July 2007 Archives

Ok, just got this press release emailed to me about Simicomm releasing their beta 15 minute VoIP system which automatically installs via a bootable CD. Sounds familiar? It should. Both AsteriskNOW and trixbox offer bootable plug-and-play easy-to-use Asterisk-based solutions. The release itself doesn't really mention Asterisk by name, however it mentions Digium hardware in passing. This says to me it is indeed a forked Asterisk distribution. My guess is that they took the open source Asterisk code and tweaked it and are offering it as a "no hassle easy to install VoIP phone system". Ok, so what's so special about this easy-to-install VoIP phone system vs. AsteriskNOW or trixbox? I checked out their website to see if I could see some screenshots but there's nothing there. I couldn't even find Asterisk mentioned anywhere on their website. If they are using Asterisk that should be marketed front-and-center on their website - I shouldn't have to go looking for it. Their forums have pretty much no threads. Ok, I'm not going to knock Simicomm too hard before finding out more, but it all seems a bit sketchy to me. Read the release and decide for yourself. If I find out more I'll let you know by updating this post.

Update: My speed-reading through press releases has bit me again. I get way too many.  The release does indeed mention Asterisk. My bad. I depended on my email search function and searched the press release for the word “asterisk” and it didn’t come up since the release sent to me had a B in it (AsteriskB). There was a character conversion issue with a trademark or copyright symbol in the original release. I still don't see Asterisk mentioned on their website however. That's where most people would come across this company versus a press release. So I think it should still be clearer on their website that they leverage Asterisk.

Releases Beta of 15 Minute VoIP System Tech Challenged SMBs Offered No Hassle, Full Featured VoIP Phone System

Madison, WI – July 31, 2007 – Born to remove the complexity of VoIP solutions, Simicomm(TM) today announced EasySpeak PBX, a software-based phone management system. This complete plug-and-play VoIP PBX provides a low-cost alternative to small to medium businesses. The EasySpeak software can be completely installed, including fully automated phone configuration, in only 15 minutes!

The solution is designed for enterprises without the technical abilities to implement or maintain phone systems. It provides resellers with a low cost, reliable solution for companies looking to migrate slowly into a VoIP infrastructure. Based on the AsteriskB open source PBX, EasySpeak works with both VoIP and analog phones. A novice-tested, web-based toolbox enables simple configuration and management.

"We recognize there are many solutions targeting small businesses,” noted Dennis Barnum, CEO of Simicomm. "Our goal was to create something that removes the complexity for a non-technical audience and make it affordable.”

EasySpeak PBX (300 MB file) is downloaded from www.simicomm.com, and burned to a CD. The CD is loaded onto a (dedicated) server, which will run through the installation steps automatically. Just plug the phones and Internet into the Ethernet ports (1 and 0 respectively) and you're ready to go. To use analog phones, a line card (i.e. Digiuma analog telephony devices) is required. Telephones will automatically register and be assigned extensions in the order they are connected. Changing of extensions and management of other features can be made by logging into the web-based toolbox.

EasySpeak PBX contains the features of the high-end solutions, including: Auto Attendant, Web Access to Voicemail, Music-on-Hold, Blind Transfer, T-38 Fax support, Call Forward/Forward on Busy, Call Parking, Call Queuing, Call Routing (DID & ANI), Call Transfer, Call Waiting, Caller ID, Caller ID Blocking, Caller ID on Call Waiting, Roaming Extensions, Assisted Transfer, Three-way Calling and high-end Voicemail functionality.


A free 14-day trial of EasySpeak is available through www.simicomm.com for a limited time.

About Simicomm
Simicomm is a telecommunications software company focused on providing hassle free VoIP solutions for small and medium sized businesses. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Simicomm is the creator of the EasySpeak 15-minute VoIP phone system. Please visit www.simicomm.com for additional information.

From the wild and wacky files, Botanicalls.com has developed an interesting application that leverages Asterisk to have plants call their plant caretakers if they are thirsty or hot or cold. For instance, when a plant gets thirsty it initiates a call over the Asterisk system and plays a message.

In the demonstration video the ivy plant calls the "scientist" and says, "Hi this is the ivy, I'm desperately in need of a drink. Do you think you can find it in your heart to maybe water me a little?"

