VOIP IP Telephony: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

iPhone OS 3.1 Beta & iPhone 3.1 SDK Beta Offered To iPhone Developer Community!

iPhone OS 3.1 & iPhone 3.1 SDK
According to engadget and its reliable readers, Apple has released iPhone OS 3.1 Beta and iPhone 3.1 SDK to the iPhone Developer Community. I am beginning to wonder if there is something really wrong with iPhone OS 3.0. My iPhone 3G has hanged it self more times since the upgrade than it's entire life in my hand, which is closer to an year.
The iPhone battery management and WiFi drop offs even when sitting next to the wireless router are other reported errors, the former specially for the iPhone 3GS and the latter for both iPhones.

Either way the engadget discussion might get heated up and give us more information. They already have attached screen captures from improved video app for iPhone 3GS.
engadget

Are You In For An iPhone 3GS?

Should I get a iPhone 3GS?
I for one know that I will wait a while before I get an iPhone 3GS for various reasons and overheating iPhone 3GS is certainly one reason.
But looking at the all the features and benefits, I know it is good upgrade but considering the facts of price and the fact that I am happy with iPhone 3G, makes it "wait a while" for me.
But it might be different for you and TechCrunch has the article for you. The article discusses all the aspects of the new iPhone 3GS and helped me to decide. Should I get a iPhone 3GS.
TechCrunch

Comcast Clearwire Making WiMAX Waves In Oregon.

Comcast WiMAX in Oregon
Andy Abramson directed me to an article by Rethink-Wireless that shows Comcast had great plans when it partnered with Clearwire.
The combined service that includes WiMAX has been launched in Portland Oregon which continue to provide service to customers with combined fixed broadband, WiMAX (Comcast Speed 2Go) and Sprint EVDO plus WiMAX in areas where Clearwire is active.
The company will offer a metro plan and card that works within the WiMAX footprint area, and a nationwide plan and card that offers 3G everywhere, using the Sprint Clearwire.
While ago we reported the about the WiMAX Speed Test in the same area that reached 13Mbps from various positions that included a car moving at 60-70 MPH.
According to Rethink Wireless the pricing plans do seem attractive across all three companies, either combined or stand alone, depending on what you are looking for and where you want it!
"COMCAST is offering a 12-month introductory rate. For $50 a month, a subscriber gets 12Mbps home cable broadband and WiMAX, which is only a $7 premium over the cost of cable broadband alone (and includes a free Wi-Fi router). A national 3G add-on is an extra $20 a month and roaming to other Clearwire WiMAX markets is free. After the one-year trial the tariff goes up to $73 a month ($93 with 3G). There will be a $99 charge for a dongle (and other devices to follow in future), though people who commit to a two-year deal get the gadget for free.

Clearwire itself charges $20 a month for its in-home 'Clear' service, from $40 a month for mobile internet, and $50 a month for unlimited consumer roaming. It also has a creative range of pricing options, including sharing a connection between multiple devices, or taking up month-by-month contracts or short term passes (a day pass is $10, and customers can add an in-home voice option for $25). Sprint 4G is $80 a month with a two-year contract that includes 5Gb per month of 3G data and unlimited 4G bandwidth. All these plans enable consumers to get cutting edge mobile broadband capabilities - as use of dongles starts to take off, European-style, in the US - for a small premium."

Another good reason for me to shed AT&T DSL and go Comcast way if the service come to San Francisco Bay Area. Mind you, I have been a loyal customer of AT&T, for a long time. I Started my DSL service when PACBELL was still alive and kept it through SBC and now AT&T. Service continue to be the same, no improvements for what it looks like eons but the cost keep on rising.

I looking for better service for cheaper or the same price and Comcast has beeen very inviting.

Rethink Wireless

Andy Abramson

Monday, June 29, 2009

25 MB Attachments On GMail.

25MB File Attachments with GMail
Shattering all limits that most public email services provide, Google's GMail has increased the allowable size of attachments and messages. Now with Gmail, you can send and receive messages up to 25 megabytes (MB) in size.
On the other hand, the receiving person may not be able to get your files because of limitation on his / her email service, in that case invite them to Gmail.

