Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
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October 2004

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Vonage Adds 600 Jobs

October 29, 2004

Interesting... Vonage is planning to add 600 new employees to their payroll. Perhaps they've finally heard all the complaints in the VoIP Forums and other online forums about their poor customer service and have decided to do something about it. Let's see how true this press release turns out to be.

iTunes and Windows Pocket PCs

October 29, 2004

I just got an interesting email offering me an eval copy of a new piece of software called ppcTunes that which they claim is the first tool of its kind to allow Windows iTunes users to auto-copy selected playlists to their Pocket PCs, Windows Mobile Pocket PCs, Pocket PC Phones & Smartphones. ppcTunes will even map your music files to your storage card so as not to fill up the main memory of your device. As an iPod user and a PocketPC user myself, until this product was created, I knew that Pocket PC users had no way to sync their iTunes playlists to their Windows-based handhelds.

Now I should state that this product copies the .mp3 files for the playlists you select and not the playlists themselves, i.e.

GoDaddy and ENUM

October 29, 2004

Just the other day, I blogged about ENUM and I specifically mentioned VeriSign's entry into the VoIP space by offering ENUM. I also mentioned GoDaddy, but more as a side comment that they (GoDaddy) and VeriSign are two of the most popular DNS registrars. While I did expect other DNS registrars to follow VeriSign's example and jump on the ENUM bandwagon, I had no inkling that GoDaddy was going to do it so soon!

Well two days after I wrote "ENUM ENUM ENUM!" GoDaddy has announced a partnership with with several leading telecommunications companies in forming Country Code 1 ENUM LLC.

Voiceglo's Nextel-like push to talk VoIP feature

October 28, 2004

Ever sit next to one of "those people" that have a Nextel phone and use its "push to talk" feature to hold a seemlingly endless conversation for all to hear? I'm fine with "push to talk" for quick messages, but its quite irritating when they use push-to-talk to have a 20 minute conversation. And that Nextel "beep" when the person has finished speaking is just as irritating. Well, it was only a matter of time before someone invented "push to talk" for a VoIP application.

DELOITTE VoIP SURVEY

October 28, 2004

Just got this research report news release I thought I would share...

DELOITTE SURVEY: TWO-THIRDS OF GLOBAL BUSINESSES WILL DEPLOY VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VoIP) TO THE DESKTOP BY 2006

Cost Reduction Drives Principal Enterprise Interest in VoIP, Expanded Business Functionality Offers CXOs Advantages and Vulnerabilities to Consider

New York, October 25, 2004 -- In a report launched today, Getting off the Ground: Why the move to VoIP is a decision for all CXOs, Deloitte reveals that by 2006 over two-thirds of all Global 2,000 companies will have started deployment of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to the desktop. Desktop VoIP is the most complete form of VoIP, offering the greatest cost savings, flexibility, productivity, process improvements and overall disruption. While 26 percent of survey participants have already deployed desktop VoIP, only one-third of these companies have offered it to all employees.

Red Sox World Champions

October 28, 2004

Red Sox World Champions of Baseball

Congratulations Red Sox, you are the World Champions.. "Red Sox World Champions"... I bet those are words that the Red Sox Nation never thought they would ever utter. Every year it seemed they got tantalizingly close, but the baseball gods or indeed the curse of Babe Ruth would pull the rug from underneath them. What was this strange mystical force that seemed to deny the Red Sox time after time after time when they would get ohhh-so-close?

Jive Talking

October 27, 2004

Andy brought to my attention a company called Jyve. Their company name seems to be a play on the words "Jive Talking" since it works in conjunction with Skype - a VoIP "talking" software solution. I could be wrong though. Certainly, listening to the Bee Gees Jive Talking song on the radio this morning could have something to do with it.

ENUM ENUM ENUM!

October 27, 2004

Slowly but surely, the VoIP industry is beginning to embrace ENUM, a standard protocol for resolving phone numbers into IP addresses. ENUM was originally developed to link consumers' phone numbers to various IP services, as well as allow for multiple VoIP devices to be called using a single number. However, the ENUM standard is proving even more important in interconnecting carriers' VoIP networks.

ENUM lets carriers interconnect VoIP networks directly and avoid access fees for transmitting calls over the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Nimcat Networks news

October 26, 2004

Since I've been covering Popular Telephony's P2P-based technology called Peerio, I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Nimcat Networks news announcement. Nimcat Networks has a very similar P2P premise to Popular Telephony, though there are some differences. Iit's too late in the day to list them though and provide my analysis.

So enjoy the news...

Vonage offers London Virtual Numbers

October 26, 2004

From a news release... Vonage announced today the availability of virtual numbers with London city codes.

Vonage’s current and future customers can select London-based virtual numbers for $4.99 USD/$7.99 CAD per month. Virtual Phone Numbers are inexpensive secondary numbers that ring to the primary Vonage line.

Damn Spammers!

October 26, 2004

Spammer or Innocent Victim?

I loathe spammers - they're below lawyers and tax collectors. Spammers are lower than 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea... lower the depths of hell... lower than the lowest cheap shot ever thrown.

Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005

October 26, 2004

The next version of Microsoft's enterprise instant messaging and presence server called Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 will be available on Dec. 1, Microsoft stated late on Monday. LCS 2005 was released to manufacturing on Friday to meet this availability.

It will come in both an enterprise edition as well as a standard version. While the basic functionality the same in both editions, the enterprise option supports more users, provides load balancing and server clustering, and includes more management features, said Dennis Karlinsky, the lead product manager for LCS.

Cisco Boosts Security on VoIP platform

October 25, 2004

Cisco has boosted the security on its VoIP phones and new security features for its IP Communications system (CallManager) that enhances voice privacy using encryption. The new Cisco CallManager 4.1 IP telephony system extends voice media and signaling encryption support for new 7940G and 7960G Cisco IP phones and over 2.5 million installed Cisco 7940G and 7960G IP phones. Media encryption helps to ensure the security and privacy of telephone conversations and signaling encryption protects against tampering with telephone signaling packets. Cisco CallManager 4.1 now also interoperates with a wide range of Cisco Media Gateways, including the Integrated Services Router line, to provide voice media and signaling encryption support.

