Damage to submarine communication cables hit business across the Middle East and South Asia

Damage to submarine communication cables hit business across the Middle East and South Asia on Thursday, including the vital call center industry, prompting appeals for people to limit their surfing.

Around 70 percent of Internet users in Egypt were affected when two submarine cables in the Mediterranean Sea were damaged on Wednesday, also rupturing connections thousands of kilometres (miles) away.

State-owned Saudi Telecom reported the loss of more than 50 percent of its international lines, and said it did not know when normal service would be restored, the Arab News reported.

Like India, Egypt has a major call center industry which has been affected by the outage, and the telecommunications ministry said production was down to 30 percent.

A telecommunications ministry statement named other affected Arab countries as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Qatar and Bahrain.

Egyptian blogger The Arabist said he would "resume posting after the problem is resolved" and predicted, with a hint of sarcasm, "complete social breakdown in vast swathes of (upmarket Cairo districts) Heliopolis and Mohandiseen as thousands are unable to update their Facebook status."

Sri Lanka also faced a drastic drop in service quality, according to Sri Lanka Telecom, the country's largest Internet service provider.

In India, the Internet-dependent outsourcing industry was severely disrupted, with businesses saying it may take up to 15 days to return to normal.

Neighbouring Bangladesh was also hit. An official from the state Telegraph and Telephone Board said "voice and data traffic bound for Europe and America is not working. It slowed down the Internet services in the country."
Google AFP
tag: submarine communication cables, undersea cable, call center industry,

iPhone Price Cut May Aid To Reach Goals.

The Street article suggests that Apple should bring down the price of iPhone in order to reach hit the 10 Million mark over next four quarters. Yes I will get one if the price is right!
CEO Steve Jobs will need to work some magic to hit his sales target of 10 million iPhones this year.Since the iPhone's launch in June, Apple has sold about 4 million devices, including 2.3 million during the important holiday season.
To reach the 10 million mark, it needs to average 2.5 million phones in sales a quarter over the next four quarters -- or 200,000 more than what it sold during the big holiday season.
"The number is a challenge, but unless the global economy slows down profoundly, Apple will make it happen,"
The Street article by By Priya Ganapati
tag: iPhone, Apple, Steve Jobs

"C" Block of 700 Megahertz Spectrum Gets $4.71 billion Bid.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bidder on Thursday offered $4.71 billion for a key slice of wireless airwaves being sold by the U.S. government, triggering a condition that the spectrum be accessible to any device or software application.

After 17 auction rounds, the bidding for the "C" block of 700 megahertz spectrum surpassed a $4.64 billion minimum set by the Federal Communications Commission.

As a result, the winner of the airwaves will have to abide by the open-access conditions, which had been sought by Internet search engine Google Inc and adopted by the FCC before the auction.

The bidders' identities are being kept secret, under FCC rules, until the entire auction ends. However, analysts have said the most likely bidders for the C block airwaves are Verizon Wireless and Google.

More at Reuters.

tag: open-access conditions, 700 megahertz spectrum, Verizon Wireless, Google, FCC Auction, "C" block auction

Jangl Takes Jungle Out Of Dating Yet Hides You Well

TechCrunch says that jangl has partnered with Plentyoffish to provide VoIP solutions to the dating site that is receiving 3million page views an hour! I like to know what is the platform this guy is running this on, specially in an apartment?
Jangl fits the bill, when it comes to connecting with new friends safely and privately, with “Social Communications Widget”. It lets you make calls, send SMSs, and leave voice mails without exposing anyone’s phone number through a simple widget. Perfect for places where do not want reveal too much yet want to see a lot. Jangl’s widget will let daters call each other, send SMSs, and leave voice mails all without sharing a real number. The functionality makes it easy to take the next step in a relationship without sacrificing privacy, or just discrete phone sex.
The backend service is through Jajah. Like Plentyoffish, jangl plans to make money with advertising.

tag: jangl, jajah, plentyoffish, phone sex, SMS, Social Communications Widget

Ribbit Hatches an Amphibian, A Web 2.0 VoIP Solution.

Phone In A Flash From Ribbit, (A lengthy press release) I mentioned last year, has released Amphibian, a full scale VoIP application for the web. According to the Amphibian site,With Amphibian you can:

• Manage your mobile voicemail like email on your computer and on your mobile phone.
• Turn your voicemail into text to make voice messages sharable, searchable, and most importantly actionable.
• Take and make mobile calls from any browser or web page - such as iGoogle, Facebook, and many more.
• Experience Caller ID 2.0 - dip into the social web and know not just who is calling but what the caller has been doing.
• Have scores of web developers working at internet speed building new phone applications for you.

Talking about developers, check out Air Phone, an iPhone for your desktop. Built using the Ribbit API, I think it will be hit among Amphibian users.

The Amphibian will easily work with your favorite webtop, like iGoogle or facebook. Ribbit was also at DEMO 08. And the 5.58 min presentation(Demo 08 presentations were limited to 6 minutes) is on Ribbit Corporate blog.
I know I will have that Air Phone.
tag: Amphibian, ribbit, VoIP Solutions, iPhone, Air Phone, iGoogle, Facebook, Ribbit API,

IVR Technologies, Inc. Releases Microsoft Windows Mobile® Smartphone SIP VoIP Applications

Los Angeles, CA [ January 14, 2008 ]
IVR Technologies, Inc., a leading software developer of IP enhanced services and real-time billing solutions, announced today that they have released several Windows Mobile® Smartphone applications for use with Talking SIP, their fully integrated application, media and billing server. The Smartphone applications integrate tightly and seamlessly into Windows Mobile® 6 powered devices and facilitate calling card and callback calls in order to realize significant cost savings over typically exorbitant mobile international long distance rates. The Smartphone Calling Card and Callback applications are just some of the many in-demand and innovative services offered by the popular and globally deployed Talking SIP solution that drives revenue and higher margin to service providers' networks.

Today's mobile calling plans offer economical local and domestic calling plans while international long distance calling is still prohibitively expensive - especially when roaming. Unfortunately, more cost-effective solutions for mobile users, such as calling cards and fixed-mobile convergence, are cumbersome and protract the calling process. On the other hand, the Smartphone applications provide an extremely simple and straightforward way to make long distance calls while, at the same time, realizing significant cost savings.