RedSnow, Jailbreaking IPHONE 3G Firmware 3.0 (iPhone 3GS Jailbreak Has To Wait)

Jailbreaking IPHONE 3G with redsn0w
While looking for information on iPhone 3GS overheating problems, I came across this video on the YT.
Phill from JailBreakiTouch says that it is easy to jailbreak new iPhone OS 3.0. The video itself is not a great the information might be for someone looking to jailbreak an iPhone. I have not done this so I can not vouch for it either. Besides Apple says developpers cannot jailbreak. If you try and cook your iPhone, it is your problem.
But if you go ahead, the author of the video suggests adding some applications to make it worth the trouble.
The iPhone Dev Team blog posted the following message, refering to redsn0w in June;
"redsn0w is an easy to use, multi-platform, multi-device jailbreaking and unlocking (iPhone 2G only) tool for the iPhone 2G (original iPhone), the iPhone 3G (but not the 3GS) and also the iPod touch (first and second generation). Currently it is available for Windows and Mac OS X (there are some issues using redsn0w with OS X PPC, please use an Intel Mac until we have this problem resolved)."

Once it is jailbroken head to Cydia and install:
Winterboard - Changes the look
Five Dock Icons - gives you 5 icons at the bottom instead of 4
Make it Mine - Change AT&T or Rogers etc to whatever you want
SB Settings - Quick tool at the top of your phone - Slide finger across top to activate it and many other applications for jailbroken iPhones,

If you follow the youtube link, you will find liks to jailbreak applications for both Windows and Mac platforms.
Dev-Team Blog

Overheating iPhone 3GS? Make mine a Pink iPhone 3GS

Browning of iPhone 3GS
There are reports all over the web that new iPhone 3GS could overheat and turn from pink to brown (the white iPhone 3GS).
The repeorts indicate that this happens when people use GPS, games and Browsing over the 3G as well as WiFi.
"Yesterday when the was placed on my desktop screen on it I noticed a mark intriguing back of my phone. It is reddish / pink and goes around the iPhone e following the shape of the battery ..." Le Jounal du Geek
When contacted, Apple have asked to send the phones in for testing by their engineers and I have not seen any official reaction to this. If the case is related to iPhone OS 3.0 as some points out (A user reported that after upgrading to the new OS 3.0, his / her iPod was getting hotter than usual.) may be fix is needed to manage the power. My old iPhone 3G, has been behaving normally, even after the upgrade. On the other hand, it is hard to turn black iPhone 3G in to a pink one.
Either way I hope this will get fixed soon and not lead to a bunch of exploding Phones.

Apple discussion board, here 1, here 2
Le Journal Du Geek

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Google Voice Invitations Are On The Way

Google Voice Goes Public
Google Voice has began sending out invitations to those who requested one. We of course long time GrandCentral customers were the first to get the Google Voice service. I am, as I have mentioned before, a very happy Google Voice user and I feel that it could only get better.

So if you have got your invite, get ready to get your new phone number or assign your existing number to Google Voice. Either way this could be your number for life! Once you do get a number, you can read our article like making calls with Google Voice, Import Your Contacts Into Google Voice and many others that we plan to bring in.
If you have not registered, visit Google Voice and request an invite to Google Voice.
Official Google Blog: Google Voice invites on their way

Savage Twitter Takes Care Of $11000 Wireless Charge.

$11000 Phone Bill
It is good to know that donttrythis, Adam Savage has managed to clear off his $11,000.00 wireless bill from AT&T. But the good point behind this is that if it is good for Savage, it can bee good for you too.
I like Savage brothers, not only because they are from San Francisco but I like to watch them bust many a myths. I like it more the way they present it.
According to Adam, not only the charges are erroneous but the calculations are off the wall as well. According to charges, looks like he spent most of his holiday inside a room or outside a park, roaming the web.
But the important fact of this issue is the power of the Twitter where more than 60,000 followers helped to erase the bill according to this news article.
I am thinking of saving all these news and AT&T mutterings, who knows, it might come handy someday, specially if you are a AT&T customer. This is not the first time outrageous phone bills came out in the news. But carriers like AT&T seem to think it is alright not to fix the systems from blocking users from reaching such outrageous charges.
"His Tweet (a message on Twitter) simply read: “AT&T is attempting to charge me 11k for a few hours of web surfing in Canada.”

His message spread amazingly quickly on Twitter. Within three hours, AT&T was the second most discussed topic on Twitter, second only to Michael Jackson.

