October 2008 Archives

If you've got any cash, this may be a truly wonderful season to buy all the gadgets you want -- it's list the Xmas shopping season isn't even waiting to Halloween this year (forget about Thanksgiving!).

Try this one on for size -- Best Buy is selling its proprietary Insignia brand Blu-ray Disc player for $199 (after a $30 in-store discount) -- more than 40% off the suggested retail price.

Industry observers have long considered a sub-$200 price point key to bridging the demarcation line separating early adopters from mainstream consumers.

The Profile 1.1 (NS-BRDVD) player, which includes $100 in discount coupons on select Blu-ray movies, has been viewed as a "conversation starter" designed to spark consumer interest in high-definition packaged media.

In addition, the price drop, less than six weeks before Black Friday, when retailers traditionally slash prices on select consumer products heading into the holiday shopping season, follows a move by Target, which last week bowed an Olevia-brand Profile 1.1 player for $229.

Analysts are surprised by the price cut since Blu-ray manufacturers have said it was not economically advantageous to go below $299, much less $200. However, we can now expect to see multiple $199 units with $20 rebates and free discs thrown in. 

But don't expect the $199 to be common; every retailer will want at least one model at that level, if only to seduce you into that section of the store.

More at Home Media Magazine.

New storage products usually involve gadgets that are bigger, faster and cheaper as disk drives keep packing in more and more data and prices keep on dropping.

However, EMC's Iomega, well-known for such personal disk storage products as the Zip and Jaz drives, is coming out with new products that are smaller -- yet "bigger" in capacity -- and cheaper.

Iomega recently introduced the StorCenter ix2, a 1TB-capacity network storage drive with a desktop footprint that the company describes as "smaller than a large dictionary." The price: $300.   (Cheap, cheap ...)

The StorCenter ix2 comes in 1TB and 2TB ($479) versions and provides a centralized network storage repository that can be used in the home to share, secure and protect data and files, including databases, photos, MP3 files, videos and financial records.

It's ridiculous how cheap these things are, but it is what it is. It's a great value for the consumer.

The ix2 includes built-in support for Bluetooth, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) and DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified devices; it even sports an integrated iTunes server.

The ix2 includes security software from RSA, also owned by EMC.

More at eWeek.com.

I was sent a release about a wager between two hosted VoIP companies over which team will win the World Series - either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Tampa Bay Rays. The bet involves a dirty dozen cheesesteakes by Alteva against Telovations' two bushels of oranges. Ok, I'll bite (pun intended) and blog this since it involves VoIP and our national past time.

Check out the wager:

2008 World Series: Oranges for Cheesesteaks?

The Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays will soon battle it out on the field in the 2008 World Series. In each respective state, thousands of people are already placing bets on who should win this year's title. In particular, two hosted phone system providers are actually betting oranges for cheesesteaks in a friendly, VoIP competitor match up. Alteva is apparently putting a dozen cheesesteaks on the line against Telovations' two bushels of oranges.

Representing the Phillies: Hailing from Philadelphia is Alteva, leading provider of Hosted VoIP solutions in the Northeast. Alteva provides businesses with a telephone system that requires minimal installation and configuration while eliminating monthly phone system maintenance charges and reducing overall telephony costs. With a sophisticated open standards infrastructure, Alteva enables businesses to easily integrate existing business applications and add a steady stream of new Alteva or third-party "mashup" applications.

Representing the Rays: Based in Tampa, Telovations provides growing businesses in the Southeast with a hosted, managed, IP communications solution, including telephone equipment, telephone service and a high-speed T-1 connection to the Telovations private, secure and fully managed Cisco Powered RealTime Network(SM).

"Just like major league sports, business is all about competition. These guys on the field are fierce competitors, but off the field many of them are good friends," said William Bumbernick, President and CEO of Alteva. "Our industry is no different. While we compete on opportunities, we also have a common goal to educate businesses about how Hosted VoIP or IP PBX solutions are superior to the traditional customer premise based PBX model. Most importantly, it is a great opportunity to show our support for our Phillies, especially since our offices are located in the heart of Philadelphia," added William Bumbernick.

