August 16th, 2006
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Yahoo Photos is now out of beta–so it seems that web 2.0 is really and truly coming to the masses. Yahoo is the biggest photo-sharing service out there, with 30 million unique monthly visitors worldwide, according to comScore*, and more than 2 billion hosted images, according to the company. And Yahoo Photos (not to be confused with Flickr), has an impressive array of features–drag and drop with lassoing, free unlimited storage, high-res downloads, all the social sharing stuff.
It’s not clear, but it looks as if all existing Yahoo Photo users are going to be migrated to the new service. There have been some doubts about the scalablity of AJAX, and it certainly hasn’t been tried at such a large scale. Many beta testers have complained about the slowness of the AJAX-heavy (though gorgeous) Yahoo Mail. Yahoo Photos has been pushed out the door much faster than its email counterpart, which is still trudging along in beta. In contrast, Yahoo Photos presented at DEMO in February and came out in beta in June…and now it appears to be live.
Hat tip to Elinor.
*Hitwise disagrees, putting Photobucket at number 1.
Written by Liz Gannes on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Some of you may have noticed some new people with
'@digium.com' email addresses lately... yes, we have been hiring to expand our Asterisk development team and I should have made an official announcement some time ago.
Joshua Colp joined our development team a few months ago. Josh (file on IRC/Mantis) has been working on Asterisk development for quite some time and had contributed many features and bug fixes as a volunteer community member, along with being very active on the IRC channels and issue tracker.
Steve Murphy joined our development team at the beginning of June. Steve (murf on IRC/Mantis) had rewritten Asterisk's expression parser and the AEL language parser as a volunteer community member, along with various other bug fixes and improvements.
Jason Parker joined our development team at the beginning of this week. Jason (qwell on IRC/Mantis) has been maintaining the chan_skinny driver for Cisco SCCP phones as well acting as a bug marshal and fixing various bugs in Asterisk for the past year or more.
Russell Bryant has been a Digium part-time employee and an active Asterisk maintainer since before I got involved with Asterisk :-) His contributions are innumerable, and he has worked far more than the 'ten to twenty hours per week' he claims to have available outside of his school work! Russell (russellb on IRC/Mantis) will be joining us full time in Huntsville after the winter semester is complete, when he expects to graduate.
Please join me in welcoming all these new members of our development team; they are helping to make Asterisk (and our other software products) better every day and will enable us to accelerate our products into the future.
--
Kevin P. Fleming
Senior Software Engineer
Digium, Inc.
Written by Dal on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Pando, the startup that has created a drag-n-drop file-sharing application, says it’s hit the one millionth install mark, in just the three months since it launched into public beta. Pando has released a plug-in for Outlook and Yahoo Messenger, and founder Yaron Samid says several other major IM and email players have approached the company to create a plug-in or power file-sharing services.
Earlier today Google said its file-transfer feature for Google Talk is now publicly available. We’ll have to put the two to the test and see if there are major performance differences.
Written by Katie Fehrenbacher on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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What is old becomes new again -- is this inspired by Stonehenge or other ancient rock formations built by our ancestors?
(Or is there a simpler reason grasshopper?)
Rukshuk, "The Game of Rock Balancing" -- offers a "refreshing departure from the high-tech world of video games dominating the current landscape" and a global ecological theme.
Every Rukshuk rock formation, which players attempt to build by balancing specially crafted game rocks, is named for a natural rock phenomenon somewhere on the planet.
Here's creator Malcom Bisiker's take on it:
“Mother Nature has been building rock formations for a long time. People around the world have also built rock formations for cultural reasons and as landmarks for thousands of years. Rukshuk delivers this age-old idea in the form of an exciting, point-scoring game."
Players race against the clock to build different Rukshuk rock formations by balancing their blindly chosen game rocks. (Scrabble anyone?)
If a formation topples, it must be rebuilt quickly. Points are scored for each rock standing at the end of the allotted time, with bonus points added for the successful use of specific rocks and the completion of the formation. The player with the highest score wins.
Bisiker's inspiration? Rukshuk was conceived in 1998 in a cafe (are you sure this doesn't mean "pub"?) in London, England, where he watched as a group of friends nearby attempted to stack sugar cubes. He wondered what was so addictive about the balancing act, tried it himself and was instantly hooked.
(See how you can turn your idle time into inspiration?)
www.rukshuk.com
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It's pretty interesting how uncool AOL is trying to get cool -- first by dropping a chunk of its pay-per-use model and now buying GameDaily, arguably one of the leading online gaming publications.
(All the news that's fit to print about video games, gaming, etc. ... and that can really be quite a lot of news!)