By the end of the day, the carrier was “very gracious about taking care of it all,” Savage said, deciding to free him of those costs.

But the problem, he says, is that most of those suffering exorbitant roaming fees suffer in silence, or go through endless telephone calls with the carrier to try and reach a compromise."

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Asterisk Versioning Explained

Asterisk Version Tree
If you got side tracked with Asterisk versions like 1.2, 1.4 and the latest 1.6 fret no more. There is a nice article on Asterisk's blog that earlier has appeared on Leif Madsen's blog.
The article takes you through the Asterisk Versioning Tree in and branching on Asterisk versions for EOL 1.2 to Latest 1.6.
If you have not been following the development process of asterisk, this is one certain starting place.

Asterisk Blog
Leif Madsen

BlackBerry Tour From Verizon Foe $199

Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Tour
The Boy Genius hs looked in to an internal site / memo at Verizon and telling us that Verizon will offer the attractive device, BlackBerry Tour, for $199 with a contract on July 12th. Man looks like I will have to make those 4th of July calls and take photos with my iPhone!
The BGR

Palm Pre Mojo Development kit Leaked!

Palm Mojo SDK
Looks like you do not have to apply and wait for the Palm Pre Mojo Development kit, which is actually named early access Palm Mojo software development kit. It makes you even smile (smirk) when you read at Palm site;
"Only a select few partners received the initial release of the Mojo SDK. Now we’re expanding access to it, which could mean access for you. If you’re interested in participating, complete the application at the link below. Not everyone will receive the Mojo SDK right away. But when you do, you’ll see how easy it is to develop for the Palm webOS™ platform"
Alright developers (all of you) get to work! I need apps for my Palm Pre!
Oh Preinsiders has the scoop and download links

HTC TouchFLO 3D (Manila v2.5) Is Pulling You Towards WinMo To Leave Footprints!

HTC TouchFLO 3D (Manila v2.5)
HTC is proving that beauty is more than skin deep when it comes to it's WinMo devices. When HTC Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 get their upgrades this summer, looks like they paln to male it even hotter.
By looking at the screen shots, you may wonder or even forget what the OS running underneath, looking at one I wonder it is a Palm and the other makes me thing where did I see that on the iPhone. It is invitingly mobile look, rather than trying to provide vistaS. HTC seems to be serious about WInMo.
And if you know German, here is a video for you as well.

Info via Pocketnow

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sharp Corp's "Solar Phone SH002"

Solar Phone SH002 Being charged in the sun

Solar Powered Sharp Solar Phone SH002
"Solar Phone SH002" released by KDDI Corp as one of its summer 2009 models, has capabilities to charge it self by Solar cells embedded on the phone.Top cover of the flip phone is equipped with the solar cell(s) that charges the phone batteries.
Nikkei Electronics Teardown Squad, which usually breaks apart devices to analyze the products, managed to get their hands on a limited availability handset, which is pictured here.
Before tearing down the phone, they also tested the solar charging capabilities of the phone. During a very nice and sunny afternoon, the phone reached 1 minute talk time capability after being charged for 40 minutes. The phone had zero capacity of power when the charging began. The talk time increased to 30 minutes at 60 minute mark and full 5 minute talk time (?) was reached after charging for 85 minutes. This seem to indicate that solar charger to be used as residual or emergency charger rather than the principal charger.
Whatever the reason, even if we get all the phones with solar cells in them, we might still leave our charger transformers in power plugs seeping valuable energy away in minuscule amounts. But multiply that minuscule amount by millions of phones or billions of phones with power transformers plugged in all the time!
I usuall have all the chargers on an extender with a switch, and turn it off when I leave home, and only turn it on to charge my phones, cameras or computers. Even a little energy conserved will help our world.
Tech On, Article on Solar Phone SH002 Tear Down

iPhone Porn App "Hottest Girls", Pulled, Banned, Basically Not There!

iPhone Porn App
The developer is saying that the app is not banned but pulled off the shelves because their servers could not support the amount of traffic the iPhone hottest girls were generating.
A note by the developer as mentioned by cnet;
"The Hottest Girls app is temporarily sold out. The server usage is extremely high because of the popularity of this app. Thus, by not distributing the app, we can prevent our servers from crashing. Customer satisfaction is more important to us than profits. Those who already have the app will still be able to use our app. To answer the question on everyone's mind: Yes, the topless images will still be there when it is sold again."
But the developer site is now bare.
On the other hand Apple is saying that the developper misrepresented true facts of the app and added Hot girls from developer website after the app was approved.
Apple told cnet that "The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store."
cnet

