Source: www.voip-news.com

Sify, a company that offers Managed Enterprise and Consumer Internet Services including VoIP in India, has stepped into the social networking realm. That’s right, the company has joined the ranks of enterprises around the world who are embracing the wonderful world of Twitter.

And you can even follow Sify’s tweets on your mobile. Go to http://www.twitter.com/sifydotcom to follow the company.

“This initiative recognizes that a growing number of our users are on Twitter, and this is a convenient form of staying in touch with them and keeping them updated on all that’s happening on Sify.com. As users get more networked and connected using multiple platforms and applications, more such opportunities to interact with them and to keep them updated on what may be of value to them are available,” said Venkata Rao Mallineni, Head-Portals and Consumer Marketing.

So what will they be tweeting about exactly?

According to Sify:

From Barack Obama to Manmohan Singh’s, stock tips to board room talk, the latest celebrity hook-ups to tinsel town break-ups, India’s crowning glory in cricket to WWE wrestling mania, games to recipes, reality shows to the latest news, the tweets from Sify.com will keep everyone current.

Source: www.voip-news.com

MediaTek has released a new chip for USB dongles, handsets and other embedded devices called the MT 7118. The WiMAX Forum Wave2 chip. Additionally, a new handset using a MediaTek chip has been announced as well.

“MediaTek is not only a chip company, but a leader clearly setting its marks as the best WiMAX SoC solution provider. Our expertise in systems is vital to the success of WiMAX. The latest WiMAX SoC and integrated GSM+WiMAX dual mode handsets are only the beginning of our plan to integrate more wireless technology with future electronics,” said CT Chuang, Vice President of MediaTek. “WiMAX industry needs a chip company that possesses the breadth and depth of technology and experience of diverse platforms.”

According to MediaTek:

This is one of the most cost optimized WiMAX handsets in the market today It enables voice over EDGE network and voice/data over WiMAX network, while the USB port of the phone can be used for data connectivity with laptops. It also features a 2.8 inch touch screen and 5M pixel camera. The VoIP engine inside the phone has gone through stringent IOT and field trials for over 4 years, making it the most trusted and risk free dual-mode handset. MediaTek brings its expertise in GSM and software directly into the handset and put together a turnkey solution for operators.

With BOM of less than US$100, this is a truly cost effective solution, without compromising quality and performance, which is essential to enable mobile WiMAX applications in emerging markets.

“WiMAX needs more high-quality, low-cost devices, and MediaTek’s solutions will help enable them, given its track record as a leading mobile chipset vendor. The dual-mode phone based on MediaTek chips should build momentum for WiMAX in key emerging markets, given the device’s combination of WiMAX for high-speed broadband and GSM/EDGE for ubiquitous voice and data services,” said Mike Roberts, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Ambient Media is now an authorized distributor and importer for ViewCast Corporation products in Spain and Portugal. The products include Osprey video capture cards and Niagara encoding systems.

“We’ve been promoting ViewCast solutions for more than seven years, and believe that working with them even more closely will give our customers an advantage over those who are using less robust technologies,” said Richard Spellman, Ambient’s CEO. “The Iberian marketplace has always responded strongly to the reliability, ease-of-use and value that ViewCast offers, and as new market segments open up, that demand is increasing. ViewCast’s ability to anticipate and respond to market requirements is quickly closing the price/performance gap between consumer and professional products.”

According to the companies:

Recent developments in the European Union’s regulatory framework have contributed to unprecedented growth in voice-over-internet (VOIP) technology and television services through broadband lines. The telecom markets in Spain and Portugal, in particular, have emerged as principal growth areas in Europe. Continued growth is expected particularly in broadcast, telecom, education and corporate communications – all sectors in which ViewCast’s plug-and-play solutions stand out among its competitors’ products.

“The video-over-IP market is booming in Spain and Portugal, and ViewCast intends to play a key role in driving these emerging media opportunities,” said Gary J. Klembara, ViewCast Senior Vice President of Sales. “Having a dedicated distribution channel will increase our visibility in this region and enable us to provide local industry with the technology infrastructure it needs to deliver cost-effective, professional-quality video over IP and mobile networks.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

VoiceCon’s Dialogic 2000 Media Gateway Series is interoperable with IBM Sametime Unified Telephony. The company worked with IBM to complete the necessary testing to validate the interoperability.

“In today’s market, there is a substantial opportunity to support enterprises in making a cost-effective migration to VoIP,” said Jim Machi, senior vice president of marketing at Dialogic. “The combined DMG2000 and Sametime Unified Telephony solution will allow enterprise IT managers to easily adopt IP-based unified communications while using their existing infrastructure at an incremental cost, rather than taking on a huge CAPEX investment.”

According to the company:

The DMG2000 is a turnkey appliance that seamlessly merges traditional telephony with IP networks to help businesses migrate to IP telephony and unified communications. It is one of the first gateway currently to be validated as interoperable with Sametime Unified Telephony, and is interoperable with a wide range of PBX systems, resulting in greater ease of deployment. Among the key features enabled by the DMG2000 is call delivery to the user on multiple networks to allow for flexible call routing to suit the end user’s requirements.