"Hosted IP communication solutions have surpassed premise based systems and there's no reason for businesses to purchase, install and maintain systems that will be paid off by the time they're obsolete," said Telovations President and CEO Rick Schonbrun. "Plus, Tampa is the best team in baseball and it's hard to find a good cheesesteak down here."

About Alteva, LLC
Alteva, North America's largest provider of Enterprise Hosted VoIP, has become the poster child for showcasing the high quality and reliability of Hosted VoIP solutions. Alteva provides businesses with a telephone system that requires minimal installation and configuration while eliminating monthly phone system maintenance charges and reducing overall telephony costs. With a sophisticated open standards infrastructure, Alteva enables businesses to easily integrate existing business applications and add a steady stream of exciting new Alteva or third-party "mashup" applications. Rather than building their processes around their phone system, Alteva's customers build their phone systems around their ideal processes. Alteva provides its "Communication as a Service" solution to growth-oriented companies in 48 states and 9 countries. For additional information about Alteva and its solutions, please visit www.altevatel.com or call1-877-258-3821.

About Telovations, Inc.
Based in Tampa, Fla., Telovations provides growing businesses in the Southeast with a hosted, managed, IP communications solution, including telephone equipment, telephone service and a high-speed T-1 connection to the Telovations private, secure and fully managed Cisco Powered RealTime Network(SM). Telovations' Innovate services also include over 20 innovative applications, professional support and systems management for one low monthly price. For additional information about Telovations and the Innovate managed communications solution, please visit www.telovations.com or call 1-877-We-Innovate (1-877-934-6668).

The major record labels plan to start selling digital songs for a dime apiece. The catch: You can't carry them with you on an iPod.

Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's president of digital business and U.S. sales, came up with the new pricing approach for the "Web song" while in discussions with Lala Media, a digital music retail store and service. The Web song is stored online and can be listened to only through a computer's Web browser.

Sony, the three other major record labels and thousands of independent labels plan to sell Web songs via the revamped website Lala has unveiled.

They hope customers will also buy, for an extra 79 or 89 cents, a version of the song they can download and transfer to portable devices or burn to CDs. But the 10-cent Web song demonstrates the willingness of the music industry to seek new revenue models in an era of declining CD sales.

Hesse said he wanted to give consumers a way to discover new artists and buy music in an inexpensive way.

Now he's on to something ... 

Check out what a dime will get you these days at www.lala.com.

Get more at the Los Angeles Times.
 

Nintendo has launched Wii Music, letting up to four players mimic the real-life motions of playing instruments with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers.

Players will be able to mimic the motions of more than 60 real-life instruments using the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers to learn to play along with more than 50 songs -- and the game encourages players to improvise, making their own music, mixes and arrangements.

Unlike games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which are very competitive, the goal of Wii Music apparently is simply to be creative and have fun experimenting with instruments, styles and musical elements.

Songs available in Wii Music include familiar melodies like "Ode to Joy" and pop tunes like "Every Breath You Take" -- along with tunes Nintendo fans know and love. 

Time for more singalongs with Mario! 

More at Digital Trends.

The Mac Mini may be pronounced dead as soon as today's Apple earnings conference call, as two major retailers in Europe have confirmed that they can't order any more of the little doodad.

While this could signal an updated model coming in, the impression is that -- once again -- the Mac Mini may be dead dead DEAD for real, even while you can still order it at the Apple Store.

It would be weird to see it go in this time of crisis, but being their worst-selling computer, it's not that surprising.

The Mac mini was first introduced in January 2005 at the Macworld Conference & Expo. Labeled by Steve Jobs as the "most affordable Mac ever" it was well received by the critic and public. And check out those tiny dimensions for a desktop machine.

Apple positioned it as a cheap alternative to the Mac Pro for every PC user who wanted to switch to the Mac without having to buy new peripherals. 

But guess a lot of PC users didn't want to take any of that old stuff with them ... 

More at Gizmodo.

