August 2008 Archives

Roasting AT&T over iPhone Problems

August 29, 2008 5:11 PM |

"A phone is only as good as the network it's on," said a full-page Verizon Wireless newspaper ad on Thursday, lobbing a shot at AT&T's 3G, or third generation, high-speed network.

(And ain't that the truth -- we know if well where I live!)

Apple sold more than a million iPhone 3G cellphones its first weekend -- with some stores running out -- and two million more since then, analysts say.

But its July debut has been nothing less than a public relations headache for AT&T, with eager buyers complaining about dropped calls and poor network connections.

Some fingers point to Apple, which has tried to deflect the complaints. But many others point to AT&T's cellular network.

Whatever the source of the problems, AT&T's rivals, long irritated by all the attention the iPhone has received, are on the attack and happy to exploit the discontent.

A Verizon executive sent an e-mail to Wall Street analysts last week: "So much for a 'new' way of doing business at the old AT&T -- your father's phone company."

Get more at the New York Times here.

Remember When Labor Day Meant Noisy Beach Parties???

August 29, 2008 4:55 PM |

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It really wasn't all that long ago when you could bring an AM radio to the beach for Labor Day, tune in Cousin Brucie and rock the sand dunes!

(Remember all of those beach party movies? Can anybody name one?

Now, with all of the anti-fun measures that are posted at the beach (no noise, no ball playing, etc.), it's amazing that you can still go in the water and swim (only between the green flags, please!).

Anyway, looks like the 2008 end-of-summer beach look is an iPod or other MP3 player -- but remember keep the sound down so you don't blow out those eardrums! -- so everyone rocks out in silence.

Ah, the living in the modern world ...

Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 (next release) to be 64-bit Only

August 29, 2008 2:12 PM |

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It was just announced on the Office Communications Server Team blog that the next release of OCS 2007 (rumored to be called OCS 2007 R2) will support 64-bit operating systems only. Customers who are using 32-bit hardware systems to run OCS 2007 will have to upgrade to x64 systems to install and run the next release of OCS.

From Microsoft:

As a part of the broad initiative across Microsoft to support 64 bit versions across many of its product lines, the next release of OCS will support 64-bit operating systems only. This decision will help meet customer demand and is a natural progression of the product that aligns with the same approach taken by the Exchange team (with Exchange 2007) and the SharePoint team (with SharePoint 2007) to support 64 bit operating systems only.

For the next release of OCS, Microsoft will support deployments on 64 bit operating systems - Windows Server 2003 x64 (R2) and Windows Server 2008 x64.

They based their decision to go 100% 64-bit in part based on customer feedback, as they explained here:

Based on customer feedback, Microsoft's goal with the next release of OCS is to simplify deployments by reducing the number of servers needed for deployment. Customers are also telling us they are pushing the limits of existing hardware with their "mission critical" communications solutions.

OCS 2007 Video Call

There was a bit of a backlash from customers when Microsoft announced that Exchange Server 2007 would be 64-bit only, but I think that mentality has eased a bit over the last year. More IT departments are deploying 64-bit servers these days, so it's much less of an issue. Plus, OCS 2007 servers are installed by companies that are on the leading-edge of technology. After all, OCS 2007 is only 1-2 years old. Plus like Microsoft says, when you consider that enterprise communications are mission critical, why would stick with 32-bit when 64-bit works much more reliably?

I'm sure there will be those that disagree, but I for one am happy Microsoft is jumping in with both feet into the 64-bit world.

Happy 5th Birthday Skype!

August 29, 2008 12:03 PM |

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Just want to wish Skype a Happy 5th Birthday. Skype has helped make VoIP a household name and has carried more VoIP minutes than any other VoIP software application out there. Well done Skype.

I hope you continue to innovate, though Andy Abramson writes today Skype is dropping Skypecasts, a nifty feature. Andy poo-poohs the move when he writes:

What's puzzling though is that Skypecasts are one more example of how eBay really missed the mark with their purchase of Skype. For example, SkypeCasts were the perfect way to hold training sessions for new sellers; for sellers to provide how to tips to customers and for eBay buyers to share experience with eBay and eBay sold items.

Skype is the best example of Voice 2.0. Unfortunately, eBay is all about trying to be 1.0 and that's the disconnect.

Well, I just hope Skype gets their innovative mojo back.

Here's to the next 5 years, Skype!

You Can Buy Gadgets Everywhere!

