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TeleBlend, you know the Sunrocket saviors, after the 2007 Sunrocket implosion, today announced that it will be offering one year of unlimited local and long distance calling for just $99. If you recall, Sunrocket was offering $299.99/year for unlimited calling just 2 years ago. Now that same offering is going for $99/year. Amazing how quickly prices have dropped in just two years.

The $99 Annual Plan is available for a limited time only and includes unlimited US calling, a free device, 15 free calling features including caller ID, voicemail and simultaneous ring with no cancellation fees.

"TeleBlend has always strived to provide the most affordable unlimited phone service in the industry. With the launch of our new $99 Annual Plan, we feel that we have accomplished that goal and not only made phone service more affordable to households around the nation but also more convenient."

Since the new unlimited $99 Annual Plan is a limited time offer, the question now becomes, "How much will it be in one year?" ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

VoIP & Gadgets blog was named one of the Top 10 telecom websites by Cision Media. Unlike other top 10 lists, this list claims to be objective since it compares unique visitors per month to generate an accurate assessment. I wasn't planning on blogging it, but did email a link to TMC's Dave Rodriguez and Rich Tehrani.

Then I noticed Garrett Smith had a good write-up on him making this list as well. Garrett said it well when he said, "...I've seen a number of top VoIP blog lists spring-up which look to rank the most popular and influential voices in the industry. As a former list compiler myself I know the difficulties in selecting the best blogs, because ranking the"best" is so subjective. Hence why we really try to not toot our own horn when it comes to making these types of lists. Sure the recognition is great, but what are most of these lists really based on other than opinion or perception?"

Indeed, these top lists are very subjective and opinion-based, which is why I found this objective and analytical list so fascinating. After reading Garrett's article about this top 10 telecom list, I decided it was worth sharing as well.

So check out what Cision Media said:

Our Top 10 Blog lists are generated by comparing Unique Visitors per Month figures for blogs in Cision's media database, giving you a snapshot of some of the best read and most discussed blogs. Check back for new lists every other week.

  Top 10 Telecommunications Blogs   
  1. Considering Convergence
  2. VoIP & Gadgets Blog
  3. Skype Journal    
  ...

I don't want to include the entire article, so go check out the other 7 websites. My boss Rich Tehrani also made the list, which means 20% of the list are TMC websites.

Rich Tehrani took xG Technology's xMax technology, a WiMAX / LTE competitor for a (literal) test drive.

Rich writes:

xG Technology proclaimed in 2005 that they have a revolutionary technology which allows wireless broadband using unlicensed and licensed frequencies. They said they could build the equivalent to a WiMAX network without the need to spend a massive amount on spectrum auctions and moreover, their technology had better range than WiMAX.

It seemed too good to be true and after some years of waiting, the communications industry got impatient. After all, this revolutionary technology had the potential to change the way wireless networks are deployed. If it was real, where was it? Again, it seemed beyond what was possible and after time, even patient old me figured the story didn't add up. I even asked the company to show us the technology so we could set the record straight.

Rich got a full demo of the xMax wireless technology by driving through Florida and talking on their SIP-based phone, which operates at 902-928 MHz. How's the range? Well, according to Rich's article, one of xG Technology's customers, Townes Tele-Communications, Inc. has a few towers and their 100 foot tower has a range of 2.5 miles while one at 350 feet in the air has 6-8 mile range and xG Technology claims it is superior in coverage area to the nearby GSM equipment. According to Rich's article, "Well for a cool $2 billion you could have 70% POP coverage for 452 metros or about 90% of the population of the US. This would include at least a megabit of bandwidth per channel."

Rich has full-on video action of this very cool test drive. Go check it out.

Check out the quick video recording I made of two Polycom VVX 1500 IP video phones making a test video call. I used an iPhone 3GS to capture the video of the test call between the two phones. The iPhone's video recording quality isn't too shabby, but doesn't truly give you an idea of the quality of the Polycom's VVX 1500 touchscreen. (Note: The video phone was tilted far back, so it was aimed directly at the fluorescent lighting in the ceiling. So you see some whiteout when the VVX 1500 camera gets blinded by the ceiling lighting.)