Check out the news on the GameDaily site to see how they reported their own news!
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Written by VoIP & Gadgets Blog on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Om Malik wrote a great speculative piece at GigaOm on who'll make money in VoIP.
(There's even a poll question, if you want to put in your two cents
worth.) As Om says, with Wi-Fi, any profits made were made mostly by
hardware makers (e.g. Linksys, D-Link, Netgear etc.) and chip makers.
It
makes sense then that something similar may happen with VoIP, espcially
considering how many free services there are. As proof of at least a
similar attempt, look at who is offering VoIP hardware and phones. Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, and others, of course.
While
some of the offerings are a bit pricey - normal for new consumer
gadgets - I would assume their collective market research teams did
enough homework to determine that someone would actually, given the
number of products released.
It all supports my own hypothesis
so far that people don't want to pay for intangibles such as soft VoIP,
but are more than happy to spend $200-300 on a Skype Wi-Fi phone.
Written by ewriter on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Web calendar Kiko has put its domain and code up for sale on eBay with a minimum bid of just under $50,000.
Web 2.0 is not all launch parties and magazine covers and bubbly! The online calendar space is one of the more crowded spots to be right now, and the two Kiko founders say they want to have the freedom to work on a new project.
The calendar (condition: used; shipping: free!) gets about 40,000 visitors per month, has natural language functionality, lots of AJAX, RSS feeds, sharing, iCal and vCard support, and an API, according to the eBay post. No bidders have chimed in yet but the listing has only been live a couple of hours.
I just talked to Kiko founder Justin Kan and he says the sale isn’t a sore point, simply “the easiest exit” for the project. He had previously asserted in a blog post that Kiko had nothing to fear from Google Calendar. Today he admitted “Our desire to move on to another project, while helped along by Google, isn’t because of them.”
Kiko had emerged from last year’s Y Combinator summer session in Boston, along with Reddit. Thanks for the tip, Narendra!
Written by Liz Gannes on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Google Talk, Google's text + VoIP IM (Instant Messaging) client, now has voicemail and file transfer.
I could swear, however, that this was already available as recently as
a week or two ago. However, according to a C|Net news article, these
are new features announced yesterday, for Google Talk's first birthday. [via GigaOm]
GoogleTalk now offers a soft client for Blackberry devices, but has yet to offer true VoIP capabilities such as calling in or out from/to regular phones. Vozin Communications Talqer soft client, which integrates with Talk or runs standalone, provides such features.
Written by ewriter on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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GigaTeam stopped by Cyworld’s launch fiesta at San Francisco’s Fluid Ultra Lounge last night and mingled with the Cyworld crew, relaxing after their debut.
A lot of high-level execs from Korea were wandering the floor, from both SK Telecom and Cyworld division, along with Cyworld U.S. consultants like Marc Canter. Since parent company SK Telecom has a lot of funds behind it, they can afford to throw a pretty decent party.
An interactive map across one wall proved Cyworld’s global ambitions, and party-goers scribbled comments on the spread while sipping strong Cyworld margaritas.
Best part? The M&M-filled chocolate acorn in the goody bag. Or maybe seeing the team chill out after their stressful weeks before launch. Forgettable party gift — the Cyworld golf towel. Must have been for all the VCs trying to invest.
Written by Katie Fehrenbacher on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Efonica,
Fusion Telecommunications' global VoIP service now has over 400,000
subscribers since their launch two months ago. Fusion announced this
week that they added 150,000 subscribers in the last two weeks alone.
(Their consumer, business, and government clients are distributed in
over 100 countries.)
The Efonica
service allows users to make free calls using Fusion's SIP adapter.
Calls can be made from any combination of PCs, internet phones and
regular phones. Fusion recently filed for a VoIP patent for their DSP (Directed SIP Peer-to-Peer) technology.
Written by ewriter on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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YouTube is working to build a library of every music video ever created, according to Reuters. The content, which YouTube co-founder and CTO Steve Chen said he hopes to acquire in the next six to 18 months, would be offered for free.
This being YouTube, any talk of a business model was obfuscated. But surprisingly, two major labels–Warner and EMI–went on record saying they were working with YouTube on the project.
“We’re obviously interested in legitimate use scenarios and trying to broaden those, and our focus with YouTube is how to be partners while protecting our artists and ensuring they get paid,” said Michael Nash, senior vice-president of digital and business development at Warner Music.
Everyone is trying to get a piece of the YouTube hype these days. comScore issued a press release yesterday saying YouTube had broken into its top 50 sites, with 16 million unique visitors in July (but behind Yahoo Video and the surging MySpace Videos, as Matt points out). And of course, yesterday’s six-hour YouTube site outage did not go unnoticed.
