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  • IPsmarx Announces Completion of Interoperability Testing with 360networks

    IPsmarx has announced a referral arrangement with 360networks, a full service wholesale provider of Private Line Transport, VoIP, IP, and Local Access (T1/DS3) services on its wholly-owned fiber optic backbone. Through this arrangement IPsmarx will recommend 360networks’ IP and Toll Free Origination services to complement IPsmarx Class 5 and IP-PBX Solutions.

    According to IPsmarx, following the successful completion of interoperability testing between the two companies, IPsmarx’ existing entrepreneurial and calling card operator customers can now utilize 360networks’ Wholesale VoIP Origination services to "grow into new markets, offer more services and decrease the initial investment to get started."

    Steve Cardwell, vice president of sales at 360networks, stated, “We are excited to have completed interoperability testing with IPsmarx so their customers can now easily deploy our wholesale VoIP services in conjunction with IPsmarx’ award-winning solutions.”

    “This interoperability relationship with 360networks furthers our mission to fully support our clients as they enter the VoIP market,” says Andrea Lopez, Technical Sales Representative for IPsmarx. “Giving our clients many options for DID providers and termination suppliers allows them to expand their businesses and become more competitive.”

    According to IPsmarx, their solutions are "modular, scalable and flexible." This gives clients the opportunity to customize solutions to their needs or offer multiple services from one platform. IPsmarx helps service providers minimize the risks of entering a new market by providing security, technical training, support and a reliable billing platform.

    Meeting IPsmarx’ specifications, 360networks is compatible with IPsmarx’ SIP Based Calling Card solution that helps entrepreneurs and existing calling card operators manage and grow a successful calling card business. Features include; a variety of recharge options, home services to set up customer accounts and an E-store site to sell services on-line. Service providers can also offer a Class 5 Solution which provides value-added services to become a residential IP phone service company with features such as conferencing, voicemail and calling packages.

    The IPsmarx Multi-Tenant IP-PBX Platform empowers VoIP Providers to deliver robust VoIP services to their SMB and enterprise clients. With abundant features and streamlined customer management, IPsmarx’ IP-PBX Platform integrates billing, call routing, and e-commerce into one unified solution.

  • iSuppli: Wireless Carriers See Tiers as Key to Rising Profits

    T-Mobile’s move to offer tiered pricing based on bandwidth usage represents the latest development in the wireless industry’s attempt to cash in on exploding demand for mobile data demand, according to iSuppli. Global mobile data traffic is expected to nearly double each year through 2014.

    “We believe that strong execution of a tiered pricing model will translate to significant increases in market capitalization for wireless carriers,” said Steve Mather, principal analyst, wireless, for iSuppli.

    “Rapidly rising demand for wireless data access represents the biggest opportunity of the decade for wireless carriers,” Mather said. “iSuppli’s discussions with leading wireless carriers indicates that tiered pricing, like that offered by AT&T and T-Mobile, represents one of the best tactics to monetize growing demand to access their pipes. Tiered pricing will allow these companies to find data consumption sweet spots, enabling them to segment users into various pricing and data cap buckets, and to prompt upgrades as mobile services become even more a part of consumer’s lives. The flexibility of adjusting both the price and the cap is particularly compelling.”

    For carriers, the stakes are enormous as they try to regain their share value and profitability. “iSuppli’s analysis of the top 15 wireless carriers worldwide indicates operating margins have dwindled to 20 percent in 2010, down from 22 percent just three years ago,” Mather said. “With the rise of data usage and the arrival of tiered pricing programs, we expect margins to rise over the two years from their summer 2010 lows.”


    T-Mobile’s first tiered pricing offer became available in the United States on Nov. 3.

    The first tier is a promotional offer with a two-year contract, priced at $10 per month for 200Mbytes of data. The next tier charges $15 per month on a month-to-month basis, with no contract. Moving up, the next tier charges $30 per month for unlimited data. Finally, tethering costs an additional $15 per month.

    T-Mobile also launched of a variety of Android-powered smart phones with retail prices less than $100 to complement its new service plans.

