VoIPWatch

The Comunicano for Friday January 27 2017

 

JANUARY 27 - ISSUE #10 It’s only been a few months since cableco Charter gobbled up Time Warner Cable, but now it looks the buyer may become the bought which becomes a big win for Charter’s largest shareholder, Liberty Media and John Malone. That’s because Verizon is reportedly in talks to buy Charter, largely as a defensive move against both Comcast. That’s because Comcast is rolling out wireless phone service and also due to AT&T trying to buy up Time Warner for all their entertainment properties.  In other news we have good news for rural New York State when it comes to broadband; why video streaming is so easy;  a Facebook/MailChimp ad match up; a look at a lot of e-commerce tools; how to increase sales; plus those hotel thermostats and you, along with a short item on Starbucks and its customers. Those stories are all in today’s Comunicano. Verizon Watch Speculation builds on a Verizon-Charter tie-up, no offer made WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share (Adds analysts’ quotes, context, updates share… Verizon Wireless and AT&T see value perception decrease TODAY.YOUGOV.COM – Share Two of the four major wireless phone brands have experienced significant value perception declines with consumers for the last 30 to 60 days, which may create opportunities for their rivals. Rural Broadband to Keep Growing (in NY) New York to keep $170M to expand broadband access WWW.WASHINGTONTIMES.COM – Share New York state will get to keep $170 million in federal funding for broadband access after all. Video Streaming Watch 5 Ways to Use Live-Streaming to Amplify Offline Events WWW.SOCIALMEDIATODAY.COM – Share While there’s some hesitation from event organizers, live-streaming can be a great compliment for offline conferences. Oscars 2017: Where to Stream the Nominated Movies WWW.NYTIMES.COM – Share Several Oscar-nominated films are still in theaters. Here’s where you can stream the rest. Marketing Watch Facebook Ad Campaigns for MailChimp BLOG.MAILCHIMP.COM – Share With Facebook Ad Campaigns for MailChimp, you can grow your audience and sell more stuff in the same place. Find new subscribers and reconnect with others. Gorgias - E-commerce Stack. Top 100 e-commerce apps. GORGIAS.IO – Share E-commerce stack: Top 100 e-commerce apps and tools for Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce How Tech Companies Double Annual Sales with Three Words MEDIUM.COM – Share It’s January, which means increasing sales and growth targets for emerging technology companies for the new year. With more venture capital funding comes higher expectations. How do private B2B tech… Odds & Ends It’s Not You: Hotel Thermostats Really Are Rigged WWW.WSJ.COM – Share Systems can leave guests pushing buttons in vain. Now some travelers have started resisting, scouring thermostat manuals to uncover secret overrides of the override. Starbucks: Crowded stores turned off customers WWW.USATODAY.COM – Share The chain reported disappointing sales growth and partly blamed store “congestion.“ Do you enjoy receiving this? Please share it:     Tweet     Share   Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

