Brazil Brings Home More tThan 15 Million Broadband Connections in 2009

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
"We are talking with fixed and mobile operators and the government to reevaluate the broadband market in Brazil. The strong acceptance and expansion of mobile broadband, plus the incentive actions conducted by the authorities, such as the National Broadband Plan, could change the market dynamics, stimulating digital inclusion like never before. In addition, the proliferation of mobile devices and the increase in the use of social networks and videos should account for increased data traffic in mobile networks. Globally, Cisco predicts that in 2014 mobile video will represent 66 percent of all the generated mobile data traffic."
Rodrigo Abreu, general manager, Cisco Brazil

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, April 29, 2010 - Cisco announced today the 13th edition of the Cisco Broadband Barometer, produced by IDC, showing that broadband connections in Brazil increased by 1.3 million during the second half of 2009. That represents a 9.5 percent growth for the second half of 2009 and a 27 percent growth in the Brazilian broadband market during 2009.
In the first edition of the Cisco Barometer, back in 2005, Cisco and IDC set a goal of 10 million connections by 2010. With the growth of mobile broadband, this goal was revised in 2008 to 15 million connections. This goal has now been surpassed: In June 2009 there were 13,702 million broadband connections, and in December this number reached 15,006 million. A new goal will be discussed for future editions of the Broadband Barometer, taking into account the broadband deployment initiatives by the Brazilian government and local investments by Internet service providers.
The drivers for this growth were the continuation of tax incentives for computers costing up to R$4,000 and the migration of users from dial-up connections to affordable broadband packages. The strong sales of computers across Brazil have helped the growth of fast Internet connections across all regions, as can be seen by the adoption of broadband outside of São Paulo.

Key Findings:

• The average transmission speed for fixed broadband keeps increasing, mainly due to upgrades in commercially available connections. Even though speeds between 512 and 999 kilobits per second are the most common (26.6 percent), they are already losing relative importance and should be surpassed by the number of connections with speeds between 1 and 1.999 megabits per second. Speeds above 2 Mbps represented the fastest-growing group in the period under study, reaching 16.1 percent in the first half of 2009 and 18.5 percent in the second.
• The state of São Paulo is maintaining its leadership in number of fixed broadband connections, with 41.3 percent of the total. But the northeast region increased its share of total connections, with 5.8 percent of the country's connections in first half of 2009 and 6.3 percent as of December.
•  Except for "Popular Broadband," a social inclusion program from the state government of São Paulo, which costs R$29.50 per month  (the lowest price in Brazil), the most significant price movement happened in the higher-speed offerings, with the ADSL 20 Mbps connection being reduced from R$487.50 in January 2009 to R$189.90 per month in January 2010. The average download speed for residential cable connections increased from 8 Mbps in January 2009 to 12 Mbps in January this year.
• Between July and December 2009, 455,000 new fixed broadband connections were sold in Brazil, representing a total of 11.489 million connections, or an increase of 4.1 percent from the installed base in the first half of 2009. This growth rate is quite a bit lower than the 12 percent level seen in the first six months of the year. Two causes were identified for the reduced growth: the Brazilian Telecom Regulatory Agency (Anatel) prohibited a large operator from selling ADSL services for a period during the second half of 2008, and mobile broadband, which took some market share from the fixed broadband market, experienced rapid growth.
• In the dedicated Internet Protocol broadband market, the small office/home office segment was the only one that grew, with a 0.5 percent increase.  Other dedicated IP segments include large companies, government agencies and educational institutions. The residential dedicated IP segment had a decrease of 0.44 percent. All other segments had very small reductions, remaining practically stable.
• In Brazil, the penetration of broadband connections reached 5.98 percent; in the state of São Paulo, this percentage is 11.42. These numbers can still be considered low if compared with those of more developed countries, such as Germany (29.9 percent), Spain (20.3 percent) and Ireland (20.7 percent).  Just over a quarter of Brazilian homes (27.4 percent) have broadband connections. In the state of São Paulo, this ratio is 38.8 percent.
• The number of broadband subscribers accessing the Internet through mobile telephony (through a desktop using mobile data cards, or a notebook or netbook) reached 3,517,095 in December 2009, a growth of 32 percent from the first half of the year and 77 percent from the previous year.

Cisco Broadband Barometer,

ONE ECONOMY AND ONE ECONOMY AND BBOC TO INCREASE BROADBAND ADOPTION IN UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES GETS $51.5 MILLION IN GRANTS TO INCREASE BROADBAND ADOPTION IN UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

ONE ECONOMY AND BBOC TO INCREASE BROADBAND ADOPTION IN UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

WASHINGTON, D.C.—April 26, 2010—One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit that leverages the power of technology to improve the lives of low-income people, and the Broadband Opportunity Coalition (BBOC) will be implementing $51.5 million in broadband initiatives through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), announced today.
Funding will bring affordable high-speed Internet access, digital literacy training, local online contentand public purpose media, and sustained broadband adoption to families throughout the U.S. The BBOC is an historic alliance of civil rights organizations that have joined with One Economy to expand broadband adoption in underserved communities. The BBOC includes National Urban League,National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (JCPES) provides research support for the BBOC, and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) provides legal, policy, and PSA placement support to the BBOC. One Economy and the BBOC were awarded $28.5 million in federal stimulus from the National Telecommunications and information Administration (NTIA)’s BTOP program. Through partnerships with AT&T, Comcast, National Association of Broadcasters, Cisco, Google, CTIA—the Wireless Association, and others, One Economy and the BBOC are supplementing the stimulus award with private sector matching support valued at $23 million.
With the federal funding and corporate matches, One Economy and the BBOC will increase current work and collaborate with 159 housing developments to bring subsidized broadband connections to 27,000 affordable housing units. A national awareness campaign to promote digital literacy will reach 20 million people. Through One Economy’s seven-year-old Digital Connectors program, a digital mentoring and volunteer program for at-risk youth aged 14-21, 235,000 people will receive training with the launch of 167 Digital Connector programs in at least 80 communities throughout the country.

“There are three barriers to Internet use: accessibility, affordability, and lack of relevant content,” said Moustafa Mourad, interim president and CEO of One Economy. “One Economy and the BBOC will continue to work with our corporate and community partners to break down the barriers with 2 innovative and proven initiatives that ensure all people—regardless of background, income, or literacy level—can reap the social and economic benefits of information and technology.”

