Asterisk VoIP News

Digium's 7th Annual Astricon Asterisk Conference Oct 26-28, 2010

2010-02-24T20:03:53Z

Digium, the Asterisk Company, has kicked off planning for the seventh annual AstriCon Open Source Telephony Conference and Exhibition. The event will be held just outside Washington, D.C. on October 26-28, 2010, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.

Digium is the corporate sponsor and owner of the Asterisk project, the most widely used open source platform for creating custom communication solutions. Speaker topic submissions are open, and the conference organizers are soliciting talk concepts for 2010. Digium invites those who would like to speak at AstriCon to submit information for consideration by May 1, 2010, at http://bit.ly/speak-astricon2010.

]]> With thousands of new downloads per day, millions of deployments, and a community of more than 65,000 members, the acceptance and growth of Asterisk has spawned an ecosystem spanning more than 170 countries. AstriCon gives all members of the Asterisk community—from telephony enthusiasts to people betting their businesses on the booming appeal of Asterisk communications—a forum to learn about the technology in depth, to discuss its newest uses and to meet potential collaborators.

Mark Spencer, Digium’s CTO and creator of Asterisk, said: “AstriCon 2009 was a total success as Asterisk has moved into mainstream use in phone systems used by organizations of all sizes. The ability to get together with so many Asterisk users to exchange ideas is always invaluable to Digium and we continue to be grateful for our community’s strong support. Looking ahead to AstriCon 2010, in addition to technical sessions, we expect to focus on use of Asterisk in commerce, in the cloud, by government agencies and larger enterprises, call centers, and more.”

Digium is once again pleased to be partnering with Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) to promote the event to a broader audience. TMC has helped support other Digium events, including Digium|Asterisk World, with training sessions, video production, attendee registration and exhibit management. Companies interested in sponsoring AstriCon and participating on the EXPO floor should contact Joe Fabiano at TMC: +1 (203) 852-6800 ext. 132.

Registration for AstriCon 2010 is open now on the official event site: http://www.astricon.net.

Early bird rates are available until August 1, 2010.

Apple increases iPhone's 3g app download limit

2010-02-24T19:58:20Z

In a move many expect paves the way for applications on the new iPad, Apple has boosted the maximum size of an iPhone app download over 3G from 10MB to 20MB. Previously iPhone users who wanted to download an app that was larger than 10 MB, such as a video or podcast, had to switch over to a WiFi connection.

]]> Is this a sign that AT&T feels comfortable with the enhancements it is making to its network? The operator recently allowed place shifting technology developer Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile video application across its 3G network, almost a year after restricting the iPhone app to WiFi on the grounds that 3G streaming would consume too much network capacity. It has also given its blessing to VoIP apps over 3G, which were previously relegated to WiFi connections.

"Just as we've worked with Sling Media in this instance, we look forward to collaborating with other developers so that mobile customers can access a wider, more bandwidth-sensitive, and powerful range of applications in the future," AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets president and CEO Ralph de la Vega recently said in a prepared statement.

Click Here to Continue Reading

Military VoIP-based vehicle intercom system for armored vehicles introduced by Accusonic

2010-02-24T19:48:43Z

Accusonic Products in Bay Shore, N.Y., is introducing an ultra-light, multi-platform voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) vehicle intercom system for the confined spaces of mobile platforms like armored vehicles and military patrol craft.

The military VoIP-based ImP was designed with a software-defined radio infrastructure to enable the system to be customized to vehicle and mission type. Operating with a modular design, it supports decentralized user access to major tactical infrastructure networks.

]]> The ImP advanced platform command and control system can connect as many as 500 nodes simultaneously and is ergonomically scaled to meet the space requirements of light combat vehicles, main battle tanks, and assault boats. ImP stands for Integrated Multi Platform.

The ImP uses a 100-megabit-per-second Ethernet channel to transmit voice, data, and video simultaneously to the vehicle crew to enable a level of situational awareness not possible with current legacy small vehicular intercom systems, Accusonic officials say.