The Reuters article did not discuss amateur music videos a la the Chinese Backstreet Boys, which in my opinion are some of the most entertaining stuff online. It’s unclear if the labels are going to play the copyright card on the lip-synch issue. I looked into it a while back and every lawyer I talked to said fair use would not apply here. YouTube and the RIAA refused to comment about allegations they were issuing take-down notices for the videos. According to the WSJ, Universal was lobbying other labels against letting the lip-synching videos go free.
Google, meanwhile, told me the labels have indicated they are fine with lip-synchers–until of course they started to make money off their Internet celebrity. Hunter Walk, product manager for Google Video, said “The record companies are interested in finding out where this stuff is going and how they can catch up to it.”
What would be really cool is if these YouTube-music label talks end up with some kind of allowance for music video mashups and the like. Or maybe Google will be the one to make that breakthrough. Google has an opportunity to push YouTube hard on video, and it seems to be finally flexing its power. When Google put video on its homepage last week, Hitwise recorded a single-day doubling in traffic to Google Video.
Written by Liz Gannes on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition now complains (as of 2 days ago) if it detects you have more than 1 machine at home running AVG Free Edition. It then displays a popup message with a hyperlink to 'become legal'. Clicking the link brings you to AVG's website where you are
offered the paid professional version to purchase. It welcomes you with what I took as a sarcastic "Welcome to the
legal AVG community!".
Popup message with link asking you to Become LegalAVG became very popular with many users since it essentially offers a feature-packed anti-virus program free of charge with free antivirus signature file updates. Unlike many antivirus software solutions, this "free" offer isn't simply a trial - it's perpetually free. The only caveat is that you are only supposed to use their software for personal use and not business.
I believe the AVG antivirus software is tracking IP address connections to their virus update server. If it notices mutiple PCs from the same IP address downloading the updates, it assumes you are using it in a business environment. I haven't fully tested how or when AVG displays this popup, but I wish AVG's algorithm would at least set the number of PCs to >5 before flagging as an ilegal copy, since many people have multiple PCs in their homes.
I actually received this error on a shared corporate laptop. Technically, the AVG antivirus software (free version) shouldn't have been installed on the laptop since it violates their licensing agreement. However, often times users take these laptops to tradeshows or hotels, outside the protected corporate network, get infected with a virus, google "free antivirus software" and find AVG as one of the search results. They then just blindly install it. They're supposed to read the licensing terms, but who does these days?
This phoning home tactic by AVG certainly seems to be borrowing a page from
Microsoft which has instituted their
WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) pirated software utility to "track" supposedly illegal copies of the Windows operating system.
AVG deserves to be commended for continuing to offer free anti-virus protection to end-users, but I'm a bit leery of their methods for attempting to detect business users breaking their licensing terms, which will no doubt result in false positives. Unfortunately, software vendors are becoming more draconian in attempting to enforce their software licensing even if they do throw the baby (legal users) out with the bath water (pirated users). What say you?
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Written by VoIP & Gadgets Blog on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Not everyone has the skills necessary to build his own Linux distribution. Raleigh, North Carolina-based rPath is offering to help users build their own customized Linux distribution as an appliance. If you want to do it online for free, feel free.
The company originally launched a free rPath Builder Online service earlier this year. Now, it is launching its first major revision in a bid to equip ISVs that want to use Linux as their operating system base.
Instead of an ISV or an application vendor relying on a user with the necessary operating system, the Linux as an appliance model that rPath is pioneering enables ISVs to bundle their application together with the Linux operating system in a complete stack.
"ISVs don't want to be the operating system vendor, with an open source operating system like Linux they don't have to be," rPath CTO founder Erik Troan.
The first version of rPath Builder enabled users to build distributions as ISO images for CD/DVDs, as well as VMware images that would run inside of the VMware virtualization player.
rPath Builder 2.0 extends the distribution paradigm by allowing users to build Live CDs as well. With a Live CD, end users boot and run the whole appliance from their media drive without the need to physically install to a hard drive.
The new version also makes managing and deploying an rPath-built appliance easier with the rPath Appliance Agent(RAA). With RAA, users can control setup, configuration and updates for the rPath-based Linux appliance.
"With rPath Appliance Agent we're trying to make it easier for developers to provide a pre-built system and make it easier for people to build Linux appliances," Troan explained. "Instead of logging in and editing a config file, RAA is the initial thing that comes up when you load the system and you can connect to it over SSL."
RAA is a starting point for building Web consoles and it can be branded by ISVs such that the end user won't know that it rPath Linux.