Palm Pre Does Things The iPhone Can't, Sprint

Palm Pre Bites iPhone!
Sprint is trying to tale bite or bytes out of Apple and iPhone with the new ad or what appears to be a new ad. More like Sprint bit sour grapes.
"You can have a mighty fancy phone, but it’s only as good as the network it uses and the calling plans available to consumers. Look past the iHype and we think you’ll see a new Sprint with a strong network, appealing new phones and value-priced calling plans. We’ll keep striving to get even better, but we sure hope folks – especially those with contracts elsewhere expiring soon – will give Sprint a look."
Sprint at facebook

Making Calls With Google Voice

Google Voice Howto.
Once you sign up and activate, Google Voice, unlike other VoIP IP Telephony services, it does not replace your existing phone number. In fact you receive a phone number with capabilities to direct all calls you receive at this number to any of your existing phones.
But sometimes you may want to make a call from your new Google Voice phone number. Say for instance you want to display Google Voice number in Caller ID, Yes it is possible with Click2call feature from Google Voice.
You will need access to the internet and from any device or any browser, surf to Google Voice site
Click the Call button at the top left of the site, in the resulting dialog, enter a contact’s name or phone number if it is in the contact database. Otherwise just enter your destination number. Then in the second box "Phone to Ring" drop down and select the phone you want to use for the conversation. But say if your phone is not working or if you are at another place, enter the number where you are at and click the Connect button. Google Voice will call you at your number and when you pickup you will hear a dialing tone, that is Google Voice calling the destination. If the person at the other end picks up phone the call will be completed! It is that easy.

Cisco Service Provider Mobility Community Network

Social network for service providers
I learned about a fantastic new portal at Cisco, Service Provider Mobility. With projected wireless slated to be growing 66 times the current level or equivalent of 120% annually and 4G networks looking to make us more productive on the go or otherwise, service provider community is going to be a very busy crowd.
So as usual, Cisco has stepped into fill a gap, a community portal for service providers to gather and discuss issues, wishes and achievement etc. Basically a social network for serive providers.
Perhaps the following should invoke your interest in mobile space;

New innovative applications such as YouTube, Flickr, WebEx
Exciting integrated devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry
Roll out of higher performance networks such as LTE, WiMAX
New business models enabled, and
Unprecedented levels of personalization and ease of use

Links after the Kittur Nagesh welcome message to visitors at Cisco's Service Provider Mobility Community

Follow the link and join the Service Provider Mobility Community.
[via CISCO SP360 ]

Cisco teleworker / telecommuting survey, June, 2009.

Teleworker / Telecommuting Survey

"In the age of a global market, time and distance separates people and workspaces. Cisco has long recognized that telecommuting and collaborative technologies are effective in breaking down separation barriers and enabling the transition to the borderless enterprise. In addition, as demonstrated by our recent study, a properly executed program for telecommuting can be extremely effective at unlocking employee potential by increasing work-life balance, productivity and overall satisfaction."
Rami Mazid, vice president, Global Client Services and Operations, Cisco

Cisco released the results and findings of its Teleworker Survey, of about 2000 it's own workers which was actually an in-depth study of almost 2,000 company employees. The study, researched the social, economic and environmental benefits and short falls of telecommuting at Cisco. The results were not a surprise to me as a Telecommuter, there were significant increases in work-life flexibility, productivity and overall satisfaction as a result of their ability to work remotely. Personally in addition to working from home for three days of the week, I have greatly reduced international travel as well.
Cisco's Internet Business Services Group, the company's global strategic consulting arm, the company has generated an estimated annual savings of $277 million in productivity by allowing employees to telecommute and telework. In addition, with the steady adoption of enterprise-class remote connectivity solutions like Cisco® Virtual Office, the recently announced Cisco OfficeExtend, and virtual collaboration tools like Cisco WebEx^TM, (I am a big fan of WebEx for iPhone)Cisco anticipates that employees and employers will continue to see a rise in the benefits associated with telecommuting.
You can read the full report at Cisco.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

AT&T 3G MicroCell Coming At The End Of 2009!

