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Another day, another acquisition. Six Apart has acquired mobile blogging software company Splash Blog for an undisclosed amount of money. I have been able to confirm it. The news of the deal first showed up here. I am on the road, but will post more on this later.
Written by Om Malik on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Written by VoIP Magazine Featured Stories on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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My article on Google’s office ambitions just went online over at the CNNMoney website. Between the Writely acquisition, GDrive and the content of the documents leaked accidentally, the question is not if, but when.
The leaked documents stated that the online-application strategy “will help us make the client less important…which suits our strength vis-a-vis Microsoft and is also of great value to the user…Gmail started to do this for webmail, but that’s just a small first step. Infinite bandwidth will make this a reality for all applications.”
An alternate take on why Online Office Apps don’t really cut the mustard.
Written by Om Malik on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Bill Gates, even when the US stock market is struggling to make gains just simply keeps making money. According to Forbes Billionaires List, he is the richest guy on the planet and padded his net worth by about $3.5 billion this year. And he is actually a good guy - he does give away a lot of his money for worthy causes.
In comparison, Google boys are worth about $25.6 billion - Sergey and Larry are worth $12.8 billion each. Last year the duo were collectively worth $14.4 billion, so they outpaced Microsoft and Bill in this all important category as well and added $11.2 billion. Still a long way to go…
Written by Om Malik on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Back in the day, when satellite television was a new new thing for rest of the planet, I used to watch The Bold & The Beautiful. It was a guilty pleasure for some months, but then I quickly lost interest. The story did not change much, though the faces did change. Some characters became more beautiful, and others became less bold. Its been a few years I have even thought about the show, and the reason I did today, well because of Nortel Networks’ latest announcement that it will restate results… again.
How many times have we heard the same story from the same company? “This revenue is real — it was recognized in the wrong periods. The restatements do not affect the company’s cash position,” said a statement from CEO and President Mike Zafirovski. Oh come on now, you are no Chinese economy, that you can’t figure out what the hell is going on. A big NYSE company cannot keep its books properly?
“This time, it’s focused on contracts signed last year. And although the company insists it isn’t material, the perception that Nortel is still trying to resolve its accounting scandal is troubling. At some point, Nortel needs to have a clean slate so it can move forward strategically,” writes Mark Evans.
On a more recent tip, it seems the company is doing well - or that is it decides to re-state its results … In the fourth quarter 2005 company lost $2.21 billion, or 51 cents a share which seems terrible when compared to a net loss of $107 million, or 2 cents a share in the fourth quarter 2004. Since, this net loss includes a one-time special item - $2.5 billion or 57 cents a share to settle a shareholder class action litigation, the company actually earned 6 cents a share in the 4Q 2005, about two pennies better than what analysts were expecting.
Written by Om Malik on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Did you ever wonder how gadgets wind up in your favorite movie or TV show. Well, this "product placement" is not as innocent an occurrence as you might think. This from George Simkowski, vice president of SportsLoop, writing on TalentZoo.com:
"I’m generally recognized for being one of the originators of product placement. In 1960 I was the Advertising Manager of Webcor, a Chicago Company manufacturing tape recorders and phonographs. I received a call from an MGM executive who requested a Webcor tape recorder as a “prop” for the Bob Hope movie, Bachelor in Paradise. Bob Hope played a writer who taped his daily exploits in paradise so he could write about them later. The Webcor tape recorder appeared in almost every scene so the brand name was constantly on camera.
"When I realized what we had, I decided to create a retail promotion with our 5,000 dealers and tie it in with the release of the movie. Bob Hope and MGM approved the idea. Both the movie and promotion were enormously successful. This was indeed one of the first brand name placements in a movie and definitely one of the first back-end tie-in promotions. The business has grown and prospered even since. Product placement has matured into a very valuable marketing tool for many brand name opportunities."
There you have it, straight from the inventor of the genre ...
