Yahoo/Microsoft Deal Off

It seems any chance of a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo is over. The number of billionaire Yahoo investors who are likely furious about this state of affairs which is trashing Yahoo's stock can't be counted on a single hand.... continue reading...

Sipera Looks To The Channel

Expect Sipera, the Texas-based company focusing on VoIP/UC security to look for resellers to sell their products worldwide. Brenadan Ziolo, the company's VP of Marketing Operations visited TMC this week to brief us on where the company is going with... continue reading...

Keep In Touch

If you haven't noticed, there will be more and more touch-enabled devices in your future. The craze seemed to get the biggest boost from the popularity of the iPhone interface which spawned a number of similar interfaces from competing phone... continue reading...

iPhone Adoption and Women

Women love iPhones but not as many as I thought. The iPhone seems the natural phone for women as it is stylish, powerful and easy to use. I would have guessed that more than 50% of iPhone users are women... continue reading...

Build Communities With Google's Help

Let's say your company plays in a few different spaces such as information technology, security and storage. And let's say your company has decided to build a community of interest which is dedicated to a specific subject area as you... continue reading...

T-Mobile Lawsuit Repercussions

Rob Adler has an interesting take on the T-Mobile/Starbucks WiFi lawsuit at his Vantage blog. His point? That the PR hit of winning a lawsuit which takes away WiFi from millions of users will be extreme. I can't help but... continue reading...

Talkswitch Interview: Jan Scheeren

Right now the small business market is the shining star in communications -- plenty of growth is predicted in this space and small businesses for the most part are behind the tech curve -- meaning they need to catch up.... continue reading...

Voice Recognition Alarm Clock

For those of you who can't get enough of speech recognition, you can now wake up to it and go to sleep to it and have it in your bedroom. The Voice Interactive Alarm Clock from Hammacher Schlemmer recognizes... continue reading...

Conflicting iPhone Rumors

There is just so much information being spewed out on the internet regarding the unveiling of the iPhone. The latest bit of news has to do with production problems. Check out this article for insights on conflicting rumors and photos... continue reading...

Will Steve Jobs Wow Us?

It seems that if you do not blog about the iPhone this weekend you will be out touch with the blogging and news gathering communities. It is just that important. On Monday we will have a new Apple mobile device... continue reading...

HTC Touch Pro

The HTC Touch Pro may be the ultimate Blackberry killer. I know the term "killer" is used very often but let's look at this situation carefully... People who type a lot benefit from a keyboard. Sure, an on-screen keyboard works... continue reading...

Mobile Virtual Worlds Emerge

There are so many communications companies pushing products and services revolving around virtual worlds, one wonders if we are about to see a new subset of communications break out and achieve mass appeal like VoIP, the iPhone or Blackberry. Do... continue reading...

Telephony Hardware Community

Be sure to visit TMC's newest Global Online Community (GOC), Telephony Hardware sponsored by Pika Technologies. Why would you visit? Simply because regularly visiting a TMC community is an ideal way to learn about a specific topic such as in this... continue reading...

Headed to Telx CBX 2008

Later this week I will be a video reporter at the Telx CBX (customer business exchange) event in New York. I always like the CBX events and am looking forward to meeting with the companies in the carrier hotel space... continue reading...

Of IP Communications and Broadband Reliability

I came across an interesting article in the New York Times by Randall Stross which discusses consumer VoIP services, the differences in quality between them and the general trend towards multiple services of lower reliability replacing a single service (PSTN)... continue reading...

Vocaltec Sells Patents to Karo Millennium

In a way, I must thank VocalTec because it was companies like them that helped me realize how IP would revolutionize communications and further help me decide to launch a magazine dedicated to the market in 1997. VocalTec was one... continue reading...

SIP Forum Growth

The SIP Forum seems to be making some nice progress in attracting a broad swath of companies to its organization. In case you aren't aware, The SIP Forum is a non-profit IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities... continue reading...

Of Cell Phones and Unborn Babies

Does cell phone use cause behavioral problems in children? A new study is out on the the matter and while it is not conclusive it did find increased cell phone use does seem to lead to children with more behavioral... continue reading...

Being Part of Squawk Box

I spent part of my morning on Alex Saunders' Squawk Box -- a gathering place for industry analysts and thought leaders to discuss important technology issues of the day. Topics today included Ariel Waldman's harassment allegations against Twitter. This conversation... continue reading...

Podcast: Zed-3's Iain Milnes Discusses The GS8

Zed-3 is the company most people have never heard of but it is backed by telecom veteran Iain Milnes who launched Zarak -- the successful testing company later sold to Spirent and Zultys -- the company which made a... continue reading...

Podcast: Starent Networks Thierry Maupilé

As the wireless industry evolves, the level of complexity has evolved with it allowing companies such as Starent Networks to thrive by delivering technology which enables carriers to deliver rich content multimedia services. We all have cell phones and it... continue reading...

Roku: The Apple of TV?

Without a doubt, the new Netflix Player by Roku set top box will become a serious contender for the title "iPod of the world of television." I haven't seen this device yet but based on what I have read... continue reading...

Skype Adding Video Clips

Om Malik discusses how Skype is evolving to show video clips. I have detailed at length many of the ideas Skype should embrace to make money and showing videos makes good sense as it leverages the success of other video... continue reading...

Plaxo Sends a Message

As I mentioned recently, Comcast picked up Plaxo. Just today I received this e-mail to Plaxo users, explaining the company has been acquired and will remain an independent entity, evolving and growing. It is a pretty good letter as it... continue reading...

MindWireless Podcast

MindWireless is focused on the wireless expense management space which as you might imagine is an area of growing importance inside telecom expense management. Just think about how complicated it is to manage wireless gadgets as employees have become obsessed... continue reading...

CBS Picks up CNET

Congratulations to CNET for being acquired by CBS for a 40% premium. I have always admired the company and I am curious to see how it changes as it becomes part of a larger media company which has so many... continue reading...

Packet8 SIP Trunking Rumor

I have heard a rumor regarding 8x8/Packet8 getting into the SIP trunking business. No confirmation yet but this makes great sense as this area of the market is doing well. All trunks will eventually be SIP trunks it seems... Unless... continue reading...

New WiMAX News Site

TMCnet grows daily with thousands of new news items and stories. As the site grows, we are always looking for ways to improve. One of these ways is to develop community pages which focus on a particular subject matter... continue reading...

My Canada Trip and Nortel Wrap Up

I am back from Canada and the first thing I did when turning on my phone was praise the engineers who came up with the awkward-sounding acronym called EVDO. By the way in my discussions in Canada it seems the... continue reading...

Blackberry Thunder Coming to Verizon Stores

H.having experienced touch-screen browsing on the iPhone and even via Skyfire, I can tell you browsing without a touchscreen is a painful experience. Of course this applies to mobile devices. RIM knows this and is subsequently rolling out a new... continue reading...

Virtual Worlds, The Future of Communications

I am here at Nortel R&D headquarters in Ottawa, Canada where the Nortel incubation team is showing us a bunch of the latest technologies they are working on in the labs. This is the first day the media has... continue reading...

UMAThought Leader Steve Shaw on TMCnet

Few people know more about UMA than Steve Shaw... He really lives and breathes this market. This is why I am thrilled Steve will be writing for TMCnet with a special focus on unwired mobile access or UMA. Here is... continue reading...

10 Reasons SPOT Watches Died Out

As one of the biggest advocates of SPOT watches, the wrist-carried devices which allowed you to receive immediate stock quotes, news and calendar updates on the go -- I could not be more sad to hear these gadgets will no... continue reading...

Cablevision's WiFi Network in New York City

WiFi is not new and providing WiFi to a city is not new. What is new and worth noodling on is the fact Cablevision will soon have a WiFi network in New York City -- well over the next... continue reading...

Vonage Record Quarter: Jeff Citron Interview

Vonage has done a great job this last quarter --  posting growth numbers in a slower economy. I just had a podcast interview with Jeffrey Citron where he talked about the company's growth rate and the number of new initiatives... continue reading...

SkyFire: The Cure for iPhone Envy

Do you have iPhone envy? I do. In fact, just this past Sunday I walked into the AT&T store and I browsed TMCnet on the iPhone and was blown away at how easy it was to surf on this phone... continue reading...

Skype as David, Telcos as Goliath

OK, now I have heard it all. Large, incumbent telephone companies are going to launch a competitor to Skype. But before I proceed with my thoughts, as often the case with such amazing speculation, it is good to air out... continue reading...

