Check out this cool new converged prototype device from Motorola that combines a picture frame with touch-screen, video camera, Bluetooth headset, VoIP, femtocell, and video streaming. A femtocell is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small business environments that allows you to use your mobile phone in your home connecting to your femtocell access point.

Femtocells essentially are an alternative way to deliver the benefits of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) without the need for a dual-mode handset. In the Youtube demo video below demoed by Motorola representative Harsha Hegde, you can clearly see they're using the popular Counterpath Xten SIP-based softphone - also shown in the screen grab above. Motorola also demonstrates a femtocell mobile-to-mobile VoIP call, which is pretty cool.

I discovered two Microsoft job postings several weeks ago and have been meaning to blog the discovery that Microsoft Office Communication Server R2 will ship in December of this year. One is for 'Software Development Engineer in Test - MBD - RTC' and the other for 'Lead Software Develpment Engineer in Test - Office Communications Server'. One of the job posting says:

"The Office Communications Server team is starting a new deployment/management/administration team at Beijing. The Office Communications Server product team must deliver both an on-premise version of the Server as well as offering a hosted Service for Small and Medium Businesses. The test lead needs to understand current infrastructure (MMC, Setup.Exe, MOM, etc.) to help out in next release called wave13 due to ship in December 2008.

As the team ramps up in MBD China, the team gain experience in these areas and can form opinions/ideas as to how best to architect a new solution for the future. The test lead will work with PMs and Devs to identify scenarios, architect and build a new solution for both on premise and hosted offerings due to release in Q2 2010 for deployment/administration/monitoring. The new team would to build a new infrastructure that is conducive to hosted environments.

Examples include: web based flavor of management tools, a topology builder that can visually display a topology and once the solution/topology 'compiles', settings can be rolled out across the server farm (as opposed to admin's having to run setup.exe on every machine out there). Monitoring also needs to be addressed in such a way that the server or service can be somewhat self correcting when alerts fire notifying administrators of a problem.

Key Areas of Responsibility:
Attract, Lead, Train, mentor, grow, and retain SDET talent at all levels
Work closely with the program management and development teams to drive quality through design and implementation
Participate in product spec reviews, design, triage, scheduling, and other product development process
Develop comprehensive test plans assuring the overall quality of the project, including functionality, security, performance and scalability
Hands-on writing test cases and test code
Lead the SDET team in implementation of a scalable, efficient test automation strategy
Work closely with program management and development teams to ensure appropriate quality metrics and goals are defined and tracked throughout the project lifecycle
Drive quality criteria for release and signoff
Work with other SDET leads and managers to ensure engineering excellence initiatives are driven effectively across the Commerce Platform Group."

Apparently, Beijing, China will host some core Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 folks instead of Redmond, Washington in the U.S. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Seems like American IT jobs are constantly being outsourced. But I guess it's a global economy and I'm certainly not for protectionism either. Just very sad that IT jobs are outsourced because labor costs are less expensive than in the U.S.

One very fascinating part of this job posting is where it says, "architect and build a new solution for both on premise and hosted offerings due to release in Q2 2010 for deployment/administration/monitoring. The new team would to build a new infrastructure that is conducive to hosted environments."

It would appear Microsoft wants to take OCS 2007 into hosted environments by 2010. Many service providers offer very successful hosted Exchange 2007 services, so offering hosted unified communications (IM, VoIP, video, collaboration, etc.) via a hosted OCS 2007 offering is a natural progression. Hosted OCS 2007 is a much higher value proposition than hosted Exchange email services and could be a boon to service providers. One advantage of a hosted OCS 2007 offering is that it removes the complexities of deploying OCS 2007 in the enterprise.

So look for a hosted OCS offering in 2010. You heard it here first!

This news about American troops using VoIP & video is a few weeks old, but I wanted to share it, since it's pretty interesting. SightSpeed VP of Marketing Eric Quanstrom mentioned the news to me awhile ago when we were on a SightSpeed video call. Using SightSpeed, U.S. troops are able to play PlayStation, XBox and the WII against professional athletes (Philadelphia Eagles) while seeing them (video) and "trash talking" them over the Internet (VoIP). Pro vs. G.I. Joe online gaming using SightSpeed for the communications - pretty sweet! SightSpeed has an advantage over Skype in that it supports up to 9-way video, while Skype is limited to 2-way video.

