VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Touch-Screen BlackBerry Coming!? - May 16, 2008

RIM Launches BlackBerry App World - Mar 04, 2009

Verizon Hub News - Jan 23, 2009

BlackBerry OS Running On Windows Mobile HTC Touch Pro - Dec 16, 2008

Ditch Desktop IP phone to Save Money? - Dec 09, 2008

Palm Going the Way of the Dodo? - Nov 24, 2008

BlackBerry Storm Launch Crashes Verizon Network - Nov 21, 2008

HP's Netbook/Mobile Package Plot - Oct 30, 2008

Here Comes the BlackBerry Apps Store ... - Oct 22, 2008

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(Devika on Jul 16, 2009 3:04 PM) Well. Its definitely a good feature. But I am really not sure how many will prefer to on-load this app. Would definitely like to see people and myself reviewing it and then comment on it. Yours sincerely, -- Devika Pathare For Best VoIP Guides

Say What? Police chief denounces 'cowardly' iPhone users monitoring speed traps

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:43:45 -0500

According to the Washington Examiner, D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier is "irked" that Americans are using an iPhone application to outwit speed traps and traffic cameras which uses GPS to pinpoint the location of the cameras & speedtraps and warns users as they drive. Interesting that the article mentions PhantomAlert, which is a paid subscription that lets you download their database of speed traps and cameras when their are free options such as Trapster available. I don't believe PhantomAlert is even available on the iPhone. I don't see it in the App Store when I searched for it.

According to the article, Lanier said that the technology is a "cowardly tactic" and "people who overly rely on those and break the law anyway are going to get caught" in one way or another. She went on to say, "I think that's the whole point of this program. It's designed to circumvent law enforcement -- law enforcement that is designed specifically to save lives."

Wait a second here. If I'm using this iPhone application and it warns me about speed traps, traffic cameras, etc. and it influences me to slow down, isn't that serving the same purpose as receiving a traffic ticket, but without the associated ticket costs? If the end goal is to cause people to respect the speed limit for safety reasons, then if anything the iPhone application does a better job than speed traps or traffic cameras. After all, a police officer can only pull over so many speeders, while the iPhone application on the other hand will encourage users to slow at every potential speed trap or traffic camera. I use Trapster for the iPhone myself and it warns me about speed traps. It does cause me to drive slower in these areas.

In fact, before I had this application, my heavy foot (former Dodge Viper driver) would cause me to drive pretty fast on highway roads or even rural areas. Now with Trapster warning me, I'm driving much slower in these areas, thus reducing the risk my speed might injure myself or someone else. Of course, personally I don't buy into driving 70mph in a 55mph zone is causing any additional risk to the public or myself. The fact that I like to eat McDonald's french fries is probably increasing my risk of an earlier death than going 15mph over the speed limit.

So the D.C. police chief should be thanking these types of applications if the end goal is to cause people to follow the law. Of course, we know the real purpose of speed traps and traffic cameras - it's to fill the coffers of the local city, which according to the article Montgomery County expects to make $29 million from its red light and speed cameras. Update: The article states, "The greater D.C. area has 290 red-light and speed cameras -- comprising nearly 10 percent of all traffic cameras in the U.S., according to estimates by a camera-tracking database called the POI Factory." 10% of all nationwide traffic cams just for a city? That's just insane!

It's a speed tax - plain and simple and they don't like the fact that these "warning applications" for mobile devices and GPS units may cause you to drive slower and adversely impact their revenue stream. I for one can't wait till teleportation is invented so we can get to point A to point B without "the man" writing out a $300 ticket for doing 70mph in a 55mph zone.

Tags: apple, cathy lanier, gps, iphone, phantomalert, police, speed traps, speeding ticket, trapster, washington Related tags: speed traps, traffic cameras, traps traffic, police chief, iphone application, speed

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Comments on this Entry:

(Andrew on Jul 16, 2009 1:42 PM) I have been using Trapster for a while too, and have experienced the exact same thing. I drive slower, plain and simple. It is a fantastic application, police should endorse it - I can't wait until they have a version for Tom Tom and Garmin units..

(penandra on Jul 17, 2009 5:54 AM) Years ago the Washington Post had an interview with a Police Chief over on the Eastern Shore --- his comment was, "if you're not speeding, it's not a trap."

