Daily Payload

CEO Escorted Off Flight for Using Own App

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:11:33 GMT

The CEO of the company that developed the smartphone app Viber was escorted off a Delta plane when it landed in New York for making a VoIP call with his app during the flight.

Star Trek-like hologram to revolutionise video conferencing

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:19:52 GMT

Researchers have created a Star Trek-like human-scale 3D video conferencing pod that allows people in different locations to communicate as if they are standing in front of each other.

Google expands its cloud-computing offerings with 'Drive'

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:04:20 GMT

Google unveiled a new cloud storage service called Google Drive. The service, which will give users 5GB of free remote storage and additional space for a monthly fee, puts the Web giant in competition with Apple and Microsoft, as well as specialized services like Box and Dropbox, in a space that increasingly looks like the future of computing.

More bad news for Nokia: IPCom wins patent case in German court

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:39:34 GMT

A regional court in Mannheim found Nokia to have violated patents belonging to a German patent firm named IPCom. The patent relates to emergency services.

Microsoft hiring points to Web-based Skype service

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:04:19 GMT

It looks like Microsoft is ready to let people use Skype through Web apps, not just native apps. Standards in development such as WebRTC could pave the way.

H.323 and SIP Becoming Legacy. XMPP and JS are the Future

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:32:18 GMT

This article highlights that SIP and H.323 are now viewed by many as legacy protocols and that the future is looking more like XMPP and JavaScript. WebRTC is a part of this JavaScript future. The author did not mention H.325, but that is another forward-looking technology that is still in the works.

Top Uses and Applications of Cloud Technology

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 05:36:09 GMT

The cloud has transcended its primary function of basic file backup and evolved into something far more practical and unconventional. Here are some of the top ways in which the cloud has been developed.

Videoconferencing system that shows who's talking to whom, being developed by NTT

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 04:20:40 GMT

MM-Space, being developed by a lab at NTT, is a system designed to make users of videoconferencing systems involving several people feel as if they are talking to each other in the same room.

Dell Grabs Wyse, Isn't Kidding About This Post PC Stuff

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 19:29:50 GMT

With the acquisition of Wyse, there could be no clearer sign that Dell is determined to transform itself before the enterprise PC business it is best known for transforms out from under it.

Cisco Unveils Visual Collaboration Solutions in the Post-PC Era, Extending the Reach of TelePresence with New Mobile-to-Immersive Offerings

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:34:35 GMT

Cisco introduced new people-centric innovations aimed at making it easier for people to collaborate anywhere, anytime in the post-PC era. The innovations, ranging from new desktop and mobile Cisco Jabber collaboration applications to Cisco TelePresence systems, make it easy for users to move from one collaboration solution to the next based on how they work and their immediate task at hand.

OpenStack vs. Amazon and Eucalyptus Clouds

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 02:29:28 GMT

When Amazon and Eucalyptus finally announced plans to partner on cloud computing, the big winners were cloud integrators seeking to move workloads between on-premise IaaS and Amazon Web Services. But ultimately, Talkin’ Cloud believes Amazon and Eucalyptus were reacting to OpenStack — which is available as both an on-premise or public cloud platform.

We Should Not Regulate VoIP

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:35:08 GMT

To our surprise, there are people who are calling for regulations applied to the VoIP industry. The rationale given is largely flawed and based on legacy technology and "old way of doing things". We say VoIP should not be regulated, and we explain why.

Nokia to cut 1,000 jobs in Finland

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:09:32 GMT

Nokia makes a deal with unions to eliminate 1,000 jobs at a manufacturing plant in Finland as the company fulfills its promise of 4,000 job cuts.

Blue Jeans Network Offers Cloud-Based Video Conferencing

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:57:51 GMT

Blue Jeans is letting customers license concurrent video conferencing solutions without having to buy and manage expensive hardware-based MCUs.

