VoIP Watch

Nimbuzz Comes Alive

Nimbuzz is gearing up and now in real beta with a mobile VoIP client.

Irwin Loves Tungl, Calls It The Next GrandCentral

Having played a part in helping to propel GrandCentral, I really am over the moon with Irwin's closing line about client Tungl.

This is huge praise from someone who knows both the VoIP and Web 2.0 space.

Thomas Howe Says Goodbye to VON

Thomas "Mr. Mashup" bids a fond farewell to VON....with a tear and heavy sigh.

My Old Home Town Loses WiFi

I'm sad to report that Philadelphia is losing their WiFi.

Esme Vos has the news..I'm sure there's going to be more to the story.

What's Next In IP Communications? Here's An Idea To Look At

Last week two stories seem to generate a lot of interest all across the blogs and in the news. The first was the rumor of a “Skype Killer” being planned by the leading telcos around the world. The second was the blockbuster move by the new WiMax consortium of players including Intel, ClearWire, Sprint plus the cable companies, along with online leader Google, to take over what Sprint and Clearwire were both not really doing yet, that to create a national WiMax footprint here in the USA which will deliver, in theory, both Mobile and Fixed broadband solutions.

The two events treated separately are interesting to say the least, but what dawned on me is that the idea of killing Skype was rather ballsy and very interesting given the already installed user base Skype has worldwide. I mean short of blocking them completely, the idea of a Skype killer makes for nice speculation, but only has a chance of happening and succeeding if the entire telco world agrees on a uniting behind a standard like SIP for IP communications (voice, video and text) vs. the walled garden approach of Skype that already has all that.

You see, the genie is out of the bottle and there’s no putting the Skype Genie back in, so another more robust and accepted flavor of IP communications that does the same thing and more, but without the already known concerns that Skype raises, could overtake them in time, especially if its primary purpose was to supplant the existing analog base of installed users as the telcos move them to IP on their own or see them migrate to cable or WiMax.

So what can the telcos do together?

Given eBay has Skype up for sale, the telcos could also band together to buy Skype from eBay and simply put it to sleep. The cost to shut it down would be less than they are losing per year. But just like Microsoft propped up Apple to point to another operating system being alive and well, we know that won’t happen. So with that I’d say the idea of a SkypeKiller has far more merit as a means to play “keep away”, not “take away” because those users already in love with Skype are hooked and not easily coming back.

But simply going after the Skype type of user crowd is so “me too” and in this era of innovation, there has to be another play, and there is.

WiMax. Last week’s announcement of the mega players all joining hands was a very good deal for Clearwire and Sprint. Clearwire's investors cashed out. Sprint got someone else to carry the ball in the USA market, plus this now provides another option to offer IP based communications versus the already existing 3G solutions.

As a result I chose to think how the very much-ballyhooed WiMax play could be differentiated versus being looked at as only a substitute for the mobile phone. As I like to say "too much me too, me also, not me different" is nothing really new. I mean, what good is going the 4G route if all it does is give a less expensive experience to make phone calls on the go, and not work everywhere for many years to come. That’s what the cable guys already did with VoIP, where the only difference from what we’ve always had from the phone company is the wire the phone service travels over and the bill.

That’s so “me also” in my book. WiMax needs to be more “me different.”

So here's the way I see it. For the most part, the cable guys in the WiMax venture have the most to win because with the mobile WiMax play it gets them into the mobile game with something new, presuming they open up their minds (and checkbooks) and look beyond the opportunity to only a mobile voice play.

From the get-go they have the opportunity to go out of footprint (i.e. venture into markets not under a franchise agreement with a municipality) and second they get to be in the mobile space. Both are very attractive opportunities, but when it comes to selling wireless, they've pretty much already proven via Pivot that selling mobile phone service isn't in their DNA. And also don’t forget this is their second go with Sprint and neither time has really worked well. Many forget the cable guys were the partners in the launch of the Sprint CDMA network years ago and look where Sprint is today.

Well maybe, three times is really the charm?

Instead of simply being another voice play to battle Skype or the mobile operators, the WiMax companies and the cable operators, and heck, even Ma Telco may all may find that they may be better off looking in another direction.

That direction is real-time video communications bundled up along with other IP related services like voice and text, all in one neat little package.