August 28, 2008 6:33 PM |

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A recent study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has found that 25% of people would be willing to buy their gadgets from Starbucks, 30% from Ikea, 40% from Bed, Bath and Beyond and almost 60% from Home Depot.

"Electronics have become so pervasive that consumers are looking to buy these devices wherever they want," said Tim Herbert, CEA research senior director, adding, "No [retailer] is safe. If you don't reinvent yourself, there are retailers looking to capitalize on the vulnerability of CE retailers."

It's easy to see why as lines across the big box retailers blur and they look to capture more dollars from more (or, today, less) shoppers.

And innovative and lower-priced products are also making it easier for these stores to stock them -- a $159 computer keyboard with a built-in scanner from Keyscan, one of the first notebook stands with built-in iPod dock and speakers from Lifeworks and an accessory that adds voice activation to an iPod (with an iPhone version in the works) from Innotek.

And while this is exciting, don't see too many flat-screen TVs moving out of Home Depot, but then again, who would have guessed that Costco could move these big boys in such large numbers?

Is Sony Ericsson Headed for Splitsville?

August 28, 2008 4:22 PM |

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According to Reuters, Sony's joint venture with cell phone maker Ericsson must do better.

Asked whether Sony is planning to end its Sony Ericsson joint venture, Sony head honcho Howard Stringer said: "It's certainly been a difficult year but buying out a partner is never an easy thing."

Sony lowered its group net profit forecast for the year to March by 17 percent, citing a slump at Sony Ericsson and weakening prospects for its electronics division amid tough price competition.

"We have to work together again as we did two years ago. Or the joint venture will have to find its own solution," Stringer said.

He added that it was hard for a company to be as nimble as possible when it works in a joint venture.

Are the bells starting to toll? And will that be the last ring tone from Sony Ericsson?

Lots more here.

What's Wrong with Second-Hand Video Game Sales?

August 28, 2008 3:53 PM |

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Publishing giant Electronic Arts has said that it's currently trying multiple new business models to help battle the critical problem of second-hand videogame sales.

(No problem for me!)

While retailers reap the benefits of selling the same product multiple times, publishers and developers don't see any income once a title hits the second-hand market.

But realizing it's powerless to stop retail from selling second-hand goods, EA is looking to combat the problem by capturing the consumer with online content and services.

"I'd actually make the point that for us second-hand sales is a very critical situation, because people are selling multiple times intellectual property," said Jens Uwe Intat, senior VP and general manager for European publishing at EA, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.

Today, it seems like you can buy just about anything two or three times ... and what are auction sites like eBay supposed to do?

Course if all games where like Asteroid (above), would we have this problem?

How about a Blu-ray/VHS Combi?

August 27, 2008 12:52 PM |

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A Blu-ray disc recorder and a VHS video tape machine may seem unlikely bedfellows, but that hasn't stopped Panasonic from wrapping them up together in the same bo

x for the DMR-BR630V.

The 630V can write at six times speed, has digital and analog tuners, new second-gen MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoder chips as well as all the standard HDMI and analog connections and Panasonic's Viera link for device interconnectivity. It also records to DVD.

And there's even a 320GB hard drive inside, capable of recording video and later letting you dub it.

Gizmodo has a bit more and so does Electronic House.

IEEE standardizes 801.11r fast Wi-Fi roaming

August 27, 2008 11:34 AM |

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The IEEE has completed 802.11r, a standard that lets Wi-Fi devices roam quickly between wireless access points (WAP) and which improves the performance of VoIP on enterprise LANs.

Traditionally, 801.11 devices can roam from one access point to another, but it takes about 100ms to re-associate, and several seconds to re-establish authenticated connections using 802.1x. Not good for time-critical apps like VoIP.

According to InfoWorld, "the new standard, 802.11r, known as Fast Basic Service Set Transition, allows the network to establish a security and QoS state for the device at the new access point, before it roams between the two, so the transition can take place in less than 50ms - the standard required for voice roaming."

The article explains that vendors have traditionally either used lower security options on Wi-Fi VoIP (i.e. easily crackable WEP encryption) and put VoIP traffic on separate VLANs to protect the rest of the network. Other company have built networks where there is no roaming because all the access points are on the same channel.

The new IEEE 802.11r standard should help improve enterprise Wi-Fi VoIP functionality, in particular larger buildings.

Source: InfoWorld

What's in Your Back-to-School Pack?

