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Skype 4.0 to be the subject of tomorrow’s Squawk Box…
Continue Reading: Skype 4.0 to be the subject of tomorrow’s Squawk Box…For those looking to discuss the recent Skype 4.0 beta release, Skype’s Product Manager for Skype for Windows, Mike Bartlett, (a.k.a. “the guy in the Skype 4.0 demo videos who likes to play football/soccer”) will be the guest on tomorrow’s Squawk Box conference call/podcast at 11am Eastern US time. Jim Courtney has the details over on Skype Journal.I have another meeting at that time and don’t anticipate being able to participate tomorrow, but it should be an interesting conversation. Given that I’m on a Mac these days, the Skype 4.0 beta for Windows is pretty much irrelevant to me, although I may fire up a virtual machine just to take a look at it briefly.
In any event, it should be a good Squawk Box. Please do join if you’re interested in Skype.
Technorati Tags: skype, squawk box, skype 4.0, mike bartlett, voip
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Skype 4.0 seriously disrupts the Skype UI – is this a good thing?
Continue Reading: Skype 4.0 seriously disrupts the Skype UI – is this a good thing?Will Skype’s new Skype 4.0 user interface simplify the experience and brings in masses of new users? Or will it annoy and alienate the longtime (and often paying) users of Skype?As a Mac user perpetually left behind in Skype’s development process, I can’t personally report on the new 4.0 beta which is Windows-only and apparently due out tomorrow, but reports are starting to come out… TechCrunch says “Skype 4.0 Beta: It’s All About Video” and Andy Abramson discusses how this might allow future video advertising (and how Skype needs a CTO). I expect we should be hearing from the Skype Journal folks soon as well.
In watching Skype’s three Daily Motion videos about the release, I had these quick thoughts:
- The Skype window now covers the full screen. Instead of having a separate window for your contacts, separate windows for each chat (which we Mac users have had collected together in a single chat window with a “drawer” for some time) and a separate window for each call, it’s all in one window. While I can see this being a benefit for new users, as someone who has been using Skype for now… what?… 3 or 4 years?…
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It’s all about syncing to the cloud – Apple’s MobileMe was the most interesting part of the iPhone 3G WWDC keynote
Continue Reading: It’s all about syncing to the cloud – Apple’s MobileMe was the most interesting part of the iPhone 3G WWDC keynoteOkay, so the iPhone got better – so what? To me, the new iPhone 3G was NOT the most interesting part of yesterday’s Steve Jobs keynote at the Apple WWDC event. Sure, the blogosphere (and mainstream media) is buzzing like crazy about it (and we discussed it at length on yesterday’s Squawk Box). Sure, it’s great that the iPhone costs a lot less (at least, up front), is available in more countries (but still not in Vermont!), has GPS and now will work over 3G networks. Sure, all that is great.
<Donning flame-proof clothing> But at the end of the day, it’s still just a mobile phone! Sure, it’s an incredibly sexy one and yes now that I live in New Hampshire I admittedly am considering getting one. But it’s… still… just… a… phone. (And yes, I realize such a statement is heretical in defiance of the Cult of Apple (of which I am increasingly becoming a member).)
To me what was far more intriguing was Apple’s launch of “MobileMe” at me.com. Why?
Apple is getting into the “cloud” in a major way.
Let’s take a look at what Apple is offering (watch the Guided Tour to see it in…
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VoIPInsider: “101 Things You Can Do With Asterisk Contest”
Continue Reading: VoIPInsider: “101 Things You Can Do With Asterisk Contest”Garrett Smith and the team at VoIP Supply have partnered with Digium to have a little bit of fun with a new contest: “101 Things You Can Do With Asterisk Contest“. They started out looking for 101 unique things you could do with Asterisk and the idea that when they got 101 submissions they would pick one random winner for a $1500 VoIP Supply shopping spree.