Why video when selling voice to their already installed user base is already there for the cable guys?

Because it is different.

In essence video is the next level of real-time communications to be nurtured and embraced, not only because its ready now, but because it also gives the WiMax, Telco and cable players a very different value proposition to offer and lead off with.

By offering and delivering video, along with voice and text as the new universally used platform for real time communications voice gets to come along for the ride via a real standard, SIP (session initiation protocol.) On the other hand, Skype with their self-created stigma with P2P remains further anti-telco That goes hand in hand with already being perceived by the cable MSO’s as the enemy too. Both factors makes the opportunity around making a lot to do around SIP standard based video the perfect way for the cable folks and the telcos to unite around a common bond. You see, if they don’t join hands and play together no one really wins at all.

Why standards based video to go along with voice and text?

First off, by offering video the cable guys and Bell heads offer up an instant differentiator to the traditional mobile operators. They need this, and WiMax as the next platform needs something “new and different” to get ahead and gain a foothold. Also we don’t need another GSM vs. CDMA war any more than we needed the VHS VS. BETA format battle years ago. That’s where the concept of standards comes into play big time.

Second there are already accepted video standards (H.263, H.264) already in place that that are SIP based and IMS compliant that makes it easy to then interconnect to just about anyone else who is equally standards based. This means when AT&T really enters the WiMax game and gets beyond their idea of “fooling around” and playing wireless chicken in Pahrump, NV, and they will, they’ll easily be able to join in on the fun while their common enemy keeps themselves out of because of their own walled garden approach.

Third. The cable guys are already embracing both SIP and IMS (why else would Comcast have played such a big role at this year's IETF annual congress.) That’s why SIP based and IMS compliant video is a natural.

Fourth. There is proven expertise in the SIP video space already in the marketplace today, with existing customers and patented intellectual property, so all the cable, Telco and WiMax folks need to do is put the video communications technology “inside” the network. This can happen the day the network is turned on, not in a few years after it starts getting deployed. More instant differentiation and faster user gratification.

So what's the Net-Net? That’s easy to see.

The NEXTGEN 4G cable backed carrier, and yes even the telcos all get something very safe and very open, and something they can’t likely build themselves as a international group. They also get to offer something that is very easy to use, as well as something that is very much different.

The challenge though is while so many of us may see the opportunity, we all know that others may not see what is plain as day, simply because of the ever present "not invented here" myopia to often found inside some of the cable and Telco lands. Oh...that’s right, WiMax wasn't invented by any of those players either and look at all the money they spent...well maybe they will get to see it after all.

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Writer’s note for sake of transparency: My agency advises SightSpeed the award winning video communications solution and has since 2006.

Challenger Mobile Says Mobile VoIP Is Being Adopted

Swedish Mobile VoIP player Challenger Mobile feels there is a swinging of the pendulum towards mobile VoIP based on what carriers are telling them.

In my book this is a coattail play based on the Skype Killer concept that was circulating last week. I'll have more on that later as I'm working on a "thought" piece right now.

Don't Get XO for VoIP

Tonight I was having a telephone chat with long time pal Jeremy Pepper, who recently left the dark side of PR (he was with an agency) and joined the brighter side, which means he's now on the client side of the business.

I've know Jeremy since he quarterbacked some of the moves Skype made when he lived in Phoenix. He was one of the first bloggers I started to follow, as his perspective on PR and Social Communications seemed very much aligned with mine.

Fast forward a few years he's now at Boingo, a company I like to cover and he's moved to L.A. after a stop in San Francisco. We were catching up, talking about his new gig and poof, the call dropped. I called back and a few minutes later the same think happened. Then again. So I switched from AT&T CallVantage and went with my PhoneGnome line whose long distance service runs over Junction Networks, a client of my agency. Poof. Same thing a few minutes later. Then twenty minutes more the same thing happens. HMMM.

Jeremy let me know XO is the provider. So, based on this I won't be recommending them to any one ever again.

FMC News and Notes for Monday May 12th 2008

Counterpath's FMC comes to Slovenia.

This is not really news, because I heard about this at MWC, but nonetheless shows that FMC is still alive and growing.

Before You Buy Cisco Telepresence Have You Tried SightSpeed?

Have you looked at the price of Cisco's Personal Telepresence that was announced today?

