Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

I am still doing some testing of U-verse Voice in my home. 

Overall, it’s going well and I really do like it, but I need more time to play around with it.

If you are a journalist or industry analyst seeking a real world view on U-verse voice, email me: alan at weinkrantz dot com or you  log on to http://letscall.me/u-verse-voice-review and it will ring my AT&T / Apple iPhone.

note: to use this service, just type in your phone number when you hit the landing page noted above.  The service calls you and then it calls me on my phone.

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

If you are watching the Olympics on one your three screens, here’s a handy schedule guide from The New York Times.

Source: www.voip-news.com

China VoIP phone manufacturers are planning to raise prices. Fifty-nine percent of manufacturers there said that export prices will increase and they expect sales to continue to grow too, according to Global Sources’  China Sourcing Report: VoIP Phones.

“Fierce competition has driven half of Greater China’s VoIP phone manufacturers out of business over the past two years, especially those who relied mainly on competitive pricing to gain orders,” said  report publisher Mark A. Saunderson. “Higher production costs, the appreciation of the Yuan, mainland China’s domestic inflation and intellectual property rights fees are among the factors that have led many manufacturers to focus on value-added models, which bring better margins.”

Meanwhile, seventy-four percent  plan to produce more phones.

“Survivors in the industry have learned that they need to move upmarket to maintain profit margins,” Saunderson said. “This is good news for buyers who can expect to find higher end models with more value-added features coming out of Greater China.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

VoIP, wireless, security, RFID and portable data collection distributor WAV is going to begin selling Azalea Networks’ network intelligent broadband wireless infrastructure products.

The Azalea technology, which is patent pending, is intended for enterprises, government agencies and service providers that deliver voice, video and data.

“WAV’s strengths in value-added distribution and wireless technical expertise will provide a key link between Azalea’s innovative technology and the applications that can best benefit from it,” reported John Elms, CEO of Azalea Networks.

Azalea’s network-level intelligence for broadband wireless infrastructure uses wireless routing technology.

“Partnering with Azalea Networks expands our reach and enables the delivery of cost-effective and innovative solutions that our customers are looking for,” said Norm Dumbroff, president and CEO of WAV, Inc. “We’re excited to continue to offer our solution providers, and the wireless and mobile VAR communities, outstanding technologies, as well as our full portfolio of value-added services.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Loxbit Public Company Limited will now be selling the full Envox Worldwide product portfolio in Thailand. The portfolio includes Envox Communications Development Platform, Envox VoiceXML Studio, Envox CT Connect(TM), and Envox CT ADE(TM). Loxbit will also have use of Envox’s professional services, training and technical support.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Loxbit,” said Leo Casey, president and CEO of Envox Worldwide. “These types of distribution partnerships are a key element of our global growth strategy. We’re looking forward to working closely with Loxbit to build strong customer relationships and broaden our presence in the rapidly expanding voice solutions market.”

The companies say that the agreement addresses regional demand.

“Working closely with Envox will enable us to leverage their corporate strengths, while utilizing our own market and customer development capabilities across the region. We expect this relationship to provide a significant boost to our communications business,” said Suwit Attajarusith, vice president for Loxbit.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Travelers from Israel who will be going abroad needn’t worry about leaving their mobile service behind. Outsmart Ltd. and Cellcom Israel have joined forces to launch Plu & Talk service. The service allows travelers to use their laptop as a mobile phone unit, making and receiving calls and sending and receiving SMS messages.

“The business segment is characterized with customers who are aware, and make use of, all other low-cost communication alternatives while they are abroad.” said Jacob Bros, CEO of Outsmart. “The Plug & Talk(TM) service enables Cellcom Israel to offer its customers a superior solution compared with the other alternatives. We are proud that Cellcom Israel has selected our solution to offer their customers and are happy to cooperate with Cellcom Israel, who is among the first operators in the world to offer this service.”

Plug & Talk uses VoIP communications and is based on Outsmart’s Smart Convergence Platform. It’s preloaded onto a USB device.