Google Brings Location Info to iPhone's Safari

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:37:52 -0500

Google just added location info to Safari on the iPhone allowing you to see local businesses very quickly with a simple search. For instance, search on "coffee" and see the closest coffee shops or search on fast food places like Burger King or McDonald's. You can see local results (Norwalk, CT) in the screenshot to the right, along with the ability to manually enter a location, update current location

It works with the new iPhone 3.0 software. All you have to do is go to Google's homepage in Safari and you'll see text that reads, "New! Try My Location to find restaurants, shops and bars near you!"

When you attempt to allow Google to use your location info within Safari for the first time, the iPhone will pop open the usual message about sharing your location info with Safari which you have to accept or reject.

After accepting, you'll see a dot below the search box with your location info. Next, perform a search and Google will return local results. Even cooler, it appears to work in the popular Google app for the iPhone as well, which I prefer for quick local lookups since it supports fast (and accurate I might add) speech recognition searches as seen here:

Since Safari runs in the background this could potentially open the door to some interesting location-based services (LBS), since the alternative is 3rd party iPhone location apps which must remain running in the foreground, thus limiting their usefulness. In theory, a developer could write a hosted web app that tracks your current location and shares it with your spouse or buddy list. One could hope such an app is forthcoming - or maybe not depending on your privacy perspective.

Tags: apple, burger king, google, iphone, lbs, local search, location based services, mcdonald's, safari, search Related tags: local results, current location, location, google, safari, iphone

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Download iPhone OS 3.0 for free - Jun 09, 2009

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GPhone Update -- Wait, What GPhone? - Jun 02, 2008

Will the Real Google gPhone Please Stand up! - Nov 01, 2007

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Say What? Police chief denounces 'cowardly' iPhone users monitoring speed traps - Jul 16, 2009

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Nimbuzz VoIP/IM App Has huge Apple App Store Marketshare

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:58:37 -0500

With yesterday's news about the new Nimbuzz for iPhone app and the launch of a Nimbuzz Mac client, I contacted Tobias Kemper, Head of Communications for Nimbuzz and asked him a question about DTMF/touch-tone support in any pending release.

Any plans for DTMF support?

Noticed when I tested it by calling my Skype for SIP account matched up to my corporate PBX that I couldn't reach my extension since there is no dialpad once the call is initiated.

I know touchtones are tricky when sent over an IP connection, which is what RFC 2833 is for. However, RFC 2833 is probably impossible for you guys to support.

However, I've found if you simulate the exact frequency tones and send that as a long tone - say 0.5s long, 99% of the time it gets transmitted just fine. Can often get away with ¼ of a second as well. Thoughts?

He wrote back, "I will send you the official news in a few mins - WITH more stats and data! DTMF is a great next step for us but I cannot speak to it yet."

Ok, so he's not admitting to DMTF support in the future, but he isn't ruling it out either. That's good news, since I really like Nimbuzz. It features SIP capabilities, so I can register it with a SIP-based PBX. Though oddly enough, I had a minor issue with the Nimbuzz for iPhone app with case-sensitivity. I have some test SIP accounts with the format SOFTPHONE01, SOFTPHONE02, etc. all in upper-case. The Asterisk-based trixbox PBX is case-sensitive, so it is expecting the username in uppercase. Well, although I was able to enter in SOFTPHONE01 into Nimbuzz in all upper-case, it wouldn't register. So I SSH'ed into the trixbox server and ran "asterisk - r" to see what was going on. I attempted to register again, and immediately saw the problem in the Asterisk console. Nimbuzz converted my SIP username to all lowercase. Thus, I had to add a new SIP account that was in all lowercase. Looks like they need to update their back-end database to support mixed-case for the SIP username. It's pretty common to use a mix of upper & lowercase letters to help secure the SIP account.

