April 2006

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More To Like about Norton NIS

April 28, 2006

Having already stated my long affinity for Symantec's Norton Internet Security (NIS), I wanted to point out the excellent dashboard called Norton Protection Center that comes with NIS 2006.

You can't miss the yellow icon that sits in the System Tray. If everything is working fine, you see a check mark in a green circle; if not, you get an indication that something needs to be fixed and NIS fixes it. Want is also really neat is that clicking on the icon opens up a larger screen that lists coverage in five key areas:

Security Basics Email & Messaging Web Browsing Data Recovery Performance

Each of these areas then has a circle (and text) that let you know your coverage status:

Full coverage Limited coverage No coverage

NIS give you:

Security Basics -- Full coverage Email & Messaging -- Full coverage Web Browsing -- Limited coverage Data Recovery -- No coverage Performance -- Limited coverage

To supersize this to total coverage, you need to add Symantec's SystemWorks. We'll get under the hood of that program in a blog coming your way soon ...

www.symantec.com

Posted in Computer Software

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I Want My Karaoke Channel!

April 28, 2006

Forget American Idol! -- now here’s something really important.

Interactive Television Networks, a leader in Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), recently announced the launch of The Karaoke Channel -- the first IPTV karaoke channel. A product of a three-year agreement between ITVN and Sound Choice, the leading karaoke music producer in the U.S., the 24/7 channel will feature thousands of individual song titles from Sound Choice, with titles spanning more than 100 years of music and including the biggest hits from every genre.

Get your vocal chords warmed up – it will be available in June.

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: american idol!, interactive television networks, iptv, the karaoke channel : Related Tags: karaoke channel, sound choice, karaoke, channel

NAB 2006: Seeing the Future Now

April 28, 2006

Having spent the week at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas, it's very clear that the future of the what we see and hear on the airwaves is here -- and that that future keeps evolving ever faster.

The NAB used to be called a "broadcasters'" convention, but now it's called "the world's largest electronic media show." And for good reason -- it used to be all about content, but now it's all about how that content can be delivered to consumers. GToday, it's all; about "screens"; we've now got TV, radio, satellite radio, podcasts, VOD, music and video downloads to MP3 and video players, delivery to mobile phones ...

If you were there, would be interested to see what your pick hits of the show. The phone lines are open ...

Posted in News

Tagged: nab, national association of broadcasters convention : Related Tags: future

Get on the (Memory) Stick: SwissMemory USB

April 27, 2006

The SWISSMEMORY USB cirrusWHITE is a powerful, little, white high-speed USB (2.0) stick that offers a read and write performance class of up to 28MB/s and storage capacities ranging from 128MB to 2GB.

The optically integrated protective cap with a round eyelet allows the stick to be attached to key-rings and lanyards with only minimal weight – only eight grams.

As a bonus, the integrated software provides users with a wide range of additional features. Outlook Express settings, personal Internet favorites and data from My Documents can be synchronized with ease, while the "no trace surfing" function deletes all traces of Internet surfing. All data is compressed to save space and protected by a password. The only part not to be protected is the Lost&Found file, which provides information on the stick's owner in case of loss.

Posted in Computer Hardware

Tagged: cirruswhite, swissbit, usb memory stick, www.swissbit.com : Related Tags: stick

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Service providers spending nearly 40% of capex on triple play

April 27, 2006

Interesting survey from Infonetics that I thought I'd share regarding Triple Play expenditures. Service providers are really starting to ramp up their spending. Service providers around the globe see triple play services not merely as a means of increasing top-line revenue, but as a means of self-preservation, says a new study by Infonetics Research. Network operators are redefining and realigning themselves to be the one-stop shop for all things digital for residential and enterprise subscribers, and they believe triple play services will give them the competitive edge they need to succeed.

Take as evidence the fact that North American, European, and Asia Pacific service providers participating in the study ("Service Provider Plans for IP Triple Play") report that on average nearly 40% of their capital expenditures were spent on triple play network equipment in 2005.

Posted in Triple Play

Tagged: broadband data, ip-tv, service providers, triple play, video, voip : Related Tags: service providers, respondent service, american european, north american, access internet, triple

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Skype cracks 100 million users

April 27, 2006

Skype tomorrow will reach a major milestone when it passes the 100 million registered users mark. Still a long way to go to catch up to McDonalds' "Billions Served", but Skype certainly is the fastest growing VoIP company. The company achieved this milestone in just two-and-a-half year’s time, and has nearly doubled in size from September 2005 when it had 54 million registered users.

"Skype has grown in leaps and bounds by making it simple for anyone across the world with an Internet connection to do something they could not do before – talk for as long as they like, to whoever they like for no cost.

Posted in Skype

Tagged: skype : Related Tags: registered users, million registered, mcdonalds billions, billions served, skype, million

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Hacked Megan Lyn Keating's Professional Hospital photo

April 24, 2006

I went to Danbury Hospital's website to look at the "professional" photo taken by the hospital staff and uploaded to a website called GrowingFamily.com. My wife and I haven't yet decided whether or not to use the "professional" photo for the baby announcements, nor have we decided if we are going to order a set of baby pictures from their website. Regardless, I wanted to save a digital copy of this photo to my own PC. When I clicked on the thumbnail image on GrowingFamily.com to enlarge it, I received a popup window with the image.

Posted in Personal and Humor

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Gadgets Fest 2006: DigitalLife 2006 Is Coming

April 24, 2006

My favorite East Coast gadgets-fest in on its way again!

