Archive for October 29th, 2008
JDS Uniphase CEO Quits
JDS Uniphase President & CEO Kevin Kennedy has resigned and will be taking over as the CEO of another unnamed company, though he is going to remain on with JDS’s Board of Directors as Vice Chairman. A replacement CEO hasn’t been named. A telecom industry veteran, Kennedy has been helping bring JDS back from the brink. JDS stock has lost more than half its value so far this year and is trading at about $6 a share. The telecom equipment market is facing tough times as carriers tig...
Global IP Solutions Coming Back to Life: Driving the Desktop Video Space
Global IP Solutions today announced a white paper on Desktop Video Conferencing, providing a background for their video infrastructure technology that has the potential to make video calling and video conferencing available to a much broader user base beyond Skype’s (even though it is quite large) and SightSpeed.Many of you will recall that Skype’s original voice engine came from Global IP Solutions (formerly Global IP Sound) and contributed to Skype’s initial adoption through ...
National Firewalls A Step On Slippery Slope To Censorship
As the furor over a proposal to create a national firewall in Australia heats up and reports emerge of a proposal to build a firewall spanning Russia and several of its neighbors, the Thai government has said it will block up to 1,000 web sites offensive to the Thai royal family. The firewall would be just one part of a broader government crackdown on insults to the monarchy, which are illegal in Thailand, the Bangkok Post is reporting today. While 1,000 sites might not seem like much, the typ...
Study: Online Vid Viewers Engaged in Election
Next week at this time we’ll have a new President-elect. And though the outcome might get mired in a legal morass, one clear winner from the year-and-a-half campaign has been online video. Now, a new study from Compete and Cisco sheds a little more light on exactly how U.S. voters were using online video, how Republicans and Democrats went about finding video, and how online video affected voters’ engagement in the election. Read more over at NewTeeVee. ...
FCC Demands VoIP E911
The Federal Communications Commission issued regulations this week for voice-over-IP service providers to offer Enhanced 911 emergency call services to all customers. The rules were required under the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, which was signed into law in July. DUTIES.–It shall be the duty of each IP-enabled voice service provider to provide 9-1-1 service and enhanced 9-1-1 service to its subscribers in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Commu...
Looking forward to attending the 2008 Rosh Pina Festival
Next week while I am in Israel, I will be speaking at the 2008 Rosh Pina Festival. The Rosh Pina Festival brings together digital media executives from both Israel and abroad. The Rosh Pina Festival was started by Ami Giniger, Chairman and CEO of Taya Communications. This year, my friend Yossi Vardi is co-chairing the event. At this years event there will be a number of people from the Israeli Hi-Tech industry who are responsible for developing the next generation technology platforms for th...
CDN Channel Elite Awards
Last night I attended the Channel Elite Awards here in Toronto. It was a nice gala to honor the winners from the annual awards organized by Computer Dealer News. I was recently invited to be a judge for these awards and reviewed about 70 submissions along the way. It was a good experience, and part of the payoff was attending the gala. Paolo Del Nibletto was nice enough to involve me in the event, so a big thank you there. To learn more about the highlights and winners, here’s his wrapup p...
Worldwide WiMAX Growth Wows
When it comes to the next generation of wireless broadband, the carriers seem to have the Long Term Evolution standard, or LTE, all sewn up, but the competing 4G service WiMAX is nothing to scoff at. WiMAX service, deployed in the U.S. by Sprint and 13 rural carriers, is gaining ground in other areas of the world, especially India, according to data published today by TeleGeography Research. The research firm said the number of commercial WiMAX networks worldwide grew 82 percent — to 126 ...
$1000 Airfare
USA Today has an article about airfare for the holidays hitting $1000 for domestic coach (plus fees). As a frequent traveler, I can say that the airlines need to go under - no more bail out. We gave them billions after 9/11 and they ended up in BK court anyway. These companies do not understand business nor customer service. Why don’t they just charge what the seat costs? It’s a basic math equation. Southwest can do it. Why can’t the bailed out bloated legacy carriers? I though...
