D-Link Pocket VoIP Router

D-Link already makes a Pocket Router- something you can carry on the road with you. Priced at $69.99, It can connect computers to enable sharing of files and hotel Internet access, as well as wirelessly connect any Ethernet-enabled client to a 802.11b/g network.

But it appears that D-Link is also planning a Pocket VoIP Router. No word of such product is on the D-Link site, but from a read of the Trademark application, it sure looks like such a device is in the works.

From the Trademark application, we learn that this device would be an "electronic apparatus in small form factor for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications and communications over wired Ethernet-based and/or wireless networks, namely adapters."

Sipura Technology Acquired by cisco/Linksys

The move signals Linksys' and Cisco's intention to expand their support for VoIP. The company said it is acquiring Sipura Technology for about $68 million and expects the acquisition to close by the end of July.

Linksys has released a variety of wireless routers and other equipment tuned to support VoIP services. Much of the technology built into those devices was provided by Sipura, according to the company. In a statement, Cisco noted that it expected VoIP to grow rapidly, particularly on the consumer side.

"VoIP is a strategic segment for innovation and growth for Cisco and Linksys, Charles Giancarlo, Cisco CTO and Cisco-Linksys president, said in a statement. "The acquisition of Sipura will augment Linksys' leading position in the rapidly growing VoIP market and is an example of Linksys' strategy to increase internal R&D capabilities in specific product categories."

Grid plug-in speeds Windows Media video editing

Microsoft Corp. and GridIron Software Inc. have partnered to offer a plug-in for Windows XP that uses grid computing to accelerate digital video encoding with Microsoft's Windows Media Encoder software.

Grid Computing: The Popular Threat

It's the end of corporate computing as we know it.

So says Nicholas Carr, the Harvard Business Review scribe who two years ago asserted that information technology doesn't matter. That point of view, which suggested there's no competitive advantage gained from IT investment, ignited a firestorm, particularly among IT vendors.
Last week, Mr. Carr added to the IT-doesn't-matter discussion by postulating that businesses will soon discover that it makes no sense to own and manage computing capability. In a nine-page discussion document called "The End of Corporate Computing," Mr. Carr contends that business is at a stage where technology as a built and owned corporate function will move to a service delivered by a utility provider.

What is the driving force behind VOIP?

Open Source! according to Mark Spencer, driving force behind one of the most popular open source VOIP project, Asterisk.
Asterisk is a PBX with its own protocol and interconnect system. But it interoperates with almost all the protocols available today.
n addition to traditional PBX services, Asterisk provides three-way calling, conferencing, voicemail with directory and caller ID. It's also a gateway for VoIP interoperability, handling SIP , H.323 and Media Gateway Control Protocol specifications.
"Open Source is really driving innovation," Spencer told the audience of VON (voice over net). He described the IAX Protocol as NAT (define) transparent (which is huge issue for other protocols) and is an efficient transport that can triple calls per megabit versus SIP G.729.

Spencer also discussed DUNDi, an open source peer-to-peer routing protocol. DUNDi brings the P2P model to call routing and even involves a new type of agreement for carriers for peering that's modeled on the GPL, called the GPA (General Peering Agreement).
Spencer told representatives of Canada's telecom industry that "open" concepts have a historical precedent as old as Isaac Newton. The 28-year old Spencer put up a famous Newton quote, "If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants," to help explain how open source uses the collective power of many to spur innovation.
In Spencer's view, manufacturers have only a few options in the new competitive environment. They can try and stay ahead of where open source is or embrace open source solutions through either productizing open source solutions or integrating open source tools into existing products.

"Or you could become a disruptive open source leader yourself," Spencer said. "Open source and business can co-exist. Open source and the GPL are about the customer first not the vendor, so you have to adapt to those things."