Daily Payload

Google, LA hit speed bumps on move to cloud

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:59:58 GMT

Google and the city of Los Angeles have hit a speed bump in the full implementation of Google Apps into the city's various departments, and the costs of a delay could top $100,000—for Google.

Smartphone shipments jump 43 percent

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:33:00 GMT

The second quarter saw 60 million smartphones shipped around the world, a 43 percent jump from a year ago, with Apple gaining more market share.

Nokia profit plunges 40 percent

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:00:44 GMT

Nokia took home a profit of 227 million euros ($291 million), down from the 380 million euros a year earlier. Sales for the quarter that ended June 30, 2010 were virtually flat, inching up 1% to 10 billion euros from 9.9 billion a year ago.

Skype shelves call charges as operators will collect the money instead

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:47:12 GMT

VoIP operator Skype has shelved plans to charge users for 3G calling, claiming that operator plans to bill by the byte make such charges redundant.

Skype for iPhone Now Runs in Background, Replaces Phone App

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:30:18 GMT

One of the “tent-poles” of Apple’s iOS4 is multitasking, and one of the biggest features of iOS multitasking is letting VoIP applications continue to run in the background, alerting you when a call comes in, for instance. Until today, though, this has been largely moot as the big daddy of VoIP — Skype — had not been updated to use this new feature.

Nokia seeking new CEO

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:48:27 GMT

Mobile phone giant Nokia is looking for a new chief executive to replace Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

Can OpenStack Change The Cloud Computing Game?

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:44:50 GMT

Rackspace and NASA have paired to deliver an open-source cloud computing platform, dubbed OpenStack, and cloud providers and partners are pumped for the possibility of more open cloud computing and possible standardization.

Google quietly kills its once-hyped Nexus One phone

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:57:57 GMT

With the eyes of the technology world squarely on Apple's iPhone 4, Google quietly announced it will stop selling the Nexus One, its first and possibly only foray into the smartphone world. — And what a shame, too, since it is a really cool phone without all the baggage carriers add to their phones.

VMware Knows the Cloud Doesn’t Need Server Virtualization

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:45:14 GMT

Server virtualization created cloud computing. Without the ability to run multiple logical server instances on a single physical server, the cloud computing economics we know today wouldn’t be possible. At that point, though, the value of server virtualization will go down substantially.

VocalTec and YMAX/magicJack Announce Merger

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:23:49 GMT

VocalTec, the inventor of VoIP including the softphone, and YMAX, the creator of magicJack and other products and services, have successfully merged and will be traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol CALL.

Apple announces free case for iPhone 4 users

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:50:24 GMT

Apple plans to give iPhone 4 users a free case in hopes of satisfying concerns about the design of its antenna and signal problems.

SIP trunking: A primer

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:37:30 GMT

SIP is being used more widely these days than before, but almost exclusively as a means of reducing communications costs for businesses with multiple physical locations and existing high-speed data connections between sites by removing PSTN equipment at each site and consolidating the voice infrastructure.

Microsoft launches Azure private cloud in a box

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:23:45 GMT

Microsoft is making good on its promise to allow enterprise customers buy Windows Azure preconfigured in datacenter containers from selected partners. Microsoft took the wraps off the name for this offering — Windows Azure Platform Appliance — and said Dell, Fujitsu and Hewlett Packard were all to sell this offering.

Reverse engineer extracts Skype crypto secret recipe

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 22:02:11 GMT

A group of code breakers led by Sean O'Neil reckon they have successfully reverse engineered Skype's implementation of the RC4 cipher, one of several encryption technologies used by the consumer-oriented VoIP service.

Cloud computing 'to overtake desktop by 2020'

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 21:55:29 GMT

Cloud computing is likely to take on a renewed importance in the coming years, with research predicting that it will overtake desktop computing by 2020.

