Science

Smell, Don't Drink That Coffee

June 14, 2008

And you thought you needed to drink that coffee to get the full effects. In what has to be the world's worst discovery for coffeehouses, it seems that it is possible that smelling coffee proscues a similar effect to drinking it. Perhaps forward-thinking coffeehouses will start selling coffee smells. Who knows?

Scientists have shownt that rats smelling coffee have reduced signs of sleep deprivation. The results have not been duplicated on humans as of yet.

Since I haven't had my coffee yet, I will leave the details to The New Scientist.

Posted in Personal, Science

Hyperconnectivity, Live and in Person

June 11, 2008

You can't escape the reality that interconnectivity between humans will increase at a more rapid pace as time goes on. The myriad ways in which we connect with one another, e-mail, social networks, blogging, IM, SMS, telephone, voicemail and others are mushrooming.

It seems obvious that today's teens will demand social networking in the workplace meaning IT departments will have to support these myriad communications mechanisms while dealing with the repercussions of compliance management. Not allowing social networks into your company may even be a deal-breaker when hiring the best talent in the market. We may see a time where publicly traded companies fearful of social networks will lose workers to smaller companies who are more social-network friendly.

Another challenge is web browsers on phones.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conferencing, FCC, Google, IMS, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Science, Security, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP

Build Communities With Google's Help

June 10, 2008

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 are hoping like-minded people will visit the community regularly and begin to associate your company as a leader in the space and hopefully some of these people will become new customers.

In this example, your resources are limited and even if they aren't, you need to choose one of these above areas to build your community. Assume each of them has equal market sizes and growth rates and you need to determine where the highest level of search interest lies.

Using the updated Google Trends, you can now see a graph over time of search volume on a relative and absolute basis and this information can be exported for analysis.

You may find for example that storage interest spikes around the year-end holidays but also seems unusually high in May of each year... This information can be useful in your business as it helps you see how people are searching for various terms.

If you have read my blog before, you know TMC has been building communities (Global Online Communities, Channels) for companies in the communications and technology space for some time now.

Posted in AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conference, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Google, Green, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, JITC, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Musings, Nortel, Open Source, Patent, Personal, Podcast, Rates Technology, SIP, Science, Security, Skype, Speech Technologies, TMCnet, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Vonage, WiMAX, Wireless, Yahoo

Will LTE Fuel IMS?

June 3, 2008

Will LTE fuel IMS? Bob Emmerson seems to think so and he has a great point. With similar elements defined in WiMAX, LTE and IMS, the chances that carriers will have to install more and more IMS components are good. Similar to how you put a few pieces of a puzzle together at a time only to find your entire puzzle is solved before you know it, expect carriers to look at their networks and say that with a few more dollars they will have full-fledged IMS and the benefits such a framework allows.

Another point worth making is that IMS is due for a revival as we have already gone through the hype phase and there is less buzz around this term than there has been since its inception.

Posted in AT&T, Broadband, Cisco, Communications Developer, E-Commerce, FCC, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Science, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Podcast: Starent Networks Thierry Maupilé

May 21, 2008

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 seems obvious these devices will be delivering TV, YouTube and a host of other multimedia services as time progresses. Those of you who have kids with cell phones know more about this than others of course.

As this transition takes place, carriers need to think about taking advantage of adding intelligence to their gateways so they are able to build the most flexible next generation network possible.

I had a candid conversation with Maupil� about wireless barriers to entry, Apple's iPhone, the latest generation of devices and the incredible opportunities ahead for service providers.

This podcast is certainly worth a listen and I hope you enjoy it thoroughly.

Posted in AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Cisco, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, IP Communications, Microsoft, Podcast, SIP, Science, Security, Technology, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Roku: The Apple of TV?

May 21, 2008

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 on Tom Keating's blog and on the New York Times, it is a killer offering.

Here are the details... A $100 set top box, a sub $10/month subscription and a web-based interface which helps you narrow down movie selections from a total of 10,000 Netflix offerings which are ultimately made by remote control.

At these price points some could be tempted to give up cable TV service altogether and if the box gains traction, it can become the TV delivery mechanism of the future -- worldwide.