Showcasing the best new consumer technology products on the digital horizon, the 3rd Annual DigitalLife show will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, October 12-15, 2006.

Some of the brands on tap so far include Toshiba, HP, Alienware, Altec Lansing, Logitech, One Voice Technologies, Seagate Technology, Sun Rocket and many more. Products will include home entertainment, TVs, consumer electronics, home networking, gaming hardware and software, PCs and laptops, mobile technologies, PDAs and MP3 players.

www.digitallife.com

Posted in Gadgets

Tagged: digitallife, www.digitallife.com : Related Tags: digitallife, tickets

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Megan Lyn Keating

April 23, 2006

Nicole and I had our baby on Friday evening at 8:48pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz, and was 19 inches long. She has lots of hair, just like Dad (well like Dad used to any way) Megan is doing fine, mommy is doing fine, and daddy is doing great. I couldn't be a more proud of Daddy's little girl. Updated - Monday - 3pm - Added 4th photo (bottom right). Doesn't she look like she's posing for the camera with the right hand under the chin?

Posted in Personal and Humor

Tagged: keating, lyn, megan, megan lyn keating : Related Tags: doing great, little girls, having little, congratulations, congrats, little

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Clean Plants = Clean Cars (Gadgets Someday, Too?)

April 21, 2006

Clean cars, now clean factories -- that is a good thing.

I hear that Volvo Trucks’ plant in Tuve, Sweden, will become the world’s first CO2-free automotive plant with five large wind power plants and a new biofuel plant generating electricity and heat that will eliminate the emission of carbon dioxide, the leading contributor to the greenhouse effect.

Volvo has also developed an environmentally friendly hybrid technology that uses electricity and a diesel engine to power its vehicles. The technology is designed to reduce fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and noise pollution -- so why not apply the same principles to building the cars in the first place.

Can U.S. automakers be that far behind?

And maybe gadget makers will get on this bandwagon, too?

Posted in News

Tagged: clean cars, clean factories, environmentally friendly, volvo trucks : Related Tags: carbon dioxide, clean, plant

"Da Vinci Code": Google & Sony Want You To Crack the Code

April 20, 2006

This week, Google launched its first movie industry cross-promotion ever, according to Adotas, around the release of The Da Vinci Code: The Movie.

Working with Sony Pictures, they have launched the Da Vinci Code Quest, an online puzzle game that challenges players with a dizzying 12,358 puzzles and no simple solutions. The Da Vinci Code: The Movie is distributed by Sony Pictures and is based, of course, on the mega-selling novel by Dan Brown.

According to a post on the Official Google Blog by Google software engineer/for-time world puzzle champion Wei-Hwa Huang, the puzzle game’s many twists and turns are “designed to honor both a fanatical puzzler’s sheer love of a mental challenge and the labyrinthine spirit of The Da Vinci Code itself.”

Huang developed the puzzles while Google and Sony developed the overall user experience. Those who successfully navigate the Da Vinci Quest will win one of several prizes, including the grand prize of a tour of Paris, London, Rome and New York, and a hefty grab bag of Sony electronics that includes a Bravia HDTV and a Vaio laptop. For 24 days, the Da Vinci Code Quest will feature one new puzzle or riddle per day spanning several levels of difficulty.

Posted in Video Games & Gaming

Tagged: adotas, bravia, da vinci code quest, dan brown, google, random house, sony pictures, the da vinci code: the movie, vaio : Related Tags: berenger sauniere, online puzzle, solution discussions, third scroll, related puzzles, vinci

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Mossberg's Buying a Digital Camera Guide: All You Need

April 19, 2006

Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation Day, the days of summer -- this is the start of prime picture-taking time.

With that in mind (or maybe not), today's Wall Street Journal features the as always excellent "Buying a Digital Camera: Our Annual Guide" by Walt Mossberg.

I'll leave it up to the author to provide the details, but here are the key areas to consider:

Megapixels Zoom -- optical matters Speed Bigger and better screens Stable images -- digital or optical? New ways of viewing In-camera editing Storing and transferring images Battery life

Snap away!

Posted in Digital Cameras

Tagged: digital camera, wall street journal, walt mossberg : Related Tags: start prime, summer start, prime picture, easter mother, digital camera, digital

Asterisk forms Advisory Council

April 19, 2006

Looks like Asterisk's growth has resulted in the formation of the Asterisk Advisory Council. Somehow when I think of open-source I don't think of a "centralized" council. Isn't the whole point of the open-source model to allow for distributed input by your programming peers? Also, when I think of "Council", I think of the United Nations Security Council or a cabal of men and women plotting for worldwide domination. Didn't Dr.

Posted in Asterisk

Tagged: asterisk, voip : Related Tags: advisory council, asterisk advisory, source telephony, asterisk based, asterisk asterisk, asterisk

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Life After Mickey: Eisner Goes Veoh

April 19, 2006

It's not a bad life when you're post-CEO.

Much ado yesterday about Michael Eisner, the former Walt Disney CEO, has joined the board of Veoh Networks, a Web-based distributor of video and TV programming. Eisner also teamed with Time Warner and venture-capital firm Spark Capital to invest $12.5 million in broadband TV startuo.

Check out the site at www.veoh.com and let me know if that looks like a smart investment ...

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: michael eisner, spark capital, veoh networks, walt disney, warner brothers, web-based video and tv : Related Tags: eisner

The HD-DVD Age Is Officially Upon Us

April 18, 2006

It may not be the second dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but the high-definition DVD era begins today with the official launch in the United States of HD-DVD movie players and discs.