AT&T 3G MicroCell
Since we reported about the AT&T's debut into femtocell market, the original page where the above logo came from has been locked away. If you are wondering what this femtocell and microcell is read, AT&T 3G MicroCell Out But Where?

According to unstrung, AT&T's executive director for radio access network delivery, Gordon Mansfield at the Femtocells World Summit in London has confirmed that about 200 users are testing the femto service in targeted customer trials.I am sure those are happy as rabbits with their bars on cell phones multiplying and staying top. Unstrung also mentioned that the device is, as we thought it was femtocell device is supposed to have been made by Cisco.

Mr.Mansfield has also mentioned, "we will expand that into a marketing trial of the AT&T-branded 3G Microcell, which will be open to customers through our AT&T stores… in a handful of cities.

"We're on track for a full national launch by the end of 2009."

Mansfield also confirmed that AT&T will launch with a standalone 3G femtocell, (as opposed to a femtocell that's integrated into a residential gateway). But integrated femtocells are not out of the picture either, "Certainly we're looking at integrated femtocells," said Mansfield "Some people think that integration is putting a femto into a residential gateway, and that's one aspect."

Unstrung

Playstation Emulation (psx4iphone) On iPhone 3GS

psx4iphone on iPhone 3GS
The ZodTTD over at ZodTTD has posted about playstation emulation on iPhone 3GS and if you are fan of Playstation and final fantasy ZodTTD is the place to visit;
"So how would you like to run psx4iphone on your 3GS right now, even without a jailbreak? Well you can! I can make a build for a limited number of people. In order to run this build you will need a tool like DiskAid for PC & Mac to place games & bios, that you must supply yourself, in a publicly writable directory. It’s simple drag & drop."
ZodTTD

Google Announces The AdSense for Mobile Applications beta

AdSense for Mobile Applications
Google has announced the availability of a beta program of its flagship money maker AdSense, specially geared towards mobile applications, just like those that run on our iPhones and Androids.
AdSense for Mobile Applications allows developers to earn revenue by displaying text and image ads in their iPhone and Android applications.
To get mobile app developers familiar with the program google has created a site, mobileapps where they could learn more about the AdSense for Mobile Applications program, see answers to frequently asked questions and sign up to participate in our beta. Advertisers can also learn about the benefits of advertising in mobile applications.

Official Google Blog: Announcing the AdSense for Mobile Applications beta

Truphone For iPhone OS 3.0 Comes With VoiceMail Notification.

Truphone For iPhone OS 3.0
I just installed Truphone for iPhone OS 3.0 on my iPhone 3G. But the information I am going to give you does not come from my experience. Since I had trouble with my account and I will fix it tomorrow, when I will be able to think properly!
This is newly released iPhone OS 3.0 compatible version of Truphone for the iPhone is now available to download from iTunes Store.
In addition to all the great features, Truphone for iPhone OS 3.0 now comes with voicemail notification. This is a completely free feature just as receiving calls. Retrieving and listening to your voicemail message will not cost you a cent.

Truphone Message Waiting Alerts gives you:

On-screen Message Box - tells you who has called and left a message
App Icon Notification - tells you how many messages you have waiting
Real-time alerts - gives your callers confidence their message will reach you quickly

The latest Truphone for the iPod touch app (v3.0), which launched on May 31, is already compatible with the OS 3.0 software.
Truphone also mentioned, "TruLover - there is a known bug regarding adding contacts that will be resolved in the next update of the app, which is currently with Apple for approval."
(Truphone blog)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Apple TV 2.4, Free Remote Control With iPhone App Released

Apple TV 2.4
Apple has released an upgrade to it's Apple TV Product and a new iPhone app to control the Apple TV. Since I saw the item on the Apple Support discussion forum, Apple has not listed the change log for the upgrade. Eventually when it does, it will be on this knowledge base.
Supposed to be documentation update from the same forum above;

Remote app directional control
Control your Apple TV with simple finger gestures via the Remote app. This feature requires Remote 1.3 running on an iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0.

Flickr Search
Search Flickr photo tags to find recently updated photos of interest. Save searches to quickly find new photos or use as a screen saver for Apple TV.

New view options
View movies By Genre, By Movie, or Unwatched. View TV Shows and Podcasts By Date, By Show, or Unwatched.

Updated transport and chapter modes
During video playback, click right or left to fast forward or rewind. Additional clicks increase the speed. Click down to show chapter markers.

