VOIP IP Telephony: 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

48k CD Quality VoIP with CELT, Another First From FreeSwitch!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

FreeSwitch has started supporting CELT, a new open source audio codec that allows for CD-quality voice and sound transmission. This certainly a boost for VoIP World. CELT is an "ultra-low delay" audio codec that supports both voice and music and said to carry 48kHz VoIP in 48kbps of bandwidth. Compare that to PCM mu-law codec, G.711u, which consumes 64kbps of bandwidth to carry 8kHz audio!
I have not yet tested the codec but plan to integrate the mod_celt and the new FreeSwitch client very soon in my testing rig. Main while, you can find more information at FreeSwitch Post and the following links.

For more information on CELT please visit the project home page and for more information on other free codecs please visit the Xiph page.

HP Introduces iPrint, Free Photo Printing Software For iPhone.

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I am sure by now you know about the Microsoft application for iPhone, Seadragon, (Seadragon Mobile) which allowed to do marvelous things with your photos on iPhone. So now you know your photos and perhaps you want to get them printed! Viola, enter HP with their free app, HP iPrint Photo for iPhone!. iPrint photo allows one to print wirelessly, 4 x 6-inch photos from an iPhone or iPod touch to most HP inkjet printers connected to a local Wi-Fi network.

“Today’s news demonstrates how HP is enabling customers to turn special moments captured on the go into high-quality photos,” said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “More than any other company in the world, HP has re-imagined, re-engineered and re-invented the power of printing with exciting new technologies that address real customer needs.”

HP today announced HP iPrint Photo, a free application available on the Apple App store that gives iPhone and iPod touch customers the ability to easily print photos anytime, anywhere.

HP iPrint Photo is available at no charge from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

HP Press Release.

Robert Scobble Does AT&T CTO John Donovan, On the Street!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
The blogger, technical evangelist, and author, Robert Scoble has interviewed the AT&T CTO, John Donovan, on the street. I did not believe it at first when I read about it. But this guy is amazing. I have seen a many interviews by him but this one tops most of them. You can find more

Updated, corrected Robert's last name misspelling! Thanks Richard Sprague

iPhone IS At Walmart!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Yes It is but not at $99. I am going to see if there are any good accessories are there!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Google Phone (Android) VS iPhone Apps

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
MSNBC's Suzanne Choney has written an article about Android (Google Phone) applications, specially which are not available on iPhone. And some (Shopsavvy) that can not be available on iPhone, unless some in gets the iPhone camera to read barcodes.
There are more than 400 apps for Andriod based phones and more are coming as the Android Marked is being fueled by the open source developer forces. Personally I like what Android phone does but now I am using iPhone to full fill my needs. I will see to it when Android gets released by another carrier as I am not particularly not happy with current Android offerings. But the article "Android apps that aren't on the iPhone" is an informative source and may help you in deciding which phone to get!

BroadSoft Acquires Sylantro

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Gaithersburg, Maryland-based BroadSoft has acquired Sylantro Systems Corporation.
"GAITHERSBURG, MD, Dec. 29, 2008 — BroadSoft, Inc., the leading worldwide provider of Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications to the telecommunications industry, today announced it has acquired Sylantro Systems Corporation, a provider of VoIP applications based in Campbell, California.

"Sylantro has been a strong competitor of BroadSoft for 10 years. This acquisition further advances our market and innovative leadership position," said Michael Tessler, president and CEO of BroadSoft. "Sylantro's solutions, talent and customers complement BroadSoft's business and enhance our ability to deliver compelling solutions and services to our customers."

The acquisition extends BroadSoft's leadership in VoIP applications. To serve its growing customer base, BroadSoft now has development and customer operations centers in Montreal, Canada; Dallas, Texas; Bangalore, India; Sydney, Australia; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Gaithersburg, Maryland.

"BroadSoft and Sylantro have long histories of helping telecommunications service providers deliver IP communications services to businesses and consumers around the world," Marco Limena, president and CEO of Sylantro. "By joining forces, the two companies are in a position to create a market leading global entity with a shared vision and infrastructure to meet the needs of our valued customers and the challenges of a competitive industry landscape.""

Press Release.

