Native Skype Application Coming to iPhone

Usually we are not reporting about upcoming, not released yet, applications, but this one is special: the original native Skype for iPhone is coming! While already several third pary apps for iPhone offer some Skype functionality, they often are based on usage of 3rd party servers and proxies and simply do not offer some functions. Skype is a revolutionary voice over IP (VoIP) program that brought VoIP to masses thanks to usage of easy, Instant Messaging -like, user interface and excellent voice quality. Skype offers also I.M., video calling, file transfer and through plugins many other functions, including screen sharing. Skype was originally owned by a Swedish guy with headquarters in London, England and development (programming) division in Estonia (east EU). Later it was purchased by eBay (USA). For the first time Skype itself is confirming Skype for iPhone: Scott Durschlag, Skype's chief operating officer, said Skype's iPhone application is still under development. Engineers are still working on cutting the amount of power the application consumes, he said. Skype would not be the first iPhone program that makes use of Internet calling technology to save people from having to spend their cellular minutes. But when Apple started letting outside companies make programs for the iPhone, it barred voice-over-Internet applications from connecting to the cellular network, leaving them functional only when the user is in a Wi-Fi hot spot. To learn more, visit related article about Skype for iPhone. Source: Mobile Tech Addicts

 

Nortel Bankruptcy Signals More Consolidation in Voice Telephony Market

Nortel has filed for bankruptcy and may be sold off in parts, according to one Canadian news outlet. The Globe and Mail reports Toronto-based Nortel applied for court approval for creditor protection in Delaware Wednesday morning. It was expected to file in Toronto, as well.   Nortel was Canada's largest company at the peak of the tech boom in 2000, with a $366-billion (Canadian) market capitalization and 95,000 employees, and its decision to seek court protection from creditors marks not only the noteworthy fall of a one-time telecommunications giant, but also heralds the incredible shrinking market for competition among VoIP platform providers. BroadSoft, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of software-based VoIP applications to the telecommunications industry, announced in December it had acquired Sylantro Systems Corporation, a provider of VoIP applications based in Campbell, California and its main competitor in the software as a service space for a decade. Nortel's fall leaves network equipment makers such as Alcatel Lucent and Cisco facing the challenges of competing in a VoIP market now trending clearly toward more open Web-style development of voice telephony, and raises the question of how proprietary platforms such as Broadsoft's may eventually fare against Digium's open-source Asterisk solution. Source:  Voxilla

 

Free.fr offers Unlimited Calls to India

Unlimited Calls to India market is hotting up once again and with many mainstream large Telecom operators entering this markets, the prices are getting pushed down even further. This time, a Frech ISP and telecom company "FREE.fr" is running a promotion. If you take their Internet+Telephone+TV offer for 30 euros, you will get unlimited calls to over 87 countries worldwide. This includes India Landline. Thanks to anonymous comments for the information. If you live in France, you better jump on this offer. One of the reason to signup for this offer is you are signing up with a Large telecom provider, which ensures reliability and customer service quality. I am mostly wary of small VOIP Providers claiming big stuff and as their volumes grow, they can't manage the call volumes which results in pathetic voice quality, call drops.. I hope now more and more mainstream telecom providers start offering free calls to south east asia as a part of their residential Phone Package.

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EarthCaller VOIP Service out of Business?

Thousands of people reported to me over the last few days that they can't access the popular north american free calls service Earthcaller. We did a few checks and founds that EarthCaller is indeed not working anymore and most likely not going to work anymore in future. Earthcaller is a product of Jaduka Labs and been running for well over a year. It's one of the most widely used VOIP service to call north american telephone numbers over the internet. Why did Jaduka pull the plug on Earthcaller? 1) Cost: Many people still do not know that when a VOIP service provider offers free voip calls, he still pays for it. Takes all the expenses on his head and gives you a free call. Even though calling USA numbers is very cheap, its still a cost. 2) Excessive Calls from International Users: Jaduka always wanted EarthCaller to be used by native americans than anyone else in the world. One of the primary concerns is lack of Advertising potential and abuse of the service. 3) EarthCaller most likely will be replaced by DukaDial(Free Phone to Phone Calls only in north america) and DukaUS (free conference service). It makes more business sense for Jaduka to restrict their services to North American audience only. Does this signify a major shift in the Free VOIP Market? Yes, This could signify that VOIP Firms are looking for ways to cut down costs, make money through targeted advertising and create a north american base. Its extremely valuable to have a database of north americans that users in Asia. Trust me it counts. We did some further investigation at Jaduka Labs to only find that EarthCaller is no more listed there, which simply tells us they quietly closed down EarthCaller for good. That leaves you with a few choices to make free international calls to USA. I would recommend Mediaringtalk.

