It has been an extremely exciting week again for tech news and moreover for me personally as I got a chance to open up my Sony Dash and it is a very cool addition to my desktop as it allows me to view my photos and take advantage of widgets of all kinds which among other thinks allow me to see the pandas at the San Diego Zoo. This handy gadget has a slew of communications, social networking and calendar features as well but for now, I just want to see the pandas.

 

The big news from yesterday of course was Steve Jobs onstage pushing a slew of new iPods and a rental-only model for Apple TV and a social network integrated into iTunes. The presentation began with Jobs showing slides of new Apple stores in China and France – which were architectural wonders blending new and old-world architecture in ways which other tech companies can only dream of.

Steve Jobs seems to be one of the only tech CEOs who has both the left and right brain working at optimal capacity.

Then there is the hurricane – this time Earl which is scheduled to slam into TMC’s headquarters this weekend. These tips for IT could prove useful before the roofs cave in. Most of my coworkers think the weather reporters are wrong by the way.

Response to Apple’s dominance from Microsoft consists in part by the launch of the Arc Touch Mouse which seems like it could be the cousin of an Apple product.

Comparisons between Apple and Google have stepped up as well with a recent article comparing iOS web devices to those of the Linux variety – iOS beats Linux and also beats Android six to one. Moreover, there have also been comparison articles pitting Google TV against Apple’s offering and it seems the less disruptive Apple approach has a better chance to win in the long-term unless Google does something radical to spur adoption.

On the Smart Grid front, Cisco and Itron are working together to standardize the industry by ensuring wired and wireless communications work seamlessly.

In terms of TMC, it has been a very busy week since my last communication on the matter. Here are some recent corporate press releases including those about ITEXPO and collocated conferences such as 4GWE:

• TMC Announces Major Expansion of TMCnet Editorial Team (4 new editors added)
• ITEXPO’s Cloud Communications Summit Reaches for the Sky
• Netformx Now Supports ShoreTel Products
• ITEXPO West Speaker: Anything-as-a-Service on the Horizon?
• 4G Wireless Evolution – Wi-Fi Leader Xirrus Becomes the Latest Sponsor of 4GWE Conference in Los Angeles (See related blog entry from Tom Keating – this is how the release looks with graphics)
• ITEXPO West Speaker: CDG Director Explores Innovations and Challenges in the Wireless Market
• Brough Turner to Keynote 4GWE, Monday, October 4
• Beth Halvorson to Keynote 4GWE, Tuesday, October 5

 

In addition, Carl Ford sent out communication on the wireless backhaul market and explains how capacity is still an issue as a result of the mobile device explosion. Jon Arnold sent out session information on the upcoming Smart Grid Summit Oct 4-6 in the Los Angeles Convention Center and moreover explains why it is a can’t miss event. Finally, Stephen Hardy talks about the Lightwave One event taking place during the same week and why it is important to attend.

Some of the new exhibitors from the last few days are worth noting as well:

• Nuspire Networks added as MSPworld Exhibitor
• Qualcomm Contracts to be Platinum Sponsor of 4GWE
• Acme Packet Contracts to be a Gold Sponsor of VIPeering

Here are the new speakers to the various events

MC-03   Roam Free – The Future of Mobile VoIP
Bill Yaman	Senior VP of Sales and Marketing	GoAhead Software
SP-14     “Self-Service” Telecom and Beyond
Chris Berluti		Sonus Networks
SC-09     The Work at Home Model for Customer Contacts: Strategies and Best Practices (Social CRM)
Michele Rowan	President	Customer Contact Strategies
OS-03    Open Source Telephony for Everything BUT an IP PBX OS-04    I Didn’t Know You Could do That with Open Source: A Technology Focus
Frederic Dickey	Director of Marketing and Product Management	Sangoma
MODERATOR OF THE OPEN SOURCE TRACK
Jeff Dworkin	Enterprise Marketing Manager, Dialogic Corporation	Dialogic Corporation
Smart Wireless Workshop
Bruce  Bowers	Vice President, Business Development	MedApps
CC-01    The Next Generation of IP-Based Conferencing
Andy Abramson (Moderator)	CEO	Comunicano, Inc.

 

Here are some of my famous ( 🙂 )interviews with speakers, exhibitors and sponsors of ITEXPO and the related events:

NAME	COMPANY	Excerpt
Mark Ricca	Intellicom Analytics	“2011 will be a better year than 2010 in every respect.  It will be a year marked by an increased number of IT acquisitions and mergers.”
Ian Colville	Aculab	“Apple’s products always look good, but they don’t necessarily have the edge when it comes to functionality, which is more important for business users.”
Perry LaForge	CDMA	“The continued hybridization of wireless networks to include femtocells, pico cells, micro cells, remote radio heads, Wi-Fi (802.11n) and LTE will have the greatest impact in 2011, as operators seek to handle the ongoing rise in enterprise and consumer wireless data consumption.”
Doug Mohney	The HD Connect Project	“Ignoring the political posturing, the has presented a decade-long roadmap of sorts for a migration to an IP majority world in telephony, including the reworking of USF and intercarrier compensation. Hopefully, the important changes that need to be done will be done in a decade, rather than having it turn into a Digital-TV-style fiasco with someone’s grandchildren dealing with settlements.”
David Byrd	Broadvox	On smartphone wars: “Long term, we anticipate the Android will obtain equal share in the consumer market and eventually take the lead over Blackberry in the Business sector. In the Tablet wars it is still too early to determine a victor. Many, including me, question the need for another standalone device.”

Once again, we look forward to welcoming you to ITEXPO which takes place in about a month in Los Angeles – Oct 4-6, 2010. Show hotel room blocks continue to sell out at a rapid clip so book now to avoid a hotel room in Timbuktu.

Actual photo of Timbuktu  🙂