A User accesses the Smartphone Calling Card and Callback applications through a voice tag, speed dial, or through the Windows® Start menu. Simply select the desired destination party directly from the Contact list or by direct dialing the number to initiate the calling card or callback request. With the calling card application the call is made immediately and the application handles the sending of caller authentication, login and destination information. With the callback application, after the request has been made, in mere seconds the mobile subscriber's phone will ring and he will be connected to the desired party. By offering applications that are so tightly integrated into the phone, mobile users can now make international long distance calls in the same manner - and with the same quality - as regular calls but at significantly lower cost. In addition, next-generation service providers are able to drive additional revenue and margin to their networks by capturing long distance traffic that is currently being serviced by mobile carriers. The Talking SIP solution can service calling card and callback requests from mobile subscribers located anywhere in the world - thus removing any and all geographic boundaries to the service provider's target market.
More info at web site http://www.ivr.com.

tag: mobile Voip, SIP, Smartphone, billing solutions, Talking SIP, Calling Card, fixed-mobile convergence, voice tag, speed dial,

Windows Mobile Version of Raketu Released

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Raketu, a leading global Internet communications, information, and entertainment company, today introduced the Windows Mobile version of the company’s voice over IP (VoIP) communications software. Raketu’s Windows Mobile version, which can be downloaded directly from www.Raketu.com and runs native on Windows Mobile device handsets, enables smart phone users that run the PPC2003, WinMobile5, and WinMobile6 Windows Mobile operating systems to make free and low cost VoIP calls globally.

“Increasingly our users who have Windows Mobile smart phones have been requesting that Raketu run native on their handsets to eliminate the high cost of International calling from their mobile devices,” said Greg Parker, president of Raketu Communications. “Now anyone with a mobile device that uses the Windows Mobile operating system can make free and low-cost VoIP calls to friends, family, and business associates globally.”

Currently, all pre-paid customers of Raketu’s desktop based "RakOut" computer-to-phone VoIP services enjoy 1200 minutes of free calling each month dialing from their PC to landline and mobile phones in over 42 countries around the world. Starting immediately, users of Raketu’s Windows Mobile application will be able to take advantage of the same free calling promotion. Additionally, Raketu Windows Mobile users will be able to make Raketu phone-to-phone calls, send instant messages, sms-text messages and email. For more information visit the company’s website at www.Raketu.com.

tag: raketu, mobile Voip, RakOut, PPC2003, WinMobile5, VoIP, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile VoIP,

iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak

But before you do upgrade, read the FAQ by Nate True himself. Below is a part of it. The iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak MAC Version is available now. If this is what you are looking for go for it!

I've heard that your update will break when the SDK comes out.
That's all speculation for now - when the SDK comes out I will be testing for it, and I will release a fix if something is amiss.

I am have an iPhone. Is it safe to upgrade?
First off, I can't guarantee that an upgrade will go as planned. However, the upgrade does not make irreversible changes - you will be able to restore your iPhone from any state the upgrader leaves it in (unless your iPhone is already broken). To see what you can do with your phone, consult this list:

The iPhone can-I-upgrade list

1.0.0 to 1.0.2 phone: You must upgrade to 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 before continuing. If your phone has been unlocked (modified to work with a non-AT&T carrier) with anything other than iPhone SIM Free, you will not be able to proceed without re-locking your phone by upgrading to 1.1.3. Otherwise you're clear.

1.1.1 phone, unmodified: You need to head to "jailbreakme.com" to install Installer.app on your phone. After that you can perform the 1.1.3 soft upgrade.

1.1.1 phone, with Installer.app: You're clear to do the upgrade.

1.1.2 phone, unmodified: You need to do a downgrade to 1.1.1. Then go to 1.1.1 unmodified instructions.

1.1.2 phone, modified through Oktoprep and jailbreak.jar: You're clear to upgrade.

1.1.3 phone, unmodified: You need to downgrade to 1.1.1 first. Then go to 1.1.1 unmodified instructions.

An iPod Touch, any version: My upgrade is not for you. However, the official jailbreak from the Dev Team will work for you - so do that instead!

tag: 1.1.3, 113, iphone, jailbreak, orange juice, iPhone unlock, Oktoprep, jailbreak.jar,

Concordia University Continues History of Firsts With Cisco Technology - Deploys VoIP Over Wireless Network, Mobile Phone Service Via Wireless

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 30, 2008 - Cisco® announced today that Montreal's Concordia University has added the next chapter to its history as one of Canada's leading technology trailblazers by deploying the country's first 802.11n wireless network on a university campus and incorporating it as part of a larger, innovative indoor-outdoor wireless mobility infrastructure.

The adoption of Cisco's next-generation 802.11n wireless technology allows Concordia University to expand its campus-wide wireless network. Part of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, the 802.11n solution offers improved reliability and faster throughput for existing 802.11g implementations. The new 802.11n network represents the university's latest milestone in adopting cutting-edge information technology from Cisco. Concordia University, which hosts about 40,000 students, deployed Canada's first wireless local-area network in 2001, and in 2003 it was the country's first higher-education institution to roll out Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) across a wireless infrastructure. Today, Concordia University is enhancing its indoor wireless network with Wi-Fi-certified 802.11n Aironet® 1250 Series Access Points from Cisco and managing a first-of-its-kind service-oriented outdoor mesh network that offers mobile phone and data storage services. Although they are two distinct initiatives, together they strengthen the school's ability to provide reliable wireless performance and innovative mobile services to students and staff.

For instance, the university acts as a telecommunications service provider to the campus community. Although accessing the indoor 802.11n network is free, the university charges subscribers a monthly rate of CAN $8.99 for outdoor connections. Concordia is already working on a plan that will allow students who are physically on campus to seamlessly offload calls from their mobile provider's network, allowing them to avoid burning minutes from their mobile phone plans. This transition between the campus and mobile carriers' networks, various mobile applications and mobile devices (called seamless mobile collaboration, or SMC) represents a novel approach to supporting everything from general student communications and ubiquitous connectivity to campus operations and emergency preparedness.

In addition to being a service provider for wireless mobile telecommunications, Concordia University allows students and staff to subscribe to virtualized desktops, which minimizes software and hardware replacement costs as well as the number of potential attack vectors that viruses and other security threats can exploit. The IT team stores data for subscribers and provides necessary applications on demand.

"Our IT organization serves as a service provider, a storage provider, a software provider, and more," said Andrew McAusland, associate vice president of Instructional and Information Technology Services at Concordia University. "We make a conscientious effort to provide our students with advanced services. This represents a significant part of our vision and commitment to all Concordians. Our work with Cisco, particularly the combination of 802.11n wireless networking, VoIP over WLAN, outdoor mesh and seamless mobile collaboration technologies, brings this vision to life."

All of these services represent industry firsts within Canada's education community. Concordia University's penchant for deploying first-of-its-kind technology parallels Cisco's recent innovation in the wireless mobility arena, particularly in the area of outdoor mesh and 802.11n. Cisco is the first vendor to ship 802.11n products globally, and entering 2008 it was the only vendor delivering actual products to the marketplace. According to the latest market-share reports from Dell'Oro and Synergy, Cisco commands 64 percent of the wireless local-area network (WLAN) space, seven times its nearest competitor's share. Gartner's Wireless LAN Infrastructure Magic Quadrant, released December 20, 2007, pegs Cisco as an industry leader as well.

McAusland said Cisco's history of leadership in the wireless networking and IT space fuels his confidence to adopt new-age technology.

