VoIP Watch

Gizmo and Google-My Thoughts

First off, congratulations to the team at SipPhone, the company behind Gizmo, and especially to neighbor Michael Robertson who has according to all accounts sold the company to Google for $30,000,000 dollars. All the world is waiting for is the official announcement, but here's what I have learned from sources other than Robertson, who has to be non-committal publicly.

1) The deal is for $30,000,000

2) It was done because Gizmo/Sipphone will provide both software and PSTN termination, billing, etc. to Google

3) The staff that Robertson has assembled will stay for the most part intact here in San Diego

4) Robertson will stay on with Google in a capacity where his "disruptive" talents can be well utilized, starting with telephony, but eventually in other areas

It was only last Friday when I hinted that this deal was likely going to happen, by suggesting that it made a lot of sense. In that post I explained why Google's acquisition made sense stating:

My take--this means that Gizmo, owned by neighbor Michael Robertson should be in the running for a company like Google to pick them up. The Google Voice, Google Talk platform could immediately gel and then become a major competitor. What's more if you factor in Android, with Google Voice, the troika becomes a killer combination, and may be the only service that can rival Skype, as all that Google ad space can get put to use.

What it would also mean is the first real viable option to go up against the broadband providers who are selling phone service.

If you look over most of the news accounts I think you'll see that they reflect those points and expand upon them, including PC World, which quoted me directly and was only one of the news outlets who called or emailed me yesterday to provide perspective.

Some more personal perspective-back in 2006/2007 my agency represented GrandCentral and I suggested to Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet that they interop using SIP with Gizmo, making it possible for GrandCentral users to receive their calls on Gizmo, and because the traffic was going to be on net, to reduce costs. That interoperability exists to this day and with an ever expanding user base (as they invite more people in) this means GoogleVoice users can add the Gizmo voice client and receive calls or have them bridged and originated using the Gizmo client. This has massive implications as in essence Google by purchasing Gizmo ends up saving money on both origination and termination, and backdoor onto the iPhone and into Skype immediately, at least when connected to WiFi, but also when users are mobile.

Here's why:

Already there are numerous SIP clients for the iPhone. Many of them are open, and accept SIP credentials, something every GIZMO user receives when they sign up. When you make Gizmo's ID one of your GoogleVoice termination points, that would make your iPhone an endpoint, presuming the application was running in the foreground as you can follow these instructions to set up GV to route calls to it. This post sums up what is also possible, though the details have magically been removed from Gizmo's web site.

Then there's Skype and the OpenSky gateway which makes Skype accessible. Now I wouldn't be surprised if GoogleVoice ends up adding a Skype direct feed, ala what exists with Gizmo already, as the OpenSky service is a back door into Skype and since Skype has an iPhone client already, well, you get my drift, especially when you think how Skype will eventually work over 3G and OpenSky has an SMS trigger already built in, and GoogleVoice already has SMS, so you can in theory have a callback type service that triggers a no cost call via GoogleVoice (or a lower than Skype rate International call) that rides reaches your iPhone over Skype, without a GoogleVoice client even being available.

Google bought a lot more than just termination to the PSTN and some well built software. They bought a very disruptive company with lots of good ideas and the ability to innovate and implement. Just like they did with GrandCentral.

Is Apple Stopping Progress?

It's time not to put the hammer down, but to throw it up again. Yesterday Nimbuzz made noise via GigaOm's Om Malik, with news of their client now offering what is called Nimbuzz Out, which is in many ways a clone of Fring, Skype Out and Truphone combined, as the new feature it allows calls to real telephone numbers on the iPhone, just like Truphone, as well as how Skype works with their own client that works on Nokia phones in the UK and a few others where Three already has installed the iSkoot gateway technology.

One of the assertions in Om's post was that:

"If you are using it on an iPhone, then you have to use the Wi-Fi connection, which makes me a tad upset because you can make Skype calls over 3G. You can make NimbuzzOut calls via 3G on Symbian phones, however."

