November 25th, 2006
You are currently browsing the articles from the VoIP Digest written on November 25th, 2006.
The New York Times has a hilarious tale of turf wars between phone companies and cable companies reaching new ridiculous heights. Both sides are pointing fingers at each other, bemoaning that their rivals are damaging their equipment and causing service problems.
In Phoenix for example, Qwest charges that Cox Communications’ technicians left a hole in the telephone box, which allowed Bees to make a hive and has caused problems. Cox counters by saying that Qwest is using their conduits, cutting cables and other such cheap tricks. They have photos to prove it.
The root of the problem is that the phone companies are losing phone customers to cable companies in ever increasing numbers, and are complaining bitterly. I am sure when cable companies lose video customers, they are going to be equally bitter.
Still, the story managed to ignore the customers, and how they really feel about this growing pettiness. The bickering between the two camps, cut cables, and other such cheap tricks in the end cause most inconvenience to customers, the same sucker who ends up paying for these pranks and business tactics. My inner cynic says – so what’s new!
Written by Om Malik on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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>After a solid six months of begging, pleading, buying lunch, and trying to black-mail him, Cory Andrews has finally decided to begin contributing to Smith On VoIP. Cory, one of the founders of VoIP Supply , as well as PBX Select , a new start-up focused on the sale of end-to-end IP PBX solutions for the Small Medium Business is one of the most well respected minds in the VoIP industry. Cory has been a colleague of mine for the past three years and I am excited that he has finally decided to get off the sofa and step-up onto the SmithBox! Check out Corys First two posts: Asterisk Based Wake-up Service for Ski-Bums > Speech Recognition Comes to Small and Midsized Business
Written by Smith On VoIP - Insights on VoIP Products and Serv on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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>The latest addition to the W-Fi Skype Phone market comes from Buffalo. The Buffalo WSKP-G Wi-FI Phone for Skype allows user to send an receive Skype calls from any 802.11 b/g wireless hotspot. The device looks to have a color LCD (I do not know for sure as I cant read Japanese), and supports WEP, WPA, and WPA2 security protocols. With a 2.5 hour talk time, and a simple straight forward design, the Buffalo WSKP-G is falls sort of spectacular, and is yet another me too device for Skype. According to Buffalo, the device will be available in Japan starting in 2007, with no immediate plans to bring the device stateside. Street price is said to be $204.
Written by Smith On VoIP - Insights on VoIP Products and Serv on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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>The RTX Dualphone 3088 is the latest Skype phone from RTX. The RTX Dualphone 3088 is different from previous models, in that it is as standalone unit so you can send and receive Skype calls without your computer. The RTX Dualphone 3088 also allows you make calls over your existing landline making it an excellent option for an home office. The RTX Dual Phone 3088 utilizes DECT 6.0 technology, comes with a color LCD display, base station, charging station, and has up to 300 feet of range. We easy set-up instructions, and an intuitive user interface, the RTX Dualphone 3088 is a steal at the street price of $199USD. For more information on the RTX Dualphone 3088 check out SkypeStyle.com .
Written by Smith On VoIP - Insights on VoIP Products and Serv on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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There’s got to be a great story behind the rise and precipitous fall of the Sony Playstation, once the industry’s dominant console, but now in its latest incarnation, the PS3, an overpriced also-ran struggling to keep up with the Nintendo Wii and trailing far behind the Microsoft Xbox 360.
From all signs, it’ll be a tale of corporate hubris worthy of Greek tragedy, performed in kabuki masks. And fortunately for us, there’ll be more than a few talented journalists from big publications who will write that tale.
In last cycle of consoles, when you wanted to follow the latest news, you had little option but to read gamer sites and magazines, and try to cull bits of legitimate info from acres of PR hype. (You did somewhat better by visiting non-commercial gamer sites or insider-heavy online forums.)
But that was four-six years ago, and since then, the mainstream media has invested far more resources to covering the game industry, with a lot more prominence and seriousness. Which is a great thing for the business and for consumers– but not so good for flailing game companies that seem hellbent on disaster.
