Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com: February 2009 Archives

iPhone Browsers Reviewed

February 14, 2009 12:46 PM |

You may have heard Apple is allowing third party browsers on the iPhone but which is right for you? The first thing you probably need to know is all the browsers allowed on the iPhone by Apple have to be based on Safari. For more on Apple's latest view on jailbreaking and their argument that the iPhone does not need to be more open, see my thoughts from yesterday.

I downloaded and tested five of these browsers and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The first is Edge Browser which is free and allows web browsing to the edge of the screen with no pesky URL bar to get in the way. You are pretty much limited to a single website since you have nowhere to type a URL. You can use the options screen to specify the URL, a user name, password and other parameters. I tried to get this working with a security camera which has a web-based console but couldn't. The first problem was the browser seemed to not like URLs that did not start with WWW. So I used a few URL redirection services such as tinyURL and doiop but for whatever reason these didn't work with the Edge Browser. In the end I just used Google as my default home page which was the least limiting option I could think of.

The next browser is Incognito ($1.99) which allows you to surf anonymously. There isn't much to say about this browser except that I wish it allowed me access to my Safari bookmarks.

Shaking Web at $1.99 allows you to surf while riding the bus, etc and it uses proprietary technology to minimize shaking. I gave it to a colleague in my car who gets nauseous when reading and moving and sure enough he immediately gor nauseous using this program. The jury is out on this one... I am just not sure it is useful.

Webmate: Tabbed Browser is a very cool browser as it allows power browsing on the iPhone. Basically when you turn it on by pressing a button on the lower left, it causes every link you click on to be opened in the background in another window. This allows you to focus on the main page and go to the others when ready. Unlike Safari, you can use the forward and back buttons to get to the next or previous browser window (it also does not limit you to eight windows/tabs -- I didn't hit the upper limit but 30 was no problem) and a simple press on the garbage can closes the browser window you are on. This one can be useful.

Webmate Allows at Least 30 Browser Tabs to be Open

WebSave ($.99) is another interesting browser option with a twist. It allows you to save HTML files for offline viewing and when you click on a link such as a PDF it also allows you to save the file right to the iPhone. You can then use WiFi to have the program function as a web server allowing you to get access to the saved files from other computers on your network. When ready to share, the program gives you an IP address like 191.127.7.151:12345. You just have to add a preceding http:// and you can instantly get access to all saved files from any nearby browser.

WebSave Allows You to Save PDFs and other files

While these browser tweaks are useful, it would be even better to have other browser options like we do on our computers. It just seems unfair (is the word anticompetitive a stretch?) that Apple has a Safari browser which runs on a PC but does not allow an IE browser to run on the iPhone. But until this happens, enjoy what the censors in charge of the iTunes app store allow you access to.

VoIP Not Internet Telephony

February 14, 2009 10:19 AM |

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It is amazing to me that we still need to have this conversation in an industry which is over a decade old but VoIP does not mean calls on the internet. Of course VoIP calls could traverse the internet but this is only if this is how the network is designed.

Having said that, it is worth pointing out the definition of telephony is the transmission of voice, video, fax, etc at a distance using electrical signals. Thus IP telephony is roughly equivalent to IP communications and neither has to travel over the internet.

Internet telephony on the other hand refers to the transmission of voice, video and/or fax, etc over the internet.

Hunter Newby brought to my attention that there needs to be more education on the topic and he is right on. Thanks Hunter.

Patent Trolls Symptom of Problem

February 14, 2009 10:01 AM |

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Here is a well-written piece by Timothy B. Lee at the Cato Institute which focuses on how we can improve the patent system. It points out that patent trolls are merely a symptom of a patent system which is dysfunctional. In addition it touches on VoIP patents and is worth a read if you have interest in our patent system.

Remember that a patent system which favors trolls and large companies reduces innovation and is bad for society as a whole. It is easy to dismiss the patent system as something esoteric but in reality we lose out on innovation when the system works in a less than ideal fashion.

Apple Jailbreaking, Twitter and Toshiba News

February 13, 2009 4:18 PM |

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For those of you in the US - please enjoy the long weekend - everyone else - enjoy the weekend - and feel free to call in sick Monday.

