Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com

Using Amazon to Compare Kindle Fire to iPad - Dec 05, 2011

The Only Way Google can be Successful in Consumer Electronics - Feb 10, 2012

Ultrabooks, Kindle Fires and the New World Apple Must Compete in - Dec 27, 2011

Avaya's Top Communication Trends in 2012 - Dec 16, 2011

Is Content King or is it Platform? - Sep 30, 2011

Amazon's Subsidized Tablets Borrow from Wireless Carriers - Sep 28, 2011

Cisco Cius and the Need for an Enterprise Tablet - Jun 30, 2011

RIM Enters Tablet Space with Playbook - Sep 27, 2010

Hootsuite Hootlet on the iPad - May 14, 2010

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Metaswitch Brings SBCs to the Cloud

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:12:42 -0500

Metaswitch is relatively new to the SBC game but they already have been thinking of ways of taking session border controllers and making them more flexible and scalable. To that end the company has put its Perimeta SBC in the cloud allowing it to run on COTS servers with a variety of hypervisors.

According to Steve Gleave, VP of Marketing at Metaswitch, "The arguments for separating signaling and media functions in a session border controller are now well understood. The commercial benefits of running session border control on COTS platforms are also clear. So moving the signaling control function into the cloud, and leveraging the economies of generic server platforms and inherent system redundancy is a logical progression.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: amazon, cloud communications, cloud computing, ec2, metaswitch, sbc, session border control, session border controller Related tags: session border, cloud, session, running, metaswitch, platforms

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Stop the Licensing Insanity, Cable Companies Need a Slingbox App

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:41:52 -0500

Would you move because you wanted a better cable company? The answer is probably not – especially if you live in an area of the country where you are served by a major provider. Cablevision is a relatively smaller cable company serving areas in the northeast like Connecticut and New York and even so they have WiFi-enabled much of their footprint allowing free wireless broadband to customers at many restaurants and shopping centers.

So cable companies aren’t necessarily competing against each other – they are competing against OTT providers, Hulu, Netflix, YouTube as well as phone companies.

So the competition is generally cord cutting and the cablecos have to do everything they can to make their services as sticky as they can be. This is why as TMC’s Peter Bernstein reports today, Tim Warner Cable has rolled out some great new services allowing customers to watch TV on PCs and Macs. This is even better than Cablevision’s Optimum service as it is restricted to iOS and Android.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: android, app, cable, cablevision, dvr, flash, html5, peter bernstein, Silverlight, slingbox, time warner cable, tivo Related tags: cable companies, cable company, customers watch, licensing insanity, cable, companies

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How to set your Continent on Fire, Listen to Europe

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:41:26 -0500

Last week I mentioned that it is quite hypocritical for people clad in Chinese clothes and buying most of their products from China to single out Apple for manufacturing in the country. After all, if you are upset Chinese working conditions and jobs being relocated there you could and should equally go after Wal-Mart and virtually every company in the world in conjunction with Cupertino.

No sooner had I penned this piece – someone sent me news titled: Deutsche Telekom Union Workers and Member of German Parliament to Visit US, to Call on German Company to Stop Mistreating U.S. Workers. The basic premise is the German workers at Deutsche Telecom are treated better than US workers.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: at&t, att, carrier, deutsche telecom, drachma, euro, europe, t-mobile, union, verizon Related tags: currency manipulation, germany, europe, workers, german, country

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Will AT&T, T-Mobile Merger Slow Wireless Innovation? - Jul 25, 2011

What AT&T Purchase of T-Mobile Means - Mar 20, 2011

Supercomm 2009 Update - Oct 20, 2009

ZTE Profit Tops Charts, Targets US and 4G - Aug 23, 2009

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3-D Designer Glasses at CES 2012 from Marchon 3D

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:45:20 -0500

Did you know you could get designer 3-D glasses which also protect your eyes from UV light? Well you can - I saw and wore them myself at CES 2012 in Las Vegas. What a major step up from the disposable crap you get at a typical movie theater. These are the glasses for the hip entertainment-savvy geek in all of us.

Price is $20-$70 with $35 being the sweet spot. Best of all the curved design of these glasses mean a better visual experience. Check it out in the video below - glasses not required.

]]> Tags: 3-d, 3d, ces, ces 2012, marchon Related tags: glasses

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CES 2012 Overview - Jan 13, 2012

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Does Apple Blacklist Reporters?

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:05:48 -0500

You may remember about a year ago I wrote about how the hype around Apple is so great that they are often credited with doing things first – even though they clearly haven’t. For example the iPad 2 was not the first tablet with a dual-core processor but many still reported incorrectly.

I further went on to explain how Apple and some other companies dole out favors based upon good press. In other words, write a negative article about a company and you are added to a list which ensures you won’t get early access to products and services or even answers to questions you pose to the company’s PR team.

