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February 2008

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Talkonaut 4.0 native Symbian S60 edition released

February 28, 2008

The GTalk2VoIP dev team just released their VoIP+chat application for Symbian S60 phones that runs as a native (.sis file) application. I should stress that several Nokia smart phones come with a SIP stack, however they are limited to WiFi use only and won't work over your cellular network. You can thank the carriers for that one. Talkonaut on the other hand is not bound to WiFi only, allowing you to make calls over GPRS, EDGE, 3G or WiFi. Talkonaut has essentially developed their own VoIP SIP stack that allows Talkonaut users to make voice calls over most data connections your mobile phone might have, such as GPRS, EDGE, 3G and WiFi. The application also sports the ability to make free VoIP calls to Google Talk users, to SIP phones, to MSN, Yahoo, AIM and ICQ voice capable IM clients.

Junction Networks Adds Inbound Bridge to onSIP Hosted PBX

February 28, 2008

Junction Networks, provider of the hosted onSIP PBX service, has launched Inbound Bridge, an accessory service that ties in third-party providers of international and domestic DID numbers. Inbound Bridge saves money for Junction Networks’ business customers by allowing them to find the best per-minute price for inbound VoIP calling minutes in their chosen geographic regions. Essentially this bridging application lets hosting customers use third-party providers of DID numbers for best LD price in desired footprint.

According to Junction Networks, "Inbound Bridge solves a vexing problem for companies that want local numbers and 800 numbers in foreign countries or specific domestic regions—numbers typically rented from other VoIP network providers. Many of these providers simply deliver calls from one end point to the other; they don’t implement the key function of the SIP VoIP signaling protocol that allows callers to navigate phone menus, transfer calls, put callers on hold and trigger other events.

Nuvio sues Garmin over nuvifone

February 27, 2008

Nuvio announced a trademark infringement lawsuit against Garmin today. The dispute is against Garmin's uber cool GPS mobile phone called the Nuvifone just recently announced and due out later this year.  Nuvi claims they filed this lawsuit January 31st of 2008. Ok, I'll grant Nuvio that Nuvi is "close" in spelling. 

The Biggest Loser Week 7

February 27, 2008

Continuing my updates for my local gym's The Biggest Loser competition, here's Week #7.

Week 1 (Jan 14th) - weighed in at 198lbs (original weight)
Week 2 (Jan 21st) - weighed in at 189lbs (-9 lbs)
Week 3 (Jan 28th) - weighted in at 189lbs (0 change)
Week 4 (Feb 4th) - weighed in at 186lbs (-3 lbs)
Week 5 (Feb 11th) - weighed in at 186lbs (0 change)
Week 6 (Feb 18th) - weighed in at 184lbs (-2 lbs).
Week 7 (Feb 25th) - weighed in at 183lbs (-1 lbs).

My weight loss has slowed down with just 6 more weeks to go. The good news is that I've lost 15lbs with a fantastic 7.57% weight loss.









PIKA Fax Adds Faxing to Asterisk

February 26, 2008

I've written about some of the challenges of faxing on the Asterisk platform. Faxing has always been one of Asterisk's weaknesses, though it is getting better. Well today, PIKA Technologies announced support for fax applications built on the open-source platform Asterisk. According to PIKA, "PIKA Fax software is now extended to Asterisk, allowing developers on the platform to easily build reliable fax capabilities into their applications."

One of the main problems with faxing on Asterisk is the timing sync of the fax cards which must be in sync between the PRI/T1 voice card and the fax card.

eBay Names Shopping.com CEO to Skype CEO position

February 25, 2008

Hosted trixbox IP-PBX

February 25, 2008


Just learned via TMCs' VoIP Forums that Click4PBX just announced hosted trixbox plans starting at $109/month (1-10 extensions) and going up to a maximum of $279/month (1-300 extensions). It's unclear from the website if that monthly fee is per extension or the total cost for each particular plan. I believe it is the total cost since the alternative (per extension) would be cost prohibitive. Not to mention the price would go down per extension as you scale up where as the plans listed increase in price as you increase the number of extensions.