“Dialogic has a wealth of experience in enabling the creation and deployment of new and unique IP applications in legacy PBX environments,” said Akiba Saeedi, director of unified communications and collaboration at IBM. “As a result of our collaboration with Dialogic, enterprises will now be able to realize the benefits of IBM’s Sametime Unified Telephony while using their existing PBX equipment and reducing the potentially disruptive and expensive upgrades to new PBX equipment.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

A new softswitch has been unveiled that is intended for delivering unified communications with multimedia over IP. The Coral Sea Softswitch 3.0 is from Tadiran Telecom. It’s presently available in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region and Australia. It’s expected to become available in North and South America later this year.

According to the company:

Utilizing the most commonly used protocol for VOIP in the world (SIP), the Coral Sea Softswitch enables enterprises to connect to their service provider directly, through a pure IP connection, thereby preserving quality of service and reducing costs. Unified messaging, voice and video conferencing, soft phones, dual-mode phones, IP phones – regardless of the source, users will be able to receive information in real time, conduct consultations and correspondence with colleagues, and make timely well-founded decisions. This assortment of communications features transforms every location into a fully operational workstation, considerably increasing efficiency and productivity by reducing process/communications latency.

“Customers have already lined up to enjoy next-generation communications features with complete mobility and reliability.” said Eitan Livneh, President and CEO of Tadiran Telecom. “Tadiran Telecom has aligned its vision with the global demand for truly unified communications and multimedia over IP. Today is a milestone in the fulfillment of this vision. The leap towards a comprehensive unified communications solution expands our reach through an ever-growing network of distribution channels.”

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

In May of this year, I started my 3rd year here at 3Screens.net.

If you are a member of the media, and industry analyst or fellow blogger needing a real world, independent consumer’s view of  U-verse, U-verse Voice,  AT&T Wireless, Home Networking or any all of AT&T’s three – screen platforms, give me a call at 210-820-3075.

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: www.voip-news.com

There’s a new mobile VoIP service available from MediaRing. Read about it on The VoIP Weblog.

Backtrack 3 is out and there are some new VoIP security tools. SIPvicious tells you about what’s out there and where to find it. Read it here.

If you are using the VoxSwap social network, you now have two new features: video and Skype. Read about it on the VoIP News of the UK.

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

According to data from Synergy Research Group, Sonus Networks was tops in the global media gateway market in Q1 2008.

“As Sonus enters its second decade in the IP-voice market, this industry leader continues to expand its market position and leadership,” said Stephane Teral, principal analyst, service provider next generation voice and mobile core with Infonetics Research. “The carrier IP-voice equipment market remains healthy, driven by the long term migration of carriers to packet telephony. The media gateway sector in particular experienced year over year growth, due to the migration by an increased number of large operators to an IP foundation for their voice communications. Sonus is leading this evolution with innovative solutions that are designed for the most demanding networks.”

Synergy named Sonus the Q1 2008 global leader in the total VoIP media gateway sector and the global high density VoIP media gateway sector.

“The last decade has seen tremendous change with the disruption of IP Voice in both Enterprise and Service Provider Networks. With this change we have seen a lot of VoIP companies come and go,” said Jeremy Duke, President & CEO, Synergy Research Group, “but Sonus remains the standout vendor that has delivered on its promises and has ascended as a tier 1 market leader, which continues to speak to their market leadership today.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Mediacom has renewed its contract with Ceon for 3 more years, which extends the agreement to 2010. Ceon began providing service to Mediacom in 2005. Mediacom uses Ceon’s Intelligent Order Manager for its residential  VoIP and high-speed data services.

“As we continue to grow our bundled broadband and VoIP services, we are relying on Ceon to provide the backbone of our service fulfillment architecture,” says Peter Brown, Senior Director of IP Development, Mediacom. “Ceon’s service fulfillment solution enables us be more responsive to customers and allows us to scale our services more efficiently.”

Ceon IOM’s flexible, customizable software can handle advanced order handling and workflow capabilities for VoIP and other IP-based services.

“Mediacom’s contract renewal is a significant vote of confidence for Ceon,” says Peter Burke, CEO of Ceon. “It reinforces our position as a leading provider of operations support systems solutions in the MSO marketplace. We look forward to providing additional value-rich, high-performing solutions and further strengthening our partnership with Mediacom as it continues to rolls out advanced IP-based services to its subscriber base.”

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

As many of you know, I’ve become enamored with using my Skypephone over Hutchison3G in the UK via a pre-paid SIM and ultra cheap (5 pounds a month) data plans. I also use prepaid 3G from 3 or T-Mobile as well on various devices and data cards when in the UK or from Yoigo when I’m in Spain.

Well now here in the USA the idea of cheap mobile data has come to be on some mobile phones from AT&T.

Here are some links that make this a very interesting option:

International Long Distance–these pries look as low as Skype.

Here’s the Unlimited Media Net Link. Services like those that offer VoIP (i.e Truphone) work very well over 3G, if you’re standing still, but for some reason Voice over Mobile Data really wavers in and out as you move from cell site to cell site.

Bottom line, if you need a second mobile, this could be your best deal.