The Contra Costa Times got it right -- don't expect much fanfare; only two players ($499 and $799 Toshiba models) and four movies are available. And the arrival of a competing format known as Blu-ray is a little over a month away. But there are hopeful signs for electronics makers and movie studios that HD-DVD or Blu-ray could eventually be a hit with consumers. The biggest boost for the new formats will be that sales of HD TVs -- a necessity to take full advantage of HD movies -- are booming.

Will you be the first on your block?

Posted in Video Hardware & Software

Tagged: blu-ray, contra costa times, hd-dvd, toshiba : Related Tags:

Oracle Service Delivery Platform targets VoIP and telecom

April 18, 2006

Oracle has a conference call to discuss this news about their Service Delivery
Platform (SDP) for the telecom industry in about an hour, which has implications for VoIP. I figured I'd share the news now even though I haven't fully digested it myself. I'm going to be on the conference call to find out more, but for now, enjoy!

Oracle Outlines Roadmap for Comprehensive Service Delivery Platform for Telecommunications Industry

Carrier-Grade Solution to Enable Communication Service Providers, Network Operators, Integrators and Enterprises to Extend Existing IT and Network Investments and Rapidly Deploy Revenue-Generating Services

Redwood Shores, Calif., April 18, 2006
- Building on Oracle's leadership in middleware and information management and the company's experience in carrier-grade communications infrastructure, Oracle today outlined its roadmap for a comprehensive, standards-based Service Delivery Platform (SDP) for the telecommunications industry. The new Oracle SDP is being designed to enable communication service providers, network operators and system integrators to evolve current silo-based network investments into a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and shrink the time and cost to deploy new voice data and integrated multimedia services on existing and next-generation communication Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Enterprises are expected to be able to extend their communication infrastructures with the Oracle SDP, providing a strong foundation for new Voice-over-IP (VoIP), mobile, and real-time applications.

The Oracle SDP plans to embrace the convergence of IT and network technologies to deliver a scalable platform with carrier-grade reliability, real-time performance, connectivity to traditional and next-generation IP-based networks and interfaces to operational and business support systems (OSS/BSS).

"IT-standards-based service delivery platforms offer compelling value to operators as the basis for developing interactive, media-rich, next generation data services," said Philip Marshall, director, Wireless/Mobile Technologies, Yankee Group. "Service delivery platforms that enable immediate ROI through out-of-the-box services and integration with OSS/BSS systems through standard interfaces are likely to be particularly compelling. Vendors who are able to provide a broad portfolio of products that are stable, mature and carrier-grade will have a definite edge over the competition."

Oracle SDP -- A Roadmap to Meet Industry Needs
Oracle SDP plans to extend Oracle Fusion Middleware for network-centric applications by enabling users to access next generation mobile; voice services; and Enterprise Applications through traditional communication networks; and next generation networks based on IMS and VoIP infrastructure.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: oracle, sdp, service delivery platform, telecom, voip : Related Tags: service delivery, delivery platform, carrier grade, service providers, standards based, oracle

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Earthlink's e911 programming snafu?

April 18, 2006

Is Earthlink having an e911 programming issue? A reader wrote me saying:

I'm an Earthlink VoIP customer since December '05 and Earthlink cannot set up an e911 address that is different from the billing address. I've had multiple tickets open with their (so-called) customer service since intitial activation. Is this somehow related to the Packet8 "separate number for e911" I read in a previous blog or just incompetence on Earthlink's part? Every time I've to check on this (Earthlink never updates on my issue) I get what appears to be a "form letter" saying my issue is being resolved and my e911 address will be corrected with 24-48 hours. One gentleman did tell me that they were unable to correct my problem and did not know when or if they ever would.
This sounds to me like they programmed their e911 service to use the billing address location as the actual physical location of the VoIP subscriber instead of separating the two.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: e911, earthlink, truevoice, voip : Related Tags: billing address, physical location, location earthlink, change billing, service address, address

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HP TVs and Lenovo PCs at Best Buy: Am I Seeing Correctly?

April 18, 2006

Interesting news the past couple of weeks about Best Buy adding flat-panel televisions from HP and Lenovo notebooksand desktop computers.

Seems, on one hand, this would herald the return of TVs from a major U.S. manufacturer to the retail market. In case you haven't noticed, TVs are from predominantly Asian manufacturers now (Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, etc.); retailers shelves used to be packed with U.S. made TVs from companies like RCA (and oh so many more).

Lenovo news now places the former IBM personal computer line (always a big revenue/no profit generator for Big Blue) back squarely in consumers' eyes -- will be nice to see something besides HP and Sony in the stores/flyers with Dell always a player with its genius business model (if you pay, they will build it -- the Field of Dreams mantra upside down).

Posted in News

Tagged: dell, desktop comptuers, field of dreams, flat-panel tvs, hp, ibm, lenovo, notebooks, panasonic, rca, samsung, sony : Related Tags: lenovo

Men are from VoIP and Women are from PSTN

April 17, 2006

Men are from VoIP and Women are from PSTN - at least according to Preston Gralla over at Networking Pipeline who quotes a recent HarrisInteractive survey about VoIP awareness. (great metaphor Preston!)

Preston writes that according to the survey, "Men are more aware of VoIP than women by about a two-to-one margin. And, one would assume, from those numbers, they're much more likely to use VoIP as well."