I am using it to controll my Mac Mini.

HTC Hero, Introducing latest Android Based HTC Phone

snapvoip

Android Gets Flash, (HTC Hero)

HTC Hero Gets Adobe Flash
The just announced Android based HTC Hero seems to be the first Android device to have capability to have Adobe Flash on board. Adobe and HTC announced the fact and released a video and a press release. The link to the video is in the press release posted below.
I think will all I hear about HTC Hero, I will replace my Developer version of Android G1, or Google Phone, with it as soon as it comes out.

Press Release;

SAN JOSE, Calif. and LONDON — June 24, 2009 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and HTC, a global designer of mobile phones, today announced that the new HTC Hero is the first Android phone to ship with support for Adobe® Flash® Platform technology. The new phone delivers a more complete Web browsing experience and provides access to a broad variety of Flash technology based content available on the Web today.

“As the first Android device with Flash, the new HTC Hero represents a key milestone for Android and the Flash Platform. With close to 80 percent of all videos online delivered with Adobe Flash technology, consumers want to access rich Web content on-the-go.” said David Wadhwani, vice president and general manager, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “The collaboration with HTC offers people a more complete Flash based Web browsing experience today and presents an important step towards full Web browsing with Flash Player 10 on mobile phones in the future.”

The new HTC Hero is a key element of the HTC experience and a new generation of HTC mobile phones and devices. Users can browse and discover a broad set of Web content and applications not supported by mobile phones in the past. People can also view YouTube videos using Flash technology, and enable full screen viewing mode by simply double tapping the screen.

“Adobe Flash is an important core technology for people interacting and experiencing the Web, it is only natural to be offering it on the new HTC Hero first,” said John Wang, chief marketing officer, HTC Corporation. “We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Adobe and to bringing Flash Player 10 support to our phones in the future.”

The HTC Hero delivers powerful, compatible video playback performance using Flash technology, and interactive content enabled by ActionScript® 2.0. Users can enjoy and navigate through Web videos using intuitive video controls. With progressive streaming of large MP3 audio files from a Web server and the local file storage, the HTC Hero provides a seamless audio experience. Support for Sorenson and On2 VP6 codecs enables higher quality video and playback of existing Web content. A demo of the user experience enabled by the Flash Platform on the HTC Hero and the Android operating system can be viewed at www.adobe.com/go/htchero.

Cost Of Building An iPhone 3GS,

iPhone 3G S’s Bill of Materials

iSuppli has done again the act of teardown analysis to come up with the new iPhone 3G S’s Bill of Materials (BOM) and and the cost to build an iPhone 3GS. It seems to be just $4.63 more than the previous estimate on the earlier 8GB iPhone 3G.

"The entry-level, 16Gbyte version of Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 3G S carries a BOM cost of $172.46 and a manufacturing expense of $6.50, for a total of $178.96," said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst, teardown services, for iSuppli. "This is slightly higher than iSuppli’s estimate of $174.33 for the original 8Gbyte iPhone 3G based on pricing in July 2008. Although the retail price of the 16Gbyte iPhone 3G S is $199, the same as for the 8Gbyte version of the original iPhone 3G, the actual price of the phone paid by the service provider is considerably higher, reflecting the common wireless industry practice of subsidizing the upfront cost of a mobile phone and then making a profit on subscriptions."
If you like to see the details, please visit iSuppli report. But follow this if you like to wear an exploded iPhone.

Android and Sense UI powered HTC Hero Hands On

HTC Hero
HTC Hero, Android and Sense UI powered smartphone, is the first phone to utilize HTC Sense™ - UI, What HTC terms as the new UI is meant to offer a simpler and easier phone navigation, while putting people at the center.
The new user interface focuses on offering users an enhanced mobile experience. The three principles that Sense is based upon are Make It Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected,

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Charge Your iPhone/iPod Wirelessly With Wildcharge

WildCharge for iPhone
Tom Keating at VoIP and Gadgets directed me to a useful gadget to be added my arsenal, WildCharge Adapter Skin for iPhone. I am the first one to misplace chargers and cables in the block, at least in the office and home. So this wireless charger seems to be a good gift for myself.
The WildCharge works across all the iPhones and I will be using it to charge my newly updated iPhone 3G (No iPhone 3GS yet).
I have a bunch of iPhone Gadgets for use in office on the go and in the car, like fastmac iPhone Battery Pack. But I am sure this is also going to be a nice addition.
Thanks Tom
VoIP and Gadgets Blog