This system also eliminates the need for a hard wired centralized interface, common to most conventional intercom systems, replacing it with a decentralized interface that allows single user access and control from anywhere in the loop.

The system's distributive design enhances battle damage resiliency to enable the system to keep working even when damaged. Furthermore, the system has the ability to self configure automatically when it is turned on.

For more information contact Accusonic Products online at www.accusonicproducts.com.

OpenPeak OpenTablet 7 Could Rival The Apple iPad?

2010-02-18T22:02:26Z

My cargo pants, that is. Those big side pockets might be just the right size for this 7” multi-touch tablet from OpenPeak. The OpenTablet 7 (via SlashGear) is one of the better designed iPad competitors so far. It has a slick, simple design that manages to be minimalist and badass at the same time. Like the iPad and Notion Ink's Adam, I can easily see myself using this tablet comfortably.

]]> The 7” screen size is the only real issue I have with the OpenTablet 7. It uses LED backlighting, supports b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and cellular connectivity. That apparently gives the OpenTablet 7 mobile broadband (WiMax) access, but not 3G. That's going to limit this thing's outdoor usefulness pretty harshly by geography.

The OpenTablet 7 also packs a mic and speakers, HDMI out, dual cameras for HD recording and still images, a microSD slot, a USB port, and a Moorestown Atom CPU. It is .59” thick, 9” by 5” in size, and only 1.15 lbs. This device has some shortcomings, but on the whole I think it represents a pretty solid answer to the iPad. We'll know more when OpenPeak announces pricing and availability.

Source: I4U News

Asterisk PBX 1.2.39 Now Available

2010-02-11T21:20:07Z

The Asterisk Development Team has announced the release of Asterisk PBX 1.2.39. This release is available for immediate download at

http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/

Asterisk 1.2.38 was created, but not released, to resolve two regression fixes caused by security updates. Prior to the release of Asterisk 1.2.38, one additional regression fix has been resolved, causing the release of Asterisk 1.2.39.

* Fixes regression caused by randomized call numbers. (Closes issue #15997) Reported by exarv. Patched by dvossel.

For a full list of changes in the current release, please see the ChangeLog:

http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.2.39

Thank you for your continued support of Asterisk!

Fugitive VoIP hacker admits 10 million minute deal for $1 million

2010-02-09T23:28:41Z

A Miami hacker has admitted he pocketed more than $1m by selling millions of minutes of voice over IP calls and surreptitiously routing them through the networks of telecommunications companies. Edwin Andrew Pena pleaded guilty to two felonies in connection with the hacking spree, which spanned the years 2004 through 2006, according to court documents. He was apprehended last year in Mexico after skipping out on a $100,000 bond secured by the mother of his then girlfriend.

]]> Pena appeared in US District Court in New Jersey on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unauthorized access to a protected computer. He faces a maximum of 25 years in federal prison and fines of at least $500,000 at sentencing, which is scheduled for May 14.

Pena and cohort Robert Moore were arrested in June 2006 and accused of carrying out an elaborate scheme that routed more than 10 million minutes of VoIP calls over the networks of a dozen or so telecommunications providers without their permission. They breached the networks by using brute-force attacks that deduced the security telephone prefixes needed to gain access.

Click Here to Continue Reading

Apple iPad:The Missing Features

2010-01-27T21:44:14Z

There’s no doubt that the upcoming Apple iPad will kick the asses of all netbooks, tablet PCs, and e-readers, but it’s by far the perfect unit that we had hoped for from Apple. But then again, neither was the original iPhone.

How could it have been better?

Here’s a list of things we felt strongly about. Post yours in the comments section below. Please keep the tampon jokes to a minimum.

]]> - No camera. Video conference calls over Skype or iChat with a front-facing hidden iSight camera would have been a killer feature. Apple did announce 30-pin connector accessories like an external keyboard, however there’s been no mention of an external video capture device. Hopefully something is in the works. I personally feel they should have held off the launch of this until a built-in camera was available. #1 feature, completely missed — and will keep many from not buying. As Spock would say, this is quite illogical.