A rapidly growing phenomenon in the telecommunications world is the growth of "cord cutters," people who give up their hardwired landline phones and use only cell phones.

Now one of the leading proponents of that shift, Sprint Nextel, hopes to do for the Internet what it's doing for telephones.

At a recent ceremony in Baltimore, officials from Sprint Nextel celebrated the official launch of the company's XOHM WiMAX service by literally cutting a cord -- they sliced through some Cat-5 wire with pruning shears to mark the end of the wired Internet.

4G has rapidly gone from a mobility vision to service reality with the launch of XOHM service in Baltimore, the company said.

Although XOHM, Sprint's 4G business unit, has aggressive plans for nationwide WiMAX, the actual implementation may take some time. 

Approximately 70 percent of the city has coverage, with 180 base stations operating and the target at end of build out is 300.

Long-term, XOHM hopes to roll out enough of its national network to make WiMAX available to as many as 140 million people by the end of 2010. 

More at NewsFactor Network.

The latest firmware update to Sony's PSP console has ignited more game development, giving PSP users the ability to download more types of content and offering application writers more options.

The net net: It gives publishers and developers much more scope in relation to the types of games they can release.

What's to come: a wider range of releases in 2009 and more opportunities in terms of the types of games that can be released on PSP, even in terms of more female-oriented games, puzzlers and less hardcore games.

Ah, the beauty of digital distribution ...

More at GameDaily BIZ.

In the what's old is new again category ...

IMOVIO has launched a smaller alternative to a subnotebook -- much smaller. The new iKIT is about the size of a PDA from 10 years ago, but has a QWERTY keyboard and connects to the Internet at 3G speeds via your cell phone or Wi-Fi.

(Ah the Newton ... Anybody still using that little gadget goodie from Apple?) 

The $175 Linux-based system has a built-in Webcam as well as a range of applications, such as Web browsing, e-mail and IM.

It can connect to the Internet using a standard Wi-Fi connection, or it can use your cell phone's mobile broadband connection via Bluetooth. 

Now are those chicklet keys easy on our big fingers? 

Get more at Computerworld.

Today, Global IP Solutions (GIPS) announced the public availability of a whitepaper that highlights the challenges and opportunities critical for high quality when implementing mobile VoIP, called "Implementing VoIP for iPhones and Smartphones."

The paper can be found at http://gipscorp.com/products/gips_in_action.php, and addresses how developers can overcome problems inherent in mobile IP communications, such as packet loss and delay, jitter, acoustic echo and OS tuning.

Forget these challenges. You want to know the #1 challenge facing mobile VoIP? It's the wireless carriers or the operating system companies themselves (Apple, Microsoft) forcing cellphone manufacturers to offer "crippled" VoIP. What do I mean by crippled VoIP? I mean mobile phones such as the iPhone which can do VoIP but only over a WiFi data connection and not over 3G. As I wrote before, Apple will in fact BLOCK VoIP applications from running over the cellular data network. What in the bloody hell kind of half-ass crippling of VoIP is that? Apparently, Steve Jobs aims to protect their cell network buddy AT&T from having VoIP calls be "minute stealers" from the regular cell network.

Windows Mobile isn't much better. It does allow VoIP over 2.5G/3G, but often cripples access to the internal handset earpiece. You have to send the audio out the external speakerphone, which is not nearly as good quality. Often the external speaker is on the back of the phone and doesn't have nearly enough volume, so you're forced to flip the handset on your ear back-and-forth when speaking or listening.

In any event, it might br worthwhile to check out GIPS' whitepaper. Here's some more details:

Successful Mobile VoIP on iPhones and Smartphones Whitepaper available from Global IP Solutions
 
Emphasizes Issues that Must be Addressed to Create a Quality Mobile Experience

Global IP Solutions (Oslo Børs: GIPS), the leading provider of IP multimedia processing solutions, announced today the availability of a whitepaper that highlights the challenges and opportunities critical for high quality when implementing mobile VoIP, called "Implementing VoIP for iPhones and Smartphones," written by Roar Hagen, CTO at Global IP Solutions. 