You can even call your plant to show how much you care and the plant will tell you its status and a little bit about itself. Boy, people already have unhealthy relationships by spending way too much time with their gardens and plants. Gardening can be a fun hobby if you don't go overboard. I dunno bout you, but I'm thinking that calling your plants is straddling that line blew right past that line.

And another thing - what's up with using a high-tech open-source phone system like Asterisk in their video demo but using it along side an antique touch-tone phone that looks like it goes back to the 1970s? i.e.:


(Yes I see the Lucent logo and I know Lucent didn't exist in the 1970s) Finally, below is the architecture of this wacky use of Asterisk to monitor your plant's health and to help build a relationship between you and your plants. Just don't blame me if you start spending more time communicating with your plants than your spouse!

Harry Potter would be proud to witness you levitating objects on your desk. Potter calls it magic, I call it a strong magnetic field producing equal magnetic forces in opposite directions causing metallic objects to be perfectly suspended in the center. Of course Harry would counter he uses magic to generate magnetic fields  (ala Magneto from X-Men) to move objects.

But whether you believe in magic, supernatural forces, magnetism, or all of the above, this is one cool little trinket to add to your desk, making you the envy of all your co-workers! You can purchase and float various objects in the IFO 3000, including a color changing night light, a picture frame, a globe, a mini cooper, or even an LCD Alarm Clock that displays the date and temperature. I assume you can also float your own metallic objects as long as they're not too heavy.

You pick up your magic magnetic levitating gadget here. And here's a levitating globe in action:

Credit: Chip Chick

Microsoft Outlook 2007 sucks. Or at least it sucks in how it handles its Junk E-mail functionality. Microsoft's brilliant decision is to prevent users from Replying to any email that lands in your "special" Junk E-mail folder. Microsoft Outlook 2007, part of the Office 2007 suite, displays the following dialog box popup when I click Reply to an email in the Junk E-mail folder:

"To help protect your personal information, this message has been converted to plain text. Links and other functionality have been disabled. To restore functionality, move the message to the Inbox."

There is also a 'Do not show' check box which adds a setting to the Registry so the popup doesn't appear again. I happened to check it, so now when I click Reply to an email in my Junk E-mail folder nothing happens. The mouse cursor just sits there mocking me and my futile clicks of the Reply button. Strangely enough the Forward button works which makes absolutely no sense. Block Reply for security reasons but not Forward?

Thus, when a legitimate Outlook email lands in my Junk E-mail folder, I have to either drag it into my Inbox or I have to click 'Not Junk' on my Outlook toolbar and add the contact to my "trusted" list. The problem with this is that the email is now marked as "read". So when I click my main Inbox, this "read" email may be lost in the middle of all the other emails in my Inbox. Now I have to go find it and re-open it, then click Reply, and then if I don't need the email any more delete it.

Let's add up and compare the clicks shall we?
1) Open email to see if spam or legit
2) It is legit, so click 'Not Spam' so it moves to Inbox automatically
3) Choose whether or not to add recipient(s) in the email to trusted list
4) Click 'Ok'
5) Click on Inbox
6) Find read email and re-open or Click Reply on toolbar
7) Delete email

Total = 7 clicks, possibly 8 if you re-open the email and then click "Reply"

It should be:
1) open email to see if spam or legit
2) Click Reply
3) Delete

Total = 3 clicks.

You would think the "trusted" list would help a little to whitelist my common contacts. Unfortunately, this "trusted" list only works with Microsoft's anti-spam filter. If you use any server-based anti-spam software such as GFI MailEssentials, this bypasses your client Outlook-based "whitelist" and places suspected spam into the Junk E-mail folder.

I even turned off Outlook's Automatic Junk E-mail filtering completely from Outlook 2007's menu option and it STILL doesn't let me click the Reply button to any email in the Junk E-mail folder.

Here's a screenshot of the Automatic Filtering turned off:


Unfortunately, the corporate-wide server-based anti-spam software still filters emails to the Junk Email folder. Well, not unfortunately, since I want suspected spam to go there. However, like I said, Outlook 2007 considers this folder "special" and in Microsoft's infinite wisdom has decided to PREVENT you from Replying to any email in this folder.

Now I get that there are some idiotic users that open attachments with viruses or do other stupid stuff, but if I want to Reply to an email, or even infect myself with a virus, then let me DAMN IT! Forcing me to move the email to my Inbox and then clicking Reply doesn't add any extra layer of security - all it does is force extra clicks and piss me off.