While it's known that on jailbroken phones that applications like Skype will work over 3G, for the rest of us who play by the rules, calls like that just won't happen as Apple's current software prevents that from occuring.

Om later in the day came out with some clarification in his next post about Apple, basically laying placing fault on their doorstep and putting them under the bus for the lack of 3G Data network access for applications like Skype, Fring and client Truphone, as well as Nimbuzz. Om clearly points out that the apps like Nimbuzz (and Truphone) have worked for some time on 3G on Symbian devices-like the Nokia N95 or E71, and I'll add, where permitted by the carrier agreements.

The fact that on the iPhone calls over 3G are not yet possible is more than likely tied to the fact that Apple's Terms and Conditions, which sets the ground rules for developers, to program under have not yet been updated to reflect that capability, so while possible, the apps can't yet do what we all know is possible.

Is this defensible? Well if you're Apple, you take the perspective that you have more customers of iPhones in the carriers who do not permit 3G calling, and that AT&T is just one of them that want's to. But then that's where Apple loses. And again, the proof point is voice, and specifically Skype, which was barred from being available in Canada while a patent rights issue was resolved. At that time, those of us in the good old USA and in other countries around the world were able to enjoy Skype on our iPhones. That meant Apple has the ability to localize where certain versions of applications are available, or even to be available at all. This is no different than with music, TV programs or movies, all of which have various rights issues that involve borders and regions.

To be clear, if I'm a USA Apple iTunes user who subscribes to downloading of MadMen in the the USA, I can get the current third season from Apple's iTune's store as long as I have a valid USA credit card and billing address. However, if I'm in the UK, with a UK credit card and billing address I could only get season two of Mad Men from iTunes and I'd not have any visibility to year three. On the other hand, if I had bank accounts and addresses in both nations, I could simply switch between the two accounts and have the best of both worlds. Those two sceanrios in effect negates the potential argument from Apple about not being able to allow in the USA 3G Data Network accessible versions of Skype, Nimbuzz, Fring and Truphone from being in the App Store now.

So with all that as history, precedent and color I ask the question, is Apple's stopping progress? Or better put, who is going to be throwing the hammer.

Impressions of The Droid (on Verizon)

I've now had the good fortune or misfortune to have my hands on three different Android devices. Given I adopt early, I expect some disappointment, and was with the G1, so while I saw promise, the delivery was short, but the potential was clearly visible.

Next was the recently released MyTouch3 from T-Mobile. While it showed improvement, the lack of a keyboard was keeping it from being more to my liking, as I do more than just read on my phone.

Now comes the Droid, from Motorola. Nirvana? No. iPhone replacement. I think so, mostly because the Verizon network just rocks. Once I learned about Touchdown, a third party Exchange App, everything just sync'd and what's more, the speed of the Android on WiFi or EVDO smokes the iPhone.

One of the features I like is that Skype works ala Skype on Three in the UK. And while it uses your Skype Out credit, if you have Skype Unlimited and keep Skype loaded, (no one app at a time hassle ala the iPhone) you can do a lot more. One catch is to advise GoogleVoice to not be your default calling service, but to make it selectable call by call, otherwise Skype gets lost.

Is it perfect? No. But for someone who loves the Nokia E71, and wanted something much more like it, with a wide range of apps, but on Verizon, I have found the first true open device for Verizon, and have to say, it rocks.

My T-Mobile UMA Experience and My CDMA Data Experience

Traveling to Seoul Korea meant that being savvy and frugal with my mobile usage. I took along a battery of phones, but really at the end of the day ended up using my RIM Blackberries to stay connected most of the time.

Sure I used the Nokia E71 with Truphone, but I wanted to put the RIM Blackberry Curve through its paces with UMA in a part of the world where broadband is like water and air. And when I say broadband, I mean blazing fast, no latency broadband, where WiFi is one of the standard ways of staying connected.

The RIM Blackberry Curve with UMA via T-Mobile performed like a champ. The connectivity was super fast, and the call quality better than what I get back in the USA. Given the fact that this is a route around roaming charges, the approach couldn't be beat, as the minutes fall under my "unlimited" plan from T-Mobile in the USA.

