Hyperconnectivity, Live and in Person

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... 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...

Will LTE Fuel IMS?

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.... 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...

Linux In The Dashboard?

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... continue reading...

Put Down That Danish -- You are Destroying the Plant

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... 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...

Digium Picks Integrics to Power Carrier Solutions

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... continue reading...

Proof Our Brains Are Underutilized

If you thought your memory was photographic, consider the fact this woman can remember every moment of every day going back to the age of eight years old. If anything, this condition called hyperthymestic syndrome from the Greek thymesis, for... 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...

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...

CNN Anchor Caught with Drugs

Apparently reporting the news is as depressing as watching it. This might explain why CNN News anchor Richard Quest was caught with a small bag of methamphetamine in his pocket. In case you are curious about this particular drug, Wikipedia... continue reading...

Antarctic Waters Less Salty

As icebergs melt, at least two bad things happen. The first is they have less surface area to reflect the sun's rays meaning the ocean receives more of these rays and in turn this warms the earth more than... 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...

Ceragon Boosts Wireless Backhaul Throughput

As wireless service providers seem to be battling to see who can provide the lowest cost unlimited voice and data plans, a problem is emerging that needs to be dealt with quickly. The issue is simply, how to cost-effectively upgrade... 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...

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...

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...

China Weather Control

Sure you could carry an umbrella if it rains but if you are China, you have a major problem... You make the umbrellas for the world but you are so busy shipping the umbrellas to other countries that you... 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...

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...

Virus Fights Brain Cancer

Check out this great article on how a virus can be altered to cure brain cancer. While this is not something we can use to cure humans as of yet, the potential for this breakthrough is great. "The brain cancers... continue reading...

Daylight Savings Time: OPEC's Friend

Indiana is home to four important things... Interactive Intelligence, some of the best steaks you will find anywhere, some of the nicest people around and really bizarre daylight savings rules that made it virtually impossible to know what time it... 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...

Airbone Settles Lawsuit

I must say that as an Airborne user, I really feel the product has helped me get better and avoid and/or shorten the duration of colds. Others disagree and have sued Airborne and the class-action lawsuit just settled for $23.3... 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...

3-Way Chess

Everything seems to be getting more complicated these days. Office workers have to worry about e-mails, voicemails conference calls, managing their Blackberrys, etc. Even kids have it tougher than ever. They have to be able to IM with ten... 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...

Shark Deterrent Product Eaten by Shark

It is not every day that your anti-shark device gets eaten by a great white shark. Experts think the reason for the attack was the poor choice of shark repellent flavoring, in this case -- wounded seal. ;) 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...

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...

Don't Eat The Snowflakes

Who knew? That supposedly clean, white snow falling from the sky may contain a bacteria surprise. Think of a snowflake as nature's Tootsie Roll Pop -- except you really don't want to eat the center of a snowflake. More... 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...

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...

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...

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...

Dying Bats+Dying Bees=Trouble

First there was colony collapse disorder where bees were dying off by the millions. Now it is the bats that are dying in the northeast of the US which means more mosquitoes and other flying insects await us all this... continue reading...

Living Forever

I just couldn't help but think that those people who want to live forever should be aware that researchers are finding that mutated DNA in the mitochondria could be the reason for many age-related diseases from those that afflict... continue reading...

Most Accurate Clock

Reuters reports on the world's most accurate clock. How many ticks per second does such an endeavor require? Try 430 trillion! Its pendulum uses thousands of strontium atoms suspended in grids of laser light. This allows the researchers to... 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Huckabee and Evolution

I hate to get too into politics on this blog but I have to point to a Wired blog which discusses Mike Huckabee's denial of evolution and the fact that the earth is billions and not thousands of years old.... continue reading...

New Obesity Drug

So here I am having lunch in front of my laptop which is why I probably decided to click on this story about a new obesity drug. What is fascinating about the approach of this drug is that it uses... continue reading...

Did Insects do the Dinosaurs in?

As a dinosaur fan, I am excited to write about anything having to do with these extinct beasts. The latest theory on dinosaurs worth sharing is that insects did them in by spreading disease and also by competing with them as... continue reading...