TeVeStream FrameSeeker Detects Video Frame Changes

February 25, 2008



Arcosoft Inc., those same rascals that built 8 simultaneous video streams only Star Trek's Data could love, today announced the release of TeVeStream FrameSeeker. According to Arcosoft, "Surveillance video, such as those captured for security, paranormal investigation, and wildlife study, often contains many frames that are essentially static. Without FrameSeeker, a reviewer must spend many tedious hours watching the video completely to find interesting events. FrameSeeker reduces the effort by scanning for changes frame by frame.

Asterisk Wake-Up calls and Web Scheduling

February 25, 2008

Those of you that travel a lot have probably encountered the situation where you think you set the hotel alarm clock correctly only to learn the volume was turned way down or you had it set to PM instead of AM. Many hotel alarm clocks are becoming more gadgety, including some that double as an iPod docking station to wake you up with your iPod tunes.

Well, futzing with an alarm clock you're not familiar with could result in you missing your important meeting. So what do you do? Well, you could call the front desk and ask for a wake-up call.

Gartner positions Voxeo in "Visionaries" quadrant of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for IVR and Enterprise Voice Portals

February 22, 2008

Dan York emailed me to inform me that his company Voxeo has been named in one of Gartner's Magic Quadrants. Gartner is a very well-respected research firm that is just a stone's throw from TMC - about 15 minutes away. Congratulations to Voxeo!

Dan's blog writes:

We are very pleased to announce today that we were positioned in the “Visionaries Quadrant” of Gartner’sMagic Quadrant for IVR Systems and Enterprise Voice Portals, 2008“. Given that we’ve only been selling our Prophecy premise product for two years, it’s a huge achievement in our view to be included along with other players who have been in the market much longer.




SimplyWiFi SIP Phone

February 22, 2008

SimplyWiFi is a new SIP-based WiFi phone based on Linux that not only lets you make free or low-cost calls, it also lets you IM/chat using the SIMPLE standard. SimplyWiFi is a small lightweight phone with a superb talk time of 10 hours and 250 hours stand-by time. The WiFi SIP phone features a 65,000 color 2.0" TFT-LCD with 176x220 resolution.

Wisecom Technologies' SimplyWiFi phone features the ability to make encrypted calls, manage your contacts and send instant messages. The WiFi features include all the usual suspects, including DHCP, authentication and encryption.

SimplyExchange Skype PBX Gateway

February 22, 2008


Wisecom Technologies Ltd is now selling a Skype Certified gateway called SimplyExchange, which hooks up to your corporate PBX using four analog FXS ports. This is similar to the Actiontec VoSKY Skype gateway, though SimplyExchange is a much smaller unit than the 1U VoSKY gateway appliances. In any event, you simply connect 4 SimplyExchange analog FXS ports to 4 PBX FXO trunk ports, which will "Skype enable" your PBX. Alternatively you can connect to 4 telephones (or some to trunk ports and some to telephones)

Next, you configure your PBX by setting a hunting group number for the four trunk ports to a specific number, such as 8.


NetSymphony launches Maestro VoIP Probe

February 21, 2008

I was just about to head home when I was sent this bit of interesting news about a new small VoIP probe called the M10P that helps troubleshoot VoIP problems. Figured I'd share...

DATAMEG SUBSIDIARY NETSYMPHONY BEGINS SALES OF NEW MAESTRO SYSTEM WITH UNIQUE VoIP TEST PROBE

NetSymphony, a subsidiary of Datameg Corp (OTCBB: DTMG), today announced commencement of sales of its Maestro System that sets new standards for size, simplicity and value. The Maestro System provides valuable functions in three major
areas: system assessment; assurance and service level agreement monitoring; and fault isolation and troubleshooting. Additional information can be found at www.netsymphony.com.