Having a touchscreen IP videophone is pretty cool and I'm enjoying testing it so far. This is just a quickie video demo. I hope to do a full review of these phones very soon. Till then, enjoy the Youtube video below:

Livestream today is launching the world's first solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality by bonding six load-balanced 3G/EVDO modems over three carriers. Called Livepack, this unique solution enables you to have a roaming live video studio anywhere you can get 3G/EVDO connectivity. Livestream says it can stream HD video at far lower costs than traditional solutions such as broadcast trucks.

 Of course, bonding six 3G/EVDO modems together has some other fringe benefits - like ludicrous wireless Internet speed! Wonder if you can tether the Livepack to your laptop and get super high-speed Internet access while on the road? Imagine streaming HD Netflix movies or downloading Bittorrent files while driving down the road. - your passenger doing the laptop mouse & keystrokes of course!

Livepack fits in a custom-designed backpack and is a turn-key hardware solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality to thousands of viewers on the web using encoding hardware, Firewire cable, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.

Livestream said: "Livepack is ideal for live broadcasting any events including concerts, interviews, sporting events, town hall meetings, paparazzi, university graduations, weddings, ceremonies, transmission from a moving car, and a variety of enterprise applications."

"Livepack is like having a satellite television truck in a backpack," said Max Haot, CEO and co-founder of Livestream. "If you want to live stream in high quality at an event where you don't have a reliable fixed Internet connection, broadcasting with a cell phone cannot yet deliver either the high video quality or network reliability you need. The only other solution available is a traditional broadcast truck and satellite signal which can cost up to $50,000 a day."

Livepack is an integrated solution using hardware provided by Livestream's partner, LiveU, that has been fully integrated with Livestream's streaming video platform and content delivery network (CDN). 

Livepack product details and recordings of live videos can be viewed at www.livestream.com/livepack. Livepack was recently used for coverage of the MTV Video Music Awards, NY Fashion Week, Harry Potter movie premiere and Pixie Lott Live,

Livestream's groundbreaking Livepack redefines simplicity for live mobile HD quality video streaming. Once Livepack is powered up, and a DV camera is connected, all it takes is just one press of a button to start the live streaming, enabling broadcasters to deliver live, on the scene, video coverage at just a fraction of what a satellite truck costs to rent and operate.

Livepack quickly establishes a reliable Internet connection and is not tied to one wireless network, as it includes six 3G/EVDO modems for redundancy. Because it integrates with Livestream's streaming video platform, Livepack does not require any additional re-encoding or server in your offices to reach its destination. Once the video reaches the Livestream content delivery network the video is immediately streamed in your Livestream player, as well as being captured and securely archived.

Availability and Pricing
Livestream Livepack is available in the U.S. for monthly or yearly rental directly from Livestream, and includes the hardware unit, custom designed backpack, dedicated IP address for the Livestream channel, all 3G/EVDO network charges, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.  Neither a DV camera nor tripod are included. Month-to-month rental without commitment is $2,500 per month plus the cost of shipping. Yearly rental is $1,500 per month plus the cost of shipping.

Today, Mitel unveiled the next phase of its comprehensive software strategy with Mitel Series X Collaboration, showcasing Mitel's complete suite of collaboration solutions including Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced (UC Advanced) and the Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution. Mitel Series X aims to deliver a single solution to integrate business communications. Mitel's UC Advanced integrates your communications tools including phones, mobile devices, video conferencing, voice mail, instant messaging (IM), and email.

The sexy product within the Series X platform is Mitel TeleCollaboration, a 3-screen, high-def video conferencing solution that provides the ability to have up to 5 parties of video in a single screen without any degradation in video resolution. Mitel TeleCollaboration enables the group to view and edit documents within the application, in real time, without needing a dedicated room for the screens. It features the H.264 codec with enhancements made to reduce bandwidth requirements and improve tolerance. It sports 1080p x 1920p high definition (HD) video on 46" screens running at 30fps. It also supports wideband audio. According to Mitel, "Because it uses considerably less bandwidth than competitors (about 2.5 Mb for a full video, audio and collaboration session), Mitel's TeleCollaboration Solution saves you the expense of purchasing bandwidth guarantees. Lower bandwidth also means no need to dedicate a LAN segment." They're obviously going after Cisco TelePresence with this offering.

Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced (UCA) is a powerful communications client that integrates presence and availability, secure instant messaging, audio conferencing and web and video collaboration, document sharing and call control capabilities.

From within UC Advanced users have access to Mitel Dynamic Extension, Mitel Audio and Web Conferencing, Mitel NuPoint Unified Messaging, Mitel Teleworker Solution, Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution, UC Advanced Softphone, and UC Advanced Console.

Latest UC Advanced Capabilities:
 
•    Evolution of Dynamic Extension - Users now have a sophisticated interface to configure up to eight devices of choice with Mitel or non-Mitel phones as extensions of the corporate network.
•    Dynamic Status - Allows users to configure their status and presence including call routing options and calendar integration.
•    Visual Voice Mail - UC Advanced integrates with NuPoint Unified Messaging to provide users with the ability to see and access their voicemails. At the same time, they can see the presence status of internal callers and respond in the appropriate manner.
•    Web and Mobile Portals - Provides access to the UC Advanced interface securely from a web browser or on a user's mobile device.
•    Business Continuity - UC Advanced also plays a critical role in organization's business continuity plans as it provides the tools to allow employees to work and collaborate regardless of location in the event of pandemics and/or natural disasters. Integrated RSS feeds also allow for mass notification.

Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution:

•    The TeleCollaboration Solution combines collaboration with multi-party, high-definition, video conferencing technology providing full visual interaction with real-time desktop sharing.
•    Being software-based, the TeleCollaboration Solution leverages legacy equipment, protects organizations' investments, and integrates available standard components.

Latest Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution Capabilities:
•    Ability to record meetings and capture snapshots of the collaboration session.
•    Inclusion of remote workers or third-party participants through a simple web browser.
•    Requires only 2.5 megs of bandwidth with the ability to adapt to network fluctuations.
•    Mitel claims it has the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to similar offerings.

Pricing info:
Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced - For a 200-person company it is approximately $100/user for core UC Advanced. This price varies depending upon specific options selected for each user.

Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution - office configuration in the low $40,000s, meeting room configuration low $60,000s.

Skype for SIP keeps adding more SIP-based IP-PBX solutions to their interoperability list. First they had Shoretel, then SIPfoundry's sipXecs and now today they announced that they are interoperable with Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business.

"In today's tough economy, executives of smart small and medium-sized companies realize that effective communications with customers, partners and employees are a key to helping them grow their business," said Stefan Oberg, VP and General Manager of Skype for Business. "By certifying Skype for SIP as interoperable with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series, we are providing a single offering that will help many SMBs around the globe save money, save time and stay ahead of the competition."

Full Story

Today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowsk said that wireless carriers shouldn't be allowed to block certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their networks. This has huge implications for the VoIP industry, since as I wrote last week, AT&T blocks port 5060 (SIP) on their 3G data network, thus blocking VoIP applications. If the FCC mandates that the wireless carriers can no longer block applications on their data network, this opens up the entire 3G/4G wireless network to game-changing VoIP applications!

This will no doubt cause a firestorm of protests from the wireless industry which has invested billions in their wireless infrastructure and they see VoIP as something that will cannibalize their revenue stream. According to Yahoo, "FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said wireless carriers should be subject to the same "open Internet" rules that the agency has begun to apply to home broadband providers."

Genachowski wants to take the same principles the FCC has already been applying to wired Internet trafficand extend them to wireless. Comcast ran afoul of the FCC last year when they started blocking Bittorrent traffic and even slowing down packets to VoIP service provider Vonage.

The Commission previously embraced four open Internet principles affirming that consumers must be able to access the lawful Internet content, applications, and services of their choice, and attach non-harmful devices to the network. These four principles guide the FCC's existing case-by-case enforcement of communications law.