    The move follows in the footsteps of the tiered program offered by industry benchmark AT&T for the Apple Inc. iPhone and iPad. AT&T charges $15 per month for 200Mbytes, $25 per month for 2Gbytes and tethering for an incremental $20 per month.

    Verizon is also experimenting with a promotional offer of $15 per month for 150Mbytes, $30 per month for unlimited data to phone and $15 per month for 2Gbytes of tethering. It also is charging $20 per month for the phone to be used as a multi-line tethering hotspot.

    “Wireless carriers are intent on spurring incremental data usage among their subscribers,” Mather said. “This strategy centers on enticing more consumers to adopt mobile data access as part of life’s necessities. Two tactics to encourage more data consumption are to experiment with tiered pricing, and to heavily market data-hungry devices.”

    Tiers put carriers back in control of their pipe’s capacity, with a newfound capability to monetize the increasingly essential mobile data demands.

  • ESPN Announces Results of Comprehensive 3D Study

    ESPN Research + Analytics unveiled a studies on 3D TV. Compiling results from more than 1,000 testing sessions and 2,700 lab hours, ESPN has concluded that fans are comfortable with the medium and even enjoy it more than programming in HD.

    The research was conducted by Dr. Duane Varan, professor of New Media at Murdoch University, during ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at the Disney Media and Ad Lab in Austin, Texas.

    The research employed an experimental design approach including the use of perception analyzers, eye gaze and electrodermal activity. The study focused on a multitude of topics including overall viewing enjoyment, fatigue and novelty effects, technology differences, production issues and advertising impact. In all over 700 measures were processed during the testing. The Ad Lab used five different 3D manufacturers in its testing.

    “The results from this comprehensive research project support what we have said time and time again – fans have a higher level of enjoyment when viewing 3D. Plus, for advertisers, this study provides good news on the level of fan engagement when viewing 3D ads,” said Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president of ESPN Research + Analytics. “This study will help us continue to develop ESPN 3D as an industry leader for event-based 3D viewing.”

    Key Findings:

    3D TV ads can be more effective

    * In testing the Ad Lab showed viewers the same ads in 2D and 3D. 3D ads produced significantly higher scores across all ad performance metrics – generally maintaining a higher level of arousal than the 2D counterpart.
    * Participants showed better recall of the ad in 3D:
    – Cued recall went from 68% to 83%
    – On average, purchase intent increased from 49% to 83%
    – Ad liking went from 67% to 84%

    Fans enjoy 3D

    * The results showed a higher level of viewer enjoyment, engagement with the telecast and a stronger sense of presence with the 3D telecasts.
    – Enjoyment increased from 65% to 70% in 3D while presence went from 42% to 69%

    Passive vs. Active

    * With all things equal, there were no major differences between passive and active 3D TV sets for overall impact however, passive glasses were rated as more comfortable and less distracting by participants.

    Depth Perception

    * The study found that there were no adverse effects on depth perception (stereopsis).
    * It appeared that there is an acclimation effect whereby participants adjust to 3D over time under normal use.

    True 3D vs. 2D

    * Participants showed much more favorable responses to true 3D images than to 2D.

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  • Apple Takes the Lead in the US Smartphone Market with a 26% Share

    In Q3 2010, the worldwide smartphone market grew an impressive 95% over the same quarter a year ago to 80.9 million shipped units, according to Canalys.

    Nokia retained its leadership position, albeit by a diminished margin, with a 33% share of the market. Apple’s healthy performance this quarter saw it achieve a 17% share worldwide, a little ahead of RIM, which held a 15% share this quarter.

    In the world’s largest smart phone market, the US, Apple ousted RIM from the top spot, seizing a 26% share as iPhone shipments continued unabated. RIM has also launched its latest generation smart phone, the Torch, though it only saw half a quarter’s shipments in the US.

    But the plethora of smart phones running the Open Handset Alliance’s (OHA’s) Android platform meant that Canalys’ final published country-level data shows that it took the lead in the US market by operating system, with a 44% share.