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ALLVOI Unlimited Home Phone Service Review

We had look at many unlimited home phone service and unlimited calling packages in the past, most of them however failed to live upto their promises. A good example is YupeePhone. Today we look at a new VOIP Provider called AllVOI. ALLVOI is a chicago based home phone service provider who offers unlimited calling packages for domestic USA calls and international calls. The lowest calling package starts at $3.99 per month which gives you 500 Minutes for Domestic (USA), Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, only 3 cents per minute after 500 minutes, plus Free Unlimited In-Network Calling. This seems like one of the cheapest calling packages in USA. They also offer a decent $19.99 per month plan which promises to give Unlimited calling to 65 Popular International Destinations and Domestic (USA), Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, plus Free Unlimited In-Network Calling.The international plan also includes Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain. Another interesting plan is Unlimited India Calling Plan. I wouldn't qualify that as unlimited. To be very honest, no one can offer a unlimited calling package to India or for that matter anywhere in the world. There is always a fair usage policy, some VOIP Provider publish the exact number of minutes allowed under the Unlimited Plan and some VOIP Provider just make it more difficult by saying "National Average Monthly Usage". I personally tend to favour companies who are upfront in giving more detail about their product offering. ALLVOI although not exactly unlimited atleast tells us clearly that they offer 500 minutes at $19.99 per month which works out to 4 cents per minute. This is not exactly a very cheap rate. There are some VOIP providers like Mediaring offering calls to India at 1.9 cents per minute. ALLVOI is also a fairly new VOIP Provider with little or no background about customer service, Voice Quality which we hope some of our readers can comment on. Considering multiple factors, I would stay away from ALLVOI for the time being. However it definately has the potential to become a successful VOIP Provider if they cut down the rate close to 2 cents per minute + reliability of service + good voice quality + customer service. Most of you already know that my favorite VOIP Provider to call India is LocalPhone. Their rates are not the lowest to India but their voice quality, ease of use (access numbers) and customer service amazes me. In a extremely short time, they have overpowered some of the veteran VOIP Providers. If you are currently using ALLVOI, we would like to know your ALLVOI review.

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Doddle Web Based SIP phone Service

VOIP is evolving everday and SIP is a core component of VOIP. Today, there are lots of SIP Softphones and SIP based VOIP services. To keep up with them and secondly, using SIP Softphones on the go. The biggest problem with SIP based softphones is the availability. You must have them on your PC wherever you go. That means if you want to access your softphone from office, you need to install it again and so on. Doddle is a SIP Phone service which lets you use your SIP account anywhere in the world via their web based SIP service. The good thing is they already have a few popular SIP services pre-configured, so you don't even have to configure their SIP. Doodle is no fancy stuff, its just let you use the most basic SIP functionality and ask you the most basic information about your SIP service. There are similar services provided by Tringme in their account manager. However, there are no pre-configured SIP service in there and again you need a Tringme account. Doodle is no registration service. Just start using the moment you are on their homepage. Doodle currently only supports Windows Based OS and SIP / RTP Protocols. Doodle supports G.711 / GSM codecs and most of the latest browsers. How to make calls using Doddling: 1. Go to Doddling. 2. Accept the warning security, click Run 3. Click Ok in the Welcome Message 4. Enter your VoIP Provider Settings 5. Click Login 6. After the "Login ok" message you are ready to make a phone Call. 7. Digit the phone's number. 8. Click Call 9. Enjoy Let us know your feedback on Doddle, the new Web based SIP Phone Service.

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Free Anonymous phone numbers by LetsCall.me

Its increasingly important to anonymize yourself especially your phone numbers online. There are already some free anonymous phone number services available and letscall.me offers a similar service for usa and canada numbers. Most of the free anonymous phone number services are limited to USA, but letscall.me goes beyond USA and offers canada access. Some of the important features of LetsCall.me: -Accept calls anonymously without revealing your phone number -No caller id blocking -You can block unwanted calls -Pick your own url, such as letscall.me/vinay -Your phone will ring with the other person's Caller ID - since the other person needs to receive the call first, they cannot fake their number -Talk as much as you want as often as you like. That means no limit of number of minutes or how many times you can use the service. Its unlimited phone calls. There a few other services worth checking out namely iNumbr.

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Free Calls to 0870 0845 UK Premium Rate Numbers

in UK, 0870 and 0845 are the premium rate non-geographic numbers, that means these numbers are do not tie to any UK county and can be assigned anywhere in the world by a Local UK Telephone company. You may get these telephone numbers free of cost online. However, Up until now customers on BT's Evening and Weekend or Anytime deals received free calls to UK landlines, but had to pay extra to call 0845 and 0870 numbers. Average charges to 0870 and 0845 non-geographic numbers starts from 5 pens and can go as high as 10 pens per minute, which is extremely costly. Its obvious that these are premium rate numbers. One of the reason some VOIP Providers give these numbers for FREE, so that i can make some money off the termination cost :-) Pretty slick business model. However, this premium rate numbers will now be FREE, yes. BT has announced that calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers would be free to customers with inclusive call packages. With this change, BT will be the first telecoms firm to include these calls in its all-inclusive deals. Customers on its Anytime package, which costs £4.85 a month, will be not be charged for dialling 0870 and 0845 numbers. So they can phone these numbers as much as they like without worrying about the cost. Mind you, but this is a great and big new for everyone in UK calling these premium rate numbers. Now they can make calls for FREE inclusive of their calling plans. Now if you are using Talktalk or NTL, you are still not lucky. However looking at the stiff competition in the home phone business in UK, the rest of the companies might follow BT soon. Please note that these numbers will be FREE inclusive of the deals,that means they are still charged but in your inclusive minutes. What I am most interested to follow is, since these numbers are largely used by Providers who offer them for FREE, will they continue to do so? How well they can manage the termination cost? will the termination cost remain the same? Only time can reveal this. In the mean time, go enjoy the free calls to 0870 0845 numbers on BT network.

