CTI Group and CommPartners Connect have announced they are offering a VoIP call recording service aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.
Called SmartRecord IP it is a hosted VoIP call recording application that gives network operators the ability to offer call recording directly from the switch, rather than as an afterthought.
Mark Peterson, vice president of sales and marketing for CommPartners Connect, said the application had geographic redundancy and infinite scalability.
He said applications like SmartRecord IP have great appeal to important segments of the SMB market and helped increases overall demand for VoIP.
"By responding to the demand for these value-added features and applications, we are enabling our resellers to meet customer needs and win more deals while driving growth of their VoIP business portfolio," he said.
Hughes Network Systems has announced the completion of the roll-out of a HN System solution for Telefonica Espana to deliver satellite-based VoIP rural telecommunications services.
To enable the new communications services to operate a second switching centre interconnecting the rural satellite VoIP network to the national telephony network was required.
Hughes said the VoIP services are available to new customers based in remote/rural areas and to existing customers migrating from the existing TRAC network (Telefonia Rural de Acceso Celular — Rural Telephony with Cellular Access) to the satellite-based VoIP network.
The network comprises approximately 8,000 terminals, of which 80 per cent are residential, 15 per cent public telephony for city councils, and 5 per cent for small/medium enterprises.
According to Hughes, the satellite platform incorporates dedicated equipment supporting VoIP, including IP gateways and voice servers.
It shares resources with other satellite-based networks providing broadband Internet access to rural areas of Spain and residential/SME access.
The rural network installation by Hughes is the latest project in a 15-year relationship working with the Spanish telecoms giant.
There are several arguments put forward as to why Blu-ray has been slow to reach mainstream adoption – but price can surely no longer be a major factor.
Best Buy in the US is now offering the Insignia NS-2BRDVD Blu-ray player for US $129.99 shipped.
While that is still more expensive than your bargain basement DVD player, it is a vast improvement compared to where Blu-ray player prices were even just a short while ago.
Figures released in May from NPD showed the average price of Blu-ray players was USD $261 in Q1 2009.
Granted that’s the average price, but the next set of quarterly data should show that has dropped significantly if the Insignia deal is anything to go by.
Featuring, among other things, 1080p output and upconversion, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD audio, the Best Buy own-label Insignia also comes with a one-year warranty.
It supports Blu-ray Profile 1.1 but requires a software update, which can be downloaded and installed on the player using a disc.
Movavi has announced an expansion of its popular online video conversion service.
The upgraded Online.movavi.com service now enables users to fine tune a number of conversion parameters – codecs, resolution, video and audio quality, bitrate, and other key elements demanded by more sophisticated users.
The multimedia processing tool developer said all new functionality is accessible through a new Customization link, which opens a separate window, enabling users to make the necessary changes without leaving the main site. Natalia Khudyakova, Moscow-based Movavi’s CEO, said the functionality extension is a part of our strategy for the development of Online.movavi.com.
She said the goal is to create the most fully-functional and easy-to-use free online video conversion service.
"In line with this goal, we have removed the requirement for users to register with an email address before starting the conversion, and have also added support for HD video," she said.
Additional enhancements to Online.movavi.com planned for the near future include image manipulation and online storage for users’ media files.
RIM is boosting its Blackberry range with a new 3G dual-mode handset aimed at both its core executive users and the wider consumer market.
Candy-bar shaped and with a full keyboard, the Blackberry Tour will launch with Verizon and Sprint in the US and Telus and BCE’s Bell unit in Canada.
Ever-mindful of the fact the line between corporate and pleasure smartphone use is blurring, RIM has pitched the Tour between the consumer-oriented BlackBerry Curve and the corporate-focused BlackBerry Bold.
The smartphone is intended as a "world phone" – providing voice and data services on networks outside a user’s home operator network – which has great appeal to business travellers.
For this reason it supports 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.
For the consumer market, the Tour has all the multimedia features of the Curve, including a 3.2 megapixel photo and video camera with flash and media player.
The phone is also preloaded with DataViz Documents to Go, allowing users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset.
RIM has been left in the shadows recently – as Palm and Apple grab the spotlight with the launch of the Pre and the iPhone 3Gs.
It will be interesting to see how its latest Blackberry offering fares as its rivals continue to encroach on RIM’s traditional enterprise stronghold.