Maestro provides integrated management of IP services by assessing, monitoring and troubleshooting IP systems.






Skype Customer Service

February 21, 2008

I've railed against Skype's poor customer service in the past. I've received a few emails over the past couple months that go like this:

I am a Skype customer who signed up with one ISP email and now I have another. The old email is defunct and unaccessible by me. I forgot my password and when I want to get again, they say they will send me instructions for changing the password to my old email address.


HD DVD RIP, Long Live Blue-ray!

February 21, 2008

The HD DVD vs. Blue-Ray high-definition DVD format war is over. In case you missed it, Toshiba made a statement saying, "it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders." As a result, Amazon and other online retailers have been having a fire sale trying to offload the Toshiba HD DVD players. You can pick one up for $79 or less.

In a further humiliation, according to TechRadar.com, instead of being listed as HD DVD players, they are now being displayed as upscaling DVD players.

Zingaya Media Server enables Adobe Flash-based VoIP

February 19, 2008

A Russian-based company, Innovative Systems of Communication (ISC, Inc.) just launched their company website in both Russian and English. This is the same company that launched Flashphone.ru, a proof-of-concept Flash-based phone app which I discovered & reviewed.

ISC is now offering their Flash-based VoIP solution to companies interested in bringing Flash-based VoIP to their customers. Examples they gave me include: VoIP providers can create Flash-based SIP softphones using the technology, banks and big organizations can use create widgets for their web pages to allow customers make calls right from webpage to call centers or ip-pbx.

They also told me, "We provide our customers with convenient API to create flash applications compatible with our server software and all needed support, we got demo version of software available. Our server software compatible with Linux and with Windows, so it's a cross-platform solution." They also pointed out that due to Flash technology used for the softphone client, its possible to show video ads before or during a call.



Verizon Nationwide Unlimited Anytime Minute Plans

February 19, 2008

Verizon Wireless has announced new Nationwide Unlimited Anytime Minute Plans that give customers all their calls – anytime to anyone in the U.S., including landline phones – that begin at a flat rate of $99.99 monthly access. Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman comments that these new plans "are moving the industry forward."

Hold on a minute there Nellie... $99 for unlimited mobile wireless calls is moving the industry forward? Talk to me when it's $24.99/month like Vonage is.

SoliCall Launches SoliCall Mobile

February 19, 2008

SoliCall announced today the release of SoliCall Mobile - an enhanced version of its personalized noise reduction technology for Windows Mobile. The SDK offered by SoliCall works on Windows Mobile and they claim in can be easily integrated to offer enhanced voice quality for traditional mobile calls and VoIP calls.

I'm still catching up after being away on a short vacation, so I'm just going to share the news release after the break. It certainly sounds interesting...

Biggest Loser Week 6

February 19, 2008

Continuing my updates for my local gym's The Biggest Loser competition, here's Week #6.

Week 1 (Jan 14th) - weighed in at 198lbs (original weight)
Week 2 (Jan 21st) - weighed in at 189lbs (-9 lbs)
Week 3 (Jan 28th) - weighted in at 189lbs (0 change)
Week 4 (Feb 4th) - weighed in at 186lbs (-3 lbs)
Week 5 (Feb 11th) - weighed in at 186lbs (0 change)
Week 6 (Feb 18th) - weighed in at 184lbs (-2 lbs). I'm surprised I lost anything this week since I was away on vacation. Went to AAA 4 Diamond rated Rabbit Hill Inn in Vermont (gorgeous bed & breakfast by the way) and of course ate some calorie-rich food, including grilled beef sirloin & venision osso buco, rainbow trout, as well as some world-class desserts such as chocolate stout cake, Northeast Kingdom Gateau (very rich & chocolatey), and some tasty chocolate truffles and pastries during their afternoon tea.






