July 2009 Archives

When I last caught up with Ooma in New York I had a chance to learn about their slick new Telo device which looks like a blend of art and communications. I have always been a fan of Bang & Ulufsen products - they are some of the best designers of stereo products on the planet. I was not surprised at all to see some B&O products at Ooma headquarters when I visited last week. They can be quite inspiring. In fact, the Telo could pass as a B&O device but you can detect that B&O would have made it a bit more artsy and less functional.

Some important details regarding Ooma are as follows. The company sells a device for $250 (or whatever the retailer charges up front and provides free US phone service from that point on). International rates are similar to Skype. One really interesting stat is their Premier Telephony Package which adds a second line, three-way conferencing and Multi-Ring (Find me, Follow-me), black list and more is chosen by 28% of customers. At $12.99/month or $99.99/year it seems like a good value.

More recently as municipalities are looking to tax anything they can, have found VoIP to be a tempting target and as such Ooma may be forced to charge users monthly taxes. This could amount to less than a $1 a month according to Rich Buchanan CMO and Tami Bhaumik VP Corporate Marketing.

The company expects to be profitable by the end of the year and they have seen their retail presence grow dramatically from Amazon being their sole distribution source a year ago to 5,000 retail stores today. They are also in 100 Costcos - this started as a trial in only 20 stores. They tell me this relationship has been successful so far.

Telo comes out this Fall and the mobile devices are not required but I suggest them if you want a slick looking phone that can take advantage of data-driven features like sending SMS and assigning MP3-based ringtones. The one downside to these mobile phones is they have black and white screens - but for $50 there is still a solid value here.

HD voice is included as well so you are talking about a high-quality solution with a slick interface.

On a more technical note Telo is powered by Mindspeed Technologies dual core processor running Linux and FreeSWITCH meaning we can see this offering morph (and this was confirmed once again in our meeting) to be a capable SMB solution in the future. Another benefit to using the service is it uses a secure tunnel to communicate with Ooma servers meaning no ISP snooping is possible with DPI or using other means. This sort of solution is the perfect arms race product for consumers in countries where governments use DPI to crack down on VoIP users. And this is happening more and more as DPI companies I speak with tell me about the roster of middle-eastern telcos who are customers.

Buchanan and Bhamik told me their devices are selling nicely to families with relatives outside the US and as a side benefit, relatives living abroad get a US number for domestic friends and family to call.

When we discussed the change in user habits as it comes to landlines Buchanan told me consumers see their service as an IP communications device for the broadband age meaning it is not considered to be a landline but instead a new-age IP-based service.

In addition for features like 911 he says Ooma is preferable to mobile phones where you may be connected to a police officer and have to spend time explaining your exact location in the case of an emergency. This leads to the idea Rich mentioned which is if you have kids you want a landline for safety and again superior 911 service.

Anytime a company is able to break into a saturated industry like consumer voice with a new way of doing things it is impressive to me. Time will tell if a slick interface and hardware design coupled with free phone service makes for the killer device this holiday season but if consumers are still looking for hot-looking products which save them money, Ooma's Telo could be a hit this holiday season.

Destroying developer and customer relationships seems to be another area where Apple wants to lead the pack

Is it just me or is Apple's Monday morning App Store removals really getting out of hand? First Riverturn's VoiceCentral was approved then it was yanked. Amazingly the Cupertino computer and phone company decided months after the application was approved that it was unapproved and then when users realized the app will no longer be upgraded they requested a refund which they received. The result? The developer had to eat those refunds. I have never in my entire career seen a policy like the one Apple is using with the App Store. If it isn't illegal it is certainly unethical, immoral and worse than anything I have ever seen Microsoft do.

How the world's users don't protest this situation is beyond me. I do want to remain impartial but to be honest the free markets won't settle this one as Apple's designs are not months ahead of the competition they are years ahead. The MacBook Air and iPhone are still being chased and no one is catching either.

