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  • BT Trials OnRelay's MBX Software


    The cellular Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) software provider OnRelay announced today that it has entered into a customer trial agreement with BT Global Services.

    This will allow BT to begin on-site trials of OnRelay’s MBX software with a number of UK-based and multinational customers as part of its Unified Communications offering.

    OnRelay MBX allows companies to replace some, or all, of their IP desk phones with mobile phones – and removes the need for PBX hardware.
    The software works over any public mobile network, anywhere in the world.

    Upon completion of these trials, it is expected that the OnRelay solution will join the successful BT Corporate Fusion portfolio.

    Malcolm Pilcher, head of voice CPE & FMC at BT Global Services, said the customer trials of OnRelay’s cellular FMC solution reflected BT’s ongoing commitment to addressing the demand for global fixed mobile convergence technologies.

    "We see this demand accelerating as our customers look to maximise their existing infrastructure, improve employee productivity and continue their drive to manage and control costs," he said.

    Ivar Plahte, OnRelay’s CEO, is confident that mobile PBX is the future – with smartphones increasingly replacing desktop phones to become the sole business phone.

    "BT’s evaluation further validates OnRelay’s focus on enabling enterprises to cost-effectively extend Unified Communications to mobile phones," he said.

    "2009 will be the year of cellular FMC."

  • eBay Bets on Skype's Entry Into SIP-based PBX To Boost Revenue


    Skype has launched Skype for SIP, a beta program that allows companies to make domestic and international VoIP calls from an office PBX rather than PC.

    The move comes the week after eBay announced that it expects Skype to more than double its revenue to over USD $1 billion by 2011 – with hopes high that the new business service will be a compelling proposition.

    Skype For SIP allows SIP PBX owners to make Skype calls to fixed phones and mobiles around the world, and to receive calls from Skype users directly into their PBX system.

    The service will also allow businesses to be contacted by Skype’s 405 million registered users through click-to-call from their Web sites.

    The calls will be received through their existing office system at no cost to the customer.

    At the same time, businesses can purchase online Skype numbers available in over 20 countries to receive calls from business contacts and customers who are using traditional fixed lines or mobile phones.

    Stefan Oberg, VP and general manager of Skype for Business, described the introduction of Skype for SIP as a significant move for Skype and for any communication intensive business around the world.

    "It effectively combines the obvious cost savings and reach of Skype with its large user base, with the call handling functionality, statistics and integration capabilities of traditional office PBX systems, providing great economical savings and increased productivity for the modern business," he said.

    The initial beta is available to a limited number of participants: SIP users, phone system administrators, developers and service partners are invited to apply.

    Applicants need to be businesses, have an installed SIP based IP-PBX system, as well as a level of technical competency to configure their own SIP-enabled PBX.

    The Skype for SIP beta program is open today to a limited number of participants; SIP users, phone system administrators, service partners, and developers can get in on the beta. Beta users will need to be businesses, have a SIP-based IP-PBX phone system, and in-house expertise to configure their SIP-enabled PBX.

    The SIP software will be available for free, but Skype plans to charge about 2.1 cents per minute for calls to landlines and cell phones. Calls from computers to phone systems using Skype will be free.

    Key Features of the Skype for SIP Beta include:

    • Receive and manage inbound calls from Skype users worldwide on SIP-enabled PBX systems; connecting the company Web site to the PBX system via click-to-call
    • Place calls with Skype to landlines and mobile phones worldwide from any connected SIP-enabled PBX; reducing costs with Skype’s low-cost global rates
    • Purchase Skype’s online numbers, to receive calls to the corporate PBX from landlines or mobile phones
    • Manage Skype calls using their existing hardware and system applications such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail; no additional downloads or training are required

  • Back Office Software is "Bottleneck" Preventing Telecom Service Providers From Competing


    Telecom service providers are competing in saturated markets and many are experiencing flat or declining margins in the economic downturn.

    That’s the opinion of Jim Messer, CEO of Transverse, who said legacy back office software is often what keeps them from being agile in the marketplace.

    He was speaking after Transverse was named in the "Cool Vendors in Telecom Operations Management (TOM) 2009" report by Gartner.

    In the report Transverse is identified by Gartner as one of four TOM vendors worldwide who they consider to be at the cutting edge of telecom business support systems and operations support systems.

    The report features an analysis of the company and its Business Support Solutions (BSS) solution blee(p).

    It introduces a new way to deploy and manage back office functions and is aimed at helping service providers reduce the financial risks associated with rolling out new business models by aligning back office infrastructure with business goals.

    Messer said a technology refresh of legacy, back-office systems was long overdue for many service providers.

    He said Transverse’s state-of-the-art open source approach made it easier and more cost effective for service providers to take advantage of new business models.

    "We’re pleased that Gartner has identified Transverse as a Cool Vendor. We’re a company that can uniquely have an impact in addressing this industry-wide problem," he said.

