June 2008

You are browsing the archive for June 2008.

WiFi Heads Out to Sea

June 25, 2008

You didn't think I would leave boaters out of today's rash of WiFi/transportation related news did you?

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced yesterday that WiFi service was available immediately on eleven MBTA commuter boats, providing customers free connection to the Internet using laptops or other Web-enabled devices.

All MBTA Commuter Boat vessels on the F1 -- Hingham/Boston and F2/F2H -- Quincy/Hull/Logan/Boston ferry routes will offer the WiFi service.

Posted in Mobility

Tagged: MBTA, mobility, wifi : Related Tags:

WiFi Takes to the Skies

June 25, 2008

American Airlines was set to begin testing in-flight WiFi Internet access on two flights today, with broader service expected to begin in the following couple weeks.

American's technology partner, Aircell LLC, is expected to charge between $9.95 and $12.95 for the service, depending on flight length.

Both companies will reportedly share in the revenue.

Lucky passengers will be on American's JFK to LAX route and again on the return leg

Posted in Mobility

Tagged: american airlines, mobility, wifi : Related Tags: american

WiFi Hits the Open Road

June 25, 2008

Today's LA Times has a story on Chrysler's latest bid to entice more customers to buy its vehicles. The automaker has announced it will offer wireless Internet as an option on all its 2009 models. So if you can't bear to be away from access to the World Wide Web for however long it takes to get from your home to your workplace, then Chrysler may just be the choice for you. The technology behind this offering is called UConnect Web. Uconnect Web uses cellular and WiFi technology to provide "instant access" to the Internet. According to officials at Chrysler, anyone in the car will be able to check e-mail, download music, play games and even upload photos. The new system will reportedly be competitive with laptop wireless cards, and customers will not be forced to sign up for long contracts.

Posted in Mobility

Tagged: chrysler, mobility, wifi : Related Tags: technology, chrysler

Sipera Upgrades Security Appliances

June 24, 2008

Sipera Systems announced that it is upgrading its security appliances to better service the emerging SIP trunking marketplace.

Sipera IPCS security appliances now offer advanced SIP trunking security features and better integrate with SIP trunk provider services.

Furthermore, the company announced that it's revamping its Sipera VIPER Engine (the core security engine for Sipera IPCS appliances), to address the most recent vulnerabilities and threats, adding the capability to download security signatures automatically, and enhanced anomaly detection capabilities against zero day attacks.

Lastly Sipera announced enhanced support for enterprises that have deployed Avaya teleworker and mobile solutions, allowing them to secure their employees' mobile workspaces.

Posted in Unified Communications

Tagged: security, SIP, sip trunking, Sipera, Unified Communications : Related Tags: security appliances, sipera, security, appliances, announced

iPhone... iRobot.... iLike

June 20, 2008

From Gizmodo, via Engadget, to the VoIP Authority blog... This entry highlights the intersection of two of the more exciting areas in technology today (in my view) - mobility and robotics. Apparently a pair of University of South Florida students have teamed up to create a novel iPhone app designed to operate iRobot's Packbot with full streaming POV video. There is a video clip available at Gizmodo here as well as Engadget here.

Tagged: iPhone, iRobot, Mobility, Robotics : Related Tags:

TMC at NXTcomm

June 17, 2008

So here we are at the start of another NXTComm. Just getting set for a typical tradeshow schedule, which means that from now until about 9pm I will be in meetings, learning about what's hot and what's new in the world of telecom. As you see in the accompanying picture, the TMC booth is already abuzz with briefings ahead of the official show opening time of 10 am local time here in Vegas. That's right, Vegas. For the fourth time this year. And let me tell you, it's hot. 100+ degrees, and that persistent hot desert wind.

Tagged: NXTcomm, TMC : Related Tags: nxtcomm

VoIP Supply Offers Free Shipping on Sangoma Cards

June 12, 2008

VoIP Supply today announced a new promotion whereby they will be offering free shipping on a large portion of their Sangoma product portfolio. The list of Sangoma products which are available with free ground shipping includes the following cards:

A101
A101D
A102
A102D
A104
A104D
A108
A108D

These cards are all part of Sangoma’s family of Advanced Flexible Telecommunications (AFT) hardware product line, available in either PCI or PCI Express formats. The A101 supports up to 2.048 Mbps of full duplex data through-put or up to 30 voice calls over a single T1, E1, or J1 line. The A102 provides two ports of optimized voice and data over T1, E1, and JI. The card supports up to 60 voice calls or 4.096 Mbps of full-duplex data throughput over two T1, E1, or J1 lines. The A104 doubles up the 102, supporting up to 120 voice calls or 8.192 Mbps of full-duplex data throughput over four T1, E1, or J1 lines. Lastly, the A108 octal card, which provides up to 16.4Mbps of full duplex data throughput or 240 voice calls over eight T1 and or E1 lines. All AFT cards offer optional availability of Octasic’s DSP hardware and certified algorithms for echo cancellation and Voice Quality Enhancement (VQE) functions.

Posted in Open Source

Tagged: Octasic, Sangoma, VoIP Supply : Related Tags: voice calls, voice, calls, duplex, sangoma, lines

Report Finds 7.8 Million Business VoIP Lines by 2012

June 12, 2008

P&F believes the market for “Business VoIP Lines” will reach a total of 7.8 million lines deployed by 2012. According to the firm, “We predict that AT&T, Verizon and Qwest will capture the biggest share of large enterprises as VoIP customers, but will face competition in the SMB space from a variety of new entrants.” For more info check our Pike & Fischer’s Web site.

