May 2009

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Ecessa Adds SBC, SIP Functions to WAN Optimization Line

May 31, 2009

You have no doubt noticed how traditional information technology vendors have embraced communications in response to customers who are looking for integrated and cost-effective solutions which span both markets. This thought occurred to me during a conversation with Mark Goodman, VP of Marketing for Ecessa a company focusing on "Uptime for IP networks," according to Goodman.

Last year the company quietly changed its name from Astrocom and even if you haven't heard of either company it is worth looking at their products as they solve real-world corporate problems such as security through their ShieldLink family which takes the company's PowerLink line of load balancing WAN optimization controllers and adds VPN gateway and firewall capabilities.

More recently the company announced ClariLink which takes ShieldLink and adds a SIP proxy, registrar and SBC allowing real-time failover for SIP sessions going over IP networks. Goodman explains you don't need service provider peering relationships or BGP with this solution and this saves you money.

Instead, the company uses NAT to traverse the network and their SIP proxy alleviates the double NATing problem which plagued enterprise VoIP in the good old days.

It is worth clarifying that one benefit of using this solution is there is no session loss if a WAN link goes down.

The product line is peripherally competitive to Acme Packet but there is more of a focus on smaller companies which correspond to the company's recent Covergence acquisition. Ingate would be another competitor to the product family as well.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Cisco, Fax, Green, IP Communications, Nortel, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: acme packet, clarilink, ecessa, ingate, interop, ip communications, load balancing, Mark Goodman, nat, powerlink, sbc, security, shieldlink, sip proxy, voip, wan : Related Tags: networks goodman, company, model, goodman, family, single

Microsemi's Green PoE Midspan Opportunity

May 31, 2009

Regardless of whether you think being green is the right way to live because of the environment or you think it makes sense to save money in a tough economy you should be keeping a close eye on Microsemi, the leader in the PoE midspan market allowing traditional networking equipment to be upgraded to PoE without a forklift.

In a recent conversation with Daniel Feldman, Telecom Marketing Director for the company we got to talking about the company's new high-power midspans the PD-9000G family.

Feldman pointed out that when the company first started producing PoE products they thought the midspan opportunity would be short-lived as all switches would eventually incorporate PoE natively meaning additional equipment would be unnecessary. As luck would have it MTBF times were reduced by half in equipment with powered Ethernet as heat dissipation became an issue.

Feldman equates a switch with integrated PoE to a TV with a built-in DVD player - if the DVD player fails you have to get a new TV making the combined product less desirable.

The even better news for the company is that PoE standards call for increasing wattage with the current 802.3at standard calling for 30W - up from 15W. The next stop is 60W and I have already heard of some vendors pushing higher wattage in specific PoE applications. As wattage increases, so does heat so you can expect the appetite for PoE in switches to decrease as MTBF times decrease in lockstep.

Regardless of how you achieve PoE, rest assured that there is tremendous potential to use the technology to save electricity as you can intelligently control the power to devices on your network when the power is being provided by an intelligent device.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: 802.3at, carbon footprint, Daniel Feldman, energy efficiency, green, green technology, Interop, Microsemi, midspan, mtbf, networking, poe, powerdsine : Related Tags: midspan opportunity, power midspans, intelligently control, control power, power, company

IBM Brocade Relationship Trouble for Cisco?

May 31, 2009

If you ask Cisco publically what they think of IBM you will get nothing but praise. In fact Cisco counts IBM as a major partner and IBM does the same with Cisco. Oftentimes the companies even promote technologies like collaboration together.

But more recently this alliance seems to be facing a challenge. Cisco as you may recall launched blade server technology recently aimed at IBMS's sweet spot.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Cisco, Financial, Green, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Optical, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: adx, bladecenter, Brocade, businessweek, ces, cisco, computing, consulting, fastiron, hp, ibm, information technology.merger, Interop, mlx, netiron, networking, oem, oracle, partnership, Peter Burrows, rebranding, serveriron, sun : Related Tags: series ethernet, ethernet switchesbrocade, switchesbrocade fastiron, cisco, series, relationship

Rhomobile Allows Cross-Platform Mobile App Development via Web

May 30, 2009

In 2001 when the PDA market was all the rage and smartphones didn't really exist, a company called Interactive Intelligence a leader in the contact center space saw an opportunity for a development platform called Mobilite (pronounced as if you are French) which would allow developers to develop once and have applications run on any mobile device.