The 3G S is essentially the same iPhone as the original and it is still not copied correctly or bettered.

If users don't organize a protest somehow like boycotting the Apple store, I see no end in sight to the worst management of customers and developers in the history of computing.

It just seems to me Apple is in a pickle because they have to work with AT&T to ensure the carrier can continue to pay them handsomely for these devices. Moreover I suspect if they put out a policy and continue to gain share in the market, developers will be able to find a legal way to overturn the policy.

Sadly - destroying developer and customer relationships seems to be another area where Apple is leading the pack and one wonders how long it will be before they come out and admit the real situation. But then again, Apple is the most secretive company around it seems and they would still be telling us Steve Jobs had hormone therapy and not a liver transplant if they hadn't been caught lying.

What do you think?

In a recent meeting with Minerva Network's Italian-born CEO Mauro Bonomi, he told me today's IPTV service is the equivalent of driving a Ferrari at 55 MPH and his point is the technology needs to shift into the fast lane.

Mauro, no offense, but I have always been a Lamborghini guy. No hard feelings?

Minerva has been a digital video pioneer for over a decade and many years back decided it made sense to focus on the IPTV space. Recently he says due to improvements in compression technology and better IP network support, the market is ready for IPTV adoption to grow even faster and he feels YouTube and other "over-the-top" services complement and do not replace TV. Upon further questioning he said he thinks perhaps in five to ten years the world may migrate to an Internet-only viewing experience. Until then his company is happy to be providing the advanced IPTV solutions carriers need to be able to compete effectively.

Just as IP communications vendors began with voice and eventually morphed into video, Mauro believes the last four-five years are how long it took for the industry to catch up with services provided by cable companies and now is time for it to evolve. Just as the Internet Protocol revolution has shaken up just about every other market from commerce to newspapers he feels it is time to utilize IP so as to deliver a television service which is far superior to legacy satellite and cable. Notice the use of the word legacy - it was at an ITEXPO in 2004 when I sensed the communications industry considered any non-IP products and services to be legacy. It is a given that the television industry will consider non IPTV services to be legacy one day soon as well.

Mauro sees the need for more innovation and services which tie set-top boxes to the Internet while affording them tight integration with social networks. Minerva bills themselves as a leading IPTV middleware provider and to become even more relevant to the 120 carrier customers the company has to date and to be attractive to new ones they have developed a Widget Engine as part of their iTVManager 4.0 product line.

I asked how this solution will compete with TV-specific widgets like those from Samsung and Mauro said there are a few differences including the navigation meaning with a widget platform integrated into the service itself you are able to deal with one system of menus and not have to learn the UI of the TV and set-top box. In addition there is the challenge of disparate TV types - with a TV-centric widget model you are bound to a single TV manufacturer.

In addition the company is focusing on tight integration with social networking applications allowing a consumer to tap into the programming of their friends to see what they are watching and recording (assuming the privacy issues are handled of course). The point here is the TV-specific widget has no idea what you are recording so is unable to provide similar richness to a widgetized carrier television platform.

According to Bonomi this blended unified experience becomes television 2.0 and he feels as the largest independent player in the market they are in a great position to drive this vision forward. He further believes the proprietary hardware companies are tied to their own equipment and are likely not able to tie together the hardware-agnostic solutions today's carriers need. In addition the alternative he describes as a Microsoft-only solution would likely mean commoditized hardware with the world's largest software company owning the most profitable applications. He went on to mention companies like Oracle and Google are best served with a platform which is open - one where they can freely add value. Mauro says carriers are also becoming concerned with Microsoft as they have strong consumer relationships and products like Xbox which can allow them to eventually bypass carriers altogether.

I mentioned Apple as a competitor in the space and Bonomi said they would need the provisioning and real-time experience which Minerva could provide them to help them become a force in the market.