Jason O’Grady at ZDNet goes into detail about how this process works at Apple – basically a blacklist is in place to ensure reporters who cover rumors or write something negative are “punished.” He knows a great deal about the company because he has been sued by Cupertino in the past.

Here is an excerpt:

Case in point: On February 7 when Arun Thampi posted on his blog that Path was sneakily uploading iPhone user’s address books to its server — without permission — I called and emailed Apple. Apple didn’t reply. Then and I blogged about it.

On February 8 when Dustin Curtis blogged that Apple makes a standard practice of approving apps that upload the entire contents of your iOS address book to developer’s servers I again called and emailed Apple. Apple didn’t reply. Then I blogged about it.

Later.

]]> Continue Reading... Tags: apple, godaddy, jason o'grady, press, tim cook, zdnet Related tags: emailed apple, early access, cover rumors, apple apple, called emailed, apple

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Apple's Great Products Allow Legal Gouging - Jan 20, 2012

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Mobile Banking and Payments the Next Frontier - Nov 03, 2010

iPhone Becomes Remote Control - Mar 08, 2010

Reminiscing About Tech's Past - Jul 07, 2009

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Chinese Nortel Hack Unconfirmed by my Sources

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:33:35 -0500

Although reports have been swirling regarding Chinese hackers breaking into Nortel's computers for over ten years in order to steal trade secrets, I have been unable to confirm such a breach took place. I have tapped into a few high-level sources and they were unaware of anything like this happening - the internal Nortel employees would almost certainly need to know if such an attack was taking place.

After all, reports say that even Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski had a computer which was compromised.

One of the reasons Nortel went bankrupt had to do with Chinese competitors Huawei and ZTE undercutting Nortel on price for carrier wireless and other products. So it easy to understand why many would easily believe that Nortel had been hacked.

And hacks from China are not unusual - they have happened to numerous US companies and even government agencies.

But again, would you not let your company workers know if this was the case?

Siobhan Gorman has a story in the Wall Street Journal on what happened at Nortel and it seems there is enough information to make you believe the hack was real. But still, I remain skeptical that the breach if it happened was on such a massive scale.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: china, hacker, huawei, nortel, security, trad secret, zte Related tags: nortel, chinese, anything, happened

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China Patent Wars: Huawei Sues ZTE - Apr 28, 2011

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Cisco Underestimated Skype's Value. Acts against Microsoft Acquisition

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:35:30 -0500

Cisco is far from the most open company in tech so it is ironic it is concerned about a monopoly over video conferencing a result of the Microsoft acquisition of Skype. The company’s Martin De Beer said, “For the sake of customers, the industry recognizes the need for ubiquitous unified communications interoperability, particularly between Microsoft/Skype and Cisco products, as well as products from other unified communications innovators.” This statement coincided with Cisco challenging an EU court over the acquisition.

One has to wonder however if Cisco underestimated Skype’s value. After all, the company has been sold twice in the last few years and the networking company didn’t close the deal either time.

The thesis that Cisco did not realize Skype’s importance is backed up by Cisco’s other actions – launching its consumer video service Umi - a Skype competitor. As you may recall I immediately said this service would fail and backed it up with ten reasons.

Here are the first three as a reminder - #1 is the most important for now:

1) Skype.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: cisco, consumer, consumerization of it, gadget, itexpo, microsoft, polycom, sip, skype, telepresence, uc, umi, unified communications, video Related tags: microsoft skype, underestimated skype, communication industry, video communication, cisco underestimated, cisco

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Grandstream Launches new ATAs at ITEXPO Miami 2012

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:28:18 -0500

Recently at ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami, Grandstream announced a new family of ATAs – an addition which shows the company is becoming a more complete player in the IP communications space. It has been a great journey watching Grandstream start with IP phones then evolve to an IP PBX and IP cameras. In fact they announced their new GXV3500 camera at the show. While the company started out making products which were sold based on low price they have gone upmarket to some degree with new offerings.

TMC’s Stefanie Mosca Interviews Grandstream’s Jorge Otero above at ITEXPO East Miami 2012.

According to Jorge we will see 3-4 new products in the IP surveillance space released this year.

]]> Tags: conference, grandstream, ip camera, ip communications, ip security, ip surveillance, itexpo, technology, voip Related tags: grandstream, itexpo, miami

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22nd ITEXPO in 2 Weeks - Sep 21, 2010

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Will Nimble 2.0 take Social CRM Mainstream?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:01:00 -0500

Recently consumer products manufacturer P&G – one of the largest advertising spenders at over $9B announced it will cut its marketing headcount in-part because advertising on Facebook and Google is more efficient. The maker of Gillette and Pantene products is not alone; in-fact the business world is focusing heavily on social media including Google+ and Twitter.

But while it is understood by many web-savvy companies that social is important – how many of them are embracing social CRM? My informal analysis shows the numbers are very low meaning there could be huge room for growth.

