Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire - April 7, 2008) - TripIt (www.tripit.com), the intelligent personal travel organizer, is making it even easier for travelers on the go. With the release of TripIt Mobile, travelers can now access TripIt from popular mobile devices, including Apple iPhone, Palm Treo and RIM BlackBerry.

TripIt helps travelers better organize their online travel plans — no matter where they’ve booked — by just forwarding their travel confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com. Like a personal travel assistant, TripIt automatically reads and organizes those travel plans, then automatically adds daily weather, local maps, driving directions, city guides and more to personalize their travel itinerary. TripIt does this all behind the scenes, quietly accessing Web sites like Google, Eventful, Flickr, Wikipedia, NOAA, SeatGuru, etc.

With TripIt Mobile, users now have a slimmed-down interface designed specifically for mobile phones. Travelers simply point their mobile device to m.tripit.com to easily access their travel plans, look-up a flight number, check a hotel address, or view a local map and driving directions.

"TripIt Mobile is for anyone who travels with a mobile phone, but especially for road warriors," said Gregg Brockway, TripIt co-founder and president. "We put all their travel plans right on their mobile phone so they can get the most out of their trips."

TripIt Mobile also supports TripIt’s popular Closeness Matches, which notify users when their travel plans overlap with other people in their TripIt social network. This is especially useful on a mobile device. For example, a traveler who lands in New York City can immediately see that a colleague will be there too, and then make plans to get together.

TripIt and TripIt Mobile are free services. Travelers can get started by visiting www.tripit.com to learn more, or by simply forwarding a travel confirmation email to plans@tripit.com.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

WeSeePeople: Mobile Social Networking With Facebook For Blackberry Smartphone Application.
Take social networking to the next level with your BlackBerry® smartphone. With almost anywhere access, you can enhance your personal and professional connections. According to an press report the application has already surpassed the 1,000,000 mark.

With the Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application, Facebook users can wirelessly send and view messages, photos, pokes and Wall posts. The rich, native application goes beyond browser-based access, automatically pushing notifications to the user’s BlackBerry smartphone as friends and colleagues send notes, Wall posts or pokes. The application allows users to take a photo, upload it to the site with captions and tags; quickly and easily invite friends; manage events; manage photo albums; and manage their status while on the go.

Since its initial launch, Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones has added language support for French, German and Spanish. The software application is available as a free(i) download from www.facebook.com/blackberry or www.blackberry.com/go/facebook and can also be downloaded using a BlackBerry smartphone from m.facebook.com or mobile.blackberry.com.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

MINNETONKA, Minn. (March 27, 2008) - Digi International today introduced the Digi Wi-Point 3G, a PC card based 3G cellular router with integrated Wi-Fi access point. It acts as a cellular-to-Wi-Fi hotspot and provides secure, high-speed Internet access to remote workgroups and devices. It works with more cellular PC data cards than any other cellular router, enabling Internet connectivity virtually anywhere a cellular signal is available.

SpaceDev, a developer of space technology systems, products and services, uses the Digi Wi-Point 3G to allow its engineers to send data back to company headquarters from remote rocket testing sites. Jon Martin, director of IT for SpaceDev comments: "We test rockets at least two miles from civilization, so we usually have no wired connectivity. The Digi Wi-Point 3G allowed us to set up an on an "on the fly" hotspot so our engineers could send data back to headquarters. It was simply plug-and-play, and we were up and going in 30 seconds. We tried both Sprint and Verizon cards and found that both worked instantly."

The Digi Wi-Point 3G supports more than 40 cellular PC data cards around the world, including PCMCIA and PCI Express cards (with appropriate adapter). It is a three-in-one router with integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi access point, 10/100 Ethernet and global cellular network access via virtually any carrier supplied PC data card. It is small and easy to deploy, and enables drop-in networking to devices that are hard to reach or do not have convenient access to wired connections.

"The Digi Wi-Point 3G allows remote sites and devices to wirelessly connect to the Internet or securely integrate into a corporate network - even if that remote device happens to be driving down the highway," said Larry Kraft, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Digi International. "It is ideal for applications such as temporary networks, remote Wi-Fi hotspots, mobile/transportation deployments, disaster recovery, security and more."