- No phone. There’s 3G support, but no phone support? Perhaps VOIP is the answer.

- AT&T only? The love/hate relationship between Apple and AT&T continues. Why, man, why?

- Picture frame. What’s the deal with the humongo black frame? My guess is usability tests showed that it was necessary (the way users held the iPad), but it sure doesn’t look as slick as if the screen met up with the edge of the case.

- Mobile Safari still doesn’t support Flash. I suspect Apple’s mobile devices will be the death of Flash, and maybe that’s their intent? As a web developer myself, I avoid Flash or have to disable Flash for mobile devices for this very reason.

- Multitasking. There’s still no multi-tasking support with the iPhone operating system. Yikes!

- Storage. 64GB is the best they could do? What about support for network drives, memory expansion, or even tossing in a small hard drive?

- Battery. Like all Apple products these days, there’s no way to change the battery. A trend that nobody likes except for Apple.

And finally, I’m a bit bummed that there was no mention at all about an iPhone update, or at the very least — an iPhone OS update. I realize that an hour and a half on the iPad left little time to discuss anything else–but it’s been a long while since we’ve had an iPhone or iPod Touch OS update. Throw us a bone, Stevie-baby!

Apple iPad Specs

Source: AppModo

Digium launches 'app store' for the Asterisk PBX

2010-01-27T21:40:30Z

Ever since Apple adapted their wildly successfull iTunes music store to sell apps for the iPhone, technology vendors everywhere have been trying to find opportunities to replicate the innovation. Now Digium is launching AsteriskExchange--while not quite a true app store--it's a marketplace and reviews site for Asterisk's open source community.

]]> The website will serve as a hub for the Asterisk open-source VoIP community including a place for users to review applications and phones. Developers can get exposure for their Asterisk-based applications and users can get the purchase info right from the site.

At the moment it looks like AsteriskExchange is not actually doing any selling itself, but instead directs users to vendor sites who sell the products. The site has a number of tabs including a 'most popular' tab. Currently, the Bria softphone app is at the top of the list, but with no reviews or star ratings yet, I am not sure how they are determining the popularity. It will be interesting in the future to see what apps end up the top of the list when more users access the site.

Unlike other app stores, AsteriskExchange also includes some hardware that you can learn about, review, and connect to sellers to get your equipement. Clicking on the Snom 360 deskphone will bring to an info page and an offsite link to 'Buy Now.'

For more:
- read this article from Connected Planet

CounterPath Introduces Bria for Asterisk (SIP / VoIP Softphone Client)

2010-01-25T19:57:43Z

CounterPath and Digium recently launched Bria for Asterisk, a co-branded VoIP softphone solution that’s pre-integrated with the open source Asterisk platform. Todd Carothers, vice president of product management at CounterPath, says the idea was to start by simply bringing the Bria Professional enterprise-grade softphone to Asterisk in as straightforward a manner as possible. "We’ve done interoperability testing against the Asterisk platform, particularly from a Digium perspective—and we have IM, video and presence available for the solution," he says.

]]> For CounterPath, Carothers says, this is an excellent opportunity to work with the large and diverse Asterisk community. "They’re still very uniquely positioned in the market, where they bring that diversity… so we can bridge our feature-rich product that we have today to other areas of the market that we don’t reach with vertically integrated types of solutions," he says.

The next step, Carothers says, will be to see what else the market needs and wants from the product. "What we’re going to do is get more deeply involved in the Asterisk community to bring out… the very specific applications that the Asterisk community supports… so you’re going to see future releases from CounterPath that are going to leverage that community to get a best of breed product that that community will enjoy," he says.

Click Here to Continue Reading

Apple Tablet "iSlate" Broadband Carrier Comparison

2010-01-25T19:46:22Z

With news that Apple's new tablet computer could be available on both Verizon and AT&T's networks, the question becomes which carrier will offer users more bang for their bucks. Let's start with overall 3G coverage, where Verizon uses a CDMA-based EV-DO Rev. A network and AT&T uses a GSM-based HSPA network. As you probably know through Verizon's gleeful pummeling of AT&T with its "There's a Map for That" ads, AT&T's 3G network covers far less area than Verizon's.