Of course, my theory is that once women find out they can talk more for less using VoIP I'm sure they'll catch up to the men. Though there is one significant hole in my theory. My wife has been using Vonage for the past 3 years with me and she complains at every little Vonage hiccup, every little "fast busy" when dialing, every little Internet outage that brings down the phone line.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: mars, men, venus, voip, vonage, women : Related Tags: quality issues, using vonage, silicon valley, cheap bastard, sound quality, phone

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Single-Gadget Theory (Update): PDAs to Shrink Back to Their Roots?

April 17, 2006

According to the XYZ Computing's Sal Cangeloso as reported in today's CEA SmartBrief newsletter, the PDA will likely return to its roots as a personal organizer and cede high-end features to smartphones and laptop computers.

Will we ever have one single portable device that does everything -- is Dick Tracy's WristRadio as good as it gets?

Posted in PDAs & Handhelds

Tagged: cea smartbrief, laptop computers, pdas., smartphones, xyz computing : Related Tags:

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New Orleans Jazzfest: Streaming on MSN

April 17, 2006

Strreaming media is hot!

Apparently besting other streamers, MSN announced it plans to stream live and on-demand coverage of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on the consecutive weekends of April 28-30 and May 5-7. Scheduled performers include Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Buffet, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Fats Domino, and Ani DiFranco.

According to Adotas.com ("where interactive advertising begins"), MSN plans to only cover a number of center-stage, “anchor” performances, as the event spans a big area of the city and includes many lesser-known acts. The festival, which has been a part of New Orleans’ cultural heritage since the 1970’s, is especially important and attention-grabbing this year because it will help revitalize the city’s devastated economy and tourism in the wake of last year’s hurricanes. This plan is part of an ongoing expansion of MSN’s entertainment coverage and sponsorship offerings for advertisers.

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: adotas.com, ani defranco, bob dylan, dave matthews band, fats domino, jimmy buffett, msn, new orleans jazz and heritage festival, paul simon, streaming media : Related Tags: orleans, festival

Open-source VoIP softswitch speaks GoogleTalk

April 17, 2006

Freeswitch, an open-source softswitch started earlier this year, leverages open-source software libraries and has recently added support for Google Talk. The codebase now includes Jingle (Jabber XMPP Voice) support with the addition of libDingaLing and mod_dingaling libraries. Jingle is an XMPP based protocol used by GoogleTalk. Using FreeSWITCH you can gateway GoogleTalk to SIP, H.323, or even the Asterisk IAX2 protocol.

Posted in Asterisk, Google, Mobile Phones, VoIP

Tagged: asterisk, freeswitch, google, google talk, iax, open source, open source, sip, voip : Related Tags: callback solution, jingle jabber, phone calling, support jingle, jabber pluggin, jabber

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Today's Answer: Disney Shows Now Available Free on the Web

April 14, 2006

Congratulations to all of those who correctly guessed that the 10 shows in the Tuesday blog were Disney shows now available for free download on the web.

No one knew that I Wanna Be a Soap Star III is actually on Soapnet ...

What see what happens next in the wild world of streaming video!

Posted in Home Entertainment

Do You Know Where Your Browser Is?

April 14, 2006

Concerned about Internet security? Who isn't?

Interesting and useful item from PCMag.com about spoofing the Internet Explorer Address Bar. Here's a summary: A new bug was found in IE 6.0 that allows a Web site to display a URL in your address bar that is different than the URL of the site that's displayed on your browser. That means your address bar could say "Amazon.com" but you're really on some hacker's Web site on the other side of the world. That's scary. It's no surprise that another major security flaw has been discovered in Internet Explorer, so please find out if you are at risk (unless you're singing a different tune).

http://ct.eletters.whatsnewnow.com/rd/cts?d=181-641-1-278-1003015-33767-0-0-0-1

Posted in Computer Software

Tagged: ie 6.0, internet explorer, pcmag.com, spoofing : Related Tags: internet explorer, really, address, internet

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EQO Mobile for Skype available for Mac operating system

April 13, 2006

EQO Communications today announced EQO Mobile for Skype for Mac users.
EQO Mobile lets users make and receive Skype calls, exchange Instant Messages, and view presence information about their buddies over the Skype network from more than 45 different phone handset models from vendors including Nokia, Motorola, Palm, and Sony-Ericsson. Most recently, EQO announced support for Palm TREO 650 and Motorola ROKR, SLVR, and RAZR handsets.

Posted in Skype

Tagged: apple, eqo, macintosh, skype, voip : Related Tags: mobile skype, skype, users, mobile, phone

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Jajah Hidden Easter Egg worth 100 free minutes

April 13, 2006

Jajah is offering 100 free minutes if you can find the hidden Easter Egg on their web site. Good Luck! (image above is what you will see. I found it. )

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: easter, jajah, voip : Related Tags: hidden easter, minutes, jajah, please

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Extreme Home Makeover adds VoIP and Video to fire station

April 13, 2006

Nortel, AT&T Texas and TANDBERG teamed up to provide ABC's hit reality show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" with a state-of-the-art communications system for a fire station in southeast Texas damaged by Hurricane Rita. The Sabine Pass Fire Station No. 4 was severely damaged when the hurricane made landfall east of the town last September and has been out of operation for the past five months, forcing its firefighters to work out of a trailer at a local U.S. Coast Guard station.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: at&t, extreme home makeover, nortel, tandberg, video, voip : Related Tags: video communications, command center, plasma screens, damaged hurricane, extreme makeover, station

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Sony offers Camcorder Trade-Up Program

April 12, 2006

Sony announced a camcorder trade-up program. According to Sony, "You can trade in that old camcorder, help the environment, and receive Sony credit. Use the credit for a brand new Sony camcorder purchased online at SonyStyle.com. They have an online estimator to get your estimated trade-up value. I have an old HI-8 myself, which I rarely used, but now with a baby imminent, I'm sure I'll be breaking out the camcorder.

