Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Triple Play

ooVoo Launches 4-Screen Multi-Party Video for Apple iOS & Android

August 21, 2012

ooVoo, a competitor to Skype today announced 4-way video chat that works on iOS and Android devices. I had a chance to speak with ooVoo representatives to discuss the news and of course, I used ooVoo during our conference call, as seen here:

ooVoo, is a large social video-chat provider with 54 million registered subscribers.  With the launch of ooVoo’s new mobile apps with support for 4 simultaneous video streams, they are currently the only major video conferencing product offering this - and for free.

LightSquared Solution to GPS Interference Clears Way for Nationwide 4G Network (Sorta)

June 20, 2011

Came across an interesting news release from LightSquared, the nation’s first wholesale-only integrated wireless broadband and satellite network, today outlined a comprehensive solution to the problem of interference with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. This solution will permit LightSquared to proceed with its business plan, protect the public’s stake in GPS and lay the foundation for the future co-existence of a variety of wireless broadband services and GPS.

“This is a solution which ensures that tens of millions of GPS users won’t be affected by LightSquared’s launch.

HomePNA Ratifies Fast EoC Delivering 640 Mbps over Coax

March 23, 2011

Home wireless too slow for you? But too much trouble to "snake" Ethernet cables throughout your home for speedier performance? Well, today we have a new solution from HomePNA, which just ratified a new broadband access specification called "Fast EoC" where EoC stands for Ethernet over Coax. The new “Fast EoC” delivers up to 640Mbps performance using Ethernet over Coax. Although this can be used in residential applications, the main target goal for Fast EoC is MDUs (multi-dwelling units) such as apartment complexes, hotels, hospitals, etc. The advantage of coax over Ethernet is that most homes and MDUs already have coax connections in most rooms.

The HomePNA Alliance said that Fast EoC can deliver performance up to 320 Megabits per second (Mbps) in regular mode, and up to 640 Megabits per second (Mbps) and more than 300 Mbps user data throughput to Multi-Dwelling Unit (MDU) environments in a new “enhanced” mode. 

ITEXPO Named Top 50 Fastest Growing Tradeshow

January 19, 2011

TMC's ITEXPO was named one of the fastest growing trade shows by Trade Show Executive in their Fastest 50 Awards. I've been with TMC since 1994 - right out of college and I've seen this company grow from 15 employees to over 65 employees. It's been an amazing ride. TMC's ITEXPO has had some stellar companies participate over the years, including Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Packet8, ShoreTel, and Skype.

TMC CEO Rich Tehrani said, "Much thanks goes to all of TMC's readers as well as our sponsors, attendees, partners, vendors who supply us decorating services, audio/visual, etc and of course the tireless TMC team who works around the clock to over-deliver for customers.

CounterPath Launches VoIP App for iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch

June 15, 2010


CounterPath, one of the early pioneers of SIP softphones, just launched Bria iPhone Edition for Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Bria iPhone Edition works over both 3G and Wi-Fi networks and is the first SIP softphone on the iPhone that supports SRTP and TLS for security. I spoke with CounterPath about this news as well as got a review copy of the app to try on my iPhone.

I should mention I've used the free, open source Siphon on the iPhone and while it works OK, it doesn't support transfer or conferencing. Even worse it has no echo cancellation, so forget about using speakerphone mode and it doesn't support Bluetooth headsets.


31 Million IP Phones shipped by Mayan 2012 Doomsday, the Media Phone, & Slow Consumer Adoption

February 13, 2009

According to In-stat, nearly 31 Million Business IP Phones will ship in 2012. That's if the Mayan 2012 Doomsday Prophecy doesn't come to pass. You know, the one where the Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012 - the same date as the Winter Solstice and when the Earth will be in galactic alignment with the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, as well as our sun, resulting in a planetary shift. The date 12-21-12 reads as, A-B-B-A-A-B.

Verizon FiOS Voice+Internet Cheaper than just FiOS Internet?

December 19, 2008

I had to do a double-take when I read the Verizon FiOS pricing plans page that shows Verizon FiOS Internet with Verizon home phone service is less expensive than FiOS Internet without Verizon home phone service. It's $5 cheaper per month to have the voice service than without? I don't think I've ever seen any double or triple play offering that actually is cheaper when you have an additional "leg" offering in the package.

Here, see for yourself from this screenshot from their pricing plans web page:

Why would someone choose the Single Play (broadband Internet only) option over the Double play (broadband Internet + Voice) if it's $5/month cheaper and you get a voice line?







Comcast Best in VoIP Quality, AT&T Best in VoIP Reliability

November 13, 2008

Keynote Systems released their latest VoIP quality report with some interesting findings. For one, Comcast, a cable company dominated the voice quality rankings beating the closest competitor by nearly 300 points. As for reliability, to no surprise AT&T won this category, no doubt to their decades of experience in building reliable voice and data networks.

Keynote Systems measures VoIP quality (MOS scores), call completion, etc. by automatically placing calls from corporate apartments using residential VoIP services and network services just like a typical residential customer would.  Service Reliability scores are based on the key performance metrics of Service Availability, Average Answer Time and Number of Dropped Calls.

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".

AT&T Calls on Wal-Mart, Circuit City for Triple Play

October 13, 2008

Just when you were ready to give up cable altogether and watch TV on your computer, telecommunication companies start aggressively rolling out fast new ways to get TV, Internet and voice services -- do I hear "Triple Play"?

And they really, really want your business. AT&T has announced it would begin selling its AT&T U-verse TV and U-verse High Speed Internet services in Circuit City and Wal-Mart stores across the country.

U-verse uses a hybrid network of fast fiber-optic and conventional copper wires to bring TV, Internet and voice services to your home. Bundles start at $69 a month. It's trying to sweeten the deal by offering $200 cash back to customers who order certain U-verse packages online.

Why the big deals and incentives? AT&T is duking it out with Verizon's FiOS and cable companies like Time Warner Cable to get into new homes as customers frustrated with the relatively slow speeds of DSL look for faster service.

And they're doing it at a tough time.







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