In any event, Tobias also told me, "We developed a Mac client (download) in combination with a new iPhone version (download) because we got massive traction since releasing the iPhone client and have a huge number of active users. (official press release below) We did it Apple style, focused on slick UI and usability! "

He added, "(Here are) a few stats on why we made the decision to deliver something specific for the Apple fans out there:"

In just 9 months since launch, consistent Top 10 ranking on all iTunes AppStores in Europe, Latin America & the Middle East, including regular No. 1 What's Hot positions in influential iPhone markets such as the UK
Achieved massive penetration and popularity. For example, 1 in 5 iPhone users in France and in the Netherlands are using Nimbuzz!
Average 848% growth in downloads of iPhone & iPod touch apps in key European markets since the iPhone OS 3.0 update
One of just 5% of Apps to boast more than 100,000 active users, with an active user base of more than 41% (AdMob Metrics)
Massive nearly one million newly registered users per month growth across all Nimbuzz clients

With the new Nimbuzz Mac you can connect and interact with friends from the most popular instant messaging communities and social networks like, Facebook, AIM, MySpace, Google Talk (Orkut), Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger (MSN), ICQ and many more, right from your (i)Mac or MacBook (Pro). It also lets you call your buddies on Nimbuzz, Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.

The iPhone and iPod touch upgrade lets you share photos, music and videos. The beauty of it is that the files are stored online so you have access to your files from your Mac, iPhone or iPod touch! That also saves device memory.

Push Notification for iPhone and iPod Touch - with home screen alerts of incoming calls or chats, effectively keeping you available to the rest of the world even though the app itself has been closed.

We also introduced another much requested feature: location sharing. Now you can share and retrieve the location of your Nimbuzz buddies on the go. This makes it easier to find your friends and set up face to face meetings.

Here is a demo video to check out before trying : )

Tags: aim, facebook, google talk, icq, myspace, nimbuzz, voip, windows live messenger, yahoo messenger Related tags: active users, nimbuzz iphone, yahoo messenger, nimbuzz, iphone, support

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Continue reading TerreStar Offers World's 1st Quad-band GSM & Tri-band WCDMA/HSPA smartphone...

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TerreStar Offers World's 1st Quad-band GSM & Tri-band WCDMA/HSPA smartphone

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:14:19 -0500

TerreStar Corporation (NASDAQ: TSTR) announced that TerreStar-1, the world's largest, most advanced commercial communications satellite, has been successfully placed into its assigned orbital slot in the geosynchronous arc and has successfully deployed its 18 meter 2GHz S Band reflector, the largest commercial satellite antenna ever deployed. TerreStar remarked "TerreStar-1 is now poised to deliver the voice, data and video services over TerreStar's all IP next-generation mobile broadband network that combines the power of TerreStar-1, an all-IP core network, and the latest in smartphone technology."

One of the first advanced smartphones the satellite is designed to handle is a new Windows Mobile designed with their partner Elektrobit (EB). The mobile device can handle all of the major wireless specs, including: Dual-band WCDMA (850 and 1900), TerreStar WCDMA HSDPA 2.2 GHz, and Quad-band GSM/EGPRS (850, 900, 1800 and 1900). What this means is that this is a worldwide phone -- and if their isn't a cellular tower in the vicinity, you can switch to a satellite connection.

Tags: Related tags: terrestar, satellite, mobile, wcdma

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Nimbuzz Launches Mac client

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:32:03 -0500

Nimbuzz following on top of last night's release of push notifications for their Apple iPhone app has today just released a Mac version of their popular IM/VoIP aggregator application. Nimbuzz supports Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Yahoo, ICQ, AIM, Google Talk, Facebook, MySpace, and more.

You can download the Mac client here.

Tags: aim, facebook, google talk, icq, im, myspace, nimbuzz, voip, windows live messenger, yahoo Related tags: nimbuzz

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Comments on this Entry:

(mark on Jul 16, 2009 6:05 AM) VoIP still has a competitive edge over other services. Besides cheap national and international call rates, it gives longer call recording keeping your geographic number.Now one can have full control of his comms - can apply call diverts and modify the phone system remotely per one's own wish. Nimbuzz , Truphone ,Jajah, Vopium - Thanks to all the VoIP services!

Nimbuzz adds iPhone push notifications

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:48:53 -0500

Just noticed my iPhone listed an update for Nimbuzz and it now features highly-anticipated push notifications, thus allowing IMs, voicemail notification, etc. even if Nimbuzz is closed. This update also features faster login, improved buddy list layout, send & receive files and photos, and more. Downloading it now!
(ignore the date in the screenshot, that's the date the app first appeared in the App Store)

Update
Just tried it using Skype and Windows Live accounts. The push notifications didn't work in Windows Live. I'm trying Skype right now. Stay tuned...