Google Pushes Verizon on 700 MHz Open Access

Many of us thought the open access provisions of the 700 MHz auction were taken care of and this was the reason Google got involved in the auction in the first place. It seems now that Verizon is saying that... continue reading...

Avtech Software Protects Data Centers

Companies spend incredible sums of money on their communications and technology infrastructure but all too often they do not focus enough attention on protecting the investment in such equipment. As telepresence, unified communications, handheld devices, mobility and IP communications turbocharge... continue reading...

CellPoint Flamingo Music Headphones

A little known fact about me is I love to review products. Of course if you know me well, you know I just don't have the time to test every product I learn about. Moreover many of the items I... continue reading...

Blackberry Outage

If you are having trouble getting e-mail on you mobile device it just could be because there was a scheduled Blackberry outage that ran over by approximately six hours. Engadget has more details and to be honest, I did some... continue reading...

Nortel's Joel Hackney Discusses Earnings

Nortel announced earnings today and to get more detail on the news I had a chance to speak with Joel Hackney, President of the Enterprise Solutions Group at Nortel. Some details worth sharing... The company's net loss widened but revenue... continue reading...

Amazon Fights back Against New York Tax

Amazon, feeling singled out by what New York state officials have dubbed the Amazon Tax has decided to sue the state. According to the New York Times, the state changed the law regarding who has to collect taxes and instead... continue reading...

Communications and the Economy

Yesterday at Interop I asked exhibitors and analysts what they were hearing about the economy. Most said they think the recovery would be U shaped, not a V but some thought that Q3 would be the start of a recovery.... continue reading...

Haptic Feedback May Come to iPhone

Whether the rumors are true regarding Apple working with Immersion to add haptic feedback to Apple's touchscreen devices is true or not it seems obvious to me that every touchscreen device needs to embrace this tactile feedback mechanism. The way... continue reading...

PhoneTag, The New Simulscribe

Jamie Siminoff beams with enthusiasm as he explains to me in this podcast about his excitement regarding his company's name change from SimulScribe to PhoneTag. According to Siminoff, sales have increased dramatically since the announcement of the new name and... continue reading...

Blackberry Voice Search

TellMe just launched a new application which allows people to use their Blackberry for voice search. utilizing the TellMe speech recognition engine and Microsoft Live Search, you can have search results automatically localized if you happen to have a GPS-enabled... continue reading...

SimulScribe is Gone. Long Live PhoneTag

You've definitely heard me go on about voicemail transcription and just how amazing it is to have your voicemails transcribed and e-mailed to you so you never have to dial into your mailbox again. One of the companies leading the... continue reading...

Mobile Banking Heating Up

According to IBM, 21 percent of consumers age 18-34 use their cell phone for mobile banking transactions, compared to about 10 percent of the general population. Like so many new technologies, it is your kids -- or for some of... continue reading...

New Skype Unlimited International Plans

I recently wrote about how I thought Skype should be sold to Google and in response I received a very well-worded response from Skype PR representative Chaim Haas. Here is an excerpt: [On] yesterday's eBay Q1 earnings call, where it... continue reading...

A Slacker Weekend

I just started using the Slacker website to stream music and I remain very impressed at how good the service is. You are able to listen to a number of predefined stations or make your own. You can also customized... continue reading...

Google Quote Finder Launched

Picture this... You say something and you really didn't mean it. Perhaps it was that you can see see US troops in Iraq for 100 years or that snipers were attacking you in some far away country. In the past,... continue reading...

SMS Saves Lives

The only thing better than seeing the world interconnecting with technologies such as SMS, is seeing health care providers taking advantage of the latest gadgets and technology to help curb disease outbreaks and improve prescription compliance. Case in point is... continue reading...

EsnaTech Grows the Google Ecosystem

One of the latest trends I have noticed is integrating disparate solutions into Google's suite of applications. Just this month in fact, two companies in the communications and CRM spaces have decided working with Google more closely makes a great... continue reading...

Why Skype Should be Sold to Google

There are now rumors circulating that Google will buy Skype. These rumors are not new -- I wrote about this as recently as November 20 of 2007. But they did die down for a while and have been renewed. I... continue reading...

Ortiva Wireless Enables Mobile Streaming

Do you remember the past CEO of Cantata, Mark Zionts? He keynoted a past ITEXPO and was head of the company just before it sold to Dialogic. Since then he joined another company which he helped sell and now he... continue reading...

Callwave Fuze, Unified Communications Plus

In the race to provide the best Unified Communications solution, there are just so many approaches. The various ways to achieve UC are staggering in fact. Companies like Microsoft have partnered with many companies to achieve seamless UC - with... continue reading...

New TMCnet Record and New Writer

Thanks to our readers -- once again, TMCnet has hit a new record. In this case, we built a Global Online Community in conjunction with Interactive Intelligence and this community generated just under 600,000 page views in one month according... continue reading...

iPhone Denial of Service Vulnerability

Radware today discovered the iPhone Safari browser is vulnerable to denial of service attack. The specific model being tested was the Apple iPhone1.1.4. In order to experience this problem a user must browse to a website containing malicious Javascript... continue reading...

Target Service Provider Marketing by Pontis

At the recent CTIA show in Las Vegas, much of the talk centered around how service providers need to focus on generating revenue from advertising as companies like Google will be giving away many of the services they hope to... continue reading...

GrandCentral Outage

Today was apparently a bad one for GrandCentral customers as many report the service was out for hours. As mentioned by TechCrunch, if you want to be phone company you can't go dead.... continue reading...

TiVo On the Offensive

It seems TiVo is on a roll as Dish Network has failed to to convince an appeals court to overturn a previous patent win. Dish Network could end up paying from about $100 to $200 million as a result... continue reading...

Next iPhone to Have Bluetooth Stereo, GPS, Nike Integration

What's on your wish list for the iPhone? The obvious addition is a keyboard and faster connection (well that is my personal wish list anyway.) But certainly stereo bluetooth and GPS are on my short list as well. According... continue reading...

Qwest Outage

Qwest is investigating an internet outage which took place yesterday. Apparently internet and VoIP service was interrupted for a number of customers yesterday afternoon. Perhaps not coincidentally, some ISPs were also knocked offline which in turn took TMCnet down for... continue reading...

Unlimited Plans = Unlimited Trouble?

Are unlimited voice and data plans causing unlimited headaches for carriers? More than one person told me at CTIA they think Sprint is going to be in real trouble as a result of the unlimited plan they are selling to... continue reading...

Google Android Running

Here is the good news. You can get Google's Android running on current hardware. In fact the AT&T Tilt is the Guinea Pig of choice for this particular endeavor in the following example. It is a bit early to jump... continue reading...

Sending out an SMS

It is great to see the US Government embracing technology. Recently the FCC said that by 2010 we should have a nationwide alert system capable of delivering timely warnings vis SMS in the event of disaster. Participation in this broadcast... continue reading...

Plantronics HW251N-USB Wideband Headset

Correction... Despite my best efforts to be perfect this device is called the HW251N-USB not the HW351N-USB. Sorry if this caused you any problems. If you are like me you look for ways to ensure your entire team is as... continue reading...

Podcast: Ken Lamneck - President The Americas, Tech Data

Ken Lamneck President The Americas Tech Data Distribution companies are in a great position to tell us what trends to look for in the market. What is hot? What is not and more. It is for this reason I was... continue reading...

Podcast: Dieter Thompson, TAG

Dieter Thompson CEO TAG I had a chance to have a podcast interview with Dieter Thompson the CEO of TAG, an Alcatel-Lucent company specializing in telecom procurement, contract negotiation and vendor management solutions. Thompson shares many things in this interview... continue reading...

Mobile Unified Communications from Verizon

You may recall I have written about the RIM division Ascendant Systems and how the company enables mobile unified communications. Now the company which allows your Blackberry to function as a wireless extension of your communications system has inked a... continue reading...

Communications Developer Call for Papers

Be sure to submit your call for papers entries for the Communications Developer show which will be collocated with ITEXPO later this year in the Los Angeles, California Convention Center. The specific dates of the event will be September 16-18,... continue reading...

Bob Emmerson: TMC's European Editor

Bob Emmerson joins TMC as out European Editor. We are truly proud to have Bob join the team as he is a communications and technology veteran. Previously, Emmerson was a designer of digital control systems, a journalist, and a copywriter.... continue reading...