QueueMetrics 1.5.0 released

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Call center monitoring solution for Asterisk IP PBX provider QueueMetrics has released their "QueueMetrics 1.5.0" earlier this month. Among a plethora of other features and improvements, this version introduces a new component called AGAW (Agent Awareness) that lets your agents see in real-time how they are faring comparing to their queue, and puts in place an IM infrastructure where agent-to-supervisor and agent-to-product-specialist communication can be completely off-band.
According to the news release, this feature is currently experimental and if you'd like to test it you might want to read the section "The Agent Awareness subsystem (AGAW)" on page 72 of the User manual.

The Near Future of VoIP

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Smith on Voip, Garrett Smith, is carrying a series of articles based on interviews, questioning "What Next" in the VoIP world. The series of posts begins with "The Near Future of VoIP" in the title and brings you information on various people that are influential in the world of VoIP and communications. I have learned much more about many individuals through this series of articles and I am glad that I came acress them.
Andy Abramson, Alec Saunders, Mike Oeth and Ari Ribban are a few of the many. I think a visit or more are in order!
Garrett Smith on what next?

Faster Internet In 2009?

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Monique Morrow at Cisco guided me to an article on December, 2008, IEEE Spectrum publication, which I some how managed to miss. The article is “A Fairer, Faster Internet Protocol ” by Bob Briscoe, Chief Researcher at BT’s Networks Research Centre. The article describes the current TCP protocols problems in giving us better and fair access to the internet. TCP handles about 90% of the 200,000 terabytes that cross the Internet each second. But many companies which provides VoIP and TV services are opting out of TCP’s sharing regime to provide a better service to their customers.
The author and collegues have figured out a way to reveal congestion so that limits can be enforced.
"We call it “refeedback” [see “Minimizing Congestion: A Refeedback Primer.”]. Here’s how it works. Recall that today the computers at each end of an exchange of packets see congestion, but the networks between them can’t. So we built on a technique called Explicit Congestion Notification—the most recent change to the TCP/IP standard, made in 2001. Equipment that implements that change marks packets during impending congestion rather than doing nothing until forced to drop them. The marks—just a change in a single bit—let the network see congestion directly, rather than inferring it from gaps in the packet stream. It’s also particularly neat to be able to limit congestion before anyone suffers any real impairment. "

All the articles are of very high value and gives one insight into current status of the Internet and one of the solutions to make it better, until a better one comes along..

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Vodafone Launches Location Based Social Networking With Pocket Life.

Sending signals to anyone who plans to work on mobile and location based social networking, the communication giant vodaphone has released it's Pocketlife social network.
WeSeePeople: Location Based Social Networking With Vodafone And Pocket Life.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Submarine Cables Are Cut Again.

Map from Gaurdian

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Submarine Cables are having a another disruption this year. Earlier this year the submarine communication cables were cut as many as five times.
The latest cuts are reported to be the FLAG FEA, SMW4, and SMW3 lines, near the Alexandria cable station in Egypt, have all been cut. Responding to the trouble, France Telecom said: "The causes of the cut, which is located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia, on sections linking Sicily to Egypt, remain unclear."They are sending a ship out to fix the line between Italy and Egypt, but warned that it might take closer to 10 days to repair the cables.
Due to the cable cut, 65% of traffic to India was disrupted, and Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Taiwan and Pakistan have also been severely affected.
It is suspected that the recent seismic activity in the area may have caused the damage.

Flash On iPhone With iMobileCinema Beta

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
iMobileCinema for 2.x firmware beta version is available for iPhone 2.x firmware. One caveat though, it is only for jail broken iPhones. We did not test and comments at the iMobileCinema ranges from problems to success in both iPhone and iPod.
iMobileCinema

Carrier Class, What Do You Know?

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I am sure you have come across "carrier Class", "Carrier Grade" many a times in the telecommunication business. But what do you know about it? Cisco's Service Provider blog, SP360 author Monique Morrow has a very interesting article, Carrier Class, How Real. After reading it, I am spending a little time at ITU-T Study Group 12 refreshing my memory.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

