Here's an interesting story about a new deployment of WiFi in a 15th century facility. I'd love to read a case study and hear what they went through to put this solution together in more detail.

Michelin Starred WLAN For Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir

Extricom's Interference-Free(tm) Wireless LAN System selected for high-end guest services

London, UK - April 28, 2008 - Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons, Raymond Blanc's 2 Star Michelin hotel and restaurant and home to the Raymond Blanc Cookery School, has completed the deployment of an Extricom Wireless LAN (WLAN) system, designed to deliver wireless mobility services to guests and business delegates throughout Le Manoir's 15th century buildings and gardens. Implemented by systems integrator G4 Networks, Extricom's WLAN system will also support the future migration of Le Manoir's back-office applications, including voice-over-WLAN (VoWLAN), on to the wireless network.

Meeting the demands of Le Manoir's clientele was a key driver behind the deployment of the WLAN solution. Gurval Durand, deputy general manager, explains, "Many of our guests are high level business executives. The services we deliver, including free wireless access, are designed to meet their high expectations and to make their stay as comfortable as possible. Every service or product at Le Manoir has to be top-of-the-range."

"Extricom's WLAN technology provides blanket wireless coverage throughout Le Manoir's grounds, allowing guests to connect and continue working wherever they choose to relax, be it in the gardens, lounge, or in the privacy of their own Suite. The seamless quality of Extricom's Channel Blanket(tm) architecture means guests can even roam between all three, without disruption to their wireless session."

Durand adds, "Furthermore, it also gives us the scope to explore new wireless applications as we seek to enhance our own communications strategy. For example, we're currently assessing the deployment of a VoWLAN phone system that would deliver greater mobility to our employees. Extricom and G4 Networks have given us the longevity and capabilities to evolve as we strive to deliver a first-class guest experience."

Besides meeting expectations for superior performance, systems integrator G4 Networks needed to deliver a wireless network that would neither detract from the aesthetics of the building nor disrupt the listed status of Le Manoir's landmark buildings. To do so, G4 Networks selected the Extricom EXRP-20 Dual-Radio UltraThin(tm) Access Points and mounted them all on the outside perimeter of the buildings, pointing inwards to ensure wireless connectivity within the building.

Dave Allen, director of G4 Networks, comments, "At Le Manoir, it's the details that make the guest experience, and they had no lesser expectations for their wireless LAN. WLAN is a key criterion when choosing hotel accommodation, but the real value-add is its
pervasiveness, its simplicity, and the performance quality."

"Like Le Manoir, Extricom's technology is all in the experience. Its mobility makes it ideal for enterprises that are looking for a far higher quality of service and, as wireless becomes the de facto standard for voice and data applications, its mobility capabilities offer a real differentiator."

Extricom's patented and award-winning Interference-Free(tm) WLAN System represents the next generation of enterprise Wi-Fi, with a fundamental shift in architecture from "cell-planning" to a Channel Blanket(tm) topology. The technology eliminates the co-channel interference that plagues traditional WLAN systems, to deliver seamless and zero-latency mobility, robust, "wire-like" client connections, greatly increased capacity, and the ability to design for a guaranteed and predictable level of service for all users. All this, without the iterative and costly RF cell-planning of traditional solutions. The result is a high-performance yet simple solution for powering the data, voice (VoWLAN), and video applications requested by organizations.

About Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons, www.manoir.com

About G4 Networks, www.g4.co.uk

About Extricom
Extricom is the premier provider of enterprise-class infrastructure solutions for converged voice, data, video and RFID. Its innovative Interference-Free(tm) architecture offers a completely different experience for the system owner and user: lower total cost of ownership; significantly greater security, bandwidth and coverage than traditional WLANs; seamless mobility with no AP-to-AP handoffs; elimination of RF cell planning and co-channel interference; and performance guarantee for both connection rate and bandwidth. Founded in 2002, Extricom is privately held, with strategic investors that include Motorola.

For General Inquiries: www.extricom.com. EMEA Media/Analysts: Charlotte Sandy, Cohesive Communications, +44 1291 626200, extricom@cohesive.uk.com.

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

I've been watching Agito Networks closely the past few months. Today at Interop in Las Vegas they announced some new, innovative business-class enterprise fixed mobile convergence (eFMC) functionality in the latest version of their RoamAnywhere Mobility Router.

With Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router enterprises have a stateful high-availability eFMC architecture available to them, which ensures high-performance, business-class resiliency and availability for mobile voice. Continuing to enhance users' voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) experience, RoamAnywhere also natively integrates with Cisco Systems' Unified Wireless Network family. Another industry first, RoamAnywhere supports identity-based mobility with enhanced native integration with Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP.

AGITO NETWORKS INTRODUCES NEW BUSINESS-CLASS FEATURES TO ENTERPRISE FIXED MOBILE CONVERGENCE MARKETPLACE
RoamAnywhere's Industry-Leading Stateful High Availability, Native Integration with Cisco Unified Wireless Network Family and Active Directory/LDAP Further Address Enterprises' Mobility Needs

INTEROP LAS VEGAS 2008, Las Vegas, Nev. - April 28, 2008 - Agito Networks, Inc.Ô, the company pioneering new technology in enterprise mobility, today from Interop Las Vegas 2008 announced new, innovative business-class enterprise fixed mobile convergence (eFMC) functionality in the latest version of its award-winning RoamAnywhereÔ Mobility Router (http://www.agitonetworks.com/products).

RoamAnywhere will be demonstrated in Agito Networks' booth No. 2266 this week at Interop Las Vegas 2008, and in the Agito Networks suite in the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

With Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router, for the first time enterprises have a stateful high-availability eFMC architecture available to them, which ensures high-performance, business-class resiliency and availability for mobile voice. Continuing to enhance users' voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) experience, RoamAnywhere natively integrates with Cisco Systems' Unified Wireless Network family. Another industry first, RoamAnywhere supports identity-based mobility with enhanced native integration with Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP.

Voice is a mission critical enterprise service, and Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router delivers the richest enterprise-class mobile voice features found in an eFMC product today.

"Here at Anthony Marano, we need in-building wireless coverage, seamless handover to cellular, and some specific PBX functions delivered to the multiple types of handsets we use, all due to our large facility which has very poor cellular coverage," said Christopher Nowak, CTO of the Anthony Marano Company. "Agito has native integration into our PBX and a very elegant technique to ensure perfect hand over, by providing the handset with enterprise site knowledge of where handoffs need to occur. We see a solution like this giving us the improved voice mobility we need to enhance the responsiveness and productivity of our key sales, purchasing and management staff who are dependent on synchronous communications."

RoamAnywhere is the industry's first complete eFMC solution, combining both the "Network Layer" and the "Application Layer" approaches to FMC to increase mobile worker productivity and reduce cellular expenses. By integrating into enterprises' existing PBXes without tampering with the desk phone like other solutions require, Agito Networks provides Application-Layer FMC features such as a single enterprise phone number and voicemail for a user's desk phone and mobile phone, and key enterprise desk phone features extended to users' mobile phones.

At the Network Layer, RoamAnywhere delivers the industry's fastest, sub-100ms automatic location-aware handover between WiFi and cellular networks. Fast, automatic handover enables enterprises to provide their mobile workers low-cost in-building coverage, with drastically reduced cellular expenses and no requirement for cellular data plans. Administrators have greater visibility and control into mobile usage with granular identity-based reporting and CDRs, and mobile policies that adapt to users' locations, including Agito's patent-pending battery savings policies. Unlike other eFMC solutions, RoamAnywhere is an enterprise-ready appliance built for deployments of all sizes, scaling from 10 to 1000 simultaneous users.

"Customers have validated that Agito Network's location-aware technology has finally delivered on the promise of eFMC," said Pejman Roshan, Agito Networks vice president of marketing and a company founder. "Quickly responding to customer demand, the addition of these new enterprise-class features gives enterprises the confidence to fully mobilize their workforce."

RoamAnywhere's new High Availability functionality is delivered in a two-unit redundancy configuration. With other eFMC solutions, an outage will drop all mobile calls. Agito already uniquely protects enterprises' critical business voice applications with its hybrid, non-blocking architecture that follows the industry best-practice of separating control traffic from data/voice traffic. Now, multiple RoamAnywhere appliances in High Availability mode provide non-stop voice availability, with stateful failover across the RoamAnywhere Mobility Routers. Agito's High Availability does not require intervention from users or administrators and is transparent to mobile users in calls.

