VoIP Now

Top Residential VoIP Providers?

Garrett Smith has a list of his choices for the top 10 residential VoIP providers. His criteria for inclusion is service plans, hardware selection, call quality/ reliability, customer service/ support, and overall customer experience and satisfaction.

On that basis, VoIP.com took the number one spot, Vonage third, and Skype fifth. I like his buying advice at the end of the article, which includes "don't pay more than $24.99 per month."

Now, I've heard of all 10 providers and have to admit that it's actually nice that Vonage is in third place, given how their stock has been hurting the past year since their IPO.

Voicemail-to-Text Application For Skype

SimulScribe's voice transcription services, which are already available for US mobile phone users, are now available for Skype users. SimulScribe is currently offering a one week free trial. Subscribers to the service will have their Skype voicemail messages transcribed using proprietary algorithms, then delivered via email or SMS text messages.

I'm wondering whether a service like this can last for long. While speech to text applications still have a ways to go, with more powerful computers coming, such ability could become native on a computer. In which case SimulScribe would become unecessary.

For that reason, I hope that their game plan is to develop an Extra for Skype, but not release it immediately. There's no reason they cannot charge for an Extra/ addon, like HotRecorder does, provided their application does far more than a similar freebie.

UK Fines Rise For Driving While Talking

On a cell phone, that is. The British government doubled the fine to GBP 60, and three penalty points on the driver's license. The fines could rise to as much as one thousand Pounds, depending on the vehicle being driven. DWT, or driving while talking, has been illegal in the UK since Dec 2003.

Personally I'm pro-fine, despite being a former DWTer. I'm an extremely careful, though fast, driver, but most people on the road are incapable of DWT - and I admit to being almost distracted at times myself. I say that as someone who has driven in both Atlanta and Toronto, the two largest Metropolitan areas in North America, with the worst traffic conditions. People just get stupid.

In Canada, there are a series of TV commercials running where people drive by in a residential neighborhood doing stupid things while driving - not just talking on the phone - while a young woman just watches and shakes her head. The commerical urges the viewer to call or visit a certain website and say what you've seen drivers do. Someone in the United States has also set up the website Platewire, with US, Canadian and UK sections, where you can report stupid drivers, their license plates, and their infractions. Little Brother is watching.

What's With Skype - Reprise

Skype is becoming more of a mystery in the way they do things. I'm still waiting for an answer about why I was sent a mysterious email about my "transaction not being completed". This was nearly two weeks after I purchased their North American SkypeOut promo package for US$14.95 (now $29.95). That's fine. I don't care about the money; it's the principle. But that is piddly in comparison to other things they're doing.

Skype has of late being doing strange things re their Extra partners and Skype community developers. First, they approved Bitwine for Skype partner status, despite it's being in beta, and despite Jyve predating Bitwine and not being in beta. Now they introduce SkypeFind, a business directory where Skypers can rate entries. However, an early Skype developer, KonuSH, had already set up a Skype business directory in 2004.

There are other examples of similar situations in 2006, where Skype introduced a feature in  a new version of their soft client that someone in the developer community had already introduced as an Extra. This is disappointing, to say the least, and sends out a bad message. Personally, I'm still hoping that SightSpeed opens up their developer API and doesn't make the same mistakes Skype seems to be making.

BenQ Mobile Says Goodbye

It might be hard to believe that a mobile tech make would go bankrupt with the current economy, especially one that was a former Siemens division, but that's what happened to BenQ Mobile. The Taiwanese BenQ bought BenQ Mobile in 2005.

Since no buyers were found since the bankruptcy declaration, BenQ Mobile is being completely shut down. I don't know the full details about the company, but I'm surprised that some larger phone maker didn't snap them up.

A question poses itself about VoIP providers: what do you do if your provider goes bankrupt? Given that there are a multitude of VoIP providers offering free calling plans, it's likely some of them just might go down if they can't find a way to monetize their services.

VoIP Companies Taking In Profits

A number of VoIP-related companies are reporting profits for recent business quarters. VoIP, Inc., reported growth in minutes for Q4 2006. XFone also achieved a profit in Q4 2006. With the current VoIP boom, other companies are likely to be reporting profits for business quarters in 2007.

Texas Instruments particularly sees growth potential for providing VoIP to SMBs (Small to medium businesses) - a sector that has been slow to adopt VoIP for a variety of reasons including technical issues, project management, lack of skilled workers, and more. Nevertheless, this is a sector that should enjoy healthy growth in near future years - a growth that could very likely be exponential.

VoIP Roundup - Mon Feb 26, 2007

Apple TV Delayed
The shipping of the Apple iTV set-top box is being delayed until mid-March. The IPTV device allows you to wirelessly stream video content from your PC or Mac to a TV screen. I can hear TV junkie geeks everywhere going "damn!"

Some Communications Purchases
Two recent telecom purchases include Broadview Networks Holdings Inc.'s buyout of New York-based InfoHighway Communications Corp and phone maker Ericsson's plans to buyout Tandberg Television.

The Broadview combined company will serve 80,000 SMBs. Ericsson's planned purchase is in hopes of expanding their presence in the IPTV market.

How To Profit From VoIP
SmartBiz has an article with the enticing title How to profit from VoIP, which is actually an overview of Unified Messaging and presence. The crucial point of the article: it can't be done with the traditional PSTN system.

Vonage Passes One Year IPO Anniversary

On March 23rd, troubled VoIP provider Vonage passed their one year anniversary for going public, and their stock price has yet to improve. While recently developments such as Vonage pre-paid calling cards and possibly a service called Vonage Wireless might help boost their stock price, not everyone is holding out hope.