Though the rPath approach to building Linux appliance may serve to remove barriers for ISVs and others, it's the appliance approach itself which may present the biggest obstacle to rPath adoption.
Troan wouldn't disclose how many people are currently using rPath. Some well-known applications are already offering rPath Linux-built appliances.
Among them is open source VoIP pioneer Digium, which is currently offering its Asterisk Business Edition as an all-in-one Linux appliance. SugarCRM also offers an rPath Linux appliance; database vendor Ingress today announced its Ingress Database appliance.
Troan is betting that, as the market for virtualization matures, so will the concept of virtualized appliances with customers.
"These industry efforts are making our selling job, and objections [such as] 'do I need a virtualized software appliance' and 'I don't get it,' easier and easier every time we go out."
Written by Dal on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Motorola has announced its Point-to-Point (PTP) 49400, a wireless Ethernet bridge tailored for use in the 4.9 GHz spectrum, which is used by the public safety sector. The PTP 49400, a component of Motorola's MOTOwi4 portfolio of wireless broadband solutions and services, gives different agencies the mission critical reliability and high bandwidth required to communicate during times of crisis and uncertainty.
The Motorola PTP 49400 delivers increased bandwidth for applications such as on-scene streaming video, Internet and database access, and transfers of large files such as maps, blueprints, medical files and missing-person images.
The PTP 49400 also handles backhaul for wireless networks and temporary fixed point-to-point links, providing a cost-effective solution for T1 replacements and a 4.9 GHz solution for backhauling fixed video surveillance networks.
Motorola’s MOTOwi4 portfolio of innovative wireless broadband solutions and services create, complement and complete IP networks. Delivering IP coverage to virtually all spaces, the MOTOwi4 portfolio includes Fixed Broadband, Mesh, Broadband over Powerline, and WiMAX solutions for private and public networks.
Written by Dal on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Nearly half of contact centres in North America will use voice over IP (VoIP) systems by the end of next year, according to new research. The new report from the Yankee Group says that despite VoIP adoption lagging behind earlier predictions, the call centre market is embracing the technology.
Forty-seven per cent of call centres are expected to roll out VoIP by 2007, compared to just 17 per cent in 2005.
The key reasons for using the new technology are to manage multiple call centre sites cheaply and flexibly and to be able to place agents anywhere, including at home.
The largest contact centres - those with over 500 seats - will see the greatest uptake of VoIP from now until the end of 2007, the analyst predicts.
Though VoIP for the enterprise has been much-hyped in recent years, Yankee Group said adoption has not met its predictions.
The report said: "This lacklustre performance of VoIP products and services in the enterprise - and more specifically in the contact centre marketplace - indicates that much more than technology and end-user perception are involved in driving the market for VoIP applications to a higher level."
The biggest concerns for contact centres looking to roll out VoIP are costs, including fears of high upfront costs. Overall respondents believed they would see savings of six to 15 per cent from using the technology.
Other concerns include voice quality - a worry for 46 per cent of the market - and security and reliability.
Call centres are looking to buy VoIP systems from telcos and telephony hardware/software vendors over system integrators and value-added resellers, and though data networking vendors are still in the minority, they've made progress in capturing market share, according to the analyst.
Source: Yankee Group
Written by Dal on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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VoIP.com wrote an
interesting article put out as a press release on PRWeb.com. Titled "Pure VoIP Vs. Telecom VoIP: Guidance from VoIP.com", the article takes a position that pure VoIP players such as
Vonage,
Packet8,
SunRocket, etc. are a better value than telecom VoIP providers, such as cable companies and telephony carriers. First, a caveat,
VoIP.com is a provider of pure VoIP, so their opinion is going to obviously have a bias.
The articles accurately states, "VoIP services vary widely from provider to provider, however there is an undeniable line in the sand that divides pure VoIP from the digital voice plans rolled out by the telecos. The average phone bill for a traditional line is $54 per month, while VoIP from the cable companies runs about $42, the telephone company's VoIP is roughly $33 and dedicated VoIP providers are $20."
It is true that pure VoIP players are more cost-effective than their telecom/cable counterparts. The article questions why this is the case when it states, "Since VoIP is more cost effective for [telephone/cable] providers, why aren't the savings being passed on to consumers who choose a bundled option from their cable or telephone provider?"
It attempts to answer this question when it says, "The simple answer might be that it's easier to give consumers a break if you're not shoring up a century's worth of copper wire losses with new technology revenue. One way to do that is by squeezing premium prices out of VoIP consumers."