He reiterated the need for more services and mentioned in-home DVR seems to be the first differentiator the IPTV providers have in their corner so far. We also briefly discussed Verizon FiOS and how it has recently integrated social networking through its Widget Bazaar. His company's goal of course is to help carriers broaden their service suites and in the process become the provider of the platform which takes television into the social networking and internet world.

I think the vision is logical but the competition to this sort of solution may just be a company like TiVO which is also adding services at a rapid clip. The final point? If you ever have to bet who will act faster, a carrier or Silicon Valley company -- you can virtually always bet on Silicon Valley.

Will carriers quickly enough to not be eclipsed by the cadre of companies looking to replace them and relegate them to dumb pipe delivery? Time will tell but if I were them I would be stepping on the gas.

Bravo to Avery Goodman who has summed up how the very bankers who destroyed millions of global jobs (to be fair they had lots of help from a raft of industries, GSEs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ratings agencies and the government) and effectively become civil servants are now raking in bonuses by the tens of billions.

His response to those who say their special talents are worthy of such outlandish sums is, "I am not sure what kind of special "talent" it takes to destroy the world's financial system, but I have no doubt that it does require very special skills." Read more here.

Skype Cofounder Niklas Zennstrom Most Important Man in Telecom - Again

Niklas Zennstrom is one of the most important people of the century in the communications space. Skype, the company he cofounded is responsible for enabling hundreds of millions of people to communicate for free. Moreover Skype allows a person to communicate over HD quality with full video for free. The company he ran was also responsible for tens of billions of dollars of lost telecom revenue and Zennstrom's Skype is despised by carriers like no other company.

Just as Apple came into the mobile phone market with a simple and elegant interface and subsequently began to take it over, Skype too was very late to the VoIP game and became entrenched because their software was easy to use and the GUI had a really cool look about it.

But Zennstrom's influence on technology faded after he was let go from Skype by parent company eBay and his most recent venture Joost has been doing poorly relative to Hulu and other competitors.

But Skype founders Zennstrom and Janus Friis control Joltid, the company responsible for Skype's crucial p2p software. Recently JoltID has said Skype has breached their license agreement by divulging confidential information about the technology pursuant to orders from U.S. courts. I find this shocking as a good deal of license agreements have a clause which allows companies to comply with local laws and court orders. It is surprising that such a stipulation was not added to this contract by eBay lawyers.

Assuming the above is accurate - and eBay doesn't seem to be disputing the fact, the world's largest auction site is in some trouble as JoltID is playing hardball. As eBay negotiates for continued access to the p2p technology it is simultaneously trying to create its own p2p software. It is unknown if they will be successful in either endeavor.

This leads me to a crucial thought. Who is the number two in the VoIP software market? I know all the players - Yahoo, Google, etc - but really - who comes to mind as the solid number two behind Skype? Really no one does - at least not to me. I would imagine Google would eventually take the market over between its Wave and Voice products but it would take time.

Can you imagine the disruption in the market if Skype were to stop working?

One wonders how much money global telcos are bound to gain if Skype were to shut down? Ten billion dollars perhaps? More?

This is an interesting dilemma for eBay/Skype and for global telcos an opportunity of a lifetime. Is JoltID worth more to Skype who gives away service for free or is it more valuable to a few hundred telecom operators (who would shelve the technology) charging an average of 10 cents per minute?

I would be shocked if some leading telcos aren't courting Zennstrom and Friis as you read this. This story could take more twists and turns as time goes on. I look forward to hearing more details and reporting from next month's ITEXPO in Los Angeles. Stay tuned.

If you like soap operas, communications, technology, bankruptcies and pension liability discussions, this well-researched and well-written article by TMC's Brendan Read makes for interesting reading.

Here is an excerpt:

Tony Marsh, for the Nortel Retirees Protection Committee, told TMCnet that Nortel's Canadian pension liability is over $2 billion but is only 69 percent funded. There are no national pension guarantee funds in Canada unlike in the United States and the United Kingdom. There is only the Ontario program, the Ontario Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund.