Check out the news...

'PRO VS. GI JOE' COMES TO PHILLY

SightSpeed Video Conferencing Connects Pro Athletes with Troops Stationed Abroad

SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video chat and conferencing, will connect sites in Philadelphia and Kuwait, Tuesday, Sept. 16, when three Philadelphia Eagles players square off eye-to-eye against U.S. Army troops in a friendly Pro vs. GI Joe interactive online Madden NFL '09 battle.

Pro vs. GI Joe is a nonprofit organization that manages and sponsors real-time video game competitions between professional athletes in the United States and troops stationed abroad over the Internet using PlayStation, XBox and the WII. The organization - whose motto is "Doin' A Little for Those Who Do A Lot" -- also arranges for the troops' family members and loved ones to travel to the U.S. sites to be a part of the event.

SightSpeed will provide the live, real-time video link between a USO center in Kuwait and the Eagles' NovaCare practice facility in South Philadelphia at 5 p.m. EDT and midnight in Kuwait.

The NFL pros - LB Stewart Bradley #55, TE Brent Celek #87 and DE Chris Clemons #91 - will be able to see and "trash talk" with their Army competitors in the Middle East through SightSpeed monitors, which will be positioned side-by-side with TV monitors displaying the video-game action.

The GI Joes -- PFC Justin Gindhart, 20, of Philadelphia; SPC Joel Dolliver, 22, of Londonderry, N.H.; SPC Steven Moore, 22, Mahaffey, Pa.; PFC Jeff Holt, 29, of Coleman, Mich.; and PFC Marcus Peden, 20, of St. Louis.-- are from the Army's 10th Mountain Division currently stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. They will be traveling to the USO Center in Camp Virginia, Kuwait.

Following the Madden NFL '09 matchup, families of the troops will be able to reconnect with their loved ones stationed far away via SightSpeed.

"This is our way of giving back to the people who are risking their lives for us every day," said Greg Zinone, founder and president of Pro vs. GI Joe. "We've found a way through technology to give our troops some temporary relief from their duties and briefly reunite them with their families while abroad."

SightSpeed is portable and connects people anywhere in the world. It's an easy-to-download software application - free to consumers -- that provides full-color, full-motion Internet video connectivity to laptop or desktop computers, regardless whether users are running Windows, Mac or Linux platforms. And thanks to SightSpeed's ability to record video chats, the players, their families and their teammates will have digital video records of their historic matchup.

"SightSpeed is the perfect connection for Pro vs. GI Joe," said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. "Our quality is outstanding and we take distance out of the equation. The interactions we've seen so far between the pro athletes and the Army troops have been outstanding. The players on both sides can see themselves clearly and they have a lot of fun. And for us, it's tremendously uplifting to give the families of our service members the opportunity to see and chat with their sons or daughters on duty so far from home."

About Pro vs. GI Joe
Pro vs. GI Joe is a nonprofit organization that boosts the morale of our brave military men and women by setting up real-time video game competitions between professional athletes and troops stationed overseas via the internet. Pro vs. GI Joe is an official partner of the USO and is the first organization to bring live gaming to troops in the Middle East. The organization was founded and run by Greg and Addie Zinone, based in Fairfax, Virginia. Addie is a Staff Sergeant in the US Army Reserve and has served two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her husband Greg came up with Pro vs. GI Joe because he believes if you don't serve, you have an obligation to support those who do. To find out more about Pro vs. GI Joe, please visit www.provsgijoe.org.