iPhone Loves Wi-Fi, So Does Android! Mobile Metrics

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
AdMob, a neighborhood mobile Ad Agency has released their monthly "Admob Mobile Metrics Report (PDF)" and I spent a quite a some time, studying the report.
Among many other metrics, this month Metrics report is also focusing on Wi-Fi based web access by mobile devices, from iPhone to BlackBerrys.
It is very interesting to notice that iPhone users accessing web via Wi-Fi, are on the rise in US and other markets as well. But in the US, it is pretty evident that, AT&T coverage sucks and / or we are blanketed with wireless networks!. The first fact was known since I had the Cingular (Now AT&T) account, when I had the urge to slam my phone to a concrete wall. That changed when I switched to another network. But from the reports I read, AT&T still need to do some work on their 3G network.
Getting back to the report, In the US iPhone rings very high in the mobile devices that access the web as seen in the following table. But worldwide, Nokia still has something close to 49% while iPhone has 20% of that market. RIM devices also garner larger percentage of the market.
But what is amazing is the growth of Android (Google Phone) based T-Mobile G1, which is actually a HTC Dream. The lone Android in the market, has generated 15 Million web requsts to AdMob servers and already takes 7% of the all T-Mobile traffic and represents 2% all smartphone traffic in the US. This is very promising to Android as it is just got in to the market and many people not going for it yet due to various reasons (Why I don't want a T-Mobile G1) and the fact that many Androids will soon enter the market might entice more people to aquire an Android. It will be interesting to keep an eye on AdMob reports.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

3G Data Bandwidth Test, Coast To Coast

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
We hear everyday the virtues of 3G networks from our carriers everyday. Snappy download speeds, zippy upload speeds etc to be better than average Joe's broadband connection. So to get to the bottom of this Gizmodo's bloggy type conducted a coast to coast test covering 8 major cities. I also like the fact that they did not jet around to do the tests. They choose a greener test method and shipped the equipment to bloggers, staffers located in those cities. They did put the 3G USB Dongles and carriers, AT&T, SPRINT, Verizon to test and tested the bandwidth;
Results were amazing, see if your carrier delivers as it promises or if the others are doing better!

Free Calls With Jaxtr FreeConnect,

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Jaxtr released a press release about their new service FreeConnect that promises unlimited free calling between members. I have seen a quite a few outfits trying this path to attract customers. Skype is one such company used free calling among members (May not be the same medium and the cost) to bring itself up and make Ebay think that they were worth billions.
There is a difference in Jaxtr plan,
"Launching a free international calling service that works on any phone is a dream come true, and something the jaxtr team has been working toward for many years," said Touraj Parang, jaxtr Co-founder & COO. "Although smart phones such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Google's Android have received widespread accolades, the vast majority of people worldwide do not have access to such phones. Our mission at jaxtr has been to create innovative services that are accessible to anyone, anywhere. We're extremely proud that FreeConnect delivers on this promise, and can be used on any of the more than 3 billion mobile handsets worldwide, and the even larger volume of landline phones in use today."
Anyone can join jaxtr and sign-up for a free basic membership. New members also receive a trial premium membership when they first join the service, which does not require a contract if continued. FreeConnect is available to any registered jaxtr user, and does not require a premium membership or any other payment relationship.

But what I liked most about this press release was the Industry Guru's view on Free calls. Om Malik had a write up that left me feeling confused. My police is "you never know unless you try".
Voip Watch directed me to Om Malik's article and it seems Andy is also in agreement with Om.

The Open Source Ruby Framework Adhearsion

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
The open-source Ruby framework Adhearsion (What's Not Telling About Asterisk? ) has updated the roadmap and it is very promising. The day that everyone will be able to make their own VoIP application or platform is coming near. For me the configuration file generators with Asterisk has been the high light. But due to time costraints, testing using has been a few jabs rather than actual productive work. The roadmap.
But the roadmap is entising me to pay more attension to the development process and some more added benefits are coming in the form of FreeSWITCH compatibility and YATE Compatibility.
If you are interested, this tutorial might be of help.

Gmail To Google Docs With One Click

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
As I have mentioned many a times, I am using Google services more and more and Google gives me more reasons to keep the habit up. Gmail has become one of the best email vehicles for me and recent Gmail Lab add ons like SMS from Chat and Gmail for Mobile, have made it more attractive.
There is another feature in the Gamil labs not that might make your life easier or might lead to novel uses of Gmail or email.
Gmail Labs Create a Document "Allows you to create a Google Document from an email conversation (No more cutting and pasting that proposal) or a new blank document if your keyboard shortcuts are enabled by hitting 'g' then 'w'."
You will find it way down in tour Gmail Labs tab, (the beaker symbol)

Gmail blog article, Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Turn an email into a Google doc

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Google Caught In Net Neutrality Dreaming Of Wall Street Journal

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
This is as interesting as it is absurd. Wall Street Journal have drummed up a story based on Google seeking Edge Server Catching on service providers. Mix that with politics and Larry Lessig and the WSJ has a drama to drum up traffic and controversy.
Larry Lessig himself released"The made-up dramas of the Wall Street Journal", his ideas about the article, and you should read it before getting gang ho on Larry Lessig. He always stayed with his views, as far as I know.
"This is precisely the position that the Journal breathlessly attributes to me today. It represents no change -- no "softening" no "shift" in my views.

