Working Anywhere

Lypp and WebEx Collaborate

Pal Erik Lagerway (SipThat) informs us that the soft-launch of the Lypp and WebEx collaboration suite is out for the masses.

Esme Dumps Her Dell, Office is Next

Esme Vos and I share alot of the same viewpoints. We both like posh hotels, fine dining, travel, wireless and on MuniWireless. Today when I saw her post about going non-PC, I couldn't agree more. This is more about going less Microsoft.

Basically as more and more of us live connected to the cloud and as Mac and Linux users figure out that first before the Windoze crowd wakes up, you'll find more of the tastemakers moving in that direction.

On my Asus eee PC I use Open Office, Thunderbird and Mozilla. On the Mac I'm using Mailplane and Google Mail for a cloned account of my Exchange server. At week five of my experiment I'm relying less and less on Microsoft Exchange. I'm even using Google Apps more each day.

New VoIP and Presence Applications for Symbian Series 60 Phones, New Phone from Nokia Too

Octro Talk is a new voip and presence application that works on Symbian Series 60 phones.

What's more interesting to me is that client Nokia has introduced the new 6300i that includes more than a SIP stack. They included a full SIP based VoIP client that is easily configurable. That means users of SIP based VoIP who are able to obtain their SIP credentials from the carrier can be totting around a VoIP phone that works over WiFi. The phone, which will retail for less than $300 doesn't have 3G capability.

A third company, Tpad has introduced a Truphone like clone that takes advantage of the stack already present in the N and E Series devices to create a full VoIP service.

What's New In Andy's Bag of Devices?

I've become hooked on the Amazon Kindle. I'm actually reading more, scanning less and finding that my mega fast reading and comprehension capabilities that I always had (I was tested in 3rd grade to be able to comprehend a college master's degree text book) have never left me. What's more the form factor is such that when you use the Amazon "book" jacket that no one asks you to "turn it off" when you're on the airplane, though I do turn off the CDMA radio that works over the WhisperNet that Amazon, Qualcomm (yes Qualcomm) and Sprint assembled.

The Kindle is long lasting. I'm getting three to four days of life with it turned on, and it downloads fast. Books download under a minute and I can even load in MP3 files via an SD card or USB cable to listen to music. That makes me think we're looking at the next iPod and that Amazon will be a Music powerhouse.

While it has a Web browser and works with Google Mail and such, I wouldn't use it for more than that just yet. That said, I do see all kinds of business uses for it.

The second device I'm very happy with is the Iqua Sun Bluetooth Headset. It's very "Green" and doesn't ever need to be recharged. Well, sort of. Basically it has a built in solar panel that even incandescent and ambient light provides. Think of it as the "always charged" headset for the "always on" generation.

But the main reason I like it is the fact that it has exceptional noise canceling, superb acoustics and best of all, isn't as obtrusively visible as the highly regarded, but almost Borg like looking Jawbone. Honestly, I can't hear any difference.

Being Virtual and Being In Person

Irwin Lazar has a post about the recent "virtual" conference that took place at VoiceCon.

As someone who uses the collaboration and conferencing tools more than most, I'm realizing the more I go on the road, the more I am not that far from others. My staff and I are making heavy use of client tools from Yugma for Web Conferencing, VAPPS for High Definition Audio and of course SightSpeed for video conferencing. Toss in some Skype here and there, and basically being away is not like what it used to be.

But one comment really reached out and hit home that we've been hammering on for over two years. You can meet with more people more easily with video conferencing, a point Irwin makes loud and clear.

One executive I spoke with cited the ability to meet with half a dozen clients in a day using telepresence compared with how long it would take to travel to each client location. He noted that he would normally conduct client or partner calls via telephone, but with telepresence, he felt that they were achieving a stronger level of client/partner interaction.

Let me take this a step further, for being a all star on the conference circuit means that you have to be both there and also at the other "there" virtually at the same time, and know how to do both with the same aplomb and dexterity.

Video conferencing is a great to maintain continuity and build rapport. It allows you to have meetings face to face without going away, thus there's no down time due to travel. Add in the ability to work the venue, find people face to face, socialize, meet in the hallways, press rooms, speakers lounges and in hotel lobbies, and have the bandwidth to do both and you have the winning combination.

Unfortunately, bandwidth tends to SUCK at most hotels and venue if you don't pick carefully, or the prices are so obscene that you won't dare want to pay the freight. Once the business world that makes the decisions catch on to the concept of Pay As You Go High Quality Public Wireless, the true value of all this "virtual" face to face will be met.

For now, practitioners like client and friend Peter Csathy CEO of SightSpeed are the pioneers in this approach. Peter spends two days in his office in Berkeley, CA while being almost a neighbor three days a week up the road here in San Diego, CA. His mantra is "drink your own kool-aid" and he makes extensive use of his own service, SightSpeed to organize virtual meetings. He also goes on the road to get up close and personal.

And personal is where the market is right now. I tend to be in front of clients more and more these days, especially at and around events. In a week I'll be in Las Vegas and will overlap with no less than six clients, all in town for either Electronic Telespan or CTIA's conferences, as well as for ShowStoppers and Mobile Focus. The time around these events gives me face time, and also expands the so called "network" of contacts we have to maintain. Most important though is the time I'll spend away from the event, holed up in my hotel room, or HQ office suite. Both will give me enough bandwidth to be up and online, in touch and very personal with the rest of the folks who aren't in Las Vegas. Using all these tools makes it easy to KIT (keep in touch) with those near and far

You see, with all this new technology means, "what goes on in Vegas, no longer only has to stay in Vegas."

Forbes Ranks Airport WiFi..I Disagree

Forbes somehow came up with a methodology to measure and rank airport WiFi. Unfortunately, my first hand experience in San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and elsewhere, where the WiFi is free has demonstrated that Free is rarely as good as paid.

I caught up with Boingo CEO David Hagan who had some pointed and very relevant commentary:

"In our experience, you get what you pay for. Free networks in high usage locations like airports are a quality death spiral. As more consumers access the network, the quality goes down. It becomes uneconomic to add more bandwidth because no one is paying for it. Advertising doesn't come close to covering the cost so the end result is a poor user experience or a very expensive amenity for the airport to pay for that benefits a relatively small number of airport customers."

He's right. Why should public venues put more money into supporting free? They can't. Economically free WiFi doesn't work.