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Bluetooth Home Automation with a Twist

November 18, 2008

The new BK-UNV01 module from startup BlueKey Wireless can turn most Bluetooth-enabled phones into home controllers.

Despite the prevalence of Bluetooth solutions on the market, the company believes this product is unique because of the company's robust on-screen programming interface.

The module and companion software debuted at the Electronic House Expo Fall 2008 in Long Beach, Calif.

The BK-UNV01 receives Bluetooth commands from compatible phones and other devices -- up to 300 feet away for Class 1 Bluetooth products -- and can trigger virtually any low-voltage device via seven onboard programmable relays.

The unit also has a serial interface for controlling more advanced control systems (one-way). Out of the box, it supports the Powerlinc serial-to-powerline module for controlling Insteon and X10 devices over the home's existing AC wiring.

Up to 16 mobile devices can be tied into the system.

BlueKey's Java-based application software loads onto a Bluetooth phone like any other application. It allows users to configure (with delays, if desired) each relay and label each command (up to 82) via an onscreen wizard.

Optional cellular and landline interfaces enable the BK-UNV01 to deliver status reports to the customer's phone when out of range.

Posted in Internet, Mobile Phones, Wireless

Multi Wi-Fi Wireless Internet on the Go

November 14, 2008

Wi-Fi wireless Internet connectivity has become nearly ubiquitous.

Whether you're at home, in a coffee shop or even on some commercial airliners, you can get online with a Wi-Fi-equipped laptop, smart phone or portable game machine.

Now, Wi-Fi is making its way into your car.

A small California company, Autonet Mobile, has teamed up with Chrysler and others to sell a service that floods any brand or model of car or truck with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity that can be used by multiple passengers and devices simultaneously.

It's a dealer-installed option on Chrysler vehicles, but Chrysler dealers, and some independent auto electronic shops, will install it on any brand of car for a fee.

Does this make Chrysler more appealing to GM?

More at the Wall Street Journal.

Posted in Internet, Wireless

Calling All Bloggers! Free Blogging on TMCnet.com

November 14, 2008

This is a call out to all bloggers out there - Rich Tehrani, my boss has extended an open invitation to bloggers interested in blogging for TMCnet.com, a leading communications/telecom site according to Alexa, Quantcast, and others.

Today, TMC launches its Blog Aid program to help people out of work stay in the public eye - in order to improve their hiring prospects in a tough economy. In the last few months, many good marketers, PR people, engineers and others who have been laid off. These potential Blog Aid bloggers have a good deal of quality commentary and information to share which could be very useful to the TMC community of online readers.
TMC is offering these new bloggers - especially those working in the communications and technology industries, a venue to voice their thoughts on the spaces where they have expertise so as to allow them access to the 2-3 million global visitors who come to TMCnet on a monthly basis.

So if you enjoy writing about communications, telecom, VoIP, wireless, unified communications, mobile, etc.

Posted in Internet, Mobile Phones, MovableType, News, SIP, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

High quality YouTube Video Hack

November 14, 2008

Sick and tired of cr**py YouTube video quality? Well, check out kottke.org's tips on how to enable HQ video on YouTube. It's not HD quality, but much better than the default.

The specs for the Youtube HQ video is mp4 encoded using H.264 and stereo AAC sound at 480x360 resolution.

Also you need to do to link to a high quality video on your blog is simply append &fmt=18 onto the end of the YouTube URL, i.e.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuqiGrWBRqE&fmt=18

And if you want to embed the code on your blog/site you add &ap=%2526fmt%3D18, i.e.:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MuqiGrWBRqE&hl=en&fs=1 &ap=%2526fmt%3D18"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MuqiGrWBRqE&hl=en&fs=1&ap=%2526fmt%3D18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Now head on over to Kottke to see the before and after video quality comparisons. Good stuff!

Posted in Internet, Video Conferencing

Yahoo Mail - Defer this! %#$^@$

November 13, 2008

I'm getting mighty ticked off with Yahoo! Mail lately. I have industry contacts, family, and friends that use yahoo.com email accounts and I've been getting this "defer" messages lately. Yahoo is using an anti-spam tactic where they "defer" the message from your SMTP server. It's also known as "greylisting".