Update 2:
Actually it does work. Even though when I first launched the app and I clicked "Yes" to allow push notifications, by default the "Stay Online" feature is disabled / off. Very intuitive eh? Anyway, I had to click 'Settings', then 'Stay Online', and then pick 5, 15, or 30 minutes. Bummer that it's not 24 hours. 30 minutes is way too small. I recall some other push apps limited to 30 minutes. I wonder if this is a Steve Jobs imposed limitation?

Still, it's nice to be able to receive IMs from Skype, Windows Live, Yahoo!, AIM, and more while Nimbuzz is closed and I'm running other apps (up to 30 minutes). It also sports Facebook as well. Going to add that in now and test it.

Update 3:
Looks like Facebook IMs work as well. Pretty sweet! My only complaint now is that I have to scroll through hundreds of Facebook friends, Skype buddies, etc. ~~with no 'search' feature~~. ~~Would be nice to~~ Just type letters and it auto-matches as you type. (Weird, I didn't see the Search field before but it's there. Was late when I blogged this ~12:45am). I'd also like to see generic SIP support like truphone so I can add in any SIP credentials. This way I can configure it with my corporate IP-PBX.

Update 4: (9 hours later)
Looks like Nimbuzz also launched a Mac client too! Boy, they've been busy!

Tags: Apple, AppStore, Handhelds, IPhone, ITunes Store, Nimbuzz, Skype, Smartphones Related tags: nimbuzz buddies, buddies friends, skype windows, nimbuzz closed, friends skype, nimbuzz

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Comments on this Entry:

(@webdesignr on Jul 15, 2009 7:01 PM) I tried the location feature, but found it only works with Nimbuzz buddies/friends. Since all my buddies/friends are on Skype, MSN, or whatever, I had no Nimbuzz buddies. After finding a Nimbuzz buddy, they showed up with the Nimbuzz icon and the "Location" button showed up. This wasn't well documented anywhere and was a poke-around-until-you-find-it solution. Just thought I would share for anyone else wondering how to use this feature.

(@webdesignr on Jul 15, 2009 7:13 PM) Just thought I would mention that to use the Location feature, you can only see Nimbuzz buddies, not Skype, MSN or others (unless they also use Nimbuzz). So you have to add them separately. They also must have the Location setting turn on using Nimbuzz. When you try and locate them, they must select accept before you get a map of their location. Not a bad implementation, wish it worked for all types of contacts/buddies/friends, just thought I would share.

Microsoft Kills Response Point IP-PBX

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:02:20 -0500

Sources informed me a few months ago that Microsoft's SMB IP-PBX called Response Point was in trouble. Then my Microsoft contacts Rex Backman and Richard Sprague, who were integral parts of the Response Point team were let go around May of this year which told me things were not looking good for the Response Point product. I really liked the Response Point product, though I did think it was a bit pricey when compared to other solutions. Still, it had a nice TCO since it was so easy to manage.

Sources have told me that Microsoft has indeed just killed the Response Point product. In addition to my complaints about pricing, I always thought that Microsoft should have taken their OCS 2007 product and offered it as a turnkey appliance. OCS 2007 is not an easy product to deploy into the enterprise, has complex licensing, various hardware servers required, needs Exchange integration for unified messaging, etc. -- but is a very feature-rich unified communications platform.

Thus, if Microsoft could offer a turn-key, or nearly turn-key OCS 2007 (2010?) appliance they could really take the SMB market by storm. They could offer it inexpensively by locking down various advanced features with a license key which can be later activated when the customer needs the features. For instance, they could start with basic PBX functionality, but have software license keys for unified messaging, speech recognition dialing, video conferencing, audio conferencing (conference bridges), etc.

I'm sad to see Response Point go, but at the same time I'm hoping this means Microsoft will take the freed up resources to concentrate their efforts on making the future release of OCS 2007 a much easier install with less hardware requirements and a much lower TCO. One can only hope Microsoft listens and doesn't abandon the SMB telecom market entirely. We shall see...

Tags: ip-pbx, microsoft response point, ocs 2007, uc, unified messaging, voip Related tags: response point, point product, microsoft kills, kills response, unified messaging, response

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Continue reading iTunes Outage Problems...