TMCnet Podcast Library

Sure you have an iPhone or iPod or even a PC where you like to listen to your music. But have you had a chance to listen to TMCnet's high quality podcasts as of yet? ;-) I know many... continue reading...

TMCnet Gets a Redesign

I am very happy to be the first to tell you TMCnet is in the midst of one of its largest graphical overhauls. We are very proud of our new look which emphasizes softer blue colors and shades. There are... continue reading...

ScanSource Wants its MTV

ScanSource, a company distributing specialty technology products in communications, POS and other spaces, has acquired MTV Telecom Distribution, a UK-based distributor of voice and data solutions. Many US distribution companies are looking to expand internationally. This is especially true as... continue reading...

Sprint Pays Klausner

Sprint recently signed a deal with Klausner Technologies to enable them to use visual voicemail without the fear of being sued. This news is interesting as Sprint is one of the companies coming after VoIP providers who the company claims... continue reading...

EU Authorizes Fist Fights on Planes

OK I may be a bit over the top with this headline but allowing a plane full of passengers the ability to talk on the phone -- all in different languages... What is the EU thinking? According to TMCnet's Mae... continue reading...

TMCnet Hits 100 Sponsored Community Milestone

All I can say is thank you to our loyal readers who visit TMCnet frequently and our sponsors who have launched communities and channels in partnership with TMC on TMCnet. Furthermore, thanks for your loyalty and the nice testimonials many... continue reading...

Mossberg: 3G iPhone in 60 Days

Who am I to doubt Walt Mossberg the Wall Street Journal tech reviewer who gets his hands on gadgets before most others. According to Mossberg, we will have an iPhone capable of 3G speeds in less than 2 months.... continue reading...

Deep Packet Inspection Concerns

There are numerous reasons for service providers to engage in deep packet inspection -- the practice of analyzing packets and understanding what type of data is contained therein. One simple reason to do this is to prioritize certain types of... continue reading...

iTunes Tops Others

File this under "I saw this one coming." Apple's iTunes store is now the number one US retailer of music. One wonders if there is an opportunity for the company to expand into consumer electronics beyond their own brands. They... continue reading...

Yahoo's Voice Search Ambitions

Yahoo has just invested $20 million in vlingo a voice recognition company specializing in the mobile market. Yahoo!, leveraging this relationship, announced the launch of a voice-enabled version of Yahoo! oneSearch, a new mobile search client that supports unstructured, open-ended... continue reading...

HD Voice goes Hosted

I have long mentioned there is an opportunity to start using stereophonic, surround sound quality in IP communications as the quality of phones today is just atrocious.Thankfully, Polycom, Skype, Microsoft and others have embraced this concept with their wideband codecs.... continue reading...

The Coming Mobile WiMAX Revolution

Over the past fifteen years the world has become smaller as a result of the internet and more recently broadband connectivity allowing IP communications consisting of voice and video to flourish. As connectivity has improved, entire industries were transformed. For... continue reading...

Plantronics Discovery 925: is it Jewelry?

If you have a doubt that your bluetooth headset is becoming more and more like jewelry, take a look at the new Discovery 925 line by Plantronics. The new headset reminds more of an earing than a headset and... continue reading...

Motorola's Helpful Help Desk Solution

As carriers look to add more and more services to their portfolio of products, it is apparent that support costs will continue to increase in direct proportion to the concurrent services offered. Sure, there are some services which have fewer... continue reading...

Sprint Success

No one could more critical of Sprint than I have been these past months. I must say that the company's new TV ads are compelling and I am impressed with the new business model of pushing the $99 all you... continue reading...

Polycom's Software Play and More

Depending on the era, if I asked people what the name Polycom makes them think of they would give me different answers. In the nineties it was video conferencing and audio conferencing devices. Around 2000 you could add IP phones... continue reading...

Polycom's Durable 8002 VoIP Phone

I have to be frank… I have never been in a meeting where I saw a product launch accompanied by a phone being slammed on a table. So I was a bit surprised when Polycom's Ben Guiderian did just that... continue reading...

OnRelay's Mobile PBX Solution

Years ago I realized that mobile phones would get cheaper and cheaper and eventually cause a threat to the PBX vendors of the world. Of course… trends are generally easy to spot but timing technology adoption is generally very difficult.... continue reading...

Here at CTIA in Vegas

So here I am in Vegas. I had a 45 minute wait for a cab followed by a 15 minute wait to check in to find out that the hotel I thought I was staying at is not the right... continue reading...

Skype+Keyboard Convergence

Everything seems to be coming together -- camera, phones, e-mail devices, etc. It was just a matter of time before a company decided to merge Skype, a keyboard and silicon to develop a VoIP-ready keyboard with microphone and speaker... continue reading...

Tax VoIP Illegally, Get a Raise

It is a sad day when a city government decides it needs to come after a specific technology -- one that has truly helped and empowered its constituents, in order to generate more revenue. The city of Los Angeles just... continue reading...

Disney, Netflix, Blackberry and Disney Outages

You would think the happiest place on earth would have the happiest engineers and subsequently would be immune from power outages that take out the rides and other fun attractions. After all, electricity is one of the happiest inventions around.... continue reading...

TMC Growth Update

Congratulations to TMC's Kevin Kiley who was just promoted to VP of Finance. Great job Kevin. In addition I would like to thank TMC readers and our partners who have allowed us to continue our wave of growth. In the... continue reading...

Plantronics .Audio 480

I just had a chance to test drive the Plantronics .Audio 480 USB Headset also known as the Virtual Phone Booth. While I generally have problems with all in-the-ear headphones, these felt better in my ears than many others I... continue reading...

Cubans Can Now Use Cell Phones

Cuba is slowly opening up as evidenced by the government's decision to allow ordinary Cubans to have cellular telephones. Apparently Raul Castro is slowly opening up the country to new freedoms. Still, while this is a ray of light, most... continue reading...

Real Visual Voicemail on your iPhone

If you are happy with your iPhone but still annoyed that you aren't getting your voicemail read to you, you can now get visual voicemail on your Apple iPhone. How you might ask? Simple... You go to Jamie Siminoff's blog... continue reading...

AT&T Mobile TV

In May, millions of AT&T subscribers will have access to television via AT&T Wireless. Credit Qualcomm's MediFlow whose technology will be responsible for this service and expect it to compete with with a similar service from Verizon Wireless. What sorts... continue reading...

Comcast and BitTorrent Collaborate

In a dramatic turn of events, two companies that seemed to be at each other's throats just a few months back, Comcast and BitTorrent have decided to join forces and work together to advance ways in which rich media can... continue reading...

Motorola Splits in Two

Motorola will split into a handheld device business and another one focusing on broadband and mobility. This decision was made under tremendous pressure from Carl Icaan. Is this a good move for the company? I think it is because Motorola... continue reading...

Plantronics Doing Something Big

Plantronics is planning something big. I have discussed this before and they are staying pretty quiet about what they are working on. Moreover whatever they are doing has been in development for over a year and they aren't close enough... continue reading...

Retail Prices Dead

I never thought I would see the day when the major retailers would tell their salespeople they can allow customers to haggle over prices but that day has finally arrived. Now more than ever, when you are shopping you need... continue reading...

RCP to Replace WiMAX?

I am a student of history which is ironic because when I actually took history in high school, I wasn't such a good student. Other than Teddy Roosevelt hitting someone in the back of the head with a  2x4, I... continue reading...

Kindle Interest Rekindled

Boy was I ever wrong about the Kindle. I said no one wants the device and it sold out in a day and Amazon can't keep up with demand. Wow! I really screwed up. I only wish Amazon would tell... continue reading...

700 MHz Auction Concludes

The FCC 700 MHz auction concluded recently and the major winners were Verizon and AT&T. While this may seem like bad news to those who would have preferred more competition as a result of this auction, FCC Chairman Martin explains... continue reading...

Carriers Need Advertising

I have been saying for over a decade that carriers need to explore ways to deliver enhanced services. To be fair, some companies are doing this. AT&T has done an amazing job partnering with Apple (the way I hear it,... continue reading...

Dan Miller New TMCnet Columnist

As I mentioned a while back, TMC is experiencing record growth and I promised we would maintain our high levels of quality as we grow. TMCnet currently has just under 50 worldwide columnists and most of them write daily or... continue reading...

HTC Shift Vista UMPC does EV-DO

What is amazing to me is just how small full featured devices are getting. The HTC Shift ultra mobile PC or UMPC packs the Microsoft Vista OS, WiFi and now EVDO. Sure it has a weak processor, battery and... continue reading...