"The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation, job creation, investment, and opportunity. It has unleashed the potential of entrepreneurs and enabled the launch and growth of small businesses across America," said Chairman Genachowski.  "It is vital that we safeguard the free and open Internet."

In today's speech, Chairman Genachowski proposed the addition of two new principles. The first would prevent Internet access providers from discriminating against particular Internet content or applications, while allowing for reasonable network management. The second principle would ensure that Internet access providers are transparent about the network management practices they implement. The Chairman also proposed clarifying that all six principles apply to all platforms that access the Internet. This is HUGE! This basically means "net neutrality" rules would apply not just to landline Internet access, but wireless Internet (3G, EDGE, 4G) access as well.

Chairman Genachowski will seek to begin the process of codifying the Commission's existing four open Internet principles, along with the two additional principles, through a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) at the October meeting. The NPRM will ask for input and feedback on the proposed rules and their application, such as how to determine whether network management practices are reasonable, what information broadband providers should disclose about their network management practices and how the rules apply to differing platforms, including mobile Internet access services.

"I look forward to working with my Commission colleagues on this important initiative," Chairman Genachowski said.  "Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn, and Baker each bring a unique and important perspective to the complex issues at stake and I look forward to getting their input and insight when we kick-off the rulemaking process next month."

As part of Chairman Genachowski's commitment to openness and transparency, the FCC launched a new website, www.openInternet.gov to encourage public participation. I vote 'yes' on net neutrality applying to wireless carriers' networks. Then I can run VoIP over 3G on my iPhone and life will be good!

Maybe the end of Skype is not near? The plot thickens as Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, both founders of Joost and Joltid, today announced that they have filed a lawsuit against Mike Volpi, Joost's former president, CEO and chairman. The suit also names his current private equity firm (and Joost investor) Index Ventures. The legal documents say that Volpi obtained confidential information in his role as CEO of Joost about how to circumvent Joltid's intellectual property - the very same intellectual property needed to run Skype.

According to Newteevee.com, "The gist of the lawsuit is that Volpi learned how to modify Joltid's proprietary software to run on the web without the aid of peer-to-peer software when he was transitioning Joost from a peer-to-peer service to a web-based Hulu clone. With this knowledge, he was able to pitch a version of Skype that buyers could take over from eBay while side-stepping ongoing litigation."

The lawsuit reads: "A source code version of the GI Software (Global Index Software) is licensed by Joltid to Joost, allowing Joost to be the first company to successfully deliver television and other video content in real-time over a peer-to-peer network. An executable-only object code form of the GI Software was licensed by Joltid to Skype, a well-known Internet-based company that providers users throughout the world with free or low-cost telephone services over the Internet. Skype did not obtain a license to the GI Software source code, however, and the license it did obtain was terminated based on Skype's breaches of the license agreement."

It goes on to say that "Volpi has repeatedly failed to comply with Joost's demands that the return his computer and all Confidential Information he obtained in the soruce of his fiducisary relationship with Joost." Wow, holding onto a corporate computer with trade secrets? Doesn't look good if this in fact true. Volpe apparently began working with Index Ventures back in May to try and acquire Skype, before stepping down from Joost in July.

So the gist of this allegation is that Volpi worked for Joost, attained the "secret P2P sauce" (source code) used in Skype, then approached Index Ventures with this trade secret, (no doubt in exchange for millions of dollars) and then with this "secret P2P sauce" in hand, Index Ventures purchased Skype for $2.75 billion. I knew there was no way someone would waste $2.75 billion without having an ace up their sleeve! We shall see if Index Ventures has a royal flush to beat Joltid's four aces.

The lawsuit is below (ditto Newteevee's thanks to TechCrunch for posting an embeddable version):


For more read Techcrunch and NewTeevee

According to the Skype blog, new data released by the exo.performance.network shows that Skype has eclipsed Windows Live Messenger as the #1 IM application. Skype just squeaked by with 17% vs. 16.7% for Windows Live Messenger.

Nicely done Skype! I just hope the end is not near.