"The agreements with Ericsson, Avaya (News - Alert), and probably the buyers of Nortel's remaining assets will absolve them of the pension liabilities, while the proceeds from the sales will be held in escrow until the sales are finalized," Marsh told TMCnet. "The question then becomes who gets what. The American and British governments staked their claims over the proceeds, but we have heard nothing from ours, which causes us to worry."

Unfortunately for the 17,500 Canadian Nortel retirees, provincial government decisions to give the ailing auto sector funding 'holidays' had led to the PBGF being depleted.

Even when fully funded it only guarantees up to the first $12,000 per pensioner per year.

In contrast for example the PBGC will pay a maximum guaranteed amount of $54,000 for a 65-year-old American Nortel retiree. There are some 23,000 U.S. Nortel employees and retirees. The fund says the Nortel Networks Retirement Income Plan is 58 percent funded, with assets of $716 million to cover benefit liabilities of $1.23 billion, according to PBGC estimates. The agency says it expects to cover the entire $514 million shortfall.

Is testing communications evolving before our eyes? By the way have you noticed everywhere you turn there is a 2.0 being added to all things? I say in many cases this is with good reason as the world is changing in - dare I say Internet time 2.0?  Last week while in Sunnyvale, CA in the offices of Mu Dynamics I sat down with Dave Kresse, CEO and Ajit Sancheti, Founder to discuss how the testing market has evolved.

The company focuses on testing of IPTV, VoIP and IMS networks primarily focused on network operators, equipment providers and the government. They explained they can really test any IP network but they excel in environments where there is lots of flexibility needed and complexity to deal with.

They emphasized the point that load testing is not enough and instead you must do negative and unexpected testing. Think of negative testing as exploring the nearly infinite space of invalid inputs. In addition the company uses a protocol mutation engine which aids in sending malformed packets designed to confuse the targeted equipment.

They point out that test vendors have to free up companies so they can pursue testing of protocols the test vendors is unaware of. LTE, IMS and SIP for example are areas where they say this is essential as time to market is a crucial factor in many businesses today and testing should not be a bottleneck.

Using the company's newly released Mu Studio you input a packet capture file and shortly thereafter thousands of test cases are created. I watched a laptop take in a capture file of the Cisco Skinny protocol and within about 20 seconds it created 378 test groups and 30,000 test cases. Ten seconds later the cases were verified and saved.

One point made in the meeting - my apologies as I can't recall if Kresse or Sancheti said it, is that canned tests are for static networks. This was followed up with, "The way the test industry works doesn't work in this new age."

They tell me business is good and for a four-year old company their referenceable customer list is impressive. One reason for their success they say is they consider themselves to be a software company - even though they sell some hardware.

But the reality is timing is sometimes just as important as ingenuity or marketshare. You see a four-year old testing company competing against entrenched leaders had to do things differently to be a viable option. In addition, it is apparent the last four years have seen incredible complexity with so many flavors of SIP and variations of IMS framework protocols.

As long as networks keep getting more complex and equipment manufacturers and carriers need to test them it seems the need for testing 2.0 will only grow.

In a recent conversation with Greg Gum CMO of Anda Networks in his offices in northern California we got to speaking about the state of Carrier Ethernet and the future of the market. Gum explained the market for this technology is growing now despite a hiccup he saw in the first half of this year. He further explained the research he has seen shows 70% of the cost of carrier service revenues is in OPEX budgets and he further went to explain this amount is about $77 billion dollars per year.

His goal and that of his company is to help service providers shave this number down. After all he says, CAPEX has been beat up as much as you can. Nortel is bankrupt and other companies in the space are either unprofitable or laying off workers.

In order for carriers to achieve this OPEX reduction Greg believes they want more network visibility. Furthermore he explains customers are looking for carriers to exceed 4-5 nines and they want proactivity not reactivity from their providers.