Here are some news stories of interest:

First off there is Dan York who finally tells us why he hasn't blogged in a while. He has been quite busy as he explains. Then there is the fight between the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Apple - the EFF is looking to have the jailbreaking of iPhones be an exception to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's rules against breaking access protections. Apple says there are lots of apps out there so no need to jailbreak. The counterargument of course is if you open up, there will be more apps.

It is obvious consumers would benefit if the iPhone were to improve and the fact there are people willing to destroy their devices by jailbreaking them so they can do things like multitask seems like evidence enough that the market would be better served by allowing jailbreaking. Or perhaps the easier route is for Apple to allow multitasking and not decide which apps can get into the app store.

And if Apple isn't feeling the pressure from the EFF, they may want to look west - to Toshiba who is gunning for the iPhone with the TG01... And what Toshiba lacks in naming creativity they make up for in pixels as this device packs a whopping 800x480 resolution screen! Memo to Toshiba, Nokia beat you to this news (and resolution) with their N800 which came out years ago and I might add it kicks the crap out of the iPhone's graphics. Still, the product and the successor - the N810 were duds in the market. I guess the point is I will write nice things about you if you increase the resolution of your devices, but will people line up to buy a device from Toshiba because of a kick-ass screen? Stay tuned.

Then there is talk of the call center space booming. A new call center is opening in Vegas adding over 1,000 jobs to the area and this report explains there are other positive trends taking place in the market.

Finally, Twitter is in the news - they are the most talked about phenomenon of the year. I tell you, if we didn't have a banking system filled with incompetents and politicians who spend our money like an eastern European hacker who just broke into your bank account, I think all we would hear about is Twitter. BTW have you checked out the TMC Twitter page and mine as well?

Anyway, the company has no business model and people punish them for this. Meanwhile it seems that every other person I know uses this service and if I don't tweet for a day, I feel guilty. The sort of feeling I get when I forget to get my wife a gift for Valentine's Day.

Whoops - hold on a sec, gotta logon to Proflowers. OK, back now.

The service has gained critical mass now and if properly managed can generate serious cash. At least that is what the investors who just put in $35 million into the company hope.

If these guys ever figure out a way to monetize their service and keep it from crashing, they will be a force to reckon with.

Signing off for now... Hope your weekends are stellar.

ITEXPO Keynotes and Panel Videos Posted

February 13, 2009 1:47 PM |

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Good news for those of you who have been asking me when the videos of the major sessions at ITEXPO will be posted. They now are. The video page is located here and I cut and pasted some of them below -- as well as some interviews for you to enjoy.

One of my favorites is this one by the way.

Interlink Interview

Interview with Interlink VP of Product Marketing, Peter Weyant

02/02/2009

Did the Itanium Really Cripple Computing?

February 13, 2009 11:20 AM |

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John Dvorak has some interesting ideas about how the Itanium processor took down the entire computing industry a notch. He some great points and what he says about how the Itanium got analyst praise reminds me of how the analysts were also seduced by OS/2 at the expense of the entire computing market a decade earlier. It seems every decade the analysts make predictions which negatively impact our markets and lead good companies in bad directions.

Microsoft to Open Stores, Needs to do More

February 13, 2009 10:45 AM |

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Microsoft will be opening stores soon to showcase its products and it is still unknown if these locations will simply show products or sell them as well. While some think this is a bad idea I think it can be pulled off successfully.

The company has some great consumer products like the Xbox and a slew of mobile devices which run its operating systems. Then there is the Zune which has a long way to go before it gains any meaningful marketshare.

But these products alone are not enough to make these stores a must-visit the next time you are in the mall. What the company must do is set up an advisory council which determines which products get into this store.

The difference between Microsoft and Apple is Apple always controls the hardware and can ensure a solution doesn't look like garbage. And when you compare an iPhone to most Microsoft-based phones before the iPhone was released, you understand that Microsoft partners generally look to design as an afterthought.

And Microsoft is at the mercy of these partners for sales and its image.

As the consumer electronics market continues on, Microsoft is becoming a smaller and smaller player - even as it invests more and more in products like the Zune and puts more effort into its mobile device division.

That takes care of the coolness factor, now the company needs vision. Microsoft makes a disjointed array of products and services which have little synergy with one another. There is no grand vision.