  • Cisco Transforms Data Center With UCS


    Cisco has launched a mainstream data center computing platform – Unified Computing System (UCS) – that promises to seamlessly integrate processor, storage and network systems in a virtualised architecture.

    The move pits the networking equipment market leader against the world’s largest systems vendors, including HP, IBM, Dell, Fujitsu and others.

    UCS offers medium and large enterprises a single architecture that links all data centre resources together, so overcoming the "assembly-required" nature of distinct virtualisation environments.

    Prem Jain, senior vice president of Server Access and Virtualization Business Unit at Cisco, said UCS unites compute, network, storage access and virtualization resources in a single energy-efficient system that unleashes the power of virtualization.

    "By delivering and supporting Microsoft operating systems for the Unified Computing System, we’re offering a familiar Windows platform to help our customers integrate this revolutionary new architecture into existing data center environments so they can quickly realize the benefits of unified computing," he said.

    Virtualisation has transformed the structure of server and storage environments in data centres. It is now extending to network virtualisation.

    With UCS, Cisco is positioning itself so as to have a controlling role across all three levels of virtual technology.

    Starting in the second quarter of 2009, it plans to offer complete systems of up to 320 compute nodes housed in 40 chassis, with data flowing across 10 gigabit Ethernet.

    Critical to its challenge will be its ability to draw on the expertise of key partners. These include:

    • Its compute capabilities, UCS B-Series blades, will be based on Intel Nehalem processors
    • The follow-on generation will be from Intel Xeon.
    • VMware will supply the critical virtualisation software
    • BMC will enable "a single management environment for all data centre devices".
    • EMC and NetApp will be responsible for the storage system units
    • Emulex and Qlogic will input storage networking technology
    • Oracle will deliver middleware
    • Key systems software will come from Microsoft and Red Hat.
    •  

    John Chambers, Cisco’s CEO, said UCS could do a lot for Cisco’s bottom line.

    He said it gives Cisco access to about a quarter of the many billions spent inside the data center, up from less than 10 per cent presently.
    That’s the principal reason why Cisco is reinventing the basic building block of the data center.

  • LaCie Merges With Swiss Online-Storage Start-up Wuala


    LaCie has announced that it is to merge with Caleido, the Swiss creator of online storage service Wuala.

    The move signals the French external storage device manufacturer’s entry into the cloud storage service market.

    A statement from the newly merged enterprise said it plans to revolutionize the storage industry by building a unique and sustainable cloud storage service.

    With just 11 staff, Wuala has built up a sizeable user base, mostly in Europe, since its launch in August 2008.

    Its service include innovative online storage that allows its users to store, back up, access, and share files with one another from anywhere in the world.

    Users start with 1GB of storage but can get as much as they want, either by trading idle disk space or by buying additional storage.

    Dominik Grolimund, co-founder and CEO of Caleido AG, said the merger was a major leap forward for Wuala and would take it to the next level.
    He described LaCie as the perfect match for the start-up.

    "Together we will realize the vision we embarked on more than four years ago while researching the basics of Wuala at the ETH Zurich: to build a reliable and secure cloud storage by integrating millions of devices around the world," he said.

    Philippe Spruch, founder and CEO of LaCie, said it had a strong vision for where the future of storage is headed.

    He said the merger had allowed it to acquire a very innovative online storage solution that will transform the business from a leading hardware manufacturer to a comprehensive digital storage provider.

    "LaCie believes storage versatility will influence the industry, and we look forward to providing our customers with new, cutting-edge ways to store their valuable data through our upcoming product offerings," he said.

  • Symantec Launches Norton Online Backup Web Service


    Symantec, makers of Norton security software, has announced the availability of an online backup service.

    Norton Online Backup, which automatically stores files and digital assets, is the first Web-based consumer offering delivered by Norton.

    Intended as a simple-to-use backup system, it allows digital photographs, financial documents, music collections and archived e-mail to be stored through a website.

    Up to five household computers can be safely backed up, managed and restored through a single, central, remotely-accessible account.

    Once users have downloaded a small desktop agent, which manages a backup of the PC, a Web browser is used to restore or download previously backed up files from anywhere.

    This sets it apart from many other online storage technologies that require the user to use the same PC for backing up and accessing online files.

    Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Products, Symantec, said more and more of people’s most valuable assets are stored on computers.

    "Norton Online Backup offers total peace of mind through a comprehensive, easy-to-manage backup solution that not only safeguards users from data loss, but makes valuable assets available from any Internet-connected PC in the world," he said.

    Norton Online Backup is available now for purchase in the US. It will be available worldwide in the coming weeks.

    The suggested retail price for Norton Online Backup is USD $49.99 per year, which includes 25 GB of online storage to backup files from up to five of family PCs.

    Additional storage space can be purchased in increments of 10, 25, 50 and 100 GB.