Some great news from TMC about our IP communications conference & expositions (ITEXPO) taking place this week that I thought I'd share. The show is still going on, with today being the last day. Yesterday's exhibit hall attendance was tremendous as seen by some photos I snapped and posted yesterday. I had some great meetings or saw many important VoIP companies, including Asterisk/Digium, CosmoCom, Fonality, Microsoft, Packet8, PIKA, Skype, and more. Many companies announced news or launched new products at ITEXPO, which is now the #1 IP communications show in the U.S. Further, in talking to two vendors I learned some interesting news coming out next week at Astricon, that I can't divulge yet, but stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out this news release put out by TMC

ITEXPO West 2008 to Generate over $1 Million for Los Angeles; Brings Next Generation Technology to the City of Angels

Leading Communications Event Attracts Largest, Most Diverse Audience of any Conference in the Internet Communications Technology Industry

Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) today announced that ITEXPO West 2008 taking place September 16-18, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, expects more than 7,000 attendees from around the world. Year after year, ITEXPO West plays a prominent role in supporting Los Angeles, with estimates of a more than $1 million influx surging into the local economy in less than three days.

ITEXPO West 2008 is the world's largest and most significant communications technology event, featuring more than 150 companies exhibiting on the EXPO floor, and hundreds of sessions led by the industry's most prominent thought leaders. Attendees are afforded unprecedented access to a diverse population of both global and local companies; in addition to executive keynote speeches from household names like Skype, Microsoft, Avaya and Texas Instruments, local companies, such as AireSpring, Fonality, Grandstream, TW Telecom, will use this conference as platform to make announcements and showcase their groundbreaking voice and video offerings.

What is also important to note, is that contrary to other declining economic sectors, IP communications and VoIP salaries had a noteworthy rise in the second quarter. OnForce, Inc., is an online jobs mart where employers and workers meet on the Internet and agree on an hourly rate. A recent report from the company showed growth in VoIP rates have increased from 1.5 to 1.95 between Q1 and Q2; VoIP jobs are now paying twice the average of all IT jobs.
"Over the past several years, we have welcomed many people from around the world who flock to the Los Angeles Convention Center each Fall to attend the Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO," commented Pouria Abbassi, P.E., CEO & General Manager of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"Communications technology is important in every type and facet of business operations across the board, especially in Convention Center business. Knowing the communications technology of today will help anticipate and address our business issues of tomorrow. We are honored to host the ITEXPO 2008 at our World Class Los Angeles Convention Center," added Abbassi.
The show helps attendees identify the issues and challenges affecting the deployment of IP-based communications technologies. It provides a comprehensive forum for evaluating the latest products and services, and delivers a face-to-face networking opportunity that service providers, carriers, resellers, distributors, equipment manufacturers, and IT executives from enterprise and SMB companies need to cultivate new business relationships.

"Converged applications that leverage VoIP and video-over-the Internet are diving our industry forward, and may very well be one of the few silver linings in an otherwise dismal economy," said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and ITEXPO West 2008 conference chairman. "Clearly, this technology is here to stay as over 16 million U.S. consumer VoIP lines were in service by the first quarter of 2008, according to new data released by TeleGeography, representing nearly 14 percent of all households and 27 percent of broadband households.
"It is a no-brainer for us to host this event in Los Angeles at the Convention Center, as this facility and this City are second to none."

The expo hours for ITEXPO West are: Wednesday, Sept 17th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, and on Thursday Sept 18th from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

Free expo passes are still available, and interested attendees should visit https://www.tmcnet.com/scripts/itexpo/ca08/itfall08reg.aspx?theplan=D for more information. In addition to educational content and new product information for today's latest communications technology, ITEXPO also features several vendor promotions -- including the Toyota Prius Hybrid Giveaway, which is free to participate, with no purchases necessary. For more information on this exciting promotion, please visit: http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/west-08/w08-prizes.htm.

According to Reuters, Skype has become an indispensable tool in teaching South Koreans to speak fluent English. Good English speaking skills are considered the key for success in South Korea.

The article states,"On any given day, students ranging from kids learning their alphabet to adults preparing for job interviews sign in on their Internet messengers, fire up their webcams and wait for English teachers to appear -- from faraway continents."

In fact, according to the article, "South Korea ranks No. 1 in the number of international students in the United States, ahead of more populous India and China, according to U.S. Student and Exchange Visitor Information System."

Skype, the #1 VoIP software in the world, has become one of the main tools in their arsenal to train students to speak English.

