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  • No More Phone Numbers: Interview with Micha Benoliel, CEO of Digitrad

    “This is the future, this is the next big thing: save money on international calls and merging online social places with voice on your cell phone. You will never use your cell phone the same way!,” says Micha Benoliel, CEO of Digitrad, when asked by Smartphone.Biz-News.com about CallbyName, the company’s flagship product.

    Digitrad is the provider of consolidated communications platforms bringing together IM, voice, social networks and online directories. They started in 2000 as a web agency specialized in dynamic websites integrations.

    No More Phone Numbers
    “In 2003 we did our first voice app. After this successful first experience, we realized there was a wonderful opportunity by merging web interface with voice applications to create a real Swiss knife tool to help you build voice services in a record time.

    Micha Benoliel

    “CallbyName combines our unified communications features such as mobile voice to voice web, voice to email and voice to SMS with a social address book. Your real name becomes your single point of contact for all your communications.

    “Some people use multiple social networks with the same people and want to sync all their info under a single profile. Just one and same place to gather all your communications info. With all these contacts spread out across different places and applications, we need a service that helps us to reach someone fast, simply and in a way convenient for the caller and the receiver,” says Micha.

    “Almost free calling”
    The service also lets you call the world “almost for free” from the mobile phone. “Amost for free”? Micha explains how it works: “When you decide to call a friend in US from UK for example, instead of calling the US number CallbyName will assign you a temporary local English phone number. When you dial that number which is included within your plan or cost as a local call, you will hear an 8 second audio ad that sponsors the call and it will ring on the US number you wanted to dial originally.”

    CallByName mobile app, currently available on Android and iPhone, uses your local phonebook and offers to call up to 50 international destinations for the cost of a local call from your mobile. You can also leave voicemails directly delivered by email as an attachment. It’s available in the US, UK France and soon in 21 more countries

    “From the user feedback we have a good retention rate and they like the user experience very close from the one of any address book on any phone. But this is really a start as the version 2 is the one really getting the traction with the connectors to social networks and the presence feature that allows you to call your friends from the mobile to the Facebook page.”

    The version 2 will include the connectors with social networks and online addressbook like Facebook, Twitter, Google contacts, LinkedIn.

    Digital ID for all your communications
    Another product from Digitrad is yes.tel. In 2009, they became registrar for the .tel domain which is the first domain dedicated to communications. It is now between the top 25 registrars of .tel in the world. Instead of linking a name to a website, .tel links a name to contacts information.

    “For an individual, it could be called your home or your place on the web. For businesses it is a way to enter the first real-time global directory,” explains Micha.

    When asked what is next for mobile integrated communication systems, he says: “Our team of passionate and talented people works to integrate CallbyName within the everyday mobile and web user experience. It means that you will no longer have to search for the best way to communicate with someone. You will have a seamless call experience that will always reach and connect the other party even if you don’t know its phone number.”

    He believes the VoIP market has a great potential. According to him, the question is how are the telco infrastructures going to handle this technology very demanding in terms of bandwidth and quality of service.

    “We believe that for the time being a temporary local phone number to reach the cloud and connect anywhere for the cost of a local call is the right combination,” he says.

    Micha says the main goal for Digitrad in 2010 is “to show the world that using your real name as a single point of contact for all your communications is not a dream anymore.”

  • ERCOM Launches Secure SMS

    ERCOM, a secure communication solutions provider, announced that it has upgraded Cryptosmart Mobile Suite with secure SMS feature.

    Launched in 2008, Cryptosmart Mobile Suite is a patent based and certified solution for mobile communications that protects both voice and data transmission, encrypts data stored on the device, and blocks MMS, SMS and internet attacks.

    It is dedicated to governments and corporations to help them communicate in a confident manner.

    New Secure SMS brings three major security attributes:
    • Confidentiality : SMS are encrypted
    • Integrity : users are sure that the SMS has not been modified
    • Authenticity : the sender identification cannot be falsified

    “Secure SMS is complementary to secure data. Indeed, professional users continue to use SMS for some of their communications. There is no need to have any email address. Moreover, there are some cases where users do not have access to data networks (poor mobile coverage, lack of data roaming agreement, etc.),” according to the company.