The idea was genius and ahead of its time so Mobilite was shelved sometime later.

I couldn't help but think of this product as I spoke with Rhomobile Founder and CEO Adam Blum who was telling me about his company's open source mobile application framework Rhodes which lets you quickly build native mobile applications for all smartphone operating systems: iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android. Blum emphasizes that applications can take advantage of native GPS, PIM contacts and camera and that they are native, not just web applications optimized for each platform.

Another company in the space is PhoneGap and Blum explains that Rhodes focuses more on business applications while PhoneGap focuses more on consumer apps.

This graphic was chosen due to its looks and may or may not be related to the subject matter in this article -- depending on your perspective.

He went on to tell me Wikipedia rewrote their iPhone application using the Rhodes framework and used 20% of the code needed in Objective C and the resulting program also ran faster. He further went on to explain that while you may imagine his development environment is slanted heavily towards the iPhone, the reality is objective testers have shown applications run the same across all platforms.

Blum was Director of Engineering for Good Technology and explains he saw $200 million pushed into the company and as a result 200 engineers worked to get an email client on three smartphone operating systems. This lunacy (my chosen term, not his) made him decide to launch a company to stop the madness and his twelve-person company is looking to make mobile application writing more efficient.

In our conversation Blum explained that he believes it is virtually impossible to develop to more than two device operating systems beyond version 1.0 without some sort of cross-platform development application.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Adam blum, apple, blackberry, consumer electronics, email, gadget, good technology, interactive intelligence, Interop, interop, iphone, mobile, Mobilite, Motorola, open-source, palm, phonegap, planetpda, pre, Rhodes, rhohub, rhomobile, rim, smartphone, Wikipedia, windows mobile, wireless : Related Tags: cross platform, mobile applications, platform development, operating systems, person company, company

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Expand Networks Offers Free Mobile WAN Acceleration Software

May 30, 2009

The drive for more bandwidth does not slow - even in a global recession some reports show bandwidth needs increasing at rates higher than 100% per year on carrier and enterprise networks. The trend towards more collaborative applications, video, VoIP and cloud-based services are no doubt just a few factors in what seems to be just the beginning of a global bandwidth binge showing no sign of slowing.

Enter Expand a company focusing on application acceleration over WANs who is looking to help solve the branch office bandwidth drought. The company makes its living selling a variety of appliances which they say will increase ROI and stretch IT budgets further. These devices are optimized for datacenters, branch offices and regional offices.

The company counts Fidelity National Insurance, Piconol, Antarctica NZ, Targus, DISA and Evans Fruit Company as some of its customers and has partnered with Vision Solutions to provide more efficient disaster recovery services.

At Interop 2009 in Las Vegas, the company unveiled a new solution they hope will become widely deployed on global networks.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Broadband, Cisco, Conference, Financial, Google, Green, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Optical, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Adam Davison, Antarctica NZ, cache, collaboration, David White, DISA, Efi Gatmor, Evans Fruit Company, expand networks, Fidelity National Insurance, Hive, Interop, ip communications, Microsoft, msi, p2p, qos, Targus, video, Vision Solutions, vista, voip, wan acceleration, WAN optimization, windows 7, xp : Related Tags: branch office, expand networks, mobile client, shared cache, virtual cache, bandwidth

eTelemetry Helps Manage Virtualization, VoIP User Location for E911

May 30, 2009

As the networking landscape gets more complex through the addition of remote computing, WiFi, cloud computing and virtualization, it is becoming more of a challenge to determine who is using what services and how much aggregate bandwidth they are consuming. Moreover as the need for ever-more bandwidth shows no sign of slowing, companies need to ensure they have an adequate way of charging departments for their bandwidth usage.