John McCain goes VoIP

February 14, 2008

John McCain aka Mr. "Straight Talk" has gone VoIP. Or at least if De-Fi Mobile's new "Straight Talk" VoIP service has anything to do about it. The product is actually Voice-over-WiFi. No word from the McCain campaign if McCain supports De-Fi's usage of McCain's "straight talk" term. Word on the street though is that McCain is not happy that De-Fi has a trademark on the term.

ITEXPO VoIP Conference Testimonials

February 14, 2008

Rich Tehrani has a good post today that includes a couple pictures and even a couple of testimonial videos from this last Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. If you missed the resoundingly successful ITEXPO conference, be sure to check out Rich's blog post. MobileMax (which I glowed over at my ITEXPO meeting) gives a great testimony about how service providers specifically came to meet them at ITEXPO and said, "we closed a great deal here so we're looking forward to announcing that in the near future." MobileMax also said, "We're coming out of this show with more prospects than we really expected so we're really happy."

Packet8 commented, "This is a great show for us. We've been showing our MobileTalk application. We have a number of our partners here and we also meet up with a number of our resellers and we do see quite a few end-users at the show, especially small, medium-sized businesses.

Touchstone Technologies said, "Fantastic!



Skype 2.7 for Mac Released

February 14, 2008

Today Skype released Skype 2.7 for Mac. Mac users will enjoy better sound in this latest release and they claim they've made it "look better". If you Apple Mac fans feel left out of the cool high-quality video capabilities of your PC brethren, well Skype claims that they've improved video quality on all the current Mac desktops or laptops. They're not exactly calling this high-quality video, but hey any improvement is a good thing, right? And don't forget it's Valentine's Day, so what better gift than to give your significant other improved video.

Voice Mobility UCN Vmerge takes on Microsoft OCS

February 13, 2008


TMC President, Rich Tehrani today excitedly writes about Voice Mobility's UCN Vmerge a product that unites various communication technologies including voice, fax, and email. The kicker is they are leveraging several Google apps to develop their unified communications platform.

Rich writes:
Thanks to Voice Mobility, you can now integrate Google Apps with your unified communications system in your campus or corporate environment. As you may know, the Google Apps suite includes Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Contacts, Mobile apps and other collaboration tools all using the workplace or campus domain.
...
According to UCN spokesman Mike Seely, Voice Mobility's VP of Global Sales, this total solution is like deploying Microsoft Exchange server, Active Directory and Office Communication Server at a fraction of the cost. In fact, Seely compares this solution in the workplace and campus market to what Salesforce.com has done in the CRM space.





snom VoIP phone hacked

February 12, 2008



Those same rascals that figured out how to do call jacking on the popular BT Home Hub to make free "hacked" VoIP calls have done it again! GNUCitizen.org is a group of security experts that just discovered a vulnerability in the administrative web interface in snom Technology's model 320 VoIP phone. They way it was discovered is that a router hacking challenge was launched and which as a "side result" caused GNUCitizen to discover a security flaw in the snom 320 VoIP phone. In GNUCitizen's blow-by-blow discovery he writes, "Although not directly related to the router hacking contest, the results I’ve got were rather disturbing and made me get a totally new view on the VoIP phone security landscape." (I'll say...)

The big hack involves the ability of some VoIP phones to make phone calls from the Web interface using a simple web POST request.




Garmin nuvifone

February 12, 2008


Garmin is the big bad boy in the GPS market, but they've now thrown their hat into the mobile phone ring with the Garmin nuvifone (not nuviphone). Garmin recently announced the quad-band nuvifone, a full-fledged GSM HSDPA smartphone built using Garmin's proprietary operating system. The nuvifone of course sports GPS navigation but it also adds web surfing, e-mail, and a built-in camera.

How Garmin was able to extend their "specialized" GPS operating system into something with full-fledged mobile phone and web surfing capabilities is an amazing feat. Though perhaps they started their operating system from scratch.