I suppose one option is to have the server-based anti-spam software move spam to a different folder other than Junk e-mail. However, that's a global setting that would affect everyone within our organization. Also, I like having a single unified Junk e-mail folder.

Surely there must be a way of disabling this restrictive functionality. I tried every menu option in my Outlook client to try and disable and I tried Googling it to no avail. Maybe there is a Registry hack somewhere. If so, please share since this is annoying the hell out of me.

Ok now that I got my frustrations out of the way, there is plenty to like in Outlook 2007. The Instant Search works really well and I like the clean look with the "Ribbon" menu. Still getting used to the Ribbon but it does reduce a lot of screen clutter.

I received word that SunRocket will be completely disconnected 10 days from now. Some SunRocket customers are still unaware of SunRocket going under since their phone service still works via SunRocket's temporary saviour - Teleblend. However, Teleblend is only temporarily keeping SunRocket customers connectiions alive (at cost to them) while customers switch to another phone service provider. I wonder how many SunRocket customers will be in shock when their phone line goes dead in 10 days.

Below is the latest email from SunRocket. Note the last line which says "It has been our pleasure to service you at SunRocket!" Yeah, the pleasure has been all theirs certainly not their customers - many of which are out the $199/year subscription fee! 


-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  SunRocket Service to be Discontinued
Date:  Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:03:16 -0400
From:  sunrocket@sunrocket.com

 

CRITICAL LETTER TO SUNROCKET CUSTOMERS
- SERVICE TO BE DISCONTINUED WITHIN 10 DAYS -

Dear Customers,
As previously reported, SunRocket is in the process of closing its operations and therefore will no longer be able to provide you with the phone service.  However, this email provides you with an opportunity to sign up with select service providers who we believe will offer outstanding replacement service.
While services to customers may be discontinued at anytime, all services will be discontinued no later than August 5, 2007.

However, there are two preferred service providers we are recommending, which are:  8x8, Inc., provider of the Packet8 service, and Unified Communications Corp., provider of Teleblend services will be offering you the best options and we are proud to recommend the following alternatives to you.

We urge each and every customer that has not signed up with a new service provider to immediately do so now.  Do not delay as services are being discontinued and will be permanently shut down no later than August 5, 2007.

8x8/Packet8
The Packet8 Internet phone service incorporates patent protected technology from 8x8. Inc., a publicly traded company in business for more than 20 years. The service works in the same way as SunRocket’s and offers a virtually identical feature set.
• No Startup Costs
• FREE activation
• FREE equipment
• FREE shipping
• FREE first month of service
• Quickly port your number at no charge
A Savings of over $100!
Click here to order  (or copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser:  http://sr.packet8.net or call 1-800-868-0068 and mention special offer code SUNROCKET)

Unified Communications Corp. / TeleBlend
The TeleBlend Internet phone service incorporates patent-protected technology from Unified Communications Corp., a privately held company in business to provide outstanding customer service and telephony products. Teleblend has been working behind the scenes already to restore and continue service for all Sun Rocket customers. The service works in the same way as SunRocket’s and offers an identical feature set with our Unlimited Transfer Plan.
• No Startup Costs
• FREE activation
• Use your existing Hardware
• FREE shipping
• FREE and Quick transfer of your current number
• UNLIMITED calling to the US, Canada and Puerto Rico
Click here to order  (or copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser: http://www.teleblend.com).
 
It has been our pleasure to service you at SunRocket!

Looks like Packet8 has scheduled maintenance which may cause intermittent outages this Sunday. Funny how the regular phone company doesn't tell you they might be offline for a few hours. Probably because regular phone companies rarely are offline. They invented that whole 5 9's (99.999%) of reliability thing. VoIP service providers got the cheap calling down pat, but their still working on 4 9's of reliability. Ummm, make that 3 9's of reliability. Do I hear 2?   Well, at least Packet8 is warning its customers, unlike Sunrocket customers which had no warning. of their impending doom and no phone service.

Here's the email Packet8 is sending to customers.

Dear Virtual Office Subscriber, We will be performing scheduled routine maintenance on Packet8 Virtual Office service on Sunday July 29, 2007 between the hours of 12:00AM and 4:00AM Pacific Time. During this maintenance window, Virtual Office customers may experience intermittent service interruptions affecting dial tone or the ability to make and receive calls. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience. Sincerely, Packet8 Customer Service

Microsoft has targeted voice communications for quite some time. Rich Tehrani visited with Microsoft recently and has an excellent rundown of the history Microsoft has had in communications, as well as Microsoft's present and future direction in communications. It's an excellent read worth checking out.