One company looking to fill the void is eTelemetry whose self-described goal is to extract real-time business information from network activity. I recently sat down with Ermis Sfakiyanudis CEO & President and Jennifer Silate - Marketing Manager of the company to learn about their products.

To get started I should introduce Metron to you - it is a 1-2U (depending on model) rack-mounted device which monitors and manages bandwidth usage, time spent surfing and chatting by department. Other nifty features include the ability to track computers powered on during off-hours and the ever-important alerts you need to be sent when an employee uses Remote Desktop (if they aren't supposed to of course) or if they exceed their time or bandwidth allotment, etc.

In my conversation I learned the company now has the ability to track virtualization on the desktop allowing network managers to monitor the bandwidth use and websites visited by virtual instances on devices/computers on the network.

The company has technology which maps IP addresses to users meaning their products can help you get a better indication of who is doing what with networking resources.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, FCC, IP Communications, Nortel, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: bandwidth, cloud computing, E911, Ermis Sfakiyanudis, etelecmetry, Interop, ip address, ip communications, Jennifer Silate, lbs, metron, network, video, virualization, voip : Related Tags: ability track, cloud computing, bandwidth usage, company, bandwidth, important

Adtran 1544 Series Layer 3 Switches Fill Networking Void

May 30, 2009

ADTRAN is a networking company which has transformed a great deal over the past decades. In the nineties, the company held a virtual monopoly in the CSU/DSU market and most every network had the company's standalone boxes in their network (including TMC). In fact the company was once synonymous with the term CSU/DSU in my mind. As this functionality was added into other boxes, the company saw its identity erode and in the process took the opportunity to grow into a major networking force selling over 1,700 products to enterprise and carrier customers.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Broadband, Call Center, Conference, FCC, Financial, IP Communications, Nortel, Optical, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: access controller, ADTRAN, cisco, csu, dsu, fiber, Interop, juniper, lan, netvanta, networking, networking equipment, sfp, switch, Todd Lattanzi, wan, wifi : Related Tags: series layer, company, adtran, networking, support, products

Attention Developers: You Could Win!

May 29, 2009

There is nothing that builds a resume more like an award and if you are a developer, you definitely want to keep an eye on the new Dialogic Innovator Award contest which will not only give you some great bragging rights, you could win some prizes as well.

Dialogic was nice enough to ask me to be one of the judges in fact and I am looking forward to being part of this program. Winners get a free one-year service and support contract, a $5,000 credit towards future Dialogic products, t-shirts, press releases and an Innovator logo which I imagine can be invaluable in boosting a company's marketing efforts.

Sure it isn't a $75,000 motorcycle - which makes a great gift for your favorite blogger by the way, but hey, times are tough.

The catch? None really - you have to apply of course and Dialogic wants to also take a moment to invite you to participate in the Dialogic Exchange Network while they have your attention.

At one point in my career I was a programmer and I wish I had the time to participate in this contest. If I did, I would write an app that taps into all my social networks and then monitors my cell phone's GPS to determine when I am in the car.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Financial, Gadget, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Communications Developer, den, Dialogic, Dialogic Exchange Network, Dialogic Innovator Award contest, dsp, facebook, jim machi, social networking, twitter, video, voice : Related Tags: dialogic, course

Will Google Wave Transform Communications?

May 28, 2009

Google Wave is an ambitious project from Google which allows true real-time communications by integrating chat, email, a wiki, social networking tools and more. In many ways it competes with other services such as Facebook and as such it really isn't that new. Still, it does seem slicker and it is more open than many other services which provide communications solutions (a promotional plug -- you may want to check out TMCnet's newest news-driven Global Online Community called Communications Solutions). It also allows real-time IM sessions meaning you can see what the other person is typing before they hit enter.

Some think the company is being arrogant with this launch because as usual they seem to think about products first and profits second.