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Ooma launches Telo VOIP Phone Service

Ooma VOIP Phone Service has been in the news this december for slashing their prices by well over 70% and the Ooma VOIP Phone system is now available for even cheaper price. Ooma is however busy launching a new VOIP Phone Service called Telo. Telo is next generation home phone system and comes with cordless handset with DECT 6.0, which is capable of HD voice and comes equipped with connected phonebook, mobile transfer and speaker phone. Teleo is the premier phone system that offers unlimited US calling for free, with no monthly fees, and huge savings on international calls. At this time, the most confusing part is why a new VOIP Phone service when Ooma already exist? Telo will be available in the first half of 2009 and is on display in the Las Vegas Convention Center Grand Lobby GL1a at the 2009 International CES. Ooma says, Telo would help combine the home phone and cell phone so you can enjoy the benefits of both without any compromises. GrandCentral extended as VOIP Phone Service??? Unfortunately besides the standard PR release, Ooma didnt give out much information on Telo making us to believe that Telo is just another VOIP Phone service with a twist in the brand name? However, We still believe if you are looking at save significant cost on your phone bills and if you live in USA, you should switch to VOIP. There is no better time than act today. Ooma is available at Amazon for only $219 (original price $399). That means you already save well over $180 on the retail price. Oomagives unlimited phone calls across united states and comes bundled with all the features of a VOIP Phone Service and most importantly you only pay once and never again. You buy the Ooma box and get their service for lifetime. Not like any other VOIP Phone service where you keep paying the monthly fees and get yourself tied in crappy contracts. Go look at Ooma today. We will update on Ooma Telo VOIP Phone Service as we get more information.

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Salon to Syndicate GigaOM Network Content

And now for some good news: Starting today, Salon Media, the San Francisco, Calif.-based publisher of Salon.com, will syndicate content from our growing network of blogs. The content will be featured on Salon's technology section, with The GigaOM Network offered as a specifically curated channel. Joey Wan, director of business development, helped spearhead the partnership and the design of this special channel. Great work, Joey! This is, of course, just our latest syndication partnership, in addition to those with BusinessWeek.com, CNN Money and the New York Times, all of which were announced in 2008. With these four agreements, our content is being read by an increasingly vast and diverse group of people. These partnerships are testament to the hard work and efforts of our editorial team. Thanks guys, for working so hard. To all of our Salon readers — welcome. We hope you will enjoy our stories.

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Nortel gives up, files for bankruptcy

Oh Boy today was one of the worst day for telecom industry. Nortel the giant telecom vendor, as speculated for couple of weeks, finally pulled the plug and filed for bankruptcy . It's devastating to see such a big leader go down south. I guess nothing worked out right for this ailing telecom equipment vendor. There was a time when folks would die to work for Nortel, and it was once trading at $1231 dollars a share. Mind blowing! In fact, Nortel during the 1990 telecom and internet boom had more than 95,000 employees. Nortel's shares were worth a total of around $192 million dollars yesterday. It has around 26,000 employees spread across North America and Canada. It's sad to see a company that has been around for such a long time file for bankruptcy. It was started in 1895. Though the company is optimistic of turning around, analysts are not. Some of the analyst predict that by filing bankruptcy, Nortel would lose significant business and potentially send the company into death spiral. Apparently the bankruptcy was filed to preserve the $2.4 billion dollar cash, which the company plans to use to preserve its liquidity and fund operations during the restructuring process. Here is what the CEO has to say about the bankruptcy: "Nortel must be put on a sound financial footing once and for all," said Nortel President and CEO Mike Zafirovski. "These actions are imperative so that Nortel can build on its core strengths and become the highly focused and financially sound leader in the communications industry that its people, technology and customer relationships show it ought to be. I am confident that the actions we're announcing today will be the fastest, most effective means to translate our improved operational efficiency, double-digit productivity, focused R&D and technology leadership into long-term success. I want to reaffirm Nortel's dedication to delivering world-class solutions and services to customers." Looks like the economy is showing no signs of improvement and events like these are going to worsen the situation for job seekers. Is it time to ditch the ailing telecom arena? Maybe, as many of my friends and colleague say, "Time to ditch this market and move on with something else"

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Watch Obama's Presidential Inauguration Live!