Avaya to buy Radvision for up to US $250M

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:10:59 GMT

Avaya will buy Radvision for $200-$250 million, giving a boost to its videoconferencing capabilities. Here is Avaya's press release.

BT to launch 'single phone number' VoIP service

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:20:44 GMT

BT Voice, based on technology from 2008 acquisition Ribbit, will allow existing customers to use their home or office phone number on all their devices.

Skype’s 35 million concurrent users sets new record

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:24:17 GMT

It looks like Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype is starting to pay off in spades. The video chatting software has just set a new record for itself, climbing its way to a highly impressive 35 million users using its audio and video conferencing platform at the same time.

The battle's on for control of the video dial tone

Thu, 1 Mar 2012 02:56:01 GMT

Cisco's attempt to convince a European court to impose tougher conditions on Microsoft's acquisition of Skype signals that technology companies are gearing up to battle for control of what some say is the next big thing: videoconferencing.

RIM shows off crazy collaboration app for PlayBook

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:51:53 GMT

At Mobile World Congress, RIM shows off a concept app that would give PlayBook tablets quite a colorful role at meetings.

FCC requires VoIP services to report outages, mirroring landline rule

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:47:23 GMT

The FCC ruled that VoIP providers are subject to the same outage reporting rules as other service providers.

Cisco Appeals EU Approval of Microsoft/Skype Deal

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:17:22 GMT

In a surprise move, Cisco Systems this morning disclosed in a blog post that the company has filed an appeal of the European Commission’s approval of the Microsoft/Skype deal.

Google gets EU approval to buy Motorola

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:31:10 GMT

The European Union's regulatory body has unconditionally approved Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility in a deal that could be worth about $12.5 billion.

Introducing AT&T's "Virtual Private Cloud"

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:25:34 GMT

Business cloud computing users will take note: the power of AT&T's "virtual private cloud" has arrived. AT&T announced AT&T Synaptic Compute as a Service with VMware vCloud Datacenter Service.

Oracle to buy Taleo for $1.9 Billion

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 15:40:54 GMT

Oracle said it will buy web-based recruitment software maker Taleo for about $1.9 billion to expand its line of cloud computing products, one of fastest growing areas of the technology market.

Free Dell VoIP Windows Phone app coming for Canadians

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:20:16 GMT

For those Windows Phone owners who reside in Canada and are frustrated with considerably high mobile phone bills accumulated from voice calls, Dell may have a solution for you soon. Partnering with Fongo to launch Dell Voice, a voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, mobile users will be able to make free calls over WiFi (or the 3G network) anywhere in Canada. A free phone number is included to accept incoming calls, and the service also includes free voicemail, Caller ID and call waiting.

Google Near Launch of Cloud Storage Service

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:58:54 GMT

Google Inc. is close to launching a cloud-storage service that would rival one of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups, cloud-storage provider Dropbox Inc. The service will be called Google Drive.

Vonage issues new Android app with VoIP calling 30 percent cheaper than Skype

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:55:10 GMT

Vonage introduces a new app called Vonage Mobile, allowing users to place VoIP calls between Vonage mobile users for free and calls to mobile and landline phones at a cost lower than what Skype offers.

ShoreTel Acquires Hosted Unified Communications Pioneer M5 Networks

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 21:26:09 GMT

ShoreTel announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire M5 Networks, a leader in hosted Unified Communications. As a result of the acquisition, ShoreTel will be positioned to provide customers a choice between on-premise and hosted UC solutions.

Digium to Release Its Own Brand of Asterisk-Friendly VoIP Phones

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 03:31:50 GMT

Digium announced a trio of IP phones designed to interface directly with the company’s highly successful Asterisk open-source PBX and its graphical Switchvox PBX front-end.

NTT DoCoMo asks Google to limit Android data use

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:34:52 GMT

NTT DoCoMo is having a hard time providing service to all of the bandwidth hungry Android phones. So, they ask Google to reduce how much bandwidth Android uses.