Business News Holding

Author: admin

  • Verizon Clarifies Succession Plans; Names Lowell McAdam as COO

    Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell C. McAdam has been named president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications, reporting to Chairman and CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg, effective Oct. 1, 2010.

    According to Verizon, the appointment of McAdam by the Verizon Board of Directors "is an important step in the succession process for when Seidenberg retires from the company." McAdam will have responsibility for the operations of Verizon’s network-based businesses — Verizon Wireless and Verizon Telecom and Business — as well as Verizon Services Operations. Also reporting to him will be the technology management and CIO functions.

    Separately, Verizon named Francis J. Shammo, currently president of Verizon Telecom and Business, to become executive vice president and chief financial officer of the company, effective Nov. 1. Shammo will succeed John F. Killian, who last Monday announced he will retire around the end of the year.

    Verizon also announced that Daniel S. Mead, currently executive vice president and chief operating officer at Verizon Wireless, will become president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, succeeding McAdam.

    Verizon Chairman and CEO Seidenberg said, "This is a timely and logical next step in our evolution as we put in place an outstanding senior executive team that can carry us into the future."

    Seidenberg emphasized that the decisions to name these executives to key posts was based on their individual successes operating a wide range of businesses. "The pedigree of these executives puts them in a league of their own. Each one of them is a leader who has repeatedly delivered results and enhanced shareholder value."

    Regarding McAdam, Seidenberg said, "The Board’s selection of Lowell to this key, central position underscores its commitment to reward success while working with me to prepare our company for an executive transition in the future. Lowell is undeniably the right executive at the right time, given his track record of growth while managing one of the most dynamic and successful businesses in America."

    In his current role at Verizon Wireless, McAdam, 56, leads the premier wireless provider with the wireless voice and 3G broadband data network. Prior to assuming this position in 2007, McAdam served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless from the company’s inception in 2000, helping to build the industry’s leading wireless company.

    Previously, McAdam was president and CEO of PrimeCo Personal Communications, a joint venture owned by Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch. He also served as PrimeCo’s chief operating officer, responsible for overseeing the build, deployment and successful launch of the new company’s customer service operations and all-digital network.

    McAdam has served as vice president – international operations for AirTouch Communications and was lead technical partner for cellular ventures in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Korea and Japan. McAdam joined AirTouch as executive director of international applications and operations in 1993. Prior to that, he held various executive positions with Pacific Bell.

    In addition to serving on the Verizon Wireless Board of Representatives, McAdam is a member and past chairman of the Board of Directors of the CTIA, the wireless industry trade association.

    Related news
    Verizon to Build 4G LTE Network in Rural America
    Verizon VoIP Services Show Strong Growth at 10-Year Mark
    BlackBerry Bold 9650 Coming to Verizon
    Verizon Announces New Unlimited Voice Plans

  • fringOut Offers Worldwide Mobile Calls From 1c/Minute

    fring has just introduced fringOut, a new service that enables users to make cheap calls to any regular landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world, with rates as low as 1¢ a minute.

    Rates for Canada and UK are even lower — 0,6¢ and 0,7¢, respectively, US calls starts at 1,2¢ per minute.

    fring users will still be able to use other SIP service through fring (“We are sure you’ll love fringOut’s simplicity and its low prices. If for some reason, you still want to use other SIP providers, you are welcome too,” the company says).

    All the other fring features, like fring to fring calls (audio and video) are still available for free. The option to send an sms using fringOut credit is currently not available.

    The company informed that its new service is currently available for Nokia S60 (Symbian) devices and will soon be available on iPhone and Android.

    “Hundreds of millions of people have tried low-cost internet calling on their PC or through restricted mobile offerings. With the launch of fringOut, fringsters can benefit from internet calling with the convenience of mobile without cumbersome wires and cables." said Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring.

    "The fringOut service joins our leading video service, to create a fun, internet-rich, cost-effective mobile experience for our thriving community of tens of millions of fringsters," he added.

    fring users can choose how they communicate with their friends including using fring internet calling to other fring users and other communities, fringOut, SIP or GSM.