Obama's presidential inauguration is viewed as historic and one of its kind. Up to 2 million people are predicted to attend the ceremony. By far the largest in the history of Washington. Another milestone for obama and his team. Also, this is the first time we are seeing so many online web video live broadcasting. Since the inauguration starts at 10AM Eastern Time, iam sure most of you folks would be at work. So for folks that won't be able to watch the inauguration at home, don't worry, u can watch the entire inauguration via internet enabled web video streaming. Thanks to myriad of applications that are enabling the live web video. Here are some of the sites that broadcast the presidential inauguration live: You Tube inauguration live CSPAN via mogulus grid CNN with facebook shall broadcast the entire event live HULU live inauguration Livestation CbsNews Joost BBC MSNBC ABCNEWS PBS USATODAY Mogulus Channel3news Presidential Inaugural Committee Justin TV Joint Congressional Committee MTV- Be the Change: Live from the Inaugural Ustream via iPhone Check out the links below for additional information: Techcrunch Readwriteweb GigaOm CNN

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How to Deploy High-Definition Voice

High-definition voice is gaining traction in the communications industry. IT managers should know that high-definition voice maintains compatibility with existing systems, so the transition to it is quite straightforward. But, as seamless as the transition may be, Knowledge Center contributor Jeffrey Rodman explains that there are ways to smooth the transition process further. Here he offers some of the most important points IT managers should consider when deploying high-definition voice. - Calling all IT managers: I have some good news for you if you're thinking about deploying High-Definition Voice (HD Voice) in your organization. The move from standard narrowband audio to HD is much easier than the original shift from plain old telephone service (POTS) to Voice over IP (VOIP). Wh...

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VoIP User Interconnects British Telecom for Free Calls to VoIP Devices

VoipUser announces the interconnection of British Telecom 0870 range numbers to the VoIP peering iNUM network. British Telecom will make 0870 numbers free to call to subscribers on their Anytime call plan starting on January 16th, 2009. John Peter, managing Director of BT's Consumer Business, said in a Press Release on Thursday "All of our 14 million Anytime customers have free calls included in their package and now all 14 million have free calls to 0870 at times that fit with their calling plan, which is something not offered by any of our competitors." Ian Plain, of technical consultancy cyber-cottage.co.uk, who architected the system for VoIP User, said "we created a mapping service for the 0870 iNUM interconnect. The system is accessed by users dialling 08700 68 58 48 from a BT landline and entering an iNUM number to contact. Details can also be stored meaning that the caller only ever has to enter the iNUM number to contact once." Tjardick van der Kraan, co-founder of VoIP User, said "The value add for customers of our services is the ability to call iNUM +883 range numbers, the so-called 'Earth Area Code', free of charge at off-peak times from a BT landline. This effectively connects British Telecom customers to Worldwide iNUM VoIP customers with no per minute charge." The iNUM Peering Network, run by Belgium based Voxbone S.A. operates using a standards based mechanism for traffic exchange between telecommunications networks. Traditional dial codes are tied to a particular country or city. iNUM numbers avoid this limitation and users can therefore keep their number wherever they go in the world, being reachable on the same number for life.

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Voxbone Opens Its Voice Switches to Carrier Customers

Voxbone introduced its new browser-based configuration tools that give its clients more self-sufficiency, flexibility and control over their use of DID services. These tools allow carriers to make many cost-vs-voice-quality tradeoffs previously made for them. They also enable customers to save money while ensuring call completion through pooled trunking capacity, redundancy and load balancing. As implemented by Voxbone, these Web provisioning tools allow carriers and big enterprise customers to configure and manage their own network usage, if desired, in several ways, and for each number owned: by defining and choosing a SIP end point to which the calls should be delivered; by defining and choosing a backup SIP end point that would activate automatically in case the customer's primary equipment was unavailable; by selecting the preferred codec—the biggest determinant of bandwidth requirement and voice quality; by routing the incoming voice traffic via any of Voxbone's five aggregating SuperPOPs and choosing how far calls are routed over Voxbone's network as opposed to the public Internet; by choosing the caller ID formats (e164 or other formats); by enabling DNS SRV load balancing so that traffic is distributed among various IP addresses defined on the customer side. Information preserved across the VoIP-PSTN divide Voxbone captures and transmits important call information as it routes the call, enabling callers to interact with telecom applications and services running on other continents. Here again, the customer decides: by choosing the way in which DTMF (touch tones) are recognized, to accommodate different end-user equipment; by activating DNIS support. Voxbone relays the dialed number to the terminating switch—information needed for direct extension dialing; by accepting or rejecting certain call origins. Customers may, for example, want their U.S. toll-free numbers to accept landline calls but to reject those made on pay phones, in order to escape the high setup fees on those calls. The economies of aggregation Incoming traffic from several regions is aggregated by Voxbone before being relayed to the customer's IP switch or gateway. This enables customers to share capacity across all (or many) numbers, as well as across many countries, time zones and fluctuations in traffic. There is no need to lease separate trunks, for example, for Australian and British incoming traffic; a customer can lease one global trunk from Voxbone and pool capacity across calling-card and conferencing applications in the U.K. and call centers in Sydney and Melbourne.