Forty percent of Americans do not use high-speed access at home, a 2010 NTIA study reports. The overwhelming majority is low-income and/or people of color: 54 percent of African Americans and 60 percent of Latinos have not adopted at-home broadband.
According to One Economy, simply bringing broadband wires into homes is not enough. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that 50 percent of Americans without at home broadband believe that the Internet is not relevant to their lives. To increase relevancy, One Economy will expand its public purpose media—online content that engages, informs, and facilitates action—to connect individuals to vital job, health, finance, and educational resources.
In 2009 Congress authorized $7.2 billion with the American Reinvestment and Recovery program to support the development of a broadband infrastructure. One Economy and the BBOC’s grant is part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) BTOP program, which was developed to stimulate long-term economic growth.

“Ten years ago, One Economy had a dream to put 21st century technology into the hands of every single American, regardless of income, so that they could change their lives for the better,” said Rey Ramsey, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, One Economy Corporation. “Today, thanks to President Obama, the Recovery Act and this historic coalition, we are that much closer to making that dream a reality.””Access to the Internet means access to information, and information leads to opportunity,” said Marc H. Morial, president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League. “By expanding broadband Internet access, we're helping people become healthier, better educated, and more stable financially. Broadband access is crucial to a person's ability to compete in the 21st century economy.”

“Empowering our communities means providing them with the best tools we have to offer,” said Hilary O. Shelton, Washington Bureau Director and Vice President for Advocacy for the NAACP. “We are extending and expanding technology to reach our constituents, meeting them where they are in life, and creating lasting networks that will ensure economic success into the future.” “Together, the BBOC and One Economy are fortifying our communities with knowledge and resources they need to improve their lives,” said Janet Murguia, National Council of La Raza President and CEO.

“Our Coalition’s focus on youth and engagement with community-based nonprofits will ensure that our initiatives reach out to those who need it the most.” “Minorities, seniors, low-income families and those with limited English skills disproportionately lack ready access to high-speed Internet connections,” said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center. “Without access, the divide between those who can access vital information and therefore, jobs and our economy, and those who cannot will only grow. With this stimulus award, we can ensure these communities will not fall further behind and lose out in the digital age.”
“Digital literacy is an increasingly crucial component of civic literacy.” said Brent A. Wilkes, League of United Latin American Citizens National Executive Director. “Our digital training initiatives leverage the multiplier effect to proliferate digital skills. Digital Connectors are equipped with life-long skills, and our communities are uplifted from the inside out.”
“This important grant will help the BBOC show people who aren’t yet comfortable online what a tremendous resource it can be,” said David Honig, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council President and Executive Director. “We will all be implementing a national awareness campaign to reach millions throughout the U.S. about how instrumental the Internet can be in transforming one’s life. And more than inspiration, we provide the tools to actually get them there.” “We’re proud serve as an adviser to the BBOC and to provide the research and evaluation for the BBOC’s stimulus initiatives,” said Ralph B. Everett, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies President and CEO. “What makes expanding broadband Internet access and adoption such a good investment is not only that it will create jobs today, but it will also serve our communities far into the future by equipping new adopters with the tools and skills to prosper throughout their lives.”

About One Economy
One Economy Corporation is a global nonprofit that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information to unserved and underserved populations. One Economy builds digital inclusion programs to expand broadband into low-income areas and deliver free or low-cost Internet access and affordable computers. To date, One Economy has brought affordable broadband to more than 375,000 Americans. The organization also trains youth to increase digital awareness in their communities. More than 3,000 youth have contributed over 77,000 hours of service to improve digital
literacy through Digital Connectors. And, 19 million people have accessed One Economy’s online resources. For more information visit: www.one-economy.com.

About the Broadband Opportunity Coalition (BBOC)
The Broadband Opportunity Coalition (BBOC) is an historic alliance of civil rights organizations joined together to overcome barriers to adoption of technology in communities of color. BBOC members include the National Urban League, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) and the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies serve as advisors to the BBOC.

How To Make A 3G Router (MiFi Router)! With Chumby One.

How To Make A 3G Router http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

If you are a soho business owner and working from home office or a small office tucked away somewhere, then you high way tot he customers is via Internet. You have a DSL or Cable service. You also have a 3G service for your phone and notebook with a 3G dongle in case you are outside or wanted to work from a local park.
Well now you can make that 3G dongle work at home in case your DSL or Cable service take a hike, due to cable cut or power loss. If you have backup power service, you will be able to run your computers and have a connection to the net, until you resolve your troubles. This inexpensive and fun solution is similar to MiFi Routers offered by carriers.
There are few ingredients that you need to add,

chumby One (which is now on sale at Costco online for $99

A 3G USB Dongle like Verizon USB760 modem

And the following simple steps extracted from Chumby wiki;

1. Plug in your 3G card.
2. Go to the Network Config screen by pressing the top button, going to Settings, then tapping on Network.
3. Select "create a new connection", press OK, and wait for the scan to time out.
4. Select "Other"
5. Enter 3G as the name of the access point. It must have a capital G for it to work.
6. Wait for the subsequent scan to time out.
7. Select "Manual".
8. Tap "OK" to select None as the encryption type.
9. Tap "OK" to select Automatic IP allocation.
10. Tap "OK" to confirm settings and connect to the network

  Once that is done, you can start local wifi sharing by "ssh"ing into the Chumby or by pluging in a USB keyboard to the device and issue the command “touch /psp/start_ap” and your chumby One will work as an access point.
Thanks to BunnyStudios

Steve Ballmer And Windows 7 Out Of HP Slate! Hello WebOS!

HP Ditches Windows 7 Slate http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Well it seems that obese windows are not set to run slates like iPad or those that are offered by HP, HP Slate and DELL. HP has come out to explain the move and looks like the WebOS might be their new OS, if the acquisition of PALM by HP is approved or not!. DELL make a call to Andy Robin at google, the Android OS, is good! Not so good for Steve Ballmer but it might be good for furniture shops in Redmond.

