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Skype unveils Game Developer Program

May 16, 2007

SkyStone bridges Skype and PBXs using only software

May 15, 2007

Remember my SIP to Skype gateway breaks Skype's Great Wall article, which explained how you could make a SIP-to-Skype call using the PSGW gateway? One of the knocks against Skype was that it uses a proprietary protocol, which makes it difficult to use with SIP-based IP-PBXs used in the enterprise. Thus, if you want to use Skype in the enterprise you either have to use the Skype software or buy a separate Skype-capable handset device from SMC, Linksys, NETGEAR, etc. Well, some exciting news from of STONEVOICE.

Octasic adds Adaptive Noise Reduction (ANR) to Asterisk IP-PBXs

May 15, 2007

Octasic today announced the availability of Adaptive Noise Reduction (ANR), an add-on feature for Asterisk-based IP-PBX systems.  According to Octasic, adding the ANR feature to SoftEcho, an echo cancellation software, makes this "the clearest voice quality in the Asterisk market." That's a mighty big claim, however Sangoma and Digium, leaders of hardware used in Asterisk solutions, BOTH use Octasic in their hardware for echo cancellation. Thus I have no reason to doubt their claim of the cleared voice quality. Now with this news announcement, you can get echo cancellation and Adaptive Noise Reduction using Octasic.

Communications Developer Conference Packed with Developers

May 15, 2007

I wasn't able to attend Communications Developer Conference, so I have to live vicariously though Rich Tehrani and Greg Galitzine. This conference, which was formerly called VoIP Developer Conference is focused on - you guessed it - developers. Since this is a more focused and technical audience than TMC's Internet Telephony Conference and Expo, obviously it's going to be a smaller show. But both Greg and Rich emailed me and stated they were pleasantly surprised at just how packed the show was.

Wal-Mart to carry Skype products including Pre-paid Calling Cards

May 14, 2007

Wal-Mart and Skype inked a deal whereby Wal-Mary will carry Skype Certified hardware in 1,800 of its stores throughout the country, Wal-Mart will also carry pre-paid Skype calling cards. Wal-Mart currently has cellular pre-paid calling cards in the most "prime" position - namely in the checkout lanes along with candy and gift cards since these are excellent "last minute" or "spur of the moment" purchases. I was just in Wal-Mart last week and saw some T-Mobile pre-paid calling cards in the checkout lane along with Apple iTunes gift cards further demonstrating Apple's secret plan to rule the world. (Apple just wanted to give Microsoft a 10 year head-start.)

In any event, if these Skype calling cards are indeed going to be placed in the "prime" checkout aisle location, this could spur some "spur" of the moment purchases from consumers looking to try Skype's service, which will further cement Skype's dominant position.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Optimized IP Devices

May 14, 2007

Today, Microsoft is announcing several products that are optimized to work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. As part of today's announcement, Microsoft has launched a unified communications qualification program – including 15 phones and devices which are on the path to qualification with Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator (now in public beta). These include Internet protocol (IP) phones, Universal Serial Bus (USB) phones, conferencing phones, wired and wireless headsets, Webcams, monitors, PCs and PC peripherals.

Several of these products were already out in the marketplace, but some are brand new, so let's focus on the "new" phone devices. First, the Polycom CX700 IP Phone is the mystery phone that I discussed previously.

P2P or ENUM Saves Vonage?

May 11, 2007

We've been down this road before with claims of a Vonage workaround to get past the Verizon patent issue, only to have our hopes dashed. But now word comes today late yesterday from Bloomberg that Vonage has a patent workaround that could save its VoIP service from being shutdown over the Verizon patent litigation. Apparently its new technology can be installed through software downloads and shouldn't be costly to deploy, according to Jeffrey Citron, CEO of Vonage.

"We will begin rolling these workarounds out shortly, hopefully in the next few weeks, and we believe they will work," Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Citron said on a conference call today.

I would really like to know how a software download helps bypass the Verizon patents and why didn't Vonage think of this before?



Windows Live Messenger Now works with Xbox LIVE

May 9, 2007


Beginning today, Xbox LIVE, the most popular online gaming network now works with Windows Live Messenger on the Xbox 360. We knew this was coming, but this is exciting news nonetheless. Now you can VoIP or IM your XBox gamer buddies as well as your non-gaming Windows Live Messenger buddies. I wonder if Yahoo! Messenger users will be able to communicate as well, since Microsoft and Yahoo have an IM federation pact.

Open-Source Telephony and a Digium/Asterisk Visit

May 8, 2007

Rich Tehrani went down to Huntsville, Alabama to visit with Mr. Asterisk/Digium/Guru/God/Great One himself, Mark Spencer, along with some other folks from Digium. He captured some great photos of his trip, including Mark and Danny Windham, the CEO of Digium holding the "infamous" Linux penguin. These photos are taken from Rich's blog entry posted today.


Of course, I've got one up on Rich, since I got to hold the infamous penguin myself when I visited back in 2005, so nah!



What's this????






SPIT and Spam DDoS - Fact or Fiction?

May 8, 2007

I've written about SPIT or "Spam over Internet Telephony" a few times in the past. Well, now I have a story to share that Dan York shared with me about SPIT leveraging DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks to bring down a competitor.

The story begins...
ZZZ Telemarketing (not a real name) is locked in a heated fight with their bitter rival, YYY Telemarketing (also not a real name), to win a very large lead generation contract with Customer X. Customer X has decided to run a test pitting the two companies against each other for a week to see who can generate the most leads. The ZZZ CEO has said to his staff that it is “do or die” for the company. If they fail to win the contract, they will have to shut down - they need to do “whatever it takes” to win over YYY.


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