OnState Mashup of Skype & Zimbra

February 11, 2008

IP Phones Destroying Planet Earth

February 11, 2008


According to a news release I received, IP phones sold in 2008 will create 47 million kg of waste thus destroying Planet Earth, causing global warming and causing the beginning of the End Times. What I mean is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling.

Microsoft mashup of SOA and UC (Unified Communications)

February 11, 2008

We all know the big splash Microsoft made in 2007 with the launch of OCS 2007; for instance, check out my review. OCS is the "core" of Microsoft's unified communications strategy for the enterprise. But as we know, the enterprise is no longer an island simply containing a (IP-)PBX and phones. Today, the enterprise is looking to integrate their corporate communications infrastructure with the Web and perhaps more importantly the wireless/mobile world.

I was surfing today when I came across a fascinating post by ZDNet blogger David Greenfield.

Netflix Streaming via Vista Media Center MyNetflix plugin

February 11, 2008

Yesterday, I discussed some cool (free) video utilities for converting & downloading video on your Microsoft Media Center PC to your Microsoft Zune. Today, I just learned about another cool video application called MyNetflix for Vista Media Center. The plug-in's "Watch Now" streaming ability is perhaps the coolest feature. Simply using your Media Center remote control you can have the 10' experience of streaming Netflix movies on-demand from your sofa. I always have trouble returning my DVDs, so having the instant gratification of watching a Netflix movie on my 65" TV using my MCE remote control would be great.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1

February 11, 2008


Sony Ericsson just announced the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. Sony Ericsson has signed a deal with Microsoft to produce a phone using the Windows Mobile operating system. This marks the first time that Sony Ericsson has not used the Symbian operating system.

The deal between Microsoft and Sony Ericsson was revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where Sony Ericsson announced the launch of seven new mobile handsets.

One of the coolest new models is the Windows Mobile-based Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, which sports a 3" touch screen similar to Apple's iPhone, a nice 800x400 resolution, 3.2 megapixel camera and a tilt and slide keyboard running on Windown Mobile 6. Sony Ericsson's goal is for the XL to "deliver a seamless blend of mobile web communication and multimedia entertainment."

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 has a slick GUI that they call a panel interface which are shortcuts to various features or web locations.






DVRMSToolbox For Vista 1.2.1.1 Released

February 9, 2008

DVRMSToolbox For Vista 1.2.1.1 was just released. DVRMSToolbox is a very cool video converter utility for converting TV programs (in Microsoft DVR-MS format) on your Vista PC to .wmv for playback on the Zune video player. Even cooler it can auto-detect and strip out the commercials. With the proper profile setting it converts to a .wmv file with the proper settings such that the Zune software doesn't need to transcode the .wmv video file again (time-consuming). There's also a Windows XP version available that runs on Windows MCE 2005, the first version of Windows with Media Center Edition (MCE) built-in for capturing & playing bck TV programs, but that version is a little older.

Touchmods VoIP App for the Apple iPhone Sparks Controversy

February 8, 2008

Touchmods created a storm of interest when they announced a hack that adds a microphone to the Apple iPod touch and a SIP-based VoIP application that runs on the Apple iPod touch. Well controversy is brewing on Touchmods.net. Yesterday they announced that French ADSL provider Free.fr, has coded an iPhone VoIP application locked to that ISP's service. The site explains:
However, since our first iPhone came as a donation from the French ADSL Provider Free (www.free.fr), the recent version of Siphon with iPhone support is temporarily locked to their service.

FaceFon Video Phone on its way?

February 7, 2008

Mork over at Trademork informed me about LG Electronics filing a patent filing a patent for FaceFon.

On January 29, 2008, electronics behemoth LG Electronics filed to protect the trademark FaceFon in relation to “telephones; videophones; cellular telephones; wireless local loop telephones; telephone handsets; computer telephony software (enables telephone activities to be performed through a computer); computer terminals”.

I'm going to assume from the name which sounds like "face phone" that this is some sort of face-to-face video phone. Even the two letter F's face each other with one of them backwards. And lest we forget, I wrote about the LG-Nortel Microsoft OCS phones here.