The Comunicano for Wednesday January 25 2017

JANUARY 25 - ISSUE #8 Good morning. Today we have insight on what’s going on in the news world surrounding fake news and the rise of the citizen journalist as well as how the media is under attack. That’s just for starters.  Down Under in the land of Oz, they’re finally getting in flight Wi-Fi. Well on one plane for now. News from Cisco about the new Spark Board, an acquisition, possible mergers, and some fund raising of note in Money Time, news from Google around I/O, some Apple Watching,  ways to be better Socially online in Socially Speaking, plus a few Odds & Ends surrounding SMS, the FCC and how Verizon is feeling the heat from other carriers. All those stories and more, in today’s Comunicano. Facebook Live Is the Right Wing’s New Fox News BACKCHANNEL.COM – Share An hour after Donald Trump’s inauguration speech, Phillip Stucky was on the streets of Washington, D.C., iPhone in hand, looking for protesters. He was running on fumes. The previous night, Stucky… The Rise Of Fake News Amidst The Fall Of News Media WWW.SILICONVALLEYWATCHER.COM – Share Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of innovation at the intersection of technology and media Wi-Fi Watch For my friends in Australia, all I can say, is, you’re gonna love it. This is the same in-flight Wi-Fi service, or better, than what we have on Jet Blue and some Virgin America and United flights in the USA.  Qantas introduces free inflight Wi-Fi to their Boeing 737 WWW.EXECUTIVESTYLE.COM.AU – Share Qantas will trial free Wi-Fi in the air from next month, but is being online all the time a good thing? SparkWatch Cisco entered the digital whiteboard space with a new Spark Board. ZD Net has some details and I’ve added my 2 cents to the story on VoIPWatch. Cisco rolls out Spark Board, all-in-one cloud-connected digital whiteboard WWW.ZDNET.COM – Share The Spark Board, competing with the Microsoft Surface Hub and Google’s Jamboard, is the first video-capable device that Cisco has shipped that’s only connected to the cloud. Cisco's Sparkboard For Collaboration Here and There ANDYABRAMSON.BLOGS.COM – Share Cisco’s Spark Team has been hard at work redefining their idea of collaboration. While first thought to be a Slack wannabe, Spark is far more than simply a messaging platform. Today’s news around the SparkBoard bears that out. So what is SparkBoard? Think of it as the virtual whiteboard you always wanted. It’s a wireless presentation screen, a digital whiteboard, and an audio and video conferencing system all in one. The Cisco Spark Board helps teams collaborate in physical meeting rooms, but also securely connects to virtual meeting spaces to facilitate continuous workflow before, during, and after everyone has left… Money Time Cisco didn’t stop yesterday with their Spark Board news. They went out and bought a company that was about to IPO…… Pal Jamie Siminoff’s company Ring raised $108 million more for their crime preventing doorbell….HPE snapped up another IT company and AirBnB may be buying Tilt to have a payment platform of their own. Cisco snaps up AppDynamics for $3.7B right before its IPO TECHCRUNCH.COM – Share Cisco said today that it would acquire AppDynamics, which helps companies monitor application performance, for a whopping $3.7 billion. And now, it would.. Connected doorbell startup Ring raises $109 million from DFJ, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm, others VENTUREBEAT.COM – Share From beds to fridges and beyond, the so-called Internet of Things took a giant leap forward in 2016, with consumers the world over encouraged to connect the most random of household items to the internet. Report: Airbnb in talks to buy payment app Tilt WWW.USATODAY.COM – Share App lets users split the cost of a trip. HPE to Acquire Cloud Cruiser to Bolster Consumption-Based IT for Customers WWW.HPE.COM – Share Read why HPE is acquiring Cloud Cruiser to bolder consumption-based IT for customers. Google Watch Google I/O 2017 will be held at Shoreline Amphitheatre May 17-19 9TO5GOOGLE.COM – Share   Your home just got smarter with new Google Assistant partners BLOG.GOOGLE – Share Belkin Wemo and Honeywell are joining the Google Assistant on Google Home—along with Philips Hue, Nest, Samsung SmartThings and IFTTT. Why Google Killed 1.7 Billion Ads Last Year (And Kicked 200 Publishers Off Its Network) WWW.FORBES.COM – Share It might seem strange for a web company that makes virtually all its money from advertising to be blocking more and more ads from its site, but that’s exactly what Google Inc. is doing. Apple Watching Apple's iOS 10.3 beta hits with cricket scores, 'Find My AirPods' WWW.CNET.COM – Share And the MacOS Sierra 10.12.4 developer beta brings Night Shift to Macs to change the displays to a warmer color. Apple is trying to limit how often your iPhone apps can bug you to give them a rating WWW.RECODE.NET – Share With the next version of iOS, users will also be able to rate programs without having to go to the App Store. Socially Speaking 8 Lesser Discussed Social Media Changes – What to Pay Attention to in 2017 WWW.SOCIALMEDIATODAY.COM – Share While there were many big changes in social in 2016, some smaller updates have created a significant impact. Instagram's Live Stories: Available Globally BLOG.INSTAGRAM.COM – Share   Odds & Ends SMS is making everything old new again BLOG.INTERCOM.COM – Share   Comcast, AT&T, and ISP lobbyists are excited about Trump’s FCC chair ARSTECHNICA.COM – Share Ajit Pai repeatedly sided with ISPs on FCC rules, will be “formidable opponent.” Verizon rivals put squeeze on No. 1 carrier's growth WWW.USATODAY.COM – Share Shares drop after Verizon predicts flat growth this year as T-Mobile, Sprint get aggressive. Do you enjoy receiving this? Please share it:     Tweet     Share   Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