Treo 650

October 25, 2004

Treo 650

The palmOne Treo 650 may be one of most "hyped" smartphones ever - with the anticipation causing more than just the casual phone geek to drool at the prospect at owning one of these puppies. The Treo 650 is an upgrade to the Treo 600, one of the most beloved smart phones -- which struck a nice balance of cell phone and PDA functionality with great integration of the two. Rumors about the Treo 650's feature-set have swirled around the Internet, but with the launch today, those rumors can be put to rest. Like the Treo 600, the Treo 650 gives you just what you need to stay productive and in-touch, including phone, email, Palm OS organizer, web, messaging, MultiMediaCard/SD/SDIO expansion and a built-in camera.

Wi-LAN Launches Mobilis

October 25, 2004

Mobilis, apparently has a new mobile wireless solution for commuter trains using WiMAX. I've always read that WiMAX has problems with any sort of high velocity or movement. Though since velocity (or speed) is all relative (read Albert Einstein's theory of relativity), I suppose if the transmitters are installed on the train, then even though you are travelling at high-speed, the WiMAX transmission signals will be travelling "relative" to the passengers speed.

Of course, then the question becomes, how do they get high-speed wireless signals from off the train?

My Ultimate ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor)

October 25, 2004

I've seen and played around with lots of ATAs (or some prefer TA for short), which are used by broadband VoIP providers, such as Vonage, AT&T CallVantage, Lingo, Broadvoice, Packet8, etc.

With so many ATAs on the market, it got me thinking, "What would I like to see in the feature-set of the 'ultimate ATA'?"

Well, here's my feature-set for "My Ultimate ATA":
1) Support for the G.729a codec simultaneously on BOTH ports.
Many ATAs only support this compression codec on one port
2) Not locked down or password protected.
Many ITSPs, such as Vonage, lock/password-protect their devices.



AT&T CallVantage Public Company, Private VoIP Numbers

October 21, 2004

I recently wrote that someone asked me if I knew what the AT&T CallVantage (VoIP) customer numbers were.

He said that the number of AT&T's CallVantage customers "SUCK so badly compared to VONAGE who is kicking AT&T around the block on voip numbers."

I also wrote, "AT&T is a public company, so I would assume their SEC filings would contain the information about how many CallVantage customers they have. Anyone want to volunteer to read their SEC filing report and report back here?"

Well someone indeed volunteered to check out their SEC filing and emailed me with:
"why did AT&T NOT break out VoIP numbers in the quarterly report??"
Answer: "cause they suck????"



I'm with him. A public company hiding its VoIP numbers from it's shareholders?

Atonics to embed Popular Telephony's P2P VoIP Technology

October 21, 2004

Another win for Popular Telephony with an Asian company called Atonics, Inc., a leading designer of combined Wi-Fi VoIP solutions based out of Taiwan...

As you know from reading my blog, Popular Telephony is a P2P serverless VoIP solution that supports SIP, H.323, can reach the PSTN or even call Skype users. If your not familiar, I suggest you go read Popular Telephony's Peerio a Skype Killer?

Here is today's announcement of the win for Popular Telephony...

POPULAR TELEPHONY AND ATONICS PARTNER TO PROVIDE FIXED AND WIRELESS SERVERLESS TELEPHONY SOLUTIONS

October 20, 2004 Popular Telephony Inc., the telecommunications middleware company behind the Peerio serverless communications invention, today announced their first ever product licensing agreement in Asia with Taiwan based Atonics Inc., one of the industry’s leading designers of combined Wi-Fi VoIP solutions.

Voiceglo VoIP Surpasses More Than 1.8 Million Users

October 20, 2004

Thought I would share an email I literally just received, which has some VoIP numbers that contradict the Yankee Group's overall industry VoIP numbers. Yankee Group claims 1 million TOTAL VoIP subscribers by years end. This release itself states 1.8 million VoiceGlo VoIP users which already supercedes that without even including other VoIP players.

The email also contained a news release worth checking out.

AOL and Dial-Up VoIP Update

October 20, 2004

Update to my AOL and Dial-UP VoIP blog entry:

A source told me that AOL's plans are indeed for broadband not dial-up. Here's my take on it... First, AOL isn't a "true" broadband provider. In fact, they used to resell cable modems and DSL access then get people to sign-up for a broadband provider and AOL.

Pretec 12 GB Compact Flash card

October 20, 2004

Pretec 12GB CompactFlash Card

Just read a funny commentary on Pretec's new 12GB CF card - apparently it will cost more than a new Honda Civic - $14.900! YIKES! Somebody would really have to be an ultimate geek to require that amount of storage and pay that price. Excuse me a moment while I call my home equity loan officer...

FCC's Michael Powell and VoIP Regulation

October 20, 2004

FCC Chairman Michael Powell

FCC Chairman Michael Powell said Tuesday that he would seek broad regulatory authority for the federal government over Voice over Internet telephone services to avoid stifling the VoIP market.

Powell told an audience at an industry conference that letting states regulate VoIP would lead to conflicting regulations and stifle competition. In my opinion, the spaghetti of telecom regulation rules helped the traditional carriers hold a tight grip on the telecom industry for decades. So I agree with Powell and I feel that regulating VoIP today would no doubt require a future VoIP Telecom Act equivalent to the Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996 if we permit regulations to “infest” the VoIP industry.

AOL and Dial-Up VoIP

October 20, 2004

America Online is in process of testing a flat-rate/month VoIP service, utilizing Level3’s network as it seeks to help stem the increasing customer defection. The service will launch in 2005.

As broadband connections in the United States continue to rise, the need for predominantly dial-up ISPs, such as AOL diminishes. I am assuming that AOL will attempt to provide “dial-up VoIP” so they can offer a competitive price-point that will put a tourniquet on the customer blood letting.

KABIRA ADVANCES VoIP ADOPTION

October 19, 2004

Some news that will hit the wires tomorrow...