I've been saying from the very beginning of Vonage's stock price drop that there's a very real possibility that it was orchestrated by legacy telco interests so that Vonage could be bought out cheap. I still subscribe to that theory. If the stock continues it's trend, it's in a very real danger of becoming a penny stock that pretty much anyone could pick up for a song.

Skype Wants Changes To Mobile Network Access

Skype, whose name is synonymous with VoIP for some people, wants cellular networks operations to change, to be more open. In fact, they're demanding that the US FCC make changes to a legal decision from 1968 related to the AT&T network so that it applies to cell networks. That's because mobile operators limit the traffic on their networks, especially data networks.

Read between the lines and you'll probably conclude what I have: that Skype needs this ruling changed to offer full mobile Skype. Of course, they would also become very competitive with mobile operators as a result.

The irony of course is that while Skype has an open developer API (Application Programmer Interface), their networking protocol is closed - as in private. The general idea behind their request is a good one, but it just seems kind of hypocritical when they won't open their protocol - a decision that has caused companies, universities and countries to ban Skype use. And they're couching as a consumer rights issue.

Mobile Widgetized VoIP + VoIM Clients

Someone needs to go to design school. Widgets on a smartphone? Isn't the screen small enough already? Add widgets, and you just might need a magnify glass. Nevertheless, if you subscribe to the tantalizing idea of straining your eyesight, Netvibes will have a mobile version, Netvibes2Go, of their web2.0 application, which has widgets for a variety of VoIM clients. Still, anyone who has actually used applications on a smartphone/ PDA knows how awkard the experience is. I'd rather use a VoIP service like Jajah or Mino Wireless from my smartphone. They're relatively simple to use and don't require a lot of screen real estate.

Free Restaurant Wi-Fi?

Not sure how many of you go out to a restaurant expecting to work on your laptop, but First Watch Restaurants in the US seem to think there's a lot of people. So they're offering free Wi-Fi access in their company run restaurants, based on a Specialty Coffee Association poll that suggests 11% of customers choose a cafe based on having Wi-Fi access.

Seriously, there's a huge difference between a cafe and a restaurant. And if you can't put away your laptop or smartphone to enjoy a meal... well, you're lost. I personally can't see this making a difference for First Watch, especially if they're banking on more customers as a result. But if they did it to be generous, then bravo for them, for the fraction of customers who might interrupt their own meal to check their email.

VoIP Roundup - Sun Feb 25, 2007

Some VoIP Clients Not Approved For Vista
Want some more reasons for why you shouldn't yet switch to Microsoft's new Vista OS? Well if you're a VoIP user, Skype and some other soft clients are not approved for Vista yet. Now that doesn't mean they won't work on Vista, but why take the chance. There are apparently several popular apps that are not approved.

WiMax In India Soon
Intel's WiMax wireless networking protocol will be industry in India soon. A network has already been deployed in Chennai.

Skype Find Competes With The Big Search Engines?
Wondering about the new Skype 3.1 beta for Windows and the SkypeFind feature? Skype Journal thinks that SkypeFind is taking on Google, Microsoft and Yahoo for business listings. That's actually a very accurate assessment. Last year, Google offered click-to-call ability for some American business listings in their Google Maps application. SkypeFind isn't exactly the same, but it's functionality is, and they allow Skypers to rate a business. Not something a business might want though.

New Skype Integrations: Mindmeister

Skype is appearing in more and more web applications. The latest is Mindmeister, and web-based mind mapping tool that goes one step further than bubbl.us. Mindmeister not only allows real-time shared editing with collaborators, but you can use Skype click-to-call buttons to chat with each other during the edit process. [You can read a more focused review at Mashable.]

As a long-time, hard-core mind mapper myself, it's great that VoIP is enabling new forms of collaboration such as this. For example, there are a great many opportunities for VoIP in e-learning, and mind maps are a more intuitive way to brainstorm, teach or tutor. What I'd really like to see mindmapping combined with Learn Without Limits/ Tutors Without Limits, which does use Skype.

Now that said, standalone mind mapping packages like MindJet MindManager and Mindapp are considerably more robust than Mindmeister. And both allow publishing to a hosted web page for sharing with others. However, apps like Mindmeister allow real-time collaboration. It'll be interesting to see if a company such as MindJet who have a fairly mature tool, start offering competitve web-based collaboration tools. In other words, a convergence of functionality would be very, very nice.

What I'm really wondering, though, is when there will be similar SightSpeed integrations. They really need to open up their API.

What Internet TV Needs: 7 Suggestions/ Concerns

What's listed here doesn't preclude the possibility that some software or web service already does it. This is my list of ideal IPTV (Internet TV)-related functionality.

1. Mobile TV.
   This is fine, but with wearable, comfortable goggles that project a virtual large screen. Little tiny phone screens won't cut it. The goggles are out there. They just need to be married with smartphones and PDAs. (i.e., maybe through     Bluetooth, since cellular data plans are outrageously priced in some countries.)
   
2. Wireless streaming.
   From my computer to my TV, if I want. (Though my computer screen is still larger than my TV, and I use an external TV capture box, which gives better performance than IPTV.) Apple's tentatively called iTV, for the digital living room, is one example.
   
3. Faster Internet connection speeds.
   Let's face it, Joost might be nice (I'm still waiting for a Babelgum invite), but a faster connection would help, obviously. And what happens, for example, when everyone in my neighborhood on cable Internet starts watching at the same time? At that point, I turn back to regular cable TV, as will others. The success of IPTV hinges on much faster connection speeds.
   