Now no doubt my position might be wrong. Some friends in the network neutrality movement as well as some scholars believe it is wrong -- that it doesn't go far enough. But the suggestion that the position is "recent" is baseless. If I'm wrong, I've always been wrong."

Google also laid out the facts in the following blog post, please read. There you will find more links to other valuable articles.

Official Google Blog: Net neutrality and the benefits of caching

Verizon FiOS Digital Voice To Strengthen Triple Play

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Verizon is looking forward to deploy FiOS Voice in 2009 to more markets. FiOS Digital Voice has been in limited deployment since September, in Virginia and Maryland. Starting early next year, Verizon will begin marketing the voice-over-IP service to new customers across the 14 states where it offers FiOS TV and Internet services.

FiOS Digital Voice, which is similar to voice services provided by cable companies like Comcast, provides customes with standard features like caller ID and voicemail, and web based messaging. Going beyond the traditional phone services, FiOS Digital Voice provides scheduled call-forwarding (also known as “follow me”), the ability to ring multiple phone numbers simultaneously (e.g., both home and mobile phone), phone-book synchronization and click-to-dial.

“These are voice services we have been lacking,” Gonzalez said. “We think this will be a real enhancement to voice service.”

Where will the Vonage and the likes will go? Doug Mohney at Fierce VoIP has some ideas.

Verizon Business earns certification as ISO/IEC 20000-compliant for its Government Network Operations and Security Center (GNOSC)

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to a press release by Verizon, Verizon Business has earned certification as ISO/IEC 20000-compliant for its Government Network Operations and Security Center (GNOSC), located in Ashburn, Va. This the first the first telecommunications company in the U.S. to have gained the certification.

ISO/IEC 20000, is the international standard targeting IT Service Management, sets standards for best practices and management processes in delivering managed services to meet business and customer requirements.

"This distinction is further proof of the Verizon Business Government Network Operations and Security Center's commitment to offering the highest quality of service," said Kevin Gahan, the company's vice president of global network management. "Our ISO/IEC 20000 certification gives government customers the confidence that Verizon Business will continue to provide outstanding service and performance."

The company's federal government operations and security center opened in 2006 as a state-of-the-art facility to support the unique security and operational requirements of its federal government customers. The GNOSC performs real-time monitoring of network traffic for these customers and serves as a single point of contact for both network and security operations.

As the leading telecommunications service provider for the federal government, we've always supported the highest standards of our customers, and ISO/IEC 20000 certification substantiates our ability to deliver the caliber of managed services the federal government requires," said Susan Zeleniak, group president, Verizon Federal, the organization within Verizon Business dedicated to serving federal government customers.
Press Release

Monday, December 15, 2008

Cisco Bullish In IP Telephony Market

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Telephony market, even with the recession that we have been in since last year, has grown healthy 8% fron second quarter 2008 to third quarter 2008, to 2.6 Billion. IP PBX and Hybrid PBX gaining and the traditional TDM PBX loosing the ground, according to a new report from market research firm Infonetics Research.

The report also shows that Cisco took the lead for the first time in the overall PBX-KTS equipment market. Cisco had a revenue growth of 19% in the third quarter. In the chart, Avaya, also posted overall PBX revenue 10% follows Cisco in the worldwide PBX and IP PBX equipment markets. The third place is held by Nortel.

According to the report, Cisco is the only company to gain a significant market share.

“The enterprise telephony market more than likely will get squeezed during the recession, particularly in 2009, because one of the prime drivers of PBX sales is the creation of new businesses and the expansion of existing businesses, which are hampered during downturns. There are a few bright spots, though, like the pure IP PBX segment, which is benefiting from new product launches, and IP softphones, of which we've seen a tremendous uptake in recent quarters, and which should weather the economic storm fairly well, with continued annual growth expected,” said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics Research.