The BlackBerry Tour is expected to be available this summer. Pricing still to be announced.
Storage of consumer electronics could be boosted by as much as 2TB with the arrival of a new generation of memory cards.
That’s the expectation of the SD Association, which suggest Secure Digital memory cards based on the new SDXC (extended capacity) specification could be out as early as next year.
Initially they would offer a capacity of 64GB but this is expected to climb quickly to 2TB.
The SDA announced the SDXC specification at the start of the year without being able to specify when products would become available.
However, companies such as Panasonic have already announced plans to develop memory cards based on the new specification.
The SD Association has about 1,100 member companies, including Toshiba and SanDisk, involved in the design, manufacture and sale of products using SD technology.
Joseph Unsworth, research director, NAND Flash Semiconductors, at Gartner, said SDXC combines a higher capacity roadmap with faster transfer speeds as a means to exploit NAND flash memory technology.
He said it makes a compelling choice for portable memory storage and interoperability.
"With industry support, SDXC presents manufacturers with the opportunity to kindle consumer demand for more advanced handset features and functionality in consumer electronics behind the ubiquitous SD interface," he said.
SD cards can be slotted into consumer electronics devices to store images, video or other data.
The new specification will replace SD slots and media based on the older SDHC specification commonly used in devices.
The SDXC specification upgrades the storage capacity and cuts the data-transfer bottlenecks that plagued earlier specifications.
Shigeto Kanda, general manager at Canon, said SDXC is a large-capacity card that can store more than 4,000 RAW images, which is the uncompressed mode professionals use.
He said that capacity, combined with the exFAT file system, increases movie recording time and reduces starting time to improve photocapturing opportunities.
"Improvements in interface speed allow further increases in continuous shooting speed and higher resolution movie recordings," he said.
"As a memory card well suited to small-sized user-friendly digital cameras, the SDXC specification will help consumers realize the full potential of our cameras."
The new slots will be backward compatible and support older SD media. However, older SD slots will not support new media.
Value HDTV brand Vizio has introduced 31 new models, including its first HDTV with 240-Hz technology and an LED backlight.
The company also announced that it has filed a patent-infringement suit against LG Electronics, and that a similar case against Funai is continuing.
Often bracketed as a second-tier brand compared to rivals such as Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba, Vizio has gained a reputation for its good-value sets, which often contain features on a par with more expensive models.
The company continues in this vein with its new HDTV lineup, which splits into three lines – the XVT, M and E series – with prices beginning at USD $250 and climbing to USD $2,200.
All the new models boast Energy Star 3.0 certification.
The new range’s value line – the "E" series – offers TruSurround and some models come with EcoHD technology for reducing power levels below Energy Star 3.0 requirements.
The "M" series – with the VL and the VT sub-categories – has a USB multimedia feature that can play back content stored on a thumb drive or USB drive.
HDTVs also have a Pause Live TV feature, for caching segments of live TV broadcast. Each model has multiple HDMI inputs and some include a side HDMI port as well. The contrast ratio is 50,000:1.
At the high end of the line are Vizio’s premier XVT sets. The flagship VF551XVT is the only one of Vizio’s HDTVs to include both an LED backlight as well as 240-Hz technology.
All the XVT models include dedicated USB inputs, a 2,0000:1 contrast ratio, SRS TruSurround audio and TruVolume.
Panasonic has announced the release of two of what it describes as the lightest HD camcorders ever made.
Each model weighs just 0.5lbs (0.2KG) but boasts high-powered 16x optical zoom capabilities and can shoot 1920 x 1080 Full-HD videos.
The HDC-SD10 uses an SDHC/SD Memory Card as recording media while the Twin Memory Type HDC-TM10 records onto both an 8 GB Built-in Memory and an SDHC/SD Memory Card.
The 16x optical zoom of the HDC-SD10 and HDC-TM10 is supported by the Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) function for clear zooming – it minimizes the hand-shake that often impairs video quality.
Panasonic says its Advanced O.I.S. detects and corrects for hand-shake around 4,000 times per second and works with the optical zoom to produce clear, stable zoom shots.
The new Active mode also extends the hand-shake correction range to allow the shooting of images while walking or moving.