New Ways To Search For Images With Android and iPhone With Google Image Search for mobile,

Usually when we search for images on the web, for an example, at Google image search, we would like to see as many relevant images on our browser space, so we can select what we really looking for sooner.
So as you can see in the video above, Google redesigned the Google Image Search for mobile, which is available for Android 2.1 and iPhone 3.0+ devices, to show as many thumbnails as possible on the phones.
The Google Image Search for mobile has;

• The thumbnails are square to maximize the number of images on the screen at one time
  
• Ability to swipe to see the next or previous page of results, or tap the large, stationary 'Next' and 'Previous' page buttons
• Optimized for speed so that the images appear quickly.

Once at the viewing page, which has some special features,

• The black background emphasizes the image and the buttons fade after a few seconds so you can just see images with little distraction
• Easily browse through the images by swiping from picture to picture

If you want to check this out on your mobile device, be it an Android device like Droid Incredible or an iphone, go to www.google.com and select images and initiate a search for your favorite subject.
Official Google Mobile Blog: The New Image Search for Android and iPhone

Skyfire For Android

Skyfire, the company behind Skyfire Mobile Browser, is launching "Skyfire for Android" today. Skyfire is a flash enabled mobile browser and keeping true to it's name, the Skyfire for Android, has flash support.

Ah not really,

According to Techcrunch,

When they’re ready to play back a Flash video, users tap the menu key to bring up the Skybar, click the “Video” label, and then choose which Flash video they want to view. Skyfire converts the video from Flash to H.264 in the cloud on-the-fly, and the video plays back (in full screen) on the device

Of course TC asked why did they veer away from the traditional methods and Skyfire has responded with;

• In this release, they’re building on top of WebKit rather than building their own browsing core from the ground up. Unlike all other versions of Skyfire, the page itself doesn’t go through a proxy. Standard content goes straight from the web server to the handset — only things that need to be transcoded go through Skyfire’s proxy.
• Business reasons. Skyfire’s looking at OEM partnerships, and not all OEMs want Flash video playback, as they “want to enhance what they have rather than compete with another browser”.
• They say it helps them adhere to Apple’s guidelines, improving the odds that they’ll be approved when they go to submit the iPhone/iPad release.

skyfire (get the app here) via Techcrunch

Flash Sucks So Go Away, Steve Jobs.

Flash Sucks http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
While preaching to us about open systems and standards from his not so open Apple arena, Steve Jobs has reiterated why Flash Sucks.

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

He also seem to have forgotton what sold his precious Apple Macs before iPhone came along. Most of the people who ran Adobe Apps, wanted to run them on Apples!
Anyway Jobs has some points regarding Flash, like it being a resource hog. I cringe when I see flash based web sites. I usually avoid sites full of flash, unless I really have to. Like at work, we port some of our reports presentation to flash, to make them look good while being dynamic. Yes we are working on HTML5 and those reports now!

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

But I am sure those could be over come and otherwise flash on Android FroYo will be dead horse from get go. The difference I can see is that Android will run HTML5 and Flash, iStuff will only have HTML5.
Jobs why all those negativity? is it because Adobe is too close to Google Now? 
You can read Jobs rant at Apple.

Apple Takes Over Buttons! Patents Invisible Button

Apple Patents Invisible Button http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Buttons are so over! Yes that is what I thought when read the article on the Techcrunch and that is how the article ended as well.
Apple is trying to bring it's no button cuture in to it's other money making devices, like Macbooks and other stuff. So to bring touch buttons on iPhone, iPad to the hard surfaces on macbooks, Apple is patenting invisible touch buttons on hard surfaces that appear and disappear depending on users need. When user needs a button will light up from underneath of perforated surface and switch off when not needed.

"Taken to its extreme, seamless design would have an invisible input," the application reads. "Since a metal housing is advantageous for aesthetic, environmental, and manufacturing reasons, this presents a particular challenge. One method to overcome this challenge is to include a plastic input painted to look like metal. However, this will not match the metal look and finish exactly, so the truly seamless design is not realized."

Appleinsider via Techcrunch

Incredible Droid Incredible At Verizon Stores.

Droid Incredible http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
So the Droid Incredible is out and available to purchase from Verizon online or at the stores. I am sure there were no long lines but people who were awaiting the the incredible are happy with the devices.

• $299 at Verizon retail stores (plus $100 mail in rebate)
• $199 on Verizon’s online site

Verizon

Android 2.2, (Froyo) Will Have Full Adobe Flash Support

Android 2.2 And Adobe Flash http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Looks like Android is bent on going places where Apple will not or cannot go. According to Andy Robin, Andoid 2.2, code-named Froyo, for frozen yogurt, will have complete Flash support.
On Monday the companies announced the availability of betas of  Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash for Android. I am sure every self respecting mobile developer would have signed up for the SDKs.
Speaking with NY Times Mr. Robin indicated that, Android stand to gain on all proprietary systems like iPhone and RIM.

“It’s a numbers game. When you have multiple O.E.M.’s building multiple products in multiple product categories, it’s just a matter of time” before sales of Android phones exceed the sales of  proprietary systems like Apple’s and R.I.M.’s

He also was happy about Google's openness regarding the flagship mobile platform, Android and the development tools;

“We use the same tools we expect our third-party developers to,” Mr. Rubin said. “We have an SDK we give to developers. and when we write our Gmail app, we use the same SDK. A lot of guys have private APIs. We don’t. That’s on policy and on technology. If there’s a secret API to hook into billing system we open up that billing system to third parties. If there’s a secret API to allow application multitasking, we open it up. There are no secret APIs. That is important to highlight for Android sake. Open is open and we live by our own implementations.”

 Android 2.2 is code name, Froyo, for Frozen Yogurt is keeping up the tradition with former codenames like Cupcake, Donut and Eclair.

Read more at NY Times

HP To Acquire PALM For $1.2 Billion!

Palm Sold To HP for 1.2 Billion! http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
HP announced today that it will be purchasing Palm INC for 1.2 Billion dollars.  Both Palm and HP boards  has approved the acquisition but needs the usual regulatory approval. Looks like HP wants to be in the mobile market.
But I guess it is a blessing for Palm stock holders!
Press release;

PALO ALTO and SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 28, 2010

HP and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors.