    The Cryptosmart is compliant with all existing networks such as mobile networks (2G, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, LTE), satellite networks (Inmarsat, Thuraya, Eutelssat), and wireless IP networks (Wifi, Wimax). It is based on EAL2+ and common criteria technology.

  • Combined VoIP and CRM for Small Businesses

    Ringio, a new company founded by a group of long-time SaaS and Telephony Executives, has launched a new service for small and mid-sized businesses that brings them a combination of CRM and telephony functionality that until now has been available only through call centers and enterprise-level telephony systems.

    Ringio’s Rich Calling service presents calls together with their contextual details, either through the service’s desktop client or through its mobile version (available for Android phones).

    The Ringio team developed Rich Calling as a SaaS with an emphasis on affordability and ease of setup. The company assures that it can be set up in minutes and works with users’ current phones, including mobile devices, with no additional hardware or software required.

    According to Ringio Co-founder and Chairman Michael Zirngibl, Ringio defines ‘rich calling’ as ‘bringing a telephone call and relevant information about the caller together at the same time to enrich communication and information sharing, and – most important — to accelerate speed-to-satisfaction.’

    “By tapping into the cloud for customer data, we bring everything that’s important about the caller to the top of your mind – in real time,” he said.

    “As you take or make a call, you can draw upon the collective notes of everyone in your organization who has dealt with this person. This helps you to connect with customers much more efficiently, professionally and meaningfully than SMBs typically are able to do.”

    Ringio’s call-routing technology, also part of the service, helps direct the caller to the right employee in the organization at the start. If he or she needs to transfer the caller to a colleague, the person handling the call can tell whether that co-worker is available at that moment.

    “This kind of real-time visibility also known as ‘presence’ resolves issues quickly, avoids dumping customers into what they call ‘voice mail jail,’ and produces well-informed, coordinated responses that close the sale or solve the caller’s problem,” Zirngibl added.

    Ringio is launching the service’s own integrated call-control and screen-pop client for the PC, Mac desktop or Linux. Through the client, users view and add to a company store of customer information about contacts as they handle calls. Ringio also automatically retrieves and synchronizes records built using Google’s Contacts database. They also plan to integrate Ringio with Salesforce.com.

    ‘Rich Calling’ details
    Users can accept or redirect incoming calls as they appear on the screen; Ringio then completes the call to the user’s desired 10-digit phone number or sends it to voice mail. If users are not logged into the system, they can still receive calls on the Ringio number; in that case, an audio caller ID gives them the same screening options.

  • HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion

    Although a week ago Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein still believed that “Palm can survive as an independent company” (FT), Palm was already up for sale and it was pretty obvious they would quickly find a buyer.

    And they did. The company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with HP, under which HP will purchase Palm at an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion.

    The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors.

    “The combination of HP’s global scale and financial strength with Palm’s unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets,” according to the press release.

    The companies claim that Palm’s webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as “true multitasking” and “always up-to-date information sharing across applications.”

    Under the terms of the merger agreement, Palm stockholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of Palm common stock that they hold at the closing of the merger.

    The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Palm’s stockholders. The companies informed that the transaction is expected to close during HP’s third fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2010.

    Palm’s current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company.

    According to HP’s executive vice president Todd Bradley, Palm’s OS provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a “unique” HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices.”

    “And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market,” he said.

    Jon Rubinstein said: “We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS.”

  • QStar Technologies Joins Active Archive Alliance as a Founding Partner

    QStar Technologies announced today that it has joined the Active Archive Alliance as a founding partner.

    The Active Archive Alliance is a non-profit storage industry association dedicated to promoting active archives for simplified, online access to all archived data.

    Organizations are archiving increasing amounts of data as they grapple with data growth, retention compliance rules and the need to leverage the knowledge and information within their organization.

    As organizations archive more data, the challenge of accessing that data when needed has intensified. Active archive solutions resolve this issue by turning offline archives into visible, accessible extensions of online storage systems – enabling fast, easy access to archived data.