"Anytime you become an early adopter, the integrity of a vendor's track record in a particular technology space, as well as the investment protection provided by that technology, is absolutely critical," McAusland said. "With 802.11n, Cisco meets those requirements. They were there when we deployed our first WLAN, when we rolled out VoIP over that WLAN, when we established an outdoor mesh network. And now they are helping us be the vanguard for 802.11n within our country's education community. Our 802.11n deployment is live and operational as we speak. Using Cisco's latest offerings give us a differentiable advantage that pays off for our campus community."

Shipped this fall, Cisco's Aironet 1250 Series Access Points are the industry's first Wi-Fi-certified 802.11n draft 2.0 access points and first commercially available product to have participated in the Wi-Fi Alliance 802.11n draft 2.0 testbed. In addition to the increase in throughput, McAusland said Cisco's multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO) technology helps his team achieve backward compatibility with older b- and g-based access points to provide highly reliable wireless coverage, particularly for challenging radio frequency environments within the university's environs.

"There have been a lot of claims and speculation about prospective 802.11n deployments, but Concordia University's live 802.11n network is showing that actions speak louder than words," said Ben Gibson, Cisco's senior director of mobility solutions. "While 802.11n represents a significant wave of the future, the university knows that 802.11n is not the beginning and end of its innovative scope. The university realizes that the sum is greater than its parts. Concordia University is showing the higher education and broader business community a successful model for weaving 802.11n into the fabric of a larger, comprehensive indoor-outdoor mobility infrastructure."

tag: cisco, 802.11n, Cisco Unified Wireless Network, Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP, Aironet, Aironet® 1250, mobile phone, Concordia, mobile collaboration, virtualized desktops, VoIP over WLAN,

Those missing 1.3 million iPhones Found

Those missing 1.3 million iPhones (at least some of it) has been located By Damon Darlin of NY Times Bits Blog.


tag: iPhone,

O2 Drops Rates (Tariff) For All Phones On The Heels Of iPhone Success.

O2 today announced a radical shake-up of its entire range of consumer Pay Monthly and small business tariffs, including the iPhone. With more than half (52%)* of mobile phone users finding tariff structures and offers confusing, the new tariffs will be simple and straightforward and O2's most competitive to date, offering market-leading value and bringing flat rate data to all new price points.

All O2 consumer Pay Monthly tariffs for new and upgrading customers will be brought in line with six simple price points where customers simply choose the text and minute bundle which most suits them. For iPhone customers, both existing and new, this means even more texts and minutes, making the iPhone one of the best deals on the market. The new tariffs will be available from February 1st 2008.

Once the price point is chosen, customers can then customise their tariff by adding from a range of seven available GBP7.50 Bolt Ons, including unlimited data, unlimited O2 to O2 calls, unlimited anyone texts and unlimited weekend calls. Customers on a 600 minute or more tariff (equivalent to GBP35 on an 18 month contract) will get one Bolt On of their choosing free of charge. As part of the tariff refresh, access to voicemail will now be free across all new price points.

tag: iPhone, O2, Tariff,

"Samsung Wyz 070", Samsung Networks launches First Mobile VoIP Service In Korea,

Korea times News article is talking about a new venture by Samsung, actually two subsidiaries of Samsung, Samsung Networks, and Samsung Electronics, getting together to provide VoIP services to Mobile users, Mobile VoIP.
The service 39 won for a 3-minute domestic call ― much cheaper than ordinary mobile phone calls that cost between nine to 40 won for every 10 seconds of outgoing calls. Furthermore, it is free of charge when making calls within one's network, such as a company, Samsung said.

The launching of the first mobile VoIP phone is likely to get a warm welcome from Korean consumers. Three mobile companies ― SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom ― have been blamed for taking easy profits from users by sharing the mobile service market under the umbrella of the government.
The "Samsung Wyz 070'' service enables mobile phone users to make and receive calls using the WiFi wireless Internet network, the most widely used wireless local-area network (LAN), easily found in urban homes, offices, schools, cafes and other public places. This is also the first Voice-over-Internet (VoIP) service for mobile phone in Korea, a move that facilitates competition to cut phone charges. The VoIP phone automatically switches to the non-VoIP mode when it goes out of the WiFi coverage.
The Wyz 070 service is only available for corporate users who use Samsung Electronics' Blackjack smartphones, the company said. But it will be expanded to more models, such as Blackberry, said Jeong Hye-lim, the firm's spokeswoman.
"We only have Blackjack now because it is the only handset in South Korea that is capable of using WiFi,'' said Jeong, general manager of public relations. "Other WiFi models, such as Blackberry, can be used for the service once they are introduced to Korea and they are equipped with our software applications.''
The Korea Times
Photo by VoIPMan on Flickr


tag: mobile Voip, VoIP, Wyz 070, voip for Blackjack, Samsung Electronics, Blackberry, Samsung Wyz 070, SK Telecom, KTF, LG Telecom, South Korea, free voip calls, Samsung Networks,

Another round of VoIP Patent Wars, Sprint Files Four VoIP Patent Infringement Suits

Jeff Pulver has written a post about latest law suites regarding Sprint and Verizon. Verizon against COX and Sprint against a bunch of CLECs. Speculation is that Sprint move is financially motivated.
Here is the post Sprint Files Four VoIP Patent Infringement Suits.
tag: VoIP Patents, VoIP Laws, sprint, verizon

Correction regarding VoIP-PAL Article

I have corrected an error I made in the post;

1 Million VoIP Frequent Flier Miles From VoIP-PAL, Via AirIncentives

My apologies to all who were involved.
tag: VoIP-PAL, Correction

Raketu Lite, Lean and Slim Raketu Desktop Released By Raketu

SnapVoIP
Raketu Communications has released Raketu Lite, the light version of Raketu Windows desktop application. Raketu Lite offers Raketu’s VoIP Calling Features New “Slim” Interface Which Integrates VoIP Calling, IM/SMS, and Email in Easy-to-Use Desktop Application. If you are intersted it could be downloaded directly from www.Raketu.com. The new application’s “Slim” interface is Raketu’s Lite version of Raketu’s full-featured LaunchPad Desktop application, which carry IPTV streamed video and VOD entertainment content in addition to Lite's features.

Raketu Lite is available for Windows XP and Vista users, and offers free and/or extremely low cost VoIP calling from a desktop PC. Raketu Lite supports users with free anytime PC-to-PC calling globally, and for Raketu prepaid customers, 1200 minutes per month of free PC-to-Phone calling or 600 minutes per month free Phone-to-Phone calling to free calling zones in 42 countries that include China, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States/Canada among others.
Mac users and users of other Operating Systems can make calls using Raketu’s website i.e using RakWeb. RakWeb is very user-friendly. As long as you can access webpages you can use RakWeb. No download required.
All Raketu Versions, including Raketu Lite could be downloaded from www.raketu.com.

tag: voip news, raketu, raketu lite, IPTV, VOD entertainment, VoIP Calling, IM/SMS, PC-to-PC calling, free PC-to-Phone calling,

1 Million VoIP Frequent Flier Miles From VoIP-PAL, Via AirIncentives

SnapVoIP

UPDATE:
I received a correction via a Comment to this post regarding some mistakes I made in this post; My apologies to all whom involved and this error has caused. Following is the comment in it's entirety.