Spectrum Auction Concludes

In case you missed it, the bidding is now over for the 700 MHz spectrum. The US governemnt racked up just under a cool 20 billion dollars as a result. I guess we can thank the telecommunications industry for those... continue reading...

Tandberg Integrates Unified Communications and Telepresence

As more and more customers deploy Microsoft's OCS, they are asking videoconferencing companies to help interconnect their products with their shiny new unified communications systems. But it isn't just video integration these companies want… These clients also want interconnection with... continue reading...

Where is the TMC Team?

This week, we have a total of nine TMC team members traveling to industry events. Dave Rodriguez, Erik Linask and I are headed to VoiceCon while Greg Galitzine will be at VON. I am looking forward to an information packed... continue reading...

Avaya's Huge Unified Communications Push

Avaya has certainly made unified communications history today with a suite of announcements that will certainly rattle the competitive landscape. UC will never be the same in my opinion. The New Jersey-based company's biggest news had to do with affordable... continue reading...

Will Backing up Music Soon Be Illegal?

Some of you may remember that MP3.com was a dot-com era company allowing people to upload CDs they owned and then stream this music to various devices. It was a service ahead of its time and in fact Webot... continue reading...

Hot News: Ixia, VPI, Wyde Voice, Google, Spirent, Sangoma, LifeSize, Aculab and more

I try not to play favorites with the news and instead of giving you my picks of the week, I defer to TMC editors who picked the following stories as some of the week's best. This week, we have a... continue reading...

Russell Shaw and Frank Macari will be Missed

This morning I woke to horrible news as I just learned Russell Shaw has passed away. Apparently he died in his hotel room on a business trip. I cannot be sadder. Russell was a fantastic guy… And he seemed to... continue reading...

MacBook Air Problems

Wow... that was fast. Just a  short while after the MacBook Air started to sell, the laptop that fits inside an envelope seems to be less useful than the envelope when pushed too hard. Apparently the laptop shuts down one... continue reading...

Fingerprint Memory Drives Flawed

One would imagine that a fingerprint reader on a memory stick or hard drive was a guarantee of security. Those of us in technology for any period of time know that security in any market is more journey than destination.... continue reading...

Gadget Virus Complaints

It is enough to make you cry. That shiny new gadget you crave, went out and purchased and carried home with the utmost care could be home to a virus living snugly in your device's memory waiting for someone unsuspecting... continue reading...

WYDE Voice Debuts Better Conferencing Solution

A new product was just announced today and I cannot be more excited as it shows innovation is very alive and well in communications. WYDE Voice is a new start-up venture backed by Free Conferencing Corp. founder and CEO... continue reading...

Podcast: Peter Vicars, Newstep Networks

There is a race taking place in communications. Everyone is looking to converge as fast as they possibly can. Service providers want to provide enterprise service. Wireless carriers want to own the SMB and consumer markets. Oh... And I forgot... continue reading...

iPod Nanos Exploding in Japan

If you are reading this while listening to your iPod nano purchased in Japan, it may be time to take a few step back from this popular music player before it shoots flames.  For more information on this  problem,... continue reading...

Microprocessors: The Weakest Security Link

Although there seem to be limitless ways to attack computers, a vulnerability you might not have ever seen coming takes place in the microprocessors. As chips have become more powerful than , it is now possible for a person in... continue reading...

Gigabyte GSmart MS808

Remember last week when I told you what a disaster it would be if Deutsche Telecom was to purchase Sprint as there are just so many wireless technologies to support? Well, I think I may have just found the... continue reading...

Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian

Thanks to Bell Labs, the people behind the transistor, there is now a thriving a tech industry. Moreover, many innovations in telecom are due to the team at this world famous labs team. Having said that, Bell labs hasn't been... continue reading...

Ken Camp is Available

Regular readers of my blog and attendees of TMC expos no doubt know Ken Camp. Ken is very knowledgeable in the field of information technology with special expertise in communications and security. He has written books, articles, spoken at shows... continue reading...

Peter Radizeski Joins TMCnet

TMCnet's latest blogger is Peter Radizeski. Peter is knowledgeable and not afraid to say what he thinks. He is direct and has a long history in telecom. He will will write things that ruffle feathers. His views many not always... continue reading...

Rumor: Deutsche Telecom to Acquire Sprint

I don't want to predict a disaster but having Deutsche Telecom acquire Sprint doesn't make sense from the perspective of all the different network types these companies use. Sprint uses CDMA, Deutsche Telecom's T-Mobile uses GSM and Nextel uses iDEN.... continue reading...

Communications News March 7, 2008

My editorial team has selected the following stories as some of the most important ones of the week. Hopefully some or all of these news items will be useful to my readers. Some of my favorite ones are how green... continue reading...

Jaduka's New Products

Jaduka has a suite of new products/services which allow IP communications to enter the realm of web 2.0. The company has a suite of services in fact and they are worth discussing individually... dukaDIAL lets you make phone-to-phone calls to... continue reading...

Google TV Ads for Adwords

The latest industry where Google hopes to compete and subsequently keep executives at other corporations up at night is TV advertising. I came a cross a great article discussing Google's latest services in this space. In addition there is some... continue reading...

iPhone Gets ActiveSync

Last summer I wrote about by trip to Redmond to visit Microsoft and more specifically my thoughts on when the iPhone will get ActiveSync if ever. Here is an excerpt: As part of the Redmond software giant’s mobility strategy,... continue reading...

NEC, Microsoft, HP Labs and Comcast News

I was traveling yesterday and I didn't get a chance to communicate with my blog readers in the detail I would normally like to give. This morning I decided to share all the news that caught my eye from last... continue reading...

Fred Goldstein on Net Neutrality

Just when you thought you knew everything you need to know about the net neutrality debate and the controversy involving the FCC, Comcast and BitTorrent... There is more. A fantastic article from Fred Goldstein of ionary Consulting sums up what... continue reading...

AT&T's Bullish Investment

AT&T is making a major telecom investment in many areas of its business. The telecom giant cites the explosion of high-speed networks, data consuming devices and the move to IP as the reason for this investment. The money is... continue reading...

Steve Jobs Can be Proud ;-)

How would you like to be responsible for creating something so popular that it actually moves the needle on crime rates. I am sure there are a number inventions worthy of similar distinction such as money, the automobile and the... continue reading...

TMCnet's New Vertical Communities

Over the past decade, TMCnet has become the accepted resource for news, product research and analysis in communications and technology markets - including telecom, VoIP, and contact centers. Moreover, the site has become the defacto location online where companies build... continue reading...

Podcast: Joel Hackney, Nortel

If you want some great perspective on Nortel's recent earnings as well as information on which areas of Nortel are doing best, be sure to check out this podcast interview with Joel Hackney, President of the Enterprise Solutions Group at... continue reading...

Google Gears for Mobile

It is here... Finally here. Google Gears is a middleware program with tremendous potential as it allows web based applications to run, even when there is no web connectivity. Currently, using Google Gears is a bit clunky meaning you have... continue reading...

Top Ten Cell Phone Usage Offenses and Remedies

I really don't get too many e-mails from communications companies that I would put in the funny basket so when I opened my e-mail inbox today and received the SpinVox 10-Point guide to Polite Cell Phone Practices, I felt it... continue reading...

TMCnet Services

In an effort to allow TMCnet readers easy access to the breadth of TMCnet services such as the personalized MyTMCnet and TMCnet Mobile, TMCnet has launched a new TMCnet Services page which will allow you to instantly access the... continue reading...

Microsoft's SaaS Push

There are rumors suggesting Microsoft will soon unveil its hosted/on demand/Software as a Service strategy where many of its applications will be provided via the Internet. If Google is the strongest competitor in this space -- and they are... The... continue reading...

Building IMS Applications

TMC's Erik Linask If you are interested in learning the latest information regarding how you can build IMS or IP multimedia subsystem applications, I suggest you check out this article by Erik Linask which discusses a webinar regarding this... continue reading...

Refurbished iPhones

What could be better than an iPhone in a slowing economy? how about a less expensive, "previously owned" iPhone which will cost $199 for 4GB and $249 for 8GB. The good news is these phones will be offered by... continue reading...

Vonage Spent $1.4 million on Lobbying

Vonage spent $1.4 million dollars lobbying last year but some think this may not be enough to counterbalance the huge telcos who have been at this lobbying game for far longer. More from the AP and Russell Shaw... continue reading...