August 27, 2008 11:29 AM |

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Is every kid in America (at least at a certain age bracket) heading back to High School (or even Middle School) this week with a cell phone and iPod?

I'm sure there a many other variations of gadgetry in the average back-to-school back pack (or other notebook, pencil, paper, lunch carrying device), but that's got to be the one.

Wait ... Maybe it's just the iPhone without anything else, but that would seem to be more appropriate for a higher demo that what I'm given to thinking.

Or maybe the real debate is the iPod and a specific model of cell phone in tandem?

Anyway, before I get myself all confused over this burning issue, what do you think? Anybody out there got anything to contribute?

Microsoft develops Vi-Fi (Vehicle Wi-Fi). VoIP while driving baby!

August 27, 2008 10:32 AM |

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A new technology developed by Microsoft in alliance with the University of Massachusetts (UMASS), and the University of Washington has resulted in a new technology called Vi-Fi (Vehicle Wi-Fi). Vi-Fi solves the problem of hopping from one Wi-Fi wireless access point (WAP) to another when signal strength diminishes. According to the article, the goal of Vi-Fi could be to power VoIP calls, Internet, and radio in cars of the future.

Ironically, Andy wrote a controversial blog this week about VoIPing while flying (using Aircell) -- well now you can VoIP while driving too! Of course, I've been using VoIP over EVDO for some time now while driving. I was even able to register my Windows Mobile 6.1 device (EVDO as well) to an Asterisk server sitting in my office and make/receive office calls.

With this forthcoming technology, who needs XM or SIRIUS when you can stream radio for free over the internet with hundreds if not thousands to choose from? Time to short satellite radio stocks?

The system they are developing will provide users with on-the-go internet access more cheaply than existing cellular broadband systems. The challenge this alliance aims to solve can be explained by this excerpt of the article:

The key to Microsoft's new system is a steady signal. In Wi-Fi networks, as you travel overland, each signal station (base station) only broadcasts so far, so you have to hop between stations. During these transitions, known as "hard handoffs", the signal strength typically drops. At best this makes car Wi-Fi unpleasant, and at worst it makes it unworkable.

The key to to solving this challenge is the use of multiple base stations. The station can send and receive signals from more than on base station, and the strongest strength gets assigned as the "anchor" system, while the other systems are used as "auxiliary" systems. A complex algorithm is constantly calculating the probability of a packet not reaching the main station. If that probability reaches a certain threshold the auxiliary stations try to forward it to the main station.

They did some test trials at Microsoft's campus and found the system eliminated nearly all the problems of network hopping while driving. Just don't expect Wi-Fi / Vi-Fi coverage to be as ubiquitous as say EVDO, 3G, etc. while driving. EVDO, 3G and other cellular data transmissions can travel a lot further than Wi-Fi signals, which are only rated for 300feet. So you'll still need a ton of these specialized Wi-Fi stations with the special software to get decent coverage.

But considering most homes have Wi-Fi APs, it could be very cool if you could build a massive Vi-Fi network using consumer's existing Wi-Fi APs. Simple firmware upgrade? But then you get into the whole security issues, bandwidth theft, etc. Still, the work Microsoft and these universities are doing is fascinating. How soon will be before we have truly mobile and ubiquitous Wi-Fi Internet access? Who knows? But my EVDO card works just fine almost wherever I go. It's not as fast as Wi-Fi but it works well enough.

Everything in the World's Going Wireless

August 27, 2008 10:02 AM |

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In Singapore, the Dutch consumer electronics maker Philips is designing a multimedia server to stream audio and video through the air, from the Internet to any device in the home.

In Munich, a former unit of Siemens envisions a cordless phone that would double as a music player, wirelessly drawing music from home computers.

In Japan, members of Sony's global "digital home team" are redesigning 90% of the company's home electronics components to connect wirelessly to the Internet by 2011.

Across the consumer electronics industry, the leading players are revamping their audio and video equipment for a future centered around the Internet, a world in which televisions, stereos, computers -- even kitchen appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators -- can communicate with each other over a wireless home network.

Some industry executives say the new focus on Internet content and wireless networks reflects a fundamental shift in home entertainment.

Expanded lines of "networked entertainment equipment" took center stage this week at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin, the largest consumer electronics convention in Europe, with 1,200 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors.