Cisco's Sparkboard For Collaboration Here and There

Cisco's Spark Team has been hard at work redefining their idea of collaboration. While first thought to be a Slack wannabe, Spark is far more than simply a messaging platform. Today's news around the SparkBoard bears that out.

So what is SparkBoard? Think of it as the virtual whiteboard you always wanted. It’s a wireless presentation screen, a digital whiteboard, and an audio and video conferencing system all in one. The Cisco Spark Board helps teams collaborate in physical meeting rooms, but also securely connects to virtual meeting spaces to facilitate continuous workflow before, during, and after everyone has left the physical conference room. The Cisco Spark Board draws its power from the Cisco Spark service, which combines meeting, messaging, calling, and new white boarding capabilities on any Cisco Spark app-enabled device.

What's this mean? With SparkBoard you can present to a group of people who are connected to your whiteboard session, but who don't have to be in the same room. What's more, with the mobile app, people on the go can be part of the session, both observing and participating. 

This also means the idea of remote collaboration really is coming true. I don't know how many times I've watched a presentation, and wanted to write on the screen my thoughts as the presenter is making a point. Or, highlight something on screen for others to pick up on, that the presenter may not be going deeply enough into. With the Spark Plus app features, the app becomes a remote extension to the presentation, letting the viewer become the participant.

Looking at what the Spark team has done, shows that Cisco is integrating their hardware and software teams together. Think WebEx and Tandberg meets Tropos and a few other acquisitions that they have made the last few years.  

How successful will this be? Pricing is key to the success of any service so hopefully Cisco employs a razor blade strategy, giving away the screens, and selling the service so adoption moves quickly.  

The Comunicano for Tuesday January 25th 2016

JANUARY 24 - ISSUE #7 Happy Tuesday. Waking up to the news that one of the tech media’s best has left the building. Quentin Hardy, a fixture on the media scene in Silicon Valley, most recently with the New York Times, is joining Google Cloud. This move continues the trend of media folks going corporate side.  In other news we have stories worth reading about Amazon, Google, Formula 1, Verizon, IBM, SNAP and AT&T. Those stories are all in today’s Comunicano. A Big Change in the Tech Media New York Times editor Quentin Hardy is heading to Google WWW.RECODE.NET – Share He announced on Twitter Monday that he will be head of editorial for Google Cloud. Augmented and Intelligent How Alexa Fits Into Amazon’s Prime Directive WWW.NYTIMES.COM – Share The wildly popular home assistant offers a vision of an automated future — one that Amazon itself is poised to dominate. From Jingles to Pop Hits, A.I. Is Music to Some Ears WWW.NYTIMES.COM – Share As A.I. applications become more sophisticated, the music that companies like Jukedeck produce has started wading into the commercial domain of actual musicians. GoogleWatch Google Voice gets a new look for its first major update in years - The Verge WWW.THEVERGE.COM – Share The redesigned app now supports group texts and MMS. All Chromebooks debuting in 2017 and beyond will run Android apps | Ars Technica ARSTECHNICA.COM – Share The Play Store is on its way to even more Chromebooks. The Axe Is Falling Ecclestone driven out as Liberty Media completes Formula 1 acquisition WWW.RAPIDTVNEWS.COM – Share It’s all change on the grid of Formula 1 as entertainment giant Liberty Media has removed Bernie Ecclestone’s iron grip on the steering wheel of a sport he has effectively been the driving force of since the 1970s. Verizon Lays Off Go90 Employees, Tasks Vessel Team With App Rebuild VARIETY.COM – Share Verizon has laid off 155 of employees working on its Go90 video streaming video service. IBM Touts Trump-Pleasing Hiring Plans While Firing Thousands - Bloomberg WWW.BLOOMBERG.COM – Share Big Blue pledged to hire 25,000 workers over four years. It wasn’t long before employees were accusing the company’s CEO of hypocrisy. Odds & Ends How a concerned mother's lawsuit helped get Snapchat to crack down on media companies WWW.LATIMES.COM – Share Last year, a mother in a lawsuit accused Snapchat of being too sexy for minors. On Monday, Snapchat announced changes that implied the argument held merit. AT&T International Pass Limits Phone Costs Abroad to $10/Day WWW.PCMAG.COM – Share The Day Pass allows users to talk, text, and surf for 24 hours without any shocking charges. Do you enjoy receiving this? Please share it:     Tweet     Share   Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