The combination of HP's global scale and financial strength with Palm's unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP's ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets. Palm's unique webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as true multitasking and always up-to-date information sharing across applications.

"Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices," said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. "And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market."

"We're thrilled by HP's vote of confidence in Palm's technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP's longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS," said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm. "We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners."

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Palm stockholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of Palm common stock that they hold at the closing of the merger. The merger consideration takes into account the updated guidance and other financial information being released by Palm this afternoon. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Palm's stockholders. The transaction is expected to close during HP's third fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2010.

Palm's current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company. 

"Place Pages For Mobile" Will Manage Your Information About Places On Google Maps

Place Pages are not new and have been managing information about locations on Google Maps since September 2009. But now a mobile optimized version has been made available, to make your mobile life better. We wrote about Place Pages last year as well in Google favorite places on mobile.
Just as what you see in the video below, one of the famous restaurant "Mama's Restaurant" in San Francisco, is captured in a concise yet informative manner, making it easier for you to decide if it is good enough to have that business lunch or that cozy dinner. The location information, customer ratings, opening hours and reviews of the restaurant are provided to fit mobile browsing. If you need further information, simple follow the links.
Then if you have time in your hand, you can delve further in to finding out more information as the Place pages provide links to sites with complete reviews about the place, like Mama's restaurant.
After watching the video, you can simply try this by going to google.com on your mobile browser and search for mama's sf, click or tap on the listing for Mama's Restaurant and if you are on a supported device like an Android or iPhone, you will be taken in to a mobile optimized Place Page.

Official Google Mobile Blog: New Place Pages for mobile: "Maps"

BlackBerry OS 6.0 Coming Soon

BlackBerry OS 6.0 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
RIM has released a video about the upcoming BlackBerry OS 6.0.


According to the video and the write up at BGR, the BalckBerry OS 6.0 seem to depart from what we have seen on BlackBerries for years. here are some changes we could expect;

• Start Page: A new design with customizable icons that could be placed the way you like. The icons will be gathered on screens based on their tasks.
• Browser: Multitouch, new favorites and tabs. Basically it behaves like browsers on iPhone and Android.
• Media player: Is very iPhone-like.
• Multitouch: Will be enabled across multitude of apps..

You can read more at BGR, via Gizmodo

Gizmodo Blogger Jason Chen's Computers seized By Police.

Gizmodo Blogger Jason Chen's Computers seized By Police. http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I woke up this morning to see a news report about Gizmodo blogger's computers being seized by Police with regard to the iPhone NextGen that he bought and published about a few days ago. Even though I thought, it was too ugly to be an Apple item, it seems it is the real thing.
I did not have time to check out my regular blogs yesterday and today I found an article, post about it on Gizmodo. I think Apple wanted to see if Jason had trade secrets I guess. I think it could have been handled better but who knows, INAL.
I think Apple ha finally reached the peak of iPhone, Welcome to the slide down, Jobs. Watch out Droids Are Everywhere

Gizmodo

Adobe Air And Adobe Flash Betas For Android Platform

It seems now you can sign up for the betas of Adobe Air 2.0 for Android and Adobe Flash 10.1 for Android. Both seem to be under private tests but the signups Sign up links after the jump) mean that we will get a chance to flash our Androids to flashy iPhone owners.

Bowler hat is producing games for Android on Adobe platform and has a few games like "Chroma Circuit" (above video)and Qrossfire in the testing grounds, right now. There are more developers who has videos to show you.

Not only the developers but folks like Andy Rubin also seems to be excited about the Flash on Android;

“Google believes that developers should have their choice of tools and technologies to create applications. By supporting Adobe AIR on Android we hope that millions of creative designers and developers will be able to express themselves more freely when they create applications for Android devices. More broadly, AIR will foster rapid and continuous innovation across the mobile ecosystem.”

If you need more convincing, read Mr. Rubin's post on Adobe featured Blogs. Floowing Games and blog information about Flash and Air on Android platform are from Flashblog.

Chroma Circuit – Blog | Video

Qrossfire – Blog | Video

Gold Strike – Blog | Video

Fruit Smash Organic – Blog | Video

BaoZi Jump! – Blog | Video

Happy Peg – Blog | Video

StarMatchABC – Blog | Video

Digit Cards – Blog | Video

Tiny Dot Edit – Blog | Video

Slots O’Luck – Blog | Video

Mingoville Sudoku – Blog | Video

First Aid – Blog | Video

StudyShuffler – Blog | Video

Innocent Angel – Blog | Video

Enjoy

Sign up links for Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.0

Flash for Android, Adobe Air for Android, Android games,

Google Skirts Verizon, Hugs Vodafone

Initially when Nexus One, the real Google Phone, was launched Google told all of us that, even the phones were sold online, there will be versions available through Verizon in the US and Vodafone in the UK.

Today's blog post by Nexus One says that there will no longer be a Verizon version of Nexus One and urges users to Verizon network, instead to aim for Droid Incredible. Droid Incredible and Nexus One were both manufactured by HTC.

UK users WILL get their Nexus One version from Vodafone and will be able to get the phone from Vodaphone stores, online or even over the current phone. The users in France (SFR), Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain can look ahead to see the device on the shelves soon as well.

US users will be able to purchase the Nexus One online like the initial Google Android announcement indicated.

 

Nexus One, Vodafone, Google, Verizon, Droid Incredible

Nexus Blog

Install Android On iPhone 2G

Skip to 2:58 to see Android running.

How to Install Andoid OS on an iPhone (2G) http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you have an iPhone 2G lying around, you can get the really free Andorid OS and make the iPhone really free.
Android a lot has written a detailed account of the procedures needed to acomplish the task.
In order to complete the task, you can start with;

1. IMPORTANT! Jailbroken iPhone 2G
2. VirtualBox.  Get the right version Windows/Mac
3. VirtualBox Ubuntu Image.  Download number 10, Ubuntu Linux 9.10 codename Karmic Koala x86
4. iPhone Explorer.  If you’re on Linux you can use FTP such as FileZilla instead.
5. Android images and sources
6. Patched images.  Courtesy of Geekoid.

If the video is not enough, then follow the instructions on following links.
Linuxoniphone, Androidalot via engadget.