Agito's location-aware technology seamlessly integrates with Cisco's Radio Resource Management functionality available in Cisco's Unified Wireless Network family. Cisco's Radio Resource Management dynamically optimizes WiFi RF settings to provide the best possible WiFi coverage and capacity. Legacy, static, signal-strength-based eFMC solutions are vulnerable to these dynamic WiFi channel and power changes, significantly degrading voice quality. The RoamAnywhere Mobility Router works hand-in-hand with the Cisco WiFi infrastructure, ensuring a business-class voice experience for mobile users.

Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router also supports native integration into Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP. Native integration enables enterprises to leverage centralized user and group management. RoamAnywhere takes advantage of centralized user/group management for zero-touch client provisioning, deployment, and administration, as well as for mobile access to corporate directories. RoamAnywhere's suite of integrated identity features benefits enterprise users with a standard identity profile for mobile voice and data access, and benefits enterprise IT staff by easily extending their centralized identity system to their mobility infrastructure for access management and monitoring.

The award-winning RoamAnywhere is the industry's first and only business mobile convergence platform that uses RF-based, location-aware technologies to reliably mobilize and enable voice over 802.11 wireless LANs (VoWLAN) and data applications, while remaining agnostic to enterprise customers' choices of mobile carriers and equipment vendors. It uniquely fuses 802.11 wireless LANs (WLANs), enterprise IP telephony, and the carrier cellular network, improving mobile worker accessibility and responsiveness to increase mobile worker productivity. Agito's innovative, patent-pending location-aware technology allows enterprises to mobilize voice by taking full advantage of their 802.11 WLAN deployments as a low-cost alternative to cellular networks for in-building enterprise mobility.

RoamAnywhere's patent-pending, RF-based location aware technology ensures that in-building calls stay on the enterprise WLAN (using VoWLAN), to reduce cellular expenses and eliminate dropped or poor quality calls. Agito's patent pending sub-second, automatic handover of calls between WiFi and cellular is transparent to users. Instead of relying primarily on signal strength to determine routing between WLAN and cellular networks like prior-generation products, RoamAnywhere takes into account a variety of important networking metrics. These include network cost, load, reliability, delay, battery life, call or session quality and location.

Pricing and Availability
North American pricing for the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router starts at approximately $10,000 for the 2000 Series, which scales to support 100 simultaneous users. Pricing starts at $28,000 for the 4000 Series, which scales to support 1,000 simultaneous users. Functionality announced today will be available in Agito Networks' new release later this quarter.

About Agito Networks
Agito Networks is the award-winning technology leader in enterprise mobility. Its product, the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router, is an innovative enterprise fixed mobile convergence (eFMC) platform enabling enterprises to extend voice and Unified Communications to cell phones. RoamAnywhere is the first and only network appliance that fuses enterprise wireless LANs, carrier cellular networks, IP telephony and location technology to mobilize voice and data applications, while remaining agnostic to customers' choices of carrier and equipment vendors. Agito Networks enables low-cost in-building voice coverage, reduced cellular costs, improved enterprise visibility and control over cellular usage, and better accessibility and responsiveness for mobile workers. VON Magazine named Agito Networks a Top Innovator Award winner, while RoamAnywhere has received numerous industry awards, including earning a CTIA Emerging Technology Award and receiving Product of the Year honors from Unified Communications magazine and Internet Telephony magazine. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company is venture backed, led by Battery Ventures. Go to http://www.agitonetworks.com for more information.
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Agito Networks and RoamAnywhere are trademarks of Agito Networks, Inc.

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Yesterday we had the pleasure of sitting in on a wireless seminar sponsored by Strata8 Networks in Bellevue. It was a great session, and lit a fire under me to get more engaged in understanding what Strata8 is doing.

Strata8 is really focused on the idea of eliminating what they call wireless creep to reduce spending in corporate mobile telecommunications. It's a great implementation of technology and when you listen to the numbers and think about where corporate mobile dollars slip down the drain, the approach is very compelling.

Gerry Purdy from Frost & Sullivan and Andy Wilson, EVP of Sales and Marketing at Strata8 did a really nice job with this luncheon learning seminar.

I met with Andy after the session and we'll be getting together in the next few weeks to do a podcast briefing. And in the meantime, I'll do a detailed writeup next week on why this picocell technology holds huge promise for enterprise business.