Switchvox Developer Central Beta Test Suite Walkthrough

SwitchVox Developer Central
Since Digium launched the announced the Switchvox Developer Central Beta, (an online community for developers who are integrating voice and web applications using the Switchvox unified communications solution), a lot has been happening.
The latest addition that one of us tested was the toolbox feature Switchvox Extend API Test Suite which allows you to test any API method calls online. It seemed a bit difficult for me but all that doubt went away after I saw a video, "video walk through SwitchVox Developer Central" posted on the Digium Blog.
The Switchvox Developer Central Beta, and the associated tools and the community are a great asset if you are working with SwitchVox. Please also do not forget to have a look at sections like featured applications and the blog. If you are a beginner, getting started section is the start, (it was for me). Link to the site after the jump;

Switchvox Developer Central Beta
Digium Blog Article

Always On Asterisk

Asterisk Always On
John Todd at Digium has a nice little piece about Asterisk and it's future. From secret service mics and headsets to radio communication based on Asterisk, the IP PBX of the future. The always on Asterisk will have lesser needs of keyboards/keypads, screens and mice. The system will use voice recognition and semi implanted listening and talking devices to fulfill our communication needs seamlessly. So we all will be reachable in the daylight hours as well as during twilight hours.
He does not stop there and goes on to hint at iPhones and Androids doing their bits with Asterisk as well. He concludes the article with "Hang on, if you think the volume is loud now about Asterisk being built into everything, the next year is going to be deafening!"
Gread work Todd.

Asterisk: Always On

Monday, June 22, 2009

Google Voice To Go Public Soon?

Google Voice.
I have been enjoying Google Voice, which I got in due to being a customer of GrandCentral, for a few moths now. I have had mixed results and mostly the service is in positive side. Initially I / we had some connection issues but they seem to have gone away now. I even have Google Voice on iPhone. In addition to GrandCentral services, Google Voice added SMS, Voicemail transcript, Conference calling and low priced international calling.

Right now the word is that Google Voice might be ready to go public. According to Network World, Google has received one million phone numbers.
Us the early users are enjoying the phone numbers provided by Level 3 and if these one million numbers are right, it could be good news for people waiting to add Google Voice to their Accounts.
Of course Google has not confirmed the issues sighting "as a matter of policy, we typically do not comment on contracts with third-party technology suppliers."
There were also reports that Google Voice will support number portability and allow users to assign their own numbers to the service.
But all in all Google Voice some thing I am very glad to have.
Networkworld

Visual Networking (TV, VoD, Internet Video, and P2P) will increase 8 fold between 2008-2013, Cisco Visual Network Index.

Cisco Visual Network Index
Recently released, Cisco Visual Network Index (VNI) is carrying some interesting predictions for our communication needs in the near future. VNI is Cisco’s ongoing effort to forecast the growth and use of IP networking worldwide.

Highlights from the current Cisco VNI forecast include the following:

Global IP traffic will increase by a factor of five from 2008 to 2013, approaching 56 exabytes per month in 2013, compared to approximately 9 exabytes per month in 2008.
By 2013, annual global IP traffic will reach two-thirds of a zettabyte (673 exabytes). A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes.
By 2013, the sum of all forms of video (TV, VoD, Internet Video, and P2P) will exceed 90 percent of global consumer traffic.
By 2013, global online video will be 60 percent of consumer Internet traffic (up from 32 percent in 2009).
Mobile data traffic will roughly double each year from 2008 through 2013.

You will find the complete white paper at Cisco's VNI Forecast(PDF).

SIP Softphone Application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Media5-Fone.

Media5-Fone
Media5-fone from Media5, provides iPhone and iPod users with ability to connect with any SIP IP-PBX, be it an Enterprise telephony service or Service Provider Network, like the ones we have listed in The Free SIP Account Provider List
Media5-Fone lists following features;

Pure SIP standard softphone	Voice Mail Integration	Loudspeaker
VoIP over Wi-Fi	Native Contacts List	Hold
Easy Configuration	Call History	Mute

According to the Media5 press release, "the Media5-Fone enables offices as well as the mobile worker to use their iPhone as an IP-PBX extension, allowing them to access the same phone services and features as if they were in the office. Remote workers can be in contact with any other office or employee easily and efficiently, promoting collaboration across all locations.
VoIP service providers who offer calling plan can also benefit from the same SIP connectivity extension for their customers who own an iPhone."