KABIRA ADVANCES VoIP ADOPTION WITH END-TO-END SOLUTIONS SUITE

Breaking New Ground On Scalability, Reliability And Cost, New Offering Enables Full Service Lifecycle Delivery and Management For Faster Time-To-Service

San Rafael, California -- October 20, 2004 -- Kabira(TM) Technologies Inc., the high-performance leader in network switching software for telecommunications and real-time financial services, today announced a comprehensive solutions suite for service providers and enterprises deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-based telecommunication networks. Building on the high-performance Kabira Infrastructure System and the Kabira Transaction Switch underlying technology, the new Kabira offering enables full service lifecycle delivery and management of VoIP services, including design to deployment, order to delivery, and delivery to charging and billing. Available immediately, Kabira’s solutions for VoIP include the Kabira Provisioning and Service Activation (KPSA), the Kabira xDR Mediation and the Kabira Service Delivery Platform.

Broadband market numbers

October 19, 2004

Some broadband market numbers to share...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., October 19, 2004 - Broadband is becoming a mainstream, must have residential service, according to In-Stat/MDR. The high-tech market research firm is projecting strong growth in both cable and DSL subscribers over the next several years, growing from a combined 24 million subscribers in 2003 to nearly 50 million subscribers in 2008. While growth will remain strong, it will be slowing as the market moves to maturity and the subscriber base becomes quite large.

Sentiro PSTN and ENUM

October 19, 2004

Some more ENUM news to share today which complements my "Popular Telephony and Stealth Communications" blog entry...

Does this mean ENUM is gaining traction?

Sentiro Delivers termination from PSTN to UPT Numbers Based on ENUM. This allows the delivery, globally, of not only traditional voice services but also electronic services such as email, web, SMS/MMS, IM, and location-based services.

Super Fast Samsung SATA Hard Drive

October 19, 2004

Spaceballs - "Ludicrous Speed!"

Wow, check out this news release! A super fast, ludicrous speed, whopping 3.0 GB/s Serial ATA hard drive for a desktop PC using SATA? Damn, I want one of those! Hey Samsung, can I have a review unit.

Download High-Definition Movies

October 19, 2004

I've been itching to buy a new Microsoft Media Center 2005 PC for the past week or so. Microsoft Media Center 2005 has support for multiple TV tuners and it supports PVR (personal video recording) functionality as well as pause/resume live TV.

Well, it also supports HDTV, so I was very intrigued when I came across mavromatic's blog about Microsoft Media Center 2005 and the ability to download HDTV films from the Internet to the Media Center PC for a really rich viewing experience. Already there exists the ability to download movies for a "fee", but the video is compressed with less quality than a DVD.

Popular Telephony and Stealth Communications

October 19, 2004

Some very important VoIP news to share that be announced at exactly 1pm today...
Popular Telephony Inc., a telecommunications middleware company and Stealth Communications, operators of the Voice Peering Fabric will partner to provide Peerio GNUP™ users access to Stealth’s VPF ENUM Registry. If you're not familiar with Stealth - they're the ones that power Vonage. And of course if you read my blog, you're very familiar with Popular Telephony - I've blogged them a few times lately.

BlackBerry 7270

October 19, 2004

Research In Motion demonstrated a new BlackBerry Wireless Handheld yesterday at the Gartner ITXPO Symposium that operates on 802.11b networks and incorporates both voice and data capabilities. The BlackBerry 7270 will be the first BlackBerry handheld to feature VoIP and WLAN support.

The BlackBerry 7270 supports VoIP telephony that essentially extends desktop phone functionality to a BlackBerry wireless handheld allowing the user to place and receive calls on the go. It utilizes SIP-based call control to deliver standards-based interoperability with IP-PBX and traditional corporate telephony equipment.

Atinav VoIP News

October 19, 2004

I've seen demos of Atinav's VoIP products and they work quite well. Figured I'd share their latest news...

aveComm 3.2 Offers Integrated Audio Conferencing, Providing a Scalable Bridge of Combined Telephone and/or PC Participants and Many New and Enhanced Features

New York, N.Y.---OCT 5, 2004--- Atinav, a leading provider of Internet-based and wireless solutions for workplace communication, messaging and collaboration, today announced the release of aveComm 3.2, their award-winning web-based “Unified Messaging, Communication and Collaboration” solution. aveComm, now celebrating its 4th year of availability, offers many features and functionality, including: Application Sharing, Document Collaboration, Remote Desktop Control, Session Record/Playback, Whiteboard, Instant Messaging, Voice-over-IP (VoIP), IP Telephony, File Transfer and much more.

New Telecom Bill for VoIP

October 19, 2004

During a keynote address at a VoIP conference, Senator John Sununu announced his intention to introduce legislation aimed at simplifying the regulation of voice-over-IP (VoIP), as part of a larger telecom reform bill. He stated it is planned for next year's new session of Congress.

Sununu said that he and other congressional leaders, including Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Ted Stevens, are already planning to tackle telecom regulation once the elections are over.

He pointed out that while the RBOCs are in as strong to deploy VOIP technology, "The problem is, from their perspective, this is a purely cannibalistic product," Sununu said.

WiFlyer Wireless over Dial-up

October 19, 2004

WiFlyer

I found an interesting product retailing for $149.95 that lets you convert your dial-up Internet connection to wireless WiFi. So instead of your laptop being tetherered to the phone line, you can roam about freely using a wireless connection to this device. Even better, with the compact and portable WiFlyer, you can actually SHARE your dial-up Internet connection with other members in your family (or your neighbors) - so no more fighting over one dial-up connection.

With a sleek, ultra-compact "pocketable" design and integrated V.92 modem and Ethernet port, WiFlyer plugs into a standard telephone line or Ethernet cable to provide a personal or sharable WiFi 'hotspot'. It's pretty "dummy proof"; you simply launch your browser automatically and it directs you to very easy to use setup and configuration screens.

Flarion vs. WiMAX

October 18, 2004

This is the 3rd time today I'm come across the Flarion news about Flarion and Netgear. And I received a tip/email from someone else pointing it out.

Basically, Flarion Technologies, the architect of the FLASH-OFDM mobile broadband system, have entered into a strategic partnership to productize and deliver integrated FLASH-OFDM and Wi-Fi functionality to mobile operators worldwide through NETGEAR's line of 802.11b/g products. The first product integrating FLASH-OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) and Wi-Fi is expected to be available this quarter for evaluation and trials by mobile operators worldwide.