Special thanks to our friend Leigh Fatzinger for bringing the session to our attention and seeing that we were invited. It was time well spent.
Technorati Tags: Strata8 Networks, mobility, picocells

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

I've been slowly working up to a podcast briefing with the folks at Strata8 Networks. Tomorrow I'll be attending this seminar at the Hyatt in Bellevue, WA to get a little more insight. The rise in wireless technologies certainly fuels the expansion of unified communications as we watch all network services converge into a ubiquitous "service in the cloud" of the future.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Strata8 Networks in the future. And if you're at the seminar, please say hi.

REMINDER: YOUR FREE LUNCH SEMINAR IS TOMORROW! APRIL 24TH, 11:30AM-1:00PM, BELLEVUE HYATT. Thank you for registering for the Controlling Enterprise Wireless Expenditures lunch seminar, sponsored by Strata8 Networks. In this information-packed 90-minute lunch seminar, you'll hear industry experts explain the current paradigm in enterprise cellular purchasing, usage and spending. In addition, you'll learn how forward thinking enterprises are combatting the growing problem of "Wireless Creep", and in the process reducing their total communications costs by as much as 15%-25%. Every attendee will receive a FREE copy of Frost & Sullivan's latest research titled "Management of Costs for Enterprise Wireless". In addition, all attendees will be entered into a drawing for a FREE Apple iPod Touch to be given away at the end of the session (must be present to win). Directions to the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue can be found here. Look for signs in the Hyatt lobby stating: "Strata8 Wireless Expenditures Lunch Seminar". If you have questions or would like to bring a friend or colleague, please contact Mark Bloom, via email or by phone: 206-210-1036.

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

This isn't directly related to any specific technology. It isn't about VoIP or WiFi. It isn't about unified communications or social media. It's really about the evolution of technology and how it's impacting our world and our daily lives.

There's a great series of articles over on The Economist. The best place to start is with Nomads at last. To get the full impact, you really have to follow to the next article, then the next and the next. It's a series. Here's a taste:

AT THE Nomad Café in Oakland, California, Tia Katrina Canlas, a law student at the nearby university in Berkeley, places her double Americano next to her mobile phone and iPod, opens her MacBook laptop computer and logs on to the café's wireless internet connection to study for her class on the legal treatment of sexual orientation. She is a regular here but doesn't usually bring cash, so her credit-card statement reads "Nomad, Nomad, Nomad, Nomad". That says it all, she thinks. Permanently connected, she communicates by text, photo, video or voice throughout the day with her friends and family, and does her "work stuff" at the same time. She roams around town, but often alights at oases that cater to nomads.
[Read the Economist article]

The precept is that many of us are becoming technology nomads, carrying less and less with us in our daily travels because we know where the oasis (of WiFI rather than water) is. While that base concept quickly led me to thinking about WiFi in the early days when we went warchalking to makr where the hotspots were, most of the series is very much on target.

The second article is about the joys and drawbacks of being able to work from anywhere. Speaking as someone who started telecommuting in about 1986 and has spent 40 weeks a year on the road, I really appreciated the balance this piece presented.

Continuing in the series, the third piece is one that could provoke a lot of thought around how our nomadic ways will change buildings, cities and traffic. I think I could spend hours talking and thinking about that issue because how we use offices and physical space is certainly undergoing change.

The fourth article talks about how people, friends and family use current tools differently. As half of a truly hyper-connected couple with Sheryl, this is an area we're both really fascinated by.

The series goes on, but you get the point. I encourage everyone who uses current technology to go start at the beginning and read what interests you.

The subject was also part of this morning's Squawkbox podcast conference call. If you're a Facebook user, you can listen to the recording of that here. It will also likely be part of the conversation on the Idea Incubators weekly call that Sheryl and I host through Facebook here this evening. Both are lively conference calls and open to anyone. Jump into the conversation.




Technorati Tags: mobile computing, wireless, nomadic computing, mobility

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

I've seen a number of press releases from i2Telecom lately. At least one I glossed over because they announced they were the first with a product comparable to a solution I wrote about nearly 16 months ago. Me too never impresses me much, and claiming to be first that far behind the curve does even less to impress me.

What strikes me here is the idea that they can deliver dual-mode functionality to any handset. Sure, I've got multiple WiFi-enabled handsets, but I'm really keen for dual-mode functionality on my Blackberry curve that doesn't support WiFi. I'm going to do some digging on this one, because I just know the press release doesn't match my perception of reality. More to follow

i2Telecom's MyGlobalTalk™ Service Platform Provides Windows Mobile® 5.0 & 6.0 Users With Global Calling at Cost-Effective Rates

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - April 16, 2008 -- i2Telecom International, Inc. ("i2Telecom®") (OTCBB: ITUI), a developer of patented and innovative high-quality Voice-over-Internet Protocol ("VoIP") products and services, today announced the release of Beta Version 2.0 of its MyGlobalTalk™ service.

