May 2007 Archives

Google Gears

May 31, 2007 5:11 PM |

Google’s announcement that they have launched Google Gears is significant as it means the plethora of web-based applications which once were not able to run without internet connectivity can now function without a connection. The technology is available as open-source meaning there will likely be great interest in using it to develop applications.

When you add the words “open-source” to anything it seems to get people interested.

What does this mean? Simply stated, the one major Achilles heals of web-based applications is their inability to function properly when there is no internet connection. This limitation has now been lifted.

Of course a spreadsheet can function fine without internet access but an application requiring updated data feeds would not.

Keep in mind that web-based programs don’t have the rich graphics functionality of desktop applications yet but that will change over time.

So my take on this news is Google could end up being positioned as the ultimate middleware enabler sitting between the programmers and the browser. Well, a browser may become a thing of the past now if you have a way to allow programs to run without network connectivity.

Rather than take Microsoft on directly the company will use the open-source model which has worked so very well for the Linux community. This allows the world’s programmers to contribute to the initiative and also makes it something cool and interesting to developers.

It is way too early to say this initiative will hurt Microsoft but I would imagine Microsoft Office will feel increasing pressure from applications which use Google Gears.

Microsoft may counter this initiative with something similar (like a Groove+) and in fact they will likely have to in order to stay competitive. They can even have hooks into their programming tools allowing tight integration with whatever solution they come up with.

Microsoft can even opt to develop a program or two for Google Gears. The Redmond-based software giant has shown it can dominate the Apple software environment so why not Google’s?

In the end, Google Gears has the potential to shake up the software market by allowing developers to come up with leading-edge hosted and persistent applications. This could mean consumers will finally be able to have their hosted cake and eat it offline.

More: USA Today, TMCnet.

Traveling to New England

May 31, 2007 2:29 PM |

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I must enjoy driving as I am at it again. This time in New England through a few states. One thing is for sure; whatever direction you go in there is pollen everywhere. We need some rain to clean up the air. This seems to be a record allergy season with many people who didn’t think they are allergic acting more lethargic and sneezing more than usual.

Palm Foleo

May 31, 2007 9:18 AM |

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I love gadgets and I love what Palm has done for the handheld market. I love the concept of Palm rolling out a new laptop-sized device. But that is where it ends. The new Palm Foleo has a fraction of the functionality of a Windows computer but is priced just under an equivalent laptop.

It syncs nicely with your mobile device but then again so does your laptop.

I haven’t had a chance to use this new product but in my mind I can think of virtually no one who needs it. There are likely narrow vertical markets that need computing power on a platform that doesn’t get viruses but when we have laptops running Windows with millions of apps why on earth do we need a Linux-powered device that doesn’t run most applications?

Think of it this way. Even Apple has given into Windows and will warm-boot between it’s OS and Windows. Palm has no traction in the market in this segment and this could be one of the worst moves ever made in computing.

I keep trying to come up with a scenario where the Foleo makes sense and I just can’t. It seems doomed to me but perhaps Palm can morph it to be something useful down the line. But then again, I can't see what that will be.

Palm would have been much better off making a truly functional ultra-mobile PC as if there is a market here that is going to be it.

SimulScribe

May 30, 2007 7:02 PM |

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The voicemail transcription market otherwise known as voicemail to text is showing no signs of slowing down. I have written about this space a few times (Voicemail Transcription, Vonage Voicemail Transcription, SpinVox) in the past and I think it has tremendous potential for growth.

One of the companies in this space which I have been aware of for months but haven’t had a chance to cover is SimulScribe. I recently interviewed the company’s CEO James Siminoff who is 30 years old and has already launched a successful prepaid calling card business prior to launching SimulScribe.

As it turns out – a while back, he was having a casual conversation with his calling card business partner and the partner’s son and the topic of voicemail came up. The thought was, wouldn’t it be great if you read your voicemail instead of listening to it.

Shortly thereafter the company developed a system to handle this task and used it internally. Then it was rolled out to a few friends and family members. It was a fun side project. In late 2005 the company decided to focus on voicemail transcription as a business model and SimulScribe was born.

James tells me his service is the only one which has been rolled out by a major carrier – Vonage and can actually be billed by the carrier. The main competitor to SimulScribe is SpinVox and James was so complimentary to SpinVox it is tough to believe the companies are competitors.

In our discussion it seemed apparent that in a market with billions of potential customers, there is likely enough room for not only two players but many more. You may recall I am aware of a major software company who will roll out voicemail transcription software soon but I am bound by a verbal handshake not to share the name of the company.

Major players notwithstanding, SimulScribe wants to be the number one or two player in the space.

Other SimulScribe service provider customers are M5 and FreedomVoice. The company is in some stage of discussions with over 33 carriers globally. Moreover, they don’t announce service provider wins until they are deployed.

We touched on the topic of the accuracy of speaker independent speech recognition and James graciously explained the technology in their service is something they don’t disclose. Having said that, many in the industry have asserted the level of accuracy these services have achieved are impossible without some human intervention.

Really the concern here boils down to security (otherwise who really cares about the secret sauce behind such services) and if there are people listening to your voicemails perhaps there is a security risk.