I whole-heartedly disagree that this is the reason. Telephone companies and cable companies have had their copper infrastructure for years and most have been profitable. While the telephone companies have been hurt in the last 10 years, it hasn't been due to infrastructure costs, nor is defection to VoIP to blame. You can however blame the decreasing profit margins on long-distance calling. In the 1990s, it wouldn't be uncommon for the average home to rack up a $200/month phone bill due to long-distance charges. Today, if you pay that much you're a fool. Many telephone carriers expanded their offerings by expanding into wireless. However, this was a Catch-22 since wireless plans came with bucket of included anywhere (long-distance) minutes that cannibalized their landline long-distance calling plans.
There is now more competition in offering telephone service than ever before. So why are the cable companies and the telephone companies offering a "premium" on VoIP services that is higher than the pure VoIP players?
The answer to that is four-fold.
First, non-tech savvy users not familiar with VoIP can be easily upsell-ed by their current cable or telecom provider to add VoIP service to replace their existing phone service. The new phone service will be much cheaper than their current plan, which is enough to get a customer to bite. The
second reason is the fact that you aren't changing providers, and you don't have any complications with porting your phone number makes it a simple switch that will immediately save the customer money. The
third reason is the customer can receive a single unified bill with their voice, video, and data services. You certainly can't discount the "convenience" factor.
I for one try to combine as many bills as I can since I notoriously forget to pay, or I'm travelling and end up paying multiple late fees. One bill lessens the odds of multiple late fees. The
fourth reason why cable and telephone companies can explain their VoIP "premium" is because they can claim - whether rightly or wrongly - that their voice quality is better than say Vonage, because they are running the IP packets on a managed network with QoS (quality of service).
The article then states that pure VoIP players are better positioned to pass along cost savings "because they don’t have to support the multi-million dollar advertising campaigns that their larger, more entrenched competitors do." It further explains this by stating pure VoIP players are more tech savvy in getting the word out using less costly forms of advertising like viral marketing, blogging, and internet search engine ranking. While there is certainly a lot of truth to this, especially in the recent past, the telephone companies and cable companies have been getting better. The pure play VoIP providers certainly have leveraged the power of affiliate marketing to help promote themselves on the Internet. Heck, it seems as though you can't visit 10 websites without seeing a
Vonage ad of some sort.
Cable companies and telephone companies haven't leverages the power of affiliates nearly as much, however they don't really have to. Since both of these have specific geographic regions wher their copper is laid, they don't need to blast the entire Internet with banner ads or leverage affiliates. They can simply use local inexpensive mailers advertising their VoIP service (including triple play) or if the customer is a current customer, they can use an insert/flyer within their bill to promote their VoIP service. Further, since they are a current customer, there is a loophole in the national DNC (do not call) list that lets companies call you if they have done business with you in the past 6 months. As I mentioned in my
2005 VoIP predictions, this gives cable and telephone companies a huge advantage over pure VoIP players which surely will be exploited.
Pure play VoIP providers do have some advantages.
First, they are less expensive, but you have to be willing to sacrifice some quality for value. I have been a pure play Vonage user (over cable data) for many years, and
plan on switching in the next month (to Charter Voice) due to QoS issues - usually packet loss due to Charter's fault - not Vonage. Nevertheless whose fault it is, I can't have phone service issues on a near weekly basis. I will say that I have gone over 9 months with no problems with Vonage when I lived at my former address using Cablevision high-speed data. Thus, tech-savvy users who are willing to take the gamble on voice quality for value will find pure VoIP players attractive.
The
second reason to choose a pure play VoIP player is for purely geographical reasons. Many areas of the country have high-speed data, but the cable or telephone companies don't yet offer VoIP services of their own. This is however changing very quickly as even the smaller cable and telephone companies are quickly ramping up their VoIP offerings, thus negative pure VoIP players' advantage. The
third advantage of pure VoIP play providers is they do often offer more advanced features than the cable/telephone providers.
Recently I wrote about how
Verizon is deploying fiber in NYC in a race to offer voice, video, data, before customer defections. How will the pure VoIP players compete with high-speed fiber and bundled packages. Will fiber, bundled packages, and single provider/bill spell the
death knell for the pure play VoIP providers? Well, if Vonage's failed IPO is any indication, the money watchers are betting on the cable and telephone companies to eventually dominate the voice market. Of course, there will always be those looking to save a buck, so single play VoIP providers aren't going to go away anytime soon.