Here's a photo of the LG-Nortel 8540, which already sports a nice color LCD display, so adding video wouldn't be a stretch:


So my friends, is this (FaceFon) going to be another LG-Nortel phone for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS) platform? Or is this going to be a SIP-compliant video phone that works on any SIP-compliant PBX?







ooVoo 1.5 Adds Phone Calling & Recording

February 7, 2008

ooVoo, a competitor to Skype recently launched a new version of their software. The current version allows video conferencing with up to six participants, while Skype only supports two-party video calls.  Even cooler, the new version adds video recording, which you can save as an .AVI file. Skype doesn't let you record the video unless you use third-party programs.

I should point out that SightSpeed has provided video call recording for quite some time now.

Intel Silverthorne Back in the Mobile Game

February 6, 2008

Intel has revealed details of Silverthorne at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco. Intel's new chip is a tiny 25mm2 and the full package is just 14x13mm2. The small 64-bit multithreaded chip is based on Intel's new 45nm Hi-k low power microarchitecture, and is targetting MIDs or "mobile internet devices". I should point out that Intel abandoned the MID market last year when they sold their XScale ARM division to Maxell Technology Group.

JoikuSpot Turns Nokia phone into WiFi hotspot

February 6, 2008

How would you like to turn your Nokia smartphone into a WiFi hotspot for free? Well, JoikuSpot offers a free application that you can load on your Nokia phone to do just that. When installed on the Nokia phone,  laptops, iPhones, and even the Apple iPod touch can have fast wireless internet via the Nokia's JoikuSpot wireless access point. It leverages the phone's own high-speed 3G internet connection.

Counterpath acquires Bridgeport Networks

February 5, 2008

Bridgeport Networks has always held a lot of promise with their Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) offerings. They never seemed to gain a lot of traction in the market, but perhaps that's because they were a few years ahead of the market. I believe that now the time for FMC has come and it looks like Counterpath, provider of the popular X-Lite SIP softphone, acquisition of Bridgeport Networks could be a nice addition to their VoIP portfolio. Counterpath obviously sees the mobile phone space as a huge opportunity for their VoIP products.

Biggest Loser Week 4

February 5, 2008

Continuing my updates for my local gym's The Biggest Loser competition, here's Week #4.

Week 1 (Jan 14th) - weighed in at 198lbs (original weight)
Week 2 (Jan 21st) - weighed in at 189lbs (-9 lbs) 9lbs lost in 1 week - Woohoo!
Week 3 (Jan 28th) - weighted in at 189lbs (0 change) - I was extremely sick 5 days before and was attending ITEXPO, so didn't get a chance to workout. I'm expecting at least a 4lb loss this week. Wish me luck!
Week 4 (Feb 4th) - weighed in at 186lbs (-3 lbs) I was off by 1lb in my expectation.




Fring adds P2P mobile phone file sharing

February 5, 2008

Today, mobile VoIP startup Fring added file-swapping to its mobile application. You can send music, videos, or documents from your cell phone to other Fring users or anyone on MSN Messenger through 3G and Edge data networks as well as over WiFi.

Of course, the core of Fring is that it leverages a cell phone's data plan or WiFi connection to make free Internet calls to fellow Fringers and charges for landline and mobile line connections.
Unlike Skype which is limited to communicating on it's own network, Fring also lets you IM people on AIM, Skype, MSN, ICQ, Twitter, Google Talk, Yahoo, or any SIP network. Further, you can even send files to MSN Messenger users and vice-versa.

Another new feature is that Fring's IM now tells you when the remote party is typing. 




Worldgate Ojo VoIP/Videophone Service in Trouble

February 5, 2008

I've been monitoring Worldgate Communications, makers of the cool looking Ojo videophone for the past several days. I received word that their service was down for a few days and I attempted to reach them, but got a general mailbox. I didn't leave a message, but instead waited to see how this would pan out.