This blog entry will show live video streaming (via my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone's camera) of various ITEXPO events, including keynotes, receptions, and of course the exhibit hall. I'm going to broadcast starting at 3:30pm PT (6:30 ET) when Skype's Jonathan Christensen and Microsoft's Xuedong Huang and Sonus Network's Vikram Saksena will be keynoting. So if you couldn't make it to ITEXPO, you'll at least be able to see the keynotes in just a few hours.

I'll also livecast the show floor when it opens. I'm going to "future date" this post so it stays on the very top of my blog's home page. I'll update this blog post as I find out exact times I will be live video blogging.

Live Video Feed (when available) follows:

I live video streamed the ITEXPO keynotes from earlier today using my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone. But in case you missed it, I recorded the live video stream.

Here's a link to two video recordings I made for two keynotes:
Skype's Jonathan Christensen (2-3 minute filler in beginning so fast forward)
Microsoft's Xuedong Huang

video quality isn't the greatest. Will have to try and tweak it in the future. Though a lot of it has to do with the poor video camera built into the XV6700

SightSpeed today announced that its video and voice communications software is now available on Linux-based "netbook" (mini-notebook) PCs.  Dell Video Chat powered by SightSpeed will come pre-installed on the Linux build of Dell's newly-launched Inspiron Mini 9 device. Dell Video Chat, Windows version, is also pre-installed on the Windows XP version of the Mini 9. SightSpeed works on Macs, Windows, and now Linux and it is currently the the only multi-party video software to walk on all three major operating systems.

Dell pre-installs Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution on the Mini 9, as well as Windows. With SightSpeed pre-installed as well on these popular Dell netbooks, Sightspeed will certainly increase the number of subscribers. In fact, Sightspeed has their software launch icon in a prime location, which will not doubt entice users to check it out. Another key advantage of Sightspeed is that it can do 4-way video and even 9-way video, while most competitors (i.e. Skype) are limited to just 2-way video.

SightSpeed informed me that a standalone installer for other Linux distributions is in the works, but for now if you want the Linux-version of SightSpeed, you'll need to buy a Dell Mini 9 with Ubuntu.

"We know the specifications of the camera, speakers and microphones that are going into these new netbooks, and so we've optimized the factory version to take full advantage of them," says SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. "As a result, SightSpeed's best-in-class video and voice services have never been easier to use - the user is up, running and can make video and voice calls in less than 30 seconds."

Well, thought I'd do a live streaming test from my Windows Mobile 6.1 XV6700 mobile phone in preparation for Internet Telephony Expo (ITEXPO) next week. I plan on live streaming portions of the show, which you'll be able to watch via my blog. I may do some video interviews as well.

This streaming video test will last until at least 11am.

As a fan of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007) and with OCS 2007 R2 just around the corner (later this year/early next year), I'd like to see 3rd party vendors offer utilities to monitor OCS 2007's performance to ensure reliability and uptime. After all, your communications are your lifeblood. Microsoft's OCS 2007 is a unified communications (UC) platform that handles several communications methods, including IM/presence, voice, video, and collaboration, so it's even more critical that OCS 2007 stays up. As such, I came across a new product just launched from NetIQ called NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server.

NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) was designed to proactively ensure the performance and availability of Microsoft OCS 2007. AppManager's core capabilities of real-time monitoring and management now extend to Microsoft OCS to ensure it is up and running.

Key Points:

• Monitor the health and availability of Microsoft OCS servers
• Monitor session and call activity
• Get alerts when usage metrics reach critical levels
• Report on adoption and usage trends

Key Features and Benefits

• Provide proactive event management - Proactively detects problems with Microsoft OCS and sends alerts to your OCS administrators, often before end users are impacted.
• Enables application health visibility - AppManager's end-to-end service visibility vastly reduces downtime to your business services and visually represents service issues via service maps, helping you understand who is being affected.
• Visualize your data - Use interactive charting and snapshot reports to give a visual view of your data for easier analysis and information sharing.
• Delivers application performance reporting - Leverage AppManager's data repository for all of your management information - events and performance data - giving you a centralized view of all servers and resources. This single repository will also streamline your reporting.

You can find out more about NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server here.