One point James made is if you are concerned about security you may not want to look at a voicemail transcription services as e-mail is less secure than voicemail. He is not talking about the security in either his service or the competition (he says the security in his company’s service is first-rate) but what he means is the security of e-mail in general.

This service offers the same level of security as e-mail he says. Whatever you feel comfortable doing with your e-mail you can do with their service as well.

The point here is voicemails are now able to be archived meaning they can be brought into court cases as evidence. This is something which is likely not that easy to do with voicemail.

On a positive note he points out this service can simply bring unified communications into a company with virtually pain or investment. The ability to see voicemail and respond to voicemail with IM or e-mail really increases productivity.

James makes a point that SimulScribe is different than SpinVox because it is the most flexible service from a delivery standpoint. There is an application called SimulSays which features a GUI which sits on a Blackberry and soon Windows Mobile devices. The application stores the transcribed text with the voice file allowing you to listen to messages without using network minutes. You can also listen on an airplane or where there is no cellular access.

He says there will be even more devices supported soon.

You can choose the format of voice file you want sent from WAV, MP3 or WMA. In addition there is a web interface allowing control over your messages. You can delete them, etc.

Currently the competition is not doing this.

James says they have this flexibility in their service because they were users of their own product for some time and they built the features they needed before they rolled it out to others.

The company says their service can save you three hours a month and I have no doubt that a busy executive can see savings in this range. This also correlates with my own experience using SpinVox. But more importantly voicemail transcription allows you to be on a call and read voicemails from other callers while you are still on the phone. In addition you can archive your voicemails allowing you to search for that useful nugget of information stored in a 3-minute voicemail form 18 months in the past.

I can tell you from months of personal experience that using voicemail transcription is a liberating experience and one you can’t easily stop using once you become accustomed. Regardless of which service you use, I suggest you try voicemail transcription for yourself if you are interested in saving time and becoming more productive.

Deutsche Telekom Reinvests in VoIP

May 30, 2007 5:13 PM |

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If you were watching the VoIP market in 1999 you would have witnessed the most forward-thinking service provider in the world, Deutsche Telecom who decided to not only roll out VoIP but also invest in the company that brought VoIP to the masses. I am talking about VocalTec of course.

1999 was the second year of Internet Telephony Magazine’s life and this investment brought a tremendous amount of confidence into the world of IP communications at the time.

Most if not all other service providers at the time were saying publicly that VoIP had no place in business or carrier networks. This investment was very refreshing.

In case you aren’t aware, VocalTec stumbled when the bubble burst and was eventually acquired by Tdsoft who kept the VocalTec name.

Now Deutsche Telekom is at it again and they have joined Intel in investing in JaJah a company providing a VoIP to PSTN solution.

The importance of this news is the first service provider responsible for accelerating the VoIP market is now reinvesting in the space. Who knows how far along VoIP would be without Deutsche Telekom helping fund the first startup in the space.

Saitek Obsidian Mouse

May 30, 2007 9:10 AM |

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I recently reviewed a Saitek Obsidian mouse. The unit is wireless and works on the 2.4 GHZ frequency. The range of the mouse is 10 meters but I only tested it at 2 and it worked fine. The mouse comes with two battery backs that are about the size of 4 silver dollars. The weight of the battery pack is negligible and replacing them takes a few seconds.

Each pack takes two hours to charge and lasts ten. The mouse doesn’t have a wheel but has a about a one-inch touch sensitive strip where you might expect a wheel.

The strip takes getting used to but I find there is much more flexibility in how you can scroll on pages with this system.

For example if you are concerned about finger fatigue from excess scrolling, with the Obsidian mouse you just touch and hold for a moment at a time to scroll a number of lines.

The feel of the mouse is good but the ergonomic shape of a Microsoft mouse may be more comfortable for long periods.

I would recommend this mouse for anyone who wants the performance of a scroll wheel but wants more flexibility and/or has pain in their index finger from excess scrolling.

Dragons at Your Door

May 30, 2007 8:16 AM |

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How Chinese Cost Innovation is Disrupting Global Competition

I just received Dragons at Your Door from the Harvard Business School Press and I was going to put it on the bookshelf but for some reason I started to skim it. The timing was perfect as a well-respected PR director made a comment yesterday about an acquirer for Avaya. They said Huawei might be the best company to pick them up.

I wasn’t so sure when he mentioned this idea but the more I think about it the more it makes sense.

I skimmed the book for a few minutes and it is rife with a examples of our dealings with China and other countries and it discusses the similarities between competition from China and Japan.

I haven’t spent enough time on it to say it is good or bad but the book has whetted my appetite to a point where I will put it on my list of books to read. When free time allows of course.

Speeding Prius

May 30, 2007 7:15 AM |

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There is just something so unethical about speeding in a Toyota Prius.

Blogged via Wireless Handheld

Broadcom Defeats Qualcomm

May 29, 2007 7:01 PM |

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Today’s jury decision seems to seriously injure Qualcomm based on this TMCnet story written by Spencer Chin. The dollar values so far is a hair under $20 million and further damages looks like they will be awarded. In addition, Broadcom seems to be looking to stop Qualcomm from using the infringing patents.