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Comments on this Entry:

(mike on Jul 11, 2009 4:01 AM) Have your reviewed the Sutus or Jazinga boxes in the past? Would be good to get your opinion on those two.

(Richard Sprague on Jul 11, 2009 10:04 AM) Microsoft hasn't "killed" Response Point. After two wonderful years on the project, I left for a great opportunity at Microsoft's Macintosh group in Beijing -- something my family and I have wanted to do for some time. John Frederiksen, General Manager since early this year, made a number of changes to the project and team over the past few months, but continues to promote the product and its partners.

(Tom Keating on Jul 13, 2009 9:01 AM) Hey Richard, Glad to see you still read my blog after leaving Microsoft's Response Point team! Are you certain Response Point is still alive? I had a couple people tell me it was killed so I went and did some online searches and came across these articles: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/43247 http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/06/30/microsoft-kills-response-point-development/ http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/43423 All claim RP is done. If you have other information, please share!

(Michael on Jul 14, 2009 8:12 AM) Please share, indeed! I was days away from committing to a RP system when this news broke.

(richardsprague on Jul 14, 2009 6:06 PM) Of course I still read your blog! (at least, until the Great Firewall of China decides to block you :-) John Frederiksen, General Manager of Response Point since early this year, can tell you about the Response Point changes. Or read the official version at http://blogs.technet.com/rp

iTunes Outage Problems

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:21:44 -0500

Apple iTunes is experiencing some severe outage problems today. I was trying to install Truphone and Skype on a coworker's iPhone when I noticed I couldn't search the App Store on his iPhone. Rich Tehrani also tried installing a gaming app I recommended called Blowfish, but it wouldn't accept his password.

My IT administrator then proceeded to try and register a new iTunes account within the iTunes PC software for this iPhone and that wouldn't work either. Perhaps the Michael Jackson resurgence phenomenon is overloading iTunes? According to CNET, "On iTunes, the Web's largest music service, 8 out of the top-10-selling albums for download were from Jackson, with a compilation album, "The Essential Michael Jackson" in the No. 1 spot."

Tags: app store, apple, itunes, michael jackson, outage, problems, skype, truphone Related tags: outage problems, michael jackson, itunes, iphone, jackson

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Worst Google News Headline Ever! - No public viewing at Neverland, but Michael Jackson may get laid

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:20:46 -0500

I was happily surfing the Web reading the Google News Top Stories when I saw a headline that said "No public viewing at Neverland, but Michael Jackson may get laid". Say what? I had to do a double-take. Then I couldn't help but laugh at how funny this headline was.

No public viewing of Michael Jackson getting laid? Bummer, I'm sure that could have been a pay-per-view event. It's The 40 50 Year Old Virgin movie come to life! Course that might be a problem unless it's some sick necrophilia action going on. Then again, Michael Jackson did play the undead / zombie in Thriller.

Ok, we'll let Michael Jackson Rest in Peace, though I'm sure he too would have laughed at this Google News headline.

Check out a screenshot of it below. Click for Full-screen. Look on the right-hand side. I drew an arrow as well as a box around it. The article in question can be read here. The full article headline is "No public viewing at Neverland, but Michael Jackson may get laid out at Staples Center". Obviously, the Googlebot abbreviated in a very bad spot. Perhaps a human editor might be in order, Google?

Lastly, since Google News changes the Top Stories home page often, you too can view this news story (in its funny abbreviated form) by clicking this Google News search link. It's abbreviated there too.

Tags: google, google news, michael jackson, news Related tags: michael jackson, public viewing, neverland michael, viewing neverland, headline public, michael

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Comments on this Entry:

(John Cook on Jul 5, 2009 4:10 AM) When I was a young man, I knew the Jackson's fairly well and young Michael came by but not as often as his brothers. He was just a normal looking quiet young man with a great smile. He use to talk with my wife and absolutely make her swoon. If you had told me--or any one of the family--that in another 10 years he would be known as one of the weirdest stars the world has known (well, since Trigger) I would not have believed it. Yet it happened. When i look back to young Michael, I can see clues. He was very shy, but in a position that made demands, and his family counted on him. He was not made to be a star. He was just a nice kid, and should have grown into a quiet man, married with three kids and working at a record store he owned. Kick back with a beer and a big TV after closing the store. Not in his cards though. Too bad. Success can be hard stuff. I have had some of that famous stuff and changed my name and moved to avoid it. It's not the good you think.