The paper addresses how developers can overcome problems inherent in mobile IP communications, such as packet loss and delay, jitter, acoustic echo and OS tuning. It also explains how applications can be VoIP-enabled to take advantage of the unique capabilities of today's smart phones, like access to the internet.  To download the paper for free, visit www.gipscorp.com.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G was the top-selling smartphone in the U.S. from June through August, capturing 24 percent of the market, according to market research firm NPD Group, a market research firm for the wireless industry. The total smartphone market is growing rapidly, with revenues reaching nearly $1.7 billion already this year, according to NPD Group.

"Smartphones and especially the iPhone present the most promising opportunity for growth of the mobile IP market, and an excellent platform for developing applications that create real-time VoIP.  However, mobile application developers, wireless service providers and handset manufacturers need to ensure the end user experience is first-class to ensure success in the market. GIPS audio processing expertise is recognized worldwide and ensures high-quality VoIP, even under adverse Wi-Fi conditions," said Roar Hagen, CTO, Global IP Solutions. 

Hagen continued, "These full featured devices have introduced ground breaking design and multimedia capabilities to the mobile world and their adoption rate has been staggering, even during this down economy. Application developers, wireless service providers and manufacturers can bring expert high quality voice and video applications to mobile devices in record time with GIPS' MediaEngines. This will allow both the enterprise and consumer mobile community to benefit from new IP communication capabilities on the road, such as VoIP calling, social networking and video conferencing as well as integrated multi-player chat."

GIPS is recognized for its media processing expertise for IP communications with the invention of the IETF standard iLBC.  With more than 800 million downloads globally on various platforms, GIPS continues to innovate by enabling VoIP on mobile devices, allowing accelerated time-to-market with cutting edge Mobile VoIP applications.  

Registration to the upcoming Digium|Asterisk World conference is now open, according to an announcement today from Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) and Digium, the open source Asterisk Company. So you early bird types can now register and add it to your Calendar now, lest you forget. TMC and Digium also announced the launch of the new event Web site at www.digiumasteriskworld.com.
 
Digium|Asterisk World is collocated with TMC's INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO East 2009 and is a 3-day event commencing on February 2, 2009 in Miami, Florida.
 
According to TMCnet reporter Michelle Robart: Entering its third year, Digium|Asterisk World is the conference that educates business users, resellers and executive decision-makers on "Everything Asterisk."

Michelle also gives more interesting details about Digium|Asterisk World:
 

The conference will feature booth exhibition space and a Presentation Theatre on the EXPO floor where attendees can learn more about Digium's open source communications solutions. In addition, TMC and Digium will join forces to create the conference track agenda, which will be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
 
ITEXPO East 2009 is the world's largest and most significant communications technology event. It features more than 200 companies exhibiting on the EXPO floor and hundreds of sessions led by the industry's most well-known thought leaders. The show provides a forum for assessing the latest products and services and offers numerous opportunities for face-to-face networking that service providers, carriers, resellers, distributors, equipment manufacturers and IT executives from enterprise and SMB companies need to create new business relationships.

If you haven't been reading On Rad's Radar, you should. This TMC blog is written by Peter Radizeski the CEO of Rad-Info, Inc. Let me take an excerpt from his bio.

"Today, I am still an agent for about 20 carriers (all through other master agents), but I spend more time consulting for service providers (ISP, WISP, CLEC, MSO, FTTH, and ITSP) on strategy, marketing, messaging, and sales training. I also spend a good deal of time blogging here at TMC and other places. Thanks for reading!"

Peter also speaks and moderates sessions at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. Peter knows the VoIP/telecom industry very well and has great insights. He's especially knowledgeable in the wireless industry. I've had some great conversations with Peter in the ITEXPO press room about various industry topics. He's not as prolific a blogger as me , but when he does write, it's good stuff! So add him to your RSS reader - you won't be disappointed.