$33,900 USD per seat

That's 22 years worth of SightSpeed For Business for a ten (10) seat pack.

Granted SightSpeed is my agency's client, but let's get real and think about value and the budget. For every $33,900 a company can have hundreds of people inside the company using SightSpeed in the work place versus one glamour puss (CEO). Of course the IT director won't get fired for buying Cisco, but if they tried SightSpeed to see how much use the video conferencing solution really receives they can quickly do some back of the napkin math to determine need and value to the company.

Oh. And here's one more point. SightSpeed keeps getting better and improving what they do. All I'm seeing is that Cisco is carving up their Telepresence technology, as it drops down in price.

One has to really wonder if there's that much difference in IP communications that's worth an almost 300x investment when prices of technology always drop with each next generation of release. For me, the cost of Telepresence just don't make sense (and I'm a Cisco shareholder and fan) given the ease of use, and low cost of a high quality service like SightSpeed already being on the market, plus having an award winning and proven track record clearly makes it a more than worthy option to consider.

Candidly, if I was the CFO of a company thinking of making the Telepresence investment, I'd at least want to SEE the comparison between the two with my own eyes before forking over $33,900 dollars for ONE SEAT versus $19.99 a month per seat.

Aswath Makes His Enterprise Play

Pal Aswath Rao has made his move into the Enterprise 2.0 space and submitted EnThinnai for the LaunchPad competition.

The "autonomous communications" platform has been a passion and work of love by our very intelligent pal for a few years now, and if for no reason beyond sheer friendship, I want to see this get its opportunity to be discovered. Aswath has a very solid idea EnThinnai, so while it is in its formative stages it's goal of making communications between peers easier certainly is timely.

Ribbit's Next Trick

Ribbit, which has proven it can do what Adobe can't accomplish despite a never ending stream of product people running the voice business there, have formally unveiled there next level of efforts, as we reported last week.

Rich Tehrani on The Giants and The Next Giants

I really like this post from Rich Tehrani. Rather than add more, just read it and draw your own conclusions.

Jeff Belk Debuts On Unstrung

For many in the wireless and mobile world, the name Jeff Belk is rather familiar. In San Diego circles he's the recently retired Senior VP of Strategy and before that Sr. VP of Marketing at Qualcomm. He's also a close personal friend.

Today he debuted on Unstrung and shares some insights from a real wireless insider with a neat editorial piece on the state of wireless from his perspective, one forged by 14 years of experience. Give it a read.

Network World-"VON Tradeshows In Trouble"

Following up on my post of the other day, it seems now IDG's Network World is on the same track and feels there won't be another VON this year.

According to this press release it looks like a cool $1.7 million was recovered from PulverMedia by TICC when they seized the assets as a secured creditor.

Twitter Me This Patman!

Pal Pat Phalen has launched TwitterPhone, a service that delivers dictated text messages via their mobile to be sent out to everyone on their Twitter social network.

This makes access to the network of Twiters voice and phone capable.

I'd say this is rather ingenious.

WiMax In USA Gets Clear(wire)

Om breaks a story about the death of XOHM, the rebirth of Clearwire and a lot of interesting partners.

Skype Competitor Coming from The Telcos?

This story by Om is rather interesting on the possibility of a global telco led initiative to compete with Skype.

My take is that it would have a better chance of succeeding if the cable companies were involved, and not on the sidelines. Here in the USA they control more of the access than the telcos with the kind of pipe that makes voice work better.

There's one more point that needs to be raised. It's the crossing over of two of the most powerful communications bodies in the world. The GSMA (mobile) with the ITU (wireline and all communications). The companies that are listed are very active with them and to me that has to spell some degree of concern for eBay and Skype.

It will be interesting to see how the new Skype CEO responds to the challenge.

Then again, we can always look at Concert (which failed) as an example of how in the past ideas like this have been tried......and the end result.

A Blast From the Past and A Recent Point of Fact

Back on November 11, 2007 I called the possible merger/acquisition of Sprint by T-Mobile back when Rich Tehrani was postulating that Google as the possible. Now the blogosphere and media is abuzz that it may happen.

Regulators aside, I have it on good authority, and did back then, that the two sides had begun having talks to discuss merger.

This also underscores that last week I wrote that T-Mobile will have a data play in reaction to Matt Miller's blog post about the Seattle based mobile operator's 3G plans. Now it seems it appears I was right, on both counts.