Incredible Offer With Droid Incredible Introduction

Incredible Offer With Droid Incredible Introduction http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If the incredible HTC Droid Incredible's capabilities are not enough to woo you, Verizon has decided to offer a HUGE 2GB micro SD card as an incentive. Verizon says it is a limited time offer and we do not know how limited it is.
This is in addition to the 8GB internal memory that the Droid Incredible ships with. There is a small hicup though, according to Gizmodo and the commenter, early adopters might not be included in this tasty dish. Since it is on the web site, if you pre order now, you will get this 2GB micro SD card.
But if you don't get it and / or if you you want more memory, you can plug in micro sd cards up to 16GB and they are not that costly these days.
Verizon will release the Droid Incredible on 29th of April.
Verizon via engadget

iPads Are Now Allowed In To Israel!

Israel lifts iPad ban, iPads Are Now Allowed In To Israel! http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
After last weeks ban of iPods (sale, or bringing in for personal use), Israel has lifted the ban begining today, Sunday the 25th.
iPads were banned for them not meeting the Eutopean standard for wireless devices. After a series of tests (?) and discussions, the device is found to be confoming to the Israel's standards.
Personal use iPads could immediately be taken in to Israel immediately and if your iPad was confiscated at the Ben Gurion, now you can claim your iPad and show off.
Haaretz

Manage Your Hotel Switchboard With Elastix, Easily

Elastix, the other Asterisk http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you are familiar with Elastix, A member of the Elastix community has cooked up a configuration based off PBX In A Flash (PIAF) Hospitality Management System . They have made some minor adjustments make the project work with Elastix.
The Hotel Room Management system for Elastix is a very complete on with abilities like restrict the calls from Ext’s when they are not checked in, per-second billing etc.
Follow the links to get it running on your favorite incarnation of Asterisk.

Elastix Hotel management system could be found here.
If you prefer, the PIAF Hospitality Management System by claudiopizzillo is here.

Proteus' Raisin, Let iPhone Monitor Your Heart! And Make iMEDS Bigger Than iTunes!

Proteus' Raisin For iPhone http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you are at loss about the reasons for getting an iPhone, do not worry, here is another reason you need an iPhone. Your puny little MP3 Player that you carry around cannot monitor your heart rate or physical activities. Once approved by FDA, Proteus' Raisin Sensor will be able to do all that and keep a history of the data. Just like a tiny personal health record. You might be able to show it to your doctor and say "See Doc, I am exercising!". But I am sure there will be much more than that. The information collected is sent to the iPhone and then onto caregivers to review and analyze, through the ether.

Proteus Biomedical CEO Andrew Thompson said at TEDMED that Proteus Biomedical is currently testing its intelligent medicine system with hypertension patients, heart failure patients and tuberculosis patients. Proteus’ Raisin technology runs on an electric charge generated by the patient’s stomach acid. The charge is detected through the patient’s body by a sensing patch on the patient’s skin. The patch records the time and date that the pill is digested and also measures certain vitals, which the company calls the Sentinels of Wellness, including heart rate, activity and respiratory patterns. The information is then sent to the patient’s mobile phone and then onto the internet for caregivers to review and analyze.

Proteus via Gizmodo

iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 2 For iPhones and iPods Released

iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 2 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Not long after the iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 1 was released, Apple has let it's developers play with the beta 3 incarnation of the "next Gen OS" for iFamily.
Hopefully this will also be less buggier than the first release. iPhone OS 4 will work with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the second- and third-generation iPod touch this summer, and with iPad in the fall.
Yes I am waiting to try multitasking with iPhone OS 4.0
 Apple

Broadvox SIP Trunking Certified With UM Labs Enhanced SIP Security Controller

Broadvox SIP Trunking Certified with UM Labs Enhanced SIP Security Controller http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Broadvox and UM Labs announced today interoperability certification between Broadvox GO! SIP Trunking and UM Labs’ family of enhanced SIP security controllers. Broadvox as you may know is a premier ITSP Internet Telephony Service Provider since 2001, and UM Labs, is a leader in SIP security and SIP connectivity

“Interoperability certification provides resellers and customers with confidence that Broadvox’s growing ecosystem of technology partners can support their specific PBX environment and provide enhanced cost effective connectivity and security solutions,  We welcome UM Labs as a technology interop partner.” said Isaac Parampottil, Director of Product Management at Broadvox.
“We are very pleased to work with Broadvox, an industry leader in SIP Trunking, to provide their customers with additional proven solutions for SIP connectivity, security and voice encryption.”  concurred  Peter Cox, CEO of UM Labs.

The interoperability certification covers the entire range of Broadvox SIP Trunking services and UM Labs RC-2100 Small Business and EC-4200 Enterprise product lines.
Press Release

GIPS VideoEngine™ Mobile For iPAd Provides High-definition (HD), Super-wideband Voice and one way Video Conferencing.

GIPS VideoEngine™ Mobile For iPAd http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
We have followed Global IP Solutions or otherwise well known as GIPS for a while now, from way back in 2006 when they were Global IP Sound helping with Skype phones.. GIPS provides application developers, wired and wireless service providers and network and telecommunications equipment vendors a rapid time-to-market with their VideoEngine. GIPS mobile technology, GIPS VideoEngine™ Mobile is available on the iPad, Android, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile operating systems.
With more than 600,000 iPads already in the wild, and many more to come, provides a very good target for mobile development. If developers are looking into providing customers with High-definition (HD), Super-wideband Voice and video conferencing solutions, GIPS mobile solutions might provide an easy and fast path to the market.
Following is the press release by GIPS regarding the occation of releasing the GIPS VideoEngine™ Mobile for iPad.

San Francisco — April 20, 2010 — Global IP Solutions (Oslo Børs: GIPS), the leading provider of HD voice and video processing solutions, announced today the availability of high-definition (HD) and Super-wideband Voice as well as one way Video Conferencing/Chat capabilities for iPad developers, powered by GIPS VideoEngine™ Mobile.

GIPS VideoEngine Mobile supplies iPad developers with a simple to integrate, high-level software API that contains the complex video conferencing/video chat capabilities into applications running on Apple's iPad operating system. As video access becomes available from Apple, GIPS VideoEngine will support 2-way video chat/conferencing.