4. More bandwidth.
   My cable Internet provider caps me at 6 Gb/mth. I eat bandwidth for breakfast. I can use a Gigabyte in a single day sometimes. But can I buy more bandwidth? Noooooooo. Instead, if I go over in a given month, they'll warn me twice then cut me off until the next month - something I simply cannot afford to have happen, as a freelance writer. And with Joost's bandwidth consumption, this is important. Which is why I've stopped using it, beyond a few beta tests.
   
5. New compression coding.
   Wavelets theory is an ultra-geeky discipline created by brilliant physicists in the 1970s but has roots in studies done in 1909. It's pure, advanced applied mathematics used to model a lot of phenomena, and a math professor told me that even most PhD's in math or physics don't understand it fully.
      
   Data compression of images and video is one application, and depending on the algorithm used, the space savings are phenomenal. The benefit is that a crunched file would download very quickly. The problem is, that massive crunching requires a fairly significant amount of processing power to uncrunch for viewing. It certainly could not be done, with present home computers, in real-time. That is, you couldn't watch streaming video as it comes in over your Internet connection if the video data has been massively crunched with wavelet compression. The alternative is to not compress and have a faster connection, or more powerful graphics cards.
   
6. Quadcore video boards.
   The whole net neutrality debate was sparked, from what I interpret, when Internet providers felt they had to apply a tiered price structure for connections based on expected usage. Fact is, if we suddenly had the billion or so current Internet users all using VoIP and/or IPTV simultaneously, the current infrastructure couldn't handle it. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
      
   We all probably want faster connection speeds, and they're coming, but will take time to roll out. What could come sooner is a new set of video compression codecs (last point) coupled with high-power graphics cards sporting their very own quad cores or more. If our graphics cards were powerful enough, and we used super-crunched video formats, we might possibly reduce bandwidth requirements down to a point where every Internet user could potentially watch Internet TV simultaneously. (Of course, it'd be nice to have something similar for VoIP communications: a quadcore sound card.)
      
   
7. More content, more choice.
       Video sharing sites already have a great deal of content choice, though not all of it is necessarily watchable. Soft clients like Joost are young yet, but will need - in my honest opinion - a great variety of content, and a pay-per-view model without advertising. And that requires sign-on from production houses.
    

Pretty much everything I've said here could apply to VoIP quality of service as well.

VoIP Roundup - Fri Feb 23, 2007

Skype 3.1 Windows Beta Released
Skype just announced a 3.1 beta revision for Windows. I haven't even bothered to upgrade to 3.0 because I wasn't sure that the Skype Extras I had installed would all work, and because there weren't enough new features to entice me. This release has one new "major" feature called SkypeFind, which lets the Skype community post or find information about "local businesses you like".

Skype Pro for Europe Launches
Skype announced their new Pro calling plans for Europe earlier in the week. Monthly subscription is 2 Euros, which gives free calls to domestic landlines in 15 European countries, free Skype Voicemail, 30 Euro discount on SkypeIn and a few other goodies.

Sitofono Mobile Click-to-Call
Having fallen behind on my VoIP reading in January and early February, I missed a lot of stories, including that Luca Filigheddu and Sitofono now offer free click-to-call functionality from mobile web browsers. Very cool. Now they can challenge Microsoft's mobile click to call.

Now That's What I'm Talking About: Vonage Phone Cards

Prepaid phone cards from Vonage? Pat Phelan from Roam4free is calling this a winner guaranteed. I'd have to agree. Vonage is rumored to be offering branded calling cards that either offer free minutes or direct billing. The latter simply means that if you have a Vonage account and go travelling, you'll be able to utilize your calling plans. They'll supposedly be integrating this with the V-Phone memory stick device.

How can this offering not be good for Vonage? It's not an issue of innovation so much as convenience for subscribers. And it's probably more acceptable to some than Vonage Wireless.

Skype Promoting SPIT?

The term SPIT stands for Spam over Internet Telephony, which may or may not include vishing attempts. I've never noticed this until recently, but on the Share Skype blog, each person commenting on a post has their Skype id revealed, as well as their current online status.

On the one hand, it's kind of cool because you can click-to-call that commenter. On the other hand, a spambot can easily harvest the page and compile a list of Skypers for later SPIT/ vishing activities en masse. It's possible this feature has always been there, but I've never consciously noticed. How do you feel about this? Do you think it's a big deal or nothing to worry about?

Watchmycell: Innovators?

Am I missing something? Watchmycell is a little application than sits in your (Windows) PC's toolbar and lets you know how many minutes of your monthly plan you've used up.

Useful, right? My first reaction was that mobile carriers already offer this functionality: sign in to your account on their website and check. A quick scan of Watchmycell's page reveals the purpose. Read between the lines, and this app is for those too lazy to sign in to their carrier's website. The app does it for you, and continuously.

Really, this doesn't excite me. If you use your cell phone that much that you need to know continuously, get a better mobile plan.

VoIP Roundup - Thur Feb 22, 2007

AT&T + GM Do A Deal
Thanks to a deal with five-year billion dollar deal with General Motors, AT&T will be building worldwide communications services for GM. There's no direct mention of VoIP, but "voice and data applications" integration is part of the deal. [TeleGeography]

Smaller VoIP Providers Consolidating
Smaller VoIP providers seem to be following a consolidation trend, with NYC-based DeltaThree being one of them, acquiring the privately-held Go2Call.com. [Telephony Online] This is a to be expected trend, with VoIP maturing and larger businesses keeping their options open for competing.