For email though I had to use the RIM Worldphone that has Verizon as the carrier. Being CDMA it was an easy connection to whatever network was available, and while the Curve was great on WiFi, without any GSM to latch onto, when out and about, it was not much help. The Worldphone was though and I never missed an email.

The bottom line is simply this. With some planning you can stay very connected, without a lot of hassle.

Traveling Lighter

As a true road warrior I'm always keen to find tips from others like me. One of my favorite travel industry writers to read is Joe Brancatelli who besides his must read JoeSentMe.com newsletter, also authors a business travel column for Portfolio Magazine.

In the most recent issue JB shares what he considers his "essentials" for staying connected on the road.

Over the past month I've been in London (twice), Barcelona, Amsterdam, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea. I've used two different Macs (a 13" Mac Book Pro and my Mac Book Air), the Asus eee PC 1008 HA, a Viliv V7 Mid, as my laptop, my Nokia E71, an Apple iPhone, RIM Blackberry Curve, RIM Blackberry Worldphone, an iPod Touch and even a Skype Phone. I've also spent time both on audio and video calls via Skype, made phone calls over Truphone (a client), used the UMA calling from T-Mobile on the Curve as well as calls via Skype on the Skypephone from INQ when in London.

I've swapped SIMs in the UK, Spain and Amsterdam, used my 3G Dongles in those countries and even pulled out the MiFi from Novatel to be data and voice connected.

At the end of the day, Truphone and Skype have been my most used services for voice while the Microsoft Exchange server kept me in sync regardless of which device I was using for email. Services like Basecamp and Dropbox remain essential for me as I can freely switch between computers and have all of what i need, wherever I may be.

Joe's list is worth a read, but like any topic, being a true road warrior means getting the technology and services you need and like to work best for you. It's a personal thing so figure out what you need before you travel and you'll enjoy your travels more.

The Skype Suit Is Settled-Now Business Can Get On

I'm just glad the suit is settled between ebay and Skype. Now a lot of things that have been held back can finally move forward. In many ways the settlement is a good thing. The return of the original founders means disruption will continue, and new ideas will flourish. It also means Skype as a business or brand will now have a chance to prove its worth.

Om has a pretty good scorecard on the details.

My take--this means that Gizmo, owned by neighbor Michael Robertson should be in the running for a company like Google to pick them up. The Google Voice, Google Talk platform could immediately gel and then become a major competitor. What's more if you factor in Android, with Google Voice, the troika becomes a killer combination, and may be the only service that can rival Skype, as all that Google ad space can get put to use.

What it would also mean is the first real viable option to go up against the broadband providers who are selling phone service.

T-Mobile- You Got Some Explaining To Do

Yesterday, on Monday around 1230 PM I was in Silicon Valley and couldn't call any of my staff on their T-Mobile phones. What I was getting was "sorry, all circuits are busy." Well it seems by today, the problem I first detected had gotten much, much worse.

I tried calling from my T-Mobile phone, then my iPhone on AT&T with the same result. So, I called T-Mobile and ran into customer service attitude. I mean, here I am, suggesting they have a network problem, and they're asking me to run tests on MY phone because that's there procedure. Let's face it. If I was able to call them, my phone was working fine. But even one of my staff who was with me couldn't call another team member, and that team member couldn't call out, even though her Blackberry services were working fine.

When I mentioned that as a member of the press world I was going to record the call, the T-Mobile rep simply HUNG UP on me. Here I am trying to help them by reporting a real problem, and they hung up. So I called back, asked if there was any network issues, and they said "No, sir. We don't have any network issues." I said I was going to record that and again, they hung up on me. Funny thing is, they can record the call for their own protection, but as the paying customer, we are not supposed to.

At the end of the day, mobile operators should listen more to their customers who are live and in the field using what they offer. Like with power companies, the customers will be the first ones to notice the service having a problem, and we'll be the first ones to report it.