Voip-pal.
Let this be a notice to whom ever posted the info on Voip-pal.com and the Magicjack,Voip-pal is not the "creater" nor "maker" of the Magicjack, please correct this ASAP as the "maker " of magicjack is YMAX.
Further to this notice the AirIncentive relates to products we sell only through our websites.

CEO,Voip-pal.com

VoIP-Pal, a distributer of MagicJack and a VoIP IP Telephony service provider, is offering one million of frequent flier miles to it's customers through AirIncentives program. Every customer who purchase a product from VoIP-PAL through their websites will receive 300 Frequent Flier miles.

SUN VALLEY, CA—VoIP-PAL.com, Inc., a provider of cutting-edge communications products and services for commercial and residential customers, today announced that the Company is on-track to launch its new customer incentive program, AirIncentives, on February 1, 2008.

AirIncentives grants frequent flier miles to individuals that purchase VoIP products from the Company. VoIP-PAL customers will receive 300 frequent flyer miles each time they purchase a VoIP-PAL product. Frequent flyer miles gained through AirIncentives can be redeemed at http://www.voip-pal.com when the program launches next week.

Through a partnership with AirIncentives, VoIP-PAL will offer a total of 1 million frequent flyer miles to its customers.

"Frequent flyer miles have historically been the world’s most successful incentive to purchase consumer goods," said Richard Kipping, Chief Executive Officer of VoIP-PAL.com, Inc. "AirIncentives is very much in-line with our strategic vision of providing our customers with high-quality products, while offering valuable incentives to them to purchase our products. We expect to launch several more initiatives in 2008 aimed at bolstering customer loyalty, and sales growth."

To find out more information about VoIP-PAL.com, visit: http://www.voip-pal.com.

To find out more about AirIncentives, visit: http://www.airincentives.com.

tag: voip news, VoIP business, VoIP-PAL, AirIncentives,

Wireless Auction Bids Reach $3.7 billion At The End Of the Day Friday.

snapvoipCompanies qualified to join the 700 MHz airwaves auction include major carriers AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, as well as possible new competitors like Internet company Google Inc, EchoStar Communications Corp and Cablevision Systems Corp. They all have been busy since the auction opened but not busy enough to reach the FCC's goal, a 10 Billion Dollar sale.
Among all these companies, the collective bids for all the blocks now stand at 3.7 Billion.
Continue reading at Reuters news article..
 Bids reached unprecedented 18.96 Billion at the end. 
tag: 700 MHz Spectrum, FCC, ATT, Cablevision, Verizon, google, EchoStar,

Civil liberties groups urge Congress to reject telecom immunity

Copyright © 2005-2008 SnapVoip | All Rights Reserved.
I wonder where we will end up.

Civil liberties and media reform group Free Press called on the U.S. Congress to reject bills that would give retroactive legal immunity to telecommunication carriers that helped the government monitor phone calls and e-mail after Vice President Dick Cheney pushed for the legislation.

Cheney and the White House this week pushed Congress to extend the surveillance authorization bill, the Protect America Act, which expires on Feb. 1. Cheney, speaking last week at conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, also called on Congress to grant legal immunity to telecom carriers that participated in a U.S. National Security Agency program that allowed the NSA to intercept communications of some U.S. residents without court authorization.

tag: Civil liberties, Free Press, Congress, legal immunity, telecom carriers, NSA,

1.3 Million Unlocked iPhones?

Copyright © 2005-2008 SnapVoip | All Rights Reserved.
Analysts are looking for over 1.3 million iPhones that are unaccounted for!

"Apple claims slightly over 3.7 million iPhones were sold in 2007 -- yet AT&T this week revealed it ended the year with "just at or sightly under two million iPhone customers".That two million has been boosted somewhat by an estimated 300,000-400,000 sales in Europe, analysts believe. The discrepancy is that the 3.7 million iPhones Apple says it has sold and the estimated 2.4 million sold by its network partners still leaves 1.3 million of the devices unaccounted for."
tag: iPhone, Apple, ATT, unlocked iPhone

700MHz Auction, Bids are Coming Low, Too low

Copyright © 2005-2008 SnapVoip | All Rights Reserved.
After going through 3 rounds of auctions 700 MHz band, FCC and Congress should be disappointed. They were expecting to raise $10 Billion with these auctions but were only able to raise $3.2 Billion.
The auctions were opened Thursday 24th 2008, but bidding could continue for weeks. In most cases, the high bids don't even meet the FCC's reserve price set for minimum winning bids. A fourth round of bidding was scheduled for today.

The highest bid after the third round was $1.49 billion for eight of 12 regional licenses in the C block, a 22MHz block of spectrum covering all 50 states. The FCC's has a minimum price set for the C block is $4.6 billion. It also comes with additional coditions, the winning bidders of C block spectrum must allow any legal devices to connect to their network, including mobile phones purchased from other carriers.

tag: 700 MHz band, FCC,

The iPhone "the best device I have ever seen."

Copyright © 2008 SnapVoip.blogspot.com

That is what Stanley Sigman, President and Chief Executive Officer—AT&T Mobility, has said when he was first shown the capabilities of iPhone. According to a Wired magazine's article about how iPhone exploded the wireless market.
The article goes through the development phase of the iPhone, its marketing phase and where it is today.
The four page article carries you through Apple meeting rooms, development, iPod beginnings and I think will keep you glued to it until the end, like it did to me.

The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
tag: iPhone, Apple, ATT, iPOD

San Francisco's Other Free WiFi Network

Andy Abramson again pointed out something happening in my city! The Free Wireless Network in SanFrancisco, no not the one Mayor Newsom is trying to bring about. This network is taking care of Castro District of San Francisco and an initiative by FON, at "Share The Castro" project.
tag: San Francisco wireless, Share The Castro, Free Wireless, VoIP

Multi-Tech to Feature Unified Communications Solutions at ITEXPO East.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, (JANUARY 23, 2008) — Multi-Tech® Systems, Inc. today announced it will have the latest version of its unified communications solutions product portfolio on display at TMC’s INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO East 2008, January 23-25, 2008 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Florida (www.itexpo.com).

INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, held January 23-25, 2008, is the world’s largest and best-attended IP Communications trade show. Last year’s east coast event, held in South Florida in January, drew over 7,000 buyers and sellers of IP Communications products and services. The upcoming show in January will be the 17th INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, and TMC projects total attendance to exceed 7,500.