According to Gum we are in the world of Ethernet 2.0 and carriers need to transition from bandwidth 1.0. He says service providers must differentiate themselves as 70-80 of them offer Carrier Ethernet and most of these companies have 4-8 classes of service.

In order to achieve optimal Carrier Ethernet 2.0 service his company provides the WAN optimization product EtherProbe which expands the SLA verification capabilities of the company's EtherTone product-line which I first covered last year after a meeting with Greg at a trade show. The company's products conduct real-time, non-intrusive QoS measurements in-line with live customer traffic flows and present the data via a web-based interface.

Another benefit of using this Carrier Ethernet Access Device is its ability to work with copper TDM or fiber. Moreover it allows traffic to be monitored and action to be taken based upon specific parameters. For example if an Ethernet VLAN is seeing a delay greater than 120 milliseconds and is used for VoIP traffic for example there can be a OPEX-reducing preset trigger which sets an alternate path or port/provider without user intervention. Alternatively alerts can be sent to tech personnel.

For carriers, any product which lowers OPEX costs while providing better service is a natural fit. And this seems to be the right time economically-speaking to be in a market which is driven by the increasing corporate demand for SLA-oriented bandwidth and the desire of operators to reduce costs.

This week marks a huge change in the world of technology and the events which have taken place will forever change the landscape of the market as we know it. News of Microsoft and Yahoo! finally finding a way to work with one another means search has become a two-horse race. In addition there is the potential for Microsoft and Yahoo to better monetize their assets as their combined share of the search market is now attractive enough to convince advertisers to give them a try. Moreover as this network has less advertisers driving up bid prices, there is high likelihood that advertising ROI will be higher with Microsoft/Bing/Yahoo than Google.

Having said that Yahoo has proven in the past that their corporate culture is still stuck in the dotcom days when money flowed like water with minimal effort. Amazingly Yahoo is still one of the most valuable destinations online and the company has had problems turning this mass of eyeballs into increasing piles of cash. Companies born into natural monopolies quite often have these sorts of issues and Yahoo shareholders who haven't sold out hope new CEO Carol Bartz will change the company around. This is a monumental task but so far at least she got the Microsoft deal done and to be honest it is impossible to fathom why it took so long as the companies have such a huge common enemy in Google.

Microsoft too was stuck in bureaucracy hell which kept it from growing as rapidly as it could. I use the term was because Microsoft seems to be reenergized and has come out swinging with competitive retail stores to Apple, a big push to speed up the rollout of Windows 7, TV ads taking on Apple and finally this Yahoo search deal.

So Google has a large competitor which at the moment will be in disarray due to the merging of two bureaucratic corporate cultures, technologies and sales forces. I don't predict the next 12 months to be a problem for Google and in fact I can see them gaining share while Microhoo or Yahoosoft figure out how to bring the pieces together.

What this means for Google however is that they have more pressure on them. If they screwed up something a few months ago, I am fairly certain neither Microsoft or Yahoo could capitalize on it. Now however with Bing and the momentum of the Microsoft/Yahoo deal, there could be a marketshare shift if there is a misstep by the search leader.

Coming at Google from the opposite end is Apple who is increasingly finding the company at odds with its business model of making huge subsidies from hardware sold. At this point Android is a minor threat to Apple - Google Voice however with its ability to insert itself between the customer and the carrier is a real threat.

Apple did an about-face - accepting and then rejecting the app. And Google is upset about it. Apple claims the application duplicates functionality inherent in the phone but this can be said for many apps and is a convenient excuse made by Apple and no one believes it. Nor should they.

A link forward (added and deleted from Twitter) from a Google exec shortly after this news was released pointed to a satirical article mentioning that Apple results could be left out of Google search results as the Apple site duplicates the functionality of other sites. Touché.

The official explanation was that the Google Voice app duplicated functions on the iPhone, but many think the rejection order came from AT&T. The application would allow users to make calls and send SMS messages for free using the app, threatening the profits of AT&T.