Rich's article is actually a sneak peek of his August 2007 Internet Telephony Magazine publisher's outlook. SnapVoIP noticed Rich's article as well and was complimentary towards TMC's Internet Telephony Magazine when he writes, "As I have informed before, Internet Telephony magazine is still one of the paper magazines that I continue to read. And Rich's weblog is one of the VoIP IP Telephony webblogs that I frequent for it's in depth..."

bOX is a fairly new mobile VoIP company that is offering free U.S. and Canada calling. It's similar to Jajah in that it doesn't require a software download to your mobile device. In fact, you simply text a message to bOK containing the number of the person you want to call.

Here's a rundown of the precise calling steps:
1) compose a text message containing your friend's phone number.
2) send this text message to bOK: 613.614.0285
3) pick up the phone and talk.

That's it. Simple enough, right? Only drawback is if you probably have to pay for the SMS message unless your plan comes with a bucket of free SMS messages. For comparison sake, Jajah offers a browser interface to enter the phone number, so you use your "included" data plan to initiate a call instead of SMS which usually has a nominal fee per message. So it would be nice if bOK added a browser option.

bOk also offers a Facebook application that adds a click-to-call link to Facebook pages allowing you to "bOK Him" or "bOK Her". They also offer international calling termination (see Rates) for a fee and use trust-worthy Paypal as the money exchange.

A college friend of mine, Robert Traphan, was caught up in the SunRocket going down fiasco, so he was asking my advice as to a good replacement for SunRocket. He just received an email from SunRocket which explains different options available to SunRocket customers and which he forwarded to me. Interestingly enough, they negotiated with two providers and are recommending Packet8 and TeleBlend but not the big boy - Vonage. I'm surprised Vonage didn't want to work directly with SunRocket in acquiring their customers.  Sure would be a heck of a lot cheaper customer acquisition than the millions they spend on TV advertising.

What is very interesting is that Teleblend is offering a seamless migration to their service. You can use your existing SunRocket hardware, keep your phone number, and have all the features you did with SunRocket. They are offering the same basic SunRocket deal for $12.95/month for the remaining of your SunRocket time. The email states, "Teleblends has been working behind the scenes already to restore and continue service for all Sun Rocket customers The service works in the same way as SunRocket.s and offers an identical feature set with our Unlimited Transfer Plan." So the big advantage of TeleBlend is $12.95/month, no hassle porting the #, and no hassle setting up a new VoIP device with someone else.

And now, let me put on my conspiracy cap. First, I never heard of TeleBlend. In fact, their whois record says it was created on 18-Jul-2007 - just 2 days ago.  Here's the whois record:

Registrant:
UnCommUn
5 Bragdon Lane
Kennebunk, Maine 04043
US

Domain name: TELEBLEND.NET
Administrative Contact:
CEO, CEO info@teleblend.net
5 Bragdon Lane
Kennebunk, Maine 04043
US
8772524548
Technical Contact:
Null, Dev hostmaster@prexar.com
40 Summer Street
Bangor, Maine 04401
US
207-974-4300 Fax: 207-974-4378

Registration Service Provider:
Prexar, LLC., hostmaster@prexar.com
1-800-288-5072
207-848-3429 (fax)
http://www.prexar.com
Any account modifications (name changes, DNS changes, renewals, etc.)
should be done through Prexar, LLC.

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 19-Jul-2007.
Record expires on 18-Jul-2008.
Record created on 18-Jul-2007.

I wonder if the people running TeleBlend are simply former Sunrocket employees. Maybe they simply switched over to the new company to avoid all their creditors? Think of it. Start a VoIP company, spend millions, get 200,000 customers. Incur lots of debt, claim bankruptcy, then start a new company and try and bring over many of the 200,000 customers as you can. I'm not saying that's what happened. I'd have to look at Teleblend's history and board of directors. but interesting that they are new and they seem to have an "in" with SunRocket in using SunRocket's equipment. When I go to their FAQ page, look at their uber-vague description for "Who are you?"

Who are you?
We are Teleblend, your broadband telephone company. We are offering you new service to ensure that you have uninterrupted phone service. The transition to Teleblend will be totally seamless and your service will continue as it always. All you have to do is go to our web site at http://www.myteleblend.net and sign up.

