Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • Grandstream Introduces New HD Enterprise SIP Telephone

    Grandstream has extended the portfolio of its GXP series enterprise SIP telephones with the introduction of the new GXP2110.

    Based on Grandstream’s broadly interoperable SIP stack, “the GXP2110 SIP telephone delivers superior HD audio quality for crystal clear voice communications, packed IP telephony features and integrated Web applications, as well as support for highly flexible XML customization and strong security protection,” as the company says.

    The new GXP2110 SIP phone comes standard with HD handset and high performance full duplex speakerphone, a broad range of voice codecs, dual network ports with integrated PoE, 4 line keys, 3 soft keys, 18 programmable BLF keys, 5-way conferencing, large 240×120 backlit graphical LCD with 8-level grayscale, multiple languages, large phone book and call log (2,000 records), automated provisioning using TR-069 and encrypted XML file, extension module expandability, and a number of integrated Web applications such as real-time local weather, stock, currency, RSS news, etc.

    The company informed that in the near future, more advanced Web applications will continue to be integrated via FREE firmware upgrade and an open Web service API will also be provided for advanced custom enterprise/Web application development. Grandstream plans to continue to expand the GXP phone series with new models during the rest of this year.

    “The proliferation of Web applications from PC to mobile phones and now to desk phones is clearly gaining momentum,” David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks.

    “The combination of HD voice communication with open Web application integration will unleash vastly improved productivity and create potentially unlimited new business opportunities at every desk phone. Known for our commitment to innovation and value delivery, Grandstream fully embraces market evolution and will continue its quest of providing advanced voice and video solutions that mirror evolving market demands,” he added.

    The GXP2110 is commercially available for purchase now through Grandstream’s worldwide distribution channels at a MSRP of US$139.

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  • Samsung Launches World's First Commercially Available 4G LTE Handset: the Samsung Craft

    Samsung Mobile and MetroPCS have just announced the commercial launch of the world’s first 4G LTE-enabled, multi-mode, CDMA handset, the Samsung Craft (SCH-r900). Samsung Mobile also supplied the LTE infrastructure for MetroPCS’ commercial launch of 4G LTE service in Las Vegas, the first in the United States.

    Samsung Craft is available at MetroPCS stores and online in the Las Vegas metropolitan area for $299, after a $50 instant rebate. It has 3.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen display and sliding QWERTY keyboard, 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and camcorder with auto-focus and Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface. Additionally, the Craft includes a 2GB microSD card (preloaded with "Star Trek").

    Along with the Craft, Samsung Mobile supplied LTE infrastructure for MetroPCS’ Las Vegas LTE network. MetroPCS became the first mobile operator to launch commercial 4G LTE services in the United States, offering talk, text and 4G Web access starting at $55 per month.

    According to the company, service will initially be available in Las Vegas and will cover the majority of MetroPCS’ existing CDMA network footprint in the city. 4G LTE network rollouts in the remaining MetroPCS markets are planned for later this year and early 2011, along with the launch of additional devices.

    “We continue to see our customers use mobile data services, and the majority of them rely on their handset as their primary access to the Web,” said Tom Keys, chief operating officer of MetroPCS.

    “Our 4G service, the Samsung Craft and applications like MetroSTUDIO deliver exactly what our customers demand: more of the entertainment they love, a desktop-like Web experience and the ability to do more and share more of their content such as text, photos and videos with friends and family,” he added.

  • picoChip Develops First Public Access Femtocell Solution

    picoChip today unveiled the PC333, the first chip specifically designed to extend the femtocell into the realm of public access infrastructure such as metro femto, rural femto and strand-mounted systems.

    According to the company, the PC333 System-on-Chip (SoC) device is the first femtocell chip to support 32 channels (scalable to 64) for simultaneous voice and HSPA+ data, the first to support MIMO, the first to support soft-handover and the first to conform to the Local Area Basestation (LABS) standard.

    picoChip says that the PC333 enables small basestations for urban hot-spots, city-centers or public access to be made and deployed at a cost far lower than traditional approaches, “radically changing the economics of network infrastructure.”

    The PC333 is the highest-specification femtocell available, and represents a significant step in bringing a complete 3GPP Release 8 Local Area 42Mbps HSPA+ basestation onto a single-chip.

    LABS is the 3GPP definition for systems with higher performance than home-basestations, allowing higher capacity, 120km/h mobility and +24dBm output power for greater than 2km range.

    The PC333 supports 32 channels, each with both voice and HSPA+ data and, with picoChip’s smartSignaling technology, in excess of 400 simultaneous smartphone users. Two of the devices can also be cascaded to support 64 active channels. The product runs on a 700MHz ARM chip with TrustZone and variety of specialized hardware features for security. As well as LABS conformance and release 8 HSPA+ (42Mbps downlink, 11 Mpbps uplink), the PC333 supports soft handover, receive diversity and MIMO.

    “Someday, all basestations will be made like this,” asserted Doug Pulley, CTO of picoChip. “With the PC333 we have extended the parameters of femtocell performance to levels that would traditionally have been considered as ‘picocell’ or even ‘microcell’. This high performance coupled with zero-touch provisioning means carriers can routinely deploy femtocells as part of their wide-area network rollouts. We are already seeing the emergence of femtocells into rural and metropolitan-area basestations,” he added.