VoIP Phones Roundup
PC Mag has a roundup of several VoIP "phones", each different from the other in look and operation. Included is Vonage's V-Phone.

Watch Out For Tech IPOs in 2007

Om Mailk writes about Business 2.0's Michael Copeland, who says this year will be a big one for tech companies to go public. I'd have to agree. Last year was iffy for many tech firms, who delayed their IPOs or saw poor returns after going public. A fortunate few, especially in the RFID market, managed to get VC (Venture Capital) funding.

I subscribe to theory that there will be a tech bubble burst in 2010 or 2011. The economy in North America has gone into the tank at the end of a decade, or in the first year of a new one - every decade since 1970, that I'm aware of. I think that not even a Democrat becoming the next President is going to deflect that. However, if the right Democrat wins, I'm speculating that we'll see amazing growth in the stock market over the next 4-8 years. (Though I don't know who that person is, who the voters will accept, but I have a suspicion - someone who hasn't throw their hat in the ring yet.)

That said, I don't think this will be a big IPO year for VoIP IPOs, though things may change in 2008 or 2009. Investors are probably still wary because of Vonage stock's poor performance, and they and Skype are probably the two most well-known VoIP services around the world.

Agreement on the iPhone Name

Apple and Cisco have reached an agreement on the use of the iPhone name, which Cisco owns (except in Canada). iPhone is of course the name given to the new Apple keypad-less phone due out in the USA later this year. [Sacramento Business Journal, Red Herring.]

From what I can gather, they're both going to use the name, which Cisco has owned through their Linksys subsidiary since 2000. There's no mention of the Canadian-based VoIP provider Comwave, who is claiming trademark ownership of the name iPhone in Canada.

Interestingly, same day reaction in the stock market caused Apple shares to go up about 30 cents and Cisco to go down about 28 cents.

Vonage Going Wireless?

Nuno of 21Talks reports that Vonage is about to start offering wireless services later this year. They'll also be reselling other broadband Internet access.

This might just be what Vonage needs to boost their profile. Ultimately, they're in business to make money. No doubt Vonage's shareholders will be happy with a rising share price. Customer would likely be happy to know that their VoIP provider will be staying in business after all.

If Vonage can do this by expanding their services and products offering, then all power to them. And if they end up being called Vonage Wireless like Nuno quotes some analysts saying, is that going to affect their business? Personally, I kind of like the sound of that. Om Malik, on the other hand, thinks it's more confusing to the market.

The Websident of the United States?

I'm happy to report that Senator Barack Obama's campaign team did finally answer my email. I'd griped about that when discussing his very popular social network.

Top Digger Muhammad Saleem says at 901AM.com that Senator Obama is your websident so far. This is based on his social network, my.BarackObama receiving critical acclaim. What's really amazing is that over 4,000 members have created blogs there and 3,000 more have created fund-raising pages. Brilliant. I hope Hillary, Rudy, John E., and others are taking note of this and Senator Obama's Internet TV channel.

I still think there's room for a political streaming video channel, but where, say, bloggers host podcasts/ vodcasts and ask the tough questions most mainstream media won't ask.

What's With Skype?

Late last week, I received an email from Skype saying the my transaction had not completed. Ten days prior to this message (about Jan 30th), I'd bought the US$14.95 unlimited SkypeOut for Canada and the US. I'd previously sent an email to support, and they replied within three business days that, no, everything was fine and that the $2.21 SkypeOut credit showing was for International calls.

Great, I thought. All clear. Then I get this new email around last Thursday or Friday. I sent a query back, but also said how peeved I was, especially as a VoIP blogger. It's now close to 4 business days and I have yet to hear back. I'm even less happy. Especially since the money WAS withdrawn from my PayPal account on Jan 30th.

What's the dealio, Skype? I'm now absolutely certain that my next telephony purchase (VoIP or otherwise)  will not be from Skype. I'm increasingly disappointed with them.

Viacom and Joost Exchange Video Valentines

An email in my inbox (as a Joost beta tester) announces a content deal with Viacom. Very cool. While Joost has two problems, bandwith hog and minimal content, as an IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) client, I'm very impressed with the video quality. And while content is still minimal, there still is enough there for many hours of viewing pleasure, including a great deal of variety.

Now while a lot of the Viacom content is from MTV past and present content, which I don't care much about, it might be kind of fun occasionally tuning in to watch old Beavis and Butthead episodes. Uh hunh hunh huh. But the rest of the Viacom content will likely appeal to a much younger crowd, not me.

Now I'm already a TV and IPTV junkie, but what I would shell out money to see is older stuff that is really hard to find - at least in Canada, and possibly in the US, maybe everywhere. For example, I'm a big fan of the American cartoon Freakazoid,and of a cancelled sci-fi-ish show called Early Edition. There are also 1950s short movies of Batman and Superman that I'd love to see and haven't found on DVD. (Granted, I didn't look very hard.)

Put all this sort of content (let me pick) online and allow payment via PayPal (Skype's sister company) and you've got me. Maybe make it a download of the month club sort of deal, for $9.95/mth, lots of content to choose from. And no ads.

Problem is, Joost streaming video content isn't stored on your computer (that I know of), so I'd have to download again and again. Hopefully they'll come up with a solution for that (straight burn to your computer's DVD drive?). But even if not, the Long Tail suggests that Joost (or someone else) could do very well by keeping the price low and offering lots of choice. And when Apple's iTV device comes out, I'm hoping I can stream Joost content straight to the 40" TV I'm hoping I'll buy myself for Xmas this year.