"Multi-Tech’s participation at INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO exemplifies why this show is widely recognized as the #1 venue where service providers, enterprises, government agencies, developers and resellers gather to learn about the benefits inherent in IP Communications products and services," said Rich Tehrani, TMC President. "The evolution in this industry has been monumental and it still continues to grow. We are proud to have Multi-Tech and its unified communications solutions as a key part of this year’s program."Multi-Tech Systems, Inc., a leading data communications and telecommunications technology company based in suburban Minneapolis provides a number of unified communications elements within its product line. For the multiple location business, there is the opportunity to network existing phone systems together using MultiVOIP® Gateways. From the fax perspective, if a company is not currently sending faxes directly to the desktop, the FaxFinder® Fax Server can enhance existing phone systems to allow inbound faxes to be delivered to the desktop while enabling outbound faxes to be sent from the desktop. And with the heavy use of cellular phones in today’s business environment, the CallFinder® Cellular Gateways enable voice call toll reduction by routing calls over less expensive cellular networks. The CallFinder also provides emergency calling in case PSTN service is not available.

"INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO has always been all about communications technologies that will help ensure future success to organizations of all sizes including SMBs," states Mike Kydd, Vice President of Sales for Multi-Tech Systems. "At this year’s show we are all about how to add different aspects of unified communications to your existing telephony equipment. The three unified communications elements described here can be added to existing phone systems today. Some or all are appropriate for existing systems depending on the nature of the data infrastructure, the kind of phone systems used, and whether cellular phones are involved. Typically, all are in play with more possibilities from Multi-Tech on the horizon. For instance, we have a product called the SMSFinder™ which is a turnkey SMS Server that brings SMS communications to SMBs. It allows companies to use SMS for business communications, and we will soon add the tools to make those communications part of an integrated unified communications system using existing telephone equipment. The point is that our products allow customers to start gaining some of the benefits of unified communications today without replacing expensive telephone equipment, and those benefits can save money and increase productivity."

For additional information on Multi-Tech Systems, Inc., please visit our Web site at www.multitech.com.

Registration for the show is now open. Anyone interested may register by visiting www.itexpo.com. Limited booth space is still available as well. Vendors interested in exhibiting at the show should contact Dave Rodriguez at 1-203-852-6800, ext. 146 or at drodriguez@tmcnet.com.

About Multi-Tech

Multi-Tech Systems is an ISO 9001:2000 certified global manufacturer of telephony, Internet and device networking products connecting voice and data over IP networks. Multi-Tech Systems has 75 U.S. patents and numerous international patents. Contact Multi-Tech in the U.S. at 800/328-9717 or +763/785-3500, via fax at +763/785-9874, EMEA at T: +(44) 118 959 7774 (UK) or T: +(33) 1 49 19 22 06 (France), or via fax at F: +(44) 118 959 7775 (UK) or F: +(33) 1 49 19 21 00 (France)

About TMC®

Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) publishes four print publications: Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, SIP Magazine and IMS Magazine. TMCnet, TMC's Web site, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. Ranked in the top 1,600 sites in the world by alexa.com*, TMCnet serves more than one million unique visitors each month. TMC is also the first publisher to test new products in its own on-site laboratories, TMC Labs. In addition, TMC produces INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, Communications Developer Conference, VoIP Demo, IMS Expo and Call Center 2.0 Conference. TMCnet.com publishes more than 15 topical online newsletters. For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com.

tag: ITEXPO, Multi-Tech, Unified Communications, TMCnet, INTERNET TELEPHONY, SIP Magazine, INTERNET TELEPHONY, PSTN,

The Year Of Asterisk

Digium, the business founded by Asterisk creator Mark Spencer, is getting ready to release a new version that will support much larger deployments by the end of this year.

Also New Jersey-based service provider, VoicePulse plans a hosted PBX service based on Asterisk according to Network World's Tim Greene.

The same article also mentions that Digium promises to broaden its influence this year as 3Com makes Asterisk available on a blade for its multifunction branch-office routers. This is in addition to the relabeled commercial Asterisk appliance made by Digium for 3Com small-business customers.

Article also brings out the smaller scale Asterisk based business like Escaux and Fonality, to name a few, sell full-blown custom Asterisk PBXs. Critical Links’ Edgebox surrounds Asterisk with a router, Wi-Fi access point, NAC and other security to fashion a branch-office-in-a-box device.

The article is a must read if you have anything to with VoIP and Asterisk.

tag: digium, Asterisk, Fonality, Mark Spencer, hosted PBX, 3Com, Asterisk appliance, branch-office router, Escaux, Asterisk PBX, Edgebox, The Year Of Asterisk

Ebay CEO, Meg Whitman Steps Down

Meg Whitman is stepping down as chief executive of eBay after a decade. I was her idea that every CEO should step down after 10 years to seek new professional challenges and to avail opportunity for fresh leadership. Following her own edict, she will step down March 31 from her CEO position but will remain on the board.

"It's time for eBay, and this community, to have a new leadership team, a new perspective, and a new vision," according to a post on the company blog.

"It’s with great pride and a strong sense of accomplishment that I leave this post and hand it over to the capable leaders we have in John and Rajiv. I’ve known both of them for many years and have believed for a long time that they are the ideal people to steer eBay into the future.

eBay is in my blood and always will be, so I'm not stepping back completely; I will remain on eBay’s Board of Directors. And of course, I'll keep buying and selling on the site."

tag: Ebay, skype, Meg Whitman

Yahoo! Go 3.0beta, Try It Out

Yahoo! Go 3.0beta, which I saw a demo at CES seem to be pretty good, once I tried it on a real phone!, my iPhone and I like Yahoo Life or Yahoo! Go 3.0. oneSearch™, Mail, Finance and Weather all worked fine but I was testing on an WiFi link. I will also test it once I am out there with no WiFi Link.
Even if you do not have an iPhone, you can try it on your phone as long as it is on the list that Yahoo mobile provides. For free, Send an email, upload photos, download a map, search for answers, check stock quotes, or get breaking news—all that and much more is available through Yahoo! Go.
I will try also try this on my Samsung SGH-i718 which is on the list. If you do not have a phone that is compatible, you can try it out at yahoo emulator, where the above screen capture was taken.
tag: Yahoo mobile, Yahoo Go 3.0, CES 2008, iPhone, Yahoo Life

IBM NEC Unite To Provide Unified Communications With Lotus Sametime and UNIVERGE

IBM joined NEC to integrate IBM Lotus Sametime collaboration platform with NEC's UNIVERGE IP communications servers.UNIVERGE gateway module for IBM Lotus Sametime will provide online presence and click-to-call services to Lotus clients within Lotus Sametime IM chat, web conference, or IBM Lotus Notes e-mail inbox via NEC’s UNIVERGE communications servers.

Next Month NEC Australia will deliver its first beta release of the UNIVERGE gateway module for Lotus Sametime to an IBM Australia customer, with general availability to the U.S. Europe, Japan, and Australia planed for early April 2008.

Press Release From NEC;

Tokyo, January 21, 2008: NEC® Corporation announced today that it is working with IBM® Corporation to deliver advanced unified communication and collaboration capabilities to businesses around the world. NEC, a global market leader in enterprise communications, will integrate its UNIVERGE® IP communication servers with the IBM Lotus® Sametime® 8.0 collaboration platform, the industry's number one instant messaging software for enterprise customers.