(Tim on Jul 11, 2009 7:16 PM) For the last several years I've wondered why Michael didn't fire his entourage, move from CA to a nice state somewhere far from the spotlight(not Bahrain), and focus on raising his children, but I guess he didn't want to or know how to.

eBuddy for iPhone Supports Push Notifications

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:59:16 -0500

Ok, so the just launched Skype 1.1 for iPhone doesn't support push notifications, but eBuddy, a brand new app for the iPhone or iPod touch does support push notifications. What does this mean? It means you can close eBuddy and still receive instant messages (IMs) from your buddies. Further, eBuddy is an IM aggregator supporting MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Gtalk, and Facebook. Too bad they don't support Skype though like fring does. eBuddy also supports Google Android phones.

Check out the features for eBuddy on the iPhone & iPod touch:

One buddy list for MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Gtalk, and Facebook
Stay online when you exit the app
Get push notifications for incoming messages when you exit the app*
Reconnect automatically if connection is lost
Get offline messages after reconnecting
Get new message alerts & typing alerts in the chat screen
Easily switch between chats by swiping your screen
Shake your iPhone or iPod Touch to send a buzzer
Display pictures, personal message and status
Emoticons & buzzers
Sound & vibration
Multiple IM networks
Multiple accounts for each IM network
Buddy list management
Offline messages
Group chat support

Push notifications for incoming messages are only available if you have the latest iPhone 3.0 software on your device. eBuddy will also soon be adding landscape mode. Oh, and did I mention unlike similar app Beejive ($9.99) & IM+ with Push ($9.99), eBuddy is a free app in the Apple App store? Some minor complaints include it only supports push for up to 30 minutes and it doesn't support file sharing (audio, picture, etc.). Still for a free IM aggregator app, this one is definitely a must for the iPhone!

Whatcha waitin' for? Go grab this cool app now!

Tags: AIM, android, apple, ebuddy, facebook, google, Gtalk, ICQ, im, instant message, iphone, MSN, skype, Yahoo Related tags: ebuddy iphone, incoming messages, notifications incoming, ebuddy, iphone, notifications

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Skype for iPhone 1.1 Update

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:22:02 -0500

Late last night I saw an update notifications on my iPhone 3GS for Skype. New version? Sweet! I updated it and checked out the release notes for Skype 1.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch. It sports some new languages and now includes Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish and Traditional Chinese and of course English.

The bigest new feature is the ability to send text messages (SMS) using Skype credit. They also added voicemail support and improved dialing help when calling phones.

According to the official Skype blog, "we've made some improvements to the look and feel, particularly when calling phones using the dial pad."

You can download the update in iTunes, or even better just launch the App Store on your iPod touch or iPhone and then tap Updates to get the latest version of all your apps!

Some things I would have liked to seen in this release:

Push notifications (Skype might have to haggle with Apple on this one since Apple places restrictions on third party apps that can run in the background on the iPhone. Though I should add 'push notifications' is Apple's compromise between a full background app and the ability to at least get 'notifications' that something happened in an app that isn't technically running in the background)
Video conferencing support - Though that probably isn't coming any time soon.

So what would you like to see in a future release of Skype for iPhone?

Tags: apple, im, iphone, iphone 3gs, itunes, push notifications, skype, Skype 1.1 for the iPhone, voip Related tags: skype iphone, calling phones, skype, iphone, notifications, background

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Apple, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, & others settle on micro-USB phone charger standard

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:19:12 -0500

One phone charger for all? There can be only one! According to Reuters, telecom firms have backed standard phone charger in Europe. No, hell hasn't frozen over. Yes, you will finally be able to use a single charger that works with any future mobile phone you purchase - at least in Europe anyway. That's one less charger to pack when traveling and one less charger to throw away when you upgrade your mobile phone. The top mobile telephone suppliers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and others have agreed to back an EU-wide standard for phone chargers. New mobile phones will use a standard micro-USB socket to ensure compatibility.