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Tags: product placement, George Simkowski, SportsLoop, TalentZoo.com, Webcor, Bob Hope, Bachelor in Paradise, MGM
Written by randy@strategypluscommunications.com on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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When eBay bought Skype last year for a whopping $4.1 billion ($2.6 billion in stock/cash and rest as an earn out) my theory is that the first step in integration of the two companies would be adding a Skype Me feature for all sellers on the eBay system. Well, time to say, told you so.
It seems that eBay is already mash-ing it up Skype in some European countries. Switzerland for example, where, buyers can talk to sellers via Skype, and also with eBay customer service. Didier Durand has posted a lengthy french language post on his blog sent me the heads-up. Thanks DD. Didier says that since eBay’s European headquarters are in Bern, Switzerland the small size of the market, and its multilingual nature (4 national languages), it is often used for experiment like the one made by Ebay.
eBay has confirmed this on its Swiss website. Similar tests are going on in Belgium, Holland, China and Taiwan according to Ute Moritz which works for Ebay in Germany. Similar tests were conducted in Norway as well. It makes sense, especially as eBay starts to move high ticket items like cars, and expensive jewelry, as people would like to talk to each other before closing deals. But Skype calls when selling a phone power adapter… yikes!
I find it interesting that most of the tests are in countries that are not hostile to Skype. I think such a roll-out in the US would have the MSOs and the phone company(s) up in arms. Now if you are like me, then you are asking: this is it for $4.1 billion? There’s got to be more, right.
Written by Om Malik on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Written by Russell Shaw on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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When AT&T Chief Executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr. announced Sunday that his company would acquire BellSouth in a deal worth $67 billion, it signaled a new era for big telephony as well as the near complete undoing of the 1984 breakup of Ma Bell, with four out of seven Baby Bells soon subsumed back into the company.20- to 30 years?
...
The purchase isn't really about undoing regulatory action or increasing market cap. For that matter, it isn't even about phone service. This merger is about buying the lines that connect to the homes of BellSouth customers and selling them everything you can squeeze down a fiber-optic line, including television, Internet, movies and music.
...
This merger is a logical next step," Whitacre said. "Together, we will lead the way into a new era of converged and bundled communications, video and entertainment services while also improving our ability to manage complex networks."
...To make up for the death of their oldest and historically most important business, the phone companies have had to scramble to find alternatives. Wireless telephony proved to be one great way to make cash...
But while cellular is still hugely important, it's rapidly becoming a mature market. More than 80% of adults in the U.S. already own a cell phone. Companies like AT&T know they have to compete directly with fast-growing Internet phone services and turn the tables on the cable companies that provide them.
"They are gearing up to fight new competitors, the cable-television industry, for the complete bundle of services, including telephone, television, wireless and Internet," said independent telecom analyst Jeff Kagan."AT&T is getting ready to roll out their television service on a nationwide basis. This is much more advanced than traditional television," Kagan continued. "Customers, for example, can watch four channels at one time. This is sending companies like Comcast and the other cable television companies back to the drawing board to offer a better combination of services."
....Ultimately, it's likely the telecom industry will become something of a duopoly, with Verizon and AT&T competing head-to-head, and both companies squaring off against the cable industry.
"Telecommunications as an industry in the United States is going through massive changes," says Kagan. "We are in the middle of a major 20- to 30-year transformation. When we come out the other side, we'll have the choice of our telephone company versus our cable-television company for the same big bundle of services."
Written by VoIP and ENUM on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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... In fact, any cellular user can access the Internet using a data connection and in this way access any services may provide ...and further down:
... This means that any given user can install a VoIP client in their 3G terminal and establish VoIP calls over the packet-switched domain. Such a user can take advantage of all the services that service providers on the Internet offer, such as voice mail or conferencing services...My remark: and in addition the same services are also available via any packet-switched domain, not only 3G.
... Why do we need the IMS, if all the power of the Internet is already available for 3G users through the packet-switched domain? ...