“Outsmart’s Plug & Talk will allow our customers traveling abroad to make and receive all their phone calls and access all phone services over the computer, while still using their same Cellcom Israel number,” said Adi Cohen, VP Marketing of Cellcom. “Our strategy is to provide our customers with a holistic set of advanced and affordable services both when they are at home or when they travel abroad. Outsmart’s Plug ‘n Talk(TM) service fits very well with this strategy and we strongly believe it will be a very successful service.”

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

Aside from being a residential AT&T customer for PC / TV / Wireless (hence three screens), I am also an AT&T  business customer.


So, the other day I get this postcard in the mail offering me a free Starbucks card for $10 if I go over my current AT&T services.

Turns out they lowered my long costs by about 25%.  I also wound up killing MCI as my long distance provider and got a national long distance plan for $50 per month of unlimited domestic calling.

If you are an AT&T business customer, call them at 866-697-6902 for your consultation.  I can’t guarantee results, but it did work for me and save me quite a bit of money in the process.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Verizon Business’ IP Trunking has been named a 2007 Product of the Year by TMC’s Communications Solutions. Trucks connect switching systems through communications lines. Verizon’s use SIP to interoperate between either IP or time division multiplex private branch exchange or key systems.

“Verizon Business continues to enhance and expand its VoIP portfolio to make it easier for customers to enjoy the benefits of IP-based communications,” said Nancy Gofus, Verizon Business senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “This award showcases our commitment to advancing technology for customers who are adopting VoIP and other IP-based services to more efficiently and cost-effectively manage communications across their enterprise.”

This is the eight annual awards Communications Solutions Product of the Year awards.

“Verizon Business has been recognized with a 2007 Product of the Year Award for their excellence in the advancement of VoIP communications. Verizon Business has proven they are committed to quality and excellence in solutions that benefit the customer experience as well as ROI for the companies that use them. I am pleased to honor their hard work and accomplishments and look forward to more innovative solutions from them in the future,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and group editor-in-chief of Communications Solutions.

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

AT&T is making introducing new social media tools and platforms

JuiceCaster 6.0 and Buzzwire — that keep you connected to your online world. JuiceCaster 6.0 enables you to use your AT&T wireless device to instantly share and post your mobile videos and photos with your favorite online communities — including exclusive mobile video postings to YouTube and Flickr. With Buzzwire, you can access and customize an extensive streaming media library that spans popular video and audio content, as well as live Internet radio, directly from AT&T phones.

JuiceCaster 6.0

This unique application from Juice Wireless lets you share videos and pictures from your wireless device to the Web’s most popular social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. AT&T customers also have exclusive access to post directly to YouTube and Flickr as well. Family and friends can instantly view, rate and comment on content directly from their own phones or directly from an online social-networking site.

AT&T customers can use JuiceCaster to:

• Post mobile pictures and video to popular social-networking Web sites and blogs, including Blogger, Facebook, LiveJournal, MySpace, Twitter and Xanga

• Set your status to update automatically on Facebook and Twitter, and receive friends’ status updates on their own phones

• Broadcast existing or new mobile videos and photos to global audiences using YouTube and Flickr, without requiring a computer or Internet connection

• Make content public or create custom groups by adding and connecting with friends directly from AOL, JuiceCaster, Gmail, Hotmail, MS Outlook and Yahoo!

Meet new friends within the JuiceCaster community
JuiceCaster 6.0 is available for $2.99 a month on compatible 2G and 3G AT&T handsets. AT&T customers can simply text Juice to 386 to begin connecting and communicating in a rich social- networking environment that includes profiles, pictures, videos, friend lists, comments, ratings and personal status updates. For more information on JuiceCaster, visit www.att.com/mediamall. 

Source: www.voip-news.com

Baidu.com is going to use a Global IP Solutions application to launch real-time video chat on its instant messaging application. Baidu is a Chinese language search engine.

“GIPS developed its reputation in voice, and we’ve been successfully solving real-time video complexities for the last three years,” said Emerick Woods, Global IP Solutions CEO. “Video conference/chat users are increasingly demanding better network speeds, quality, reliability and consistency, and developers are challenged with adding more features. While most video chats suffer from freezing, bad lip synchronization and postage stamp video images, Baidu now offers one great application which delivers GIPS quality serving the single largest market in the world.”