RIM Patents the HTC XV6800

OK, this one came as a surprise but not really. I have seen many companies patent technologies invented elsewhere and then use these patents to sue companies without patents. It happens all the time -- especially in IP communications. I... continue reading...

Daimler Battery Breakthrough

                                            An S Class Mercedes For over a decade now we have witnessed Moore's Law in action, making microprocessors cheaper and faster. Ditto for hard drives and memory. What... continue reading...

Did Comcast Hire People to Attend the FCC Forum?

There have been a  number of reports that Comcast filled the recent FCC Forum with its employees and people off the street who were paid. By doing so, many claim the company denied access to people who had legitimate concerns.... continue reading...

Some Webinars to Witness

If you aren't aware, it seems like my responsibility to at least mention some webinars worth attending. They happen to all be webinars that are hosted by TMC. I am going to try to attend them all. Some of the... continue reading...

Don't Squeeze the Soft Phone

Many of us think of a softphone as a phone that runs in "software." Apparently to others the term means a phone you could use as a teddy bear. More from Gizmodo and Yanko Design... continue reading...

Thank You Kevin Martin

It seems as if FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is the champion of the US citizen today at the FCC Forum as he seems genuinely concerned that there is discrimination taking place on the internet. Moreover he seems concerned about the... continue reading...

The US Entrenched in the Communications Third World

A year ago I wrote an entry titled Living in the Third World of Communications and boy, I must have been really pissed off on that day because I usually don't tell politicians they need to be sure they... continue reading...

FCC Forum Starts This Week

This week there will be an FCC Forum in Boston where the FCC will be discussing many issues regarding the future of the internet. While the lobbying system of the US is wonderful in that it allows many to have... continue reading...

Pakistan Blocks YouTube

Remember a while back when I suggested we use YouTube as a political barometer in response to Iran blocking the video sharing site? Well, Pakistan is the latest country to join the list of YouTube blockers. More See also: Blogging... continue reading...

Japan's High-Speed Internet Satellite

While some of us in the US may be proud that we are able to surf the web at speeds of 10 Mbps or even a bit more, in Japan they are striving for speeds of 1.2 Gbps or... continue reading...

Twitter+iPhone=Gadget LoJack

Worried that your iPhone will be stolen or want to keep track of someone who has an iPhone? If so, check out this article which talks about software that pings your computer with the location of Apple's iPod Touch on... continue reading...

Jamie Siminoff on The Big Idea

Before I met Jamie Siminoff the CEO of SimulScribe the visual voicemail company, I would get emails from people in the industry telling me I should meet him as he was a great guy. Jamie does come across as a... continue reading...

HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Phone

T-Mobile is at it again. They are now starting trials of a new service called HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Phone in Dallas and Seattle.  Interestingly this service is actually backwards looking allowing customers to plug their landlines into... continue reading...

Skype Serves up 100 Billion Minutes

What can you say about a company that has generated 100 billion minutes of telephone traffic. Skype has been around for 4.5 years by the way making this milestone an even greater accomplishment. While these minutes were all free, it... continue reading...

Use Your Shirt to charge your Gadgets

The promise of nanotechnology will allow us to easily charge our consumer electronics devices as we walk and move. Specifically, US scientists have developed a microfiber that charges devices as the fiber rubs against itself. This nanogenerator takes advantage... continue reading...

400,000 iPhones Found in China

One wonders what need China Mobile has for revenue sharing agreements with Apple when it seems iPhones are streaming into China faster than Walmart purchase orders. In fact, analysts estimate 400k iPhones entered China last year alone! This is a... continue reading...

The Problem with Triple-Play Providers

I am a cable quadruple customer. VoIP, broadband, TV and the reason I switched from standalone VoIP to cable had to do with dropped packets on my network. After spending days trying to figure out what the problem was... continue reading...

Jon Arnold on Vonage

Jon Arnold has done a great job of analyzing how Vonage is doing and according to the Arnold, the latest quarter had some ups and downs. Jon spells out why Vonage may not make it into 2009 and I for... continue reading...

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Lowering Rates

I have been intentionally staying away from the news regarding Verizon Wireless introducing new unlimited voice plans but now that AT&T has come out and matched Verizon's plans, it seems I have to at least mention it and point to... continue reading...

TMCnet Continues to Grow

Thanks once again to our loyal TMCnet readers. Because of you, TMCnet has broken more online records. In January of 2008 TMCnet experienced 38,368,961 page views (meaning total number of web pages viewed on TMCnet in January alone. The total... continue reading...

Sony's VoIP Headsets

Sony may be a decade or so late to the game but certainly it is better to be late than not in the game at all. So welcome Sony to the world of VoIP headsets. The top of the range... continue reading...

BT Has New Wireless VoIP Plan

Of course this is not the first time a wireless carrier has allowed customers access to VoWiFi but BT's new WiFi telephony service costs only of £5/month when you subtract out the bundled Office Anywhere service which costs £5 as... continue reading...

RIM Sues Motorola over Patents

The sheer nastiness of what is about to happen could become something of legend. The first few grenades have been lobbed back and forth between Canada and Illinois. First Motorola jacked up licensing fees for its patents for things like... continue reading...

Aastra Acquires Ericsson's Enterprise Business

Ericsson has divested itself of its Enterprise communications business and this move reminds me a great deal of Lucent spinning off its enterprise division in 2000 or so. For Ericsson the logic behind the move is sound as it wants... continue reading...

SMBs Embrace FMC

Huge news comes from Nortel as they recently commissioned a survey which found SMBs are more technically savvy than some might have imagined. SMBs seem to be screaming for FMC solutions and unified communications -- especially as it relates to... continue reading...

Better than Free

In the world of VoIP, there is a serious problem... There are so many companies giving away telephony, how do you compete? Vonage sells service which is ridiculously cheap yet Skype gives their service away even cheaper and in some... continue reading...

Regulators Reshape the Internet

It is pretty amazing to see how many separate issues are surfacing that could affect the future of the internet. The FCC and government have their plates full deciding what to do with telcos and their potentially anti-competitive practices. The... continue reading...

Bluetooth at 300 Feet

So what's that you say? You like bluetooth but the 30 foot range is a bid too short for you? You prefer lets say an extension of this range by say -- 10x? If this is your concern your answer... continue reading...

HD Voice Community

As I have written about extensively, the advent of VoIP means that we are able to increase the quality of communications quite substantially. To that end, we at TMC are always looking for ways to educate you on concepts like... continue reading...

Unprotected SIP

Somehow the title "The Dangers of Unprotected SIP" caught me off guard  since today is after all Valentine's Day. Seems like something they should teach you about in geek health class in high school. But seriously, I don't think... continue reading...

Increase Marketing Spend in a Recession

I just couldn't help but sharing this article about how companies who increase their marketing spend in a recession come out of it doing better than when they went into it. I am not advocating that there is a recession... continue reading...

Telco 2.0 - the Microsoft way

The following are comments from Ovum SVP, Brett Azuma on Microsoft and what they are up to in service provider communications. I thought this was worth passing along. Microsoft provided an update on its Telco 2.0 vision. The analyst telebriefing... continue reading...

Verizon's Network Upgrades

If you haven't been paying attention, you will have missed the fact that Verizon Wireless is investing like mad around the US to improve their mobile network. The quality of the wireless network was amazing to begin with and... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Video

If you missed ITEXPO this past month in Miami, you missed a great opportunity to meet with VARS, service providers and many companies looking to purchase IP communications products and services. I am truly humbled by the unsolicited comments... continue reading...

8x8 Patent Reissued

8x8 the parent of Packet8 has been reissued a patent 6,483,532 entitled, "Video-Assisted Audio Signal Processing System and Method." The patent relates to an arrangement for controlling audio signal transmissions for a communications system that includes a microphone and a... continue reading...

Vonage: Good and Bad News

Vonage is doing better than it did last year but with mounting debt and a weak quarter, it may be difficult for the company to operate unless it improves its performance dramatically. On the bright side, the company lost 6... continue reading...

Garmin Nuvifone Review

Tom Keating has an excellent review of the Garmin nuvifone and after reading it I remain very impressed with what the company will be releasing soon. Let's look at the facts. Garmin's nuvi line is fantastic. I like the... continue reading...