However, they discovered there are a lot of people out there with ideas for what you can do with Asterisk. They put up their blog post at 11:08am and their 101st comment came just over two hours later at 1:21pm (a few comments had multiple ideas). As I write this, the list has grown to 151 comments and Garrett and crew have indicated that they will be leaving it open until Friday and then making their drawing.
Some great ideas in the comments to the post – well worth a read!
Technorati Tags: asterisk
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Is Craigslist blocking VoIP, Prepaid phone numbers in anti-spam effort?
Continue Reading: Is Craigslist blocking VoIP, Prepaid phone numbers in anti-spam effort?Is Craigslist really blocking phone numbers from VoIP service providers or pre-paid cell phones as an anti-spam measure?Last night over on the VoIPinsider blog, Cory Andrews wrote that Craigslist is apparently blocking VoIP or prepaid cellular numbers as part of their anti-spam measures. Now I’m a huge fan of Craigslist and we’ve sold lots of items (including, now, our house) via Craigslist. But we’ve also seen the spam out there and personally been contacted in response to one of our ads by a sleazy individual who was trying to scam us out of money. Techdirt, in fact, says that the battle has been lost and that the spammers are taking over Craigslist. While it wasn’t that dreadful in the Vermont Craigslist area, there certainly was some spam and you can understand the folks there wanting to do all they can to block spammers.
But to block VoIP service providers? Just as increasingly large numbers of users move over to VoIP services?
THE APPARENT ACTIONS
It seems a rather draconian – and misguided – measure. As the VoIP Insider article states:
A few months back, Craiglist instituted a telephone verification process that places an automated outbound call to a user placing…
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Four reasons I am choosing NOT to cut the landline cord
Continue Reading: Four reasons I am choosing NOT to cut the landline cordTwelve days ago I asked the question, “Do I cut the landline cord and move my new home phone number into the cloud?“, and the responses have been great to read. Today, I can write the answer…No, I will NOT cut the cord.
Around noon today my landline in Keene should be installed by Fairpoint Communications (who recently bought all of Verizon’s landline business in Maine, NH and Vermont).
Why did I finally give in and get a landline installed? Four reasons:
FAX – Unbelievably to me, perhaps the primary reason for keeping a landline is an old archaic technology that I absolutely can’t stand… fax. This was brought home to me during the process of closing on the purchase of our Keene home and the sale of our Burlington home. As much as we may hate it, there are still some transactions that require fax. There were documents that had to be faxed to the bank. Documents that had to be faxed to lawyers. Documents that had to be faxed to real estate agents. To contractors.
To a techie like me, it was unbelievably annoying not to be able to simply use email. But in many cases,…
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Do I cut the landline cord and move my new home phone number into the cloud?
Continue Reading: Do I cut the landline cord and move my new home phone number into the cloud?UPDATE – May 21: Today I posted my answer to the question…
In our new home, do I get a land line?
Or do I move our home phone number into “the cloud”?
We’re closing on our home in Keene, NH, next Thursday and as we get set with the utilities that is one of the key questions on my mind. Do I actually “cut the cord” and NOT sign up for a land line with Verizon/Fairpoint?[1]
On one level, we don’t need it. My wife and I both have our cell phones. Our daughter is six and isn’t yet at the age to make phone calls. I work in the world of voice-over-IP and can certainly get a solution there.
Why should we get a land line?