The answer is threefold: QoS, charging and integration of different services.Ok, QoS is the usual stuff I will only believe when I see it. What I am missing here interestingly is one topic always raised by the IMS-freaks such as mobile operators, TISPAN vendors and the GSMA is security and reliability., one of the main arguments for the IPX(GRX/CRX).
... Another [the main] reason for creating the IMS was to be able to charge multimedia sessions appropriately [keep the existing business model]. A user involved in a videoconference over the packet-switched domain usually transfers a large amount of information. Depending on the 3G operator the transfer of such amount of data may generate large expenses [one may say prohibitive expenses if you are roaming in a visited network], since operators typically charge based on the number of bytes transferred [typically 10$/MB]. The user's operator cannot follow a different business model to charge the user because the operator is not aware of the context of those bytes [poor guys].This is all well known, it is called discriminative pricing. But now it comes:
... On the other hand, if the operator is aware of the actual service that the user is using, the operator can provide an alternative charging scheme that may be more beneficial for the user.What? This is really cute. Touching. I am moved to tears. Or are you guys pulling my leg? Yes:
... for instance, the operator might be able to charge a fixed amount for every instant message, regardless of its size. Additionally, the operator may charge for a multimedia session based on duration.Aha, here we are: this is what the operators want: if I use e.g. Skype for IM, I do pay for some bytes, now I will pay 0,20 cents per message like for an SMS. The reason is that somebody has to pay for the expensive billing systems.
... operators want to be able to use services developed by third parties, combine them, integrate them with services thy already have, and provide the user with a completely new service ...Also here, seeing is believing. I am really waiting for the first real implementation here.
Before exploring the general architecture in the IMS we should keep in mind that 3GPP does not standardize nodes, but functions. This means that the IMS architecture is a collection of functions linked by standardized interfaces. Implementers are free to combine two functions into a single node (e.g. into a single physical box).Of course they do, because they like to sell single boxes, because you still get more for a box then for a (SW)-function.
In general, most vendors follow the IMS architecture closely and implement each function into a single node.
Written by VoIP and ENUM on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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It is no secret that making a call to the home country from foreign countries is a big bother. Everyone, including big carriers are out to fleece you. If the prices aren't high enough, the plans can be confusing too. We have already heard about AT&T fleecing U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
For starters, Skype costs just around 2 cents a minute rate to the USA. Moreover, if you use SkypeIn, a service which is still being tested, you can call your own dedicated Skype phone number, using a country and available area code which you have chosen. SkypeIn will cost you $12 for a three-month subscription and $38 for a year. It includes voice mail.
Written by gautam.chabbra on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Nicholas Negroponte say that VOIP will give serious competition to Mobile telephone operators.
Negroponte thinks that the increasing usage of PC and now dual-mode phones may lessen the usage of mobile phones. Mr. Negroponte thinks that this trend will gather some serious steam as computers proliferate. The $ 100 Laptop is a fit case
Mr. Negroponte is especially sure this will be the case in the developing countries, where mobile phone connections outnumber fixediline connections. And, the $100 Laptop is around the corner.
Via VoipCentral
Written by gautam.chabbra on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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We are seeing a trend here. A single phone will do both fixed line and VOIP dialing.
Exhibited at Cebit 2006, AVM's new Cordless VoIP phone has an ADSL modem, a WLAN router, a DECT telephone, and Voice over IP. The AVM FT 7150 D Cordless VoIP phone allows the user to make phone calls both over the Internet and over a fixed line. The phone is easy to use and it has great sound quality as well.
The AVM FT 7150 D Cordless VoIP phone will be released later this year.
Written by gautam.chabbra on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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The Fritz Mini has a high resolution color display. It supports 802.11g WLAN, and USB 2.0 too.
You can make regular fixed-line phone calls as well as VOIP calls from this wonder machine. You can even hear Music on the Fritz Mini - Internet radio, podcasts, and some other formats. . You can receive notification of about new email or text messages. You can also look at news, weather and other content like stocks on the Frtz Mini.
No prices yet. The Fritz Mini will be released in later half of the year.
Via VoIP Central
Written by gautam.chabbra on March 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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