Tag Archive
Skype to FCC: Keep the Internet Open & Neutral
Skype, a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and said it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.” The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on preserving... »
Skype to FCC: Keep Internet Open & Neutral
Skype, a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and said it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.” The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on... »
Pandora: Now Playing Everywhere
Now that Pandora, a next-generation online music streaming service, has turned its first quarterly profit, the Oakland, Calif.-based company is looking at life beyond the web. And by doing so, Pandora is moving to embody what’s being called the device-agnostic Internet. “We became profitable for the fourth quarter of 2009, and now we’re shooting for profits... »
Skype Brings 720p to HDTVs and PCs
Skype today introduced a high-definition (HD) video calling service that will work on computers and televisions. The newest version Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows, supports 720p video calling in a 1280×720 pixel resolution at 30 frames per second. The latest version of Skype will come pre-installed on some LG Electronics Inc. and... »
The Androidification of Everything
A few days ago, Antonio Rodriguez, a Boston-based entrepreneur and founder of Tabblo, emailed to let me know that he was leaving Hewlett-Packard to go do something new. Rodriguez sold Tabblo to HP in 2007 and had been working on some cool stuff at HP, but now he’s decided that it’s time for him... »
eWeek Says To Expect More From GoogleVoice in 2010
Check out the eWeek article about GoogleVoice and Gizmo. Seems the Nexus One isn't the only thing that Google is now "leaking" over. Here's what I think. 1) Gizmo5's assets brings GoogleVoice the missing soft client on multiple platforms except the iPhone. That will have to wait. Macs, PCs, Symbian and Android will be their markets... »
Google Video Chat is Just That–Chat (And Why This Blog is Named VoIPWatch)
Let's set the record straight, for in 2010 we will begin to see some clear lines (are they battle lines) drawn when it comes to "face to face" communications over the Internet. A post yesterday about Google's Video Chat got me thinking, and as someone who is very much into both branding and operation definitions,... »
Novatel Downgraded to Neutral
Zacks.com submits: We downgrade our recommendation for Novatel Wireless Inc. (NVTL) to Neutral, which means the stock will perform in line with the broader market. The company is facing intensifying competition for its core embedded solutions for wireless access. In addition to its traditional rival, Sierra Wireless, Novatel is facing significant challenges from newly... »
How Facebook Squeezes More From Its Machines
Back in June, during an onstage conversation with me at our Structure 09 conference, Facebook VP of Technical Operations Jonathan Heiliger lamented how chip makers such as Intel and AMD don’t quite understand the needs of web behemoths like his company, instead touting benchmarks and metrics that are far removed from reality. Industry-standard benchmarks, such... »
Skype CEO Outlines Platform Ambitions, Hiring Plans
Skype, with its spinout from eBay complete and its legal troubles with founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis settled, is looking to the future, where it wants to become a ubiquitous real-time communications platform. And that means thinking about the next-generation Skype architecture and hiring a lot of smart people, CEO Josh Silverman said... »
Some Random Posts Worth Reading
Dean Bubley on The Android-Dean and I had dinner in San Diego a week ago Saturday at Flemings Steak House and Wine Bar in the Gaslamp. We enjoyed some excellent service from GM/Operating Partner Bob Andrews (he’s been Flemings Top Operating Partner four out of the last five years or so) and it was... »
The Importance of Proper Audio Accessories in VoIP
Pal Alec Saunders has written a very complete review of the Yamaha Sound Gadget which is available on the Skype Store for $199.00 here in the USA and is available around the globe. The reason I bring this up, is that now more than ever, the expression of GIGO-Garbage In, Garbage Out, could never be... »
Blabbelon Launches HD VoIP for Video Games
Video gamers love VoIP in video games but have often been disappointed with poor voice quality – including jitter, lag, and choppiness, inability to continue to talk via VoIP once you close the game and just an overall poor user experience. Well, Blabblelon aims to change all that with the... »
Skype For Linux Going (Almost) Open Source
Digg and Slashdot were abuzz earlier this morning with the news that Skype was going to go open source. The buzz was based on a post on a French blog by Olivier Faurax. The news is true and false at the same time. “It is our intention to make Skype for Linux an open... »
Will There Be an Android App Boom Soon?