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 MyGlobalTalk™ software is installed on cellular handsets, 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 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.

Mark Hewitt, Chief Strategic Officer of i2Telecom International, Inc., stated, "We are pleased to be on track for the Beta Version 2.0 release of MyGlobalTalk™ and to have been recently recognized as a recipient of a number of awards related to this exciting technology. These awards include the 2007 INTERNET TELEPHONY® Magazine's 'Product of the Year' Award, 'Best of Show' at the INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference and Expo East 2008 and the 2007 'Product of the Year' Award by Unified Communications. Our team's innovation has brought ease-of-use into the world of VoIP services, through our exciting new MyGlobalTalk™ service. MyGlobalTalk™ users now have the ability to make calls anywhere in the world over the i2Telecom services network using their cellular phones."

"We view MyGlobalTalk™ as a foundation technology that can rapidly gain traction by leveraging the exponential growth of our customer base," continued Mr. Hewitt. "Furthermore, it is our goal to maximize the value of our intellectual property and aggressively pursue additional patentable innovations through such technologies as MyGlobalTalk™."

MyGlobalTalk™, when combined with the i2Telecom services network, allows users to access, through their mobile handheld devices, the cost benefits and features that the Internet delivers to the computer. The current Mobile VoIP Beta Version 2.0 provides low-cost access to both international and domestic telephone networks. Future releases will include speed dial and access to enterprise VoIP enabled communication products currently available from such companies as Microsoft, Nortel, Avaya, Cisco, Vertical, and Mitel.

MyGlobalTalk™ is being released in phases, having commenced in the first quarter of 2008 to customers in the United States and the United Kingdom with SmartPhone handsets that utilize the Windows Mobile® 5.0/6.0 operating system. Accompanying the release of the MyGlobalTalk™ mobile application is a MyGlobalTalk™ branded web site. Subsequent releases will be available worldwide and will include support for Blackberry, iPhone and Symbian enabled handsets, while adding new features specifically designed with the mobile handset user in mind. For additional information please visit www.myglobaltalk.com .

About i2Telecom International, Inc.
i2Telecom International, Inc. is a developer of patented and innovative high-quality Voice-over-Internet Protocol ("VoIP") products and services that employ best-of-breed VoIP technology and use a combination of the Company's own services network and the Internet to deliver high-quality phone calls, streaming video and text chat to customers on a global scale. i2Telecom International provides its VoiceStick®, MyGlobalTalk™, Digital Portal communications and microgateway adapters for VoIP long-distance and other enhanced communication services to its subscribers. Its patent pending services technology platform is compliant with the Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP") telecommunications industry standard. For additional information visit www.i2telecom.com or www.voicestick.com or www.myglobaltalk.com or call 404-567-4750.

SAFE HARBOR Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described, including, but not limited to, product acceptance, economic, competitive, governmental, results of litigation, technological and/or other factors which are outside the control of the company. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on such factors as changes in general economic conditions and financial or equity markets, technological changes, and other business risk factors. i2Telecom® does not assume, and expressly disclaims, any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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Technorati Tags: i2Telecom, mobility

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Long Term Evolution and Service Architecture Evolution, or LTE/SAE as an evolutionary path for 3GPP networks is getting a lot of attention these days. Here's a release announcing the commitment from some of the industry leading companies to work together toward a common licensing framework for our coming generation of wireless networking.

Wireless Industry Leaders commit to framework for LTE technology IPR licensing

Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sony Ericsson have today announced a mutual commitment to a framework for establishing predictable and more transparent maximum aggregate costs for licensing intellectual property rights (IPR) that relate to 3GPP Long Term Evolution and Service Architecture Evolution standards (LTE/SAE). The companies invite all interested parties to join this initiative which is intended to stimulate early adoption of mobile broadband technology across the communications and consumer electronic industries.

The framework is based on the prevalent industry principle of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms for essential patents. This means that the companies agree, subject to reciprocity, to reasonable, maximum aggregate royalty rates based on the value added by the technology in the end product and to flexible licensing arrangements according to the licensors' proportional share of all standard essential IPR for the relevant product category.