Sprint Buys Into Tidal-Music to Drive Brand

Sprint is taking a 1/3rd equity interest in Jay-Z's Tidal music service. With AT&T buying Direct TV, and Verizon stepping up to buy Yahoo (maybe), the face of the three telecom giants is quickly shifting from delivering voice and text into being the pipe that roars with content. All this is coming as 5G is around the corner and the battle for who has what on which service begins to rage on.

This move is designed in my mind to further push Sprint into the urban, Asian and Latin markets in the USA, especially with pre-paid, while Verizon goes for the corporate customer, AT&T aims to be all things to all people, while T-Mobile focuses on the consumer. The investment also comes at a time when services like Pandora and Spotify as well as Apple's iTunes all need to get an edge over one another. With Tidal, Sprint is staking its claim to secure some exclusive content that will only be available to its customers, or what's more likely, will be available first to their customers. 

Expect to see more of these types of investments and alignments as Comcast and Charter also start to toss their cash and stock war chests into the fray.

More Patents for 8x8

8x8 is a patent powerhouse when it comes to VoIP. Over the years I've been covering VoIP 8x8 has consistently filed for, and been awarded patent after patent at all layers of the VoIP stack. Today, the company announced that they have been awarded three more in the never ending battle to protect the turf they have established.

• United States Patent number 9,473,452 titled, “NAT Traversal in VoIP Communication System,” was awarded on October 18, 2016.
• United States Patent number 9,479,648 titled, “Intelligent Media Relay Selection,” was awarded on October 25, 2016. It is a continuation of U.S. patent number 9,148,519 awarded to the company on January 2, 2013.
• United States Patent number 9,531,879 titled, “Networked Contact Center User Interface Approach,” was awarded on December 27, 2016 and is a continuation of patent number 8,972,885 awarded on August 29, 2008.

In their announcement they describe what each patent does and why it has value to them.  The first two address call control, or how calls are routed. Clearly, this is all about making sure that traffic is handled efficiently, and with the least amount of delays.

The patent related to network address translator (NAT) traversal in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication system (#9,473,452) covers an innovation that enables a call control server to use an algorithm to select from proxy servers to route a VoIP session between endpoint devices.

The second patent (#9,479,648) provides a system for a call control agent to intelligently select the appropriate media relay servers that are located at geographically disparate locations relative to each other and then route and maintain the VoIP call through the media relay server

The third is all about the interface and the experience. The key here though is how 8x8 is signaling a bigger effort in the call center space by smartening up the interface that support people see, but dumbing down how to get that done.

The technology in U.S. patent #9,531,879 details how communications systems involving networked contact center interfaces present data in a selectable, user-friendly format.