Posted in Digital Cameras, Home Entertainment

Tagged: camcorder, digital video, dvd, sony : Related Tags: typical value, tapes software, camcorder trade, camcorder, trade, camera

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MapQuest Is Coming to a Cell Phone Near You ...

April 12, 2006

How about getting MapQuest on your cell phone when you're lost and won't ask anybody for directions?

Seems AOL is planning MapQuest Navigator, a mobile service in partnership with Telmap that will enable drivers and pedestrians to access GPS, turn-by-turn and voice-guided directions on their cellular phones. Launch date -- later this year.

According to the company, in addition to audible directions, the service will offer various features ranging from print-quality color maps (are cell phone printers coming soon?) to directions that factor in time and tolls.

Posted in Mobile Phones

Tagged: aol, cell phone, gps, mapquest, mapquest navigator, telmap : Related Tags: google provides, mapquest, directions, phone, service

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Today's Quiz: What Do These Shows Have in Common?

April 11, 2006

Lef me ask you again: What do these 10 TV shows have in common?

Alias Commander in Chief Desperate Housewives I Wanna Be a Soap Star III Kim Possible Lost Power Rangers The Suite Live of Zack & Cody Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! That's So Raven

Tune in tomorrow for the answer!

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: alias, commander in chief, desperate housewives, i wanna be a soap star iii, kim possible, lost, power rangers, super robot monkey team hyperforce go!, that's so raven, the suite life of zack & cody : Related Tags: shows common, shows

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Simultaneous WiFi, EVDO, Bluetooth, GSM, VoIP on a cell phone

April 11, 2006

Is simultaneous WiFi, EVDO, Bluetooth, GSM, VoIP on a cell phone just a pipe dream? One of the problems with cellphones today which currently support WiFi, Bluetooth, broadband data (e.g. EVDO), and a cellular wireless voice standard (3G, CDMA, GSM, etc.) is that today's cell phone devices typically only allow either the voice transmission or the data transmission to work, but not both at the same time.

For instance, Sprint's PPC-6700 Windows Mobile 5.0 device allows WiFi and EVDO (data transmission) to be active simultaneously, however if your phone rings (voice transmission), you drop the data transmission. It's one or the other. Some of it is a technology issue.

Posted in GPS, Mobile Phones, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: cell phone, evdo, mobile, motorola, voip, wifi, wireless : Related Tags: cyber tracker, homeland integrated, integrated security, security systems, simultaneous voice, voice

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XO Communications Total VoIP Minutes Explodes

April 11, 2006

XO Communications today announced that it carried more than 2.9 billion minutes of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic across its nationwide IP network in the first quarter of 2006, a 32 percent increase over the previous quarter. 32% over the previous quarter? Wow! According to XO, "The increase was driven by greater deployment of XO’s VoIP solutions by businesses and service providers, demonstrating the increasing growth of delivering voice services over an all IP environment." One of their clients, is SunRocket, which is experiencing some fast growth of their own.

I wonder how Level 3 did this quarter in VoIP minutes growth vs. last quarter. What say you Skibare, the resident Level3 stock expert in the blogsphere?

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: level 3, voip, xo communications : Related Tags: previous quarter, quarter, minutes, level, growth

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Installing and Upgrading to Movable Type 3.2

April 11, 2006

I've spent the past two weeks installing and upgrading Movable Type on a test server before actual deployment. The pre-upgrade installation was Movable Type v2.661 and it ran on Windows IIS 6.0 with ActivePerl. The plans for the post-upgrade were Movable Type 3.2 running on Linux Fedore Core 4 or 5. I installed Fedora Core 5 beta on a Dell blade server, but had some issues which I believe to be related to the beta.

Posted in MovableType

Tagged: iis 6.0, linux, microsoft, movable type 3.2, mysql, red hat, selinux, upgrading : Related Tags: technical support, linux server, configuration settings, access control, plugin directory, directory

Disney Goes Streaming Crazy on the Web

April 10, 2006

We ended last week with Disney news, and now we start this week with Disney news. Much chatter today (how about front page of the Wall Street Journal!) about Disney's plans to offer its TV shows free on the web. (More streaming video!)

Seems that top shows from the Disney Channel and ABC Family, like Desperate Housewives and Lost, will now be streaming to all kinds of other screens the day after these shows are broadcast. The good news -- the magic four letter word -- is that these shows are free, but the bad news -- you can't skip the commercials (sure someone will quickly find a way around that).

Seems like this was how TV was when it first started -- you watch for free, but you must watch the commercials (or at least you have the chance to watch -- or not watch them.)

Let's see what the industry response will be tomorrow ...

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: abc family, desperate housewives, disney, disney channel, lost, streaming video : Related Tags: disney, watch, shows, streaming

Disney Goes Mobile (Phones That Is)

April 7, 2006

Much chatter about Disney's announcement to enter the mobile phone service this week.