]]> But there are more factors to be taken into account than simple scope of coverage. When it comes to average data speeds, a recent Root Wireless study found that AT&T had higher average 3G data speeds than Verizon in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Overall, AT&T's average 3G data speeds ranged from a low of 246Kbps in New York and a high of 428Kbps in Dallas.

Verizon, meanwhile, had average 3G speeds ranging from 195Kbps in Seattle to 259Kbps in Chicago. The study also found that both carriers had comparably low rates of 3G connectivity failure, as each carrier's connection failure averaged between 1% and 3% for all seven cities.

Click Here to Continue Reading

General Dynamics Receives NSA Certification for Sectera vIPer Phone with PSTN Support

2010-01-05T18:40:47Z

The National Security Agency (NSA) has certified the Sectera vIPer Universal Secure Phone enabled with Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity for voice communications classified at the Top Secret level and below.

The Sectera vIPer Phone with PSTN Connect allows U.S. military and government personnel to make both classified and unclassified calls using traditional telephone networks via one high-end office desktop phone. The Sectera vIPer Phone is a secure communication product manufactured by General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics.

]]> "The certification makes the vIPer Phone with PSTN Connect a cost-effective solution as users will no longer have support and maintenance of their legacy Secure Telephone Units or STU-IIIs," said John Cole, vice president of Information Assurance for General Dynamics C4 Systems. "PSTN and VoIP network flexibility, combined with the vIPer Phone's interoperability with the government's Secure Terminal Equipment (STE), also enables customers to easily transition to the latest technology."

Introduced in 2006, the Sectera vIPer Phone remains the only Voice over IP Phone certified by the NSA to protect voice communications classified Top Secret and below over commercial, wired VoIP networks. As military and government organizations plan for evolving technology and the replacement of end-of-life STU-III phones, General Dynamics is offering a price discount of $200 for each vIPer Phone ordered to replace a deployed STU-III or STE phone.

General Dynamics C4 Systems is a leading integrator of secure communication and information systems and technology.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 92,300 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies. More information about General Dynamics is available online at www.gd.com.

DataJack launches USB modem with $40/month unlimited 3G data plans

2010-01-05T18:35:49Z

If you want a USB modem that will provide mobile broadband access in the US, you’ll usually have to sign up for a 2 year contract and commit to paying $60 per month for up to 5GB of data transfers. Or, you can sign up for a new DataJack modem which costs about $100 up front and $40 per month thereafter for unlimited data. Oh yeah, and there’s no contract, so you could use the service for a month or two, cancel it, and then sign up again half a year later.

]]> On paper, DataJack has me second guessing my recent decision to pick up a CLEAR WiMAX modem. That’s especially true since while my mobile WiMAX modem works great, the home modem isn’t as fast as the DSL service I was hoping to replace, so I’m thinking of canceling the home service which means I’d end up paying as much as $45/month for WiMAX service that only works in a handful of cities when I could be paying $40/month for 3G data service that is available nationwide.

But this time I think I’ll try not to be the early adopter and wait to see how well the service works for others before signing up.

Source: Chip Chick

Cisco Files to Patent to Enter the Search Engine Business

2009-12-30T23:06:26Z

Editor's Note: Here's a novel idea, maybe there are websites that people want to be private and if they wanted the search engines to know about them then they would let them know. I think Cisco is making a pretty big assumption here. I would rather see the search engines themselves deploy this gear in their datacenters and use it for people doing searches on their indexes and use that data to do inclusions if at all. But I would not like to see this as a new standard deployed everywhere.

One of the limitations of search engines such as Google (GOOG) or Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing that crawl the web looking for links is that they can only tell you about what they’ve finally come upon. That still leaves vast amounts of material as yet to be “discovered.” A patent application from Cisco (CSCO) suggests a clever way to help update the engines — and to make a manufacturer of network equipment an important part of yet another industry.