That is of course if you don’t ascribe to the idea that it is important for companies to help shape the dialogue about themselves online. More importantly, you don’t believe that tying social media into CRM systems can boost sales and service levels and perhaps even increase productivity.

One person who believes in the power of social CRM is Nimble founder and CEO Jon Ferrara. Around 1991 or so he told me at a dinner that his new company contact management/CRM company Goldmine has lots of potential because, “There is no Lotus in the market.” Ironically, Goldmine did in fact become a major player in the space while Lotus faded from the scene.

Last year Nimble rolled out its initial cloud-based social CRM solution and there are now 30,000 users and 3,000 of them spend almost half their day on the platform.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: crm, goldmine, nimble, oracle, salesforce, siebel, social crm Related tags: social networks, social media, number social, including google, social, nimble

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Logitech Zagg iPad 2 Keyboard: Do You Need a Laptop?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:00:11 -0500

A few months back I was in Boston interviewing a number of companies in the tech space and just before one of my interviews I was reading about the Logitech Keyboard Case by ZAGG for iPad 2 and I was intrigued. I thought having a real keyboard connected to the iPad 2 was a great pain reliever for my fingers which ache when hitting glass repeatedly but I worried the addition would limit my ability to use the tablet while standing. Quite often in my office I find myself using the iPad and I figured a fixed aluminum keyboard would make this practice cease.

Owen DeLong of Hurricane Electric is an iPv6 evangelist but I found him equally good at evangelizing why I needed a bluetooth keyboard from Zagg for my iPad 2. At first I wasn’t convinced and instead thought the new TouchFire silicon keyboard would be the best choice for my aching fingers.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: amazon, apple, case, hurricane electric, ipad, ipad 2, itexpo, keyboard, kickstarter, meritline, owen delong, touchfire, zagg Related tags: status light, while standing, including shipping, quite often, keyboard, laptop

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Kindle Fire Costs Apple Perhaps a Billion Dollars in December - Jan 03, 2012

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The Only Way Google can be Successful in Consumer Electronics

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:25:30 -0500

Yesterday I detailed how Google IS the tech news of the day and folks, this search leader is ambitious – more so than Microsoft ever was. In addition to a Dropbox killer and massive Google+ growth I outlined in this recent post, the company is also getting into the home entertainment business through its Motorola Mobility acquisition. Specifically Google will release a self-branded line of consumer electronics allowing you to stream music throughout your home.

Google already has a cloud-based music service so obviously there is synergy there but the only way I see this strategy working is by Google doing things differently.

My loyal readers know I am a fan of Sonos – they sell an in-home audio streaming service which integrates with Slacker, Pandora, Sirius/XM, Spotify and even integrates with iOS devices and iTunes libraries stored on computers. In-short, you have access to all your music and favorite radio from any room.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: amazon, android, apple, bose, gadget, google, ios, iphone, ipod, kindle, kindle fire, lala, motorola, motorola mobility, pandora, radio, sirius, slacker, sonos, spotify, streaming, wireless Related tags: streaming service, consumer electronics, radio advertising, future google, motorola mobility, google

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Sonos Wireless Dock Review - Oct 26, 2010

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Why Steve Jobs had an FBI File

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:50:15 -0500

The FBI just released the file on Steve Jobs and it contains information about hem being not the nicest person in the world and in addition lists the various drugs he used such as marijuana, hashish and LSD.

I know what you are thinking... Why on earth would this man need an FBI file? After all, he was the man behind the personal computer - how dangerous is that? The reason it turns out is In 1991, Jobs was being considered for a post on President George H.W. Bush’s Export Council, an appointment that would not have required Senate confirmation.

So that explains it. Still, it is worrisome to know the FBI has files on people - it does remind one of the Hoover times where the bureau kept files on many famous and outspoken personalities.
]]> Continue Reading... Tags: apple, steve jobs Related tags:
, apple, steve jobs

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Google+ Growth, Dropbox Killer: Google IS the Tech News

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:04:09 -0500

Google has entrenched itself is so many areas of tech they have become the technology news of the day. First off, Google+ growth has been nothing short of fantastic, in part because the company has altered search results to put more emphasis on this social network. Every SEO/SEM professional has had no choice in the past few months to get up to speed on the latest social network from the search giant. And this in part is the reason why it has half the unique visitors of Twitter according to web traffic tracking site Compete.

In other unrelated news in the mobile market – hey wait, it isn’t unrelated at all – once again it features Google whose Motorola Mobility acquisition is about to get OKed – perhaps as early as next week.

The bad news now for those companies selling products with technology covered by Motorola/Google patents – you’re on the hook for 2.25% of every sale.]]> Continue Reading... Tags: android, apple, bmw, drive, dropbox, google, google+, icloud, ios, mercedes, motorola, patent, seo Related tags: dropbox killer, google growth, social network, google, unrelated, search

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