Google Apps Get Unified Communications

It was bound to happen... Google Apps have finally become connected to the world of Unified communications. Thanks to Voice Mobility, you can now integrate Google Apps with your unified communications system in your campus or corporate environment. As... continue reading...

New VoIP Security Problem

Tom Keating alerted to me a new phone hack which is for now targeting SNOM IP phones. The big hack involves the ability of some VoIP phones to make phone calls from the Web interface using a simple web POST... continue reading...

What Caused the Blackberry Outage

It seems a single IP address refusing connections brought down the Blackberry network yesterday. Apparently a secondary IP address was accepting connections and those users who got some of their e-mails through were switching between IP addresses. Thanks to Zenprise... continue reading...

DECT Extends the Cell Phone

Here is the challenge with today's mobile devices. They are generally good at some things and bad at others. You need a device and a set of chargers for various functions. For example, on your vacation -- you need a... continue reading...

Phone Vs. Taser: Phone Wins

When a thief wielding a Taser entered the Alaskan home of a grandmnother, she faught back with her phone and eventually chased the thief away. Apparently she thinks she was Tasered but somehow didn't fall down. One wonders about this... continue reading...

UK Threatens to turn off Web Access

Russell Shaw discusses the talks in the UK which center around three strikes and your out legislation which will turn off broadband connectivity to those people who are repeated infringing downloaders. What upsets Shaw most -- and I rarely see... continue reading...

Forbes on Mobile World Congress

Forbes does a good job of detailing the happenings at Mobile World Congress this week. In summary, the Android phone is not ready for prime time (not much of a surprise here) and there are a plethora of devices from... continue reading...

Packet8 MobileTalk Goes Free

Packet8 has done a good thing today by allowing charter subscribers to their MobileTalk service free access. In other words, there are no longer fees associated with signing up to use this service which allows you to seamlessly connect your... continue reading...

Samsung MBP-100

If you were hoping for the day that you could fit a video projector in your pocket, perhaps that day is finally here. Of course this depends a bit on how big your pockets are. From this picture it seems... continue reading...

I'm Talking in the Rain

Quite often people are in places like a bar room brawl, a rain storm or even a war zone and they wish they could take crucial phone calls. After all, it could be an important caller letting you know for... continue reading...

Android Happenings

There are lots of great things happening in the world of Android over at Mobile World Congress. PC World has a good article on the topic and in it they discuss which processors are Android-compatible and why some exhibitors at... continue reading...

Rim Outage Again

Not since April of 2007 have we seen a Blackberry outage this major. Over ten million Blackberry customers are out in the Americas at the moment and this is regardless of service provider. RIM is having consistent problems with this... continue reading...

Intellectual Property, The Other Defition of IP

It's funny... I have been writing about the enhanced services made possible via IP communications for over a decade. To some degree, these services are here and while I think there is a great deal of room to go in... continue reading...

Starbucks Goes AT&T

Great news for caffeineoholics who need internet access and want it for free. Through an agreement between Starbucks, AT&T and T-Mobile the three companies have come up with a way for AT&T to provide internet access at Starbucks locations.... continue reading...

Mobile World Congress Key Terms

As you may know, Mobile World Congress kicks off this week and to get the ball rolling the event has put out some of the key terms you will be hearing more about this week. I have posted them here... continue reading...

Bluetooth on WiFi Steroids

Imagine a world where your bluetooth devices could take some instant steroids which bulk up your file transfer speeds allowing you to transfer at 100 Mbps or more. Ultrawideband was supposed to be the "steroids" allowing such functionality but... continue reading...

Sprint Complaints

Sprint Complaints Last night I got together with my family for dinner and I found that my Aunt was desperate to talk with me about her recent customer service experience with Sprint. She upgraded her phone and it wouldn't work... continue reading...

Alcatel-Lucent Cuts Dividend

Alcatel-Lucent just reported somewhat disappointing numbers for the quarter with a  few bright spots. On the negative side, the company reported its largest ever quarterly loss since it was created in 2006. The loss was 2.58 billion euros ($3.74 billion)... continue reading...

Google Buying Plaxo?

Another day, another Google purchase rumor. This time it is Plaxo, the company that stores online business contact details. This company recently launched something called Pulse which allows you to decide if someone is a business or personal contact. I... continue reading...

Keating Abuzz with Polycom Compliments

Thank you Polycom for eliminating that annoying "buzz" heard so often on conference calls. Caused by a proliferation of wireless devices, there is nothing more annoying in a conference call setting or a keynote speech at a trade show... continue reading...

Gphone Spotted Soon

In a few days a bunch of reporters will be viewing the first Google Gphone and sharing their thoughts with the public. Unfortunately I will not be at the Mobile World Congress so I won't see this phone in person... continue reading...

BT Fusion Gone

GigaOm reports that BT Fusion is going away to be replaced by a new service powered by HTC devices. Fusion is a convergence service that allows subscribers to make cheap or free calls via Wi-Fi into a BT broadband hub... continue reading...

Is AT&T a Runaway Winner?

Is AT&T going to win the IP services wars? I get the feeling they are really doing a fine job in this regard and will only do better over time. Jon Arnold agrees and in a  recent article he talks... continue reading...

LG Viewty Crosses Threshold

We are really at the threshold of a new era of mobile communications as today's cell phones are monsters in terms of capability... Processor speeds are getting faster and memory is getting cheaper. If you want an example of... continue reading...

Big Things, Small Packages

Check out my Publisher's Outlook from the next issue of Internet Telephony Magazine. I didn't post it here because some of the content has been discussed here before and some is new. I focus on mobile VoIP, mobile access points,... continue reading...

Voce Signals Failed MVNO Experiment

Is it safe to say that if Sprint itself can barely make it as a mobile carrier, then companies that have to pay Sprint and others for their network to resell their services will have an even harder time?... continue reading...

Blodget on Yahoo/Microsoft!

Henry Blodget details why the Microsoft/Yahoo! deal will get more tricky over time. He describes an infinite loop of angry Microsoft shareholders who drive down the price and subsequently require Microsoft to increase share dilution as it adds more shares... continue reading...

Apple Doubles Capacity

Out of guilt -- I really don't think it is important news, I need to share with my readers that today Apple doubled the capacity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new 16 GB iPhone will cost $499 and... continue reading...

Undersea Cable Cuts

Undersea cables are a weak spot in internet connectivity worldwide and with all the recent undersea outages taking place around the world, we need to be concerned that in the US and Canada that these cables are unprotected. Not only... continue reading...

Podcast Interview: 8x8 VP Marketing Huw Rees

8x8, the company behind Packet8 service has been doing a terrific job running their company with positive financial results and new services which are innovative and unique. Some are video-based, some are mobile and others are in the call center... continue reading...

Foundry Powers XM

Good news for Foundry Networks as XM Satellite radio has allowed the company to go public with the fact that the leading satellite radio company has chosen Foundry's BigIron, FastIron SuperX, FastIron SX 800 and FastIron Edge X series Layer... continue reading...

Government Efficiency

Yeah right... Stopping the work on nights and weekends will make a better work/life balance. It seems the Canadian government is implementing a Blackberry blackout between 7 PM and 7 AM. While this idea seems like it should work... How... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Videos

There was in independent reporter at ITEXPO interviewing yours truly and some of the exhibitors from the show. There are two Quicktime files for your enjoyment... One is an interview with me discussing the consumer side of communications opportunities and... continue reading...

Charlotte Wolter Joins TMCnet

I am proud to announce that Charlotte Wolter is joining our roster of TMCnet contributors and she  will be writing about the service provider space. I have been a huge fan of Charlotte -- her insight and writing and... continue reading...

Garmin and Dell in Cells

As I just mentioned moments ago... Everyone seems to think the cell phone business is a great one to be in. Apple, Google and now Garmin and Dell. A strange time indeed for Motorola to be getting out. Then again,... continue reading...

Motorola Explores Spinning off Handset Business

Word is according to CNBC is that Motorola is looking for strategic alternatives for its mobile phone business. I wonder if this move makes sense for the company as this product line is where everyone seems to want to be.... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Recap

You definitely want to check out Tom Keating's writeup of ITEXPO East 2008 where he talks about the great products he saw. Tom got to see more than I did at the show but one point I agree on is... continue reading...

The iTunes PIA

So a while back... I don't even know when, I somehow downloaded Quicktime. It was back in the days when Apple was the company we all felt sorry for. Perhaps a decade or so ago. Once the software was installed,... continue reading...