    As well as the positive picture in the US, Canalys’ detailed country level smart phone research has consistently highlighted the importance of, and differences in, ‘emerging markets’. For example, in what are now being called the ‘BRIIC’ countries (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and mainland China), smart phone shipments increased by 112% year-on-year, faster than the market overall, and each country individually saw strong growth. Nokia was the leading vendor in all five BRIIC markets in Q3 2010, benefiting from its global reach and channel relationships.

    According to Canalys, once again this quarter, it was devices running the Android platform that proved the greatest driver of growth in the worldwide market, up 1,309% year-on-year from 1.4 million in Q3 2009 to more than 20.0 million units in Q3 2010, forming a quarter of the market share. “With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world,2 said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham.

    Driven by Nokia, the Symbian Foundation retained its position as the leading smart phone OS vendor worldwide. Of the 56 named countries that Canalys tracks, it is still the number one OS vendor in 37 of them because of Nokia’s dominance, plus in Japan, where its position is supported by Fujitsu and Sharp. According to the report, the launch of Nokia’s new range of Symbian devices, particularly the N8, will give a boost to its holiday season shipments, and the outlook into 2011 remains positive as Nokia aims to push Symbian devices further into the mid-tier of the market to attract mass-market volumes.

    Devices running Microsoft’s OS accounted for just 3% of worldwide smart phone shipments in Q3 2010, though with the launch of Windows Phone 7 devices, the outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond is significantly improved. “Windows Phone 7 is streets ahead of earlier iterations and provides a vastly improved user experience that will pleasantly surprise many people when they come to use it. The integration of Microsoft service assets, such as Xbox Live, Bing, Zune and Office, greatly strengthens the proposition and we are confident that the initial array of products will perform well,” said Chris Jones, Canalys Principal Analyst.

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  • Pinger Aims to Bring Free Voip to iPod Touch and iPhone

    Pinger, a startup based in San Jose, California, aims to challenge Skype (and others) by offering free voice calls. They are doing so by piggybacking voip on their hugely popular TextFree application, which allows sending free text SMS messages.

    TextFree is unusual in that each user gets its own phone number, thus the 8 million TextFree users are in fact 8 million phone numbers (putting Pinger in the Top 10 US mobile carriers). For comparison, Q3 2010 Pinger distributed 1.7 million phone numbers, AT&T distributed 1.6 in the same time span.

    Their current revenue model is ad-based, showing ads while the user is composing her message. As an indicator of profitability, the startup has already been backed up by venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and others by raising more than $11 million.

    Pinger is currently serving 1.2 billion ads and sent 4 billion messages each month and is only expected to raise its numbers. As Pinger’s target audience is between 16 and 26, advertisers are already eager to participate to set buying habits and brand loyalty as these users turn into adults.

    For phone calls, users will have a limited amount of free monthly minutes, which they can increase by downloading other apps, completing 3rd party offers (a model coming from social media games) or by credit card payment. Pinger says that they are aiming to offer a worldwide service, disrupting the mobile industry and profiting from the huge markups phone carriers apply in their prices. Time will tell if they are able to make it.

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    Ruben Berenguel blogs in mostlymaths.net about productivity, time management and a little programming while he finishes his PhD in Mathematics. Don’t miss your opportunity to subscribe to his RSS feed.

  • Clearwire and Sprint to Launch 4G in NYC, LA and SF This Year

    Clearwire and Sprint today announced plans to launch their respective 4G mobile internet services in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco later this year. Each of the companies will offer 4G services under their own 4G brand.

    Clearwire, Sprint and Time Warner Cable will each launch commercial 4G service in New York City on November 1. The service in Los Angeles will be launch on December 1. In cooperation with Comcast, the companies will launch 4G service in the San Francisco Bay Area in late December.

    The 4G customer experience from Clearwire and Sprint is similar to Wi-Fi but without the short-range limitations. The network uses wireless 4G technology that differs from Wi-Fi because it provides service areas measured in miles, not feet. Outside the 4G service area, dual-mode 4G/3G modems keep users continually connected by leveraging Sprint’s 3G data network.