Vonage and Boingo

October 18, 2004

Some interesting VoIP news to report. Vonage and Boingo will trial a Voice over Wi-Fi service. Vonage softphone users (popular Xten client) will be able to make and take VoIP calls over wireless when in range of hotspots that are part of the Boingo network. Vonage's SoftPhone service is $9.99 per month.

Popular Telephony's Peerio GNUP

October 18, 2004

I recently wrote about Popular Telephony's Peerio (Popular Telephony Peerio a Skype Killer?) This will also be a cover story for Internet Telephony Magazine.

Well today, at 1 PM today Popular Telephony will release their global numbering plan called GNUP.

Popular Telephony announces Peerio GNUP™ – a serverless Global Numbering Plan for VoIP

Popular Telephony Inc, the telecommunications middleware company behind the Peerio™ serverless telephony invention, has announced Peerio GNUP™ - a Global Numbering Plan for all IP telephony users, enabling transparent interconnectivity between all VOIP, PSTN, Mobile and other networks.

Peerio GNUP is a lightweight software agent used with any VoIP application (Peerio™, Skype, Liphone, SIP or H.323 clients, etc), that brings simplicity of phone numbers to VoIP.

Sipura SPA-2100 and SPA-841 ATA

October 18, 2004

Sipura Technology SPA-841 VoIP Business Phone

Some interesting news to share from Sipura - a very popular ATA manufacturer. They announced a 4 Line Business Feature Phone and a 2 Port Phone Adapter With Home Networking Router Solutions. SAN JOSE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 10/15/2004 -- Building on the telecommunications industry's most advanced VoIP endpoint product line, Sipura Technology Inc., today announced two new products – the SPA-841 VoIP phone and the SPA-2100 analog telephone adapter (ATA). Both products use the SIP communication protocol to communicate with other network elements like VoIP/PSTN gateways, softswitches, and application servers in a service provider or enterprise IP network.

Triple Play Testing Tool

October 18, 2004

It was bound to happen - with all the hype surrounding Triple Play, someone was going to launch a Triple Play testing tool. Looks like Spirent was first; check it out:

SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES SYSTEM FOR TRIPLE PLAY TESTING

Architecture For Converged Testing (ACT) Analyzes Interactions Between Voice, Video, and Data; Allows System Optimization Before an IP Network Goes Live

(October 18, 2004) — Spirent Communications (NYSE: SPM; LSE: SPT) today announces its Architecture for Converged Testing (ACT) for analyzing the effects of data on voice in a converged network. Awarded “Best of Show” at NetWorld + Interop 2004 last May, Spirent’s ACT is used by equipment vendors, service providers and enterprises to analyze the impact of real world data and video traffic on voice quality.

Spirent’s ACT solution is integrated with the Abacus 5000 IP Telephony Migration Test System.

Alcatel OmniPCX and Thales VoIP Encryption

October 18, 2004

As VoIP becomes more commonplace in the enterprise, encryption and security are becoming more paramount, especially in the financial sector. Imagine for a moment working for a stock exchange company and you could install a network sniffer program that captures VoIP RTP streams. Knowing the IP address of a particular IP phone, you can filter the traffic and tap into someone's VoIP conversation.

Well, two French companies, Thales (TCFP.PA) and Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) announced a technological partnership to develop highly secure IP telephony solutions based on the Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise IP communication server.

AT&T CallVantage number of customers

October 18, 2004

Empirix Hammer XMS VoIP testing tool

October 18, 2004

Some VoIP testing tool news to share from one of my favorite VoIP testing tool companies - Empirix. (I have an Empirix Hammer system in the labs that I use to test VoIP equipment.)

Empirix, the leading supplier of VoIP testing systems, will introduce the Hammer XMS™ next-generation monitoring system for VoIP service providers and spotlight powerful enhancements to its Hammer product portfolio for lab and installation engineers this week.

The new carrier-class Hammer XMS, which allows service providers to monitor, analyze and troubleshoot next-generation voice services across their networks; innovations in IP signaling analysis tools with the release of Hammer FX-IP 2.0; and IP.DSP™; Hammer’s patent-pending VoIP media analysis DSP technology, which can significantly reduce testing costs and is now incorporated in Hammer RealStreamer.

“Virtually every major developer of VoIP infrastructure equipment relies on Hammer functional and load testing systems in the lab.

Boston Red Sox horror

October 16, 2004

Nero and VoIP

October 15, 2004

Ahead's Nero Burning ROM software is one of the most popular pieces of software today. I've used it to burn CDs, DVDs, home movies, music, you name it. It's probably the best CD/DVD burning software on the market today.

A few weeks ago, I received an alert in my inbox that Ahead Software was doing something with VoIP.

Google Desktop Search

October 15, 2004

Verizon and Level3 VoIP feature

October 15, 2004

I just blogged about i2Telecom's "Cellular Bridge" feature that let's you pick up your cell phone, dial the i2Telecom InternetTalker, and the device will recognize your CallerID and give you "2nd dial-tone" to dial another phone number.

Well, coincidentally, a source has just told me that Level3 and Verizon are working on a similar feature that will let you dial your home VoIP phone (Verizon's VoiceWing VoIP service I assume), it will detect the CallerID, give you 2nd dialtone, and then let you make an outbound call.

Apparently it will only cost $0.12 PER CALL! (not per minute.) I'm not sure if this is U.S.

i2Telecom InternetTalker MG-3

October 15, 2004


The InternetTalker is another ATA (analog telephony adaptor) device that works in conjunction with i2Telecom's VoIP network services.

While there seems to be a new ATA coming to market every week, what I like about this ATA is a feature they call "Cellular Bridge".

Here is what their website had to say, Cellular Bridge Brings VoIP Savings to Mobile Phones. Exclusive, patented “cellular bridge” capability allows up to 3 authorized phones to remotely access the MG-3 for low-cost and no-cost global calling.