Specifically, the companies support that a reasonable maximum aggregate royalty level for LTE essential IPR in handsets is a single-digit percentage of the sales price. For notebooks, with embedded LTE capabilities, the companies support a single-digit dollar amount as the maximum aggregate royalty level. The parties believe the market will drive the LTE licensing regime to be in accordance with these principles and aggregate royalty levels.

This framework balances the prevailing business conditions relevant for the successful widespread adoption of the LTE standard, which continues its progress toward definitive adoption by the industry in the applicable standards forums and organizations.

Company Quotes

"As our respective companies have now launched R&D efforts and trials for LTE technology, we hope that this initiative will help for a wide adoption of this technology across devices and applications, enabling a wireless lifestyle for consumers and enterprises and creating value for technology providers," said Olivier Baujard, Chief Technology Officer, Alcatel-Lucent.

"The adoption of this initiative will reassure operators of the early widespread adoption of LTE technology throughout the consumer electronics industry," Ericsson's Senior Vice President, General Manager and Chief Technology Officer Håkan Eriksson said. "It also confirms Ericsson's longstanding commitment to the FRAND principles as fundamental to the industry."

"NEC is excited about this initiative. LTE is a key technology in the transformation of voice-oriented telecom services into data-oriented communication services. In partnership with other LTE technology leaders and vendors, NEC, as both an infrastructure and handset provider, must play a crucial role in establishing a better environment in which to explore the LTE market, and we believe this initiative is an important first step. " said Dr. Katsumi Emura, Executive General Manager, Intellectual Asset Management Unit, NEC Corporation.

"Today's devices contain a multitude of different technologies. To ensure all patent holders are treated fairly without stifling the market, it would be preferable for patent holders to offer reasonable terms." said Ken Stanwood, Executive Vice President Technology and Standards, NextWave Wireless "We are enthusiastic about this effort and hope the concepts will spread to other technologies."

"The patent licensing market requires basic rules in order to properly develop and function", said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Intellectual Property Rights, Nokia. "Today's announcement is a step towards establishing more predictable and transparent licensing costs in a manner that enables faster adoption of new technologies. "

"In order to connect 5 billion people and deal with 100-fold traffic at lowest cost of ownership we need to create economies of scale, " said Stephan Scholz, CTO of Nokia Siemens Networks, "Mobile broadband implementation using technologies with a predictable, transparent maximum aggregate costs for licensing intellectual property rights will drive global adoption and foster social and economical growth."

Technorati Tags: Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks , Sony Ericsson, LTE, Long Term Evolution, SAE, Service Architecture Evolution, wireless

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Improving the audio quality of voice calls is becoming increasing important as a competitive differentiator. Many solution providers are aiming at quality improvement through high density (HD) or wideband codecs. The difference on a VoIP call is very noticeable to the human ear.

Yesterday Polycom news announced this at: http://polycom.com/usa/en/company/news_room/press_releases/2008/20080408.html

One intriguing aspec of the Polycom announcement is that when callers use the new Polycom phones with ZipDX audio conferencing service, they can conduct the calls in HD Voice/wideband audio. ZipDX is the only conferencing service currently on the market that enables this feature and allows owners of these new phones to maximize the features on their phones.

ZIPDX ADVANCED CONFERENCING SERVICE SUPPORTS NEXT-GENERATION CONFERENCE PHONES FEATURING HD VOICE

ZipDX Leverages Wideband Audio to Maximize HD Voice Technology on Polycom's New SoundStation IP 6000 and 7000 Conference Phones

LOS GATOS, CALIF. - April 8, 2008 - ZipDX, the only audio conferencing service offering standards-based wideband audio, today announced interoperability and full support for Polycom's SoundStation® IP 6000 and SoundStation IP 7000 with Polycom HD VoiceTM technology. Polycom, the world's leading provider of unified collaborative communications solutions, launched the breakthrough conference phones this week.

ZipDX recently completed beta testing among small and mid-sized enterprise customers who used the service with the SoundStation IP 6000 and IP 7000 conference phones.

Merit Games has been a ZipDX customer since October 2007 and participated in the beta program. "I never realized how valuable wideband audio was until I was able to experience it on my Polycom phone through ZipDX," said Michael Maas, CEO of Merit Games. "With HD Voice, there's less repetition and fewer misunderstandings. I've found our calls to be more productive overall. In addition, my team really appreciates a number of other ZipDX features that we haven't seen with other services. Excuses about misplacing codes and losing track of time are gone; our conferences start promptly."