The Google Voice application is still available for Blackberry and Android phones.

Google's official explanation for removing Apple from its search results came from Vice-President in charge of search, Marissa Mayer, "Those search results duplicate a lot of the functionality of other sites. For example, people can find cell phones on many other sites. We just think this makes it easier for our users."

Exclusion from the search results could mean lower profits for Apple, as 90% of visitors reach their site by typing "apple.com" into Google.

Mayer denied that this was a direct response to Apple rejecting the Google Voice application. "It's just a coincidence," said Mayer.

Steve Jobs hinted that another strange coincidence might occur soon. "Safari may be getting a different search engine, just saying," said Jobs.

The news gets worse for the search leader as Google has found its ally - Apple (after all the Cupertino company has chosen not one but two Google apps to be preinstalled on iPhones -- Maps and YouTube) turning on it. Then there is the strengthening of the competition in search.

Is Google in trouble? Nope, not today and not for a long while. But for the first time we see a momentum shift of major proportions against the company and from various fronts. Other companies who hate Google - and the list of organizations with wrecked business models who blame Google grows by the moment, will start to gravitate towards the company's' competitors slowly at first but more quickly over time. eBay and Amazon for example are a couple of companies who aren't thrilled with the control Google has over their businesses. I am sure the launch of Google Checkout caused some sleepless nights for execs at both ecommerce companies. Signing some big Bing deals may be a good way to at least fell better about themselves.

Again, Google's model isn't broken. As long as they keep innovating and rapidly rolling out new and innovative features and services they are in a great position.

The war is far from over but the battle lines are being drawn deeper than ever and we will begin to see a cascade of new and interesting alliances formed, often to hurt Google.

It will be fascinating to watch how this plays out but I see all of the above as great news for those people who crave innovation. Tech will get better for sure and all the benefits which come with better tech are assured for years to come.

There is a once in a lifetime opportunity ahead of us as the government prepares to spend unprecedented amounts of money for a variety of initiatives. The reality is that a small percentage of companies are doing most of the selling and the government is looking for more companies to do business with in order to increase diversity and share the wealth.

Are you getting a piece of this pie? Are you knowledgeable enough about government purchases so you can benefit from this market? Do you have products the government could use but feel you aren't selling enough of them to municipalities and federal agencies?

The government will need a lot of everything from tractors to computers to networking gear to mobile devices. For better or worse it will be a bottomless pit of spending for a long while.

The way I look at it, since we are all going to be burdened with the tax debt and interest payments on this spending we may as well make some money so we can pay the taxes we will face in the future.

In order to help my listeners sell more to the fastest growing spender in the world, I conducted a podcast interview with Scott Orbach (pictured) President, CEO and Founder of EZGSA, a company devoted to helping its customers win a share of this ever-growing market.

I hope you find it useful.

There are undeniable benefits of using Google voice such as free SMS, a single phone number for life and easy to use call control features. It is obvious Google in general is looking to displace carriers as the important part of the consumer relationship. By inserting themselves in-between they eventually become the virtual carrier in the eyes of users.

This is great for users and Google but obviously terrible for carriers and Apple is in a position to limit Google's influence when it comes to the iPhone which explains why Google Voice which was approved for the iTunes App Store a while back is no longer approved.

If you look at this situation from Apple's perspective you understand the incredible subsidies the carriers give users and Apple for iPhone purchases are paid for by high rates and the fact that something like Google Voice doesn't exist. If you allow this application and it becomes popular, all of a sudden contracts need to be renegotiated and Apple starts to earn less money per iPhone sold. This is obviously not a good situation for Apple and explains why there will be limited telephony innovation on the iPhone platform.

Having said that the Cupertino company is so far ahead in the smartphone wars, at this point it doesn't matter if they block some of the best apps from their store since there are just so many other available applications to choose from.