FCC Fiber Decision for the Bells

October 15, 2004

I was watching the news last night when the news anchor stated that an FCC ruling came down that the FCC had granted the regional Bell companies relief from having to lease their fiber networks to competitors at regulated rates. I was stunned considering how supportive FCC chairman Michael Powell has been in the past with regards to competition. He’s especially been a friend and proponent of competition in the VoIP industry, so this decision came as a surprise to me. It smelled to me like some serious Baby Bell lobbying paid off.

Skype phone

October 15, 2004

IPMind

A representative of IPMind came across my VoIP blog entry "Skype Keynote", saw that I "wished" for "a phone product with Skype technology embedded that DOES NOT REQUIRE a PC to be on to work!" and he posted a comment stating that his company has a prototype of a standalone Skype hardware phone.

Details are a bit sketchy at this point, but here is what I know. They have 2 early prototypes enclosed in a telephone shell that can dial to/receive calls from Skype users. For dialing you simply scroll to the desired buddy in the buddy list on the LCD screen (4*20) and you are connected to the buddy.

CuPhone and Skype

October 14, 2004

CuPhone Personal Phone Gateway (PPG)

Andy reminded me of a company that creates a USB portable gateway device that actually won an Internet Telephony Editors' Choice Award in 2000. Well, now they support Skype and in an interesting way.

Basically, this device connects to your PC (via USB) as well as a PSTN wall socket. Then you enter in a pre-specified PSTN phone number, such as a cell phone number into the CuPhone Personal Phone Gateway (PPG).

Red Sox or Yankees Evil Empire

October 13, 2004

Last night I watched the Yankees vs. Red Sox ALCS playoff game, including the pre-game on FOX. I enjoyed the Nomar, Goat Curse, and Bartman parody - it was pretty funny. But what really irked me about the pre-game was the intro just before the game started where they equated the Yankees as the "Evil Empire".

Audiovox SMT5600

October 13, 2004

Audiovox SMT5600

I'm in the market for a smartphone - preferably one with Bluetooth, Windows Mobile software, GPS capability, and email access that can rival a Blackberry. The HP h6315 has certainly seen some hype and a lot of interest. No doubt the new Audiovox SMT5600 smartphone will make some waves with its powerful features. The SMT5600 runs Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphones Second Edition on a 200 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP processor.

AT&T CallVantage and TigerDirect

October 13, 2004

AT&T CallVantage Service is now available through TigerDirect. TigerDirect joins Amazon.com, Best Buy and Circuit City in the retail channel to market CallVantage's VoIP services. What about Walmart? Whoever (Vonage, CallVantage, Lingo, etc.) lands Walmart deserves some extra kudos.

Popular Telephony and Global IP Sound

October 13, 2004

Popular Telephony and Global IP Sound have announced a partnernership to provide best-in-class voice quality on Peerio 444 serverless softphone. I've used Global IP Sound's GIPS codecs and they are very impressive. I gave Global IP Sound a glowing review in a TMC Labs writeup last year, which you can see here: Global IP Sound TMC Labs Review

We found that the Global IP Sound codec had some pretty interesting positive effects under high packet loss conditions, which we tested using the Shunra Cloud 4.0 network emulator tool which can inject latency and packet loss. I should note that we used an older/slower PocketPC with a softphone client containing the GIPS codec engine, so the latency numbers are much higher than a PC or hardphone would have.

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

October 12, 2004

Media Center Edition 2005

I was just reading about the launch of Media Center Edition 2005 and came across this link: Microsoft to tune up Media Center PC | CNET News.com As I just blogged, I want to buy a Sony model running the new Media Center Edition 2005, however according the link, "The machines are part of Sony's existing "R" series of Vaio Desktops. In addition to sporting the new OS, the machines add faster processors and larger hard drives as well as the option to automatically create a backup of data using RAID. For now, Sony's machines stick to offering a single TV tuner."

One tuner? Are you kidding me???!

Media Center Extender

October 12, 2004

Linksys Wireless A/G Media Center Extender (WMCE54AG)

I have over 167,000 Sony points to use up, so I have been itching to buy a Sony VAIO running Windows Media Center PC for some time now -- which has TiVo-like aka Personal Video Recorder (PVR) functionality. Now with the new Microsoft Media Center 2005 operating system released today, no doubt Sony will come out with the new operating system which has some cool new features. I won't go into the new Media Center 2005 features in this blog entry since I want to talk about wireless Media Center Extenders that work in conjunction with Media Center PCs to wireless transmit your Media Center PC content to anywhere in your house! In fact, one of the reasons I didn't bite the bullet was my PC was so far away from my 65" Mitsubishi television set that I would have to "snake" wires in my house from the PC to the TV, that would no doubt be grounds for a divorce!

Vonage E911 news

October 12, 2004

Thought I'd share this news about Vonage and E911 using Intrado. As you know, one of the knocks against VoIP is 911 support in the event of emergencies. Of course, I have heard from a few people in the VoIP industry "knocking" against using Intrado's database. It could be due to the price-tag of using Intrado's database or it can simply be the people in the VoIP industry knocking them since don't have E911 support themselves.

Segway Centaur

October 12, 2004

AT&T CallVantage Behind Router

October 12, 2004

One of the knocks against AT&T CallVantage was that it doesn't work behind your existing home router/firewall. Their nemesis, Vonage, is able to handle being behind or in front of a firewall - a huge competitive advantage, especially for the security-conscious techies that don't like having any device in the front of the firewall.

Well, Andy Abramson brought to my attention that this is no longer the case - AT&T CallVantage does indeed support being connected behind a firewall, as confirmed by this AT&T CallVantage How To link: AT&T CallVantage

Though I did read somewhere else that contradicts this and it stated that AT&T DOES NOT support having the telephone adaptor (TA) behind the router/firewall, but that they "will soon support such a configuration".

I guess AT&T is moving so fast to add features and functionality to CallVantage the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!

Symbol NetVision Phone Discontinued

October 12, 2004

Asterisk and SIPPhone

October 11, 2004

VoiceEclipse New VoIP Service Provider

October 11, 2004

Yet another Vonage-wannabe I recently discovered. They have a $29.95 unlimited plan with 2 phone numbers included (at least that is unique).

They also offer $12.95 for 1 phone number and 500 minutes and $24.95 for 2 phone numbers and 1000 minutes.

