I'm on the road this week for a few days working away on a non VoIP project and other stuff. That said, there were two very interesting developments in the blogosphere.
Bruce Stewart at O'Reilly's Emerging Telephony takes a well deserved poke at Skype for the Mac and proclaims client SightSpeed better (but we knew that, right?)
Pal Michael Robertson had news slip out on Monday about a new Gizmo for Business service. Basically with an Asterisk or other PBX system anyone in a business/enterprise setting can call free to other offices as well as calls to Gizmo enabled mobile and landline users.
Other news..JaJah is touting a new service that I've yet to see, but I hear that from the team there that the new JaJah will debut at Demo next week in San Diego. ...From what I'm hearing about JaJah they're moving deeper into the minute stealing world reportedly, and likely seeking to add some mystery caller cloaking features to their calling capabilities. I'm also hearing that Jangl is doing some of the same, but also trying to do the social identity angle as context for anonymous calling. The key here is that next week will bring hype to JaJah at Demo, and yet it will really be years before we know how meaningful the services really are, and if they really provide anything that the mass market wants versus the early adopters and no lifers who just want something that's free.
In my mind a service needs to offer something people need that satisfies a want and cures an everyday problem. Hopefully next week will bring some clarity from both companies.
RebTel is another playing in this dial around the carrier to save money world but has a much more defined business model and in my view offers an attractive proposition. Even more on the money is pal Craig Walker's venture, backed by CNET founder Halsey Minor (reportedly). The company, Grand Central Communications has a service offering that from what informed valley types tell me, is something a lot of people need. Craig is promising an update on their progress really soon. It's companies like these two, and others, that are showing maturity and sobriety in an overly adolescent Voice 2.0 world.
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