With NEC’s UNIVERGE gateway module for IBM Lotus Sametime, companies using NEC’s UNIVERGE communication servers will be able to view online presence information, and leverage click-to-call services from within a Lotus Sametime instant messaging chat, Web conference or IBM Lotus Notes® email inbox.

This new integration uses the open Eclipse-based Lotus Sametime platform and the Lotus Sametime Telephony Conferencing Service Provider Interface (TCSPI) to support the convergence of voice and data. Businesses can gain click-to-call access by implementing NEC’s newly developed TCSPI interface plug-in software in the UNIVERGE gateway module for Lotus software. Implementation of NEC’s plug-in is made simple by the extensible framework of Lotus Sametime and its efficient operation through a centralized server.

In February 2008, NEC Australia plans to deliver its first beta release of the UNIVERGE gateway module for IBM Lotus Sametime to an IBM Australia customer.

Incorporating communications and collaboration capabilities into business work processes for professionals can improve the speed and efficiency of customer services, resulting in faster outcomes and better customer satisfaction. With IBM’s Lotus Sametime 8.0 unified communications and collaboration platform and NEC’s UNIVERGE IP communication server, users will be able to find specialists quickly based on location and topic, and collaborate immediately through instant messaging or a VoIP phone conversation. This integration with Lotus Sametime software will benefit healthcare facilities, the hospitality industry and educational organization that have a need to communicate rapidly and immediately to resolve issues, collaborate or find the right specialist at the right time.

"The goal of IBM's UC2™ strategy is to drive business agility and innovation by simplifying and unifying communications and collaboration in the context of where and how people work every day. With today's announcement, NEC customers will have the choice to integrate their communications into Lotus Sametime, to help streamline business processes,” said Bruce Morse, Vice President, Lotus Software Group, IBM Corporation.

“It is exciting for customers to be able to integrate Lotus Sametime, the industry's leading instant messaging and "on premise" Web conferencing solution, with the superior reliability of NEC’s UNIVERGE IP communications servers,” said Kazuo Tsuzuki, Associate Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, NEC Corporation. "Whether it is advancing a business decision via rich collaboration in a web conference or using Lotus Sametime click-to-call features, these complementary offerings from IBM and NEC will deliver the best solution to our mutual customers."

By working closely with IBM to leverage the benefits of IBM Lotus Sametime, software, NEC can expand its UNIVERGE portfolio. With these innovative new initiatives, NEC proposes enterprises to leverage the open eco-system and extensibility that allows enterprise agents to best manage and provide better service with their voice and data network environment while reducing overall costs.

Starting with this new UNIVERGE gateway module for IBM Lotus Sametime, NEC will continue to leverage future IBM unified communications solutions that will benefit their customers worldwide.

NEC’s UNIVERGE gateway for IBM Lotus Sametime will be exhibited at Booth #825, IBM Lotusphere® 2008, January 20 – 24, 2008, Orlando, Florida, USA.

NEC’s UNIVERGE gateway module for IBM Lotus Sametime will be available in the US, Europe, Japan, and Australia in early April, 2008.

Media Inquiries

Japan
Diane Foley NEC Corporation +81 3 3798 6511 d-foley@ax.jp.nec.com	Hiroe Okajima NEC Corporation +81 3 3798 6511 h-okajima@ax.jp.nec.com
North America
Kris Kozamchak NEC Unified Solutions +1 214 262 6528 kkozamchak@necunified.com
EMEA	Australia
Robert van Amerongen NEC Philips Unified Solution +31 35 689 1521 robert.van.amerongen@nec-philips.com	Will Clarke NEC Australia +61 3 9271 4172 Will.clarke@nec.com.au

For more information on Lotus Sametime please visit: www.ibm.com/lotus/sametime
tag: Unified Communications, IBM, NEC, Lotus Sametime, UNIVERGE gateway, Lotusphere® 2008, UNIVERGE IP communications servers, UC2™, healthcare, hospitality industry, TCSPI

SingTel Gets Negative Reactions From Competitors

TelecomTV is reporting on attempts by SingTel in Singapore's request to drop competitors and other matters have received negative reactions from across the board.
The Infocomm Development Authority solicited industry feedback on the attempt by SingTel to shed various competition, wholesale supply and published tariff obligations on a range of business, data and wholesale products as well as to all business and government customers billing over $250,000 annually. That feedback has been uniformly negative.


tag: Telecom Asia, singtel

Clearwire and Google Collaborate on Search and Communications Tools

Google and Clearwire, a Wireless Service provider has teamed up to provide combined services to it's customers. One major move will be to move Clearwire customers to Gmail. Clearwire has wireless broadband networks operating in 46 markets in 16 states and is currently deploying mobile WiMAX technology across the country. Which makes this partnership also important to Google's wireless plans.
Clearwire is also launching its first voice-over-IP (VoIP) services based on Nortel’s Application Server 5200 and Communication Server 2000 in its data centres to add the first in-house voice services to its portfolio. Clearwire currently provides VoIP services in partnership with a number of carriers.

Clearwire Press Release.

KIRKLAND, Wash., Jan 15, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Wireless broadband pioneer Clearwire Corporation today announced it is teaming up with Google to deliver the company's popular Google Apps(TM) communication suite to Clearwire customers. Clearwire will begin migrating its current customers to Gmail(TM) and Google Calendar(TM) in the first half of this year. In addition, Clearwire customers will also have access to Google Talk(TM).

"Clearwire is excited to launch our relationship with Google to further our commitment to deliver all the Internet has to offer to a person rather than a place. Both companies are built on the foundation of providing a simple to use, rich and open Internet experience and we believe the addition of these communications tools will be a tremendous benefit to Clearwire's customers", said Scott Richardson Clearwire's chief strategy officer. "We look forward to expanding our working relationship with Google further enhancing our customer's access to the Internet -- anytime and anywhere."

In addition to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Talk, Clearwire will use AdSense for Search(TM) to provide Google search capabilities on future Clearwire portal applications.

"We're pleased to work with Clearwire to offer its high-speed wireless broadband customers access to our leading search and communications tools," said Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager Google Enterprise. "Our companies share a vision of giving consumers innovative choices that will the change the way they interact with each other."