You don't put the word sexy and Microsoft in the same sentence but we all agree Apple has sex appeal. Why? These companies compete head-to-head.

Microsoft has to start thinking more about sex appeal and less about the features of its latest operating system. This is the most important area for Microsoft to focus on.

Microsoft, you want to own the netbook market? The answer lies in a dead sexy OS for these pocket-sized computing devices.

You won't need Jerry Seinfeld ads to pull this off mind you. Make your products slicker. Make them dead easy to use.

You are in a great position. Virtually everyone uses your products and services and your stores could become the busiest places in the malls of the world. And right now, the malls of the world need you more than you need them.

But please don't blow it. Your first step towards this effort was to hire someone from Wal-Mart which makes sense in terms of helping with where to open the stores. But please, oh God please, do not get anyone from Wal-Mart to help design the insides of the stores. You have a real chance to one-up Apple. You have global partners designing amazing products based on your software. Make these stores the ultimate showcase. If done right, designers worldwide will fight to design products which are hot enough for you to select to be in store windows the world over.

And this Microsoft is how you take on Apple and blunt their move to take over computing in all our homes and eventually our offices. Don't do this right and you will have major problems. Do it right and your image improves overnight.

Google Backs off From Industries it Helped Kill

February 13, 2009 9:19 AM |

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It should come as no surprise that Google online advertising solutions are one of the reasons newspapers are struggling. Job sites like Monster and classified sites like Craigslist/eBay are other culprits of course. The irony of course is Google went into the business of selling ads in print publications and then abruptly pulled out.

The same thing just happened in radio where Google abruptly pulled out yesterday.

Some suspect TV is next but this Wall Street Journal article claims Google is serious about this business. IMHO TV is an area of the market where Google can be very successful as we will continue to see TVs and the web merging. As these once disparate spaces intersect, there should be abundant opportunities to show ads related to TV content.

The challenge for Google is that it is a cash generating machine and has a monopoly on the search ad business. There are precious few other industries it can enter into and make any meaningful revenue compared to its core business.

Selling cloud-based solutions is one area where the company of course can excel and Microsoft Office (no pun intended) is an easy target. A quick search on Amazon shows you can get the Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 Full Version for $240 meaning there is a quite a bit of room for Google to generate revenue with its Google Apps Premier Edition at $50/user account/year.

Other software apps will make sense as well and I would expect Google to look to expanding its software solutions in a bid to generate more revenue.

4G Gains From Truman Show/Twitter Mashups

February 12, 2009 4:50 PM |

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Why am I personally excited about the launch and success of TMC's latest 4GWE conference in partnership with Crossfire Media which includes Carl Ford and the team? How about a 66-fold increase in 4G mobile traffic through 2013?

What will people be doing with all this bandwidth? It is a given they will be transmitting video of their entire lives to friends and relatives while viewing the lives of others.

We will become a global army of zombie video-watching voyeurs. Can't wait.

Four Signs IP Communications is Thriving

February 12, 2009 3:50 PM |

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Is thriving too strong? Better than expected? Better than average. You choose the terms but you must admit things are better than many thought they would be.

In the toughest economy in my lifetime, IP communications including VoIP is doing well. First there was the blockbuster attendance at ITEXPO in Miami. Then there was Cbeyond getting named to the top 10 fastest growing tech companies by Forbes. Then there was a casual conversation last night with Ooma execs who tell me January sales were quite strong. Finally there is the 8x8/Packet8 news that they now have 15,000 SMB customers.

Again, I am cautiously optimistic about the future of communications and to some degree tech as the companies in our space are doing better than most. Yes we do have our casualties like Nortel and others who are saddled with huge debt loads. But as an industry, we can't be better positioned as long as we continue to focus on saving customers money while providing superior value through productivity and other improvements.

One surprise to me is the weakness being felt in the consumer electronics space. This was just such a strong area a year ago. To see IP communications growing while the CE market contracts is unexpected but still relatively good news for most companies in the communications market.

Expect SaaS, open source and segments of wireless to also be strong performers in this economy and once things turn (your guess is as good as mine as to when this happens) we will see the momentum behind SaaS, IP communications and open source continue for some time to come.