    The industry trend toward active archiving is being enabled and accelerated by recent advancements in active archive applications as well as archive tape and disk storage technologies. Today’s innovative applications provide the ability to see and access data on tape through a file system interface, making it easy and affordable to view and search archived data files in large heterogeneous online active tape and disk storage pools.

    “QStar is excited to be a founding member of the Active Archive Alliance,” said Dave Thomson, senior vice president of sales, QStar Technologies.

    “Our company has exclusively offered solutions in the archive world for more than 23 years and completely endorses the messages involved in Active Archiving, namely combining disk and tape technologies to maximize the benefits of each. An active archive offers optimized performance and data security for an organization’s most valuable resource: its data.”

    QStar offers a wide range of data migration and archiving software solutions that allow organizations to tailor-make a cost-effective archive that precisely fits their individual requirements. Specifically designed for mixed system and data types, QStar supports the entire enterprise, including servers and clients using Windows, Linux, UNIX and Mac. The product suite also allows for storage and retrieval to disk and tape solutions situated locally or, for disaster prevention purposes, remotely.

    QStar’s Network Migrator software utilizes advanced policy management for storage virtualization and data lifecycle management. Data Director HSM software, built for enterprise level archives, creates a virtual hard disk system on tape media and mirrors it for disaster prevention. QStar solutions work to create secure archives that allow seamless access to data using standard interfaces and protocols across the network.

    Active archiving eliminates the typical trade-off between keeping data visible in online disk arrays and moving the data to more cost-effective near-line or off-line tape. It enables organizations to keep all archive data online, searchable and quickly accessible, while ensuring media and data integrity and simplified management.

    In addition to QStar, founding technology partners of the Active Archive Alliance include Compellent Technologies, FileTek Inc., and Spectra Logic Corporation.

    The mission of the Active Archive Alliance is to provide organizations with the best practices, tools and information they need to achieve simplified access to the online storage of their archived data. Please visit www.activearchive.com for more information about the Active Archive Alliance and to become a member.

  • SES ASTRA and Samsung to Promote 3D TV

    SES ASTRA and Samsung announced today that they will jointly promote 3D television to the market. Under the terms of the agreement, Samsung will support SES ASTRA with 3D television content for its new 3D demo channel to be launched on 4 May 2010.

    The demo channel will be broadcast free-to-air via ASTRA’s orbital position 23.5 degrees East, and is intended to help retailers promote 3D television to end-consumers at the point of sale.

    Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA, said: “The new ASTRA 3D demo channel demonstrates the huge advantages of satellite for the transmission of high quality 3D TV signals, and the leading role of SES ASTRA in driving innovations in broadcasting technology. We are proud to partner with Samsung, and we are confident that 3D television will become the next driver for the home entertainment market.”

    SH Shin, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe, added: “As the first manufacturer to bring 3D television to the consumer market, Samsung is at the forefront of 3D innovation. By partnering with SES ASTRA, Samsung will be the first manufacturer to demonstrate live streamed 3D content through this free promotional channel, and can showcase the full capability of its innovation in 3D technology. The content we provide to ASTRA’s 3D channel will help consumers to realise the true potential of the 3D television experience.”

    The launch of ASTRA’s 3D channel will take place on 4 May at the ANGA Cable trade show in Cologne, Germany. The transmission details for the channel will be communicated shortly.

  • TalkFree Launches PickRoute VoIP Termination Service

    TalkFree, an international VoIP carrier, has launched PickRoute, an A-to-Z VoIP termination service for small and medium-sized businesses and resellers already utilizing a VoIP switch or IP PBX.

    By employing SIP Trunking, customers connect to the service and access TalkFree’s network and routing technologies and over 60 telecom carriers managed by the company’s Global Intelligent Routing software.

    TalkFree’s GIR continuously monitors network performance and makes automated route changes. According to Ona Stewart, director of buying and routing at TalkFree, the beauty of the GIR is that once you understand the trends of a country you can set the measurements for the route and it will change itself based on the data history. .

