Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • Mobile Operators Risking $5bn Roaming Fraud Bill


    Roaming fraud could cost mobile operators USD $5 billion globally in 2009 because of a failure to implement detection measures.

    That’s the warning from James Stewart, director of fraud product management at MACH and chairman of the roaming sub-group of the GSMA fraud forum.

    He said that many operators around the world have yet to comply with near-real time roaming data exchange (NRTRDE) recommendations – making it likely that fraud will shift to those who are less well protected.

    But he said that carriers could not afford to neglect security measures, even in the current economic situation.

    "Perpetrators of roaming fraud rely on poor operator visibility and slow inter-operator processes to profit at the operators’ expense," said Stewart.

    "Many operators are re-evaluating the use of their existing fraud detection measures, looking for ways to reduce expenditure.

    "Their margins are under pressure from increasing roaming tariff regulation and competition but they cannot afford to increase their exposure to fraud and their subscribers will not accept any disruption to service caused by fraud prevention."

    Stewart said MACH clears two out of every three roaming calls on GSM and CDMA networks and settles more than 60 per cent of global inter-operator wholesale invoice amounts.

    The company has over 300 NRTRDE clients, and a growing Fraud Protection client base that is doubling every six months.

    Stewart said that minimising mobile fraud losses involves the rigorous execution of four key disciplines:

    • timely visibility
    • quick analysis
    • intelligent investigation
    • rapid action

  • Ingate and Dialogic Announce Secure SIP Trunking for Legacy PBX


    Ingate Systems and Dialogic Corporation have announced a partnership that will allow enterprises using legacy PBX and Contact Center systems to adopt SIP trunks as a replacement for traditional PSTN voice services.

    The companies said they have completed the necessary testing to validate the Dialogic 2000 Media Gateway Series (DMG2000) as interoperable with Ingate SIParator and Ingate Firewall products.

    Steve Johnson, president of Ingate Systems, said most SIP trunking providers and resellers focus on getting SMB customers to migrate from PSTN service, along with an upgrade to a SIP-ready IP-PBX system.

    He said this strategy remains logical and compelling – but added that there is also a significant opportunity to migrate Enterprise class customers who maintain legacy (non-SIP) PBX and contact center systems.

    "The combined security features of the Ingate SIParator with the SIP to PBX trunk conversion capability of a DMG2000 gateway enable a cost effective, secure and reliable SIP trunk interface for these customers," he said.

    With this interoperability solution, both Ingate and Dialogic products are deployed on the customer premises to support the SIP trunking service.

    The Ingate products are deployed at the network edge between a wide area IP network and the corporate LAN, securely passing SIP signaling and VoIP media streams to and from the corporate LAN.

    The Dialogic gateway resides on the corporate LAN and is connected to the legacy PBX or contact center via traditional T1/E1 trunk ports.

    The DMG2000 gateway passes the SIP Trunk signaling and media from the Ingate SIParator to the PBX by emulating traditional PSTN trunk services.

  • Phoenix Introduces Fastest, Most Versatile SSD VME Mass Storage Module


    Phoenix International has unveiled its new VS1-250-SSD Serial Attache SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA) based VME data storage plug-in blade.

    The VS1-250-SSD delivers high capacity, high performance data storage – with burst data transfer rate to 300MB/sec and sustained data transfer to 120MB/sec.

    The 6 U module can hold one or two SAS or SATA SSDs with a total capacity up to 512GB.

    It can be interfaced through its front panel connector or its P2 connector.

    The module is intended for military, aerospace and industrial applications requiring rugged, secure and durable mass data storage.

    Other major features of the Phoenix VS1-250-SSD Solid State Disk Module include:

    • Operational temperature from -40o to 85o C
    • Individual point-to-point device connectivity
    • Low power consumption
    • 1,300,000 MTBF
    • Integrated SLC NAND Flash
    • Meets military and IRIG 106-07 declassification standards
    • Advanced flash management for enhanced reliability and durability
    • 80,000 feet operational altitude
    • 50g, 11 ms operational shock
    • 16g rms, 10-2000Hz random vibration

    No information has been released on pricing and availability.

  • Optical Media With 1.6 Terabyte Capacity Created


    Researchers have announced they have created a "five-dimensional" optical media that can hold up to 1.6 terabytes of data.

    The team from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia said the technology could easily be on the market within 10 years.

    In order to create the massive storage capacity the scientists used ‘nanoparticles and a "polarization" dimension’.

    The team has already signed a deal with Samsung, which says the disc could potentially hold up to 10 terabytes.

    Min Gu, a team member, said they were able to show how nanostructured material can be incorporated onto a disc in order to increase data capacity, without increasing the physical size of the disc.