One thing that can drastically affect the single play VoIP providers is HR 5252 (Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006) proposed by Congress. Currently,
HR 5252 has passed the House, but has stalled in the Senate with a threatened filibuster since many Senators want net neutrality provisions added to the bill. If net neutrality provisions are not amended to this bill or another future bill, then it is not out of the realm of possibilities that the cable and phone companies can "throttle" VoIP traffic from competing pure VoIP providers. They could simply add
500ms of delay (unacceptable voice quality) without necessarily blocking the packets. Blocking packets would no doubt would spark lawsuits that could easily be won, however simply throttling packets is
currently legal without any sort of net neutrality protections. Lawsuits would also ensue for throttling, but would have little chance of succeeding (
unless an activist judge decides to make his own law instead of interpreting existing law).
Right now, the cable and telephone companies are in a great position. Even if HR5252 passes, the cable and telephone companies will no doubt still charge a slight premium for their VoIP service for the reasons I previously listed. With net neutrality guaranteed, the single play providers will continue to compete based on value and features. However, if net neutrality provisions are not guaranteed then pure VoIP players are in deep trouble. I for one support some form of net neutrality to at least guarantee that the pure play VoIP providers are not unfairly targetted. Further, I hope tech-savvy users continue to sign up for Vonage, Packet8, Lingo, and the like for the simple reason that it will keep cable and telephony companies honest with regards to pricing. If they charge a
premium now, just imagine how much they'd charge should Vonage and the like go under or even simply become a less attractive option.
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Written by VoIP & Gadgets Blog on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Asterisk@VON
There will be a lot of Asterisk-related activities at Voice On the Net FALL - Von - in Boston. Apart from Digium booth (#819), there will be Asterisk presentations as well as developer meetings.
For the Asterisk@von agenda, see http://www.pulver.com/asterisk/ - there will be additions coming up soon.
Mark Spencer, the creator of Asterisk, will speak on Wednesday, September 13th:
----------------
Industry Perspective: An Open Source Carol: The Ghost of Open Source; Past, Present and Future
Wednesday, September 13, 2006, 4:45pm - 5:15pm
As the creator of Asterisk, the industry's first open source telephony platform, Mark Spencer, president of Digium, will discuss the phenomenal growth and industry acceptance of open source
telephony since last year's Fall VON. Companies (from the enterprise to the SMB) as well as carriers and developers have come to realize the benefits of open source solutions go far beyond cost savings. In fact, flexibility and competitive advantage are two of the main drivers behind moving to an open source solution. Taking a glimpse at the past, present and future of open source telephony, Mark will discuss the role this industry has and will play in the development
of next generation VoIP services.
------------
For the full agenda of the conference and the exhibition, see: www.von.com/index.html
I am looking forward to meeting you at Von - the premium VoIP and Asterisk conference & Trade show!
/Olle
Written by Dal on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Asterisk News.
Just a quick note that Edvina in cooperation with Digium is starting the fall season of trainings again.
Coming trainings are:* Asterisk Bootcamp, Boston - next week!
We still have a few seats available
* Asterisk Beachcamp, Malaga, Spain
A class in a beach hotel in beautiful Malaga on the Spanish south coast
Both classes are bootcamp-level classes with dCAP oppurtunities.
Visit our web site for more information or send e-mail to:
info@edvina.net
Asterisk@von - Voice On The Net in Boston
---------------------------------------------
For those of you going to Von Boston there will be a series of Asterisk seminars at von, labelled Asterisk@von. I will be covering the coming release, 1.4 as well as run developer meetings and a meeting for the Asterisk Video Task Force. See the von web site at http://www.von.com for more information.
Regards,
/Olle
Written by Dal on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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Google Talk is offering an update today, according to reports, that will enable users to easily transfer files, set presence with music, and send and receive voice mails. According to the article its also Google Talk’s first birthday. We haven’t checked out the upgrade because it doesn’t look like its available on the site as of yet. But we’re eagerly waiting to see it. Google’s blog says the upgrade has been available only to select Google users for a few weeks.
Perhaps new features could help bring in more Google Talk users beyond its somewhat small userbase. Though, we’re thinking it’s not as small as the recent Comscore figures of 44,000 in the U.S, and we’re still waiting for an update of those numbers too. Some of these features are already pretty common on other IM clients in the U.S., but really utilized on an IM application like SK Communication’s NateOn. It’s also part of the trend of some demographics turning to IM to manage their online communications instead of email.
Last weekend we were on Google’s Mountain View WiFi network using Google Talk to easily chat with friends. Together it’s a killer combo–free and easy.