Clearwire is building and operating one of the world's most capable wireless broadband networks. The company is building from the ground up a single network that bridges the gap between today's wire line and wireless networks by delivering a true broadband experience to a person rather than a place. By collaborating with world-class companies like Google that are committed to innovation, Clearwire and its customers will enjoy all that the Internet has to offer at home as well as in a mobile environment within the Clearwire coverage area.

tag: VoIP business, google, WiMAX, VoIP, Clearwire, Nortel, Communication Server 2000, Google Apps, Google Talk, Gmail, Google search, Clearwire portal,

The Philippine Drafts New Telecom Rules To Aid Spread Use Of VoIP

Philippine's NTC, the Philippine telecommunications regulator, has issued a memorandum circular on ADDITIONAL RULES ON VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL, VoIP. This aims to clear uncertainty over certain aspects of what is or is not allowed – particularly in reference to questions of access charges for VoIP, as well as the offering of VoIP service as a purely Internet-based application.
It also covers cases such as VoIP service providers (VoIPSP) requiring access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) shall enter into an interconnection or access arrangement with at least one of the duly enfranchised and authorized PSTN operator. Such carrier/s shall then be responsible for routing of the VoIP traffic to and from the networks of other operators and shall see to it that VoIP traffic routed to other operators are properly identified. The VoIPSP shall pay transit charges to the PSTN. The transit charge shall not be higher than PhP0.25 per minute.
The Memorandum is available at NTC.
tag: NTC, VoIP, VoIPSP, VoIP service provider, Philippine's NTC, PSTN,

Dell Joins Fonality To Conquer SMB VoIP Market

Dell seeing the value of providing VoIP solutions to it's vast customer base of small business has chosen to partner with Fonality, a leading SMB VoIP Solution provider.
CEO of Fonality has written a lengthy post to TrixBox weblog and a very good explanation of the facts and needs for the business venture. It explains the view from Fonality's perspective.
From Dell's stand point, it is going to the market well prepared with Fonality and Nortel, with Fonality filling up the group 5-125 user business while Nortel will fill the needs of 5-500 user business'.
I think this is a very good news for Fonality and it should clean up things like back doors that everyone jumped up about, including me, and resort to open operations. If you need feedback from your clients, request it. (They did clean up the last act.) TrixBox can go a long way.
For now, all I can say is, Congratulations!
tag: DELL, Fonality, Nortel, VoIP Solutions, VoIP business, IP PBX, TrixBox, SMB VoIP Solution

VoIP and Emergency Services, “What does VoIP offer?”

As with any changes to the way we communicate making it much bigger issue for the emergency services, Dan Worth of BAPCO reported from The London Fire Brigade Training Centre, where the South East Region conference, “What does VoIP offer?”, was held recently.
The curate’s egg that is VoIP is currently presenting both positives and problems and it still requires a critical eye to make sure technology does not lead purely because it can. But as conferences such as this demonstrate, there are companies and protocols being developed all the time that the emergency services will be able to turn to for guidance.

The 33 delegates in attendance (plus attendees from exhibiting companies) also enjoyed guided tours of the London Fire Brigade Museum that had been organized so they could appreciate how far emergency services had developed over the years.

Companies exhibiting at the conference were: Avaya, APD, Mercury – Technology, CYFAS, Samdale, Extreme Networks, Arqiva, Resilience Communications and Milltelecom.

Bapco report includes;
Transforming communication using VoIP
Bruce Everest, Emergency Technologies Director, Avaya
Bruce Everest of Avaya, the sponsor for the day, looked at how VoIP has impacted companies and the emergency services from a business point of view.

The Emergency Services’ perspective
Lee Warhurst, Secretary to ACPO Communications Group
Serving Police Officer Lee Warhurst gave some perspectives on the Emergency Services’ concerns with regard to emergency calls being made over VoIP systems, as well as giving an overview of the Ofcom consultations into the regulation of VoIP services and the potential issues this has raised.

Handling VoIP emergency calls
John Medland, BT 999 Policy Manager
Starting with some statistics John Medland underlined that VoIP only makes up a relatively small percentage of the calls that come through to emergency centre control rooms – about 1,000 a month compared to 2.4 million a month from fixed and mobile numbers. But despite this the issues surrounding VoIP still demand serious attention.

VoIP forensics and evidence gathering
Mark Hayward, Security Consultant, SELEX Communications
The talk was opened with the straight-to-the-point statement that ‘VoIP is hackable’, and Mark went on to outline some of the ways in which this can happen. He also looked at some of the actual and potential solutions to this hacking. Flooding the network with info to stop voice calls being made, eavesdropping on conversations to gather information or even to save money are some of the way VoIP can be attacked. Identity fraud can take place too and there are numerous free-to-download programs designed to allow people to hack into VoIP accounts.

Converged communications within public sector and Emergency Services
Kelly Scott, Extreme Networks
The final talk of the day focused on the need for a network infrastructure that provides organizations, groups, and people, a secure, reliable and available environment to guarantee application delivery and combat the security issues of today’s networks.
One could find the complete article VOIP - out with the old in with the new.


tag: Emergency services, e999, e911, VoIP, SIP, VoIP forensics, Identity fraud, eavesdropping, BT 999, Ofcom, Avaya, APD, Mercury – Technology, CYFAS, Samdale, Extreme Networks, Arqiva, Resilience Communications, Milltelecom

snom Gains Two New IP Phone Distributors in North America.

Snom, one of my favorite European SIP/IP Phone Manufacturers have expanded it's distributor network in North America with two new distributors. In fact snom is the one of earliest SIP agents and servers that I tested a few years ago.
According to two press releases issued recently, snom’s IP Phones Now Available Through Expanded North American Network, (adds Novus LLC) and Interlink to Distribute snom VoIP Phones in North America.
snom has the following to say about it's new distributors; starting with Novus LLC,
“This partnership will give us a vehicle to not only provide quality VoIP solutions to our customers, but also have our equipment backed by a team of experienced and knowledgeable consultants,” said Michael Knieling, executive director of sales and marketing for snom. “Together we can offer our customers a host of cost effective solutions with quality service and support.”
and of Interlink partnership that was announced earlier,
“With an expertise in IP telephony and continued expansion into the VoIP market, we believe having Interlink as a snom distribution partner makes perfect business sense for us,” said Michael Knieling, executive director of sales and marketing for snom. “As we seek to expand our presence in North America, we look forward to leveraging Interlink’s network of VARs and systems integrators, as well as their ability to offer business customers bundled VoIP solutions.”

But if you are attending ITEXPO East, you will be able to get first hand information from snom itself as snom will be exhibiting at the upcoming Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in Miami, FL, January 23rd through 25th at booth # 230.
press releases;
Novus LLC
Interlink

tag: VoIP business, VoIP Distributors, snom, ITEXPO East, ITEXPO 2008, Internet Telephony Conference & Expo, Novus LLC, Interlink, IP telephony, VoIP, SIP Phone

iPhone Goes corporate With Enterprise Data Plans

From today onwards, US iPhone fanatics will be able officially to use their favourite handset at work thanks to the addition of enterprise data plans to AT&T's iPhone rate schemes.
The new enterprise rates range from US$45.00 per month for the basic iPhone 200 Data Plan that comes with a decidedly ungenerous allowance of 200 SMS messages a month together with Domestic Data (web/email) and Visual Voicemail through to the $55 Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone 1500 including 1500 SMSs, Domestic Data and up to the premium product, the $65.00 Business Plan, that comes with unlimited data and visual voicemail.

These rates are for US business iPhone customers only. International business users and travelers must sign up for supplemental coverage called the Data Global Add-On for iPhone for $59.99/month per user for 50MB roaming per month in 29 countries in Europe and Asia.
News Source, TelecomTV


iPhone, voip

Taming the Submarine Cable Dragons

Pacific Telecommunications Council meeting in Honolulu has brought many ideas out. Upgrading of submarine cables across pacific is one hot, warm, cold topic! Telecomtv's Commsday has written a very intriguing article that I this is worth reading.