XM Satellite Radio Gets Sirius About Merger

How could I resist a pun like that? Peter Csathy talks about the pending merger of two Satellite Radio operations XM and Sirius. No doubt radio shock jock is wondering if the merger will affect the hundred plus million or so he got. Damn. Maybe I'm in the wrong business. I'm only offending people in the blogosphere.

Now I've been saying (just to myself, mind) since last Fall that they should merge. Service offerings-wise I think that customers would benefit. of course, for some cell phone handsets, you can already get XM Satellite Radio shows for about $15/m. No expensive XM device necessary.

Of course, whatever the merged company is called, they might consider offering some programming via the Internet. That's if their satellites are IP-based.

VoIP Roundup - Tues Feb 20, 2007

The Virtual Assistant - Take Two
Small business owners now have the option of using Skype-based receptionist/ telephonist services of Varras Consulting. But what if you don't use Skype or want to do things on your own? You can use Spinvox's voice-to-text service to manage your voicemail in text form, or even use it as a transcription/ dictation service.

One Billion Skype Users Can't Be Wrong
Well, there aren't that many users yet, but Skype Journal says that at the current daily rate of downloads, there could be a billion Skypers by 2009. Consider the significance of that number: it's about the number of current Internet users.

Linux Phones Aren't Exactly Cheap Either
A Linux-powered keyless phone, dubbed the Neo 1973 and called an Apple iPhone killer, will be available online early next month. The phone, from a company called FIC, will cost about US$350.

VoIP Roundup - Mon Feb 19, 2007

The Eye in the Sky: Pushing the IP Communications Envelope
There's been a lot of talk about SEDs - service-enabled devices. SEDs will have their own IP address and are thus pingable across the Internet. Now, imagine that you could query a satellite view a web browser. That's what Iridium is planning: satellites that monitor the Earth, taking pictures. And because they'll be IP-based satellites, Iridium can sell services over the Internet to clients who need to monitor, say, a facility.

Privacy Obligations For VoIP and Telecom Providers
The US FCC is rethinking how it will expect telecoms and VoIP providers to handle CPNI (Customer Propietary Network Information) data - or what amounts to call records and subscriber information. This is as a result of the Hewlett-Packard phone records pretexting scandal and similar cases. Privacy and Security Law Blog has more details on some of the new rules that may be imposed.

Cell Phone Been Bugged?
Despite all the issues of communications -related privacy and security, it's unlikely that most of us have our phones or IP communications bugged. But for whatever reason (jealous spouse, insane employer), if you suspect you do, check out Lauren Weinstein's post How to tell if your cell phone is bugged and the accompanying YouTube video Is your cell phone bugged?

VoIP Roundup - Sat Feb 17, 2007

Security and IP Communications
VoIP News has several articles related to VoIP security worth reading: 6 steps to VoIP security, A guide to understanding the VoIP security threat, and 5 ways to secure a wireless VoIP system. The latter is especially timely, what with the expectation of drive-by hacking becoming a threat to unsecured Wi-Fi networks.

Launching A New Generation of Jerky Boys-style VoIP Prank Callers?
I've mentioned the Jerky Boys before, when talking about now-deceased comedienne Lucille Ball doing prank calls. Well Callitfake not only helps budding pranksters, it lets you do it from a browser. What's more, you can type in whatever you want to say and choose the voice it'll be read in. Oh joy. Just what we need.

Now This Is A Really Old School Phone
Not only does Jaht's SkyVogue phone come in classic styling probably dating to around the 1950s, it's a Skype phone with  a USB connection. I can't tell if the rotary dial is functional, but I seriously doubt Skypers with short attention spans have the patience to wait for the darn thing to complete a single turn, let alone add area code and internation calling code.

Barack Obama's Social Network?

You might have heard that US presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has his own Internet TV channel, thanks to Jeremy Allaire's Brightcove and lots of campaign money. It appears that now has his own social network.

Brilliant way to use IP communications to build your potential presidential profile. (They've taken Peter Csathy's video politicking advice to heart, whether they realize it or not.) Wonder if the Senator has Skype? What about other leaders? It's all well and good, but maybe he should use some of his campaign money to actually answer email. It's been more than two weeks since I sent an email message to his campaign headquarter via his website. I know that as a Canadian, I don't really matter votewise - or at all. But how hard is it to hire someone to set up an automated response, to acknowledge the email? His campaigners might be doing all the new media stuff correctly, but they seem to have email communications handling all wrong. Or maybe men in black helicopters are intercepting my communications. I think I'd better wrap my house in tinfoil.

Skype Gives You The Virtual Human Assistant

Now this is great for small business: an appropriately qualified Skyper somewhere in the world to handle your customer calls. VoIP bloggers have debated VoIP-based telecommuting because the question is one of remote trust: who are you hiring? Who will monitor them? Aside from that, a bit of tweaking and a small but diverse team means the ability to handle client calls in different languages - a truly virtual, VoIP-based team.

A worldwide Skype-based "telephonist" team would essentially act as multiplexers, with each dealing with the customers of more than one client. There is an opportunity here for someone to set up a web services web site to broker VoIP-based business communications services between people to answer calls (telephonists) and companies that need it done. This is exactly the sort of functionality that VoIP/ vVoIP affords that regular telecom cannot.