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Google’s Android Marketplace Offers MyGlobalTalk

i2Telecom announced its mobile phone solution, MyGlobalTalk, has been accepted by Google for inclusion on its Android Marketplace and is now available for G1 Google Phone users have already begun signing up. By downloading the application for MyGlobalTalk from their G1 Google Phone, users can realize significant savings on their international and long-distance calls. MyGlobalTalk is a free downloadable application that will allow Android G1 Google Phone users to place inexpensive phone calls to destinations anywhere in the world for as little as two to three cents per minute via their carriers' cellular voice networks. This contrasts sharply with the current methods in which users place regular calls via their mobile phone service providers at prices that can easily reach or exceed one dollar per minute when calling locations outside of the United States. MyGlobalTalk generates revenues using a prepaid subscriber model that bills for minutes of use and various premium features. MyGlobalTalk, i2Telecom's internally developed patent-pending technology, is a new and advanced mobile VoIP application that targets the wireless handset market. MyGlobalTalk places Internet telephony in the hands of every cellular phone user, independent of wireless carrier technology, handset manufacturer, or the type of wireless carrier voice/data plan involved. The objective is to enable mobile users to access low-cost Internet telephony communications in a completely "untethered" manner via their MyGlobalTalk enabled cellular phones. Once the MyGlobalTalk application is simply downloaded onto a cellular handset, users are able to call any telephone in the world directly from their cellular phones, using VoIP technology, at a fraction of normal long-distance rates. In addition, MyGlobalTalk is fully functional without requiring local access to the Internet or proximity to an Internet "hotspot". Users also need not wait for the availability of dual-mode WiFi phones, because MyGlobalTalk provides the benefits of a dual-mode phone at a fraction of the cost, using the customer's existing mobile handset.

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Get a FREE PBX and VoIP Solutions Buyer's Guide

We receive a number of requests for ways one can receive detailed research and analysis of top vendors who provide complete PBX systems and IP-PBX packages for large, medium, or small businesses. There's no easier way than signing up to receive your own free PBX Guide from PBX-Guide.com. The free guide includes the benefits a PBX system should bring to your company and exactly what you need to know before committing to a specific vendor and solution. Let PBX-Guide.com do the research work for you and give step-by-step directions to important decision-making considerations to PBX and VoIP solution providers for companies of all sizes. Visit PBX-Guide and fill out their short form and get your FREE step-by-step PBX Guide today

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VoSKY Adds Six New Distributors and 358 Resellers Worldwide in 2008

VoSKY announces global channel success with six new distributors and 358 new resellers appointed worldwide in 2008, to help support and carry out plans for growth in order to capitalise on the increasing business demand for its VoSKY Exchange PBX-to- Skype application gateways. This takes VoSKY's total of worldwide distributors to 16, and its number of VoSKY premier partners to a total of 610 worldwide. This global network of channel partners will play a key role in helping VoSKY to provide superior service and support to the global SMB and enterprise markets. The new additions to VoSKY's portfolio reflect the value of their award- winning Skype Certified business-class PBX-to-Skype gateway solutions, which are scalable and continually developed to meet the business needs of varying sized companies to deliver value-added business applications that enhance business communication and reduce telecoms costs. VoSKY's portfolio of analogue, digital and SIP PBX-to-Skype gateways certified by major PBX vendors like Avaya, ShoreTel and Altigen, gives VARs the opportunity to offer their customers a cost effective solution which enhances their existing PBX with Skype applications. VoSKY helps resellers differentiate from the competition and drive revenue growth. Last year VoSKY introduced the VoSKY Exchange Pro VISIP-EX, the industry's first Skype-certified enterprise-grade PBX-to-Skype gateway for SIP networks, and the VoSKY Exchange Pro VIT1/E1, the first T1/E1 enterprise-grade PBX-to- Skype gateway to achieve Skype certification. Based on VoSKY's latest enterprise-grade Linux platform, both allow medium to large sized companies to take advantage of Internet Telephony without having to replace their existing network infrastructure. All VoSKY resellers have demonstration equipment available and are certified to install, service and support VoSKY Exchanges. Furthermore, they are also fully trained on Skype features and services such as the Business Control Panel, SkypeOUT, SkypeIN and Skype voucher credits.

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Internet Telephony's Products of The Year Announced

One of the key groups in my agency is called Speakers & Listeners. It's run by the co-founder of Under The Radar, Alison Murdock and has a star team of six that work with our clients to help them secure speaking slots at conferences as well as manage the process for clients when it comes to awards. Though we won't take credit for all of the following awards being scored, its also nice to see so many current and past Comunicano clients, and one company whose advisory board I sit on get recognized by Internet Telephony in the Product of the Year awards:   Agito Networks (Advisory Board) Global IP Solutions (Client) ifByPhone (Client) IntelePeer (Client Graduate) Junction Networks (Client) PhoneFusion (Client Graduate) VoxBone (Client) That makes four current, two recently graduated and one advisory board company. Given that some think VoIP is dead, as you can see, our hands are on the living and the growing. Congratulations to the teams as the the seven companies and to all who earned the honor of Product of the Year from the folks at TMC.

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The VoIP Recipe of The Day: Junction Networks + Truphone + iPod Touch = Phone

Here's a tasty VoIP recipe that works from the folks at Junction Networks. Take one part Junction Networks SIP Address Add in one part Junction Networks On SIP service Add in one 10 digit DID available from Junction Networks Mix in one part of Truphone's new iPod Touch client available at the Apple App Store Apply the mixture liberally to one (or more) Apple iPod Touch And you now have a phone that works in both directions over WiFi without a SIM or a contract. Truphone calls out and Junction Networks number receives the calls that come in and routes it over the Internet as SIP to Truphone... Sweet P.S. I've been doing the same thing for a few weeks as well using a DID from CallCentric as well as my OnSip service DID. It really works and works very well. For families with kids this is a way around additional cell phones and high priced termination clauses

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Is Skype Killing It's Developers Programs?