Uhhh, that doesn't tell me anything about who you are and you want me to trust my phone service with you?

Assuming most SunRocket VoIP hardware's firmware is "locked", which I believe it is, TeleBlend would either need to take over SunRocket's SIP servers or they would need the username and passwords to update the firmware on the various SunRocket devices. If SunRocket has the ability to have others modify the SIP settings in the firmware, why not offer this to big VoIP players like Vonage? Seems mighty suspicious to me.

In any event, here's the SunRocket email if curious and in the meantime I'll see if I can get TeleBlend on the horn.

-------- Original Message --------
 Subject: Important Message from SunRocket
 Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:08:43 -0400 (EDT)
 From: sunrocket@sunrocket.com
 To: SunRock@nospam.com

Dear Customers,

After significant effort by the Company to avoid this result, SunRocket is in the process of closing its operations and therefore will no longer be able to provide you with the phone service that you have been accustomed to. However, this email provides you with an opportunity to sign up with select service providers who we believe will offer outstanding replacement service

In order to assist you, we have entered into negotiations with a number of service providers. As a result of those negotiations, we have entered into agreements with 8x8, Inc., provider of the Packet8 service, and Unified Communications Corp., provider of Teleband service to offer you the best options and we are proud to recommend the following alternatives to you. Please make your decision to move to a new service provides immediately as future service is uncertain.


8x8/Packet8
The Packet8 Internet phone service incorporates patent protected technology from 8x8. Inc., a publicly traded company in business for more than 20 years. The service works in the same way as SunRocket.s and offers a virtually identical feature set.

. No Startup Costs
. FREE activation
. FREE equipment
. FREE shipping
. FREE first month of service
. Quickly port your number at no charge

A Savings of over $100!

Copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser: http://getpacket8.packet8.net/sunrocket/ or call 1-800-868-0068 and mention special offer code SUNROCKET

Unified Communications Corp./TeleBlend
The TeleBlend Internet phone service incorporates patent-protected technology from Unified Communications Corp., a privately held company in business to provide outstanding customer service and telephony products. Teleblends has been working behind the scenes already to restore and continue service for all Sun Rocket customers The service works in the same way as SunRocket.s and offers an identical feature set with our Unlimited Transfer Plan.
. No Startup Costs
. FREE activation
. USE your existing hardware
. FREE and Quick transfer of your current number
. No Need to port your number to another provider
. UNLIMITED calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico

Copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser: http://www.myteleblend.net

It has been our pleasure to service you at SunRocket!

Update: 1:09pm
Check out these screenshots takes from Sunrocket's and Teleblend's websites. Notice the phone numbers are only different by the last digit? 877-252-4548 vs 877-252-4549
 



Here's the links to verify for yourself:
https://www.teleblend.com/Support.aspx
http://www.sunrocket.com/contact/

Even though the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Unified Communications Ltd is now running SunRocket's operations, this still seems a little fishy to me. A little research into Unified Communications Ltd. I came across their website. Their About Us page does mention VoIP, however their News section doesn't mention SunRocket and their last news release was in 2006. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence in a company that doesn't regularly update their website.

They also appear to be traded on the Singapore stock exchange and is currently trading at $0.14 making them a "penny stock". So let me summarize here. They aren't based in the U.S., they are a penny stock, and they haven't updated their website since 2006. Yeah, I'll trust switching to Teleblend all right.

The buzz around Ooma is deafening and I certainly jumped in as well. I mean what's not to love about Ooma? It's using P2P, it gives you free domestic calling, and it even has some Hollywood glitz with Ashton Kutcher behind it. But now that I've had some time to think about it, I have some reservations I'd like to share.

First, I should point out that Ooma works by sharing your PSTN analog phone line with other Ooma users. So for example, if I am located in Connecticut with area code 203 and a New York Oooma user with area code 212 dials a Connecticut number, the call will be routed over the Internet to my Ooma Hub where it then dials out my PSTN analog line. Well this is fine and dandy, but what if the phone number dialed isn't a local call? This means I incur a charge for another Ooma user dialing through my Ooma hub. An area code's geographic footprint is HUGE however only a small set of exchange numbers is actually a local call. For instance, TMC is located in Norwalk, CT and it can make local calls to Norwalk, Wilton, Stamford, and some other towns. Some of the local call exchanges in Norwalk (free local call) include these: 203-854-XXXX, 203-852-XXXX, 203-853-XXXX, 203-457-XXXX. I'm sure there are more, but this is still a very small number of exchanges that the Ooma Hub can be used for free local calls.