GIPS VideoEngine is designed for real-time video communications over IP networks. Unlike other technologies, it addresses the small images that can flicker and have poor lip sync with poor voice quality.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Skype has retained a PR agency’s help to reeducate folks across the pond on VoIP. 3 Monkeys Communications (what a name!) will be handing the marketing campaign in Great Britain.

According to PR Week:

Pineiro said that while many web-savvy consumers had heard of Skype and VoIP, there was still some confusion about how the software works. ‘There really needs to be a re-education, taking it back to basics,’ said Pineiro. ‘Skype has a brilliant name and brand presence, but we need to show people how it works. There’s a danger in missing the boat - people don’t use it, because it sounds too good to be true. Free calls anywhere around the world? People don’t trust that and think there must be a catch.’

Pineiro added that while some users may have been put off by the earliest incarnation of the tool in 2003, the latest version of Skype boasted a clear sound superior to normal mobile or landline phones. ‘A lot of the teething problems have been overcome,’ he said. ‘People think it might be too difficult in terms of technology, with lots of software to download. It’s not, and the quality is great.’

What do you think? Does the public need to be re-introduced to VoIP?

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

AT&T  and MediaFLO now has announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO™ service. This powerful new mobile television service will provide around-the-clock access to some of today’s most popular television programs — live and in color on the mobile phone.

To ensure an unmatched mobile television experience for consumers, AT&T is introducing two new exclusive handsets: the Vu from LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A. Inc. (LG) and the Access from Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung).

3Screens News Summary:

• The service will offer unmatched TV-quality programming from leading news and entertainment brands: CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, MTV Networks’ COMEDY CENTRAL, MTV and Nickelodeon, as well as PIX and CNN Mobile Live, which are both AT&T-exclusive channels on MediaFLO USA’s FLO TV™ service.
• PIX, from Sony Pictures Television, offers a variety of contemporary films, including comedies, cult classics, action films and family favorites from the studio’s vast library.
• CNN Mobile Live provides users with access to 24 hours of breaking news with live streaming anchored coverage from CNN.com Live as well as CNN’s most popular programs, including "American Morning," "Lou Dobbs Tonight," "CNN Election Center," "Larry King Live," "Anderson Cooper 360°," and "CNN International."

Below are examples of some of the entertaining TV programs and events that are scheduled to air the week of May 4:

• CBS Mobile: New episodes of "CSI," "CSI:NY" and "How I Met Your Mother"

• CNN Mobile Live: Live breaking news coverage, including real-time results from the Democratic and Republican primaries in North Carolina and Indiana on May 6.

• Comedy Central: New episodes of "The Daily Show with John Stewart" and "The Colbert Report"

• ESPN Mobile TV: Live game coverage as well as ESPN Mobile TV shows such as "ScoreCenter," "ReSET" and more

• FOX Mobile: New episodes of "Bones," "Back to You," and LIVE Big 12 College Baseball

• MTV: New episodes of "The Hills," "Real World: Hollywood" and "The Paper"

• NBC 2Go: LIVE NHL Stanley Cup Playoff and Final games and finale episode of NBC’s "30 Rock" (Thurs., May

• NBC News 2Go: LIVE coverage of the Indiana and North Carolina Democratic Primaries

• Nickelodeon: Episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "iCarly"

• PIX: "Memento," "In The Line of Fire," "Groundhog Day," "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Resident Evil"

AT&T Mobile TV will launch in 58 markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Costs….

• Monthly access packages for AT&T Mobile TV begin at $15 a month for the Basic package, which includes unlimited access to Mobile TV, as well as access to the exclusive CNCRT channel for a limited time. AT&T also offers a Mobile TV Plus package for $30 a month, which includes unlimited Mobile TV, unlimited mobile Web browsing on MEdia™ Net and unlimited CV mobile video.
• Customers can also subscribe to a limited basic package for $13 a month, which gives them access to four channels: CBS Mobile, FOX Mobile, NBC 2Go and NBC News 2Go.
• Because AT&T Mobile TV operates on MediaFLO USA’s own dedicated multicast network, AT&T customers do not incur data or voice charges. Additionally, programming is subject to change, and sports programming is subject to blackout restrictions.