Targeted at 10- to 15-year-olds, Disney Mobile will be carried by Sprint Nextel -- a June launch is planned. Interesting that technology will enable parents to track whereabouts of their kids via GPS -- probably the last thing that these kids want on their cell phones.

How much longer before we find cell phones in our cereal boxes?

Posted in Mobile Phones

Tagged: cell phone, disney, disney mobile, gps, sprint nextel : Related Tags: mobile, disney, phones

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Krusell's on the Case

April 7, 2006

Mobile phone cases and PDA cases are big business. After you’ve dropped a few bucks on these gadgets, you need to protect them from scratches, drops and other potential end-of-life occurrences.

You may remember I’ve just moved from a Treo 600 to a Treo 650, but it seems that a lot companies that used to make cases for Palm products have dropped out of this space race.

After a lot research, I opted for a case from Krusell – the Horizontic with Multidap. Until a month ago, this was a company that (quite frankly) I had never heard of before. Let me tell you – this is one fine case.

Posted in Mobile Phones

Tagged: cell phone, digital camera, horizontic with multidap, krusell, mp3 player, palm, pda, treo 600, treo 650 : Related Tags: different clips, krusell cases, krusell makes, krusell, cases, phone

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Star Wars Kid settles lawsuit

April 7, 2006

In the Globe and Mail today, news that Ghyslain "Star Wars Kid" Raza and parents have settled their lawsuit against school bullies who released the infamous video onto the interwebs. As Ghyslain Raza recalled, whenever he walked by his high school's common areas, other students would jump on tables and chant, "Star Wars Kid! Star Wars Kid!" There would be a commotion as they shouted and poked at him, trying to get a reaction. "It was simply unbearable," he said. I feel for the Star Wars Kid, but if anything I'd think he'd enjoy his fame.

Posted in Personal and Humor

Tagged: kid, star, star wars kid, wars : Related Tags: original video, thousands dollars, libel slander, false charges, emotional distress, video

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RuneScape Rocks! (Or Is It Rules!)

April 7, 2006

Anybody out there into RuneScape?

Fascinating virtual medieval-type world with quests, interesting clothes and stuff to do on a daily basis played with an online gaming community of players who hone their skills in various areas. Site calls itself “a massive 3D multiplayer adventure, with monsters to kill, quests to complete, and treasure to win.” Has both free and pay-for-play levels (which is when it really gets interesting …)

In my house, seems to go really well with Green Day.

www.runescape.com

Posted in Video Games & Gaming

Tagged: 3d multiplayer adventure, green day, online gaming, runescape, www.runescape.com : Related Tags: trade limit, block runescape, times still, addicted runescape, runescape rocks, runescape

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VoIP on Treo 650 and Motorola ROKR, SLVR, and RAZR

April 7, 2006

EQO Communications, developer of presence-enabled calling and instant messaging solutions and services, today announced EQO Mobile for Skype on the popular Palm TREO 650 and Motorola ROKR, SLVR, and RAZR handsets. EQO actually has been calling me for the past week to try and give me the news, but I've been preparing for a major upgrade of Movable Type from 2.661 to 3.2, so I neglected to call them back. Rich Tehrani told me their news this morning, so I figured the news was worth sharing. I was one of the first to discuss EQO back in February in a blog post worth checking out.

The announcement was made at the CTIA Wireless 2006 conference, and it brings the number of EQO-supported handset models to more than 45, including some of the most popular devices from Nokia, Motorola, Palm, and Sony-Ericsson.

EQO uses a combination of a phone-resident J2ME client and a presence-enabled Voice-over-IP (VoIP) signaling network to bridge online identity, VoIP calling, and Instant Messaging services to more than 200 million J2ME-capable mobile phone handsets already in use worldwide.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Skype, Wireless

Tagged: eqo, motorola razr, skype, treo 650 : Related Tags: presence enabled, calling messaging, motorola, calling

(Gadgets) Love Is Love (Not Fade Away) ...

April 6, 2006

It’s interesting how the hottest of hot technologies gradually cools and fades away.

I’m thinking about this after visiting Best Buy to buy a cassette player for my elderly uncle who loves to listen to books on tape. Now Best Buy is a big store and after wandering around awhile, I had to ask a salesperson, who carefully directed me to the “Personal Audio” section. This single row of products featured a sparse selection of CD players – mostly Sony – and only one cassette player with headphones (also a Sony); lots of hanging space, not too many products. Just one cassette player! And only a couple of CD players!

Now we’re talking about two technologies that were once the reddest of red hot technologies – the mobile cassette player (which made the Gadgets Hall of Fame when Sony introduced the Walkman) – and the mobile CD player, which turned digital music into something that we could take with us wherever we wanted to go.

Posted in MP3 Players & Digital Audio

Tagged: best buy, books on tape, cassette player, cd player, ipod, mp3 player, sony, walkman, www.ieee-virtual-museum.org : Related Tags: cassette player, player, walkman, cassette, players, technologies

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What Do You Get a Girl Who Has Everything?

April 6, 2006

I remember when I was a kid the big thing was to get a stereo in your room and -- if you were really lucky -- your own phone. Now, by “your own phone,” I mean a telephone that was then called an extension phone – it had the same number as your parents’ number. (Forget about getting your own phone number …)

Today, my kids have enough communications devices that getting their own phone in their rooms doesn’t make any sense – they’ve got cell phones, text messaging, email, instant messaging on multiple devices. (Did I miss anything? Yes, I did; they can also make calls on that old “landline” telephone).