Posted in AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Gadget, Green, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Search, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: aol, bing, facebook, Google, im, instant messaging, Microsoft, palm, pre, sharepoint, social networking, twitter, wave : Related Tags: social networking, instead google, communications solutions, search engines, search instead, google

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TMCnet Interop 2009 Video Interviews Beginning to Post

May 27, 2009

Last week at Interop my team conducted over 100 interviews with thought leaders at the show. Topics discussed include green switching, testing, Ethernet, cloud computing and more. So far, half a dozen of the videos have been posted and more are being added continually. I hope you find them helpful.

I have embedded some of these for your immediate viewing pleasure.

Posted in 4G, Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Conference, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Green, IP Communications, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Chris Loeffler, Eaton, Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Enterprise WLAN, Extreme Networks, green, information technology, Interop, Kevin Gavin, Kevin Goulet, Kevin Ryan, Motorola, Neil Anderson, networking, Shoretel, Spirent, tmc : Related Tags: kevin

Green Data Center Technology

May 26, 2009

On a recent flight back from Europe I marveled at the ice littering the North Atlantic. A flight attendant told me it was sad as what appeared to be ice cubes from a mile or more in the air used to be icebergs. I am concerned about the environment but I am not sure I agree with the carbon cap and trade system being proposed in the US as it could adversely impact the economy.

But last I checked, regulation gets passed without my express permission and in a world where CO2 is becoming a pollutant, you need to be more aware of energy use and carbon emissions than ever before.

I am especially looking forward to the upcoming sponsored TelcoBridges webinar on TMCnet which will help educate the market on how data centers can lower their energy use.

Even if cap and trade does not become reality this year it is apparent that governments are more and more likely to impose penalties for carbon emissions. Since reducing energy use saves money as well, it behooves everyone with data center decision making authority to be part of this timely event.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Green, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, communications, data center, energy, Erik Linask, green technology, ip communications, Kenneth Trueman, media processing, media server, network, tco, Telcobridges, webinar, wireless : Related Tags: carbon emissions, energy, carbon

Following Apple and Keeping it Simple

May 26, 2009

My friends, we are in the midst of a tech follow the leader game the likes of which we have never ever seen. First Apple comes out with a mobile phone with a large touch screen and everyone; I mean everyone seems to be following them. Then Apple comes out with an app store and guess what, once again we see follow the leader taking place.

Today in fact Nokia announced its Ovi store and reports are circulating that Sun will soon offer a Java app store.

But if I may, it isn't just the touch screen phone which is making the public go crazy for Apple products. It is a relentless push by Apple to develop products which are slick and easy to use.

Skype is far from the first VoIP software package to come along - it was probably 100th or 1,000th in line.

Posted in AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Financial, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Technology, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: advertising, app store, apple, bing, google, iphne, java, live, Microsoft, oracle, ovi, search, sun : Related Tags: apple comes, touch screen, follow leader, search engine, develop products, microsoft

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NetIQ Automates Information Technology Processes

May 25, 2009

As the world of information technology and IP communications converge, NetIQ is a company in the center of both markets, providing solutions which enable their customers to better manage both disciplines. The company's core business is IT process automation and recently at Interop I had a chance to speak with the company's Director of Product Marketing and Chief Technology Strategist, Todd Tucker. In the IT process automation market the company provides NetIQ Aegis which helps a data center deal with routine maintenance issues like reboots which often need to be done in a specific order. Moreover the solution automates many processes which are typically tedious and error prone, allowing tech teams to focus on more important tasks and companies to enjoy the benefits of less mistakes which are often costly.

NetIQ Security Manager is a great tool to use as it brings automation to the security process, allowing easier security reviews, log preservation, threat management, incident response and change auditing.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Cisco, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP

Tagged: AppManager, Avaya, Cisco, infant, Interop, IT process automation, Microsoft, NetIQ, network monitoring, Nortel, Todd Tucker, uc, unified communications, VoIP : Related Tags: process automation, information technology, company, netiq, technology, automation

Interop 2009 Trends, Virtualization, Cloud Computing, Ethernet and Wireless

May 25, 2009

I had a good time at Interop this last week catching up with the industry and seeing where the strengths in technology are. Some bright spots were virtualization, cloud computing, Ethernet and wireless. Some of the old guard companies I have tracked for years were impressive in the products they rolled out and others who were once networking giants had large, empty booths devoid of anything interesting.