When I clicked the About Us link it said:
StarNet, Inc., founded in 1994 by Chief Executive Officer Russ Intravartolo, is a leading provider of dial-up Internet access and related products and services in North America. Through its state-of-the-art, fully owned MegaPOP network, StarNet provides reliable, high quality services designed to serve the consumer markets and the small to medium-sized ISP.

AT&T and LinkSys VoIP deal

October 11, 2004

It came as no surprise to me that AT&T and LinkSys would ink a deal to offer AT&T CallVantage on Linksys's home broadband router product line. Now, LinkSys has special VoIP customization for Vonage, AT&T CallVantage, and Verizon VoiceWing.

The Ethernet version is currently available directly from AT&T, and Linksys expects that all versions will be available at retail outlets such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, and Office Depot later this month.

I hope the packaging is clear which VoIP provider you are getting when you buy it at a retail store (such as a Best Buy or CompUSA.) It would really suck if you planned on signing up with one VoIP provider but bought a LinkSys model with a different VoIP service provider embedded inside.

VoIP Testing Tool

October 11, 2004

Here's some news about a VoIP testing tool. VoIP testing tools are becoming more important as VoIP grows, so enjoy this bit of news:

Long Beach, CA - October 12, 2004
Psytechnics, the global leader in voice and video quality assessment software, has teamed with NetTest, a leading worldwide provider of monitoring, management and testing solutions for advanced and converged networks, to bring industry standard voice quality measurement capabilities to NetTest's service assurance tools for VoIP networks.

NetTest will integrate Psytechnics' psyVoIP software for measuring the voice quality of live customer calls into the MasterQuest VoIP solution. The MasterQuest VoIP solution is part of NetTest's OSS solution family based on MasterQuest, designed specifically for telecommunication network carriers and service providers to optimize their business performance and increase revenues

MasterQuest VoIP is a complete service assurance solution for IP networks, combining troubleshooting with key performance indicators to support the management of suppliers' service level agreements.

Tom's Hardware Guide

October 11, 2004

Verisign and VoIP using SS7 and SIP

October 11, 2004

Everybody knows VeriSign as the guys who issue SSL certificates, right? Well, I guess Verisign is diversifying.

Check out this bit of news with my analysis at the bottom. VeriSign, a provider of intelligent infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, announced today that it is offering Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers a cost-effective way to exchange voice traffic with traditional telecommunications carriers.

Atheros single chip design

October 11, 2004

Some interesting news from Atheros. Definitely keep your eye on Atheros. They are very strong in the WiMAX market which will no doubt take off in 2005.

This single-chip design sports an integrated 802.11a/b/g design -- Media Access Controller (MAC), baseband processor, and a high-performance radio with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz capabilities.

Charter Communications Tech Support using VoIP

October 11, 2004

I've been experiencing 5%-20% packet loss over the past several days on my home Charter High-Speed cable connection.

It's affected my home Vonage VoIP phone line.

I called yesterday from Vonage to Charter, but the packet loss was so bad, that the technician couldn't hear me and at times I couldn't hear him. I would have called from my cellphone, but unfortunately I don't get service in my house.

Orb Networks Streaming Live TV

October 11, 2004

As a home-theater and gadget lover, I've always got my eye out for the latest new gadget that involves home theater equipment. I came across this news release from Orb Networks, which claims this product can "provides spontaneous access to a person’s music, live television, videos, photos and other digital content from any device that can connect to the Internet, such as a cell phone, PDA, or notebook, allowing users to create their own "personal media portal."

Essentially, this product can "stream" any of the content from your home PC to wherever you are - if your PC has a TV tuner card, such as a Microsoft Media PC, then it can stream that as well. It's actually a service-based subscription model, so it kind of reminds me of GoToMyPC, a subscription-based remote-desktop PC application which transmits Windows and mouse movements for remote access. In the case of Orb Networks' product, instead of "streaming" just the Windows GUI and mouse movements, it can stream actual video and even perform codec compression on-the-fly which will allow you to access your PC's internal TV tuner and watch TV from work on your work PC.

Vonage, AT&T, and Covad go at it

October 11, 2004

WiMAX Takes VoIP by Storm

October 11, 2004

I predict WiMAX using VoIP will be your next home phone and your next cell phone. First, let me lay the groundwork, since you may not be familiar with WiMAX. WiMax is a wireless radio technology that promises to deliver two-way Internet access at speeds of up to 75 megabits per second at long range. Think of it as WiFi on steroids.

Interdigital lowers wireless interference

October 9, 2004

As WiFi, 3G and other wireless devices become more prevalent, with more and more users added to the wireless highway - so does the congestion and interference from other wireless devices. Interdigital offers a "smart antenna" for various wireless standards that supposedly reduces interference, increases range, and reduces battery life drain of wireless devices.

Here's the release:
INTERDIGITAL UNVEILS ADAPTIVE INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS FOR WLAN AND CELLULAR DEVICES AT ANTENNA SYSTEMS 2004

High performance products offer equipment manufacturers and semiconductor suppliers an extremely cost-effective solution for offering of differentiated wireless devices
Denver, Colorado, October 7, 2004. .



Supercomm is no more

October 9, 2004

When I first read an email saying Supercomm is no more, I was like first Comdex died and now this?

Supercomm is "retired" according to an email I received announcing the news. Actually, just the name is retired - the new name is going to be caled "Globalcomm". The partnership between Telecommunications Industry Association and the U.S.

VoIP and Internet Telephony Expo are on FIRE!

October 7, 2004

VoIP and Internet Telephony Expo is on Fire!

I was standing at the ETG Technologies booth (who have a really cool gadget by the way) and the smell of smoke was permeating the air. All of a sudden a small electrical fire popped up on the floor (right where two electrial extension cords were connected). As cool as fire looks, and as much as I loved to play with fire as a kid, fire is not a good thing. However, on the bright side, I guess this show was so packed with so many VoIP exhibits sucking electrical juice that the hotel's electrical wiring couldn't hande it.

