that we are heading into a new world of VoIP which I call VoIP 2.0. The next Internet Telephony Conference in a few weeks in
I am very excited to see what other relationships are going to be established between VoIP companies and others. I have mentioned ESPN getting involved in VoIP communities. I wonder if we will see such an announcement this week.
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Quoted
I got quoted in quite a few newspapers and magazines recently regarding the RTI vs. Google case. More recently I noticed press in ITWorldCanada and Techworld.
Rich Tehrani, VoIP industry watcher and president of Technology Marketing, has written about RTI in several entries his VoIP blog.
In an e-mail interview Friday, Tehrani said that RTI founder and President Jerry Weinberger invented least-cost routing technology that allows a phone system to find the cheapest carrier prior to placing a phone call. This technology is part of what enables VoIP calls to work. Other companies, such as Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies, have already paid RTI to use its patented technology, he said.
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Patents
You know when I signed up for this job, no one ever said there was going to be so much patent news to cover. Yesterday I wrote about Google vs. RTI and also Yahoo! vs. Forgent Networks. Now there is news in the NTP vs. RIM case. The latest is that the USPTO will give NTP a 30-day extension to file a defense of its patents at the center of the Blackberry case.
The delay comes less than two weeks after the patent office took the unusual move of fast-tracking the NTP re-examination process because of the court case. Last week, RIM told analysts during its quarter-end conference call that the judge would have to consider the sped-up patent-office timetable before imposing the injunction.
NTP shareholder and co-founder Donald Stout said that the company's lawyers aim to get their response filed before the 30-day extension is up. "We're not trying to slow it down," he said. "Our view is, let's get on with it. We want to go as fast as possible." Stout said the company asked for the extra 30 days to allow one of its experts to help craft the response.
Even if NTP's patents are all rejected, NTP still has the right to appeal within the patent office, a process that would take until late 2006, Mr. Stout said. He says that while he expects the patents to be rejected, he believes that NTP will be vindicated when it appeals through the patent office's Board of Appeals and Interferences. Article.
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Alcohol Advertising
I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning linking increased alcohol advertising with increased alcohol consumption in the 15-26 age group.
Here is an excerpt from the article.
"This is the most solid piece of research evidence to come forth to date linking exposure to alcohol advertising to increased youth drinking," said David Jernigan, executive director of Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, who wrote an editorial about the study. Dr. Jernigan wrote that industry could make a "substantial contribution to reducing underage drinking" by limiting advertising to places where 85% of the audience is likely to be 21 and older.
One wonders if this isnt just the most obvious study ever. After all, the point of advertising is to generate awareness and increase purchase of a product or service. Right?
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