Logitech Acquires SightSpeed
I’m a huge fan of SightSpeed and so I was pleasantly surprised this morning to read that Logitech has acquired SightSpeed for approximately $30 million in cash. I’m a fan of both companies actually, and my favorite webcam is the Logitech Quickcam Orbit AF, The acquisition is expected to close in early November. Just check out my favorable review of SightSpeed here and how SightSpeed carried out their patriotic duty in offering SightSpeed videoconferencing for online gameplay between ...
An Earnings Season Tale of Two ISPs
Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S. reported earnings today as did Qwest, the No. 3 telco provider. Comcast watched its earnings rise by 33 percent. Qwest saw sales drop and announced it will layoff 1,200 people. Between these two earnings releases, there are large differences that show how bundles help boost communications services and how landline voice access is waning. Comcast saw its sales rise 10 percent to $8.55 billion for the third quarter of the year, which led to adjus...
Logitech buys SightSpeed
SightSpeed is a great video conferencing tool. No software to download. Just plug in your webcam and go. It is based on SIP and offers 30 frame-per-second video with an integrated IM service. Logitech makes webcams. Apparently to sell more of them, they need people to actually use them. (To use them for more than amateur porn that is). So Logitech bought SightSpeed. Logitech, a Swiss maker of computer peripherals has acquired video conferencing software maker SightSpeed of Berkeley, Calif. for...
Call for Telecom Startups
from today’s HARO: “The Telecom Council of Silicon Valley is now accepting applications to present to their Investor Forum on December 5th, location in Silicon Valley (TBA). Over the past 6 years, 50% of presenters to our Service Provider and Investor Forums have started talks with our members and 20% of those lead to a deal. This Quarterly Investor Forum meeting attendees include both the Service Provider and Investor members of the Telecom Council who gather for one purpose ...
Using the Internet for Environmental Change in Israel
I am happy to be hosting along with the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership a gathering to discuss how social networks can be used as a tool to promote environmental work in Israel. The Heschel Center, which trains Israels environmental leadership, is creating an environmental social network, which will be used to network environmental activity throughout the country. They would like to present their plans to whoever is interested and willing to give feedback to their p...
Gush Up vs. Trickle Down
We shouldn’t try a trickle-down approach to “saving” the auto industry and especially the auto finance companies; instead, if aid is needed at all, it should be shoveled in at the bottom of the economy from which it is sure to gush up (see a sample plan below). The New York Times has done a great job of revealing that banks are using their bailout funds not to make more loans but to buy out their competitors. Now Cerberus, the private “capital management” company w...
Laid Off? Get a NewTeeVee Live Discount
It’s a pickle. You just got laid off and now more than ever you need to get a new gig. The best place to meet prospective employers and network is in person at an industry conference (get them drunk!). But now there’s no company paying your way, and you’re pinching every penny. What you need is a discount. Our NewTeeVee Live Conference is right around the corner, and it not only features a stellar lineup of speakers (the CEOs of Hulu, Netflix and Canoe Ventures, and the creato...
The iPhone is Recession-Proof
As the economic turbulence hits home and people start to pay more attention to their finances, it will be interesting to see if iPhone sales remain unscathed. My take is that growth may not be as spectacular but strong demand for the iconic device will keep sales robust even as people shy away from other purchases such as clothes, restaurants and other kinds of consumer electronics. From what I can tell, the iPhone’s biggest strength is its utility. It’s seen as much more than an MP3...
Over at GigaOm: BlackBerry Storm Should Be Called BlackBerry Stealth
This morning a post on my observations of BlackBerry’s role in the smartphone wars were published in a post entitled: Why BlackBerry Storm Is An iPhone (and G-1) Killer. It’s a classic case of the importance of working with customers who have large customer or user bases such that this asset alone may trump all the technology arguments out there.RIM designed the Storm to meet Verizon’s and Vodafone’s requirements. It’s the embedded user base that will be a most sign...
Logitech to Acquire SightSpeed. Questions Arise.