Rumors, rumors, rumors. The world runs on rumors. On one hand we read that Skype is looking for a new person to lead their developer efforts. On the other we get tips from friends in the Twittersphere that developers need to worry as Skype is launching (or has already launched) versions for many new platforms, including the Android, Blackberry and maybe, the iPhone. So what DO I think they are doing? 1. Building stable clients to work on as many handsets as possible in mobile to make Skype users reachable. Skype wants the experience and the logins to be via their network, not others, so while they can't block the access from third parties, they can get into a feature and functionality war with the others who provide access. Think of it this way. There's Microsoft Word and word processing programs that can read and write Word format files. 2. Developing API's that make it easy for new services, like Skype Access to work with third parties ala Boingo . 3. Encouraging the use of Skype as the platform for 2.0 type applications and services like what the folks at Vapps did with HighDef Conferencing, what Web Dialogs (now IBM's Sametime), YUGMA and Convenos have done with web conferencing, what OnState is doing with the PBX, Pamela is doing with faxing, and more in Skype Extras. Most of all, Skype is not sitting back. The are pushing the envelope, but at the same time sending mixed messages externally to partners and developers. But that too will change. Some recent hires have brought maturity to the table. The establishment of Luxembourg as the companies base, largely for tax reasons will also help. My prediction is that more of the work of Skype shifts there, away from Mountain View and that London becomes the Mobile hub for the company, as the UK is one of the hottest mobile markets around. So is Skype Killing their developers off? Not likely. Refocusing what they want from the developers is more the direction I see them heading.

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Will There Be A Skype Client on the iPhone?

Rumors of a Skype client for the iPhone made the rounds at both MacWorld and CES last week and one has to figure where there's smoke, there's fire. With Skype Lite released for many mobile phones, and now a lightweight Android client that is mostly a clone of iSkoot, the iPhone remains the biggest market that Skype doesn't have their own client on (Truphone and Fring beat them there) so one has to figure the lure is too great to pass up. But Skype is an app that is really about persistant availability, not simply for calling. The iSkoot client and the new Android Skype Lite both provide that, but the iPhone's SDK doesn't permit that (yet) so how Skype works around that will likely require the use of Skype Out and forwarding. Also, Skype is an IM based platform so expect there to be some IM to SMS functionality when the client isn't in the foreground. One big issue though that Skype has to get around will be the simultaneous log in and consistent real time updates of the contact list on the iPhone. What I'm seeing with various Skype devices from Belkin, Phillips, the Nokia N810 client, Linux, Mac and PC, plus  iSkoot and Fring is that no two other than the Linux, Mac and PC versions seem to show the same contacts state being the same all the time. Then there's the Mylo, which has a 1000 contacts limit, making it useless for Skype power users. These are all issues that can be solved, but until they are, Skype on the iPhone will be best handled by others who have already figured most of it out.

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Verizon to Go All VoIP

Call it a seven year itch, or call it concession, but the company that tried to bring you VoiceWing is going to be all VoIP by 2016 . At least that's the promise from the current Chief Marketing Officer at Verizon, John Stratton. We all know they are rolling out FiOS with VoIP as fast as they can, but the idea of being all VoIP has to have Commissioner Martin wondering how to say he caused that one. Verizon has been the most concentrated territories of the three major USA Bells, and also the luxury of the MCI acquisition to have one of the netter IP infrastructures. They also have a huge international data and VoIP business and of course their half interest in Verizon Wireless which is also seeming to open up the flood gates for data plays of late in a way we haven't seen. This means that developers and system integrators now have a target to rach out towards. For VoIP 2.0 companies like ifByPhone, Voxeo, Mobivox and Jaduka this means more opportunity as an all IP Verizon means more need to sell more new to keep their numbers up. IP costs less (or should) so to keep those earnings up the idea of apps and platform integration means more moolah........ch-ching.

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The Death of Trade Shows and Conferences is Wildly Overstated

I'm tired when people say things like "I'm not going to this conference or that trade show because it's going to suck." Another person said "well I only go to meet with CEO's and they're not going to be there..." when asked if he was going to CES or MacWorld. Get over it. I was at both CES and MacWorld and walked away exhausted, as my clients kept me so busy I didn't have time to even see much of what was on the floors. Sure I did a walk by at both, but the action in our client's booths was what I expected. Steady and the right people. At media events like ShowStoppers and Lunch @ Pieros the press, bloggers and analysts kept everyone on their toes until the events ended. Other sideline events did well too, though I question how many of them we really need. In the end, business happened at the events. Media were briefed, and bloggers got to tell what's new to those that didn't attend. My guess is blog traffic was way up this year due to the "stay behind" crowd. Going in, I was a bit skeptical, I'll admit. But I went to support the industry and I'm glad I did.