Nimcat Networks Roars to Light

October 7, 2004

I sat down at a conference breakfast at Internet Telephony Expo at a table with two other gentlemen. The gentleman to my right saw my TMC badge and asked if I was with TMC. I explained that I was in charge of TMC Labs and that I did VoIP articles, VoIP and call center/CRM product reviews, as well as a VoIP blogger here.

When he gave me his business card which said "Mahshad Koohgoli - CEO - Nimcat Networks", I said to him, "You guys have a peer-to-peer phone solution similar to Popular Telephony's Peerio, don't you?"

Mahshad was a little taken aback and said, "I'm impressed.

Department of Defense deploys VoIP

October 7, 2004

Remember this blog entry where I said the Navy had the largest VoIP deployment? VoIP Blog - VoIP News, Opinions: Navy Largest VoIP Deployment

Well, I was right then, but wrong now. Sounds like Kerry's "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time" quote doesn't it?

Anyway, a reliable source has told me that the Department of Defense (DOD) is in the process of beating the Navy's 350,000 Cisco VoIP phones by deploying 400,000 Cisco VoIP phones.

Scientific Atlanta and VoIP

October 7, 2004

When I think Scientific Atlanta, I think TV cable converter boxes. Now, with VoIP and the "triple play" becoming much more important in cable, Scientific Atlanta will no doubt enhance and extend the functionality of their TV converter boxes to include VoIP functionality. They're already doing just that. Bundling multiple functions into one box is always a good thing - less electricity usage, less boxes to administrate and integrate, etc.

VoIP to reach 12.1 Million U.S. Households

October 7, 2004

New Snom 190 VoIP phone

October 6, 2004

snom 190 VoIP phone

Rich Tehrani forwarded me this email about a new phone from Snom.
We are delighted to announce the launch of the new snom190 phone. The new IP phone builds on the proven design of the popular snom 200, adding enhanced performance and a lower price.

Performance features include a new acoustic subsystem with full duplex speaker phone and a DSP that supports echo cancelation, a menu of standard codecs and 3-way calling. Each snom 190 comes complete with an autoswitching 110/220V AC Power Pack. Power Over Ethernet is now optional, supported by a new external POE Splitter.


Time Warner brings VoIP to NYC

October 6, 2004

Saw this article about Time Warner bringing VoIP to NYC

What's interesting to note is that Time Warner was at least somewhat "honest" about the technology they are using as compared to Cox (see this blog entry). That is, Howard Szarfarc, the president of Time Warner Cable of New York & New Jersey, stated that TWC's Digitalphone initiative is different from other VoIP-based businesses, because it does not use the "public" Internet to make calls. (There goes that FUD about public Internet calling again)

Anyway, he explained the new service is enabled by TWC's Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network, which is the backbone for its RoadRunner high-speed broadband, Video on Demand (VoD) and Digital Video Recorder (DVR) services. Digitalphone calls begin on the TWC network and travel to their regional data center in New York City. Sprint then completies the call across its network.

Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005

October 6, 2004

This is an excellent article discussing Microsoft's Live Communications Server 2005 (LCS) which is to be released later this month: Microsoft to Muscle Deeper Into VOIP?

From this article: "Microsoft's end game is to become a telephony provider and give Vonage, Verizon, etc., a run for their money," said one source close to the company, who requested anonymity. "They are going SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) in a big way. And because SIP is multi-media capable (start with voice, switch to video, conferencing, etc. in mid stream), it's a nice protocol for them."

Microsoft is getting back into VoIP in a big way with LCS and will be pushing this product pretty hard.

Plantronics CS50-USB headset

October 6, 2004

Plantronics CS50-USB

Plantronics has unveiled the CS50-USB wireless headset at the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo today in Los Angeles. The headset will allow users to roam up to 200 feet from their PC. They're marketing it as a VoIP headset working in conjunction with major softphones. It will begin shipping to retailers in North America this December, and will cost about $300 USD.

AT&T and D-Link ink VoIP deal

October 6, 2004

D-Link logo

AT&T and D-link have inked a deal with AT&T. Engineers have worked closely with AT&T to implement Quality of Service (QoS) for more reliable connections and sound quality.Through this joint engineering effort with AT&T, D-Link became the first company to meet AT&T's stringent specifications and was recently named a charter member of AT&T's VoIP Innovation and Interoperability Program. According to the release, they are "Focused on driving the QoS for VoIP, D-Link's engineers worked diligently with AT&T to deliver the ability to adjust upload bandwidth as needed by intelligently analyzing voice over data packets to insure real-time delivery per AT&T specifications."

It's always a good thing when major broadband home router companies such as D-Link or LinkSys implement QoS into their routers. This will help better and improve the end-user's VoIP experience.

Skype keynote

October 6, 2004

I just got out of the Internet Telephony Expo keynote featuring Niklas Zennstrom, CEO from Skype, a real rebel trying to establish a business plan for Skype while at the same time maintaining their loyal and rabid following of fans that is currently 12 million users and growing.

Here are some of the highlights:

- SkypeIn for inbound calling from a PSTN number to a Skype user will be launched next year - around July 2005. This will be a major milestone for Skype, since currently right now, Skype users can only reach other Skype users or make outbound PSTN calls. Once Skype offers inbound calling via a PSTN number assigned to the Skype user, then Skype will have all the major bases covered.

SOHO VoIP Gadget

October 6, 2004

SIPZoo VoIP service provider

October 5, 2004

HP ProCurve Networking Switch Upgrade

October 5, 2004

ProCurve Networking by HP announced today software upgrades, including enhanced security features and network standardization, to the HP ProCurve Switch 2600, Switch 2600-PWR and Switch 2800 series. Some important new features include Web/MAC Authentication, a Class of Service feature for enhanced VoIP service and the traffic monitoring technology sFlow, which will help to predict traffic congestion and allow the user to plan for future upgrades.

Two very interesting of note. One, is the “MAC Lockout/MAC Lockdown” feature – MAC Lockout causes the switch to drop traffic carrying a specific MAC address as either a source or destination.

Telphin VoIP service

October 5, 2004

Blackberry Killer?

October 5, 2004

No one doubts the popularity of Blackberry - when it comes to email delivery/retrieval it just plain works. I've tried using a PocketPC to send/receive email and it's a nightmare. For one, it's a "pull" technology - I have to logon to the 2.5/3G network, then synchronize which took forever, then actually attempt to open/read an email and then reply. It was too many steps and it was slow.