“With over 600,000 unit sales of the iPad to date, demand for this device is clearly continuing to grow,” said GIPS' Chief Marketing Officer Joyce Kim. “With the unique experience that a device like the iPad can deliver, it is imperative that the overall quality exceed all expectations and GIPS is proud to offer HD and Super HD voice and video for the iPad and other mobile devices.”

“GIPS technology is becoming increasingly significant with the growth in IP traffic as it offers HD voice and video communication capabilities that adjusts dynamically to available bandwidth on Wi-Fi or cellular networks,” said Roopam Jain, Principal Conferencing and Collaboration analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “The introduction of devices like the iPad will greatly increase wide scale voice and video communications beyond corporate boundaries.”

With GIPS VideoEngine Mobile, iPad developers can offer the best quality voice and video communication, overcoming the multiple issues intrinsic to mobile and IP networks such as delay, packet loss, bandwidth limitations, lip synchronization, dynamic bandwidth optimization and echo cancellation. GIPS VideoEngine Mobile ensures conversations dynamically adjust with Wi-Fi and cellular network conditions, thereby maintaining an uninterrupted experience.

GIPS mobile technology is available on the iPad, Android, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile operating systems.

GIPS

Ooma PureVoice technology, Google Voice Extensions and Voicemail Transcriptions Announced.

Ooma PureVoice technology http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
We have been Ooma phone fans for a while now and became real fans when they announced Ooma Google Voice Extensions last year. Ooma Telo phones are fine but we have the older version. One can pick up a Ooma phone anywhere like bestbuy phones but we picked up ours at FRYs.
So if you really want a free Ooma Telo Phone, One year Premium service and the newly advertised Purevoice, follow the link after the jump;

Press Release;

— April 19, 2010 — 

OOMA PUREVOICE™ TECHNOLOGY: THE NEW STANDARD FOR HOME PHONE SOUND QUALITY
Ooma also announces Google Voice Extensions and Voicemail Transcriptions Now Available for Ooma Premier Subscribers
PALO ALTO, Calif., April 19, 2010 - Ooma, Inc. today announced the availability of Ooma PureVoice™ technology, designed to ensure excellent voice quality under the most demanding broadband conditions.
Ooma PureVoice technology is comprised of four key components:
Advanced voice compression
Ooma uses an advanced voice compression algorithm that reduces bandwidth consumption by 60% over standard VoIP technology and is more capable of withstanding packet loss without degradation. This leaves you with more bandwidth for all other online activities and increases the likelihood that your voice traffic will be delivered properly by your ISP.
Wire-speed QoS
Even though Ooma uses only a fraction of the bandwidth of standard VoIP technology, preserving voice quality requires that those packets arrive on time. The Ooma Telo prioritizes voice packets without slowing down the rest of your network. This way you can enjoy crystal clear calls even as you are uploading your latest video clips.
Adaptive redundancy
Packet loss is the enemy of VoIP - it can cause voice to sound stuttered or garbled. The Ooma Telo detects packet loss on your Internet connection and automatically sends redundant packets to boost the clarity of your phone call.
Encrypted calls
Ooma takes your privacy seriously. We use the same encryption technology to protect your conversations that governments use to protect classified data. This makes Ooma even more secure than the traditional landline.
For more information and to listen to the differences between Ooma with PureVoice Technology and other services, go to: www.ooma.com/purevoice.
"Ooma is dedicated to improving our customers' home phone experience. With today's announcement of PureVoice Technology and the added features of Google Voice Extensions and Voicemail Transcription for our Premier subscribers, we are excited to take the next step in making the home phone experience relevant and meaningful again" said Tami Bhaumik, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Ooma. "Ooma's goal is to provide features that continue to improve the home calling experience, including integrating home and mobile calling features to save consumers time and money."
Ooma has also announced the availability of new home smart phone features including Google Voice Extensions and Ooma Voicemail Transcriptions.
Google Voice Extensions
Ooma simplifies and enhances the Google Voice user experience, enabling consumers to take advantage of the complementary capabilities found in both offerings for a truly integrated and seamless phone experience. Google Voice users can integrate the Call Presentation, Listen In, and caller-ID features with their Ooma system as well as access Google Voice voicemail at a touch of a button. Now, consumers can enjoy one voicemail box for all their phone messages and present one caller-ID to all callers.
Ooma Voicemail Transcriptions
This service converts Ooma voicemail messages into text and delivers it to a mobile phone or email account associated with the Ooma profile. Benefits of Ooma Voice-to-Text:
Read voicemail wherever there's email access — on a mobile phone, portable device or computer
Quickly see who called and what they called about
No need to write down phone number or directions — it's all there in your inbox
Choose to respond to the voicemail through email by just forwarding your response to the caller
Ooma Voicemail-to-Text service is available to Ooma Premier subscribers only for $9.99 per month. This plan includes 40 messages; additional messages are $0.25 each.
Availability
Ooma PureVoice Technology, Google Voice Extensions, and Voice-to-Text are now available to Ooma Telo customers. The Ooma Telo and Ooma Telo Handset are available at Ooma authorized resellers including: Best Buy, Datavision, Fry's Electronics, J&R, Micro Center, and leading online destinations including Amazon, BestBuy.com, Buy.com, Costco.com, Dell.com, JandR.com, NewEgg.com, OfficeDepot.com, PC Mall, Provantage, Shop Harmony, Staples.com, Sears.com, K-Mart.com, Tiger Direct, RCS, Nebraska Furniture Mart, B&H Photo and Walmart.com.

Techcrunch  for free Ooma Phone
www.ooma.com/purevoice for Ooma

Next iPhone Is Tad Ugly The Gizmodo version!

Next iPhone  Is Tad Ugly http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Gizmodo has published some videos and photos of iPhone 4G or iPhone HD. But I am not convinced. It is squarish and rough edged to be anything to be coming from Apple. Unless Apple is going to claim every possible design copyright aka Apple Industrial Design patent on every  Phones and  Pad.
Visit Gizmodo and judge for yourself

Lifetime Ban From Buying An iPad?

