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March 26, 2010

Skype Is Now Available on Verizon's 3G Network

Skype is now available to Verizon Wireless customers who are owners of BlackBerry and Android-based smartphones, the New Jersey-based phone company said. The Skype Mobile service now works on nine phones and can be downloaded on these devices starting this morning. Kevin covered the news for us over on jkOnTheRun yesterday. We are going to do a review of the service and let you know how it works.

Verizon is milking this news for all it’s worth, sending out press releases, organizing press conferences and special events. Frankly, the company needs all the help it can get considering that its smartphone portfolio has no hot-selling devices, especially when compared to the iPhone. (Related: Skype & Verizon’s Fear of the iPhone.)

Source: GigaOm

Posted by Dal at 12:34 PM | | TrackBacks (0) Posted to Skype

8x8 Awarded Virtual Telephone Extension Patent by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

8x8, Inc., provider of innovative business communications solutions, today announced that it has been granted United States Patent number 7,684,554 entitled "Virtual Telephone Extension." The patent issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 23, 2010.

The patent relates to methods of routing communications to users and associated equipment by utilizing a user identifier that serves as a virtual extension number. By utilizing the invention described by the patent, users can remotely direct their calls to communication devices at various geographic, voicemail and email destinations.

Claim 14 of the new patent reads:
 
"A method for routing telephone calls to communication devices using telephone networks, each communication device having a unique device identifier, the method comprising: assigning identifier data to each of a plurality of users, the identifier data for each user including at least two unique telephone numbers and at least one unique device identifier; and in response to receiving a call through one of the telephone networks, matching a telephone number in the call with one of the at least two telephone numbers assigned to a particular user, and switching the call to a destination communication device designated by the device identifier in the identifier data for the particular user." The issued patent contains twenty claims and was filed in 2002.

Since its establishment in 1987, 8x8 has been awarded seventy-six (76) United States patents covering a variety of voice and video communications, signaling, processing and storage technologies.

Posted by Dal at 12:14 PM | | TrackBacks (0) Posted to VoIP News

kype for SIP now Interops with AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Gateways

Skype and AudioCodes today announced that the AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateway has been certified as interoperable with Skype for SIP.
 
This will enable the majority of the world’s small and medium-sized businesses, who are still using legacy TDM PBXs and Key-Systems to communicate more efficiently by directing their outbound calls to mobile phones and landlines around the world through Skype. It will also allow them to receive inbound calls from Skype users.

“In today’s tough economy, executives of small and medium-sized companies realize that effective communication with customers, partners and employees is a key to helping them grow their business,” said David Gurle, VP and General Manager of Skype for Business. “By certifying the AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateway as interoperable with Skype for SIP, we are enabling businesses that are using TDM equipment to connect to the IP world and helping them save money, save time and stay ahead of the competition.”

Interoperability with Skype for SIP means that small businesses can take advantage of the cost savings provided by Skype’s low-cost global calling rates when their employees call landlines and mobile phones around the world. A company can also receive inbound voice calls from any of the more than 521 million registered Skype users around the world via a global click-to-call button on its Web site. By certifying the AudioCodes Multi-Service Business Gateways with Skype for SIP, customers can benefit from interoperability with hundreds of TDM PBXs, Key Systems, and IP-PBXs that have not been able to connect to Skype so far. In addition, if a company buys and associates an online Skype number with their AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateway solution, it can then receive inbound calls via Skype from business contacts and customers calling from landline and mobile phones.

“Partnering with Skype is an important milestone in AudioCodes’ strategy of interoperating with the leaders in the Internet communications market,” said Jeff Kahn, Chief Strategic Officer at AudioCodes. “We are excited about Skype for SIP interoperability since it opens the market for customers to get the benefits of Skype, without replacing their existing PBX equipment. The AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateway offers ultimate flexibility and modularity, supporting many types of TDM and IP-PBX connectivity options, integrated with routing, firewalling, Enterprise SBC and application hosting capabilities. Our ability to connect to TDM PBXs and IP-PBXs simultaneously enables customers to smoothly migrate from TDM telephony to the IP world.”

Certification testing of Skype for SIP with the AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateway was conducted by tekVizion Labs™, an independent test facility in Richardson, Texas, which specializes in IP communications interoperability testing.

For more information about Skype for SIP, please visit http://www.skype.com/business/products/pbx-systems/sip/.