Posted in Internet, Reviews, TMCnet

Internet Explorer 6 Mobile Browser Coming

November 12, 2008

Internet Explorer 6 Mobile browser is close to release, with the Windows Mobile Team Blog announcing the availability of emulator images of Windows Mobile 6.1.4 containing the updated browser. Even though Microsoft is finalizing IE 8 for PCs, it's only up to version IE 6 for its mobile platform, though IE8's javascript engine is backported to IE6 Mobile.

Check out the features in Pocket Internet Explorer 6 Mobile (PIE6):

Improved fidelity (support for full fidelity desktop rendering)
Layout fixes to accommodate a mobile screen (text wrap)
Enhanced Script and AJAX support (Jscript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8)
Improved multimedia experience (Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 for Adobe Flash content)
Deeper integration with search
Enhanced cursor navigation model
Touch and gesture support - pan support
Multiple zoom levels
Easy switching between mobile / desktop versions of sites by specifying UA strings.

The question is, is this too little, too late? Several browsers have surpassed Pocket Internet Explorer to become the mobile browser of choice, including Opera Mini, which just released Opera Mini 4.2 yesterday, but also Opera Mobile 9.5, and Skyfire, which handles video streaming Flash sites such Youtube.

Posted in Internet, Microsoft, Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Wireless

Cisco ASR 9000 High-end Router Launches

November 11, 2008

Cisco Systems unveiled a supercharged router called the ASR 9000, which is capable of moving 6.4 terabytes per second of traffic. The router is aimed at service providers with next-generation networks which plan to run bandwidth heavy services such as video, IPTV, mobile broadband, and more. With the explosion of Youtube videos, and other bandwidth-hungry apps, service providers are looking to stay ahead of the bandwidth demand curve. The ASR 9000 hopes to address that need with the ability to support the future "Zettabyte era".

Posted in Cisco, Internet, TMCnet, Triple Play, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, Wireless

Opera Mini 4.2 beta mini-review

November 11, 2008

Opera Mini 4.2 beta just launched today. Opera Mini is one of my favorite mobile phone Internet browsers. It's a tough call between Opera Mini and Skyfire. Skyfire supports Flash and video, so it's better at multimedia, however, I find Opera Mini better suited to regular web pages with just graphics and text.

Posted in Gadgets, Internet, Mobile Phones, PDAs & Handhelds, TMCnet, Wireless

File Under: Trends We Don't Like

November 6, 2008

Increasingly, Internet providers across the country are placing limits on the amount of data users can download each month as a way to curb a small number of "bandwidth hogs" who use a lot of the network capacity.

For example, 5% of AT&T's subscribers take up 50% of the capacity, according to AT&T. AT&T will initially apply the limits in Reno, Nev., and see about extending the practice elsewhere.

Comcast, the nation's second-largest Internet service provider and AT&T's competitor in Reno, last month officially began a nationwide traffic limit of 250 gigabytes per subscriber. Comcast doesn't charge people extra for going over the limit, but will cancel service after repeated warnings. Previously, it had a secret limit. (Very mysterious!)

Two other ISP's, Time Warner and FairPoint Communications, are planning or testing traffic limits as low as 5 gigabytes per month, which is easily exceeded by watchers of DVD-quality online video.

Among the largest ISPs, Verizon Communications is a holdout, and has said it does not plan to limit downloads.

Posted in Internet, Wireless

Tell me something I don't know - Telefónica & Microsoft team up for Live Messenger VoIP

October 24, 2008

Just saw a news release put out today that Telefonica and Microsoft have teamed up for Live Messenger VoIP. CNet also picked up this news. Only one problem - on October 2nd, I discovered Microsoft had added something called "Voype" (a service by Telefonica) to Live Messenger. The article was title "Windows Live Messenger Back in the VoIP game!".

Posted in Internet, Microsoft, TMCnet, VoIP

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