Mobile World Congress News

February 12, 2009 3:04 PM |

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TMCnet has a new Mobile World Congress news site which is worth bookmarking if you want to keep up with the latest happenings at the show. Hope you enjoy it.

The Good News is The Satellites Collided

February 12, 2009 2:50 PM |

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Is it just me or does it scare you to know satellites which can obviously return to earth for a variety of reasons can at times have onboard nuclear reactors. This is an important point as you may have heard an Iridium Satellite recently collided with a Russian military one.

And that is the good news. The bad - the Russian satellite could be nuclear.

And this it seems is how the world's top scientists design things. How does the conversation in the lab go? Let's hurl this two ton nuclear-powered object into space and hope it doesn't hit anything else?

Truly amazing.

Smule Gets $3.9M, Anything is Possible

February 12, 2009 2:25 PM |

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I don't mean to make light of Smule's accomplishments, after all a number of my readers told me I had to download the Ocarina app from the company for my iPhone so I could turn it into a flute - and yes, when you blow into your iPhone it plays music. I am consistently amazed at how simple the application is while being powerful. I can choose to play my own tune or listen to someone else playing elsewhere in the world.

Zephyr in the Wild

The company followed up with an applications called Zephyr which is best described at what a talented programmer might design while experimenting with mind-altering substances and watching Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer. wink Just kidding - sort of. The program allows you to design very cool-looking graphics with snowflakes and sound and like the Ocarina, you can put it in a mode where you get to experience the snowflake designs of others.

I am impressed with the company's accomplishments and the $3.9 million investment from Granite Ventures, Bessemer Ventures and others makes sense as Smule has established themselves as a company making truly innovative iPhone apps.

Two questions are now worth asking. Can this company design an interesting business app for the iPhone and how do I get in on the next investment round? wink Just kidding - sort of.

Cuba Launches Nova OS Based on Linux

February 12, 2009 10:34 AM |

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The goal of this post is not to make a political statement but rather a financial one.

The law of unintended consequences seems to have a way of really stinging those of us in the tech space. For example, in the late nineties Napster was a single place where the world shared music illegally. The record companies closed down Napster as an illegal file sharing company and as a result a number of music sharing networks took off which became impossible or near-impossible to control.

The effects of the US embargo on Cuba are similar. The country has difficulty getting access to Microsoft products so it is focusing its resources on building its own OS based on Linux called Nova. The concern US taxpayers should have is what if this project turns out to be good and becomes accepted by more Spanish-speaking countries? This could erode Microsoft's revenues and with the spending our politicians have been doing this past year, we need as much revenue as possible so that taxes can start to pay this debt down.

Of greater concern is the potential loss of US tech dominance. Sure, open source is continually eroding Microsoft's share but do we want the US government setting up policies which hamper US corporations and moreover cost US jobs and increase our deficit?

Putting on my citizen hat, I say that as long as there are no national security implications, I don't want the US government doing anything that hampers the financial future of my fellow citizens and their descendants.

I Was Wrong About Boingo

February 11, 2009 2:42 PM |

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I used to think Boingo was a singular network but since I have gotten the account installed the dead easy Boingo software on my laptop I have found Boingo is like the master key to WiFi networks nationwide. More and more often, I tentatively search for a WiFi network in a hotel or airport - not knowing if it is a paid network or set up back hackers. Who knows these days? Many times the Boingo software wakes up on its own and allows me to login with my saved credentials. To be honest I forgot the software is even installed on my laptop. It just activates when needed.

No passwords to remember, no muss or fuss. You just get online fast. I really recommend this service.

I wonder how many other people think of Boingo as a singular WiFi provider.

February 2009 Archives

iPhone Browsers Reviewed

VoIP Not Internet Telephony

Patent Trolls Symptom of Problem

Apple Jailbreaking, Twitter and Toshiba News

ITEXPO Keynotes and Panel Videos Posted

Did the Itanium Really Cripple Computing?

Microsoft to Open Stores, Needs to do More

Google Backs off From Industries it Helped Kill

4G Gains From Truman Show/Twitter Mashups

Four Signs IP Communications is Thriving

Mobile World Congress News

The Good News is The Satellites Collided

Smule Gets $3.9M, Anything is Possible

Cuba Launches Nova OS Based on Linux

I Was Wrong About Boingo

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