Motorola, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments have also signed the agreement. Interestingly, Apple has also signed on. You mean Apple which charges licensing rights for their proprietary docking cable is on board too? Well, well... Isn't Apple fighting Palm over the Pre emulating an Apple iPod to enable iTunes support? Seems against Apple's nature to support a connection standard that has enabled such a huge third-party cottage industry for Apple's iPod and iPhone products. For example, Apple licenses their connector to FM transmitters, iPod external speakers, and more.

So one charger for any mobile phone - surely there's a catch...

Tags: apple, iphone, ipod, itunes, NEC, nokia, palm, qualcomm, RIM, samsung, texas intruments Related tags: mobile phone, phone charger, email marketing, standard phone, phone chargers, apple

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Big Stage Adds Cool 3D Avatars to Skype

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:51:04 -0500

Big Stage today announced that their popular 3D avatars based on pictures of your own face now works on Skype with their new Skype Add-on. It's similar in concept to JibJab, perhaps the most popular site to feature animated avatars based on your own face. However, Big Stage goes one step further with technology that lets you move, change expressions, and more. I downloaded the beta to check it out. Here's their demo video, but I hope to include one of myself soon:

Others trying to make 3D avatars popular include Gizmoz and Kloonies. Gizmoz also uses your own digital photo to create an avatar based on your own face, but according to Big State, it falls short compared to their technology. They use three photos to make a more accurate 3D representation of your face, where as Gizmos only uses one. Kloonies is a different model all together sine they use cartoonist 3D avatars that you pick from a list.

Pretty cool stuff! As I was quoted in the press release they put out:

"Blabber's advanced facial modeling and real-time animation makes voice over IP lots of fun," said Tom Keating, CTO, VP, Founder of TMC Labs. "It's a compelling example of the role the animated digital version of people will play as ever more advanced virtual world capabilities converge with voice and video in the connected online world."

"Through the launch of a Big Stage-enabled Skype plug-in, we're extending our advanced 3-D avatar technology into the realm of real-time expressive communications and further advancing our goal of projecting 'self' into digital life." said Big Stage CEO Phil Ressler. "The estimated 450 million people using Skype can have fun speaking as an ultra cool version of themselves instead of using chat, or substitute Blabber for video when for any reason they aren't ready to face their web-cam or need to conserve bandwidth. Blabber debuts our voice-sync engine, which we intend to leverage as we extend a similar capability into video games, virtual worlds, virtual conferencing, and social networks like Facebook."

You can download the Skype add-on here.

Tags: 3d, avatar, big stage, skype, voip Related tags: avatars based, skype, stage, avatars, video, technology

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Comments on this Entry:

(Norman on Jun 30, 2009 7:29 AM) That's cool. I like the fact it's 3D, thats a nice touch.

(Jason on Jul 7, 2009 4:42 PM) Now this looks really cool!

Military Suspension Plan from VoIP Providers - Who's Going to Step Up?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:01:15 -0500

I received an email from a U.S. military service person asking me if I was aware of any VoIP service providers offering a "military suspension plan" which allows U.S. military members to "suspend" your contract without paying monthly fees.

Mr. Tom Keating,

I'm a current customer of Vonage, but have recently been disappointed by them. You see, being in the military, deployments do not allow us to use our regular phones, for obvious reasons. As far as I'm aware, every cell phone carrier has some form of "military suspension plan" which allows you to keep your contract without paying any monthly fees until you notify them that you want it reactivated (not sure about landlines, but most ISP's seem to have a similar policy).

My question to you is: do you know of any VOIP companies that have a policy to accommodate military deployments, or even long vacations? At $35ish/month, I'd prefer not to pay this during a 6+ month tour in Iraq.

"Bitter cold, Bitter fight" a weary U.S. Marine in Korea 1950

I'm not aware of any VoIP service providers currently offering "military suspension plans". Have we forgotten the blood, sweat, and tears they've shed? Have we forgotten the hardships they ensure - whether it's the icy cold winter in Korea or the 110+ degree heat in the deserts & streets of Iraq? American VoIP companies should remember their sacrifice and do the honorable thing and cut them a financial break. Who's going to step up to the plate and reward our brave young men and women serving this country? Vonage? Packet8/8x8? Broadvoice? Anyone?

Tags: iraq, korea, military, military suspension plan, packet8, service provider, troops, voip, vonage Related tags: jordan fusion, military suspension, jordan rings, jordan mixed, military service, jordan

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