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Skype Access Makes It Easy To Go Boingo

Skype, which has a long standing relationship with Boingo, is making it simpler (and easier) to get access to Boingo hotspots around the world. It announced a new plan that allows Skype users to pay for Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots using Skype Credit. The feature is called Skype Access and is currently available to Mac users as part of the Skype for Mac 2.8 Beta software. I upgraded just for this feature alone. Skype will support this on Windows and Linux versions of Skype later. You pay per minute for the access you use. Previously, you had to sign up for Boingo and got a special rate for using Skype. I thought it was a bad deal. I find Skype Access simpler and easier. (Related Post: Full review of Skype 2.8 for Mac on TheAppleBlog.)

 

VoIP and International Call Termination

Welcome to the second in a series of articles about the issues and opportunities in the international call termination business for VoIP players. This second article focuses on some of the issues VoIP providers face when terminating to mobile operators in Europe as number portability takes hold. Although there is only one strictly compliant way to terminate a call to a mobile operator in many countries, the current reality is that two variants exist, each with different commercial models and pricing. The first method is via official interconnects – either TDM or VoIP based – with the destination mobile operator. This type of interconnect provides full, PSTN quality termination with full feature availability, including correct delivery of the "calling line identity" and support from roaming calls. The drawback, however, is that in many countries, the terminating provider must pay an officially regulated interconnection fee. The second, unofficial method VoIP providers use to terminate calls to mobile operators is via SIM card-based, VoIP gateways. These gateways originate calls into the mobile network using a wireless connection, with special low rates offered for calls made to customers on the same network. As such, each channel in the VoIP gateway acts as an individual mobile phone making calls to other mobile phones on the network. Termination costs are lower, albeit with reduced feature functionality such as an incorrect or missing display of the caller's number. Many thriving businesses provide call termination based on this method, and they all bill the calling carrier based on a defined set of codes that "belong" to the destination mobile operator. One could argue that whenever there is an ongoing difference between the cost of using service normally available in the country – for example, retail SIM cards – and an official interconnect rate, service providers make use of the difference; in many countries this has reached the point where there are two parallel services. The Impact of Number Portability Number portability is a growing reality in many parts of the world, with porting rates ranging from a small percentage in some markets, to almost 50 percent in countries with flexible porting and contract rules. When mobile subscribers port their numbers from one network to another, the original mobile network treats that call as "out of network" and either rejects the call, or connects it at a much higher rate – obviously an untenable answer for the SIM card operator in a highly competitive business. So how does portability add to the complexity? Carriers charge each other based on a defined set of network codes, and ported numbers are exceptions to those codes, which are normally invisible to the carriers involved. So, a carrier buying Vodafone termination, for example, sends all calls matching the Vodafone network codes to the SIM card operator. That operator cannot connect the calls to numbers ported away from Vodafone, and either rejects the call because it is not "on-net" or it simply fails – resulting in lower quality and dissatisfied subscribers. An Intelligent Routing Solution One viable solution to this quandary is to route calls based on the knowledge of which mobile carrier "owns" the number at the time of the call. Most SIM card operators can actually carry a call to a number that has been ported into their network, even though the code range doesn't match up as expected. This means a Vodafone supplier can terminate calls at the Vodafone rate to numbers ported in from Orange, for example. The trick is to be able to segregate the ported calls, and route them to the correct operator rather than to simply rely on the original code set. With this type of routing intelligence, and a simple commercial agreement with the carrier, a provider can answer more calls, improve the customer experience and increase revenue at one stroke. With average rates of portability, a provider can increase its call-connect rate by over 20 percent, a very significant improvement in customer satisfaction and revenue. In addition, the performance is much more predictable over time, which helps with the commercial and operational management of these VoIP interconnects. If you are interested in learning more about the issues of portability, www.globalnumberportability.org provides further information on the impact on international wholesale traffic. IP Steve Heap is chief technology officer for Arbinet. He can be reached at sheap@arbinet.com

 

Skype client for Android and more

Skype access from mobile client was supported by every other mobile VoIP startup than skype. So finally today skype announced release of a lighter version of Skype, a thin client that can be downloaded on Adroid-powered devices. In addition, it can downloaded to more than 100 java enabled handset. Now this one makes more sense. Compared to android phones, there are tones of java enabled phones in the market. Here are some of the features that are supported via lite client: • Make Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world • Send/receive instant messages to/from individuals or groups • Make Skype calls at low rates to people on landline or mobile phones • Receive calls to your online personal phone number on Skype • See when your Skype contacts are online/available to chat Supporting more handsets other than android is definitely a good strategy from both business and user perspective. The client can be downloaded on some of the most popular java enabled phones from LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Check out the Link for more information about client download and handset models supported. Though the client is free to download, there is a cost involved in using the feature. You will be charged by your mobile operator for local air time and data usage based on the type of calling service and data plan you have purchased. Since the lite version of Skype uses a mobile data connection to sign in to Skype, update your contact list, update presence and send/receive messages, you will be charged by your mobile operator for data usage. You will not incur charges from Skype when you make Skype-to-Skype calls or send instant messages to friends on Skype; however national calling rates may apply from your mobile operator due to the use of local air time. Skype will charge its regular very low Skype rates when you call landlines and mobiles using Skype or when you receive calls on your mobile handset from other Skype users or people calling your personal online number. We highly recommend getting an unlimited data plan for use with the lite version of Skype. The longer you remain signed in, the more Skype contacts you have, or the more you send and receive instant messages, the more data you will use.