Kimpton Hotel's Palomar Hotel in San Francisco Has Pitiful Broadband

The other day Jonathan Greene posted about the lousy performance when it came to Broadband that he had at the Hotel Monaco in Seattle. The Monaco, like the Palomar here in San Francisco where I am for the week are both Kimpton Hotels and have a long tradition of catering to technology types on the road.

In the past I've always had a better than average experience at the Kimpton Hotel properties when it comes to broadband, but today, on the eve of Java One, my experience is nothing less than disappointing.

First I couldn't log on, as the auto sign on said I wasn't the guest in the room I was listing (wrong) and then it went on to say there wasn't a credit card on file (wrong again as I already had checked in.) That required a call to support from ElevenWireless, the company which handles the connectivity.

After I was on, I realized the support person didn't give me the service I was trying to activate, the more expensive ($4.95 vs. Free) service that promises higher speeds and better throughput vs. the free service.

Here's what I found out:

Free service gave me 300 k down, and 150 k up. That's not really broadband.

The paid service is giving me between 330k and 500k down and between 150 and 500 k up over a series of tests.

As JG says, "sorry. This isn't broadband."

San Diego Airport Broadband Part Two

I'm on my way to the Bay Area for a week's worth of meetings, meet up and to also assist winemaker friend Sylvain Fadat of Domaine d'Aupilhac on Monday at the annual Kermit Lynch Client event that starts tonight.

As I await my slightly delayed Southwest flight to SFO I ran a fast  speed test.

Download  14403kb/s
Upload 8359 kb/s

To me, that rocks and shows that making pointed comments directly to the airport management as I have really didn't fall on deaf ears.

Put A Fork In It--VON Is Gone

With this post from Carl Ford, the long time VON Conference leader and evangelist, I think it is fait acompli that VON is not happening.

Here are some other indicators:

1) There isn't anyone left to run things. Jason, Jeff and Scott have reportedly through the whisper mill moved on.

2) Companies that were getting paid for services prior to Spring VON have not been paid. Who will do the work?

3) Communications with speakers and exhibitors for upcoming VON events have not been contacted with any details.

4) No one has even issued a holding statement.

What this means in my book.

1) Jeff and others are taking the high road, saying nothing. That's smart and likely comes from some wise legal counsel.

2) The owners of the assets are hunkering down, and feeling that they got out without losing too much more after their investment.

3) The current asset owners are likely looking to sell the VON name, but candidly, VON was the collection of people who made it up. In reality someone can put the VON name on another Voice event but it won't be VON. It will be nothing more than a licensed name.

After a more than 10 year association with VON, seeing Carl's one line post brought sadness to my eye, and a lump in my stomach.

This is not at all though indicative of the VoIP industry, just an example of anti-greed at work on a variety of levels.

To Carl, Jeff, Scott, Jason and all who were a part of it...Thanks for the memories.

Update: It looks like iLocus has the same feelings about VON.

Apple Dancing in WiMAX Land

This would be interesting if it's true.

Apple using WiMax.

But what continues to be the untold story is how Apple keeps lining up with other chip makers separate from Intel.

Stowe Boyd: Is Apple Buying Adobe?

When I first read this post from Stowe Boyd I remembered back to when Apple had a division for software called Claris and thought...hmmm..

Well now that Microsoft has told the crew leading Yahoo that "we know what you are, and all that we're dealing with is the price" in so many words, the Valley hotshots have to look in other directions, so why not take two of the Valley's more successful, well run and loved companies and put them together.

Stowe's post, which is largely amplification of Robert X. Cringely's post would be good for all. While Apple has a rock solid software team, most of it revolves around the Mac and iPhone OS. The addition of Adobe would give them a lot, lot more.

AT&T's Cheaper Way For Wireless Data is PrePaid

Check this out. This may be the best darn deal on wireless data anywhere.

Better WiFi Speeds At San Diego International Airport

I was picking some friends up at San Diego International Airport this past Thursday and took my Mac Book Air along as I knew they might be delayed. Having experienced their anemic speeds before in the East Terminal where SouthWest flies, and in the West Terminal when flying US Air and Jet Blue, I was expecting nothing more than at best a few hundred K speeds.