That said, Varras Consulting is in fact doing exactly that, and the necessary or preferred skills to work from home include being multilingual. Varras is also resolving the trust issue by requiring a non-criminal background and a security check.

Now Varras Consulting is not a VoIP company, so they wouldn't qualify to be in the 25 most interesting VoIP startups, but bravo to them for pushing the edge of IP communications use. Let's hope that Skype call quality is not an issue.

VoIP Roundup - Fri Feb 16, 2007

Slingbox for the Palm Treo
The Palm Treo line gets some IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) loving with Slingbox's new wireless set top box. You can stream TV (cable, satellite) to a Palm Treo smartphone over your cellular broadband connection. MyTreo has an officially approved video from a recent CES demo. Note that Treo 650 and 680 are not being supported (650 is discontinued, which means that I'm out of luck). EVDO continues to be a problem as far as advanced features go, so think twice before you buy a cellular data plan with EVDO.

Wireless Chargers?
The latest in wireless technology are devices that recharge your gadgets without, well, wires. MyTreo has a picture of the Wild Charger, which sort of looks like a solar panel.

Google Talk As An Internet Radio Station
On the surface, Google Talk appears to be an unassuming VoIM client, but there are more features than you might think. Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspirations gives a brief tutorial on how to get Google Talk to play MP3 files. Speaking of Internet music players, Finetune is worth checking out. Someone wrote somewhere that they thought it was a knock off of the very cool Pandora, but I disagree. Sure, they both let you create your own music playlists/ stations. But that doesn't make one a knock off.

Google and VoIP: The Story So Far

Most fairy tales end with the trite and magical, "…and they lived happily ever after." But the story behind Google and its VoIP service, Google Talk Beta, isn't a fairy tale. It's more like a whodunit, where the plot is shrouded in a "dark and stormy night." So put on your sleuth gear and join me if you dare as I lead you into Google and its VoIP mystery thus far...

How It All Began

Up to recent memory, it was almost impossible to separate Google Talk Beta from Google's free Web mail service, Gmail. When Google Talk first appeared on 23 August 2005, no one could touch that app unless that person used a by-invitation-only Gmail account. It was as though Gmail had spawned a wannabe VoIP that was non-threatening yet slightly snobby.

But Google Talk is a Beta, and limited usage was probably a wise move by Google in the beginning. Since that time, Google decided to expand Google Talk's coverage by opening Gmail to mobile phone users. Additionally, as recently as 7 February 2007, Gmail was made available in an open invitation to users across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Brazil, Australia, Russia and Japan.

Now, with few if any usability issues in sight in the Google Talk Beta version, anyone can sign up for Google Talk. Gmail accounts are no longer a prerequisite, but Google didn't open Google Talk's doors totally to the global surfing public. Chat histories and mail notifications will only work if you sign into Google Talk with a Gmail account.

Don't let appearances deceive you…despite this new "openness," Google Talk Beta has raised eyebrows as well as suspicions recently. According to VoIP News, it appears that Google Talk's creators are up to something much more disruptive than the creation of a mere instant messenger service.

Free FuturePhone International Calls Not So Free

At least not for AT&T, who apparently had to foot a bill for US$2M per month, according to GigaOm. I'm behind on my VoIP reading again, but apparently AT&T's lawsuit against them has caused FuturePhone to slap a huge red sign on their website: "This service is no longer available."

FuturePhone played a sort of telephony arbitrage, setting up a phone number in telco-friendly Iowa, who offers certain subsidies. For whatever it cost you to call the Iowa number, you could terminate your call to an international number for free. I suggest you read the GigaOm article for a clearer explanation, but essential this arbitrage amounts to who foots the call termination costs, and instead of being billed $2,000/mth, AT&T got billed $2M/mth due to FuturePhone's "unlawful practices".

A few other states have similar subsidies for telcos. Gizmo Project's parent, SIPphone, has a VoIP service named area775 based in Nevada.

Be Your Own VoIP Provider

Thinking about getting in one the VoIP provider market? VT White, the private label reseller division of VoIP provider ViaTalk, is offering e-911 (enhanced emergency) services as of Nov 2006. Additional offerings include Tolll Free number origination at US$0.045 per customer. You can resell VoIP as an add on to other web services such as ISP or hosting. The service will be launching in "early 2007."

If you do decide to provide VoIP services to your clients, consider as a loss leader, not as a money maker. There's already far too much competition in the marketplace for small players to make a profit. That said, VoIP service could be a nice add on for your web services customers.

What's with this Buzz about Web2.0 Apps?

It seems like all the buzz today is about a recent list of Small Business Apps from the guys over at Aviva Directory.

So what's all this buzz about? As far as I can tell, everyone is going gaga over some of the hot new Web2.0 apps that they've compiled. Admittedly, the list is actually a really helpful and interesting compilation of small business applications. But why is the VoIP world talking about small business?

The reason is that a good number of these tips build off a VoIP framework to achieve their connectivity. Take for instance ConceptShare which will allow you to modify graphic presentations in real-time with multiple users spread throughout the world. By bringing the global real-time connectivity of VoIP to projects that used to be mailed back and forth through email, small business owners are finding that outsourcing is becoming an increasingly viable option.

While some are arguing that the ability to achieve complete collaboration through a combination of voice, video, is going to eliminate third world poverty, I am understandably a bit more reserved. I would say, however, that the rising popularity of Web2.0 apps and their incorporation with VoIP technology will likely breathe new life into small business outsourcing, and should help all small businesses, foreign and domestic to lower their operating costs.