The ZipDX system can work with the IP 6000 and IP 7000 in conjunction with an IP-PBX, or in a "ZipDX stand-alone" mode for those businesses that have not yet transitioned to VoIP, but want the benefits and outstanding user experience of high-performance voice conferencing.

ZipDX designed its Conferencing 2.0 audio collaboration service to maximize the capabilities of Polycom's phones and incorporate additional features to enhance usability and productivity for Polycom customers, including a call dashboard on the conference phone display area.

"SoundStation IP 6000 and 7000 models set a new bar for conference phone performance," said Chalan Aras, vice president of marketing for Polycom's voice communications solutions division. "The ZipDX service is the perfect complement to these devices. Conference calls conducted using ZipDX in combination with our next-generation conference phones and existing HD Voice desktop phones deliver an unmatched user experience that leverages the wideband audio performance of Polycom HD Voice for astounding clarity and recognition."

About Wideband Audio
Wideband audio encodes twice as much speech information as traditional, or narrowband, audio. Wideband-audio phones capture both the deeper lows and higher frequencies of the human voice to deliver crystal clear sound quality. It is an invaluable tool for conferencing, where it is often a challenge to identify speakers with similar voices, understand accented speakers, overcome background noises and hear faint talkers. For more information, visit HDVoice.tmcnet.com/.

About ZipDX
ZipDX is an advanced audio collaboration service that solves problems common with traditional phone conferencing services and enhances the productivity of business conferences. With a suite of features that includes patented auto-identification of call-in participants and integration with web-based calendaring systems, ZipDX is a premium conferencing service that creates valuable solutions for conference callers. In addition, ZipDX is the only service in the market that supports standards-based wideband audio available today for users of Polycom HD VoiceTM products and select VoIP-based systems. For more information, visit www.ZipDX.com.

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Technorati Tags: Polycom, ZipDX, conference calling, HS audio, wideband audio

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |

My friend Luca's post this morning caught my eye straightaway.

Is Ooma heading to the deadpool?

I was not surprised today when I read this article by Valleywag. Ooma, the VoIP service much discussed in the past months over the blogsphere, seems to be in trouble and many VP are leaving the company. Even their PR agency is not representing them anymore.

I'm one of those who argues Ooma was headed to the dead pool the day I read their announcement and business model. They generated a lot of flailing about in the blogosphere. That problem got them more attention and coverage that the Ashton Kutcher promo. But in my view, it was never terribly viable as a solution or approach. I never found them forthcoming with usable information or enough disclosure to even merit serious consideration. If Luca hadn't mentioned this, they'd already disappeared from my view. I thought they never got off the ground.

I hate seeing new startups fail, but I also know it takes a good product solution and a viable business plan to succeed.

Here's the Valleywag story for those who want more.

Ashton Kutcher-backed startup Ooma is falling apart

Hold the phone: Voice-over-Internet startup Ooma is flailing, despite -- or perhaps because of -- a viral-video marketing campaign directed by Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher. Ooma launched its product, a $400 device which offers unlimited phone calls, last year, with a splash of press. Starstruck tech bloggers like TechCrunch's Michael Arrington gave away Ooma gadgets to readers in exchange for some facetime with Kutcher -- and asked few questions about its nonsensical business model, which had it charging high upfront prices for hardware and giving away phone service. Now, we're told, its high-school-dropout CEO, Andrew Frame, has seen a host of executives leave.

Technorati Tags: Ooma, startup failure

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (1) |

I had some inkling that something like this was in the works because I'd caught sight of a new SIM card recently at the VON.x conference in San Jose. Actually, I've already put out feelers to get my hands on a couple of the for testing. I'm hoping that with this announcement being public I'll be able to wheedle some test SIMS from my friends at Truphone.

Truphone makes strategic acquisition of SIM4travel assets

Mobile internet network operator Truphone has concluded an agreement to purchase the business of SIM4travel by way of an asset purchase agreement.

The purchase means that Truphone will acquire both SIM4travel's travel SIM capability and its Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) platform. Integration of SIM4travel's assets into Truphone's own portfolio will begin immediately and take several months to complete.

Technorati Tags: Truphone, SIM4travel, mobility, wireless, VoIP

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (0) |