    According to the companies, customers in these three cities “will now be able to increase their mobility and productivity in many ways: from instantly downloading large files to get work done on the run, to browsing the web just like at home from across the city, or watching online videos and movies nearly anywhere around town.”

    Subscribers will also be able to purchase a wide range of 4G devices, including: compact USB modems, numerous Intel embedded WiMAX laptops and netbooks, portable Wi-Fi/4G hotspots, and other wireless devices, all aimed at making lives in 4G cities more mobile and efficient.

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  • Broadvox and Cypress Communications Announce Merger Agreement

    VoIP and unified communication service providers – Broadvox and Cypress Communications – announced the signing of a merger agreement.

    While both companies deliver a hosted VoIP and hosted unified communications solution, neither customer base is expected to be affected by the merger. Customers using Cypress’ C4 IP product and those using Broadvox’s GO!VBX will see no changes in their current feature sets, phones, or technology platforms. The Cypress C4 IP solution is ideally suited for enterprises, while GO!VBX primarily targets SMBs.

    According to Stephen L. Schilling, CEO and President of Cypress Communications, “The merger positions the combined Broadvox and Cypress company as a broad-based market leader, serving both carriers, SMB and SME VoIP segments. The combined company will boast one of the largest VoIP networks and will continue to provide 24×7 support and service for the more than 10,000 business customers and hundreds of thousands of users each and every day.”

    Cypress will gain access to Broadvox’s network backbone for direct origination and termination of voice traffic to more effectively serve the needs of its expanding customer base.

    Broadvox will benefit from the increased utilization of its network backbone and the ability to enhance its carrier, SMB and SME offerings with the Cypress Communications’ unified communications suite of services.

    The closing date of the merger is subject to certain terms and conditions customary for transactions of this type, including regulatory approvals. The companies announced that the finalization of the transaction is expected within 60-90 days. Because the two companies are privately held, no other merger details will be made available.

    "We are excited about this opportunity to enter into a merger agreement with a leader in unified communications as a service," remarked Andre Temnorod, Chairman and CEO at Broadvox. "The new, combined company will be in a position to expand its ability of providing high-quality and innovative services to our target markets and this strength will be a key to our continued future success. While we look forward to finalizing the transaction, it’s important for our customers, partners and other stakeholders to know that it is ‘business as usual’ at both Broadvox and Cypress Communications."

    Hosted unified communications provider Cypress Communications is known for helping to define the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) category and has been providing hosted communications to small and mid-sized businesses and enterprises (SMBs and SMEs) for more than 25 years.

    Broadvox has nearly a decade of experience in providing SIP Origination and Terminating services to carriers. In 2007, Broadvox began offering SMBs and SMEs various SIP Trunking products and this year expanded the offering with virtual PBX hosted services.

  • snom technology Releases snom ONE IP-PBX

    snom, a German developer and manufacturer of SIP devices, has announced the release of snom ONE – a new family of IP PBX systems that runs on standard servers. According to the company, snom ONE will provide customers with an IP telephony system which supports all the functionalities of snom IP phones.

    snom ONE is the result of thorough field tests and optimisation activities, taken out on the market. It is available in 3 versions: snom ONE free (downloadable free of charge for up to 10 extensions) and the two resale systems snom ONE yellow (for up to 20 extensions) and snom ONE blue (unlimited number of extensions and multi tenant up to 5 companies). All versions offer the same features and only differ on the maximum supported quantity of extensions.

    All versions offer the full feature set, including hunt and ACD groups, mailbox, auto attendant, conference rooms and paging, and are designed to take full advantage of the hardware features of snom’s suite of desktop phones and endpoints. snom ONE blue also allows up to five separate corporate tenants, supporting multiple organizations to operate using a single IP PBX.

    The snom ONE integrates with snom desktop and DECT phones and features all the functionality of standards-based IP PBX platforms, including simultaneous ringing of desktop and cell phone, multiple extension aliases, centralized address book, hot desking, voice mail, shared line emulation and a web interface for provisioning and management.