Wrong. They were blazing fast. I got speeds of over 10 megs down and close to 20 megs up, indicating that someone has taken the service offering way, way up. That's smart, and being that's it's free, a very good move.

Read An Ad, Get Free WiFi on Your iPhone

If you own and use an Apple iPhone there's isn't a Boingo Mobile client for it, but now can have free WiFi access on your iPhone in 28 airports which Boingo operates in, and get it for free.

The catch? You have to watch a 15 second ad.

As someone who uses Boingo just about everywhere, and is a true fan, it seems worth it. The ads are powered by JiWire, which wants to be the Google of mobile ad serving.

Vonage To Use Social Media To Communicate

It looks like Vonage is gearing up for some efforts in the media if I read the tea leaves properly.

They hired a new PR firm and one of the things they plan on doing is deploying a social media strategy focused on blogs.

Personally I love when another company decides to enter the social media game to move their needles. I've been in the space since 2004 and know what is right and what is wrong. I'm hoping the revitalized leadership at Vonage gets it right.

VoIP Related Death In Canada

The unfortunate death of a toddler in Canada is making VoIP out to be the culprit when in reality technology kills the same way as a gun. It comes down to people.

The call being sent to the wrong call center, the one where the family previously had their service forwarded usually occurs as a result of most VoIP operators not requiring a "heartbeat" which means that the connectivity to the IP network stopped.

Here at home my AT&T CallVantage literally will not allow a call each time we have a power outage that impacts the analog telephone adapter. It slows me down for five seconds, and is a very important reminder of how important the heartbeat service is. Without verifying the heartbeat calls can't be made.

The second reason calls go to the wrong call center usually is the fact that even though credit card companies require and address change, most times once a credit card is used and set up for auto-payment, until the card becomes invalid, due to its expiration, there's not usually another check off. If the card's registered address didn't match up to the residence, another block could be placed on the phone.

The PSAPS (Public Service Access Points) also have to be prompt in updating the information. Even if the carrier did notify them, and even if the consumer had notified the carrier, if the updated information had not been updated, this also impacts the success of

The most efficient way for VoIP operators and IP network operators to prevent things like this from happening would also be IP number location based lookups. Moving from one community to another, while remaining with even the same providers would also trigger the need for the user to re-register.

The death is unfortunate, and the carrier has to shoulder some of the burden. Consumers as a rule don't know better. Carriers do.

Another irony here is the company Comwave also owns the iPhone trademark in Canada. I wonder if Steve Jobs will be offering to help the family out.

Carolyn Smacks Jajah and Yahoo

Carolyn Schuk is no stranger to the VoIP world and her VoIPPrincess blog is going to be one to keep tabs on.

Yesterday she gave a butt whoopin' to both Yahoo and Jaja...I can only wonder what she's going to say to AOL!!!

More Reflection on AOL and Open AIM VoIP

AOL has been behind SIP for over three years or more. They are not jumping on board now. They are simply using what little they have left to SPIN this. Alec pretty much nailed it here as did Ken Camp.

What's really here?...and more importantly, is anyone going to use a platform which is:

1) Pricier?

2) One way calling?

3) May not be there in six months?

Over the past 18 months the entire Voice team at AOL has been cut layer by layer and dismantled. Their mobile group also.

What's more, before that AOL made a big deal about the Vonage/CallVantage Competitor (whatever it was called) then canned that, leavingcustomers hanging. Why? Could it have been Time Warner Cable. Rumor has it they didn't want AOL to have a major voice play and guess what? TWC looks like they have won that battle as the triple play only helped inflate their revenues.

So now at a time when TWC is being spun out someone says "oh, now we can launch voice again because they are no longer our big brother."

Caring about SIP and developers? I don't think so. If there isn't an advertisement in the window, AOL/TimeWarner can care less. It's that simple.

AOL had the opportunity, the platform and the people. Now all they have is a bunch of code, some infrastructure and a team that's hanging on to keep their jobs or have something to put on their resume.

Alec and Bill Volk have both heard the promises,,,,what has been delivered? ????

T-Mobile 3G May Not Be Data Ready

I'm not an engineering type. I just use technology. So when I read Matt Miller's post this morning it got me thinking.

3G is data. Voice rides over the data network. What this likely means is the data plans are not ready yet. I mean, TMO didn't need 1700 mghz spectrum to sell voice.