Take two stories in recent days; last cycle, they were the kind of thing that you’d have to find on a industry gossip site or fan board– but now, they’re showing up in Newsweek, or on the front page of the New York Times website.
Which is where I discovered Seth Schiesel’s devastating review of the Playstation 3, merciless in its specificity of the system’s many failings, from its difficulty of setup to its inability to multi-task (you can’t download files or play music while gaming), to its cumbersome online services, and more. By all appearances, Schiesel isn’t a befuddled journalist writing about the Playstation merely because his editor assigned him the task, but a passionate, knowledgeable gamer who knows first-hand how poorly the PS3 performs, especially compared to Xbox 360.
Then there’s the jaw-dropping report from the Newsweek blog of N’Gai Croal, which answers the burning question, “Why is the Playstation 3 debuting with so few exclusive titles?”
As it turns out, it’s because PlayStation chief Ken Kutaragi never got around to asking for them. Top publishers Ubisoft, Take-Two, and its studio Rockstar Games (whose Grand Theft Auto III effectively became PlayStation 2’s killer app) were interested in creating exclusive titles for the PS3, reports Croal. But Kutaragi just wouldn’t pick up the phone in time.
“PlayStation’s Japanese headquarters was effectively radio silent,” Croal writes, “and without Kutaragi’s signoff, the normally independent American and European branches had no authority to reach agreements on the exclusives they believed could be valuable to the PS3 cause.” Meanwhile, with Microsoft executives constantly pleading at their door, all three developers made exclusive deals with the 360.
It’s an astounding behind-the-scenes story, especially coming from a reporter as well-regarded as Croal. Who knows what is to follow, but the story so far has been worthy of television series.
Written by Wagner James Au on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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Earlier this morning, while checking out Techmeme, one story that caught my eye was “Kevin Rose Admitting Digg Has Moderators.” The whole brouhaha is around the fact a story with a single Digg can make it to the front page of Digg.com, and the evidence that was presented was a screenshot of an IM conversation comments to a post on Digg, including a response from Kevin Rose. Except that it is an IM chat from March 2005.
Why this is being tossed around as something important today defies logic? Maybe because it is the relative quiet after the official Thanksgiving Day? Or is it just fashionable to diss Digg!
It should not come as a surprise that Digg has moderators. Most social communities have some balance and checks, If they didn’t, then I am sure that there will be some who will be quick to lament Digg’s lack quality control.
A more balanced and sensible response comes from Deep Jive Interests who writes, “the system of moderation that both Diggers and moderators take part in is clearly broken. Digg needs a better system of checks and balances in this respect that protects both its own reputation (from fake posts, spammers) and others (those who risk their privacy being violated).” After reading Niall’s post exposing the spammers and Digg-gamers from last week, I agree with DJI’s assessment.
Written by Om Malik on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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The battle against child pornography is picking up steam in Canada with the launch of Project Cleanfeed Canada. Backed by large Canadian ISPs such as Rogers, Telus, Bell, Shaw, Videotron and SaskTel - and supported by Cybertip.ca, the project aims to reduce the number of Web sites that sexually exploit children by banning Web sites and all IP addresses involved. For more, check out the story in the Globe & Mail.
Written by Mark Evans on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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Peter Dawson has beat nearly everyone to the punch with a comprehensive "Best of 2006" post, which features the mesh gang as the "best team of the year". Talk about an early Xmas present! Thanks, Pete!
Written by Mark Evans on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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According to my friend, Stuart MacDonald, the whole Web 2.0 thing is over. This is not to suggest Web 2.0 was a fad that has come and gone like Pet Rocks, but the fact it's no longer the "New Shiny Orb" that has had everyone so fired up for the past few years. Instead, Stuart contends Web 2.0 is starting to move into the mainstream where it will just become a part of how we live work and play - much like e-commerce has lost its novelty factor and become part of the everyday landscape.
Written by Mark Evans on November 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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