Posted in Research

Tagged: VoIP : Related Tags: business, lines

HighDeal Selected for OnAir Mobile Internet

June 10, 2008

It’s been coming in fits and starts for some time, but wireless broadband on airplanes is increasingly becoming a reality. Created in 2005, OnAir is a subsidiary of Airbus and SITA, a provider of IT solutions for the transporation industry. OnAir’s services enable passengers to use their portable devices (laptops, mobile phones and PDAs) as well as the airplane’s own equipment, to communicate just as easily in the air as on the ground. Well today’s news saw HighDeal announce that OnAir was leveraging HighDeal’s pricing and rating solutions to manage Mobile OnAir, its mobile telephony offer aimed at airline companies. For more check out this release.

Posted in Mobility

New iPhone Details Available

June 9, 2008

TMCnet’s Michael Dinan has been following the developments as they relate to today’s big announcement from Apple chief executive Steve Jobs as he unveiled an upgraded iPhone at a San Francisco developers’ conference. Check out the latest news regarding the iPhone 2.0 here, and check back with TMCnet throughout the day and indeed the week, as the pundits all offer their two cents and reaction to the new offering spreads. In short, the key takeaways are: 3G for faster download speeds, 16GB, and $299. Oh and it’s available in white. Check out Michael’s story for the rest of the details.

Posted in Mobility

Tagged: Apple, iPhone : Related Tags: iphone, check

Amazon's back

June 6, 2008

And we're back...

Hello, Greg Galitzine. We have recommendations for you. (Not Greg?)

Oh look... They're pitching the Kindle!

Amazon Outage... UK Frenzy To Blame?

June 6, 2008

According to a report on the UK’s Daily Express, customers of Amazon’s UK Web site took advantage of a pricing error. The site reported that For two hours, the entertainment giant was advertising massive discounts on several DVD box sets including a 44-disc set of hit US drama West Wing for just £17.97. Amazon customers who were lucky enough to stumble across the amazing offers went into a buying frenzy, snapping up multiple purchases of West Wing, Family Guy, Sopranos, Desperate Housewives and Will and Grace. Sales of Family Guy reportedly shot up over 200,000%, according to the Movers & Shakers chart on Amazon. Some customers reported that traffic caused the site to slow down considerably.

Amazon.com Is Unavailable

June 6, 2008

Erik Lagerway just sent a note saying that Amazon.com is offline.

Http/1.1 Service Unavailable

This should be a major story once we figure out why.

Erik asks onhis SIPthat blog... "Wonder how their web services are doing?"

Excellent question.

Stay tuned

FTC Escalates Intel Investigation

June 6, 2008

According to published reports, Intel Corp. has been subpoenaed by the Federal Trade Commission. This is regarded as the first step in escalating an informal inquiry to a formal antitrust investigation into its business practices. Intel has apparently been working with the FTC on an informal inquiry since 2006. Intel said so far it has provided "thousands of documents" to the FTC, and added that the subpoena will provide for documents from other sources. Intel’s formal statement regarding the subpoena can be read here. In the statement, Intel points out that, "The evidence that this industry is fiercely competitive and working is compelling," and indicated a 42 percent drop in microprocessor prices from 2000 to the end 2007.

Posted in Legal

Tagged: FTC, Intel, Processor, Subpoena : Related Tags: informal inquiry, intel

IP to Sizzle in Dallas This July

June 4, 2008

ABP Technology announced it is hosting the 5th annual IP Sizzles in Dallas July 28–30, at the Sheraton Grand DFW Hotel. IP Sizzles is an industry event geared towards resellers and integrators and strives to serve as an educational opportunity where the audience can maximize their business opportunities by connecting with other resellers and integrators as well as industry leaders in VoIP, Wireless, IP Video, IP Infrastructure and IP service providers. Attendees will have the opportunity to be among the first to see new products from AudioCodes, Mobotix, and others. Speakers from throughout the IP communications community will focus on an overall theme on the importance of resellers and maximizing the profit channel. Some of the key IP Sizzles 2008 exhibitors and sponsors are Aastra, Adaptec, AudioCodes, ClearOne, Digium, Linksys, pbxnsip, SMC Networks and snom. Other sponsors include Broadvox and XO. There will also be a special session “Doubling Your IP Sales in Six Months” focusing on –Solutions Selling and Closing Sales” presented by one of America's top sales trainers. Registration is open now.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: ABP, Integrators, Resellers, VoIP : Related Tags: resellers integrators, sales, sizzles, resellers

JC Murphy to Head CedarPoint

June 3, 2008

Erstwhile president of Excel Switching Corp. and Cantata TechnologyJ.C. Murphy has been named CEO of CedarPoint Communications. Murphy, who was named to Internet Telephony magazine’s list of the Top 100 Voices in IP Communications, is replacing interim CEO Curt Hockmeier who was holding down the fort after the departure of former CEO Andy Paff. Murphy had been with Cedar Point since October 2007 in the capacity of executive vice president of sales.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: Cedar Point, Murphy, voip : Related Tags: murphy

Time Warner Trial Set to Debut Thursday

June 3, 2008

As reported back in January, Time Warner Cable is making good on its promise to introduce tiered pricing in the southern Texas community of Beaumont. The company is rolling out its consumption pricing trial in Beaumont this coming Thursday, with those who go over a preset bandwidth limit to be charged $1 per gigabyte. Current company pricing will range from $30 a month for a 768 kbps (five-gigabyte monthly cap) to $55 a month for 15 mbps (40-gigabyte cap). Time Warner said the trial is targeting the problem that just five percent of the company's subscribers take up half of the cable company's capacity.

Posted in Technology

Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog

June 2008