Posted in Mobile Phones

Tagged: cell phones, email, instant messaging, princess phone, telephone, text messaging, www.bellsystemmemorial.com : Related Tags: extension phone, phone, number, remember, phones

Airplanes as Gadgets? Consider This ...

April 5, 2006

Is it fair to think of an airplane as a giant gadget? Had this thought yesterday as I traveled back on a short (how about overnight) trip to Atlanta to meet with some of the engineers at Turner Entertainment and CNN and see and hear about the future of broadcast, content creation and content delivery firsthand.

Seems we had a little trouble on the Delta flight down – one of the landing gear doors won’t shut – wheels stayed down – so we had to land at JFK after taking off from LaGuardia (some of you know how silly it sounds to take off from one NYC airport and land at another).

Anyway, once on the ground, the maintenance crew swapped out a board (doesn’t that sound like computer hardware to you?) and then the pilot had to wait for his navigation system to be reset (doesn’t that sound like software to you?). Funny when the pilot said he was waiting for his Atari screen to be reset so he could get back into the air (doesn’t that sound like video gaming to you?).

So, is an airplane a giant gadget?

Posted in Gadgets

Tagged: cnn, delta, turner entertainment : Related Tags: doesn’t sound, giant gadget, sound, doesn’t

Microsoft sells 500,000 Windows Mobile Phones

April 5, 2006

According to the NY Times, Microsoft has won a huge order for their Windows Mobile software - 500,000 handsets to be precise. Is this another nail in the coffin for Blackberry? Certainly seems that way. According to the NY Times article, "Microsoft expects to increase its mobile unit's sales to $1 billion in one to three years, from $337 million last year, and break the dominance of the Research In Motion BlackBerry wireless e-mail device. Sales of handsets with Windows are expected to double to 20 million in 2007 on the strength of corporate sales, Mr.

Posted in Microsoft, Mobile Phones, Wireless

Tagged: blackberry, microsoft, u.s. census bureau, windows mobile 5.0 : Related Tags: windows mobile, conspiracy theories, blackberry, mobile, microsoft, windows

CEO Heavyweights Weigh in on House Broadband Bill and net neutrality

April 5, 2006

Several CEO heavyweights weigh in on the new pending House broadband bill and how it may affect network neutrality with the following letter... We should all call our Congressman and tell them how we feel about this issue - whether you are for or against it. This issue is too important to ignore and I'm afraid mightly lobbying efforts by the broadband providers could affect the competitive landscape of the Internet and give consumers less choice. I guess you know where I stand on this issue.

Posted in News

Tagged: broadband bill, congress, fcc, net neutrality : Related Tags: heavyweights weigh, energy commerce, innovation global, consumer choice, choice american, internet

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Microsoft Speech Server 2007 preview

April 5, 2006

Microsoft announced today that beginning in May, beta testers will have the opportunity to preview and provide feedback on Microsoft Speech Server 2007. Speech Server is Microsoft's IVR platform and provides the tools, run-time environment and services needed for developing speech-enabled telephony applications.

Some highlights from today's Speech Server 2007 announcement include:
New development options with added support for VoiceXML and a new Speech Server API Native support for VoIP as well as SIP and RTP to enable better integration with existing telephony infrastructures Increased performance monitoring tools to track how callers are using the system Membership in the VoiceXML Forum The full text of the release, along with quotes from industry companies and organizations, can be read here:

Posted in Microsoft, Reviews

Tagged: microsoft, sip, speech server 2007, voip : Related Tags: speech server, microsoft speech, speech, server, microsoft

BridgePort Networks shows off Dual-mode capability

April 5, 2006

BridgePort Networks is making some interesting announcments at the CTIA Wireless show. Most importantly they are demonstrating how they leverages SIP and IMS to demonstrate seamless handover based on 'VCC' technical requirements. If you're not familiar with IMS or even if you are, you should subscribe to TMC's newest publication, IMS Magazine which covers IMS exclusively. IMS is going to be a huge driver of VoIP and mobile applications in the next couple of years.

Also at the CTIA show they are introducting a USB MobileSTICK product that turns a laptop into a mobile phone.

Posted in Mobile Phones, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: bridgeport networks, dual mode, ims, mobile phone, sip, voip, wireless : Related Tags: bridgeport networks, fixed mobile, mobile phone, mobile convergence, intellectual property, networks

Pama Diamante Bluetooth Headset has the Bling Bling

April 5, 2006

Remember my Bluetooth Headsets Everywhere entry, where I discussed how Bluetooth headsets are becoming more prevalent as well as a "fashion statement"? Well, on a much related note, the Pama Diamante Bluetooth headset gets rid of the old boring grey over the ear headset piece by adding some Bling Bling to it. Yes ladies, now you can compliment your "blinged out" mobile phone and your diamond stud earings with this stylish Bluetooth headset. Guys too can compliment their diamond stud earings with this headset as well, but don't get me started on men who pierce their ears, nipples, nose, or any other body part. It's just wrong - wrong I say!

Posted in Wireless

Tagged: bluetooth, headset, pama diamante : Related Tags: bluetooth headset, bluetooth headsets, bling bling, diamond bluetooth, diamante bluetooth, bluetooth

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Dual boot Mac and Windows

April 5, 2006

Apple fans can now dual-boot into either Microsft Windows XP or the Macintosh operating system (Mac OS X). Today, Apple announced the beta release of Bootcamp, a boot-time utility that lets you create a 2nd partition to hold the Windows operating system. Then at bootup you simply hold the option key which will then give you a choice of which operating system to load into. Now that Apple is using Intel processors, there is no need to use virtual emulators which use software to emulate Windows programs.