Green/energy efficient computing was another hot button but there seemed to be less excitement about these areas than at last year's event. Ironically more companies were pushing these ideas - but they just weren't proposed as primary reasons to buy as they have been in years past.

I stopped by a networking reception at Avocent threw after one of the days at the show.

Posted in Avaya, Cisco, Conference, Fax, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Technology, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: avocent, cloud computing, conference, energy efficient, Ethernet, expo, Green, Interop, mergepoint, networking, trade show, virtualization, wireless : Related Tags: cloud computing, interesting green, ethernet wireless, infrastructure explorer, virtualization cloud, products

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SolarWinds and OpenTable IPOs a Healthy Sign

May 21, 2009

Today OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN) had a successful IPO allowing VCs to recoup investment dollars. This statement could be one of the most important you can imagine for the tech sector as it signals the IPO market is no longer frozen and in fact the stock was up to $31.89 as of this writing and was planned to price between $16-$18. This number in fact represents an 88% increase over the average $17 price! This as you imagine is the best IPO in some time - 18 months to be exact.

Not surprisingly, this price increase reminds some of the dotcom boom and it does indicate that there is an appetite (pun sort of intended) for tech IPOs if the company has a business model which people think makes sense.

But then again, you could argue the state of the restaurant market is so bad at the moment that this IPO shouldn't have received any premium at all. And with this in mind, the tech IPO market could have a lot more potential than you may think.

Posted in Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Financial, Gadget, IP Communications, Skype, Technology, Video, VoIP

Tagged: Ebay, finance, financial, ipo, Nasdaq, opentable, private equity, Skype, solarwinds, stock, vc, venture capital : Related Tags: market, price, increase

Get Your VoIP Avatar Ready

May 20, 2009

Even before it was trendy, I was a fan of 3D HD voice - In fact back in 2004 I featured DiamondWare onstage at ITEXPO in Miami as a killer app. Over the years DiamondWare began integrating its technology into a virtual world and eventually the company was sold to Nortel and became part of web.alive which I covered here.

My last visit to the Ottawa campus of Nortel consisted of meetings with the tech team who told me they eventually see avatars everywhere - on cell phones, computers, etc.

Since that conversation I have been looking for signs of avatar/communications integration and I did compile a list of vendors who had an avatar strategy.

But here is the reality - if we are going to start seeing more avatar integration in telecom it has to come from our kids - just like text messaging, Twitter, Facebook and lots of other interesting technologies we once considered oddities.

Recently I learned that Second Life - the popular consumer based avatar laden community generates 15 billion minutes of web voice - or VoIP calls. And this reminded me of the popularity in the early days of Twitter and Facebook.

It remains to be seen if avatars will become mainstream but I get the feeling that this technology may just follow Twitter as a hot new thing everyone jumps on in years to come.

If you are looking to take advantage of avatar/communications integration the question you need to ask is whether you want to get involved now, before it becomes hip and trendy or wait for Oprah and Ashton to jump in first.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, Communications Developer, Conference, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: 3d, avatar, cell phone, diamondware, facebook, hd voice, hd voip, linden labs, Nortel, oprah, second life, social networking, stereo voice, stereo voip, twitter, web.alive : Related Tags: communications integration, twitter facebook, avatar communications, avatar, twitter, integration

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More Google Antitrust Talk

May 18, 2009

Back in January of this year I mentioned the possibility of antitrust moves towards Google from the Obama administration. I even mentioned Eric Schmidt bodying up with Obama to protect the search leader. A new article in the New York Times delves deeper into the potential for a government breakup.