If you want to check out the article, there are also some great organizational resources which I'd recommend you checking out as well. Not specifically VoIP related, but if you're running a small business you certainly need them.

Mino Wireless Valentines Promo

Mino loves you, baby, so they're doing a Valentines promo. Mino Wireless, who hit 100,000 mobile users in August 2006, allows you to make VoIP-based calls from your cell phone using their Java soft client. If you buy $10 worth of calling credit on or before Feb 20th, they give you $2 free credit.

I tried it out in early August last year and the quality was crystal clear at the time, impressing even my father, who'd gotten used to me using the free Skype N. American promo. (At the time, it was free, now it's $29.95 for one solid year of unlimited calls.)

Phones and platforms currently supported: BlackBerry, Palm Treo, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Docomo. They've also added corporate calling rates in Canada and the USA.

Pondering My Next Telephony Product Purchase

It's been over a week since I splurged the princely sum of $14.95 to get a year of unlimited SkypeOut calls within Canada and the US via Skype. Until yesterday, I hadn't tried it yet to see how the quality of calls was doing. I'm happy to say that unlike mid-December, the call I made to my father yesterday was very clear on both ends.

Now the fact that it's been over a week shows you how little I use a phone these days. My cell phone maybe gets used 4-6 times a week. But as I've said, I'm more than happy to spend less than $1.50/month on unlimited long distance calls in North America for when I move to the big city (Toronto).

I'm still debating what else I want to add from Skype's shop, seeing as what I really want won't be available for a while: a Toronto SkypeIn phone number. But when that does become available, I'm going to be grabbing myself a Skype-certified Wi-Fi phone.

As for a cell phone, my Palm Treo 650 will probably be replaced with a Linux-based phone, if I can find one, and only if it has VoIP capability. I figure, what's the point otherwise? As for an Apple phone, I'd get one only if I didn't have to pay the ridiculous price. But it'd still be supplemental to a Linux phone.

The reason? Besides being an old-school Linux/ Unix shell programmer, it appeals to me. It has, I believe, the greatest potential for useful and semi-useful public sensor network applications, which is what I'm hoping to tinker around with once I can set up a lab. Of course, if someone combines this thin, rollable display into a phone, I'll be buying one of them.

6 Things To Know About Skype VoIP

[newbies] As mentioned the other day, I finally got myself SkypeOut - at least the North American Skype promo plan - for US$14.95 for a full year of unlimited calling. Now that it's February, though, the price is $29.95. I figure, why pay Vonage or someone else $29.95/mth or more when I can get what I need (for now) for less than $1.50 per month.

If you're new to Skype but thinking of getting it to make Internet phone calls, here are a few things to know:

1. You need a computer. Well, there are some hardware solutions that get around that (though I don't know enough to comment), but you at least need a cable connection. That's true of most VoIP services except those that are bridged.
2. Quality of calls varies. Skype QoS (Quality of Service) relies on several factors:
   
   1. Type of call. I.e., whether the call is pc-to-pc or pc-to-phone. The former usually produces better quality. PC means either a computer or a Skype phone.
   2. Available memory. If you've eatesn up a lot of RAM running other processes, shut some programs down before you make/ continue a call.
   3. Network usage. If you're on cable, your Internet connection will suffer at certain times of day. There's no way around this except to wait.
      
   4. Wi-Fi. If you're using a wireless connection, you could suffer additional call quality degradation.
3. Loads of Extras. Skype has an open developer API, so there are a growing number of plugins and addons. Some of them are frivolous and some are truly useful. So you could write your own.
4. Business over Skype. Not Skype for business, but Extras that let you conduct calls for pay, with payment made via PayPal accounts. Example Extras are Bitwine and Jyve. Though if you buy the N. American promo package, there's a note saying you shouldn't be using it for business. Hmm. That means they're planning more business services.
5. Turn it off. If you aren't using Skype, you're best off shutting the program down completely. Note that when you close the client, it minimizes in your toolbar. At least on PCs. I don't have a Mac yet to test that.
6. Bans or blocks. Some countries, companies, and universities ban Skype both because of their closed protocol and their network architecture model. So you may not be able to get or use Skype.

By the way, you can learn a lot more about Skype from VoIP News' Hacking Skype feature, which has a list of interesting plugins as well as tricks for making Skype do more for you.

Google Goes Hardware?

Up until recently, Google hasn't had much of a strategy regarding VoIP. In fact, their Google Talk client only has VoIM features - no calling out to real phone numbers. Then they introduced their click-to-call service from Google maps, whereby you could find a participating business and click on their phone number to initiate a call (I believe through Skype, though I never tried it).

I'm wondering what The Google is cooking, and VoIP News has some comments on a possible disruptive Google VoIP strategy. They don't even have Google Talk for Mac and Linux yet, though because it is based on open standards, it can talk to any IM client running on XMPP/Jabber, including Gaim and Trillian.

Among the possibilities, as discussed in the VoIP News post, is the possibility of hardcore competition with the telcos, and adding enormously significant features such as audio search of conversations. Imagine, every (Google Talk) conversation on the Internet is searchable, sort of like the former program to scan all emails sent to/from email servers in England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.

Whatever Google is up to, they first have to get around the fact that a tiny, tiny percentage of people even use Google Talk. I'm not sure that a Google Talk VoIP headset is enough. They need real VoIP features for starters.