Life Time Ban From Buying An Ipad? http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
It seems Protocol Snow has been banned from buying an iPad for ever!. The guy has been buying and shipping iPads overseas with a "Little Profit". After a few trips to a local Apple store and a few iPads later, he has been banned from buying an iPad ever :).
Perhaps now your credit card and personal info are tied to your iPad purchase so when those over seas friends registered (You can't do much without registering) the iPod, some kind of alrm triggered? Who knows, the iPad I play around with is registered to a coporate entity and I am waiting for the Android Slate or Android Tablet. I want to give my privacy info to a bigger player!
Read the complete account of getting banned.!

“Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010” Passed In Congress, Makes Caller ID Spoofing Illegal.

Voice 2.0 IMS 2.0 has published about Congress passing the “Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010” (PDF) act
and making caller ID Spoofing an illegal act under certain circumstances, such as with the cases intent to defraud or deceive people. The law covers Legacy Telephony, VoIP IP Telephony, basically all telephony.
Caller ID Spoofing is, changing what someone will see on their caller ID display when they receive a phone call from a spoofed call. You can make a call to someone and make it appear to come from someone they know through caller id spoof.

Some of the legal caller id spoofing that are allowed are;

• Commercial answering-service bureaus which forward calls back out to a subscriber's cell phone, when both parties would prefer the CNID to display the original caller's information.
• Most calling-card companies display the Caller ID of the calling-card user to the called party.
• Business owners have been known to use Caller ID spoofing to display their business number on the Caller ID display when calling from outside the office (for example, on a mobile phone).

You can read more on the suject by by following the article on Voice 2.0 IMS 2.0

Nexus One Gets Boost From Google Financials, Vice 'n Versa

Nexus One Economy http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
Google was uppity up about it's financials as they have beaten the market expectations.

Google reported $5.06 billion for the quarter, up 19 percent from last year. Net income for the quarter also were up at $1.96 billion, from $1.4 billion last year.

They were also happy about the financials of Nexus One, Google's own Android Phone, which is supposed to be leaving shelves at about 60,000 a day, which translates into about 92 million a year :). 60,000 activations of Nexus One a day is an achievement itself in today's saturated mobile market.
The Google Android Market (Android App Store) is growing too, AM now has about 38.000 apps. This is also a milestone as in last September it just passed 10,000 app mark. I guess app store wars are up!
But the good news was that Nexus One is making money and the project is in the black! Google almost were laughing at the nay sayers who thought and said, Nexus One is a flop!
I will be flopping to a Nexus One or better when my AT&T contract runs out on my iPhone 3G, unless iPhone 4G is so attractive AND available from another carrier!

Search with less typing and much better spelling

I have my home page set to Google, yes you may have your own site as the main entrance to internet browsing. I use search, a lot and it seems I always end up at Google. I am also a fan of Google suggest.
If you have been reading this blog you, know I can't spell for toffees and those same mistakes are also repeated in my searches. The new Google suggest helps me a lot, in a few languages that I search. Yes I make spelling mistakes in other languages too. Google Suggest now supports auto correction for 31 languages!

Official Google Blog: Search with fewer keystrokes and better spelling

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

DELL Streak, Android Based Tablet Info Leaked!

DELL Streak http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
DELL has released (leaked) information on its forth coming tablet based on Android in two sizes. 7" and 10" and seems pretty much like iPads but more like intended to be in landscape mode, from the position of DELL logos.
The 7" Android Tablet will come to a store near you in late 2010 and the 10" DELL tablet will come in 2011. 
DELLs other Android quests include DELL Aero and DELL Mini 5. DELL Aero is also supposed to come in June, yes this June.
Engadget

New iPhone (iPhone 4G ?) In June, Says Canadian Telephony CEO

New iPhone (iPhone 4G ?) In June, Says Canadian Carrier CEO http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
In a conversation about its 3G service, SASKTEL CEO Robert Watson has mentioned;
"The good news is that (Apple) is coming out with a new version of the iPhone in the June time-frame and they're going to put us on that. So we're quite excited about that."
Well we all know that Apple has the habit of releasing a new iPhone, every summer since the original iPhone release. But Apple and the Blogsphere has been pretty quiet about this so called new iPhone, iPhone 4G

Leader post via Apple insider

Twitter Will Have Own URL Shortener, Just Announced @chirp Conference

Twitter Will Have Own URL Shortener, Just Announced @chirp Conference http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Twitter CEO Evan Williams has announced at #chirp conference that it will have its own URL Shortener.  Twitter users have been using various URL Shortener services to accommodate the 140 character limitation in the live message platform.Users were inconvenienced having to leave twitter to shorten a lengthy URL.So Twitter feels providing the service within the twitter interface will enhance the user experience.
Details of the process is not known yet but it will be something in the line of TWT.TL

Replay Twitter (and Other stuff) On Google Timeline!

 My search on SIP SERVICE PROVIDER

Replay Twitter On Google Timeline http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
There were many facets of Twitter search or realtime search that surfaced with the popularity of Twitter.
Google introduced Realtime Search last year and they are continuing to add services that provides realtime data, like Google Buzz, facebook and MySpace.
But there is a twist in how they present the real time search results. It is also more relevant in my point of view than Twitters own search or Bing adding it to regular search.
Google presents data in a timeline, which reminds me of timeline project on MITs SIMILE, which I dealt with, what now seems like eons ago.
But I like this feature so much that I have made it my home instead of regular Google search page.
But instead of playing around, you can also do some serious stuff like;

By replaying tweets, you can explore any topic that people have discussed on Twitter. Want to know how the news broke about health care legislation in Congress, what people were saying about Justice Paul Stevens’ retirement or what people were tweeting during your own marathon run? These are the kinds of things you can explore with the new updates mode.

Follow the link for more information.
Official Google Blog: Replay it: Google search across the Twitter archive

Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible) To Debut On April 29th With Verizon

Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible)  http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Incredible! This phone seem to be some what close to the Droid Evo by HTC, specs wise. HTC made that phone for Sprint to run on their 4G network. The specs are some what the same according to the rumors that were floating on the net.
There are no actual information on the phone yet, other than the release date.
Gizmodo

Get G.729 Codec Licences For FreeSwitch

G.729 Codec Licences For FreeSWITCH http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
As anyone involved with VoIP IP Telephony know that G.729 codec is a toll-quality, low-bandwidth audio codec supported by almost every VoIP providers on the planet. The voice quality of a G.729-encoded call is similar to that of G.711, the codec used for standard PSTN calls. But there is a major diference in bandwidth  used, G.729 uses only one fourth of the bandwith G.711 uses.
G.
Codec...Sample_Rate...Bandwidth...NominalBandwidth...Payload....License
G.711......8(kHz).......64(kbps)......87.2(kbps)........20(ms)....OpenSource
G.729......8(kHz)........8kbps).......31.2(kbps).........20(ms)....Patented.