]]> In June 2008, Cisco filed a patent application yet to be granted but published by the US Patent and Trademark Office on December 17, 2009. The title is Seeding search engine crawlers using intercepted network traffic. As the application notes, a web-crawling search engine has a basic limitation: it cannot index sites of which it doesn’t yet know. Furthermore, it may never be able to reach pages that have not been introduced, either by direct input or by being connected to its existing structure of web pages, known as a web-graph.

And yet, people still use these pages. Cisco’s claimed invention is to have network equipment such as “routers, multilayer switches or any other suitable device” examine data packets for HTTP requests that appear when a network user is looking to reach a resource on the web. The devices would strip out the URLs and pass them to the search engine, which would now know about the page and be able to add the new-to-it site to the web-graph.

Click Here to Continue Reading

VoIP racket busted and equipment seized

2009-12-29T20:08:43Z

KATHMANDU: An investigation team dispatched from Metropolitan Police Crime Division raided a well-equipped underground call centre in Ravibhawan and arrested a racketeer for his involvement in flouting telecommunication laws recently.

The accused Anwar Hussein (24), who hails from Kolkata-24 Porguna, India, and his two accomplices were found to be operating VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) from a rented three-storey building, illegally blocking Nepal Telecom’s gateway, thus inflicting a loss of millions. While, the other accused, Bharat Lal Shrestha (27), hailing from Chaugada-3, Nuwakot, and another named Raju are at large. Raju’s details were still sketchy.

]]> SSP Rana Bahadur Chand, in-charge, MPCD, revealed that the threesome had been using the SIM cards bearing numbers — 9807020501, 9803811605 and 9841467386 — registered in the name of Raju, who goes by his single name.

The police also recovered an eight-lined CDMA wireless adaptor, a Euro Tech Communication’s 32-lined capacity GSM VoIP, a GSM VoIP Gateway equipment, a UPS, a wireless broadband internet antenna, extension codes, a requester, 300 recharge cards, a laptop, a desktop, mobile phone sets and 209 Mero Mobile SIM cards, among others.

The seized properties are said to be worth over Rs 10 million. Anwar has been handed over to Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka.

What is VOIP Gateway?

Call by-passers make use of VoIP GSM Gateway to divert international rings from the official gateway. The call is then transferred to the telecom subscribers through a GSM SIM card. The ISD then displays a personal caller ID on the receiver’s gadget. VoIP has always been a headache for telecom service providers in the country. As per the Telecommunications Act, 2053, any person convicted of posing threat to telecommunications systems and service can face a fine equal to the principal amount of loss caused or sentence up to five years in prison or both.

VoIP uses broadband Internet for routing phone calls, unlike conventional switching and fibre-optic alternatives.

Source: Himalayan Times

Asterisk PBX 1.6.1.12 Now Available

2009-12-18T23:08:23Z

The Asterisk Development Team has announced the release of Asterisk PBX 1.6.1.12.

This release is available for immediate download at
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/

The release of Asterisk 1.6.1.12 resolved several issues reported by the community, and would have not been possible without your participation. Thank you!

* Fix multiple issues with musiconhold, which led to classes not getting
   destroyed properly.
   (closes issues #16279, #16207), reported by: parisioa, dcabot, patched by:
   tilghman, tested by: parisioa, tilghman

* Fix compatibility with valgrind 3.3 and older.
   (noticed in issue #16388), reported by: parisioa, patched by: atis, tested
   by: atis, parisioa

* Prevent double closing of FDs by EIVR
   (closes issue #16305), reported by: diLLec, patched, tested by: thedavidfactor

* Send ack (response/message) after receiving manager action userevent
   (closes issue #16264), reported, patched by: dimas

* Make manager response to "Action: events" finish with empty line
   (closes issue #16275), reported, patched by: vnovy

This release also contains significant improvements to T.38 support. Anyone who has tried T.38 faxing in the past should try again as most problems should now be resolved.

A summary of changes in this release can be found in the release summary:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/asterisk-1.6.1.12-summary.txt

For a full list of changes in this releases, please see the ChangeLog:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.6.1.12

Thank you for your continued support of Asterisk!