Mother of all Outsourcing Jobs

Where would the world be without outsourcing to other countries? Call center jobs, back office work… Even architecture, legal and medical jobs have found their way to India. Now, the latest market to get outsourced is surrogate motherhood. As with... continue reading...

Orexin A The Miracle Sleep Aid

Perhaps sleep elimination aid is more like it. :) Many friends and colleagues have shared the fact that keeping up with all the information in the technology space can be difficult if not impossible. Perhaps this is why in the... continue reading...

Dinosaur Mummy

Recently a dinosaur mummy was found in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota and while a dinosaur mummy has no skin – just rock, it has given scientists a fantastic look at what dinosaurs look like in real life.... continue reading...

WiFi, Autism Link

For obvious reasons I became alarmed when I read an article linking WiFi and autism (article intentionally not linked). I told some friends and relatives about the report and they all seemed concerned and asked for links to the story.... continue reading...

China and the Busy Weekend

It has been a busy weekend so far and it is about half-way over and I didn’t even get a chance to blog. Believe it or not there hasn’t been too much blog-worthy material and writing for the sake of... continue reading...

Google Database Patent Lawsuit

Apparently today is “Write about Google” day as I thought it worth sharing that the company is facing a patent infringement lawsuit due to the database technology the company employs. Who is suing you wonder? Northeastern University and a start-up... continue reading...

Polycom and Ekahau Partner

As the world becomes more interconnected (read: smaller), the need for increases in productivity grows exponentially. The reason is simple. The more countries get into the act, the more competition each company has to deal with.   Thankfully, technology comes... continue reading...

Strategic Technologies for 2008

I was reading an article on Wireless News regarding Gartner’s top 10 strategic technologies for 2008. Here are those technologies with the analysis from Wireless News. Obviously I agree with the first two items on this list and I do... continue reading...

Some Early October News

In case you missed some of the recent market news, you should be aware that Disney Mobile customers fearing they have nowhere to turn can in fact pick up service from kajeet – the mobile phone service designed from a... continue reading...

TMCnet Searches

I thought it would be interesting to see what people search on when they come to TMCnet. It should be noted these searches are on TMCnet proper which unfortunately at the moment does not include blogs.   These numbers should... continue reading...

SCO Bankrupt

In the 1980s I was MIS Director here at TMCnet. In case you aren’t aware I introduced desktop publishing to TMC around 1986 or so and we were one of the first publishing companies to standardize on PCs instead of... continue reading...

Thanks for Registering Green

The Green Technology conference is doing well so far. Thanks for your support. Here is the full story.... continue reading...

Fonality FtOCC Training

Great news. Fonality FtOCC (pronounced F-Talk) Technician Certification is sold out at next week’s ITEXPO in Los Angeles, CA. There is still limited seating for the Administrator Certification. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what this acronym means. It stands... continue reading...

VoEX

VoEX, Inc., is a VoIP managed-service provider offering global peering infrastructure, network interoperability, industry-leading quality of service, and advanced applications capabilities for top tier carriers, mobile operators, cable operators, voice service providers, academic institutions and enterprises. VoEX maps the world’s... continue reading...

Google Sky

Today Google announced its Google Earth program will allow you navigate stars as well. You can now see constellations and navigate around the cosmos. You can see how planets rotate using an animation tool and more. Here are some of... continue reading...

Cell Phone Contract Cancellation

Are you looking to sue your wireless carrier? If you are you should know a full six paragraphs are dedicated to dispute resolution over at Verizon Wireless and ten “fat” paragraphs are dedicated to this topic in an AT&T Wireless... continue reading...

Parlano

Bob Serr, Parlano CTO, took some time to give me this exclusive interview. In it, he gave some fascinating insight on the impact of industry giants like Google and Microsoft on the telecom world, and also let me know why... continue reading...

Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc., an international communications company, operates one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, connecting 180 markets in 18 countries. The company serves a broad range of wholesale, enterprise and content customers with a comprehensive suite... continue reading...