The report also has information on,

The IP PBX segment grew 9% in revenue and 7% in lines from 2Q08 to 3Q08
Year-over-year, quarterly IP phone shipments are up 25% in 3Q08
IP softphone shipments more than doubled from 2Q08 to 3Q08
The TDM segment will drop below the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2008

Infonetics’ report tracks 3Com, Aastra, AudioCodes, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco, Dialogic, Mitel, NEC, Nortel, Quintum, Samsung, ShoreTel, Siemens, Tadiran, Toshiba, Vertical, and others. The report provides worldwide and regional forecasts and market size for TDM PBX/KTS systems, IP PBX systems with hybrid and pure IP splits, IP PBX by system size, VoIP gateways, and IP deskphones and softphones. Pivot tables are included.

Download report highlights from our online portal by logging in above. For sales, contact Larry Howard, vice president, at larry@infonetics.com or +1 (408) 583-3335.

Truphone Anywhere On iPhone

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Andy over at VoIP Watch has a very nice write up including a plethora of information and calculations about Truphone for iPhone and other tools that truly help the road warrior. We are using Truphone Trusaver and we all are very happy with it. But Andy being Andy takes you through other posibilities and give you the choices, so you can make the best use.
But I think the following should give you enough information to follow up and read the article.
"So here's the math which makes the iPhone or a Nokia N or E series phone with Truphone plus the combination of either Boingo Mobile or iPass such a killer deal.
Truphone Trusaver 1000 minutes 15.00
WiFi Access 7.95 (I'm using the Boingo base as you can opt for the contract on iPass at $6.95 and the savings is greater but you may not need it every month and then their $9.95 is higher)
Cost $22.95
Figure you use all 1000 minutes in a month (regardless of being on a paid hotspot from Boingo or iPass or not)
Cost per minute $.02295 or less than 2.5 cents per minute to make calls."
You will find more information on how to save on global roaming, here at WiFi on iPhone + Truphone

Sunday, December 14, 2008

First Microsoft App, SeaDragon For iPhone Released!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Promising to show giga pixel images on your iPhone, Microsoft has released an iPhone Application called SeaDragon Mobile.
Seadragon Mobile is said to bring the same image browsing capabilities on PC to the iPhone. Seadragon allows one to Get very close in on a map or photo using it's super zoom feature.r finger. Browse an entire collection of photos from a single screen. You can browse Deep Zoom Images that you can create from your own pictures or your Photosynth collection (or anybody else's). But then again, why would you? you got all that more from Apple!
But the surprise is that Microsoft is yet to release the same app for Microsoft's own mobile platform. Looks like there a re many iPhone fan boys or girls at Microsoft Live Labs.
Seadragon Mobile is available for free at the iTunes App Store.

Friday, December 12, 2008

14 New Members Join Open Handset Alliance.

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/ Press Release -OHA

December 9, 2008

The Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology and mobile players, is pleased to announce the membership of 14 additional companies. By joining the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, the following companies demonstrate their support for Android as an open mobile platform and their commitment to its commercial success. The new members are: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone.

New members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices. With these commitments, the Open Handset Alliance will continue to drive greater and faster innovation for the benefit of mobile users and everyone in the industry.

Open Handset Alliance members' continued contributions to Android give everyone in the mobile ecosystem a free and complete mobile platform to build Android devices. The new members will add to the momentum of Android device availability, providing developers with an even greater opportunity to deploy compelling applications that will reach a global audience. As a result, consumers around the world benefit from a superior mobile experience that features less expensive devices, more compelling services, rich Internet applications, and easier-to-use interfaces.

For more information around the Open Handset Alliance, visit www.openhandsetalliance.com.

For more information around Android, visit www.android.com.

Twittering From Your Gmail With TwitterGadget.

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I know a whole bunch of people who live by Twitter and most also do use Gmail as their email vehicle. Now you can look out of a window in that vehicle and see you favorite Twitters.
After following up with yesterdays post on SMS with Gmail, I found this gadget, TwitterGadget.