Enjoying traffic

May 29, 2007 5:29 PM |

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Enjoying the best traffic I95 has to offer in CT. wink

Blogged via Wireless Handheld

In NY Today

May 29, 2007 5:29 PM |

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Today I am traveling by car throughout the glorious state of NYC seeing some companies in the IP communications space. For whatever reason EVDO is terrible today. I am not sure why. Perhaps it has to do with the abundance of pollen which is like multicolored snow and just wreaking havoc on my ability to function and/or breathe. I desperately need to get my allergy shot ASAP so I can get some energy back. In my last meeting the discussion regarding AVAYA possibly being purchased came up. Apparently customers are a bit nervous about the news. See Greg Galitzine's blog for details.

Enough Whales Already

May 28, 2007 6:00 PM |

1 Comment

Let me start this post by saying there is probably few people who love animals as much as me. But I am more a couch potato animal lover. I don’t have a house filled with cats and dogs but rather I can sit for hours watching documentaries about life in Africa, Australia or anywhere there are animals.

Having said that can someone explain to me how two whales have received more press than the war in Afghanistan? In the last week every excruciating detail of a pair of whales who took a wrong turn in California has been analyzed and discussed in excess.

I am sure if I did a search there is a website somewhere dedicated to the bowel movements of these two mammoth creatures. There is likely also a museum being built in their honor and countless other ornaments… T-shirts, mugs, etc.

All this while other parts of the world are still killing and eating these animals. To me the human interest aspect died off after the first day but either I am in the minority or the media has it wrong.

As I did a search for stories on the topic surprisingly Bloomberg came up as the first hit. Does this story have financial implications? Does the average Bloomberg reader have a yacht and this story may appeal to them as the whales were struck by a boat? Who knows?

But rather than add any more fuel to this story I say let’s just boycott stories about these two whales unless they do something well newsworthy. Taking a left instead of a right to me doesn’t seem like world news.

Evolution

May 26, 2007 1:57 PM |

7 Comments

We have enough important things to discuss in the world and certainly trying to disprove evolution shouldn’t be one of them. According to this article three of ten republican presidential candidates don’t believe in evolution and it is obvious our president doesn’t either.

This has to be some kind of joke. It is apparent these people know nothing of science or have been sheltered to the point where they have never stepped into a museum.

To make matters worse, a new museum just opened in Kentucky which will show dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark and will explain the Grand Canyon was not created through millions of years of erosion but rather 6,000.

Topping it off, the museum cost 27 million brainwashing dollars to construct.

At the least the name of the building is “Creation Museum” which should ward off those people who are really looking for a museum based on science.

Then again, I may want to take a flight down to the Creation Museum myself to see just how big Noah’s Ark was. I don’t even think we have any ships big enough today to hold every species of dinosaur.

The whole issue of creation versus evolution is scary because it shows the ultra-religious (regardless of religion) have decided that logic can be disregarded at will. Once you get used to ignoring logic, reason and especially facts, society should be questioning your competency.

Post for Technorati

May 26, 2007 1:27 PM |

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I am hoping this post will enable Technorati to finally start seeing my blog again. Here are the details. Fingers crossed.

Technorati Profile

Thank You Google

May 26, 2007 1:15 PM |

1 Comment

It has been months since Google somehow started to omit TMCnet blogs from their BlogSearch service. Since the service is so popular we wanted to find out we were delisted and se if there was a technical problem.

After months of writing to Google to ask what the problem was, Tom Keating wrote a blog entry titled Google Blog Search Sucks where he mentioned he loves Google but the BlogSearch service leaves much to be desired. His concerns centered around MFA (made for Adsense) sites being listed and other non-blog sites such as EE Times and even a Wiki.

Thankfully the blog entry caught the attention of Google and an engineer responded a few days later to tell us there was a bug in their system and they have fixed the bug and TMCnet blogs are now listed.

Interestingly, my blog hasn’t been showing up on Technorati for about a year and we don’t know the reason. We have sent many e-mails to Technorati and there seems to be no way to solve the problem.

Similarly we have been trying to get TMCnet news added to Yahoo! News and normal channels haven’t worked.

A very important point Tom makes is that the dotcoms have horrendous customer service. We have sent e-mails to Yahoo! for three years asking how we can get included in their news service and there has been no response.

At least in Technorati’s case I sent a letter to the president and I received a response. The company never solved the problem but at least I got something in my inbox that shows there is a human at the other end.

Sure algorithms are fine but in the end, you need to respond to your customers when your algorithms have problems. And for this I would like to thank Google for responding eventually to our request.

Here is Tom’s latest post on the matter titled: Google Blog Search Doesn't Suck?

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May 2007 Archives

Google Gears

Traveling to New England

Palm Foleo

SimulScribe

Deutsche Telekom Reinvests in VoIP

Saitek Obsidian Mouse

Dragons at Your Door

Speeding Prius

Broadcom Defeats Qualcomm

Enjoying traffic

In NY Today

Enough Whales Already

Evolution

Post for Technorati

Thank You Google

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