Based on the article, what Google has in its favor is that it is helping consumers by giving away services for free. What is working against it is the ability to leverage its dominant search position to launch new services which can kill off competition quickly and efficiently.

If history is a guide, Microsoft and Yahoo! will not be a threat to the company from a search perspective and Google's services will only get better.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Search, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: antitrust, doj, eric schmidt, ftc, Google, new york times, nyt, obama : Related Tags: google, services, search, company, government

I Finally Get On-board WiFi

May 18, 2009

All these years and flights and I have never been lucky enough to have WiFi on a flight. Interestingly almost everyone else I know has experienced in-flight WiFi already. Thanks to Virgin America for their awesome GoGo Wireless service. Here is a speed test from the air on the way to Vegas from JFK.

It costs $12.95 and interestingly my coworkers and fellow passengers tell me checking online indicated this flight did not have WiFi meaning you too can be surprised by wirelss broadband in the air.

Posted in AT&T, Broadband, FCC, IP Communications, Technology, Wireless

Tagged: Airline, airplane, computer, gogo, information technology, satellite, vigin, virgin airways, virgin america, virgin atlantic, wifi, wireless : Related Tags: flight

At Tiscali Event in Sardinia

May 15, 2009

Last night and today I am attending a Tiscali International Network
media event in Sardinia, Italy.

Last night we had a treat - an authentic Sardinian dinner with
Sardinian dancers.

The food here at the Forte Village Hotel is amazing. In fact it has
been great almost wherever I have gone in Sardinia this past week.

More to come.

Posted in IP Communications

Amazon Bites Hand That Fed it

May 14, 2009

At a certain point Microsoft went from being the small friendly corner store computer company to an awe-inspiring hulking behemoth that crushed virtually any company in any market it wanted. Thousands of PC utility and other vendors have been put out to pasture as Microsoft decided their markets would be good add-ons to the operating system business.

I wonder if we aren't about to see the same thing happening with Amazon. The company recently announced that any blogger can now have their content sold on the Kindle and get paid in the process. The two sticking points are Amazon sets the price and also has the ability to relicense the content on any digital device it pleases.

In addition, the company gets 70% of the revenue generated from the blog (or other content for that matter) and the publisher gets the remaining 30%.

So publishers should be happy as Amazon is touting the Kindle as the savior of publishing, right? Well, the company just may be right and although I predicted no one wanted the original Kindle, later generations of this electronic reader have developed a nice following.

I am also on record as saying people won't pay for content and I still believe this to be the case.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Financial, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, Amazon, apple, at&t, broadband, cell phone, computer, consumer electronics, desktop, device, ebook, gadgets, gary kim, information technology, iphone, it, kindle, laptop, media, michael dinan, Microsoft, mobile, netbook, newspaper, pcworld, place shifting, reader, rupert murdoch, slingbox, t, telecision, time shifting, tv, Verizon, wimax, wireless : Related Tags: becomes platform, kindle becomes, blogger content, platform future, kindle, amazon

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In Sardinia This Week

May 11, 2009

The people at Iridium were nice enough to provide me with a review unit of their 9555 satellite phone and since all the TMC oil rigs were being upgraded this week I figured a trip to Sardinia, Italy made sense as a place to test the phone.

So far so good. The phone has worked well. Here are shots of the durable device in a lemon tree and with pink flamingos.

The other shot is of a 3,500 year old Sardinian civilization with a population of about 100.

Five stone towers of about 100 feet in height are surrounded by a few dozen homes with stone bases.

Pretty amazing.

Posted in IP Communications

Motorola Teams Up with Vocera

May 8, 2009

One of the more interesting trade show demos I have seen lately came from Motorola who was demonstrating their latest mobile voice and data solutions, such as their TEAM VoWLAN Solution (mobile access to toll-quality, PBX-based telephony, enterprise-grade Push-to-Talk, text messaging, email/calendar/PIM, Internet/intranet, line of business applications); TEAM Radio Link Solution (enabling basic Push-to-Talk talk-group communications capability between existing two-way radio systems and the TEAM solution devices); TEAM Express Solution (a downloadable voice client that enables basic Push-to-Talk communication between disparate devices); WLAN infrastructure; Voice-optimized data devices (mobile computers with rich data functionality and VoIP-enabled scanners); Security and management software.