In addition, every Ooma user is going to have a different dialing plan with their local phone company. Some may have unlimited local calling, others may have a set number of minutes before you have to pay per minute. Low phone usage houses actually pay per minute both for local and long-distance, so they wouldn't be good Ooma gateways.

Thus, I wonder if the Ooma box only lets you select your area code (first 3 digits), or if it lets you have more granular control by letting you add a complex dial-plan that includes all your various local exchanges. This would require at least matching the first 6 digits, i.e. 203-852-XXXX. Further, this would require the user to configure their Ooma box to have these local exchanges unless Ooma has a centralized database of everyone's local exchanges and is able to automatically update the Ooma boxes. In order for this P2P voice network to work, Ooma would  have to have a geographic footprint across the entire country. They are using a viral marketing strategy that is giving away Ooma boxes for free as part of a closed invitation-only beta. In fact, they are giving away 2,000 Ooma boxes to users, who will then be able to invite three friends to also get a free Ooma box in exchange for deploying the box.

But is 2,000 Ooma boxes enough? I don't think so. There are more than 2,000 local exchanges in the country so you'd have to have at least 1 Ooma in each local exchange. Not going to happen. But even if it did, you'd only be able to have 1 person call through that Ooma hub located in that exchange at any given time. Anyone else trying to simultaneously call that exchange won't be able to since the PSTN line will be in use. I assume when you dial long-distance, Ooma queries it's P2P network to see if a remote Ooma is available and if no remote Ooma in the local exchange you are trying to reach is available, then the call is simply sent over your normal/regular PSTN connection. Obviously, in this case when the long-distance call is routed over your regular PSTN line you will incur any long-distance charges. That can be frustrating if you paid $399 for a box that only periodically saves you money. Question is, how many Ooma boxes would have to be deployed for this P2P voice network to reach  mass-critical and self-sustaining status? I'm not sure, but I know 2,000 boxes won't cut it. So will Ooma go "booma"? Have we all been Punk'd? You make the call...

Update:
Rich Tehrani has a good point about privacy that I didn't even think of. Stick a phone coupler into the Ooma to double the line and you can then pick up the handset receiver to listen in on any remote caller using your Ooma box.

Ooma, a new VoIP provider, hopes to bring voice calling everywhere closer to "free". In fact, Ooma offers 100% free domestic U.S. calling using your standard analog/cordless phone to any domestic destination. (They charge for international) I'm sure Vonage, Packet8, and other broadband VoIP players aren't too thrilled with this.

With Ooma you shell out mad money - $399 - which gets you a sleek Ooma Hub with lifetime free local and long distance service. I can't help but think of SunRocket's failed $199 per year business model.

Anyway, the Ooma Hub connects to your Internet connection and  your landline, which is then shared with other Ooma users. Essentially the Ooma box is a local gateway for other Ooma users. It's worth mentioning that it uses your regular landline for 911 calling which helps get around liability issues.

You can extend Ooma to other parts of your house using $40 Ooma Scouts. So what's the catch? Well, Ooma boxes act similar to Skype P2P supernodes, essentially using your spare bandwidth to route other Ooma users' calls. According to Walt Mossberg who reviewed Ooma, "To build its network, Ooma will be seeding the country with 1,500 boxes over the summer. These will be provided free of charge. But the only way to get one, if you aren’t on the initial list, is to know somebody who has one. Each recipient gets three tokens — redeemable for a free Ooma — to give to others."

Damn it, why am I not on this initial list? I'll see if I can snag a review unit. Stay tuned.

Update:
Just learned that Ashton Kutcher is the Creative Director for Ooma. Yes, that Ashton Kutcher of Punk'd and That 70s Show fame. Talk Crunch has a podcast interview with Ashton and the founder of Ooma.

Let's just hope customers paying out the $399 don't get Punk'd like the SunRocket customers were.

Update 2:
Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, is also part of Ooma.

Nerd Vittles has a cool recipe for making your Apple iPhone have follow me functionality using a pinch of Bluetooth, a dash of trixbox (an Asterisk-based system), a smidgen of the Linux Bluetooth software toolkit , a dash of a dLink DBT120 Bluetooth Adapter, and oh just pinch me now, this is just so friggin' cool!