Besides, the cute sales lady at the UTC T-Mobile store told me months ago they will have 3G data in the Spring when I bought a new device there. What's the big mystery?

The mystery is T-Mobile got caught before THEY put the story out.

The Public WiFi Game Just Got More Interesting

The downloading of music at Starbucks was tested last year in a few markets. That was with T-Mobile. Then the music stopped. Market expansion stopped.

Now the rumor making the rounds is that iPhone customers can get online for free at AT&T Hotspots which will include Starbucks by year's end.

So let's connect the dots.

1. Apple iTunes is the platform

2. AT&T is the carrier

3. Yahoo is the ad sales agent

Yahoo and Apple are not even close to ever mentioned in the same breath. AT&T is partners for on ramp with Yahoo, though that relationship is always described as tenuous at best. But back to this model.

Yahoo has Yahoo Music, but you don't see that being the platform (or at least not yet.) Why was that not part of the deal? Simple. AT&T is making more money via Apple long term with the iPhone, so now you add in downloads and a cut of the action, with Yahoo doing what they do better than Apple or AT&T. Sell ads.

So, imagine free music downloads, ad supported, no cost to access, but you need to be an AT&T customer with your iPhone or iPod.

Sell more ads. Sell more coffee. Sell more iPhones.

Game. Set. Match.

P.S. Who is left out of the deal? Microsoft.

Alec Saunders On The AOL Open AIM VOIP Program

Alec gets up to bat and swings a heavy club this morning as he lays out his perspective based on experience of working with AOL and their now apparently defunct AIM PhoneLine developer program.

His event by event account isn't a pretty picture and should be noticed.

It should make for an interesting Sqawk Box today.

Technorati Tags: AOL

Business Week About Yahoo and Jajah

I woke up this morning and found VoIPWatch being cited in Business Week's TechBeat by Olga Kharif. This made me think back to one of the reasons to start VoIPWatch, which was to always be a helpful source of information to the media and to provide a perspective that offers insight and viewpoint.

Right after that I read a post from our client ifByPhone's founder, Irv Shapiro offering his take on the same deal as he details how the future of telephony rests in the applications, a viewpoint that I have agreed with for a long time.

With minutes dropping to almost zero, or being at zero in many ways, Irv's business is based on delivering the new services to business in the same vein as Jajah and how they're bringing services to Yahoo.

Its the apps baby. Its the apps.

Technorati Tags: IVR, voicexml

Who Needs Paper Boarding Passes?

For years there have been services which let you receive all your flight data via your cell phone, but none have been approved as boarding passes. Now Lufthansa, which experimented with in flight WiFi with Boeing, is making the paper go away on two routes in Germany.

This is great for those of us who are connected. It means you can be SMS'd your flight details, run the screen past the bar code reader and get on your flight.

That said, don't expect it to happen anytime soon here in the USA.

Is RIM Looking at the iPhone

Luca has a post about the potential of RIM being deployed in the iPhone. Since Blackberry Connect is already on the Nokia N and E series phones this is a logical platform move by them.

ifByPhone, Ribbit are Paving the 2.0 Way

PhoneBoy covers Voice 2.0 client ifByPhone and explains why their services are so meaningful and how easy they are to use in multiple business applications.

This comes at the same time that Ribbit announced their relationship with Salesforce.com.

Ted Wallingford's Blog Is Back

After a few months of dormancy, and a series of tech issues pal Ted Wallingford blog is back up and running.

The Way(Port) To Go

I've long been a fan of the infrastructure that Wayport provides that makes for a really good hotspot experience. WiFi Net News deep drill down is a nice look at why they're successfully building out so many hotspots including those for AT&T at McDonalds.

Jeff Pulver on Travel Times

Having spent a considerable amount of time in Europe the last year I can relate to Jeff Pulver's comment about travel time and the need for in flight WiFi, especially here in the USA. That said, needing access to broadband on the go is key to this mobile/portable/nomadic lifestyle.

I for one miss the Boeing Conexxion service that I used on Lufthansa and SAS in 2005 and 2006. It has made it almost essential that I have broadband access on the ground at airports and access to mobile data and low priced voice calling while on the go.

Here are some of my tips, both old and new that keep making the working life on the road easier.