    A list of rates is available at fring.com/fringOut/rates

    Related news
    Ooma Introduces New Mobile App Calling Plan Option
    fring Gives Android Users the 1st Mobile 2-Way Video Calls
    AXTEL Partners with fring to Extend Fixed VoIP Services to Mobile
    MWC 2010: Interview with Gil Regev of Fring

  • Ooma Introduces New Mobile App Calling Plan Option

    Ooma announced that it is now offering a new Ooma Mobile calling plan that allows users to talk for 1,000 minutes for less than $5 per month.

    The Ooma Mobile application lets Ooma customers make U.S. and international calls from their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

    Phone calls made using the Ooma Mobile application are transmitted through the internet connection of the device (either Wi-Fi or 3G) so users do not need to use minutes from a cellular voice plan.

    Today’s new bundle extends Ooma’s calling plan offerings for Ooma customers. As always, calls to Ooma phone numbers using the Ooma Mobile application are free. Calls to other U.S. numbers remain just 1.9¢/minute without the calling bundle. Ooma Premier subscribers still have the bonus of 250 free minutes of U.S. calling every month.

    According to the company, there are following benefits of using Ooma Mobile:

    – Save on minutes: Save money by shifting your minutes to Ooma Mobile and call over Wi-Fi or 3G
    – Call overseas: Save up to 90% on international calls using your Ooma prepaid account or international calling plan
    – No coverage, no problem: Avoid roaming charges for phone calls when you have access to Wi-Fi – perfect when traveling abroad
    – Keep your caller-ID: Calls made using Ooma Mobile show the caller-ID of your Ooma account
    – Conserve bandwidth: Reduce 3G bandwidth usage by up to 60% when making a call with Ooma PureVoice technology
    – Call from your iPod/iPad: Ooma Mobile transforms your iPad and iPod touch into a phone
    – Free calling to Ooma subscribers: Call any Ooma phone number and talk for as long as you want

    Related news
    Ooma Bluetooth Adapter Integrates Mobile and Home Phones
    Acrobits Releases Groundwire, the First Business Caliber SIP Client
    CounterPath Brings Multitasking and Multi-Account VoIP Softphone to the iPhone
    Skype Now Available on Verizon Multimedia Phones on the BREW Platform

  • Alteva Offers Free Complete UC Solution Through Its IP Phone Rental Program

    Alteva has announced another affordable way to leverage Microsoft Communication Services integrated with Alteva’s enterprise hosted VoIP service. Together, Microsoft and Alteva are providing hosted UC solutions for smaller businesses that integrate communication and business processes.

    To further make new IP technologies accessible to the SMB market, Alteva is now offering its complete UC solution to organizations purchasing 10 or more phones through an IP phone rental program. Alteva said that companies that choose to take advantage of the rental program will not have to put any money down to get a new Voice over IP phone system. “This rental option will greatly improve the channel managers’ ability to close sales in this turbulent economy,” said Alteva Chief Sales Officer Louis Hayner.

    Back in April, Alteva launched the complete suite of Microsoft Communication Services, including Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and Office Communications Server (OCS) with hosted voice services.

    “Hosted unified communications will change the way that businesses communicate,” said Rich Cannon, Industry Marketing Development Manager at Microsoft.

    “By integrating voice with Microsoft Communication Services, we are opening the doors to service providers and their partners by providing a range of functionalities to offer to the end user that will inevitably change the landscape of their business,” he added.

    In a survey by Infonetics Research, of North American companies and their plans for deploying Unified Communications equipment and services, as well as their ratings of leading Unified Communications vendors, Microsoft is one of the most widely deployed Unified Communications suppliers among survey respondents, enjoying high buyer awareness and receiving high marks from buyers on the most important buying criteria.

    “Against the backdrop of significant enterprise spending reductions on all kinds of products, the unified communication market is holding up remarkably well. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise, as these tools are designed to allow users to communicate and collaborate more effectively,” noted Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics Research.

    Related news
    Microsoft Lync: A New Name for a New Generation of UC Solutions
    SoliCall Releases Personal PBXMate for SMB’s and Private Users
    LG-Ericsson and Accton to Deliver Unified Voice and Data Solutions for Businesses

  • Gartner: Android to Become No. 2 Worldwide Mobile OS in 2010

    The worldwide mobile operating system market will be dominated by Symbian and Android, as the two OSs will account for 59.8 percent of mobile OS sales by 2014, according to Gartner.