T-Mobile---time to realize, your customers do know.

Ribbit Mobile Launches Today

Looks like Ribbit is chasing the GoogleVoice market with their launch of Ribbit Mobile, in beta, today.

Ribbit Mobile is built on the Ribbit Platform, that BT paid over 100 million dollars for. Key point is the service is free (for now) but has a monthly value of $30.00.

From the announcement the key feature that Ribbit Mobile offers vs. Google Voice is Voice Memos. Here they are going after the market that JOTT has staked out a while back, and going farther back, where both MobileWord and SpeechMachines both tried and failed.

Once my account goes live, I'll have a better perspective on just how much different, or similar to Google Voice Ribbit Mobile really is.

One of the more interesting features is the promise of a softphone, that is coming in 2010.

Also, the capability to drop and add phone numbers at will, makes this a lot like what TalkPlus tried to do a few years back.

Look over the feature set and see how Ribbit Mobile works.

Google and Skype Beware-You're Getting Taxed

It seems the city of Vallejo California wants to tax texting, other wise known as SMS.

So why is this important? Well if you use GoogleVoice you have the option of having your messages delivered via SMS, as well email. Skype has a similar function, as do other companies which work with middlemen like Syniverse that make it possible to send and receive texts not simply for those sent to or from a mobile handset.

How a city can actually determine the tax on texting will be complicated, as mobile operators offer all kinds of bundles, and rarely break out the breakdown of services costs for things like SMS, Voicemail, and other features that are sold in the all in one offerings these days.

What also interesting is that the tax is going to include VoIP services, a path we've seen before here in California. How this impacts Skype will be interesting, as they continue to contend they're not a VoIP service, while still failing the duck test.

Are Corded Phones Endangered?

Yesterday at VoiceCon in SF a debate between industry pundits ensued over the potential of cutting the cord in the enterprise market.

My take is we will start to see more and more use of mobile convergence devices from the likes of RIM, Nokia and especially Android. Here's why.

Cost.

WiFi is cheaper to install than wired connectivity. With more and more office space becoming "temporary" and with lots of new construction thats been stalled or just not finished internally, a WiFi based converged platform becomes far more economical. Enter PBX based services from companies like Agito Networks who already announced their RIM Enterprise play and a few others and you have inside the campus cordless connectivity.

The second reason why converged devices or even PC based calling vs. a real IP Desk Phone is cost here too. Look at the price for basic IP phones and compare that to DECT phone or subsidized mobile devices.

I just wish a real Mobile PBX would come to life.....with all you need in one service...Mobile, FMC, Unified Communications, PBX extension based calling and more.

Another Example of Device Divergence-This Time for Twitter

Now almost two years since I penned my piece about the coming era of device divergence we see a fine example that may become the poster child for the concept.

Called TwitterPeek, the device is the result of collaboration between Twitter and Peek and is a new device built exclusively for sending tweets. It works using mobile data and really may be the first Twitter device ever.

Is A Skype Settlement Near?

Om Malik, who has longstanding relationships in the investment community and has tossed aside his managerial role at GigaOm to do what he loves best, be a reporter, dropped a bombshell last night with initial details that Skype's current management and the founders of Skype may be closing in on a settlement surrounding the JoltID technology.

Om has hinted that he's got a lot more, and I would tend to view this as an evolving story, that will unfold and due to the egos involved, and the number of parties to the lawsuits (yes lawsuits) there's still a good chance this can go sideways.

My advice...stay tuned.

Reflections on The MiFi

The MiFi from Novatel Wireless, one of San Diego's leading technology companies, is hands down my product of the year. As an avid road warrior, their MiFi Pocketspot has become my hotspot anywhere I need Internet access, not only in the USA, but around the globe, as I have both an unlocked GSM device and USA only editions from both Verizon and Sprint, as neither offer just enough coverage, and we all know the inconsistencies of the AT&T network.

Recently, ReThink Wireless wrote an early eulogy about Novatel based on their earnings call last week.