TwitterGadget is a web 2.0 style Ajax client for Twitter for your iGoogle homepage. It also enable you to toggle on/off various display elements such as user thumbnails, timestamps, and post sources. Refresh intervals can be set from 3 to 30 minutes, or manual only. Additional information about a poster is available, at a glance, by hovering over their thumbnail image.
You can also enter symbols, dingbats and emoticons into your tweets using a pulldown menu provided.
The gadget is so good, I feel this is what Twitter should have been in the first place!So by utilizing the new add any gadget by url feature on Gmail, you can add this twittergadget to your Gmail page. The special version for Gmail with a small foot print could be found at this URL, which is also the URL you should enter when configuring add any gadget by URL.
http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml
So go get Twitter in your Gmail.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Official Gmail Blog: Really new in Labs this time: SMS Text Messaging for chat

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you are a Gmail user, you should be seeing a new Labs message as shown above. This is one of the best SMS solutions that I have seen and used in a while.
Of course I am more interested in the technical aspects of the endeavor than the final results. The management of the messaging is done very well and I really hope that this feature sticks and exit Labs to enter the mainstream.
The messaging with Chat feature on Gmail is great for a person like me, who is constantly online and my Gmail is always on. And I do not like to type on my phones, does not matter what they are, Androids, iPhones, smartphones with one exception, Blackberry. I can type on a Blackberry a complete email message without any problem. It could be because I am used to it for a long long time.
Anyway back to SMS Texting with Gmail, The user may find that her/his contact has walked away from the conversation before she/he could give the final, important message, instead of switching your communications methods like looking for phones, now you can continue to chat in your Gmail Chat window. You just send the messages to a phone number!

The phone will receive a message from a number with prefix 406 (G0O), and users friend contact can reply to the message as to any other message. Google machinery in the background will route the messages back to original users chat window. The massages from the same user will have the same number. So you can save to number in your phone.

Suppose someone started to spam you or you do not want messages from that particular user, just send "BLOCK" as a reply to the message. If you want to stop messages from Gmail altogether (DON'T) you can reply to the message with "STOP" and Google will honor your wish.

Official Gmail Blog: Really new in Labs this time: SMS Text Messaging for chat

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

IC3, Asterisk And SIP Security

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you followed the recent security saga about the Asterisk and caller ID spoofing and Vishing attacks, Digium has issued a very explanatory post on their website, SIP Security and Asterisk
This should clear any doubts about Asterisk's security measures and bugs. Also how the SIP Security should be addressed. But as always security is a continuous challenge and continue to be vigilant.
It is must read and once you are done with it you may also want to read the new IC3 warning with the update.
You should get to know IC3.GOV in any case, if you are an Internet user.

Mobile 2 Skype Service From Linkwell

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Linkwell is providing free mobile to Skype calling to it's 28tel customers. Linkwell is HonkKong based and allows it's mobile users to call any Skype user online, from their mobiles.
To use the service, the user needs to log into his/her personal 28TEL account and adds a Skype contacts to their contacts list. These contacts gets a local number assigned by the telco. If the contact is online, dial the contacts local number from the mobile phone for local call charge.

At this time, the 28TEL service, which is in beta, is free and only available to users in North America, Brazil and selected Asian countries, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Android Dev Phone 1 (Unlocked G1?) Is Ready For Developers.

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Google has announced a unlocked and truly open android handset fro developer under the moniker "Android Dev Phone 1". As I read more, it seem to be wide open for developers. (You have to be a registered developer to be able to obtain one. follow the details later in the post.) You will be able to flash the device with your own customized Android OS, The bootloader does not check for signatures before an image is allowed to flash. This should also accommodate developers living outside the T-Mobile network. (Now I can stop saying Google Phone Coming Soon!)
Here is the information from Google;

"To purchase an Android Dev Phone 1 device, you must first register as an Android developer on the Android Market site, if you haven't done so already. Once you've logged into your developer account on Android Market, you can purchase the device by clicking the "Purchase" link. To accommodate demand, there is a limit of 1 device per developer account, for now.

The device currently costs $399 (USD) (including free shipping in the US), and will be available for purchase in 18 international markets, including the US, UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary. We will continue to expand this program into new geographies over time. Check this page for updated information.

Note that Android Dev Phone 1 devices are not intended for non-developer end users. Since the devices can be configured with system software not provided by or supported by Google or any other company, end users operate these devices at their own risk.

For more information about obtaining an Android Dev Phone 1 device, see the Android Market site."

Initial source;Android Developers Blog: New Resources for Developers

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Verizon Eases Into VoIP To Make It More Flexible And Efficient.

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
A press release from verizon indicates that it is investing in VoIP and adding enhancements to make VoIP more flexible and efficient. The company is investing in interoperability labs, product certification from equipment suppliers like Nortel and automatic call routing for voip customers.
New capabilities announced today include:

* A new Verizon VoIP Interoperability Lab where customers can test drive the compatibility of their premises equipment with Verizon's VoIP or IP Contact Center products.