After all, with much existing capacity still unlit in both the North and South Pacific, what is one to make of actual and proposed builds from the likes of Verizon, Tata Communications, Reliance, Pacnet, the Telekom Malaysia-helmed Asia America Gateway, Pipe Networks and Telstra? Plus plans for massive upgrades on existing cables such as Australia-Japan Cable and Pacific Crossing?

Milling around the conference halls at last week's Pacific Telecommunications Council meeting in Honolulu it's fair to say that no one was in denial about the fact the 2001 bubble was based on similar causative factors to those that exist now, nor the fact that there is trepidation that industry players will march steadfastly and damagingly into another one.

May be because;

By some estimates, Google –mainly as a result of the poularity of YouTube – now generates about quarter of the world's Internet traffic. Obviously, the likes of Yahoo and MSN must also account for meaningful shares, as must other significant servers of video content such as the big US entertainment corporations such as Fox.

To get a better idea and to watch out for Hidden Google with crouching cables.

Tags: Telecom, Telecom Asia , Pacific Telecommunications Council, Telecommunications, submarine cables, Google, PTC, VoIP

700 MHz Spectrum Goes On Auction On 24th January 2008

Although pundits say that Google is unlike to get a piece of bandwidth in the 700 MHz Spectrum left free by TV Broadcasters moving to HD/Digital Signals, that Google should be happy that it set the rules for the auction. I will believe pundits once I see the results.
WASHINGTON — The auction for rights to a highly valuable swath of the nation’s airwaves will begin Thursday and is expected to include multi billion-dollar bids from the nation’s two biggest wireless phone companies, Verizon and AT&T, as well as Google.
NY Times

tag: 700 MHz Spectrum, airwave auction, FCC, Verizon, AT&T, Google,

AT&T U-verse Launched, in Detroit , Indianapolis.

Offered as three pre configured packages and a build your own, packages offer, TV, AT&T Yahoo Internet Access and unlimited AT&T U-verse Voice.

Currently At&T offers U-Verse in following areas. Follow the links to get further information.

California San Francisco/Oakland San Jose/Santa Clara Orange County/Riverside Connecticut Fairfield County Indiana Indianapolis

Kansas Kansas City Michigan Detroit Ohio Cleveland

Oklahoma Oklahoma City Texas Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston San Antonio Wisconsin Milwaukee

tag: ATT, VoIP, U-Verse, triple play

"Readius®", A Phone with Foldable Screen

The exclusive Readius® exploits the versatility of rollable displays to merge the 'reading friendly' strengths of ereaders with the 'high mobility' features of mobile phones. With a display larger than the device itself, and designed around ‘ease of use’ and mobility, Readius® is optimised for reading for 30 hours without battery charge.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands – January 22nd 2008 – Polymer Vision, the inventor of rollable displays and a spin out from Philips, today introduced the Readius® product for commercial launch by mid 2008. The exclusive device exploits the versatility of rollable displays to merge the ‘reading friendly’ strengths of e-readers with the ‘high mobility’ features of mobile phones. Together with the Readius® internet portal, designed for personalisation and content selection, the company offers a whole new mobile phone category.

“People are demanding greater choice and flexibility in having overall instant access to personal content and information” said Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision. “They do not want to be concerned with small screens, not being able to read in sunlight, a dead battery or a device being too bulky to carry in their pocket. Readius® solves these worries and is generations ahead of anything else out there today”.

Readius® is the ideal travel companion
Designed around ease of use and mobility, Readius® can last for 30 hours of continuous reading without battery charge. The 3G HSDPA tri-band phone allows worldwide calls and high speed instant updates from personally selected news sources, email and other services.
Standard POP3 and IMAP is supported for ISP e-mail and others such as Yahoo!Mail, Google Gmail and Microsoft Exchange. The Micro SD High Capacity storage ensures quick and easy access to e-books and valuable information. Readius® also features audio capabilities, including MP3, for podcasts, audio books and music.

Readius® internet portal delivers choice and flexibility
The Readius® internet portal allows users to quickly and simply configure their Readius® User Interface as well as select content and services to individual style and needs. With zero clicks, personal data and information is then ‘pushed’ whenever and wherever it is needed.
The portal presents content providers with a commercially attractive channel to offer their content and services to the high growth mobile consumer market. Polymer Vision is in discussion with numerous such providers to populate the portal and make a broad choice of content and services available to Readius® owners.
Commercial
Readius® will be available for commercial launch mid 2008, creating an exceptional opportunity for mobile operators, retail outlets and content providers to win new customers, increase revenues and develop non-intrusive mobile advertising options. Specific details on timing, volumes and pricing can be discussed by appointment.
Readius®, its applications, and the content download platform, will be on show at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 11th – 14th February 2008, at the Polymer Vision booth, Hall 2, Booth C05.

To get to know Readius® better - with videos, images and downloads - please visit the Polymer Vision website: www.polymervision.com

Summary of key specifications
Weight: One third the average weight of e-readers (115g)
Display size: Twice the surface area of current largest phone display (5” diagonal, 16 greyscales)
Device size: Equal to an average mobile phone when closed (115 x 57 x 21mm)
Battery life: Up to six times longer than on mobile phones (30 hours continuous reading)
(Reading)
Connectivity: Greatest coverage of any e-reader (Tri Band/3G HSDPA)
Supporting ActiveSync and USB mass storage (USB 2.0)
Communication with accessories and other devices (Bluetooth 2.0)
Processor: Powerful processing engine (ARM11 400MHz)
Storage: Flexible, today commercially available up to 8GB (High Capacity Micro SD)
User Interface: Just 8 buttons (SimpleTouch Buttons)

Press contact Polymer Vision
Polymer Vision News Desk
Gerdie Vlassak
+31 (0)40 2774200
info@polymervision.com

Readius® leads to a more environmentally friendly future
Polymer Vision sees a future where over 3 billion mobile users have compact, more power efficient, secure mobile devices - with screens large enough to trigger dramatic reductions in the casual use of paper. The company is thereby highly motivated to play a key role in creating a more environmentally friendly future while successfully commercializing their products.

About Polymer Vision
Polymer Vision is the inventor of rollable displays and the pioneer of rollable display enabled mobile devices. It is the first company to bring organic semiconductor based flexible/rollable displays to production and the first to announce a related commercial product. Polymer Vision Ltd is a private company which spun out of Philips at the end of 2006. In 2007 it acquired all the assets of Innos UK Ltd to establish Polymer Vision (UK) Ltd in Southampton, England, now the display manufacturing arm of the company. Also in 2007 Polymer Vision received the prestigious “Innovation Award” at the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona in recognition of the significant contribution of Polymer Vision to the mobile industry.

tag: Readius, voip news, mobile, Polymer Vision, rollable display, 3GSM Congress, 3G HSDPA, MP3, podcasts, audio books, Eindhoven,