This is a product whose market has yet to peek yet. It's early, and Novatel has the lead in the department. Their upcoming deal with one of the mobile data aggregators will help with the Enterprise market but the big sales come when AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint get their business customers on board. Those budgets start to pop in 2010, so as Novatel and the carriers work on better pricing, and as data caps get lifted or aggregated between users with company wide bundles, the value of the MiFi to the traveling executives, especially those that travel in teams, will begin to take hold.

Then there is the Novatel Wireless Developer Lounge that will bring new applications to the MiFi set, that can be installed on board. Think of that as a portable cloud.

While Novatel has a lot of ground to cover, they've been steadily improving their execution and delivery the last few years, so I'm taking the more optimistic approach and choosing to view their glass as half-full, not half-empty.

Gary Kim: How Not To Sell Hosted Voice Services

Gary Kim, who has been in and through the VoIP wars has a very interesting take of How Not To Sell Hosted Voice.

In many ways this is Sales 101, and it highlights what I like to call the "engineering sale" vs. the "marketing sale" that plagues many a VoIP company.

Too often the sale is based on one of two things:

1) The wow factor of something the company perceives as cool, but the market could care less about.

2) The overselling of a solution that remains in search of a problem.

Both sales approaches miss out on what's most important element of selling:

Need and Want Satisfaction Approach.

Simply put, what does the customer/prospect need and want. Sell that first and then follow with everything else.

Gary's piece pretty much asserts that.

Worth A Read-SIP & Skype, VoxOx's New Calling Plans

Ian Bell's commentary about SIP being Skype's savior (or not) is worth a read, especially on a lazy Sunday like today.

Worth checking out if you want something cheaper than Skype comes from a San Diego company that was started by my neighbor and his sons. TelCentris operates VoxOx, and they just announced some new pricing. Their updated VoxOx client also came out recently and reports are that the new version cleans up a lot of bugs.

Winning The Award At eComm Means So Much To Me

Somewhere far, far away, in the heavens above my parents and two of my first two mentors in business, Sy Roseman and Ken Gesner, are smiling and hoisting back the finest 1959 wine they can find, because as of Friday, I now run an "award winning communications agency" called Comunicano, which that afternoon in Amsterdam was awarded the eComm 2009 Communications Innovation Community Award in the same esteemed group as Google and a few others.

Candidly, I was shocked, because I view my contribution, and that of my team, to events like eComm, Mobilize, GadgetFest and a few others as doing my part to give back to the community that makes it possible to continue to be a force in an industry. It’s not a mercenary thing, but quite the opposite. It’s about insuring the future, something I learned many years ago, and something I’ve learned is a lesson to be executed on the rest of my life.

Back in 1976 the third mentor in my life Aaron Siegel, approached Sy Roseman on behalf of the Philadelphia Flyers owner, Edward M. Snider with an idea that Siegel and Ken Gesner had hatched.

The idea was simple. Get kids playing hockey so the future of a fan base is secured. Sy, who had first “adopted” me into the public relations fraternity at the age of 14, was also asked to “bring that kid into the program” so I would eventually run what was to be called Hockey Central, and then the Flyers Office of Amateur Hockey Affairs. Ed Snider’s vision of 33 years ago remains active today, with most of the programs I had created from scratch continuing, and having been expanded now some 21 years after I “retired” from the Flyers organization at the age of 28 and almost thirteen years of what could have best been described as “playing” at the game of marketing, the same way Bobby Clarke “played” hockey. To simply win.

Winning the eComm 2009 Communications Innovation Community Award this past Friday was for me, my “Heart Trophy,” a comment I shared with Jim Courtney who was attending eComm. My word pun was clearly understood, for in hockey, a sport I know Jim loves, the MVP award is named just that, but with a different spelling, “Hart Trophy.” You see, for years I’ve always been the guy picking the award winners or bestowing them on others, so to win one, and not just one that is handed out frivolously means so much more to me than anything on Earth (except of course my wife.)