Chuck Kirkman, senior product manager, Imaging, Panasonic, said: "We recognize that users are looking for camcorders that capture high-quality, High Definition video, but they also want something lightweight that has advanced, yet easy-to-use functions."
The suggested retail prices of the HDC-SD10 and HDC-TM10 are USD $549.95 and $599.95 respectively.Both will be available in September 2009.
Microsoft has just unveiled what it describes as a revolutionary new way to play Xbox 360 video games on HDTVs without the need for a controller.
Called Project Natal, the sensor, which combines an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor in one device, could have uses far beyond just gaming.
One analyst, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan, said he thought Project Natal is intended less as a game control scheme than it is as an easy-to-use dashboard control scheme.
He also sees it as a means for Microsoft to dampen the launch of an expected high definition upgrade to Nintendo’s Wii console.
Unlike 2-D cameras and controllers, Project Natal tracks a user’s full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions and even a shift of emotion in the voice.
The idea that the device could have an impact far beyond gaming was echoed by filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
Introducing the device at the recent the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), he said it was a "pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games".
Microsoft says that what sets the Project Natal sensor apart is the fact it’s not light-dependent. It can recognize users just by looking at their face, and it doesn’t just react to key words but understands what is being said.
So, for example, if a user calls a play in a football game, players will actually respond.
Spielberg said the next step in interactive entertainment is to make the controller disappear.
"With Project Natal, we’ll see games that bring everyone together through technology that actually recognizes us," he said.
During its briefing, signalled its strategy of turning the Xbox 360 into an internet and media hub for the living room by opening the Xbox Live dashboard up to the internet.
It announced new Xbox LIVE services, including instant on 1080p HD streaming movies and television to Facebook and Last.fm tailor-made for a user’s TV.
Starting this fall, a selection of movies and TV shows from Zune video on Xbox 360 will be available to start and stream instantly.
Microsoft also announced it will more than double the number of markets where Xbox LIVE offers its TV shows and movies, growing from eight to 18, by adding Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Xbox LIVE members in these markets will have access to instant on 1080p video.
New Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace advancements also came for the US,UK and Ireland.
Microsoft also announced a new lineup of Xbox 360 games, including Forza Motorsport 3, Alan Wake, Halo 3: ODST and The Beatles: Rock Band.
Palm must be hoping it can quickly build on estimated opening weekend sales of 60,000 Pre smartphones – not least because Apple has cranked up the pressure with the launch of a new iPhone.
While Palm’s Saturday launch has largely been judged a success, it was hampered by supply constraints which saw most Sprint Nextel stores get less than 50 phones to sell.
The limited supply of handsets meant that the Pre sold out in hours at most locations.
Sprint’s flagship Manhattan store had 200 units at launch. Its store in Boston’s Back Bay area had only 55, while one in San Francisco’s Mission district had 60.
Palm and Sprint strenuosly denied they were limiting supplies deliberately, instead the restrictions were put down to manufacturing constraints.
As expected, between 80-90 per cent of the first buyers were already Sprint customers – while about 60 per cent were prior Palm owners.
Meanwhile, while one of the major concerns for the Pre has been the lack of apps for the phone there has been a flow of new software being announced by developers since Saturday’s launch.
Among them are the WHERE and Photobucket apps.
WHERE is a location based application that allows users to find different content based on their geographic position.
It also highlights local content including weather, news, movie times, restaurant recommendations. You can also perform selective searches through WHERE and find out things like where to find the cheapest gas. WHERE will also have the ability to integrate with the Pre contact and calendar data.
Photobucket allows users to send and upload photos directly from the phone. You can send any photo taken on the phone to a Photobucket album and shared through the website. You can also open a new Photobucket account directly through your Pre.
Other applications include Zumobi’s Today Show and Sporting News Baseball apps for on-the-go news and sports updates, and LikeMe, which offers personal recommendations for restaurants, attractions, etc, based on your location.
Beeweeb and Agile Commerce have also announced their plans to offer services to help developers create apps for the Pre and Palm WebOS.
These new apps join the dozen or so programs that were available in the Pre App Catalog at launch, including Pandora and Fandango.
According to Palm, more than 150,000 apps were downloaded on the first day the smartphone was available.
Currently, the Palm App Catalog is in beta and the Mojo SDK is only available to a limited number of developers.
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