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Why Multitasking on Mobile Devices Matters

All of us who spend most of their time in front of a computer know very well how much multi-tasking matters. The ability to perform an activity while keeping the doors open to other "notifications" coming from other apps is a must-have for everyone. I'm reading blogs on my web browser and I can receive IMs on my Adium client, I'm working on a document and I can get an instant notification by my email application informing me that a new message just arrived. For us highly connected and fully involved into business activities everyday it's pretty clear that acting immediately makes the difference more and more. All that said, the ability to bring the experience above while on the go is a must-have for me and it's definitely critical.  What devices let you make this happen? My personal experience leads me to this answer: Blackberry Bold (or equivalent BB). In addition, but I never tried it, I read that the Google Phone G1 by T-Mobile offers full multitasking as well. What device DOESN'T offer you this experience? Apple iPhone. Again, while the iPhone is a fantastic device which offers a stunning user experience, it fails when it comes to using it within a business context since it is not possible to run multiple applications at a time. I already expressed my opinion a few weeks ago and I repeat it here: in order for business users to get an always-on multitasking experience on a mobile device, the iPhone is the device to avoid. An example for all: the excellent service Truphone has just released the ability to connect to your Skype friends from your iPhone and iPod Touch running the Truphone app. Phoneboy points out that a recent chat with Truphone's CEO confirmed that "…at this point, the app still has to be in the foreground in order to receive calls or receive IM messages". This behavior is definitely not acceptable for a communication software, despite it's not Truphone's fault. But iPhone customers must deal with it. What do you think? How far is the iPhone to become a business portable device? Is multitasking critical for your daily job while on the go?

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How Can Skype Become The Next Facebook

I'm pretty sure that after reading the title of this post many of you are thinking: is this man crazy? Well, the heading is a little bit provocative, on purpose. Here is the story. Yesterday I had a good chat on the phone with Stuart Henshall who asked me to use Skype. Honestly, I don't usually use Skype for calling but rather for instant messaging. That being said, I found out that my headphones had a problem so while I was trying to look into it I paid attention to the software client more than usual, noticing something I usually don't: 14.300.000 online users. On October 2007 Skype crossed 10M online users for the first time and just a little bit more than one year later they added over 4M new online users. Another thing I noticed is that unlike Facebook, where I have roughly twice the number of contacts, on Skype the number of average online friends was  almost three times more. All that above together with the new features introduced with Skype 2.8 for Mac made me wonder: can Skype ever become the next big thing in the field of "social networking" rather than "only" the most popular VoIP service ever? Let's try to analyze how far Skype is from this "big picture". User Base Users are not certainly a problem for Skype. With over 200M users (not active, but downloads), it's not far from the huge 150M active users of Facebook. What Facebook is missing at this time is a powerful desktop client. Despite the world of consumer services is moving to the "cloud", having an always on client on your PC has many benefits, such as being always available and experiencing a realtime interaction with your friends. Status The new Skype provides the ability to share your "mood" with your contacts, this becoming a sort of "feed" inside a new chat window or just a new "events" window. It's far from what Facebook provides, but not that far away. Think of the ability to reply to moods and the FB behavior is easily reproduced.  Twitter integration is there already, too. Sharing With this version of Skype you can now collaborate more closely with your contacts thanks to the screen sharing capability. The ability to share photos and other stuff is not far away as well. Moreover, they should add the ability to let everyone view the contact list of their friends as well as their "activity". Profile The profile of your friends you find on your Skype client is far from being a Facebook-like profile. First of all, it should be moved to the cloud. Moreover, it should be improved with all the relevant information in order to make it complete. That's not certainly something difficult to get done and definitely a must have. Applications Again, third party developers can deal with that. Developers found out that an application/service integrated into Facebook can lead to completely different results rather than keeping it "isolated". Skype Apps can be sort of plugins that users can use to interact with their contact list. What about a "Send a Coffee" or "Buy this Contact" option? Messaging While IM is ready, a "Skype Mail" would be the new Inbox. "Send Message" could be a new available option and as soon as a new message arrives, a new notification (maybe with a color different from the red used for other notifications) is shown. The Wall What about a blackboard shared with your contacts? Everyone can write and post something that others can see. Messages, Photos, videos and so on. Easy right? At your fingertip and always available from you desktop client. This is nothing but a simple exercise to analyze whether  Skype has (or could easily have) the capabilities to become a widely used social network. The bug here is in the nature of Skype itself. As a peer to peer software, the concept of "in the cloud" is a little bit too far from Skype's philosophy. Skype is essentially a multi-channel communication tool which works very well and that became a de-facto standard in the VoIP space, not certainly designed to act as a social network. Is the future of Skype in the social networking space? Can all above be something which could help eBay to finally leverage this very powerful service, integrating an Adv engine too? I just noticed that others suggested this as a potential future development for Skype, too. What do you think?

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