Written by Katie Fehrenbacher on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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GigaOm reports that Google's municipal Wi-Fi network has gone live in Mountain View, Ca. following an investment of nearly $1-million. While Google apparently has no intentions of expanding into other markets, it has put the spotlight on the muni Wi-Fi, which is being enthusiastically embraced by cities across North America, including Toronto. The question is if they (including Google) build it, will they come? In other words, does the creation of a wireless network mean it will be used other than by a small group of business people, tourists and geeks? Sure, a muni Wi-Fi network is pretty cheap to roll out but can you get a good return on investment if doesn't get a lot of traffic? Arguably, cities building Wi-Fi have other mandates, some of them have nothing to do with wireless users. Some cities, for example, are simply looking to look cutting-edge so they can attract well-paying high-tech jobs. Others cities have supplementary goals. City-owned Toronto Hydro, for example, which will launch a Wi-Fi network next month, will use wireless technology to read "smart" hydro meters that will be installed in each household - thereby reducing the need and cost of having someone manually read the meter, having the homeowner do it themselves. For the most part, however, many cities will discover their Wi-Fi networks will probably collect a lot of dust but they will probably be enjoyed by the small handful of people who actually use them.
Update: Speaking of Wi-Fi, Boingo has just raised $65-million in new private equity. The round was led by Mitsui & Co. with new investors Mitsui Corporate Development Funds, Steepoint Capital Partners and Red Rock Ventures. Boingo has now raised $95-million from three rounds.
Written by Mark Evans on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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No doubt, Nick Carr is a smart guy but why are his blog posts so curmudgeon-like? He took a break from one of his pony-horses, Wikipedia, to take healthy a swipe at how the blogosphere has become a world of the "A-listers" and the rest of us (which he creatively describes as "long tail bloggers") who can't get any love or attention from the "A-listers". Is that what it's all about, Nick? If a blogger does good stuff but doesn't get much attention is that a reason to quit? Why blog if it's just about getting attention? Is it all about getting hyper-links and lots and lots of readers? Sure, it's frustrating to write something as brilliant as one of those blogging superstars but get little readership, attention or even an appearance on TechMeme. Perhaps the "A-list" has something to do with first-mover advantage as people who have been blogging for awhile have the most readership/momentum. A lot of it has to do with profile/brand. Many "A-listers" have actively involved within their industries - whether they are executives, analysts, reporters - and naturally get more opportunities to "sell" people on reading their blogs. (I'm sure, for example, a chunk of my readership has to do with the profile as a National Post reporter and that I've been blogging since early-2004). So should "B-list" and "C-list" bloggers give up if they're as lonely as the Maytag repair man? If all they want is attention, walking away makes sense. But if they enjoy sharing their thoughts with even a small group of people, keeping blogging! Perhaps the point that Carr is raising - and it's an increasingly common theme - is the clear need for better search/discovery tools for the blogosphere because Technorati, Sphere, Google Blog Search, IceRocket, Blogdigger, Feedster, etc. are falling short in some respects. What a smart entrepreneur should do is create a "quality" engine that finds and profiles those brilliant posts by "B-list" and "C-list" bloggers.
More: CrunchNotes has a deliciously-titled response to Carr's post called "Is Carr the new Robin Hood, or Just an Asshole?", Karl Martino offers his comment, which he posted on Carr's blog, while Rexblog has a good riff on Carr's medievel-themed post. The inspiration for Carr's post, by the way, is a post by Kent Newsome on who reads blogs other than other bloggers.
Addendum: A couple more thoughts - when you really think about it, Carr has a gift for getting attention that many bloggers, particularly those craving for more love, should follow. He writes provocative posts about a big target (Wikipedia, blogging, etc.) and then reaps the benefits (hyper-links, comments, traffic) of the uproar he creates. As well, you need to ask yourself why you blog. If it's simply attention, use some of Carr's tricks, or just write about why all of Google's new services are terrible...or something like that.
Written by Mark Evans on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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T-Mobile plans to launch a Wi-Fi-cellular converged phone service in Seattle and potentially one other market next month on September 12th, sources say. More markets will follow soon after. The city of Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area are the likely candidates for a possible rollout.
T-Mobile’s converged service is based on a standard called Unlicensed Mobile Access, popularly known by its acronym, UMA. The news that T-Mobile has been doing trials of services using the wireless convergence standard UMA have been slowly coming to light. Business Week points out a service targeted at in-home cell phone users called T-Mobile-At-Home, which seems like UMA, but the article doesn’t name the standard. Engadget had also posted information about the UMA trial.
We’ll see if T-Mobile can meet its planned launch date, but the company is eager to start deploying UMA given it can not only take a piece of in-home calls, but can also use UMA to handoff in its thousands of T-Mobile WiFi hotspots. UMA is a standard that enables the handoff of calls between cellular (GSM only) and unlicensed wireless like WiFi.