  • HD Movies Now For Sale on Apple's iTunes Store


    HD movies are now available for purchase from iTunes for playing on Macs and PCs.

    Until now, high def movies had only been available to Apple TV owners.

    HD Movies will be sold for USD $19.99, while HD rentals will be priced at USD $4.99. Both are in H.264 compressed 720p quality and will come with an HD file and an iPod/iPhone SD file.

    Apple said "Transporter 3" and "Punisher: War Zone" are among the titles available immediately.

    Preorders are being taken for "Twilight" (set for a March 21 release) and "Quantum of Solace" (March 24).

    Interestingly, Apple TV has now gone from having exclusive access to all non-podcast HD content from Apple,then HD TV shows were made available generally in September and now that has broadended to include movies.

    Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services, was confident HD movie purchases would be popular.

    "Customers have made HD content on iTunes a hit, with over 50 per cent of TV programming being purchased in HD when available," he said.

  • 1080p Processing Added to Elgato H.264 Dongle


    Elgato has launched a successor to its Turbo.264 USB video conversion dongle with the addition of 1080p compatibility.

    Called the Elgato Turbo.264 HD, the upgraded – and much faster – device converts videos into the H.264 format from camcorders and digital cameras.

    The converted video is compatible with iPods, iPhones, Apple TV and Sony’s PSP and similar devices.

    Users simply plug the dongle into a Mac and the software allows video to be previewed and trimmed before converting – without the need to import into iMovie.

    The device also adds support for HD camcorder formats such as AVCHD as well as MPEG-2- and MPEG-4-encoded HD content.

    Elgao says that while it normally takes an hour to make a fifteen minute movie from video taken on an AVCHD camcorder, the Turbo.264 HD takes less than 20 minutes.

    The Turbo.264 HD is priced at USD $150/ €149.

  • Envivio Selected For Türk Telekom's New IPTV Service


    Envivio has announced that its Convergence Series video headend has been selected for Türk Telekom’s IPTV project in Turkey.

    The IP video convergence provider said Türk Telekom will use its 4Caster C4 SD and 4Caster HD30 HD MPEG-4 AVC encoders and the 4Manager NMS, to deliver standard and high definition channels for its new IPTV service.

    The 4Caster C4 provides video compression for all three screens of consumer video – TVs, PCs and mobile devices – on a single platform.

    Envivio’s 4Caster HD30 delivers high quality, high definition encoded content at less than half the bit rates required by MPEG-2.

    The company’s Convergence Series architecture allows MPEG-2 content downlinked from satellite to be delivered to the compression system directly over a local IP network.

    This all-IP, all-digital processing of content eliminates the need for traditional intermediate analog or digital video and audio interfaces between MPEG-2 decoders and MPEG-4 encoders.

    Julien Signès, president and CEO of Envivio. said: "Forward-thinking operators around the world recognize that quality of service is a dominant factor in their success and the C4 and HD30 both deliver the very highest picture quality."

    The IPTV headend for Türk Telekom, which serves more than 30 million customers, is being installed by Birtel the partner of Envivio in Ankara, Turkey.

  • Vyke Names New CEO, Confident of Continued Growth


    Vyke has appointed Kim Berknov as chief executive, effective from April 1.

    The announcement came as the VoIP service provider forecast it will meet market expectations for 2009.

    However, Vyke, which had expected to have a positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) figure by the end of 2008, said it now expected a loss of GBP 3.5 million for 2008, before exceptional costs of GBP 1.75 million.

    It expects a 46 per cent rise in gross billings to GBP 39 million for 2008.

    Despite this, Tommy Jensen, executive chairman of Vyke, said prospects for 2009 were encouraging with the company benefitting from acquisitions and a new product.

    Tommy Jensen, executive chairman Vyke

    "Trading in the current year has started strongly with the full effect of the cost synergies related to the acquisition of Callserve and Iios being realised during the first half of 2009," he said.

    The company expects to release its multi-channel Vyke Air platform, a new mobile service, next month.

    Earlier this month Vyke announced it had formed a partnership with mobile social networking company Nimbuzz.
    The move is intended to build upon the strengths of both Vyke and Nimbuzz by combining the former’s paid mVoIP service with the latter’s mobile peer to peer mobile social messaging and VoIP services.

    Vyke, which provides VoIP mobile services, expects gross billings for 2009 to be no less than GBP 70 million pounds (USD $97.49 million), with an EBITDA of at least GBP 3 million pounds.

    The company said this will include an expected continued growth rate of around 3,000 paid users per day.

    Berknov is currently managing director of Structured Investment Products plc and Evergreen Capital Partners Limited and holds a number of non-executive board positions in private companies.

    He has previously held positions as executive vice president of Aldata Solution Oyj and managing director of Digital Mountain AG, TransConnect Corporate Finance GmbH and GE Capital IT Solutions.

    Before joining those companies, Berknov was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and previously held international sales and marketing positions at both AT&T and NCR Corporation.