Daily Payload

Key VoIP patent to be re-examined

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 17:12:37 GMT

A longstanding patent on VoIP technology is to be re-examined by the US Patent and Trademark Office following a complaint by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a patent that essentially claims to be where the PSTN gateway was invented.

Radvision buys Aethra's HD video conferencing business

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 06:21:12 GMT

Radvision is to buy certain assets from Aethra, including intellectual property and technology for HD videoconferencing endpoint systems, subject to conditions and authorities approvals.

Fugitive VoIP hacker admits 10 million minute spree

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:09:26 GMT

A Miami hacker has admitted he pocketed more than $1M by selling millions of minutes of VoIP calls and surreptitiously routing them through the networks of telecommunications companies.

VoIP Still Threatens Legacy Carriers

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 23:39:18 GMT

"The first phase of VoIP providers thought they were going to be disruptive," says Robert Poe, analyst-at-large for Heavy Reading and author of the VoIP report. "But they weren't innovative in terms of business models. They used VoIP to essentially emulate what the telcos were already doing."

Amazon Web Services Lowers Data Transfer Prices

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 15:47:01 GMT

Working hard to remain the leader in cloud computing infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Amazon took another step at reducing prices for customers. This is just one step of many that Amazon has taken “to drive [their] costs down and become more operationally efficient.”

China Unicom warns of 50% profit dive

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 16:58:25 GMT

High 3G roll out costs are partly to blame for China Unicom's latest warning that its earnings could fall by more than half.

Windows Azure finally ready for customers

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 15:27:26 GMT

Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud computing service became generally available on Monday with very little flourish. And that might be because this first wave of Azure offerings is frankly a bit odd.

Global cell phone sales on the rise

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 18:54:53 GMT

Sales of cell phones around the world rebounded in the fourth quarter, indicating that the recession may be over for the beleaguered mobile handset market.

Apple iPad Challenges Google's Chrome Cloud Computing Designs

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:34:22 GMT

Apple stands to challenge Google in the cloud computing war with the new iPad. The iPad is geared to provide the most compelling mobile Internet experience users have seen to date, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs proclaiming that holding the tablet was like "holding the Internet in your hand." But Google later this year is expected to bring its own vision for mobile Web consumption in the form of netbooks based on its Chrome Operating System.

Motorola ekes out profit, but sales are off

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:29:01 GMT

Motorola turned a profit of $143 million, compared with a loss of $3.7 billion in the same quarter of 2008. The 2008 quarterly loss was largely attributed to nonrecurring charges that Motorola was forced to take. Still, sales were a disappointment.

AT&T profits up 25 percent on wireless growth

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:27:16 GMT

AT&T posted a 25.6% increase in fourth-quarter earnings as its wireless and new TV businesses continued to grow.

Apple lifts VoIP ban over 3G networks

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:01:53 GMT

Apple has swung open the cellular network doors and updated the iPhone SDK to allow developers to take advantage of VoIP over 3G functionality.

Cisco Offers Open Telepresence Standard

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:56:06 GMT

Cisco announced the release of an interoperability protocol that it believes will enable vendors and suppliers in the telepresence space to seamlessly collaborate with each other and with customers. At the same time Cisco cited five new telepresence applications with collaboration features.

Microsoft eyes clean break with Windows Mobile 7

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:33:31 GMT

Microsoft's long and winding road toward regaining lost ground in the cell phone business will reach an important milestone in Barcelona next month.

Analysts predict bold growth for Google Android

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:17:33 GMT

Google's Android is expected to take the smartphone market by storm in the next few years, growing faster than all its competitors.

Juniper, Polycom forge telepresence, video-conferencing alliance

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:47:10 GMT

Juniper Networks and Polycom have teamed on a joint telepresence and video-conferencing offering that's designed to serve as a counterweight to Cisco Systems and its recent acquisition of TANDBERG.

Ericsson to trim 1,500 jobs

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:45:53 GMT

Ericsson it is cutting 1,500 jobs from among its 80,000 global employees.

Why cloud exchanges won't work

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:25:37 GMT

As cloud computing in its various forms increasingly happens rather than just being talked about, there is talk of a cloud-computing exchange floating around. There are certainly things to like about the concept but, but this author does not see it playing out in pure form anytime soon.

IBM adds meeting functionality to Lotus Sametime

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:06:05 GMT

IBM has added online meeting functionality and expanded audio and video integration to its Lotus Sametime 8.5 videoconferencing software.

Polycom, SEN in tie-up as competition heats up

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:12:58 GMT

Polycom has agreed to a global resale partnership with Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEN), aiming to broaden its sales reach and fight off competition from Cisco in the videoconferencing space.

Microsoft Calls for Cloud Computing Transparency

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:13:36 GMT

Arguing for industry self-regulation, Microsoft says that "it should not be enough for service providers simply to say that their services are private and secure. There needs to be some transparency about why this is the case."

Avaya Unveils Roadmap for Future of Business Communications

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:06:17 GMT

Avaya unveiled its vision for the future of communications and a roadmap that integrates products and services from the recently acquired Nortel Enterprise Solutions (NES) to create a new standard for business communications.

Does the Fourth Amendment cover 'the cloud'?

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:41:13 GMT

One of the biggest issues facing individuals and corporations choosing to adopt public cloud computing (or any Internet service, for that matter) is the relative lack of clarity with respect to legal rights over data stored online.

Network flaw causes scary Web error

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:41:25 GMT

A Georgia mother and her two daughters logged onto Facebook from mobile phones last weekend and wound up in a startling place: strangers' accounts with full access to troves of private information. — Sadly, this highlights a few problems: 1) AT&T proxies everything; 2) their proxy servers are seriously flawed; and 3) AT&T is apparently in the middle of your conversations, even if they're supposed to be encrypted.

Microsoft Said to Plan Debut of New Mobile Windows in February

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:08:08 GMT

Microsoft plans to unveil its new mobile-phone operating system, Windows Mobile 7, next month, a bid to reverse market share losses to Google and Apple, according to a person familiar with the matter.

IBM grabs largest enterprise cloud deployment

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:02:34 GMT

IBM is expected to announce the largest enterprise cloud computing deployment to date as Panasonic begins a migration off Microsoft Exchange to IBM's LotusLive cloud service. More than 100,000 employees will participate in the initial migration effort expanding to a total of more than 300,000 employees and external partners globally.

HP and Microsoft Simplify Technology Environments With Cloud Solutions

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:18:18 GMT

HP and Microsoft announced a three-year agreement to invest $250 million to significantly simplify technology environments for businesses of all sizes. The plans calls for use of the Windows Azure cloud infrastructure along with Microsoft and HP software and services.

VMware To Buy Zimbra From Yahoo In Cloud Computing Play

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:07:04 GMT

VMware said it planned to purchase Zimbra from Yahoo, a move that gives the virtualization leader a strong, cloud-based, open-source collaboration suite with which it could attack rival Microsoft's Outlook and Exchange e-mail applications.

MagicJack's next act: disappearing cell phone fees

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 22:44:50 GMT

The company behind the magicJack, the cheap Internet phone gadget that's been heavily promoted on TV, has made a new version of the device that allows free calls from cell phones in the home, in a fashion that's sure to draw protest from cellular carriers.

Microsoft LifeCam Cinema certified interoperable with Mirial Softphone

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 19:46:08 GMT

Mirial's Certification Program attests Microsoft widescreen webcam LifeCam Cinema to be interoperable with the software-only client for professional quality videoconferencing Mirial Softphone.