By working with Lee Dryburgh, who puts his own heart and soul into each and every eComm, I’m doing my part to help do for telecom and the world of emerging communications, what Ed Snider continues to do for hockey in the Delaware Valley. Insuring the future of advancement and improvement. Helping out at eComm is not only fun, in many ways it’s a real high for me.

You see, not only do I get to associate and interact with some real masters of technology, but by playing the communications game with some of the best in the business, and being recognized as a peer of sorts, is how I stay sharper, because, like we used to say to hockey parents, “your kid doesn’t get better playing against kids they’re better than.”

So for me, I’m doing what I often told many a youth hockey parent. I'm playing up. For me, eComm the last few years has been just that. Being with the best, learning, improving, and always sharpening my game.

So, for Sy, Ken, Mom, Dad and Aaron..this award is as much for you as it is for me.

Traffic Pumping or Pimping

Let.s face it, if you use GoogleVoice like I do, you have the benefit of a very reliable, easy to use, one number solution with voice mail, message transcription, with an elegant call back solution that offers convenience and capabilities not currently offered by any on the US local carriers or mobile operators in one complete package. So I found the Randy Stross penned story in today's New York Times very thought provoking.

To get all the features that GoogleVoice offers one would need Comunikate, PhoneTag and a subsidy by some service provider, as the calls made via the Google Voice application that end up on a landline or to Gizmo's softphone are really free (other than the cost of access to a network) so in essence GoogleVoice is democratizing voice serrvices, and at the same time taking potential revenues away from others who don't offer all of the functions in one place.

As a public service, subsidized by ad revenue, GoogleVoice makes thins easy for people to get services that otherwise would need to come from many different service providers, and not all work well together.

Honestly, GoogleVoice, now with SMS would be worth paying for,if for no other reason than to shut the door on these types of issues between operators and the FCC so they all can get on with bigger issues, like making broadband available to all.

Sharing Broadband and More

While tethering on the iPhone in the USA remains a bit of a challenge (especially if your updated to the latest version of firmware on the Apple iPhone) there are other options emerging.

For years Apple Macintosh users have been able to turn a Mac that is hard wired to an Ethernet connection into a hotspot, but now the new Windows 7 OS from Microsoft has been turned into both a hotspot and a wireless bridge via Connectify.

Connectify.me is where you can find it.

Another way to share wireless broadband is Joikuspot, and now their new Boost (Beta) allows users to combine wireless broadband signals into one, giving the user really fast bandwidth.

Of course, Sprint doesn't want you to tether.

Ribbit, Ribbit

After a year not much is really new at BT and Ribbit other than some shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic, despite the title changes and some granting of authority in new places, my sources tell me that BT is still trying to figure out how to get the Ribbit assets into the channels beyond what was already there, specifically Silicon Valley based companies like SalesForce.com, Oracle and Google (via the Wave Beta.)

For new ideas to succeed inside of BT requires sponsorship of the sales concept within some part of the company, and right now, other than with the group the company falls under, a recasted BT Design, not much is really new other than some titles from what I can see.

This is also not an empty category, as other companies are out there cutting into the market with actual sales, like client IfByPhone, Voxeo (with Voice XML and the purchase of Adhearsion), CloudVox as well as the companies Om pointed to--notably Twilio.

What BT needs is some outside thinking (like most big companies) which comes from the consulting and integrator ranks that can work around the internal process of getting things done, so adoption occurs. When that happens Ribbit's chances of success will go up, but for now, it's just a big purchase of things already on the drawing board, that were bought, not built. Ergo why BT should go outside again to buy, not try to build sales and adoption.

New Click To Call From Voxygen Rocks

Client Voxygen took the raps off something I've known about for quite some time at eComm yesterday. It's a Voice 2.0/next generation "click to call" application that has the all the trappings of a winner according to pal Alec Saunders.

What makes the app so special is how the application gathers up data from the web site and mashes up that information, triggers a call and then presents it to the call center agent. That's one smart app.

