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.

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.

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

It looks like Vonage is gearing up for some efforts in the media if I read the tea leaves properly.

They hired a new PR firm and one of the things they plan on doing is deploying a social media strategy focused on blogs.

Personally I love when another company decides to enter the social media game to move their needles. I’ve been in the space since 2004 and know what is right and what is wrong. I’m hoping the revitalized leadership at Vonage gets it right.

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

In what must have been one of the hardest decisions of his life, this morning Jeff Pulver resigned from the Board of Directors of Pulver Media, the company which now only carries his name, but since the beginning of the VoIP era has embodied his spirit and vision.

Obviously, given the uncertain state of Pulver Media and their investors Jeff is taking good counsel and saying only as much as possible. For the equally transparent and always honest Jeff Pulver this can’t be made any harder.

As a Pulver Media advisory board member, I think I speak for all by saying "thank you" and "your contributions were endless in creating an industry around your beliefs and dreams. We, as a community THANK YOU and hope for your return in whatever form or fashion that may be."

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

While my focus of this blog has been on IPTV, I am starting to write and cover
stories about wireless. 

I happened to be driving in between my home
and my office, stopped at the Starbucks in my neighborhood, got a cup
of Java and saw the AT&T crew there. 

I knew that AT&T and Starbucks had announced the switch from
T-Mobile to AT&T, so putting 1 + 1 together, I ran to my office,
got my computer, logged on, got on the AT&T (and not the T-Mobile
network), blogged, sent some pitches out via email, and…..it just
struck a chord.

I am going to start melding AT&T / Starbucks / Apple into my
editorial mix.  Oh- yes, still do IPTV.  Once whole home DVR is real
its yet another ball game.  And once I get U-verse Voice, then I have
an all IP home.  There is plenty to do and more fun to come.

Breaking coverage included sites such as:

Engadget

Gizmodo

Gizmonews

InformationWeek

MacWorld (Glen Fleishman’s syndicated story)

PC World (Glen Fleishman’s syndicated story)

RV Internet (a news site for people who live in RVs, or are always on the road and need Internet access)

San Antonio Express News  (where AT&T is headquartered)

Seattle Post Intelligencer (where Starbucks is headquartered)

Starbucks Gossip (yes, there really is a site by this name)

Washington Post (Glen Fleishman’s syndicated story)

WiFiNetNews (Glen Fleishman’s source story)