More than any other carrier in the U.S. T-Mobile has the incentive to use UMA — it ranks behind the top 3 U.S. carriers, only reported 613,000 net new customers for the second quarter of this year, and owns valuable WiFi real estate that it can use to grow those subscribers. The company would only confirm that UMA is one of the technologies that the company believes will help replace landline calls.
We’re not sure when T-Mobile will target any of its UMA services beyond what seems like an initial in-home calling launch, but adding hotspot coverage could be its trump card.
What exactly is UMA? It’s an international standard that has been in development for years by a consortium of carriers and companies. The technology works with both bluetooth and WiFi and uses dual-mode phones to roam between WiFi and cellular networks. Deployment of wide-reaching UMA services require UMA infrastructure in the network that companies like Alcatel, Nokia, Kineto Wireless, Motorola and Ericsson provide, as well as UMA software on dual-mode handsets developed by Motorola, Nokia, and Kineto.
Other companies have been trying to figure out the best way to handoff between various networks, and we pointed out startups like Divitas last month, but carriers are just starting to turn to UMA to solve the problem. Telecom Italia could launch a UMA service as early as the Fall, and TeliaSonera is considering UMA as well. In a major win for UMA, Orange is rumored to be choosing the option, though hasn’t announced its decision publicly. It’s not too hard to see why GSM carriers would opt for UMA.
As voice becomes even more of a commodity service and use of data services grows, the carriers all know that they need to adopt converged network services and offer easier ways to roam across networks. Most carriers are terrified of losing some of the revenues from cellular voice calls to cheaper WiFi voice calls, but as WiFi and other wireless networks grow, there is really no way around it. And because T-Mobile has been working on WiFi hotspots for years, it has a head start in this market. For the carriers that don’t have WiFi assets, UMA also gives the carrier a modicum of control as it makes this transition. Andrew Schmitt also points out how this gives the carriers a head start in the battle for the home with cable operators.
The carriers are so concerned about using UMA to control this shift, that likely UMA services won’t be able to handoff onto disruptive city-wide WiFi networks for quite some time. Handsets will likely be pre-programmed to roam onto approved WiFi networks only, and say, for subscribers living in a city like Mountain View, CA, with its city-wide Google WiFi network, why would a carrier agree to help switch all its customer’s calls onto a city-wide WiFi network?
It won’t, at least not for a really long time. This will likely be a major story going forward, and probably one of the reasons T-Mobile is launching its first UMA network targeted at in-home users only.
Written by Katie Fehrenbacher on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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AdAge reports on Comcast’s ambitions to become a Yahoo-type portal. The cable giant is beginning to add more online sales people, hoping to capture a piece of the online advertising pot of gold. It is also opening up its Internet pages to its non-broadband subscribers, which quickly doubles its potential user base. In theory at least! Paid Content has a good wrap up of the story, and some pithy observations.
Now with around 10 million broadband subscribers, it is hard to blame Comcast for having portal ambitions. Just as an aside, isn’t portal a throwback of a vertically integrated Internet 1.0 era? How quaint! How old fashioned! Still, I wonder the wisdom of this move, especially since the company is fighting the triple play battle with politically more savvy phone companies. Shouldn’t that be the focus? I think this is yet another example of “google envy.” (Google envy is a generic term I use when referring to companies that are jealous of profits made by online advertising players such as Yahoo and Google.)
“For us to be successful online, you have to believe that people will still want to come to a single source for much of their online-video entertainment,” said Warren Schlichting, VP-new business strategies at Comcast. “That’s the basic underlying philosophy. We think there’s a role for somebody to work with many content providers.”
That is Comcast speak for phone companies’ “say no to network neutrality” philosophy, but lets leave that argument for another day. Comcast’s attempt to build a portal presence around video is interesting, only because video is one of their core strengths. The minute they start doing a Yahoo-style portal, they are swimming upstream. Check out the growing popularity of “do-it-yourself home pages” built with widgets from say Google, video from You Tube and photos from Photobucket. These concepts are not mainstream today, but general trends are pointing in that direction.
Still, all that aside, lets look at the numbers… Comscore’s latest data shows that Comcast had about 17.6 million unique visitors in July 2006. Just as a comparison, Target, the discount store chain, had 26 million unique visitors in July to its website. They clearly have their work cut out. Historically, whenever service providers have attempted to create their own portals, the results have been lackluster at the very best. I am not sure why it would be any different. And it is not just service providers. With the exception of Yahoo, the portal plays made by all comers have been cash guzzlers. Google for all its reach, or Microsoft for all its might and AOL - all are still a distant second compared to Yahoo, the one true portal.
Written by Om Malik on August 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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