1. If you're going to one of the Hutchison 3G serving mobile countries invest in the Skypephone. Buy a prepaid card, toss in the extra money for a pay as you go data plan and make all the calls you want to back home. Every time I'm in the UK I toss 20 pounds on to my phone and buy a top up for the same amount before I leave. The credit doesn't expire. Figure 15 pounds for unlimited calling back to the states and elsewhere if I need to dial someone, and five pounds for the month or as low as 50 pence a day for the data connection.

2. Client Truphone and a travel router on a Nokia N or E Series phone. Okay, so both companies are clients. And you know what, the combo can't be beat. I had to spend over 90 minutes last Friday when I was in London on the Nokia E90 with Apple Care over a self inflicted wound caused by a bad install of Meebo/Tokbox and Adobe Flash audio/video that hosed my audio settings so bad a trip to the Apple store had to be booked in Philadelphia on Sunday. Cost. Zero as it was a Truphone WiFi call over my E90's speakerphone via Truphone.

3. MAXroam--if you're going transborder this is much easier than flipping SIM cards in and out.

4. CradlePoint-I got turned onto this by MAXRoam's Pat Phelan. Yesterday Alec Saunders and I had a Skype call over my EvDO connection using Sprint from my house. Basically you create a hot spot anywhere you are and can share with friends. Word of warning, it works best when you have only one data transfer intensive action if you are having a VoIP or Skype call. It won't easily support video though and that is a factor of throughput and the network.

5. Plantronics Internet Phone Booth 480 Headset. Day in and day out this is the best headset and mic combo to use. Its light and sounds great. Need a speakerphone. Nothing beats the Polycom Communicator. When I need a conference call I turn to client VAPPs and their High Speed Conferencing. The sound quality can't be beat.

Skype 3.8 Out For Windows

Skype 3.8 is out and it features reportedly better video. I'll have to check that out when I'm not on my Mac using version 2.6 as 2.7 for the Mac remains buggy.

A quick look at 3.8 today showed that Skype is working on making the Windows interface less cluttered and easier to get around.

Om has some insight.

Speed Bumps Coming To A BroadBand Near You Soon

Om's post about better speeds from your broadband provider is music to my years. As a home based teleworker and global traveling nomad speed is my connectivity lifeline. Bad broadband for me is the equal to a bad hair day.

But it's his closing paragraph which really nails what the important part of having better pipe is all about. The upstream path.

Broadband 2.0 is all about collaboration and sharing, and that requires just as much upstream bandwidth as it does downstream speeds. Regardless, this coming year is going to be fun as the cable companies and phone operators will do unnatural things to entice new subscribers, starting with offering faster connections at lower prices. Nothing wrong with that.

Basically for client companies like Vapps with their HiDef Conferencing, Yugma, SightSpeed, Truphone, Junction Networks, iotum, and their competitiors, the upstream improvements will really help make for a much better user experience.

Airports Continue to Not Get Technology

Jonathan Green explodes at his recent experience in Newark Airport where he had WiFi but found the power outlets all without juice.

Just this past Monday night I found myself in Phoenix's Sky Harbor, one of the airports that a national publication called the best for WiFi. Sure the signal was there, but on my Mac I couldn't get even to the home page. Of course I was able to at least get to the SouthWest Airlines pilots and flight attendants portal page, proving there was nothing wrong with my Mac.

Let's face it, the whole concept of WiFi and technology in airports is broken. The older established airports either do it right or turn the service over to a company that understands, or the lowest bidder. Sometimes contracts with telecom carriers decide who has the rights. Compared to Europe, where I get a standard experience country by country for the most part, like in Spain with Kubi, France with Orange, T-Mobile or BT in the UK, etc. here in the USA it's purely Russian Roulette unless you see T-Mobile, AT&T or Boingo's Concourse Communications as the SSID.

Gateway services seem to be the biggest challenge, and airports and their providers who insist on supporting only PC's with Windows and Internet Explorer seem to lead the list of hurdles. That and not enough bandwidth on the property of course.

But this power issue, spurred on by 9/11 is another challenge. In Phoenix Southwest Airlines built up these cool work spaces, complete with power outlets. Think of them as mini airport lounges without the lounge. Unfortunately while I had the juice, I didn't have the WiFi....

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