Vonage today announced an agreement for a $220.3 million financing which is seen by many experts as crucial to its survival. Silver Point Finance LLC, which already holds a $216 million financing stake in Vonage, will lead the financial deal, which consists of $130.3 million in senior secured first-lien credit, $72.0 million in senior secured second-lien credit and the sale of $18.0 million of convertible secured third-lien notes. The proceeds will be used to help refinance $253 million of debt.

Analysts and bloggers such as the VoIPPrincess, have pointed out that the recent financial crisis and credit crunch made Vonage's refinancing efforts very difficult. I too have had my doubts whether Vonage could secure more financing in this tight credit crunch market.

"We are pleased to reach definitive agreement on this refinancing at a time of unprecedented volatility in the credit markets," said John Rego, Vonage's chief financial officer. "This agreement provides clarity to our partners and suppliers regarding the Company's liquidity position in these challenging financial times," he said.

Even with the financial deal, Vonage still faces tough challenges ahead. It still has to replace 1/3 of its customer base due to churn and faces tough competition from Cablecos and phone companies that offer bundled & discounted triple play packages. Vonage started many years ago at $39.99/month (unlimited plan) if I recall and today's unlimited plan has dropped to just $24.99/month. As voice minutes continues its spiral towards $0, it becomes increasingly harder for single play players like Vonage to be profitable.

That said, 8x8 is a single-play VoIP company, which offers Packet8 residential and business VoIP services and they continue to grow. 8x8 doesn't get nearly the media attention that Vonage does, yet continues to perform well. Part of their success is that 8x8 has targeted businesses with their Virtual Office, Virtual Trunking, and Packet8 Hosted Key system offerings.

According to the VoIPPrincess, "In the last five years, 8x8 revenues grew 460.3 percent while Vonage's grew 0.0 percent. 8x8 made $700,000 during the first quarter of this year. Vonage lost $8.9 million and is shopping for a $215 million refinancing deal to stay out of bankruptcy. 8x8 holds 73 patents. Vonage just got its first."

I've talked to 8x8 over the past several years and when I remarked how much Vonage was spending on advertising and customer acquisition, 8x8 told me several times they did not intend to try and match Vonage's huge marketing campaigns. I recall commenting to 8x8,  "I'm reminded of the turtle vs. the hare. Slow and steady wins the race, right?" 8x8 agreed with the analogy. While Vonage just got an injection of cash/adrenaline to keep the hare running, one has to wonder if and when the hare will crash and burn. If it does, I don't think that spells the death knell for single-play VoIP providers just yet. It does however signal the end of high-flying, high-spending, VoIP (woo hoo) TV commercials on every other minute, which is good news for me, since I'm sick & tired of fast forwarding my DVR past those annoying woo hoo commercials. Lastly, I think 8x8 might just be in prime position to pick up many Vonage customers should Vonage fail.

Want to run Mac OS X on a PC? Well, Steve Jobs notorious for forcing his loyal fans to run only Apple-approved hardware let the cat outta the bag once he announced Intel support (previous utilized PowerPC processors.). It was only a matter of time before some hacker found a way to run Mac OS X on PCs with Intel processors.

Of course, the version of Leopard sold by Apple only includes drivers for Apple provided hardware and it requires an Apple Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which replaces the traditional PC BIOS. So how do you get around these limitations? Well, using Kalyway DVD, a hacked version of OS X, it removes the EFI restriction and includes many device drivers for common PC hardware.

Want to learn more about running Mac OS X on a PC? Well check out the tutorial here!

Also check out the Kalyway DVD thread in forums.

Mio has recently demonstrated the Mio Moov 380, the first in-car GPS system equipped with built-in SIM card support.

Mio also claimed that the Mio Moov 380 is the world`s slimmest and most compact car navigation device.

In Taiwan, Mio cooperates with major telecoms operator Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), to offer the device with the exclusive "Mio Life Info. Specialist" real-time search functionality, while FET`s SIM card provides access to the "FET GPS Info--Go Service", which enable consumers to experience a new generation of real-time Internet searches using their in-car GPS system.  

Now why can't we do this here -- and not pay a fortune for it? 

More at China Economic News.