"This new release of the Media5-Fone extends our mobile portfolio to iPhone users on the go, and offers them the key features needed to integrate an easy-to-use SIP IP-PBX extension within the iPhone,” explained Pascal Doré, Mobility Product Line Manager. "In addition to this Lite version, our engineers are already at work to bring the next fully featured Enterprise version of the Media5-Fone that will embed strong Voice security encryption among the key features. Worth mentioning that the Media5-Fone can be co-branded and custom-tailored for any specifics system needs."

The Media5-Fone application for the iPhone is available in the Apple iTunes.

Media5 Press Release could be found here.

Asterisk 1.4.26-rc3 Released.

Asterisk 1.4.26-rc3

The Asterisk Development Team announced the third release candidate of Asterisk 1.4.26. Asterisk 1.4.26-rc3 is available for immediate download from Asterisk Download site at Asterisk.org.

This release resolves three moderately important issues;

* Race condition with StopMixMonitor() (issue #15259)

* Fix memory corruption and leakage related to reloads of non files mode MoH
classes (issues #15109, #15123, #15195)

* Proactively avoid a potential crash in app_queue by changing the datastore
traversal in ast_do_masquerade to use a safe list traversal

For a full list of changes in this release candidate, please see the ChangeLog:

Issues found in this release candidate can be reported at http://issues.asterisk.org

Friday, June 19, 2009

Twitter Kills A Girl (Twittercide,)

XKCD

Twittercide,
I wonder what Oprah got to say after a teenager killed herself or twittered herself to death. Austrian Times reported that Maria Barbu, 17, had tried to plug in her laptop with wet hands after the battery died during a long session on social networking site Twitter as she took a soak at her home in Brasov, central Romania.
So what ever you do tweets or other stuff like facebook, try not to take computers to bath. Better take something like iPhone to the bath and that way you only kill the phone. What a way to get a new iPhone 3GS. On the other hand, check with your parents, after all they might kill you if you destroy a iPhone in these hard times.
Austrian Times via Gizmodo.

Reset iPhone 3G To Factory Setting, Before Selling Or Giving Away

Update: Newer post;

Restore Your iPhone Or Any iOS Device To Factory Settings, WIth iTunes

Factory Reset iPhone 3G
Now that most of you got the new iPhone 3GS, you might be thinking of giving away or selling your iPhone 3G. But you may want make sure that you completely erase and set the iPhone to original factory condition. Just resetting the does not erase everything and you might end up giving away very valuable information.
Completely resetting the iPhone takes a while and you need assign about one hour for the procedure and you need to have the iPhone plugged into a power source through the procedure. Since I have written this procedure before with screen captures and instructions for every step, I am going to point you to that article.
Enjoy your new iPhone 3GS and give away or sell your old phone without any worry.
Reset Your iPhone To Factory Setting. (Low Level Format Your iPhone) | VOIP IP Telephony

Ofono.org Joint Effort By INTEL AND Nokia, For Open Source Mobile Telephony

Open Source Mobile Telephony From Ofono
Ofono published the announcement below, on their site leading me to think, that this is a space to watch. The support and the aims of the project points high and this will really be a success for the open source telephony supporters.

Intel and Nokia are pleased to jointly announce the oFono project, an open source project for developing an open source telephony solution.

oFono.org is a place to bring developers together around designing an infrastructure for building mobile telephony (GSM/UMTS) applications.

Review the oFono architecture diagram for more information.

Review the source code for an even closer look.

"oFono is licensed under GPLv2, and it includes a high-level D-Bus API for use by telephony applications of any license. oFono also includes a low-level plug-in API for integrating with Open Source as well as third party telephony stacks, cellular modems and storage back-ends. The plug-in API functionality is modeled on public standards, in particular 3GPP TS 27.007 “AT command set for User Equipment (UE).”

Nokia and Intel will jointly maintain the oFono project. We'd like to invite all developers to join the ofono.org effort and community.

Marcel Holtmann, Intel Open Source Technology Center
Aki Niemi, Nokia Devices, Maemo Software"

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