For more information about the AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateways, please visit http://www.audiocodes.com/msbg

Posted by Dal at 12:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0) Posted to Skype

March 18, 2010

Private equity firm Apax in talks to buy Polycom for $3 billion

Editor's Note:  I have been expecting this for some time, if you noticed I did mention this subject when the whole Tandberg Cisco deal was going down.  Apax - If you are reading this and this deal is going to close, please contact me, I would love to consult with you on some ideas I have for the future to give you more value in this acquisition.  /end  Polycom is a brand leader and has a lot of value to it.  I am glad to see this, without the public company pressure, hopefully they can develop their brand and product line even more and become the 800 pound gorilla in the voice & video space. 
 
Reuters - Private equity firm Apax Partners has been talking with Polycom Inc. to take the U.S. video conferencing company private for more than $3 billion, the Financial Times said.  The news sent Polycom shares up 12 percent to $34.14, their highest since August 2007. They were trading up 9 percent at $33.25 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
"If it's a real bid, it's a very generous offer," Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jess Lubert said. "I would not be surprised to see them take it." A deal could now prove unfeasible due to a surge in Polycom's shares since talks began, the paper cited people close to the situation as saying.
 
Polycom's shares are up 56 percent since hitting a low of $21.17 on November 30. Polycom and Apax declined to comment. The video conferencing market has been at the center of rising consolidation. Networking giant Cisco Systems plans to acquire Polycom's Norwegian rival, Tandberg. In December, Logitech acquired privately held video conferencing firm LifeSize Communications for $405 million.
 
Polycom and Tandberg control three-fourths of the video conferencing products market, which is expected to nearly double to $3.8 billion by 2013, according to market research firm Gartner.
 
Source: Reuters

Posted by Dal at 04:09 PM | | TrackBacks (0) Posted to

March 17, 2010

Microsoft rolls out three new 720p HD webcams

 

Microsoft just added a trio of webcams to its LifeCam line, and all three are capable of 720p HD video. The LifeCam HD-5000 and HD-5001 have slightly different styling but their innards are the same, both selling for $49.95. Microsoft's claim to fame for these two cams that will be available later this month? "They're the only two webcams with 720p HD widescreen and autofocus for under $50."

Coming along in May is a smaller version of the LifeCam, the $60 HD-6000 that's aimed at notebooks. It's also rocking that 720p video and autofocus, and has a 360° rotation view so you can swing the camera around to show the world your surroundings. All of these cameras feature TrueColor tech, tracking your face and making you look good even in backlit situations. Our experience with it is that it works fairly well, but it's far from perfect.

HD webcams sound great, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a service that can accommodate such resolutions. Skype was crowing about its beta version 4.2 with HD webcam capability at CES 2010, but now that software is been removed from its site. We've contacted Skype for comment.

UPDATE: Skype responds. Version 4.2 of the Skype software is now out of beta and is available, but it only works in 720p with certain webcams. "720p video is available with the proper webcam and bandwidth (approx 1 MB/s). Right now you can only use the HD encoding webcams to achieve HD video calls on Skype, but as soon as we have additional news, we'll be sure to let you know." Unfortunately, Microsoft's HD webcams aren't yet compatible with Skype's 720p service. Skype points to the following examples of cameras that will work in 720p with its system: faceVsion Technology Inc.FV TouchCam N1, In Store Solutions Freetalk HD Pro, Freetalk HD Pro Plus and the Freetalk TV Camera for Samsung.

Source:  Dvice.com

Posted by Dal at 01:35 PM | | TrackBacks (0) Posted to VoIP Hardware

Polycom announces Mac support for desktop video conference package

Company announced Monday Mac OS X support for its CMA Desktop collaboration application. The expanded support for the Mac means Mac users will be able to participate with other video conferencing users from their desktop over IP.

Says Joe Sigrist, VP and GM of video solutions, "Polycom CMA Desktop sets a new standard for flexibility, performance and interoperability for desktop video collaboration and we are happy to deliver on customer demand, particularly in the education, healthcare, creative services and entertainment markets, for Mac OS X support."
 The CMA Desktop system offers management and security options for presenters and participants, and can be scaled to support thousands of participants. The old fashioned way of running Polycom runs on dedicated hardware over ISDN. Over time that has moved to IP-based for considerable cost savings, and even more so going to desktops rather than dedicated stand-alone system.

The Polycom CMA Desktop for Mac OS X is expected to be available in April for no extra charge for CMA customers. No pricing is provided, just that users should contact Polycom or their Polycom solution provider.

Polycom Desktop CMA

Posted by Dal at 01:33 PM | | TrackBacks (0) Posted to Polycom

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