Sprint Sues VoIP Firms

Many in the IP communications industry blame Vonage for going public, knowing full well that the way they run their business, they can never be profitable. They basically spent a fortune on customer acquisition and not enough time finding ways... continue reading...

Big Sprint Changes

Sprint certainly needs to do something to reduce churn and to become relevant to customers once again. In an increasingly commoditized business they have done little to differentiate themselves from others through either unique handsets which customers want, network quality... continue reading...

ITEXPO West 2008 Day One - Andy

We are looking forward to the best three days of IP communications excitement this year here at ITEXPO in Miami. I just saw Andy Abramson's post and it reminded me that he won't be able to make it to the... continue reading...

Whitman Departs: What it Means to Skype

Meg Whitman was the person who put the Skype deal together at eBay and over the past year it has become apparent that Skype is not generating the revenue eBay hoped it would. In addition, in the last 12 months,... continue reading...

Fujitsu F705i -- Slim and Waterproof

As you pack to head down to Miami for ITEXPO, you may want to consider an extra accessory. How about for example a new cell phone... One that is perfect for a city where you may end up in a... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Schedule

Here are some of the happenings this week at ITEXPO. My team is already down in Miami, making sure the new Mustang convertible is prepped and ready for the raffle Friday. I wish you luck in winning the car and... continue reading...

Have a Safe Trip to ITEXPO

I hope everyone has a safe trip down to Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. The registration numbers are trending nicely above estimates and we expect a stellar event. As always, we have done our absolute best to assemble the most... continue reading...

Unlocked goes Retail

It is not uncommon to read media reports which criticize domestic cell phone carriers who lock cell phones, preventing them from being used on other networks. While unlocked cellphones are not new, what I find interesting is that Sharper Image... continue reading...

MacBook Air Missing Features

Sure the MacBook Air is missing a few features. No surprise as it is so thin. A slow hard disk and missing FireWire port shouldn't be a deal breaker for the people that want the bragging rights associated with the... continue reading...

White Space Internet Closer

Although we unfortunately will not be able to take advantage of new and exciting internet devices utilizing "white space" technology next week at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in Miami... It does seem that at some point in the future,... continue reading...

Vonage to Follow SunRocket?

When asked for a surprising prediction for 2008, Blogger Russell Shaw answered among other things that Vonage could go the way of SunRocket or potentially get picked up by Sprint Nextel. Actually, with all the negative (rumor)coming out of this... continue reading...

Skype on Apple TV

Good news for those of you who want to purchase an Apple TV but are concerned it doesn't do enough -- like say make VoIP calls. Engadget reports this morning that hacker Brandon Holland will soon have have a plugin... continue reading...

California Broadband Task Force Recommendations

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commissioned the California Broadband Task Force (CBTF) to “remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption, and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication technologies.” The governor also requested that the... continue reading...

Shoretel Class Action Suit

Kahn Gauthier Swick, LLC (KGS) has announced an initial filing of securities for a class action suit against Shoretel. According to a press release: If you purchased shares of ShoreTel in connection with the IPO or if you purchased shares... continue reading...

Pizza Ordering Goes Mobile

There is a fierce battle to get you to order your pizza more conveniently. The arms race is now coming to mobile devices as Pizza Hut will allow ordering via SMS and the mobile web. The company expects to earn... continue reading...

Top 10 Phone Tricks

If you are looking for the top 10 telephone tricks you need to be aware of, look no further than this post over at Life Hacker. You want to know how to "gracefully" bow out of a long-winded conversation? How... continue reading...

Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass Go

A disproportionate amount of fraud seems to have taken place in the telecom and technology fields over the last decade. Adelphia, Worldcom, Enron (remember they also had a bandwidth trading division) and many others have been caught and convicted over... continue reading...

Mobile Device Management

Mobile device management is a somewhat new addition to the telecom expense management (TEM) field, but it has exploded in the past couple years as mobile telephony adoption among enterprises has continued at a rapid clip. Moreover, many workers are... continue reading...

ITEXPO - Huge International Draw

As Tom Keating mentioned earlier today we are proud to announce that Internet Telephony Conference & Expo which will take place in just under a week in Miami Florida has registrations from 74 countries, a 15.6% increase over last year.... continue reading...

Important Interviews

Recently I was fortunate enough to be able to interview a number of thought leaders and others who have given me their perspectives on the communications market, the future, the entry of Google, Apple and Microsoft into the space and... continue reading...

Tech News 01/16/07

It has been a pretty big news day so far this early morning. Intel perhaps is responsible for the biggest portion of today's market movement as last night they announced earnings which were not all that bad but the stock... continue reading...

MacWorld Update

Although I am not blown away by the Apple announcements out of MacWorld today the news could still be a massive financial win for the California-based company. In short, the cult of Steve Jobs announced a new thin laptop Macbook... continue reading...

Quantcast Update 01/08

On November 6, 2007 I had a post (see bottom of post for chart) where I showed how TMC compares with other IP Communications sites. I did this by pulling numbers from Quantcast, a web service which tracks web traffic... continue reading...

Ergonomic Phones

A concept you rarely hear about but which is important is ergonomics in telephones. I came across an ergonomic phone white paper from Shoretel and while it is Shoretel-centered it is still pretty useful and worth checking out before you... continue reading...

Free Softbank Calls

Softbank is said to be considering allowing free phone calls between its VoIP and wireless service. The goal will be to increase the stickiness of each service while simultaneously enticing more subscribers. Obviously there is potential for an ARPU hit... continue reading...

Atlanta: Most Wired US City

I have to be honest when I say I was surprised to read that Atlanta, GA is considered to be the most wired city in the US. When you look at the reasons however it begins to make sense. As... continue reading...

Best Buy CRM Challenge

Although I cannot vouch for whether this is true, the story of Best Buy allegedely screaming at someone for purchasing a video game which is rated for mature audiences could get some play on network TV. Apparently the store accused... continue reading...

Sangoma Interview

When you listen to David Mandelstam the President and CEO of Sangoma, you get the feeling you are speaking with a hybrid scientist/entrepreneur. Mandelstam's company is a pioneer in both open source and unified communications and he is a good... continue reading...

Squeezebox Duet

You probably know I spent some time thinking about how best to connect my computer system to my stereo and I ended up with a solution that is not perfect but at least I can listen my phone's music collection... continue reading...

Samsung Bribery News

Samsung has its hands in just so many things and subsequently it is worth sitting back and taking notice when the company is accused of setting up a slush fund and engaging in bribery. Samsung Group is easily South Korea’s... continue reading...

Sprint Layoffs

The bad news keeps flowing for Sprint employees as there are now rumored layoffs coming. Still, with a new CEO, this news is not too surprising. Moreover, for shareholders these cuts will likely be welcomed as sales are slowing and... continue reading...

Google iPhone Upgrade

The latest news out of Google is not surprising as the company decided to choose the week of Macworld to announce that they have improved their iPhone experience. As I wrote about earlier today, iPhone search activity is much greater... continue reading...

iPhone Google Traffic Surge

Back in the late nineties the CEO of Nokia made an interesting prediction at an industry show in his keynote address. The prognostication was that soon more people would surf the internet on their mobile devices than on PCs. Unfortunately... continue reading...

Foot Power for Gadgets

Let's say you read my blog post about turning your Windows Mobile phone into a wireless access point and you are burning through batteries more often than Britney Spears misses court appearances. What is the normal person to do?... continue reading...

SkullCandy Double Agent

I think it was the movie Minority Report where the actors used a headset without a cellphone in sight. This is what I thought of when I learned there is an MP3 player headset without the need for an... continue reading...

Picture Frames need PHDs

After reading Tony Ryb's blog about how it shouldn't take a PHD to get a wireless photo frame working I have to share my story of the Sharper Image wireless picture frame called the MemoryFrame from DigitalSpectrum Incorporated. This device... continue reading...

Striking Writers to Launch New Company

Perhaps the headline of this post should be ended with the he disclaimer "With the help of investors who may or may not pony up $30 million." The worst nightmare of the studios and networks dealing with the writer's strike... continue reading...

Multicore Processors in 3G

As 3G applications and services become more complex, it becomes essential that service providers address the challenge by ensuring they user the proper processors to take advantage of increased device load. One way to tackle the problems of power and... continue reading...

Good Bye Jeff Raikes

Good bye Jeff Raikes. Raikes did a great job at Microsoft and in the unified communications space he should be commended for rolling out a slew of strong products and doing a fantastic PR and marketing job promoting them. He... continue reading...