The Digi Wi-Point 3G features enterprise class security, including IPsec VPN, WPA2 encryption and a full featured firewall. It also includes GPS support (with qualified PC cards), failover to dial-up modem and auto-detection of the cellular data card for seamless field upgradeability.

The Digi Wi-Point 3G is available now for $485 MSRP. For more information, please visit http://www.digi.com/products/cellulargateways/.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Not so long ago we were playing with mesh networks. Actually we implemented a such network a while with windows and Linux clients. I am happy to see a company is going in a direction to utilize the smartphones to provide hotspot services to smartphones or any other WiFi client. I would love to see a working and walking mesh network, soon. Here is the press release from TapRoot Systems.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – March 26, 2008 – TapRoot Systems Inc., a leading developer of software for the smartphone market, today announced its WalkingHotSpot™ solution for wireless carriers.

TapRoot’s patent-pending software transforms a Wi-Fi enabled smartphone into a hotspot providing access to 3G data networks. The solution is the first in a series of products allowing wireless subscribers to enhance their smartphones for internet connectivity.

The WalkingHotSpot solution provides a platform to deliver new solutions to wireless subscribers around Wi-Fi. The scalable solution allows users to securely retrieve e-mails and browse the internet with no additional software or configuration required on the Wi-Fi client devices.

”We are very excited to be launching the WalkingHotSpot service. This solution addresses concerns around Wi-Fi for the wireless carrier. The demand for consolidated anywhere, anytime, any-device connectivity has been emphasized in convergence initiatives and discussions in the industry for years. This solution leverages carriers’ existing 3G infrastructure and smartphones already in the marketplace, and provides carriers with a whole new business model to serve their subscribers,” said Bob Bicksler, TapRoot’s CEO.

The launch of WalkingHotSpot allows wireless subscribers to consolidate all their data connectivity needs into one source. “We see this as a truly disruptive technology that gives early carrier adopters a significant advantage in terms of differentiation, subscriber acquisition, increased ARPU and reduced churn,” Mr. Bicksler added.

In addition to the WalkingHotSpot handset client, TapRoot is launching its WHS Server, which provides carriers with the ability to manage and control subscriber accounts, authenticate WalkingHotSpot devices and clients, as well as collect subscriber usage information. This service allows carriers to offer a secure, controlled and scalable solution to their subscribers.

The WalkingHotSpot solution supports multiple devices simultaneously through secure connections. The application is specifically designed to be power-efficient, robust and end-user friendly. The solution can be downloaded today on Wi-Fi enabled smartphones using Symbian® S60 and Windows Mobile® operating systems, with more operating systems support in development.

The WHS server and the WalkingHotSpot handset client are commercially available for immediate implementation in carriers’ networks.

For more information, please visit www.TapRootSystems.com

PRESS INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:
Crux Communications for TapRoot Systems Inc. Charlotte Rubin, charlotte.rubin@cruxcomms.com, Tel: +1.858.775.7621

CORPORATE INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:
Blane Rockafellow, blaner@taprootsystems.com, Tel: +1.919.465.2266 ext 4406

Source: voipcentral.org

It is just like a foe-turned friend situation. The grapevine has it that the two traditional rivals, Yahoo! and Skype are collaborating to develop a mobile network using the 700Mhz spectrum. No doubt, the network will be based on 3G, WiFi or VoIP technology.

It is no more surprising to see both the giants joining hands to explore the VoIP potentiality since Skype has a global community for its P2P VoIP, while Yahoo! for IM services. The combine force will bring a huge subscribers base for the wireless phone or broadband services that they are planning to do.

Andy has an interesting revelation on the Yahoo-Skype partnership. He says in his blog,

Given how Yahoo and Microsoft are partners on IM. And how Yahoo and the iLecs/RBOC’s are partners on access, and how Yahoo Messenger with voice has been soft peddled by “Skippy”-Brad Garlinghouse and the “Rock Star”-Jeff Bonforte in the direction of the DSL partners to not erode market share, but there for the RBOCs when they want it.