How the Cloud Changed World's Oldest Newspaper

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 21:51:25 GMT

Toby Wright, CTO of the Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the Daily Telegraph, the oldest continuously publishing newspaper in the world, summed up the company's full exploitation of cloud computing with "let someone else run operations."

US VoIP subscribers 21 million strong

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 18:39:49 GMT

The US Federal Communications Commission reports that there are 21 million VoIP subscriptions stateside, and that the vast majority of them are residential customers. But it didn't count Skype subscribers.

Private cloud computing: Pitfalls and advice for avoiding them

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:50:19 GMT

While small and midmarket businesses gobble up public cloud services, enterprises are experimenting with private cloud computing to gain efficiencies from existing resources. The exercise has resulted in some best practices — as well as some pitfalls.

Cisco introduces Cius Android tablet PC

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:51:09 GMT

Cisco Systems plans to offer an Android-based tablet PC to its business customers with integrated video conferencing and other communications tools built in.

Amazon EC2 Creators Pull Curtain Off Of Nimbula

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:07:42 GMT

Two of the forces behind Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) have launched their own company bent on blending the agility and ease of public cloud computing with the security and peace of mind of private cloud computing, further blurring the lines between public and private.

Polycom CEO says looking to buy, not to be bought

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:57:31 GMT

Polycom new chief executive said the videoconferencing company was not in any talks with potential buyers, but instead expects to become more active in pursuing acquisitions of its own.

Vonage believes the iPad could be its cure

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:05:28 GMT

Vonage thinks the answer to its ongoing recovery will be found in new devices including Apple's iPad device. After hitting a rock bottom low last year when it stock plummeted to 33 cents, Vonage is now trading at more than $2 and even saw a profit in Q4.

Videoconferencing Comes of Age, Again?

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:47:21 GMT

For most of the last 40 years, videoconferencing has been the wave of the future. With every new generation of technology, the latest invention is the one that’s going to make videoconferencing take off. But the advent of the Web and iPhones may turn such meetings into everyday events, replacing many face-to-face gatherings.

AT&T suspends iPhone 4 preorders

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:35:56 GMT

Citing extremely high demand, AT&T has been forced to stop taking preorders for Apple's iPhone 4 after just one day.

Verizon to Tie Cloud Storage With Computing

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:07:57 GMT

Verizon Business is set to announce a cloud-based storage service on Tuesday, leveraging the formidable Verizon Communications global data network as a draw for large enterprises to subscribe.

VMware in Talks to Acquire EngineYard

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:00:35 GMT

VMware is back on the hunt for new startups as it looks to further raise its profile in the platform-as-a-service market. Sources tell me its latest target is EngineYard, the Ruby on Rails cloud provider that’s raised $37 million.

Steve Jobs Delivers a Surprise with iPhone 4 -- Videoconferencing

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 02:49:39 GMT

Apple CEO Steve Jobs displayed his showmanship at the WWDC10, unveiling the iPhone 4 as expected, but with a kicker ending — videoconferencing capabilities.

AT&T to halt unlimited iPhone data pricing

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 14:54:07 GMT

AT&T said it will no longer offer its $30 unlimited-pricing plan for new smartphone customers who access Internet and e-mail on their devices. AT&T will offer plans to new customers that cost $15 monthly for 200 megabytes of data traffic or $25 monthly for 2 gigabytes. A $10 monthly charge will be levied for each additional gigabyte.

Skype to start charging for iPhone VoIP

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 23:16:04 GMT

Skype has launched a new iPhone version, enabling calls over the 3G data network, but come 2011 users will be expected to start paying for those calls too. — And that brings the value of Skype down quite substantially. Just imagine roaming outside one's home network and getting charged by Skype and the foreign carrier for data usage.

Verizon pledges to promote new Motorola smartphones

Fri, 28 May 2010 17:58:13 GMT

Motorola signs deal with Verizon Wireless to ensure that its upcoming smartphones receive a heavy marketing push from the carrier.