T-Mobile's Massive Spend

I thought it worth mentioning the absolutely staggering amount of money T-Mobile will be spending to upgrade their 2G and 3G networks. A total of $10.3 billion will be spent between now and 2009 in fact. This could be an... continue reading...

Bose Bluetooth

I have a pair of Bose QuietComfort 3 noise-canceling headphones and for the longest time I have wondered why -- just why, I have to have a separate bluetooth stereo headset. After all for $300, Bose should not only have... continue reading...

Sad, Very Sad

Now I am not one to nitpick but it would make sense to fix this phone -- right? Photo credit: DinSide.no and I have no idea where this photo was taken.... continue reading...

WMWifiRouter

One of the most incredible software packages I have come across in quite some time is WMWifiRouter which enables Windows Mobile devices to become WiFi access points, sharing the EVDO connection with a number of others. Although the software allows... continue reading...

Service Provider Opportunities

Service providers are being extremely creative in using technology and ingenuity to launch new and enhanced services and products to keep customers and attract new ones. Some of the better ideas I have seen lately are the consumer electronics DECT... continue reading...

Death of the Road Warrior

One of the more respected names in the video/telepresence space is Casey King, CTO of LifeSize. I recently had a chance to interview King and you may be interested in reading his views on how telepresence is changing the world... continue reading...

International Calling Alternatives

While perusing the international calling channel on TMCnet I came across an article which details the checklist of items you need to be aware of when choosing an international calling service. While many people are likely to think about the... continue reading...

Alltel Partners with AAA

Years back, many of my colleagues and I waxed poetic about location based services. Now it seems, with the aid of GPS, these services are being rolled out. A really interesting one has been announced by AAA the automobile club and... continue reading...

MP3 Taser Video

Are you concerned the new MP3-enabled Taser holder doesn't still Tase properly? Here is a video which shows it works fine. this reporter was nice enough to sacrifice his electrochemical responses for the good of of his website. Impressive. By... continue reading...

Pocket Internet

I beleive there needs to be a slew of devices allowing us to have web browsing on the go. Something smaller than a laptop and larger than a smartphone is needed. The Wall Street Journal has some interesting points about... continue reading...

Comcast 2.0

In December of 2004 I wrote an article titled VoIP 2.0 in Internet Telephony Magazine which focused in part on next generation devices VoIP service providers need to differentiate themselves. Here is an excerpt from that article: The Device Sells... continue reading...

Latin America VoIP Conference

We are very excited to announce that at the upcoming Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in Miami later this month, there will be a free session for resellers showing them how to best sell IP communications products and services to... continue reading...

VoSKY Interview

Check out my interview with David Tang the vice president of Global Marketing at VoSKY the company who introduced me to the term Skype trunking a number of years back. VoSKY makes a number of products geared at integrating Skype... continue reading...

Electronic Reminders

If you are constantly forgetting things, you may be interested in finding a site that can help you manage your busy schedule. A short and to the point Wall Street Journal article will help you keep track of all your... continue reading...

12 GB MicroSD Card

I was waiting for a higher capacity MicroSD card as the 8GB card just wasn't enough for my needs. I thought perhaps the Consumer Electronics show would bring us a 16 GB card but I was off by 4 GB.... continue reading...

12 GB MicroSD Card

I was waiting for a higher capacity MicroSD card as the 8GB card just wasn't enough for my needs. I thought perhaps the Consumer Electronics show would bring us a 16 GB card but I was off by 4 GB.... continue reading...

Google goes TV

It is tough to not think of Microsoft when you hear announement after announcment that Google is entering space after space. The latest is TV with news the company is working with Matsushita's Panasonic to develop TV which which will... continue reading...

Taser meets Apple

If your favorite music genre is electronica you may be interested in this new Taser holster which doubles as an MP3 player. Just be careful the music you listen to doesn't make you trigger-happy or you could be in for... continue reading...

Webot Review

It is almost embarrassing to call it a review as getting Webot up and running was almost too simple for words. Once you sign up to the music streaming and photo sharing service you are offered a download of software... continue reading...

Whirlpool Fridge Docks Gadgets

It was only a matter of time before gadgets and appliances got more than friendly  -- they are downright married now as Whirlpool has a new refrigerator designed to allow you to dock iPods, tablets, photo frames and more. Soon... continue reading...

IP Communications News January 4, 2007

If you just can't get enough IP communications news then you are a lot like me and I do feel a bit sorry for you.  Either way, there is lots of great news happening in this first short week of... continue reading...

IP Communications News January 4, 2007

If you just can't get enough IP communications news then you are a lot like me and I do feel a bit sorry for you.  Either way, there is lots of great news happening in this first short week of... continue reading...

Webot Remote Media

While I wait to get my hands on the Nokia N810, I will try Webot's new multimedia interface on my Nokia N800. This is assuming it works on both of these devices equally well. I have been looking for more... continue reading...

Like Bluetooth but Better

Here's the thing. You like bluetooth but you aren't a fan of the power consumption rates of this wireless standard. This is where Kleer and Sennheiser come in as the pair have a new headset based on the 2.4 GHz... continue reading...

I Want a Multi-Touch Screen

I am looking forward to being able to use a multi-touch screen on my monitor at work. I would even like to try it on my laptop. I spent a few minutes pretending my monitor currently has this technology built... continue reading...

Using Phones in-Flight

Lately there has been much coverage of airline broadband connections. Soon we will all be able to talk on our cell phones while in flight. Well really I made that last part up... But I do think there are many... continue reading...

Blackberry Goes Slingbox

What is the ultimate nightmare for corporate tech departments?? How about streaming video on corporate Blackberrys? Well, thanks to Slingbox, we will soon be able to all enjoy the latest episode of Lost on our handheld devices. Let's just hope... continue reading...

Microsoft Paper Clip 2.0

This seems like a 2.0 with week with MC Hammer 2.0 news yesterday and now that famous paper clip in Windows has gone 2.0 as well. You know what I mean don't you? When you are starting a Microsoft Word... continue reading...

Packet8: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

What is not to like about a company that keeps growing its customer base yet stays just under the radar so it isn't sued into oblivion? 8x8's Packet8 service continues to grow nicely and has just reached the 10,000 user... continue reading...

Sharper Image Bluetooth Speakers

When you think bluetooth speakers, you likely don't think of the high fidelity sound these fine speakers produce. In a time when consumer electronics device sales are on fire, it is almost impossible to keep track of all the peripheral... continue reading...

It's Hammer Time… 2.0

MC Hammer is not a name we have been hearing about lately but the once hotter than ever music star who subsequently went bankrupt is back and better than ever. What is the name of his new album you may... continue reading...

Technology News Wrap Dec 27, 2007

It has been a slow news week as you might imagine and there have been a number of stories which have caught my eye. Stories wrapping up 2007 are rampant and one worth reading is from Mae Kowalke and is... continue reading...

Be Careful at Best Buy

For those last minute holiday shoppers – beware of Best Buy redirecting you to a website that is not the real bestbuy.com but instead a site for those people in the store. Prices on this website may be higher than... continue reading...

OnStar Shut Down

For those cars with analog cellular cell phone OnStar connections you have until February 18, 2008 before your service will stop working. Some who have complained to GM about this problem have received a $500 gift certificate towards the purchase... continue reading...

In-Flight Internet Access Update

I think I want internet access when I fly. I really do. Yes, the plane is usually a quiet time to reflect and write compelling content… Still, I can now feel comfortable flying during the business day from the west... continue reading...

VoIP Banned on Some Flights

Perhaps the best holiday gift for people who enjoy peace and quiet on their flights is an all out ban on VoIP in the sky. The AP is reporting on the sorts of things we may be allowed to do... continue reading...

Nortel Sues Vonage

Vonage just can’t catch a break these days and seems to be the target of more lawsuits related to patent infringements than just about any other company out there. The latest patent fight is with Nortel, a company who says... continue reading...

Cell Phone Cameras catch Criminals

It’s funny that when I saw the headline from the Wall Street Journal titled Cheese! Uh-Oh Cellphone Photos Prove Perps' Guilt I thought the article referred to people getting caught in illegal acts by others with cell phones. Interestingly the... continue reading...

Google, Blackberry and Skype News

Two things worth noting this morning have to do with mobility and video. First off, Google Calendar now syncs with Blackberrys. This is big news, allowing corporations to slowly wean themselves off of Microsoft software if they so choose. As... continue reading...