I am not naive enough to think Roku will easily take over the world as Apple, Microsoft, the cable companies and phone companies will be looking to do everything short of hiring hitmen (is hitpersons more PC?).

Expect the box to eventually support YouTube, streaming TV and perhaps newer movies.

Really, everyone should be gunning for Roku except for content providers (including Yahoo! and Google) and chip manufacturers who can benefit from lower cost distribution and the sale of product to this consumer electronics company.

It is not hard to see Roku becoming a telephony provider in the future by upgrading these boxes with ATA functionality.

Expect this company to be included in net neutrality discussions of the future and if they aren't purchased in six months I will be very surprised. If Vonage had the finances or access to capital -- their brand would be a huge help in getting this box in millions of homes as fast as possible. They should consider a merger.

Then there is Google who could get broader YouTube penetration.

Posted in AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Cisco, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Google, IP Communications, IPTV, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Podcast, SIP, Science, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Vonage, Yahoo

Linux In The Dashboard?

May 21, 2008

Would you want an open source OS in your car... Controlling everything from the motor to the brakes to the internet access? Frankly, over the years, TMC has grown with not only Microsoft computers but we relied on Unix since about 1982. Today we have a mix of Microsoft and Linux boxes powering TMCnet and and TMC in general.

I think a Linux-based approach to automotive computing makes sense since it will drive costs down.

Posted in Open Source, Science, Security, Technology

Put Down That Danish -- You are Destroying the Plant

May 17, 2008

When I read about obesity causing global warming I wasn't surprised. After all, look at how hard airlines try to shed a few dozen pounds from an airplane just to save weight -- which in turn will save fuel. All that effort can be counteracted by a single passenger who is overweight. Let alone a plane where 30% of the passengers are obese.

Now it seems that it is not just the obese people that fly causing a problem.

Posted in Green, Science

New WiMAX News Site

May 16, 2008

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 such as HD Voice, IP communications, IPTV, CRM and hosted communications or outbound call center.

Today we just announced TMCnet's WiMAX Today, a new site devoted to the WiMAX space. You probably already know TMCnet as a site which has more WiMAX news, information, opinion and analysis than any other site online.

Now you have a single place where you can go on the site to keep up with virtually every topic in this fast-growing wireless market.

I personally invite you to visit wimaxtoday.tmcnet.com for more.

Posted in AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, Cisco, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Google, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Science, Security, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Vonage, WiMAX, Wireless, Yahoo

Digium Picks Integrics to Power Carrier Solutions

May 13, 2008

Perhaps one of the biggest misperceptions among those who dabble in communications is that Asterisk is only used in small business environments. The reality is that Asterisk is being used in service provider environments as well.

Of course this doesn't mean that a product which happens to work great in a small to medium business is also able to simply flip a switch to become the heart of a service provider install.

In other words Asterisk + "a variety of additions" is what Mrs. or Mr. service provider needs to use this popular open source product to power services to their customers.

In an effort to simplify the process of adding Asterisk to the service provider environment, Digium -- the company behind the world's most popular open source communications software has partnered with Integrics, the maker of Enswitch.

According to an article on the subject by TMCnet's Susan Campbell, Enswitch allows service providers to use Asterisk in order to provide, full-featured, telephone management and billing solutions, calling card integration, toll free and number translation services, voice mail, call queuing, ACD, fax to e-mail, and multi-level IVR.

I am pretty impressed with the feature-set of Enswitch. For example, they provide XML and PDF invoices for customers, wizard-based activation, simple sales tax management, web-based administration, sophisticated authentication mechanisms, shared speed dials, .csv integration, dial by name, unlimited classes of service, etc.

In fact you may be hard pressed as a carrier to find a feature that Integrics hasn't thought of.

So what does such an announcement mean to the market? Well first off, service providers are likely to feel more comfortable working with products from Integrics as they now have the Digium brand, muscle and market power behind them.

In addition, we can expect the service provider market to embrace open source at an even more rapid pace than they are already doing.

Posted in AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Conferencing, FCC, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Science, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

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