Sony is introducing plug-in adapters to enable some of its Bravia television sets to connect to the Internet wirelessly. Philips is demonstrating a line of hard-disc stereo systems that can wirelessly read and play music stored on personal computers or laptops in other rooms, streaming music selectively through the house.

Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp are presenting flat-panel TVs that hook up to the Internet, some with wires, some without. Hewlett Packard's MediaSmart LCD TV will wirelessly stream high-definition video.

More at the International Herald Tribune.

Woz: The Engineer Behind the Apple

August 26, 2008 4:22 PM |

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At the 2008 Intel Developer Forum, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (right in photo) took the main stage to talk about his love of engineering and science, the process behind developing the Apple II personal computer, and what it's like to be "Employee No. 1" at Apple.

Wozniak also spoke of the impact Steve Jobs (left in photo) still has on Apple and its slew of successful products, from the iPod to the iPhone.

If he had his wish, he would have remained an engineer for life at Hewlett-Packard.

Instead, Steve Jobs encouraged Wozniak to leave the safe confines of HP and venture out into a new company -- Apple -- where the two would work to bring the Apple II personal computer into every household, school and business.

With some reluctance, Wozniak left HP and became--and still remains--"Employee No. 1" at Apple. In his partnership with Jobs, Wozniak would remain the engineer, and Jobs would sell what Wozniak would invent.

"A lot of times you become what you want to be in life, and I wanted to be an engineer," said Wozniak at the conclusion of the Forum.

"I never wanted to run a company. I didn't want to worry about money. I didn't want to move up the management chain," Wozniak said. "I wanted to be an engineer for life, and I wanted to stay at Hewlett-Packard. Steve [Jobs] had this dream to be one of the great people that wanted to create companies and make products that would change the world and be one of those people like Shakespeare and Einstein, who become well known. He wanted to be in that group. So, every time I designed something great, from the time we were very young, he would say, 'Let's sell it.'"

More at eWeek.

Intel's Third Tablet Ready for Back to School Ride

August 26, 2008 3:28 PM |

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Intel has unveiled the third generation of its low-cost laptop for students, which branches out from the standard clamshell design with a tablet-style option and includes a touch screen.

Introduced at the recent Intel Developer Forum 2008 in San Francisco, the new Classmate PC -- slated for deployment by the end of this year -- is aimed primarily at students worldwide in grades 3-8.

"We spent a lot of time with ethnographers, building this Classmate with students in mind," said Jeff Galinovsky, regional manager for the Classmate PC. "We've been collecting over two years of research to help develop the best PC for students."

Since its initial release in 2007, Intel has developed two prior versions of the Classmate PC: the rugged, camera-equipped, first-generation Classmate, and the Atom processor Classmate introduced in June.

The Atom processor is Intel's smallest chip, built for low power consumption and designed specifically for a new wave of mobile internet devices and simple, low-cost PCs, Intel said.

Like Intel's previous laptops, the new Classmate's design concept will allow for local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to release versions of the computer with different colors or decorations. Examples of these OEM-branded Classmate PCs include the HCL MiLeap (India), Olidata's JumPC (Italy), FTEC's SmartBook (Malaysia), Neo's eXplore (Philippines), and CTL's 2Go PC (United States).

Opentape Picks Up Where Muxtape Left Off

August 26, 2008 2:23 PM |

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With web music fan favorite Muxtape currently out of commission due to "a problem with the RIAA," an open source -- if no more legal -- alternative has appeared: Opentape.

Opentape describes itself as "a free, open-source package that lets you make and host your own mixtapes on the web." Or, in other words, a Muxtape clone that's free and open source.

The demo mixtape is basically a straight up clone of the Muxtape site. The software uses PHP 5, Apache, and requires curl. The version 0.1 release hit the web a couple of days ago.

Get more at SitePoint.

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Bill: Isn't this the same chief lanier that wanted to keep read more
gadgets: I just read your post and I found it really read more
Craig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SwZDboRv6U Use the above link. This is the most simple read more
peetee: I would like to applaud google for creating this new read more
Anonymous: yahoo should get out of the whole issue. there is read more
Goran: I have the same issue at my work. I have read more
Chipmunk: It's a great app! Though it is not integrated with read more
christmas stocking fillers: I hope it ends as soon as possible. I do read more
Nikki Brown: Interesting. Is there a side-by-side comparison with Google voice anywhere? read more
External Hard Drive: Hi, The Skype's legal battle is in progress and now read more