    The ONE is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac environments and is equipped with robust web security through HTTPS and call security through TLS and SRTP. It supports mixed IPv4/IPv6 LAN and WAN environments and comes with an automatic blacklisting feature that makes it possible to expose public IP addresses.

    "In the past we’ve experienced problems with customers missing out on some of the key features delivered by our phones, due to the installed IP-PBX systems," explains Jonathan Greenwood, snom ONE Product Manager and Managing Director of snom UK Ltd.

    "With snom ONE, our customers can continue to install and run our VoIP phones on every SIP based PBX, whilst having additional access to a series of easy to install telephony systems, perfectly tailored to our phones. This is our response to the many compelling requests by resellers and users in recent years,” he added

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  • 8×8 Partners With Polycom

    8×8 announced it has signed a partnership agreement with Polycom enabling it to offer Polycom’s IP telephony and conferencing solutions to 8×8 Virtual Office hosted VoIP subscribers.

    8×8’s initial offering features the Polycom SoundPoint IP 335 desk phone. According to the company, the SoundPoint IP 335 is “a high quality, entry-level SIP phone that seamlessly integrates with 8×8’s systems to deliver advanced telephony features such as auto attendant, voicemail, Caller ID, call forwarding, conference bridge and Polycom HD Voice at an affordable cost.”

    In addition, these phones also include a capability called Voice Quality Monitoring (VQMON), which gives 8×8 the ability to monitor in real-time the quality of a customer’s call. This feature helps the company quickly diagnose customer issues, provide faster problem resolution and ultimately deliver better service.

    8×8 also informed that they will be introducing additional SoundPoint IP desktop phones, SoundStation IP conference phones and Polycom KIRK wireless phones and accessories in the coming weeks and months.

    "8×8 is very pleased to be working with Polycom as we fulfill our separate, but common, commitment to deliver affordable, high quality voice solutions to businesses of all sizes," said 8×8 Chairman & CEO Bryan Martin.

    "Polycom’s reliable, cutting edge offerings will be a valuable addition to our IP phone portfolio and a tremendous vehicle for enabling our Virtual Office customers to experience and benefit from technological advancements such as HD Voice," he said.

    "8×8 has established itself as an innovative and successful provider of hosted PBX and unified communications services and we look forward to working together to offer cost-effective, high-quality voice solutions," said Jim Kruger, Polycom vice president of Solutions Product Marketing.

    He added: "With more and more businesses gravitating toward cloud-based solutions, features like HD voice, integration with key business applications, and other powerful IP-enabled features have become an increasingly important component of any communications solution."

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  • Mobile Navigation Users Increased 57% in H1-2010 to 44 million

    According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of mobile subscribers using a turn-by-turn navigation service or application on their handset grew 57 percent from H1-2009 to H1-2010 and reached 44 million worldwide.

    The subscriber base is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33.1 percent to reach 195 million users worldwide in 2015.

    Broad availability of GPS handsets and attractive pricing are key factors for widespread adoption of mobile navigation services. In the US, where GPS handset penetration is above 70 percent, navigation services for mobile phones has already reached about 8 percent of the total mobile subscriber base. A large share of these users gets navigation as part of a service bundle together with a voice and data plan from their mobile operator.

    As a response to the launch of free navigation applications for smartphones by Nokia and Google, more and more operators worldwide are now introducing bundled navigation services to offset the cost for end users. Navigation service providers and mobile operators are also trying to monetise services by introducing various feature and content up-sells that allow users to customise navigation applications to suit their personal needs.

    “Mobile operators and service providers are now accelerating their efforts to create differentiated navigation experiences with unique local content to compete against free services”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight.

    He added that integration of navigation services with other applications to stimulate usage will become increasingly important for mobile operators that seek additional revenues from location-based advertising. Since relatively few subscribers need turn-by-turn guidance on a daily basis, complementary features such as social networking, restaurant and event guides improve stickiness.

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