News Archive - November 2007

Security experts are once more urging businesses and consumers be wary of wiretapped VoIP calls and other numerous threats after Peter Cox demonstrated a set of SIP-based utilities that could do anything from recording a call, to disconnecting a call, to repeatedly ringing a phone.

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Google said it would apply to bid in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's auction of 700 megahertz band wireless spectrum.

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A bug involving 7900 Series IP phones from Cisco creates a means for hackers to eavesdrop on calls. The flaw stems from security shortcomings in the Extension Mobility feature of the phones, which allows users to configure a Cisco IP phone as their own.

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Verizon Communications and Vodafone, joint owners of Verizon Wireless, plan to use the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard backed by GSM industry players rather than the UMB (ultramobile broadband) standard backed by Verizon's current partners.

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German police have expressed frustration about their inability to decipher the encryption used by Skype in order to tap into the VoIP calls of suspected terrorists and now want to tap your hard drive.

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Americans bought about 4.2 million smartphones last quarter: 11% of 38 million phones sold. That's a roughly 180% increase over the same quarter a year ago when Americans bought about 1.5 million smartphones, or 4% of the 36.5 million phones sold in 3Q06. And, now Apple owns 27% of the market.

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Deutsche Telekom mobile unit T-Mobile is coming under fire from competitors over its exclusive sales deal for Apple's iPhone in Germany.

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Google is as much an ideology as a firm and can resemble a nation-state in its pursuit of power rather than a mere corporation chasing quarterly numbers. Google and its allies are now trying to make the principles of openness—the commanding ideology of the Internet—the conquering principle of the wireless world, and the Android announcement is just the first step.

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A federal appeals court turned down a request by Vonage to reconsider a lower court verdict that it infringed two patents held by Verizon Communications.

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The House passed the 911 Modernization and Public Safety Act, which requires VoIP providers to offer enhanced 911, or E-911, service, which pinpoints the caller's location.

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The European Commission has adopted a raft of proposals that will see Europe's telecommunications infrastructure dramatically shaken up.

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Mirial (formerly DyLogic) successfully showcased a live demo of its Mirial Softphone at the past Fall VON in Boston, generating noticeable interest and receiving enthusiastic feedbacks from the attendants. The product was launched in June 2007 and is the first software only SIP/H323 PC client to fully support HD 720p and the H264 video compression technology up to 2Mbits.

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Sprint Nextel said it has ditched its WiMax partnership with Clearwire and is reviewing its plans for the next-generation wireless technology. — So what will Sprint do to hold any position in the changing market?

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Vonage reported a bigger quarterly loss on litigation costs, but a legal settlement with AT&T raised hopes that such problems were coming to an end.

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Blue Label Telecoms, a South African reseller of phone services, on said Microsoft would buy 12 percent of the group in its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. — Buying the emerging market, are we?

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Despite beating analyst estimates and raising guidance in its third-quarter earnings report, shares of VoIP equipment vendor Acme Packet fell more than 15 percent. — Can somebody please explain this logic?

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Nortel generated a small profit of $27 million, or 5 cents per share, from revenues of $2.7 billion in the third quarter. News sent the stock up over 17% during trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange.

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VoIP is dead, over and "out!" IP interactive communications (IC) or unified communications (UC) is "in!" IC or UC is much more than voice. Even the acronyms suggest so - "I see" and "You see." It's more than just video.

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Google's cell phone strategy took shape with the announcement of a new open software platform and an alliance of wireless heavyweights that will help form the development community for the planned phones.

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