    “This ensures that our customers always have access to the highest-quality connections. It also allows TalkFree to manage a massive network with less manpower, which translates to better pricing for our customers,” she said.

    TalkFree operates primarily in the Middle East and Africa with targeted growth coming from Southeast Asia and rural areas of South America. They specialize in assisting local in-country communications providers by delivering a turnkey, plug-and-play VoIP “business in a box”.

    According to the company, its multiple access techniques ensure high-quality voice connections regardless of internet traffic volumes. All applications are managed in real time, in local language and local currency, and are supported by customer service experts who are available 24/7.

  • Mobile Handset Industry Considers Recession to be Over

    According to recent iSuppli report, the mobile handset industry is proclaiming the end of the recession for the segment following an outstanding final quarter of 2009 and a projected substantial growth for smart phones in 2010.

    The report shows that the mobile handset industry closed 2009 with shipments of 1.15 billion handset units.

    While that number is down from the overall 2008 figure of 1.2 billion handsets, shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 represented the culmination of an increasing growth pattern throughout all of last year. Compared to third-quarter shipments of 290 million, about 335 million mobile handsets shipped in the fourth quarter, up 15.5 percent.

    “Given the recovery of the market in the final quarter of 2009, and with Europe, Latin America and the Middle East/Africa regions doing exceptionally well during the period, the recession can be said to be officially over for the industry. The continued growth this year of total handsets—up a projected 11.3 percent to 1.3 billion units—further bolsters such a view,” iSuppli maintains.

    Among the various handset categories, smartphones are projected to expand 35.5 percent in 2010. According to the report, smartphone growth will be driven by a number of promising developments, including the introduction of entry-level smart-phones, enthusiasm from vendors across the mobile phone and PC industries, the prevalence of 3G network deployments and the promotion of data-centric services in mature markets.

    With handset shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 amounting to approximately 257.6 million units, the Top 5 players accounted for a whopping 77 percent share of the total handset market.

    The report says that Nokia remained the leader of the handset market, shipping 126.9 million handsets during the period, giving it a 37.9 percent share of market. Runner-up Samsung, which has introduced its own smart-phone operating system, held the No. 2 spot with 20.6 percent share.

    The remainder of the Top 5 are rounded out by LG Electronics, in third place with 10.1 percent share; Sony Ericsson in fourth, with 4.4 percent share; and Chinese giant ZTE, whose impressive 77 percent growth from the earlier quarter vaulted it into fifth place, with a 4.0 percent share.

    A second Chinese handset manufacturer, Huawei, landed in seventh place after also finishing an outstanding quarter with 82.4 percent growth.

    “Together, the two Chinese companies indicate the strong momentum occurring in the emerging market as well as an increasing presence in Europe on their part with key operators,” said Tina Teng, iSuppli senior analyst.

  • AT&T Releases Mobile Conferencing App for iPhone

    Mobile conferencing iPhone App from AT&T is now available on the App Store.

    It integrates multiple conferencing products including audio conferencing, web conferencing and video conferencing into a single UC application.

    The app includes the following features and functionality, depending on connectivity:

    • View whiteboard
    • Call Me and Dial In features that simplify audio setup
    • Interactive participants list: See/hear the other participants in the conference, their emoticons and mode of connection
    • Use emoticons to signal opinion
    • Alert other participants when stepping in or out of the conference
    • Use notes to chat with one or all participants
    • Answer polls
    • Host an event
    • Invite others to join an event

    According to Ron Spears, president and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions, converging communications technologies are driving business demand for integrated voice, web and video conferencing services, to reduce costs and speed decisions.

    “Collaboration across a broad sweep of individuals – employees, suppliers and partners, as well as across geographic and organizational boundaries – is a daily necessity. AT&T is bringing its Unified Communications capabilities to integrate voice, email, messaging and web conferencing in business apps that drive the productivity of businesses regionally, nationally and globally,” he said.

    AT&T Connect supports virtual meetings with both internal and external participants. The service can be provisioned to include standalone audio conferencing, multi-point video, regular/mobile phone and VoIP-based audio, application sharing, whiteboard/presentation, web touring, polling, reporting, recording and editing.