    The research firm predicts that Symbian will remain at the top of Gartner’s worldwide OS ranking due to Nokia‘s volume and the push into more mass market price points. However, by the end of the forecast period, the No. 1 spot will be contested with Android, which will be at a very similar share level.

    According to Gartner, communication service providers’ marketing and vendor support for Android-based smartphones will drive the platform to become the second-largest platform, following Symbian, by year-end 2010. This is almost two years earlier than Gartner predicted a year ago.

    "The worldwide mobile OS market is dominated by four players: Symbian, Android, Research In Motion and iOS," said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner.

    "Launches of updated operating systems — such as Apple iOS 4, BlackBerry OS 6, Symbian 3 and Symbian 4, and Windows Phone 7 — will help maintain strong growth in smartphones in 2H10 and 2011 and spur innovation. However, we believe that market share in the OS space will consolidate around a few key OS providers that have the most support from CSPs and developers and strong brand awareness with consumer and enterprise customers," she said.

    Gartner expects manufacturers such as Samsung to launch many new budget Android devices in 2H10 that will drive Android into mass market segments. Other players, such as Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola, will follow a similar strategy. This trend should help Android become the top OS in North America by the end of 2010.

    "CSPs and mobile device manufacturers alike will need to revisit their platform strategies and balance the need to pursue platforms with the highest current demand against the need to maintain differentiation with unique devices," Cozza said. "CSPs will likely reduce the number of platforms they offer, to reduce their support costs and clarify their propositions to market."

    Gartner predicts that by 2014, open-source platforms will continue to dominate more than 60 percent of the market for smartphones. Single-source platforms, such as Apple’s iOS and Research In Motion’s OS, will increase in unit terms, but their growth rate will be below market average and not enough to sustain share increase. Windows Phone will be relegated to sixth place behind MeeGo in Gartner’s worldwide OS ranking by 2014.

    Related news
    Nokia N8 Offcially for Sale at the end of September
    Consumer Interest in Smartphones Catapulted to Unprecedented Levels
    Gartner: Worldwide Smarpthone Sales Grew 49% in Q1 2010
    NPD: Android Shakes Up U.S. Smartphone Market

  • Microsoft Lync: A New Name for a New Generation of UC Solutions

    Microsoft announced the release candidate of Microsoft Lync, the next generation of Microsoft’s unified communications software. Lync is the new family brand for the products formerly known as Communications Server, Communications Online and Communicator, and it also now includes Lync Web App, and Lync Online.

    The release candidates of Lync 2010 and Lync Server 2010 are now available for businesses of all sizes to try for free. Microsoft said this broad release candidate is the last step toward release to manufacturing and general availability scheduled for later this year.

    According to the company, Lync can make every engagement a virtual face-to-face meeting, because any interaction can include video and audio conferencing, application and desktop sharing, instant messaging, and telephony.

    Lync has been designed from the ground up to work with Microsoft Office, SharePoint and Exchange, which helps reduce end-user adoption hurdles and increase return on investment. People can also stay connected to others on a wide range of devices while away from the office and manage their communications and calls in new ways, such as moving a call from a PC to a mobile device while leaving the office without disrupting the conversation.

    Microsoft revealed that more than 120 enterprise customers and partners are enrolled in the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for Lync, testing early releases and providing feedback, and over 400 unified communications partners are involved in readiness activities, preparing for general availability of the software later this year.

    In addition, more than 30 partners have announced beta versions of their Lync-compatible hardware, software and service products. Hardware products include a variety of internet protocol phones and USB endpoints optimized for Lync. Software solutions include contact centers, call recording, accounting and new applications that incorporate communications right within business processes. Routing services work with Lync to allow companies to meet United States E-911 requirements for all U.S.-based workers, regardless of location.

    “Over the past five years we have been on a journey to transform communications with the power of software,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of Unified Communications at Microsoft.

    “Lync delivers on this vision by unifying enterprise voice, instant messaging and web-, audio- and videoconferencing into a new, connected communications experience,” he added.