Well, today, I learned that Worldgate is currently in a dispute with its largest customer over the payment of significant monies which the company believes are owed to it.

A Form 8-K was filed by Worldgate Communications claiming that its largest company has refused to pay. The 8-K states that the customer's refusal to pay such monies has contributed to a shortfall in the operating cash available to the Company to continue operations.

Accordingly, on January 30, 2008, the Company shut down its operations as a first step to winding down its business, which will occur if the Company is not able to secure payment of the monies believed to be owed and/or new financing.





Future of SIP to Skype Gateway in Doubt?

February 4, 2008

I have strong disagreements with a guest blog post on Skype Journal that was posted a few days ago titled "A SIP/Skype Gateway Is NOT In The Forecast". I totally disagree that a SIP/Skype gateway isn't in the forecast. I've blogged on a few occasions where I discussed the desire for Skype users to have SIP connectivity. First, let me include an excerpt where the guest blogger, Hudson Barton lays out his argument:
Skype's competitors and critics continually point out that Skype's VOIP architecture is closed and that its API is not adequate for creating a direct connection between the Skype "cloud" and the SIP "cloud".

RightFax Users Group (RFUG) Meets to discuss Fax, VoIP, and more

February 4, 2008

I received an email last week asking for my assistance in spreading the word about an independent, non-profit RightFax Users Group (RFUG) and their inaugural meeting coming up on February 22nd. The users group will cover RightFax in a VoIP environment and include discussions of FoIP & T.38 topics I'm sure. TMC actually uses an older version of RightFax that we never got around to upgrading since it works quite well as it is. In any event, check out the news release which talks about this one day event:

The first-ever RightFax Users Group (RFUG) meeting is set for Feb. 22 in Minneapolis, Minn., at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Bloomington, 8a.m.

Holy Toledo! Cheap Wireless T1 & T3 Internet!

February 1, 2008

So today I receive this intriguing email...
Tom, please visit www.yourwifiinternet.com. New technology launching in days, not months. T1 speed portable wireless internet, up and down with no degradation of signal for $19.95 a month and VOip for additional $9.95 a month, router free. It will change the communications industry forever.

iPhoneGnome VoIP app for Apple iPhone

February 1, 2008

Today, PhoneGnome launched iPhoneGnome, a new web 2.0 application for the iPhone that enables PhoneGnome calling from your iPhone. You can call other PhoneGnome numbers as well as anyone using SIP-based services, FWD, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, and any other numbers that you can call from your PhoneGnome account. Pretty sweet, eh?

Here are the features according the blog post:
  • Use your iPhone to make calls on your home-phone or office-phone service through your PhoneGnome account
  • Make International calls at cheap PhoneGnome rates - or even free!
  • Check your PhoneGnome voicemail directly on your iPhone
  • Have all your PhoneGnome Contacts conveniently and automatically on your iPhone
  • Place calls to VOIP and IM users without hacking your iPhone

On your iPhone you just browse to http://m.phonegnome.com/iphone on your mobile Safari browser and then dial the number you want to call.



Schmooze the Yiddish Asterisk

February 1, 2008

Oy vey! It appears we may have another Asterisk-based PBX in the mix. The chutzpah! The gall to launch an Asterisk-based system without telling me! I feel like such a schmuck for not knowing.

Yahoo Overture Keyword Selector Tool Outage

February 1, 2008

Microsoft assimilates Yahoo

February 1, 2008


According the various news reports, including TMC's Greg Galitzine who also reported on the possibility last May, Microsoft is going to "assimilate" Yahoo. For non-Star Trek fans, that means the big powerful Borg (Microsoft) is going to take over (assimilate) Yahoo.

Greg writes:

Microsoft Corp. has apparently made an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! Inc. in a bid to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance in all things Internet, specifically search and advertising.

The offer of $31 a share in cash or Microsoft stock constitutes a greater than 60% premium over Yahoo's closing price January 31.






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