Kagoor Networks partners with MetaSwitch

October 5, 2004

Here's a fairly big announcement being made at Internet Telephony Expo - Kagoor Networks announced a partnership with MetaSwitch to deliver broadband softswitch/session border control solution for carriers. The new joint solution has been deployed by ENMR Plateau, the largest telephone cooperative in New Mexico.

Using this solution, carriers will be able to deliver traditional and enhanced VoIP services such as IP Centrex over their existing broadband connections.

here's the full release:
LOS ANGELES, CA, October 5, 2004 - Kagoor Networks, a leading session border control provider, and MetaSwitch, a leading Class 5 softswitch vendor, today announced a joint solution that facilitates deployments of VoIP services between carriers and their broadband customers.

Toshiba VoIP News

October 5, 2004

Toshiba made 3 VoIP-related news announcements today.
here are the highlights:
· Toshiba Strata CIX is designed for small- to medium-sized enterprises or larger corporate users with multiple sites and supports up to 672 ports. It offers new FeatureFlex adaptability capabilities that let users customize their features. In addition, it can be TDM-enabled and provides a smooth migration path from Toshiba Strata CTX and Strata DK digital business communication systems. It will be available later this year.

3Com VoIP News

October 5, 2004

I've blogged in the recent past that 3Com has been a little quiet with regards to any VoIP announcements. Well, looks like they've woken up a bit.

They've had at least two recent news, including an interesting one with Siemens, which in fact competes with 3Com in the SMB/SME market with both companies offering IP-PBX solutions. 3Com announced a strategic partnership with Siemens Business Services to provide service and support to 3Com enterprise customers.

ASC and SPIRIT first Linux based voice logging system

October 5, 2004

With open-source Linux telecom solutions such as Asterisk and Pingtel gaining steam, it's always good to hear about another Linux telecom solution.

While this one is not open-source, it is important in that it is the world's first Linux-based call recording system.

here's the news:
October 5, 2004 - ASC (www.asctelecom.com) offers world's first Linux based voice logging system based on SPIRIT (www.spiritdsp.com) speech compression software providing toll quality even in narrowband channels.

For what purposes do people record speech?

Spirent and Cisco Skinny Protocol

October 5, 2004

ZyXEL launches Prestige Series ATA

October 5, 2004

I got a pre-announcment from ZyXEL that I thought I'd share before it even hits the news wires.

ZyXEL Communications Inc., a leading provider of global broadband access solutions, will announce the North American launch of its Prestige Series Voice over IP (VoIP) Analog Telephone Adapters (ATAs) for IP telephony service deployment, SOHO, SMB and home VoIP applications.

The ZyXEL P-2002 and P-2002L ATAs enable IP telephony service providers (ITSPs) to offer easy-to-use VoIP services directly to their current customers. Customers with an existing broadband connection can instantly turn their conventional telephones into IP phones.

COX Digital Telephone VoIP service

October 4, 2004

Johanne Torres and I were both just commenting on Cox's "VoIP" announcement today. It's called COX Digital Telephone, so both her and I wondered if it's truly VoIP or if it's voice-over-cable - a wholly different voice transport.
It was then that I came across Andy's blog where he too debated whether or not COX is using "true" voice over IP (VoIP) or using coax as the transport medium along with ATM & SONET.

As part of the announcement, Cox took a shot at the broadband telephony firms that transport voice traffic over the public Internet, saying that the method is susceptible to slowdowns. Andy commented on this FUD as well.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and VoIP

October 4, 2004

I know the news about the California report recommending VoIP is a couple of weeks old, but it is worth blogging nevertheless. Johanne Torres wrote an excellent article about this here: http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/articles/2004/081604jt.htm

I decided to read the rather lengthy report myself. The California Performance Review was orderd by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to perform "a focused examination and assessment of California state government." The review report lists many suggested ways to improve government, cut costs, and become more efficient. One of the best suggestions for cost savings in California is to deploy VoIP.

SpaceShipOne

October 4, 2004

Triple Play IP Media Gateway from Telco Systems

October 4, 2004

Navy Largest VoIP Deployment

October 4, 2004

Since the VoIP exhibits don't start until tomorrow - that's when you'll see some BIG VoIP news, I thought I would share some interesting VoIP news about the Navy possibly having the largest VoIP deployment in the world.

This is really big news when a government or military agency deploys VoIP. The "knock" or argument that VoIP is a security risk loses steam when you learn that a military branch - in this case the Navy - which has strict security requirements is going to deploy VoIP.

Here's an excerpt of the news story describing their VoIP deployment:
If plans by officials at the Navy and EDS work out, the Navy Marine Corps Intranet could soon become one of the largest systems using voice-over-IP technology in the world.

Officials at neither the Navy nor NMCI's lead vendor, EDS, would provide any firm dates for the addition of voice over IP to the system's contract.

VoIP Conference Tradeshow Update

October 4, 2004

I'm here at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo which promises to be the best VoIP tradeshow and conference ever! There is lots of hot news coming out at the show and I'll be reporting it live on my blog. Today is just the VoIP conferences (no exhibits), with some really great VoIP conferences going on that I hope to attend. Tomorrow, the main event- the exhibit hall opens with some really cool keynote speakers including AT&T, Avaya, Polycom and Siemens.

Popular Telephony Peerio a Skype Killer?

October 1, 2004

This is a draft of an article I am writing on Popular Telephony's Peerio which will be published in the November issue of Internet Telephony Magazine. With print magazine lead times versus no lead times online, I thought it was imperative to get this important news out to the VoIP industry as quickly as possible. Popular Telephony aims to change the VoIP landscape with their P2P technology, and word has it, Skype is shaking in its boots. Ok, maybe not..

Major VoIP news at Internet Telephony Expo

October 1, 2004

I've been getting lots of inside scoops that some major announcements are going to take place at Internet Telephony Expo in L.A. California.

I've also learned several other big news is coming down the pipe. Shhh, be very very quiet - this is stuff I'm not supposed to tell you.

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