What specific sources of power we use tomorrow and in what proportions is anyone's guess but what is certain is in order to take advantage of the various sources available we will have to develop a better electrical grid. We know it needs upgrading and for now, the term applied to what some might call power grid 2.0 is smart grid.

The tech and communications space should be eyeing the power industry with great interest as it is so similar to telecom in many ways where ownership of the wires resided with a small group of companies and over time a plethora of networks began to peer with one another to interchange information.

The network opened and the grid will likely do the same. But remember please don't touch the live wires.

As the grid gets smarter we will see power generation from users combined with generation from wind farms and geothermal locations and solar farms all generating power which will be used by a variety of customers.

The concept of p2p power generation should seem logical as some customers deploy solar cells which produce more power than they may use. What a great feeling it should be to help power your entire neighborhood while getting paid or at least credited in the process.

I truly believe that as the smart grid world evolves we will see more standardized protocols, gateways and products which interact intelligently and for lack of a better world - communicate.

And therein lays the logic in combining a Smart Grid Summit at ITEXPO - the World's Communications Conference.

I truly believe we will see convergence before the two markets and I suggest you keep an eye on the space and attend the show. After all, $57 million has already been targeted by the US government to grow this space. Now is the best time to learn more.

Check out TMC's Smart Grid News site for more information on the topic and be sure to register for the Smart Grid Summit which is being sponsored by TMC and Intelligent Communications Partners a company backed by veteran communications entrepreneur Shidan Gouran (blog) and IP communications thought leader and analyst Jon Arnold (Jon's articles) (Jon's take).

Again, this event is collocated with ITEXPO September 1-3, 2009 in Los Angeles so make plans to be there the whole time and you can register for the Smart Grid Summit onsite or online as the registration page is being developed now. The event will likely be one day of ITEXPO and which day is being determined.

• Austin Energy Deploys Siemens' Bridges Electric Vector Switches in its Intelligent Grid System
• Cisco, Intel Join the Smart Grid Fund-Seeking Fray
• Energy-Focused Group Targets Smart Grid Devices
• Report: Economic Stimulus Bill to Boost Smart Grid Business

Dear blog readers, I may have great news. As of this week -assuming
you see this of course, I can now post iPhone videos from the iPhone
via e-mail. This could be very useful in showing you the most
important things I encounter.

The one downside is the 20 second or so limit on video size. Still
video time eats bandwidth so perhaps this restriction is not so bad.



click Play button above to play video

In my recent trip to northern California a few vendors told me they were integrating bluetooth into their products for the home market. Generally until now most bluetooth applications have been of the mobile variety. Sure, you have some bluetooth options from GN Netcom and Plantronics for the office but Bluetooth generally is found in cars and headsets which allow mobility.

Some exceptions are stereo speakers and headsets but it doesn't seem like stereo Bluetooth has lived up to its potential yet.

As further evidence of how the Bluetooth market is looking to become more embedded into home automation, today Broadcom put out a press release explaining how their Bluetooth technology is going to be embedded in LGE (LG Electronics) TVs.

This means you can now listen to TV with wireless headphones so you don't disturb others. You can also sync music and view large-screen photos and videos.

Perhaps the most exciting part of this news is the ability to add accessories to TV like a wireless keyboard, mouse or even game controllers. The TV now has the capability to become the video game player - imagine a partnership between TV manufacturers and game companies.

You can now potentially use a TV as a videoconferencing screen for truly HD quality video communications. Coincidentally there will be some big news soon about consumer HD video but I can't share the specifics as of yet.

The timing of this news couldn't be better as you may recall I was in the Samsung Experience store a few weeks back and when I was using the YouTube widget to watch videos I asked why the remote control didn't have a keyboard. The answer? Well the widget was developed after the remote control.

Seems like Bluetooth would solve these chicken and egg problems and to my wife who just thought I was procrastinating and that is why I haven't bought a new TV - actually I must have subconsciously been waiting for Bluetooth.