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Off to the Voice Peering Forum New York
December 4, 2007
Tomorrow I am off to the Voice Peering Forum Winter 2007 hosted by Stealth Communications. Shrihari Pandit the VPF Founder asked me to help with some video reporting which is always very exciting. If you know Hunter Newby from Telx, you know Hunter has been evangelizing video interviews for at least a year. So tomorrow I get the privilege of being a reporter and instead of the printed word I will be dealing with the video frame.When you get used to dealing with words all day your mind seems to know that when you interview you can go back and modify things later. You can eliminate redundancy; replace slang or poor words with better ones, etc. Video is a different animal as I don’t expect us to be spending hours in post-production. Basically what you shoot is what you get.
This is the same as an audio interview and was the case yesterday on my podcast interview with Acision’s Oswin Eleanora “Oz”.
I am slowly getting used to being on camera and having my face replace my words. It is a fun transition and I am very excited about it. More to come from the event.
Oh and by the way, it seems Shrihari has a good deal of reporting for me to do tomorrow so I am not sure how much time I will even have to blog. Hopefully I will find some between interviews.
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Certified WiFi Telephony
December 4, 2007
Good news for those vendors looking for 3rd-party certification of their WiFi solutions as well as companies and consumers looking for the authentic “WiFi telephony” seal so glaringly absent from the marketplace today.Russell Shaw’s blog discusses how the WiFi Alliance has established a Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice Personal Initiative and discusses how you can get involved.
Why would such a seal make sense you ask? Well, not only does WiFi telephony have all the inherent challenges associated with packetized voice such as having to deal with bandwidth issues, latency and jitter… It has to deal with wireless issues as well. Examples include seamless hand-off of calls between base stations and eventually seamless hand-offs between base stations and cellular, WiMax and who knows what other sorts of wireless standards.
This new initiative should be very good for the WiFi telephony market.
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Sell your Calling Card Business
December 4, 2007
If you have a midsize calling card or related business and are profitable and reputable and are looking to sell your company, please drop me a line as I have a potential confidential buyer looking for the above.
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Shawn Lewis Leaves VoIP Inc.
December 4, 2007
Shawn Lewis has left VoIP Inc. Shawn is one of the better known figures in the IP communications space and was one of the Top 100 Voices of IP communications in 2006 as determined by Internet Telephony Magazine. He is a renowned VoIP expert and holds the patent on the softswitch and SS7 gateway.Lewis is looking for new opportunities so if you are looking for someone with his exceptional skillset, drop me a line and I will connect you. He is located in Florida and may relocate if the opportunity makes sense.
In the mean time it is unclear how this will affect VoIP Inc. I will be reaching out to the company now for comment.
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Blackberry 9000: The Real iPhone Killer?
December 4, 2007
If LG/Verizon can’t come up with an iPhone killer can RIM? Will the next Blackberry due in Q1of 2008 – the 9000 -- be the real iPhone killer? Moreover as a business device will the newest Blackberry have all the best features of an iPhone (sans iTunes connectivity of course) with the best of business functionality?Will RIM give us the ultimate consumer/business gadget? There is a lot of potential here. Remember my weekend ranting about how consumer devices are so much better than the ones business people get?
RIM has done an extremely good job lately and they are on a real tear. I have high hopes for this gadget which is rumored to have a very iPhone like 480x320 pixel screen and a faster processor than the iPhone.
In a way, Apple and RIM are in a unique position as they have the ability to monetize devices on the backend meaning that when they sell a device they will generate ancillary revenue in the form of iTunes downloads or Blackberry Enterprise Software in the case of RIM.
I suppose you could make a similar argument with Microsoft but I doubt people would buy Microsoft server software because of handheld device choices.
While on the topic, you could make an argument that Nokia too can play in this game as they are now in the mobile music business.
I for one expect huge things from the mobile device market in 2008 and I am sure Apple will have a surprise or two up its sleeve for 2008 as well. Maybe the iPhone killer will indeed come from Apple.
See Also:
Mobile Magazine:
Russell Shaw:
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Verizon Voyager Analysis
December 4, 2007
I had a chance to briefly demo the Verizon Voyager today and it is an amazing combination of technology in a compact package. The question I kept asking myself as I toyed with the device is whether this mobile gadget is an iPhone killer as many in the media speculated.
Before I answer, let’s go through the pluses and minuses.
The Pros:
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The video is extremely crisp but the internal screen could benefit from being larger.
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The keyboard is extremely comfortable – even for large thumbs and the fact that no shift key is needed to press number keys is great.
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The external touch-sensitive screen is amazing as the haptic feedback mechanism gives excellent response.
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TV viewing with the aid of an integrated antenna.
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Comfortable feel in the hand.
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Solid construction feel.
The Cons:
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The browser is slow.
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The browser doesn’t render very well on complex pages like TMCnet.
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The TV cannot be viewed in many places like large (relatively anyway) cities in Connecticut.
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The internal screen is not touch-sensitive.
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Device ease of use is average at best.
The Verdict:
This is a great device for the non-office worker who doesn’t live and die with their Microsoft Office synchronization. As an entertainment vehicle it excels as it allows the user to watch videos, listen to music and also keep in touch with friends by receiving text messages and calls while they are enjoying their multimedia entertainment.
If you are looking for a phone that is as intuitive and easy to browse on as an iPhone, this is not your device. This is not an iPhone killer.
Now will this phone be enough to keep people from defecting to AT&T where they will pick up an iPhone? Yes – for some anyway. Why? Because it does many things like provide TV and GPS that the iPhone does not do. In addition, the keyboard is great… Perhaps one of the best mobile keyboards around.
What would make this device better? I would gladly give up 2 screens for an individual screen larger than each of the two. In addition, a 640x480 viewing experience would be ideal and a baseline for effective mobile browsing. In addition, as more and more people need to browse while away from their computers it is essential that mobile browsers speed up.
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NextPoint is Born
December 4, 2007
TMCnet’s Greg Galitzine announced the rumor on October 19th that NexTone and Reef Point were to merge. Today the news becomes real as the companies are combining to create NextPoint. Here are some quick facts and quotes according to the companies:- Combined Companies to Deliver First Integrated Border Gateway, in Addition to Full Suite of Products Under the new NextPoint Name
- Woody Ritchey Named CEO; David Walsh Named Chairman
- JP Morgan Chase’s One Equity Partners Leads $20 Million Investment Round To Address Accelerating Market Demand
“The integration of session border controllers for both fixed and mobile networks with a security gateway enabled by the merger of Reef Point and NexTone will create a powerful product family for next generation networks,” said Malcolm Wardlaw, Director, Converged Services, Intelligence and Applications, BT. “The IBG has the potential to simplify network design as well as reduce the total cost of ownership in a converged world, supporting the needs of our customers in an all-IP world.”
“The increasing demand for secured IP-based mobility services in a multi-access environment is creating a need for a new category of equipment called the multi-access convergence gateways that provides intelligent interaction with subscribers, services, and transport mechanisms,” said Stéphane Téral, Principal Analyst, Service Provider VoIP, IMS & FMC, Infonetics Research. “This new network element collapses session border controller and security gateways along with other existing packet-based products for mobile networks into one single platform that optimizes any type of FMC architecture. The combination of NexTone and Reef Point into a single company is good news for the industry and an example of this fundamental shift toward multi-access convergence gateways.”
NexTone and Reef Point announced December 4, 2007 that they will merge to create NextPoint. Definitive agreements were signed December 2, 2007, and the transaction is expected to close in early January, so the companies can enter 2008 as one company.
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