When you look at the direction voice and actual informational data are heading, you start to realize how limited most of what we have being deployed today is. This app from Voxygen and others along the same lines from Mr. Mashup Thomas Howe, client IfByPhone, Ribbit and others shows me that the surface is just being scratched and that in 2010 we'll begin to see a whole lot more.

Real Video Recording Comes to Skype With VodBurner

A few weeks ago one of my favorite video experts, David Spark, was asking me what application or plug-in would work with Skype well. My reaction was "not much."

Then the very next day, into my inbox came a note from longtime Skype application/Extras developer Jeremy Hague, letting me know about his new app called VODBURNER.

Well the app is now out and TECHCrunch has the details.

Conceptually, this is exactly what Skype needs to have. Based on the stats revealed yesterday at eComm from Skype, more and more video calls are happening every day. With better web cams coming to market every day, recording and being able to share a video with others who may not have been on the call is big benefit. Back in the day when we worked with SightSpeed, one of the most useful features of SightSpeed for Business was their video recording capability. With VODBURNER now live and available for $9.95 or so, it means Skype becomes closer to being the ultimate video platform. All that's missing is multi-party, something already offered by ooVoo and SightSpeed.

Who Said Voice Is Dead? Not Infonetics

To all the nay-sayers who were quick to pronounce that voice was dead, the rumors of its demise were clearly premature. According to Infonetics Research, and a post from Om Malik, the market size is $20.7 BILLION dollars.

This is before you add in all the non-revenue minutes from services like Skype, Gizmo, Yahoo Messenger and the rest of the no-cost to talk services that are making ancillary revenue off of things like dial in DIDs and other services.

What the report also points out is that US cable operator Comcast has become a very big player in voice, which means that both Level3 and Sprint are seeing lots of traffic at the wholesale level, while AT&T, now a dead on competitor to Comcast via Uverse, likely is losing their share of business from not only Comcast, but all the major cable operators.

Amen, Brother

Alec Saunders just wrote the Voice 3.0 manifesto.

Is The BlackBerry Doomed?

TokTumi's Peter Sisson thinks that RIM may be in for some dark days and that the Blackberry is doomed.

Boingo Goes Blackberry-A Huge Boon For Voice

My agency has represented Boingo for 18 months or so now, and long before that I was a Boingo customer, a happy customer, who found that using it on my Nokia N & E Series devices and my laptops was always something that allowed for easy connectivity.

One of the missing pieces, more due to RIM's SDK, was Boingo on the Blackberry. As a Blackberry user with T-Mobile I've always enjoyed logging on to WiFi at home (via Hotspot @ HOME) or at a T-Mobile Hotspot, and having my mobile number from the USA anywhere in the world accessible to me.

That worked great in the past at places like Starbucks, some airport lounges like those from American Airlines and at some airports. But as T-Mobile has been exiting the WiFi world in dribs and drabs, the most reliable and broadest reaching aggregator has been Boingo. Now, with Boingo on the Blackberry, UMA Voice will work as well on the Blackberry as client Truphone does on my iPhone, iPod Touch and Nokia E71 virtually anywhere Boingo connects.

This is a huge step forward as the business market end user which needs connectivity now can get connectivity in more places, where T-Mobile's footprint doesn't go. With Boingo, as with WiFi of your own or within the enterprise or campus, means you can get connectivity for voice coverage higher up or farther away. Currently, AT&T in the USA doesn't have a VoIP client for their users, nor is there one with Verizon or Sprint on the Blackberry's that has any traction, as access to the SIP and WiFi stacks on the RIM devices has never been really offered.

Blackberry users though should not just take my word for it, or the insight above that I've linked to. They should also read some of the insider's viewpoints as well.

BerryReview

BlackBerry Insight

CrackBerry

Blackberry Sites

PocketBerry

BerryReporter

The 5 Ms of Communications From Martin Geddes

Martin Geddes keynote is a blockbuster here at eComm in Amsterdam.

He clearly and crisply defined and described the 5 Stage Evolution of Comms as Messages, Minutes, Megabytes, Media and Moments.