    “As data traffic rises inexorably, it is evident that conventional macrocell architectures cannot cope both from a cost and capability point of view. Service providers are going to be deploying different, innovative basestation architectures to address this challenge effectively,” stated Simon Saunders, Chairman of The Femto Forum.

    The PC333 will be sampled in 4Q2010 to “lead customers.”

  • 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.

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  • 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. 

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  • 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.

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  • Skype Launches Channel Partner Program in the U.S.

    Skype has announced the introduction of the Skype Channel Partner Program to help businesses who are looking to use Skype for their collaboration and communication needs.

    According to Skype, the goal of the program is to establish a qualified network of channel partners in the United States that can assist companies interested in using Skype “to improve their productivity and optimize their communication costs.”

    Through the Skype Channel Partner Program, qualified Channel Partners will receive training, sales and marketing collaterals, customer tracking and reporting tools, as well as support and account management from Skype.

    Once trained and certified by Skype, the partners will be equipped to provide their own consulting, installation, configuration, maintenance and support services to business customers who wish to use Skype’s business solutions, including the Skype Business Client, Skype Manager and Skype Connect.

    Channel Partners will help businesses set up Skype and buy and use Skype products. For example, they will help Skype Manager customers use and manage the Skype Business Client on their desktop and mobile phones via business accounts or connect their existing private branch exchange (PBX) or Unified Communications (UC) systems to Skype using Skype Connect.

    They may also sell third-party hardware and software for use with Skype. Channel Partners will not be reselling any Skype products to customers; all Skype products will be bought directly from Skype.

    According to Skype, already twenty VARs and system integrators have been enrolled in and trained as part of the program and have started marketing and selling their own services and third-party hardware and software for use with Skype’s business solutions.

    Skype said will also work with manufacturers of the IP-enabled PBX and UC systems that have already been certified as interoperable with Skype Connect to introduce the Skype Channel Partner Program to their existing channel partners.

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  • Leading Technology Companies Announce HD Voice Initiative in the U.K.

    XConnect, Polycom, BroadSoft and Dialogic announced an initiative to promote the adoption of high-definition voice by service providers in the United Kingdom.

    Through workshops and cooperative communication and marketing, the HD initiative is designed to raise awareness and educate service providers about the benefits of HD voice and help them resolve implementation challenges.

    As part of the initiative, XConnect announced that the XConnect Global HD Voice Federation is now open to HD voice-enabled service providers globally, following its successful launch in the United States.

    First to join from the U.K. are service providers Simwood, SureVoIP and thevoicefactory.

    The federation enables the exchange of HD voice calls among all participants, all interconnecting through XConnect’s carrier hub and routing through phone-number lookups via its carrier ENUM registry.

    The companies joining XConnect in the initiative are market leaders in their sectors of the HD voice ecosystem. Polycom set an early stake in the ground through its SoundStation IP conference phones and SoundPoint desktop phones featuring Polycom HD Voice technology. BroadSoft is the leading global provider of IP-based communications services to the telecommunications industry. Dialogic is a prominent provider of multimedia and signaling technologies and platforms.

    HD voice enables users to experience clearer, higher-quality and more effective voice communication through the use of wideband codecs on IP networks. However, in most cases, to benefit from improved sound quality, callers must be on the same network. XConnect says they have established the HD federation to allow cross-network support for HD voice and potentially for multimedia IP-based services, such as presence and video.

    “The U.K. is ripe for HD voice due to increasing migration to IP and the quest among service providers to differentiate their offerings and deliver greater value to their customers,” said XConnect CEO Eli Katz.

    He added, “We are delighted to have facilitated the world’s first cross-network international HD voice calls via a federation – a step that paves the way for global mass-market adoption of HD voice.”

    Explaining why his company has joined the HD federation, thevoicefactory CEO Martin Sims said: “We realise that to compete effectively where broadband is a given, we have to move ahead of the pack. In a business market where many different languages and accents are the norm, high-definition voice will help us add value to our services.”

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  • SoliCall Releases Personal PBXMate for SMB’s and Private Users

    SoliCall, a provider of real time noise reduction and echo cancellation solutions for voice calls, has announced the release of a personal version of its enterprise level PBXMate product.

    The PBXMate is being used by organizations to improve audio quality in their VoIP network. Now it will also be available for individuals who are using SIP phone (or SoftPhone) looking to improve audio quality.

    According to the company, with the Personal PBXMate all parties will enjoy a high quality audio during VoIP call. “This is another step to make our solutions accessible for all users. Both small businesses and individuals will now be able to enjoy the technology that has grasped roots and became popular among large corporations”, said Adam Moore, Director of Media Relations at SoliCall.

    The Personal PBXMate runs on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

    Some of the key benefits of the Personal PBXMate:

    • Server Side Echo canceller (AEC) – your voice will never be echoed back at you. The server side AEC cancels echo before it reaches your ears.
    • Client Side Echo canceller (AEC) – no need to use headset or hold the handset anymore.
    • Server side noise reduction (NR) – shield your ears from irritating street noise / wind noise etc.
    • Client side noise reduction (NR) – make professional calls from your home office without exposing the other party to your ambient noise.
    • Automatic Gain Control (AGC) – makes sure the volume of the call is always set to a comfortable level.
    • Automatic call recording – your calls are automatically recorded using synchronized mode that overcomes network delays & buffering.
    • Key statistic indicators are displayed to help you measure the quality of the calls.