The idea is that if you have a business PBX (trixbox), the trixbox system will automatically "sense" when you are in the office and send calls to your usual extension. However, when you leave the office (with your trusty iPhone of course), the system detects (via Blutooth) that you aren't in the office and then trixbox automatically forwards your business calls to your iPhone. Sweet!

Vittles explains it best:

If impressing your friends happens to be your thing, then you'll enjoy watching them all wet their pants today after you show them this little trick. It's been almost two years since we first introduced Bluetooth Proximity Detection to the Asterisk community. Because we can't seem to get enough programming torture lately, we decided to revisit Follow Me Phoning by taking it to a whole new level with an all-new set of devices. If you're new to all of this, what we're talking about is the ability to stroll out of your home or office and have your telephone calls follow you on your cellphone automatically... without touching anything. And, when you return, the home or office phones start ringing again just as if you never left. Won't your boss or spouse be thrilled? What makes all of this possible, of course, is Bluetooth which happens to be running on your TrixBox/Asterisk server and on your brand new iPhone.

Now head on over to Vittles' site for the full-on recipe!

Oh and speaking of iPhone recipes - ever wonder what happens when you take an Apple iPhone and stick it in a kitchen blender? Well, wonder no more! Check out this video (yes it's real):

To no one's surprise, SunRocket has ceased operations. Vonage certainly didn't waste any time in putting on their vulture cap to pick at the carcass of SunRocket. While I think it is smart marketing for Vonage to go after SunRocket's customers, I can't help but have this "icky" feeling. It's like going to a funeral and a family member starts telling you about this great business opportunity he wants you to join. Give the dead a day of peace. There is always tomorrow. Anyway, according to today's news release:

Vonage is offering a way for SunRocket customers to transition their phone number over to Vonage, and also receive the added benefit of two months free service. Customers receive this benefit when they sign up for the U.S. Residential Premium Unlimited Plan. Upon request, potential customers can rest easy knowing qualified phone numbers can be transferred over to Vonage and expedited at no charge. Vonage offers over 25 features at no additional cost, such as call forwarding, call waiting, call transfer, and the ability to keep your number for life. Vonage also offers a free device after instant rebate. SunRocket customers interested in this offer can receive more information by calling 800-833-4806.

You recall T-Mobile blocking Truphone, right? T-Mobile is notorious for not only blocking Truephone, but also blocking VoIP and third-party text messaging as well. Well, today a judge has instructed T-Mobile (UK) to stop blocking calls to Truphone.  The judge granted a mandatory injunction forcing T-Mobile (UK) Ltd to interconnect with Truphone, which provides a low-cost internet telephony service on mobile phones.

James Tagg, Truphone's chief executive officer, said:
• "The injunction is good news not only for Truphone but for every company trying to develop internet-era services and for every consumer wanting freedom of choice and lower prices. We are determined to bring better-value mobile calls, text messages and other innovative services to mobile phone users, and it's right that we should not be prevented from doing so."
• "To be granted interim relief means we successfully demonstrated that we have an arguable case to make at a full trial."
• "We didn't want to go to court but we had no choice: T-Mobile was effectively preventing the launch of the Truphone service so we had to take urgent action."

1.    T-Mobile was instructed by the judge to stop blocking and begin routing calls to Truphone numbers by Monday 23rd July.
2.    Today's ruling is the first time that interim relief has been awarded against a mobile network operator under the Competition Act.
3.    Full details of both sides' skeleton legal arguments are available - for Truphone click here, and for T-Mobile click here. The judgment is expected to be available electronically tomorrow [Tuesday July 17th].

Here's a video of James Tagg giving his reaction to the court order on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice

As I previously mentioned, Jajah works on the Apple iPhone. As you know, Jajah allows for free worldwide calling. Frederik over at Jajah emailed me his video clip demonstrating a Jajah call on the iPhone. Pretty simple to call someone using the iPhone which gets you free worldwide calls. It isn't as easy as directly dialing someone, but it's pretty darn close. You will of course use your bucket of voice minutes in your AT&T plan, but hey, it's free calls anywhere in the world damn it, so quit your complaining!

Check out the Jajah on iPhone video below:


Related:
Skype on the iPhone using SoonR Talk
Talkety on iPhone