So anyone using G.729 will make more efficient use of available network bandwidth. Basically making three G.739 calls using the same bandwidth for a single G.711. Personally I like the 48K CELT Codec on FreeSWITCH .
Just like G.729 for Asterisk (hardware cards) licenses are available at $10 per channel for FreeSWITCH systems running on Linux. Mac OSX and Windows systems support are forthcoming..
Just click on the g729 tab on main FreeSWITCH page.

OpenSIPS Certified Professional (OCP) Program Launched.

OpenSIPS (OpenSER) http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If You are serving your clients solutions based on OpenSIPS (formarly OpenSER), now you can put them at ease with the OpenSIPS Certified Professional (OCP). The OCP credentials will show that you can design, implement and administer a SIP solution based on the OpenSIPS SIP Server.

Once certified, the credential will cover the abilities of the professional;

knowledge of Installation, SIP Routing, OpenSIPS Scripting Skills, Authentication, OpenSIPS Control Panel, Connection to the PSTN, Call Forwarding and Media Server Integration, NAT Traversal, SIP Server Load Balancing, Accounting and Monitoring Tools. 

To earn the OCP on OpenSIPS Server, you must pass a single exam:

• OpenSIPS Certified Professional Exam

Exam Details:

The OpenSIPS exam is a 60 minute test with 70 questions.

Register for an exam via exams@opensips.org .

Further information is available at OpenSIPS certification information page.

IRC Meeting For Kamailio (OpenSER) and SIP Router Developers On April 14th 2010

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
IRC Meeting For Kamailio (OpenSER) and SIP Router Developers will take place (tomorrow) Wednesday, April 14, 15:00UTC, 2010.
The channel is: #sip-router on server irc.freenode.net.
A lot of  development team members are expected to be present. Everyone is welcome to join and participate in the discussions.
A draft agenda is available at:

• http://sip-router.org/wiki/devel/irc-meetings/next

Google Buzz buttons For Any Site,

Google Buzz Buttons snapvoip.blogspot.com
If you are a Google Buzz fan you may have found stuff around the web to share with your Buzzers. It was not so easy to do so 'cos you had to traverse to another tab or a window to do that.
First in the scene to implement Google Buzz Buttons were sites like Mashable (The first Google Buzz Button I pressed) and Techcrunch. It was not easy as they had to use Google reader as their backend.

So Google has provided, copy and paste Google Buzz buttons that anyone could implement on their sites. You can see major sites that share these buttons on the above Picture.

If you want to add Google Buzz buttons to your site, just go to buzz.google.com/stuff, configure your buttons, copy and paste a few lines of JavaScript where you'd like the Buzz buttons to appear. You are Buzzing!.

You can find my Google Buzz Button on the left hand Column.


Official Google Blog: Google Buzz buttons

Microsoft KIN, No Kinship Here!

Microsoft KIN, http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Microsoft announced the next big thing in their Windows 7 Phone arena and the quest to kill other smartphones, with a dumb phone. Basically you can think of it as a Zune with phone buttons. One sector of the market that will love this device is the Sidekick fans. Because KIN is so Sidekick.

The phone is pre-configured for young people with social networking on the top of their daily tasks and may be, just may be there will be enough people to buy the Ms KIN. One thing will be the price and those who love everything Verizon. There may be folks who does not want their phone to be their computer, like I did a few years ago, after getting disappointed by Microsoft mobile OS phones like iPaq. Then I found Androids and iPhones, yes I can do without a computer with them.

Kin.com

Apple Granted A Patent For iPhone and iPad Touch Industrial Design.

iPhone Design Patent http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for, the ornamental design of an electronic device, on iPhone and iPod Touch design. Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive were listed as the patent holders of the design. With this in hand, now Apple will be able to go after anyone who even come close to their holy grail.

USPTO
macstories via engadget

Gizmo5 + Google Voice = New Google Voice Desktop App.

Gizmo5 + Google Voice = New Desktop Voice App http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
After Google acquired Gizmo5, things have been quiet, so quiet that we even forgot that Google owns Gizmo5. But according to Techcrunch, there is much happening under this quietness it seems.
Google is testing, internally, a desktop voice app that combines the capabilities of Google Voice and Gizmo5. So what do you get out of this? Well you will be able to make Google Voice Calls from your desk top.

Yes Gizmo5 is a SIP based P2P Voice service, just like Skype and you will be able to free SIP calls using any SIP or POTs user with it. Even your iPhone or iPad!
Want to make Google Voice calls from your iPhone, simply install any SIP client that allows you to enter your own credentials and configure you Gizmo5 to use Google Voice, follow the instructions we gave last year. Viola, your iPhone and Google Voice is one. No matter how Steve Jobs listen to AT&T.
TechCrunch

Hatena "Monolith", An Android And iPhone Apps For Sharing Shopping Habits And More.

Hatena Monolith http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you you are familiar with Japanese, you might know that "--mono" means things, stuff or assortments.  The Hatena Monolith app allows one to scan barcodes from anything or stuff that has a bar code. Which does not these days. There are many bar code based apps for iPhone and Android based devices like shopsavvy. But Monolith introduces some new twists.

Basically you will be able to create a database of stuff ot things you buy, collect or desires. You also are able to share these with others and you might find other collectors or afficiendos whome you could even trade or exchange desired components for your collections.
Another twist is that any entries you make on your Monolith app, could be simultaneously posted to you twitter account, making the sharing with wider audience.
Imagine announcing the your geekdom the ultimate geek device you just purchased! Yes  the App is available in US app store.
You can find more information here (Japanese, use Google translation)

• f you have an iPhone 3GS, please access the App Store and search for "Hatena Monolith", or click onthis link to install the application.
•  
• Android users should access the Android Market and search for "Hatena Monolith", or click on this link to install the application.