According to Tech Crunch and GigaOm posts late last night Logitech is about to spend $30 million to acquire SightSpeed, the video messaging and video conferencing service that recently was selected ot provide the infrastructure for Dell’s Video Chat. Congratulations to Peter Csathy and his team. And to Andy Abramson and his team; another Comunicano client achieves success. Seems like the video calling and video conferencing market is about to heat up. There will be another post later this ...
Why BlackBerry Storm Is An iPhone (and G-1) Killer
Having followed activity in the BlackBerry ecosystem over the past few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that BlackBerry Storm should be called BlackBerry Stealth. Why? With little media coverage, its forthcoming launch is the sleeper play in the smartphone market; it is poised to make major market penetration on its launch later this fall. Let’s look at the reasons: The carriers: BlackBerry Storm was designed for two major carriers, with proven 3G network performance, who aren’t...
There are times when Social Media Just Tastes Great
I have learned a lot from hosting social media events during the past year. I am someone who believes there is something special that happens when people who only know each other online have a chance to get together and have shared common experiences in a face to face setting. Face to face experiences over time will strengthen our online relationships. After hosting more than 30 social networking breakfasts in 17 cities around the world in 2008, I thought it would it would be interesting to tr...
Can Motorola’s Big Bet on Android Pay Off?
A few days ago Business Week reported that Motorola was working on a new social networking-oriented, Google Android-powered smartphone. Later we pointed out that Motorola’s experiment with Android goes beyond just one phone. Today, The Wall Street Journal reports that Motorola’s bet on Android is much bigger than previously reported. As we said earlier, the Motorola handset division’s new chief, Dr. Sanjay Jha, had been a big proponent of Google’s Android when he worked for Qualcomm. Th...
Where to Get Live Election Night Coverage Online
The 2008 election and online video have had a lot of special moments together: The CNN-YouTube primary debates. Obama Girl. Will.i.am’s “Yes We Can.” Saturday Night Live’s “Fey-lin” skits. And even though those examples might lean to the left, online video isn’t just a liberal thing. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns have active YouTube accounts, and in September, the McCain account had nearly three times as many average views per video as its rival&#...
Logitech Buys SightSpeed For Video Conferencing
Logitech, a Swiss maker of computer peripherals, has acquired video conferencing software maker SightSpeed of Berkeley, Calif., for approximately $30 million in cash. The deal is expected to close sometime in November and will have no material impact on Logitech’s business. SightSpeed was started in 2001 and has about 25 employees. Video conferencing is becoming a larger part of business for peripheral makers such as Logitech, who are seeing an increase in the sales of computer-attached...
TOM-Skype Breach: Nart’s Recommendations to Skype
This is the fourth and final of four posts resulting from an interview with Nart Villeneuve, principle investigator of the Citizen Lab report “Breaching Trust”. Having discussed some background to Nart’s research, the activities of the Citizen Lab and answers to Phil’s questions, Nart had a couple of recommendations for Skype going forward. As background, the Citizen Lab is a affiliated with the BerkmanCenter for Internet & Society’s “Principles on Free Ex...
Forget Wii Fit: Play Full-Body Tetris Instead
Intel’s research blog has an intriguing post about technology that could let you play Tetris using your entire body — not just your thumbs — thanks to some real-time motion capture work and tons of extra processing power. The Intel research team in Pittsburgh has come up with a way to capture a user’s motion without expensive accessories: Unlike typical approaches to gesture detection that employ props, special clothing/markers (motion capture systems) or a controlled environme...
GigaNET: iPhone Devs, Instant-On Linux and More
TheAppleBlog: Demand for iPhone developers is up 500 percent. OStatic: Linux-based Instant-on trend spreads. WebWorkerDaily: Google Apps Labs get to work with new add-ons and features. NewTeeVee: Superbowl ads reinvented for the ‘08 elections. Earth2Tech: Investors see a silver lining as the credit crunch and dropping oil prices threaten cleantech businesses. ...
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News, opinions and announcements about fast changing communication tools and technologies, from various blogs and ezine.