With a number of Google’s Android OS-based smartphones on the horizon, developers are devoting significant resources to the mobile platform, which will result in a boom in Android apps, according to reports from two Silicon Valley startups, Flurry and AdMob. Flurry, a San Francisco-based mobile metrics company, today said that it had seen an... »
AT&T Continues Its Attack Against Google Voice
Jason Kincaid submits: The back-and-forth between AT&T (T), Google (GOOG), and the FCC over Google Voice’s blocking of some rural telephone numbers continues, and it’s getting even nastier. AT&T’s latest letter to the FCC attempts to undermine Google’s recent argument that it’s blocking exorbitantly expensive calls to some numbers in part because they are... »
AT&T, Dell Embed 3G for SMBs
The industry has been discussing the merits of embedded 3G and the resulting opportunity for more widespread adoption of mobile broadband for years, but major announcements of such initiatives have been few and far between. Into the breach comes ATT Inc., which has inked a deal with Dell Computer to …(288 words) ... »
Arris Group: Demand Should Remain Strong
Vahan Janjigian (Forbes) submits: Cable service providers rely on Arris Group (ARRS) to engineer the equipment and software needed to deliver video, voice, and data over broadband networks. During the first half of 2009, 30.4% of ARRS’s revenues came from Comcast (CMCSA). Time Warner Cable (TWC) contributed 19.2% and international customers accounted for 26.5%. The... »
Cisco Buys Tandberg, but does Video Interoperability Suffer?
Cisco bought Tandberg, a video conferencing company for $3 billion. But is this good for the video conferencing industry or bad? Let’s have a recap of Cisco’s “openness” and adoption of standards. First, Cisco was very late to adopt the SIP standard, finally embracing third-party SIP phones back in 2006. However, Cisco plays... »
SPIRIT tech driving HD audio in snom phones
Snom 870 SIP phones are getting an HD audio boost from SPIRIT DSP’s TeamSpirit Voice Engine Embedded, according to a TMC report. Licensing the SPIRIT technology allows snom devices to provide wideband audio even to users on overloaded networks, according to the company. The companies said the including the SPIRIT technology in the snom 870... »
Google Launches Sidewiki — More Like a Universal Commenting System
Google today is launching Google Sidewiki, which despite its name is actually a universal commenting system. The new service will be available via Google Toolbar. As the company said in an email explaining the feature: Sidewiki enables users who have installed Google Toolbar to contribute information alongside any page on the web, inside of a... »
Good News from Japan for Alvarion, Orckit
Shlomi Cohen submits: Intel (INTC) announced a further investment of $43 million through Intel Capital, in the mobile WiMAX venture in Japan, UQ, that it is promoting jointly with telephony company KDDI (KDDIF.PK), which is supplying the network infrastructure, and another four Japanese companies. After a five-month trial period, the service will have its... »
Why Customers Should Not Trust Operator-Sold Notebooks
Dean Bubley submits: T-Mobile can be a paradox from an analyst’s viewpoint. At one level, it pushes hard on mobile Internet access, with its early provision of Web’n'Walk, and its significant pace in evolving its network to HSUPA and eventually LTE. It also has a sizable WiFi hotspot presence, albeit as overpriced as many... »
NSA Dark Black Fiber Line Cut Causes MIB to show up in seconds
Fiber? You didn’t see any fiber down there. There’s dark fiber, and then there’s really dark fiber, or what we’ll call “black” fiber. Construction crews inevitably will accidentally cut a fiber line when doing underground construction. It’s par for the course. However,what it isn’t par for the course is cutting into a fiber line... »
sipgate enters U.S VoIP Broadband Market offering free calls
Today, sipgate is launching a new free VoIP broadband phone service called sipgate one. sipgate one is similar to Vonage, Packet8, and other broadband VoIP providers, but with some additional cool features and a fairly unique pricing plan. For instance, you get a free telephone number, no set-up costs and no monthly charges or... »
Wirefly Sells AT&T, Verizon 3G Netbooks
Wirefly has expanded its product offerings to include netbooks. The company says it’s the first online retailer in the country to sell netbooks with embedded 3G wireless service from both ATT and Verizon Wireless, currently the only two mobile-phone providers in the U.S. activating these mini-notebook computers.“Because of the strong …(157 words) ... »
How Pogoplug Works
Pogoplug, the little gadget that turns any USB-enabled drive into a personal storage locker accessible over the Internet, impressed me as much as it did Kevin over at our sister site jkOnTheRun. But I really wanted to learn how exactly it worked. So I reached out to Pogoplug maker Cloud Engines’ chief technology officer,... »
Why It’s the Megabits, Not the MIPs, That Matter
Earlier this morning I read the comments of Eli Harari, chief executive of Flash memory chip maker SanDisk, in which he tells The New York Times’ Saul Hansell that we are counting down to the end of Moore’s Law. “We are running out of electrons. When we started out we had about one million electrons... »
D2 touts traffic gains for embedded VoIP
D2 Technologies, an embedded IP communications software company, announced that its VoIP technology now processes more than 40 billion minutes of VoIP traffic per month in various devices. D2 attributed its robust traffic numbers to more system-on-a-chip vendors, hardware manufacturers and mobile companies embedding its vPort VoIP solution into new products. The company’s vPort has... »
Nokia N97 Shipping Soon
VNUNet is reporting that the eagerly awaited Nokia N97 will be shipping in June. The device has WiFi, a VoIP stack, SIP embedded and lots of goodies. It’s lightweight and will be the first Nokia device to seamlessly integrate with the Ovi store, Nokia’s app store. Nokia, which is a client of my agency, has... »