  • TwinStrata and Veeam Software Team Up to Deliver Cloud Storage for VMware Backups

    TwinStrata has announced that it is jointly delivering "a highly efficient, cost-effective" solution for the creation and storage of VMware backups with Veeam Software, winner of Best of Show at VMworld 2010.

    According to the company, TwinStrata’s CloudArray software, when used in conjunction with Veeam Backup & Replication, gives organizations easy access to secure, highly scalable, pay-as-you-go Cloud Storage for their VMware backups.

    TwinStrata’s CloudArray is the first purpose-built software solution to enhance data protection at a substantial cost savings compared to traditional off-site storage, delivering simple, affordable, and secure storage solutions to IT environments.

    With this new joint offering from Veeam and TwinStrata, companies using tape systems or disk-to-disk backup for data protection can select CloudArray as the backup target for Veeam Backup & Replication. To ensure data security and privacy, CloudArray encrypts data prior to transporting it to cloud storage. When combined with Veeam Backup & Replication’s advanced deduplication capabilities, the two products offer a high degree of savings for both bandwidth and end point storage requirements.

    In addition, CloudArray Compute-Anywhere allows businesses to restore on-site, offsite or in the cloud.

    "This combined solution will enable a whole new level of business agility, efficiency and cost management for businesses that need to backup their VMware environments," said Doug Hazelman, senior director, product strategy, Veeam Software. "Together with TwinStrata, we can provide companies with economical off-site storage with all the availability, security and performance characteristics of local data storage – available any time, anywhere."

    "We are an agnostic infrastructure services organization that works with multiple vendors to find the most efficient and cost-effective solution for each client," said Jason Schuerhoff, vice president of sales, Sublime Solution.

    "We often recommend the Veeam and TwinStrata strategy because many of our clients don’t have the ability or flexibility to conduct offsite backups for disaster recovery purposes. However, the combination of these two products lets them back up and replicate their virtual infrastructures into the cloud as if they were local, thereby giving them access to the information at any time and from anywhere. Plus, they avoid the cost associated with co-location infrastructures. Most small and medium sized companies will find this solution pays for itself within 12-18 months," he added. 

    Related news
    TwinStrata Improves Its CloudArray Cloud Storage Software
    TwinStrata Unveils Cloud Storage Enablement Strategy

  • Storage Software Market Delivers Continued Growth in Q2

    According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker, the worldwide storage software market experienced continued gains in the Q2 2010 with revenues of nearly $3.0 billion, representing 3.3% growth over the same quarter one year ago, but a 2.3% decrease from the previous quarter.

    "The gains in the storage software market in the second quarter were largely the result of overall growth from some of the large suppliers. The growth for the quarter came from EMC (up 13.3% year over year), IBM (up 10.6%), and NetApp (up 6.0%)," said Laura DuBois, program vice president, Storage Software at IDC.

    "From a segment perspective, growth is coming from spending in four segments of storage software: data protection and recovery (up 4.9% year over year), archiving (up 8.2%), storage management (up 5.8%), and storage infrastructure (up 12.7%)," she added. 

    The storage software revenue growth of 3.3% is in line with worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues, which posted year-over-year growth of 20.4%, totaling $5.0 billion in the second quarter of 2010.

    Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Storage Software Revenue, Second Quarter of 2010

    (Revenues are in Millions)

  • MZA: Avaya Continues to Lead PBX Market

    The latest figures released by analyst firm MZA have shown that the Corded PBX market (excluding Micro PBX products) increased by 16% in Q2 2010 compared to Q2 2009 at a global level.

    According to MZA, these results show mixed fortunes depending on the sales region and point towards a turbulent road to recovery with fragile growth rates.

    The report finds that Western Europe, for example, which represented more than one-quarter of the overall global market, showed only weak levels of growth as volumes here increased by a meagre one percent in comparison to Q1 2010.

    One of the major contributing factors to this was the result for the UK market, ordinarily the second largest in the region, which declined in Q2 2010 by 5% compared to Q1 2010. However, in a reversal of fortunes, Germany demonstrated growth of 8% in Q2 2010 compared to Q1 2010 after it previously had dropped by 12% sequentially. According to analysts, both of these results illustrate the extremely volatile nature of the recovery in Western Europe.