An area of special interest was a demo of how verticals can increase productivity, responsiveness and collaboration with Motorola's integrated voice and data mobility solutions, Motorola also announced in conjunction with Vocera a new agreement to jointly deliver a way to extend Vocera's communications platform so it will work on various Motorola Enterprise Digital Assistants (EADs) and voice-over-wireless LAN (VoWLAN) smartphones so that healthcare staff can better access critical information, collaborate, provide improved patient safety and more attentive care, and otherwise streamline their communications.

The need for healthcare productivity increases have been touted by the Obama administration and as such it made great sense to investigate further.

To learn more, I caught up with Bart Lipinski, a Motorola External Communications Consultant; Russ Knister, Senior Director, Converged Enterprise Communications, Enterprise Mobility business, Motorola, Inc.; and Niraj Jain, Vocera Communications' VP Business Development. They showed me a ruggedized version of a WiFi phone that runs Vocera's software.

"Ultimately, everything boils down to mobility," says Motorola's Knister. "Whether it plays in a classic enterprise setting or one of the verticals, the introduction and increasing adoption of mobility indicates that customers like it, but they want choices in terms of the device which is right for job they want to do. That's why, between Motorola and Vocera, customers will be able to enjoy advanced mobile communications on all sorts of different devices.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Broadband, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Converged Enterprise Communications, Bart Lipinski, EADs, EDA, Enterprise Mobility business, healthcare, lan, MC55, MC70, MC75, Motorola, Motorola Enterprise Digital Assistants, Niraj Jain, obama, productivity, ruggedized, Russ Knister, Smartphone, software, Vocera, vowlan, WiFi phone, wifi telephony : Related Tags: motorola vocera, vowlan solution, windows mobile, vocera, motorola, communications

Why Less Investment Can be Good

May 7, 2009

It seems the common sentiment is the lower amount of venture capital we see today is negative for the US economy. The New York Times even says we are in a VC crisis. Let me give you a contrarian point of view based on my experience in the late nineties. When the Telecom Act of 1996 was passed, VCs flooded the market with billions of dollars to create thousands of CLECS looking to take a piece of the communications market from the handful of incumbents.

What ended up happening was too many investment dollars chased too few sales dollars and the model disintegrated.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Broadband, Call Center, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Financial, Gadget, Google, Green, IP Communications, Nortel, SIP, SaaS, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless

Tagged: innovation, marketing, new york times, nyt, patents, recession, technology, Telecom act, vc, venture capital : Related Tags: economic climate, barriers entry, market, companies, should, company

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TMC Wishes Greg Galitzine a Fond Farewell

May 7, 2009

For nearly 13 years, Greg Galitzine has been a tremendously valuable part of the TMC team. His career started as an editor for CTI Magazine in 1996. Where he reported on the collision of the computer and communications spaces including what we called IP telephony back in the day. In 1997 we convened a meeting with Greg to explore whether it made sense to launch a publication in the IP telephony space.

Posted in 4G, 4GWE, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conference, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Financial, Gadget, Google, Green, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, JITC, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Musings, Nortel, Open Source, Optical, Patent, Personal, Rates Technology, SIP, SaaS, Search, Security, Skype, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, TMC Team, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Vonage, WiMAX, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: cti, Greg Galitzine, internet telephony, ip communications, isa, itmag, nuclear, softphone, tmc, voip : Related Tags: industry, sister, telephony, publication, happy, international

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Can Deflation Create US Jobs?

May 6, 2009

Over the past year it has become evident that deflation is a driving force of the US economy. Margins are being squeezed in virtually all businesses. Even areas of the market where you might think there is pricing pressure don't always have it. For example I queried a friend about how his low-income rental units were doing thinking that the subprime mess would definitely drive more business to him.