Gizmo's New Click-to-Call

Gizmo Project from SIPPhone is the latest VoIP provider to offer click-to-call service from a web browser. GizmoCall, as the service is known, requires a browser plugin to be downloaded and installed. Can GizmoCall compete with, say, SightSpeed? GizmoCall differs in that you can simply enter their URL followed by the number you want to call. When the page appears, click the the CALL button to initiate. SightSpeed and Skype, on the other hand, behave differently. With SkypeMe buttons, your Skype soft client starts up and you can call either a phone number or a Skype id. Sightspeed's Call Me works from the browser using a plugin (but requires Win XP and Microsoft Internet Explorer).

So aside from the plugin to be downloaded, GizmoCall seems able to reach more people (no browser limitation that I can see) with the least effort. What's more, GizmoCall lets you register for CallerID so people will know you're calling. Additional features for those who register include call history and doubled free daily calling (to ten min from five). This might be just what Gizmo Project needs to gain more users, more presence. That is, if they can compete with everyone else who'll be offering browser-based calling.

Addendum: I discovered shortly afterwards that the GizmoCall plugin sits persistently on your computer, instead of being fired up when you need it. Very disappointing, as far as I'm concerned.

VoIP Subscribers To Increase Significantly by 2012

If ABI Research is right, there'll be nearly 270 million residential VoIP subscribers around the world by 2012. Now that doesn't sound like a lot when you realize that there are already about one billion Internet users. Of course, not all of them have Internet access at home, although I don't have a figure handy. So, just my opinion, but 270M is a fairly significant number - certainly a large gain over last year's estimate of nearly 40 million subscribers.

Now VoIP might have been declared having gone mainstream, but this suggests that VoIP isn't going to replace PSTN systems anytime soon. As has been mentioned before, there's over 100 years of tradition to replace. Not everyone is comfortable making calls over their computer, though VoIP Wi-Fi phones seem to be increasing in at availability - and possibly sales.

So now I'm thinking that instead of the residential segment of VoIP subscribers leading the charge, it might actually be the business segment.

VoIP Roundup - Sun Feb 04, 2007

David Pogue of the NY Times appeared on MSNBC recently to talk about options for VoIP service. He emphasized, at the news anchor's query, that we're all headed towards free Internet calling and that Vonage had nerve charging U$25/mth for their V-Phone USB stick for unlimited calling.

Chairmen from both Comcast and Time Warner have been appearing on MSNBC to say how well Triple Play has been working for them. Time Warner Cable is supposed to be spun off later this year, with the hopes of an upcoming IPO.

Om Malik reports that Austria's Jajah wants a 2007 IPO. they have the backing of VC firm Sequoia Capital. Their model of offering VoIP-based (bridged) calls - which are now ad-suported in Europe - will appeal to anyone who wants free or cheap long distance without having to download a soft client.

Joost Bandwidth Issues?

Hmm. Very interesting. Never thought about it until I read about how much bandwidth Joost IPTV might be consuming. It does make sense, consider how high quality the video content I've seen on Joost has been. Quality frames take space and thus increase bandwidth.

This is kind of scary, considering that my cable Internet plan only allows 6 Gb per month, if I'm not mistaken. For someone who tests a lot of software, it's not much, but there are no options for home-based service for me. If I exceed the limit, I get a warning, then I get cut off. Which is disastrous for me, who works all day online.

It'll teach me to read the fine print more carefully on the next application I test. But it does make me wonder how successful Joost is going to be if you can use up 1 Gb in 10 hrs. While it's unlikely I'd watch that enough Joost yet (because of lack of content I'm immediately interested in) to make it an issue, the issue is still there for the future.

I'm not sure that average future Joost user is going to want to be a node in a torrent-style network, and hence bandwidth is a real problem. From a very technical point of view, they could consider using fractal image compression or even wavelets, but those are quite advanced methods that don't necessarily lend themselves to video (fractal compression is a lossy method). Ultimately, it seems to me that Joost is ahead of its time, like Skype was, and that for true enjoyment of IPTV on the larger flat panel TV screens that are coming out, viewers are going to need quad processor computers with souped up graphics processors and Gigabit access speeds.

I Got The SkypeOut

Skype can be confusing in their operations. It's possible that I was too busy to note any message on their end, but after I splurged and spent the princely sum of $14.95 for their promo (unlimited SkypeOut to Canada and the US for one year), my credits only showed a few dollars. I emailed support, and after 3 days (to be fair, they say 24-72 hrs), they clarified that the $14.95 transaction shows as a "delivered" on the final web page after purchase, as well as in a confirmation email.

I guess that makes sense, as the SkypeOut credit displayed in the Skype client applies to International calls. Now that that's cleared up, I'm going to starting testing call forwarding and maybe even some presence options from other companies. I'd like to have a SkypeIn phone number, but there's none for Toronto and area just yet, so I'm contemplating getting a New York City number to use with something like Ether. I can pair that up with SkyNET Tel's toll-free number.

VoIP Roundup - Thur Feb 01, 2007

Cable companies aren't the only ones increasing costs (in this case for TV and Internet service, which affects VoIP costs). Cellular companies do it too. Techdirt writes that phone company service costs are sticky downwards. This means that their prices are more likely to rise than ever go down, even when things such as tax fees are removed.

More iPhone Trademark Issues
Comwave, a VoIP provider who apaprently owns the iPhone trademark in Canada, is threatening Cisco with trademark infringement.

Mobile Phone Subscribers Growing
In China and India, the number of mobile phone subscribers grew at the rate of approximately 39,000 per day in 2006, or over 140 million for the year. That's over 10% of the one billion mobile phones shipped in 2006 around the world. [via Computerworld]