    North America, on the other hand, posted an encouraging set of results this quarter, both in comparison to the same quarter of last year (up by 18%) and sequentially (up by 13%), although this still leaves the market adrift of its 2008 average quarterly run-rate of over three million extensions.

    Research by MZA shows that one of the biggest increases globally was recorded in Eastern Europe, where volumes have started to pick up following some of the toughest trading conditions. In Q2 2010, the market increased by 35% compared to Q2 2009. Much of the increase was driven here by Russia, where volumes are normalising but still have a long way to go.

    The second largest growth rate was registered in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), where an increase of 19% in Q2 2010 was recorded over Q2 2009.

    Avaya continued to lead the world PBX market, growing market share from 13% in Q1 2010 to 15% in Q2 2010. Its leadership position was first attained as a result of the acquisition of Nortel.

    Cisco was in second position with a stable 12% market share while Panasonic moved from fourth position in the last quarter to third position in this, maintaining its 11% share. Panasonic continued to lead in the Below 100 Extensions sector with a steady 16% market share, ahead of NEC in second position and Avaya in third position. In the Above 100 Extensions market, Cisco was the market leader with a 24% market share, followed by Avaya.

    World IP Extensions Market

    The raport also finds that the IP extensions market grew by 27% compared to Q2 2009, which was greater than the 16% rise seen in the total extensions market. The Below 100 IP Extensions market grew by 33%, while the Above 100 IP Extensions market increased by 25%.

    In both instances, increases in the IP extensions market far outweighed the growth seen in the total market and also the growth in the Below 100 Extensions market continued to outpace the growth seen in the Above 100 Extensions market as the adoption of IP to the desktop becomes more widespread.

    Cisco maintained its leadership of the IP extensions market with a 33% market share, followed by Avaya at 21% and NEC with 10% market share.

  • Privus Mobile Debuts Real-Time Caller ID and Text ID for BlackBerry

    Privus Mobile, the Caller ID solution for BlackBerry smartphones, has released new features for its smartphone Caller ID application delivering real-time caller and text identification.

    Through this feature Privus Mobile announces the name of the incoming call or text for true hands-free operations regardless of whether the person is in the user’s contact list or not.

    While there are a few applications offering Caller ID, they are all forced to show the Caller ID after the call is coming in due to BlackBerry programming restrictions as well as lack of support for simultaneous data and voice.

    According to Privus, this is the first time BlackBerry users have been able to receive true Caller ID on their phone when the call is coming in as well as the name associated with incoming text messages from people not in a phone’s contact list.

    Privus was able to get around notification limitations by leveraging its new Voice Cue functionality in the 4.0 update. Now, users will be notified of the name of the incoming caller via a voice announce feature. “Not only does this allow users to hear the name of the incoming call as it’s coming in and decide whether it’s worth the effort to get off the couch and answer the phone, but it enables true hands-free operation when they are driving,” as the company said.

    Privus Mobile for BlackBerry Version 4.0 features:

    •Caller ID – Enables users to see the name associated with any incoming call on their BlackBerry smartphone – not just those already in the contact list
    •Text ID – Displays the name associated with incoming text messages – not just those already in the contact list
    •Voice Cue – Announces the name of callers from the user’s contact list and from Privus Mobile’s real-time Caller ID for callers not already in the contact list to allow for true hands-free operation
    •Caller Name Look-up – Enables users to look up the name associated with any telephone number through one of the world’s most comprehensive caller information databases from Accudata Technologies.

    “The days of scrambling to find your phone so you can see, or guess, who’s calling are over. No longer will you have to fumble around the passenger seat in the car to find your phone so you can see who’s calling even if you’re already wearing a Bluetooth headset,” said Greg Smith, president of Privus Mobile. “Now you can see and hear the name behind the number for incoming calls or texts on your BlackBerry. It’s the perfect combination of true functionality and convenience in a smartphone application.”

    The application is compatible with all BlackBerry devices including the newly-released BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry Bold.

    Related news
    Real Caller ID for Your Mobile Phone: Interview with Greg Smith, CEO of Accudata Technologies
    Winner of the Biz-News.com "Product of the Year Award 2009” Announced