* Certification of an additional Nortel IP PBX for Verizon's IP Trunking offering.

* Availability in Europe of automatic call rerouting for VoIP customers, to provide business-continuity benefits unavailable in a traditional voice-communications environment.

"Verizon Business continues to enhance and expand its VoIP capabilities to deliver a powerful platform for unified communications and collaboration," said Jim Tyrrell, vice president of marketing for Verizon's global business voice solutions. "With these additional capabilities, our customers can make their IP networks work smarter to meet and speed their business objectives while igniting innovation across an extended enterprise of employees, customers, suppliers and partners."
Source Verizon News.

Asterisk version 1.6.0.3-RC1 Ready For Download

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
The Asterisk development team has announced the availability of Asterisk version 1.6.0.3-RC1. You can read the release notes here and the release readme could be found here. Download the release from Digium's download servers.
This release provides numerous bug fixes from 1.6.0.2 that was recently released.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

T-Mobile Data Cap May Return To Your G1 and Other Phones!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I have no idea why but it is always closer to doom when we read and talk about T-Mobile and the G1. Remember public outcry when T-Mobile had 1GB cap on unlimited data plans. T-Mobile back paddled but now again seem to be floating forward in the stream through some unconfirmed reports.
Android community is reporting that data cap is coming back but it is said to be 10GB. I hope they will not call this unlimited!
This time the G1 cap seem to expand to all the T-Mobile phones with internet access. With all that G1 always connected to the internet business, (May be they are doing it to find out if you are using VoIP, Mobile VoIP on the G1)
I really hope someone sensible releases an Android, So I can say The True Android is Coming Soon

T-Mobile G1 Hooked To Internet, Always!

I am tied to the net...

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If the story that gizmodo is carrying is right, then I have another reason to be happy with not going with T-Mobile G1 Android.
According to a customer who took the G1 to UK and coming back to find a bill $102.85 in data roaming, with data roaming, data sync and 3G were turned off.
A T-Mobile customer service supervisor has revealed that T-Mobile G1 always access internet, even if those services were turned off!
May be to tell T-Mobile where you are! Read more at gizmodo, where there is already a bunch of comments. And I learned that Gizmodo people are apple fanboys, just from a single comment

Unlock BlackBerry 8000 and 9000 Series For Free, (

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to a forum post on sw-box, now you can unlock BlackBerry phones, the 8000 and 9000 series, for free.
You will need the usual BlackBerry Applications like BlackBerry desktop manager and Microsoft NET 2.0, and you need the BlackBerry OS. Once you have them, you need to Download and install MFI Multiloader.
The site has a very clear and simple guide with pictures and links to the application. Once you follow the simple directions, you can replace your SIM and Memory card and set up your phone the way you like it. I think even a grandma with a BlackBerry could do it! Perhaps President Obama may want it as well!
So if you are the type who want to mess up with your phones and carriers, head along to sw-Box to get the BlackBerry Unlocking App and instructions. Hurry up before they disappear.

DimDim Sheds Beta Tag And Gives Free Conferencing!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Actually they have been live for some time now but DimDim web conferencing solution has removed the beta tag, and revealed it's source code to millions of open source developers in the world at the same time. I have followed DimDim from it's early days at Sourceforge.
Unlike DimDim's competitors, it does not require you to install any software on your desktop. The only tools are your existing browser and an INTERNET connection.
The current version, DimDim 4.5 utilizes SynchroLive feature to assure all the conference members are kept in sync. Another attractive feature is the shared browsing assisted by SynchroLive as well. This allows one to share his or her web browsing with conference members. This shared browsing extends to videos as well.
If you are developer, or high tech geek, you can also get the community edition witch is released under GPL. Dimdim Open Source Community Edition v4.5 “Liberty” is meant for use in non-critical environments. It has the most of the features of Dimdim Enterprise and is based on open source streaming and media components. Dimdim Enterprise is based on commercial streaming and media components (Adobe Flash Server) and runs on top of our SynchroLive Communication Platform to ensure robust scalability and reliability and is fully supported and certified by Dimdim, Inc. The Open source community supports the Open Source Community Edition.
But DimDim offers free accounts that could host up to 20 users at time and if you desire more, the unlimited version is offered at $99 per year.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

VoxOx 1.0.1 Beta Reviewed

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Tom Keating from TMC has a Review of new socially inclined communication app, VoxOx. I have checked the application out but have not installed or tested the application yet. So the Mr. Keating's review comes in handy.
Perhaps we can get whole family together on Chistmas Eve to say hello and give virtual hugs with VoxOx, perhaps yes. But according to Tom, the integration with facebook is functional in the new version. Tom also checked the initial release, Skype Killer version. You can read about it at Tom Keatings blog at TMC.