Posted in Microsoft

Tagged: apple, dual boot, mac, os x, windows : Related Tags: operating system, install windows, using intel, choose between, windows, system

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Vonage Hangup problem and the Uniden 5.8GHz TRU8885-2 phone system

April 5, 2006

I splurged on a Uniden TRU8885-2 5.8 GHz Digital Cordless Phone with Dual Handsets and Answering System
Amazon Price: $139.99
Buy', STICKY, TIMEOUT, 4000);" onmouseout="return nd();">Uniden 5.8GHz TRU8885-2 phone system with digital answering machine, support up to 10 handsets, Caller ID, handset-to-handset calling, baby monitor feature, and more. "Splurged" probably isn't the appropriate word, since it was a $119 necessary purchase I had to make - wife's orders and all . She was sick and tired of the old Sony cordless phone/answering machine which was incompatible with Vonage causing the answering machine to play a fast-busy tone for up to 3 minutes (maximum record time) the majority of the time the remote caller hung-up. The damn Sony answering machine had a problem detecting the remote hangup or the fast busy so it wouldn't drop the line and would play an irritating fast busy over the Sony answering machine speakerphone for 3 minutes.

Posted in Vonage

Tagged: 5.8ghz, cordless phone system, tru8885-2, uniden, voip, vonage : Related Tags: phone system, answering machine, cordless phone, uniden system, answering systemamazon, phone

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NAB: Broadcasters Get Together To See the Future

April 4, 2006

Later this month, I'll be heading to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in (where else?) Las Vegas.

The NAB is the annual convention where all of the world's top broadcasters get together to see the latest gear in production and post-production gear (cameras, monitors software, storage, etc) to create all of the shows we see on TV, cable, via satellite (and now on much smaller screens, too, like cell phones). It's a huge show.

File-based workflow is big as facilities look to optimize their work with video -- so many new formats, channels and of course an ever greater demand for High-Def (HD) content. (Funny how the equation works -- more HD content = more demand for HD TVs = more HD content.

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: hd tv, high-def tv, nab, national association of broadcasters : Related Tags: broadcasters

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Download DVD quality movies

April 3, 2006

Is Hollywood embracing digital downloads of digital high-quality movies in the popular DVD format? Can this be? I just received an email from Movelink, which states, in part: As a reader of VoIP & Gadgets, I wanted to make sure you've heard Movielink's latest news. For the first time in the U.S., consumers can legally download to own movies from major Hollywood studios, such as King Kong, Good Night, and Good Luck, Hustle & Flow, East of Eden, The Sting and To Kill a Mockingbird. For the first time ever, titles such as Brokeback Mountain will be available to download day and date with DVD. This is a major step forward for the entertainment industry, as the Internet proves to be a viable distribution platform for delivery of premium content.

Posted in Home Entertainment

Tagged: download, dvd, hollywood, movielink, movies : Related Tags: telugu movies, download telugu, quality movies, quality movie, hollywood studios, movies

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Google Buys into AOL

April 3, 2006

How about Google buying a small stake -- 5% -- of AOL? Not all that long ago, the great merger of AOL and Time Warner was going to rock the industry; about the only thing that got rocked was the stock price -- and all those many sad shareholders ...

What is Google going to do next? The phone lines are open ...

Posted in News

Tagged: aol, google, time warner : Related Tags: google

Iotum integrates with Asterisk

April 3, 2006

Iotum, winner of Internet Telephony’s Product of the Year Award and DEMOgod at DEMO 2006 has announced today the beta availability of the iotum relevance engine integration with the popular open-source Asterisk IP-PBX.

iotum's Asterisk integration module connects its call management applications to Asterisk IP-PBX's to assist users in prioritizing which calls are more important, and which can wait, based on who’s calling, and what the user is currently doing. This non-commercial beta will allow Asterisk users to filter, rank, and prioritize incoming calls using iotum as well as offer users the ability to easily schedule conference calls from within Microsoft Outlook using iotum's Pronto Conference Calling feature.

iotum's unique "Web 2.0" relevance engine which helps to prioritize calls has certainly garnered attention and awards from several media outlets. Certainly by integrating with Asterisk, iotum will garner plenty more attention, especially from the Asterisk community.

Posted in Asterisk

Tagged: asterisk, iotum : Related Tags: relevance engine, using iotum, iotum, asterisk, calls, users

More On Apple's 30th Anniversary: The First Apple Ad

April 3, 2006

Look how far technology advertising has come in 30 years! This is the first ad for the first Apple Computer, the Apple I, which was introduced 30 years ago this month.

Once again, thanks to the great Apple-History.com web site (so much to read on it!)

Posted in Computer Hardware

Tagged: apple 1, apple computer, apple-history.com, technology advertising : Related Tags: apple, great

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Earthlink MindSpring launches new VoIP client

April 1, 2006

On Monday, EarthLink will lean on a brand from the past, namely MindSpring to launch yet another VoIP softphone client. Seems like a new VoIP client is laaunched each week. I remember when TMC had a few dial-up MindSpring accounts before Earthlink merged with MindSpring. Apparently, they're now planning on using the MindSpring brand name to leverage VoIP.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: earthlink, mindspring, voip : Related Tags: mindspring earthlink, mindspring, earthlink, users, client, think

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VoIP & Gadgets Blog

April 2006