Posted in Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Financial, IP Communications, Technology, VoIP

Tagged: America, call center, capitalist, contact center, deflation, economy, fed, federal reserve, financial, gdp, government, gross domestic product, india, inflation, interest rates, internet, IP communications, jobs, John Maynard Keynes, laid off, new york times, offshoring, outsourcing, recession, subprime, Time Magazine, united states, us : Related Tags: standard living, deflation, economy, living, standard, keynes

Traveling on a Gloomy NY Day

May 5, 2009

I am out on the road today and will have more later in the day. I sure hope we see some sun at some point soon in the northeast US.

Posted in IP Communications

Credit Crisis Visualized

May 3, 2009

For your weekend enjoyment I believe this video on how the credit crisis happened could be quite instructive.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Posted in Financial, Personal

Tagged: credit crisis, financial, real estate : Related Tags: credit crisis, credit, crisis

Verizon Mulls Free WiFi

May 1, 2009

As I have mentioned in the past, WiFi is becoming an important part of the carrier strategy and needs to be included in a bundle of products ranging from voice to wired broadband to TV. AT&T offers free WiFi to customers, Cablevision does as well. Now it seems Verizon is jumping on the bandwagon by potentially partnering with Boingo. Remember that AT&T purchased Wayport so that is one less provider Verizon can work with.

Availability of free Cablevision WiFi is getting more and more play...

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Technology, Verizon, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, access point, ap, at&t, boingo, Cablevision, david pogue, new York times, nyt, Verizon, wayport, wifi, wimax, wireless : Related Tags: question becomes, effect perhaps, perhaps because, negative effect, adoption levels, doesn

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ng Connect Improves the User Experience

May 1, 2009

Device and service convergence continues to accelerate and as it does, the complexity involved in creating new products and services increases. A counter to the trend of increasing complexity is the new multi-industry ng Connect Program, founded by Alcatel-Lucent which is establishing a rich and diverse ecosystem of infrastructure, device, content and applications for both mobile and fixed broadband networks including 4G, LTE, GPON and other ultra high bandwidth technologies.

The group accelerates the deployment of new devices and services by helping to determine interoperability across industries such as automotive, entertainment, wireless and consumer electronics. The value proposition for members include access to research, reduced development costs and a first mover advantage across markets. For carriers there is the increased use of broadband, reduced OPEX and churn and accelerated time to market.

For consumers the benefits include better integration of disparate entertainment systems, a higher level of value for devices which are part of this initiative, enhanced payment options and perhaps lower cost for a variety of next-gen services and devices.

To learn more about the group's progress I had a chance to interview Chris Carfagnini, Director of Emerging Technology & Media for Alcatel-Lucent via email.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Communications Developer, Consumer Electronics, Gadget, IMS, IP Communications, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: 4DK, 4G, Alcatel-Lucent, applications, Atlantic Records, broadband, Buzznet, Chris Carfagnini, chumby, Connect2Media, consumer electronics, content, ctia, device, dimedis, ecosystem, FISHLABS, gadget, GPON, HP, infrastructure, ip communications, Kyocera Communications Inc., LearningMate, LTE, MediaTile, Mobile Enhanced Reality demo, networks, ng Connect Program, QNX, Samsung, SIGNEXX, telematics, Total Immersion, TuneWiki, Words & Numbers : Related Tags: alcatel lucent, connect program, broadband networks, member companies, business models, companies

Amazon Sales Tax Coming

May 1, 2009

It looks like the dreaded "Amazon sales tax" I wrote about last year (Amazon's response) may be coming whether we want it or not. As this article points out, the new regulations will slow ecommerce. Not surprisingly eBay is totally against the change as it would require sellers to know the tax laws in all states and comply. As always, if ecommerce sales tax is made a reality I expect companies like H&R Block and others to help reduce the pain. More.

Posted in E-Commerce, Financial, Technology

Tagged: amazon, ebay, new york, overstock, Sales tax : Related Tags: amazon sales, sales, amazon

Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com

May 2009