ADVANTAGES OF A LAND LINE
In thinking about this, it seems to me there are the following reasons to get a land line:
911 – UPDATE: As PhoneBoy reminded me in a comment, the overarching reason for having a landline is 911! A landline is the only guaranteed way to dial 911 and have emergency services arrive at your house. Precisely because it is tied to your geographical location it does indeed…
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The next stage of the Wireless War: U.S. Cable companies – with Google – fund launch of WiMax
Continue Reading: The next stage of the Wireless War: U.S. Cable companies – with Google – fund launch of WiMaxOn tomorrow’s Squawk Box podcast, the other topic we’ll cover is the funding of WiMAX venture Clearwire by the major US cable companies – and Google and Intel! Om Malik again kicked off the discussion with “U.S. WiMAX Save by $3.2 Billion Infusion” which lays out the deal in simple terms. Other coverage:- Google provides a statement on its blog: “Investing in the future of the open Internet” (TechCrunch has commentary)
- Wall Street Journal
- AP: “Clearwire, Sprint Nextel to form $14.55B wireless company”
- Brough Turner thinks this is great for competition and US mobile Internet
- Larry Dignan at ZDNet says these folks are determined to make WiMax a reality
- Paul Kapustka lays out who are the winners and losers
- Clint Boulton at Google Watch ponders how this could drive Android along
- The Washington Post wonders about how this impacts net neutrality
- PC Magazine believes this deal hides even more delays for WiMAX
What do you think? Is this the cable companies attempt to get into the wireless world with a competitor to the telcos move toward LTE? Can they do it? What about Google’s role? Will this succeed?
Please join us on tomorrow’s Squawk Box[1] (May…
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Can the carriers/telcos really create a Skype-killing replacement?
Continue Reading: Can the carriers/telcos really create a Skype-killing replacement?That’s the question raised by Om Malik in “Global Telcos Plotting a Skype Rival?” and will be one of the topics of discussion on tomorrow’s Squawk Box podcast. Om starts:AT&T, in conjunction with some 10-15 incumbent telecom carriers — British Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and NTT among them — is plotting to launch a Skype competitor, according to a research report issued this morning by ThinkEquity analyst Anton Wahlman.
And goes on from there at some length into the theories, timeframes and capabilities of the rumored network. While I haven’t had time personally to contribute directly to the conversation, others have:
- Tom Keating dismisses this as utter hogwash and pure speculation
- Jim Courtney (Skype Journal) sees this as much ado about nothing
- Andy Abramson notes the connections to GSMA and ITU
- Eric Lagerway thinks it could be exactly what the industry needs but that the telcos will probably screw it up
- Carolyn Schuk believes that we’ll see this skype-killer from the telcos about when elephants fly
- Dameon Welch-Abernathy (PhoneBoy) says the carriers need to get back to their roots (and embeds a great 1980 Bell commercial)
- Alec Saunders doubts the carriers can do it and thinks the things he said…
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Light blogging ahead – Selling our home in Burlington, Vermont, and closing on a home in N.H.
Continue Reading: Light blogging ahead – Selling our home in Burlington, Vermont, and closing on a home in N.H.Just a note to readers: I expect that for the next 3 to 4 weeks I won’t be doing all that much blogging here due primarily to our impending move to Keene, NH, and the collision in timing of three different threads of my life:
- We’ve now put up the signs and are officially selling our house here in Burlington, VT. Check out the website for more information, to see pictures, read the blog (yes, of course, it has one), etc. If you want to buy a house in Burlington, we’d love to hear from you. (And personally I’d enjoy it if the ultimate buyer found it through a blog. 🙂 We’re going, at least initially, the For Sale By Owner route so naturally that will occupy some of our time (hopefully!).
- We are closing on our house in Keene, NH, on May 15th, although we are not planning to actually move down there until mid-June.
- A major new project landed on my plate at work that should be both fun and something in which I’ll learn a lot… but it’s going to be rather all-consuming and the deadline is also right around May 15th.
Add…
- We’ve now put up the signs and are officially selling our house here in Burlington, VT. Check out the website for more information, to see pictures, read the blog (yes, of course, it has one), etc. If you want to buy a house in Burlington, we’d love to hear from you. (And personally I’d enjoy it if the ultimate buyer found it through a blog. 🙂 We’re going, at least initially, the For Sale By Owner route so naturally that will occupy some of our time (hopefully!).
Disruptive Telephony
Dan York on how Voice over IP is rewriting (almost) everything you thought you understood about telephony…