Layoffs At Fring?

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Even though the company is said to be doing well, Fring has about 20%(all 10 of them) go according to TechCrunch. But these layoffs might keep the company afloat throughout 2009 according to company CEO Avi Schecter.
I like the service what fring provides me and recent deals like joint effort with Mobilkom, should have pushed the company in the upward direction on charts that investors and bankers look at. But I have a feeling that Fring has not problem, coming up with solutions, like it did with our mobile problems!
Mobile is on the up.
GigaOm and ever inquisitive Ken Camp has also written on the issue.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Gmail For Your BackBerry!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
After reading and writing about the upcoming (this Friday) Blackberry Storm, I thought it would be nice to mention about Gmail for Blackberry as for me, the first real reason for blackberry was it's email capabilities. Now I can have my most used email application, on one of my favorite mobile devices, BlackBerry, storm!! You can watch the video with our earlier article, Gmail for Mobile.
The Gmail for Balackberry has;

Basic offline.^New! Compose and read your most recent email even when you're on the subway or plane.

Multiple accounts.^New! Quickly switch between your Google Apps email and Gmail from the same client.

Multiple Mobile Drafts.^New! Jot your thoughts down, finish and send later.

Shortcut keys.^New! Undo, scroll up and down, archive, delete, refresh at the push of a button. See Menu/Help in the app.

Language Support.^New! Gmail for mobile 2.0 is available in over 35 languages.

Message autorefresh. Gmail delivers messages to your inbox without you having to refresh the browser.

Address autocomplete. Gmail helps you complete an address – you only need to type out the first few letters of your contact.

View attachments. Open attachments you receive in messages, including photos, Microsoft Word™ documents, and PDF files.

Gmail goodness. Spam filtering, search, labels, filters, stars, and lots of space.

BlackBerry email client. You can also use BIS to sync your Gmail with the BlackBerry email client. Check your carrier portal or learn to set it up here.

"Not So Perfect Storm", One Verdict on BlackBerry Storm

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
The BlackBerry Storm that we announced has been reviewed by Gizmodo and they say it is not such a perfect storm. But I am waiting for my own! I love BalackBerries, the fruit and the phones!

New T-Mobile G1 Gets A 3.5mm Headphone Adapter

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
People who bought the G1 already, do not seem to have the chance of getting or buying one according to some posts and comments on the net. But this new head phone adapter allows you to listen to music that you bought at Amazon with your favorite headset or plug the phone into your cars aux port.
You can read about the headphone adapter here, where I got the above photo of the T-Mobile G1 Headphone Adapter.
I am happy about not buying one even though it was not simply because of headphones. VoIP, Battery life and perhaps because of all inclusive accounts I have from Sprint and AT&T. Even though now you CAN get VoIP on your G1, I will still not buy T-Mobile G1! I am looking for the next Android though!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Vocal Search On Google With Your iPhone

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

After an unexplained delay, the Google voice search for iPhone has arrived. And the reaction of users? Fantastic!
The voice search is a part of Google Mobile App for iPhone. In addition to letting you do searching via voice;

Voice Search.^New! Speak your queries without even pushing a single button.

Search with My Location.^New! Search for business, weather, and movie information without specifying where you are.

Local search suggestions on a map. See nearby business suggestions on Google Maps -- just tap the "near me" suggestions.

Instant access to search. Start a Google search with just one click.

Google Suggest. Get relevant search suggestions as you type, saving you keystrokes.

URL suggestions. Get to popular web sites quickly by tapping site web address suggestions.

Contact search. Quickly find contacts in your address book.

Search history. Get instant access to your previous searches.

Easy access to other Google products. Launch other Google products like Maps, Gmail and News from the Apps tab.

Get it from iTunes.

Pages

Free SIP Accounts

Uninstall Skype

About Us

Followers

Raties At Work

Diors At Work