    "These extra dimensions are the key to creating ultra-high capacity discs," he said.

  • WD Adds 2TB Hard Drives As Demand Grows


    WD has expanded its WD AV-GP line of hard drives to include a 2 TB capacity, which it claims is the industry’s largest available drive to-date.

    The company said the move was in response to growing demand for higher capacity storage continues to increase due to large video applications, including high-definition video.

    Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups, said consumer electronics consumers require hard drives that consume less power, generate less heat and operate quietly.

    He said audio and video recording applications, such as DVRs, media servers, media centres and mainstream surveillance systems, often demand 24×7 operation from hard drives.

    "Our drives meet the demanding requirements of these markets including higher reliability, universal compatibility, low power consumption and the ability to simultaneously record multiple audio and/or high-definition video streams," he said.

    The WD AV-GP 2 TB hard drive (model WD20EVDS) is available now for USD $299.00.

  • LG Offers First DivX HD 1080p Certified Blu-ray player


    LG has launched the first DivX HD 1080p certified Blu-ray player.

    The BD390 – originally displayed at CES in January – has an 802.11n WiFi module and support for DivX streaming from a DLNA server.

    It includes BD-Live support, 7.1-channel audio output, 1GB of inbuilt memory and a USB 2.0 socket.

    The BD390 also features support for Netflix, CinemaNow, NetCast, and YouTube streaming, and comes bundled with Nero MediaHome Essentials to connect the player to household PCs and media servers.

    In April, LG announced that its new range of HDTVs will be capable of playing full DivX HD 1080p videos.

    While DivX support may not be on everyone’s wish-list it will certainly appeal to the more tech-minded consumer.

    With DivX 7, a full two-hour HD film can be compressed to around 8 GB – so capable of being stored on a double-layer DVD.

    It also sets LG’s latest high-def player apart from the competition – certainly not a bad thing in today’s busy marketplace.

    Simon Kang, CEO and President of LG Home Entertainment, said incorporating support for DivX HD 1080p video is a key product differentiator.

    The player is available now for USD $399.95.

  • Roccat Launches Lightweight VoIP Headset For PC & Mobile


    Roccat has launched the first headset to provide a microphone and earphones that can be used with PCs as well as mobile phones.

    The Vire Mobile Communication Gaming Headset is designed for use with VoIP solutions and more general communications.

    The lightweight device offers an in-line microphone and earphones, which can be used for online gaming, mobile communication or as an attachment on MP3 players.

    With a microphone that filters out background noise and enhances the clarity of speech, the headset is well-suited to VoIP solutions.

    The rubberised earplugs have also been designed in an open style – rather than encasing the whole ear, making them comfortable to wear for long periods.

    Roccat, based in Hamburg, Germany, says the headset was designed to unite gaming, communications and music in one headset.

    Roccat’s Erik J. Dale said the microphone shields out unnecessary background noises and ensures a user’s voice is transmitted clearly when chatting over VoIP or on the move while making calls.

    "The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said," he said.

    The headset has an RRP of EURO €39.99 (USD $55) and is due for official release in July.

  • Yuuguu Extends Instant Collaboration To Include Skype


    Yuuguu has expanded its screen sharing cross network application to include Skype.

    The Yuuguu for Skype Beta enables Skype users to screen share and collaborate with one or more contacts.

    Yuuguu can also use the VOIP calling feature of Skype.

    The application also allows users to combine their contacts on a variety of instant messaging services such as Google Talk, MSN, AOL, Yahoo and AIM into one place.

    Each month, Yuuguu is free for 100 minutes with a maximum of five participants in a session.

    Users can upgrade to Yuuguu Plus for USD $15 per month, which includes unlimited screen sharing and web conferencing usage.

    Co-founder and CEO of Yuuguu, Anish Kapoor said the Yuuguu for Skype Beta is the simplest and quickest way for Skype users to instantly screen share, and collaborate in real time with one or more of their contacts on Skype.

    "Our product developments over the last 18 months have been geared to strong customer demand for instant real-time collaboration tightly integrated with their instant messaging services," he said.

  • Elan Adapter Connects USB Memory Stick Direct To Mobile


    Elan is launching an adapter that allows an external USB hard drive to be plugged into a cellphone’s micro-SD slot.

    Once connected using the Mobidapter, files can be transferred and backups made without the need for a PC.

    The connector can be used on any mobile/cell phone, smartPhone or PDA with external SD socket.

    It works in all operating systems and no drivers are required.

    UK-based Elan said the Mobidapter will be shipping from mid-June 2009. No price is currently available.

  • IPsmarx Streamlines Bundled Services' Billing


    Billing can be a complicated process for VoIP service providers and calling card operators – especially if they want to diversify and offer more than one service.

    In some cases customers end up receiving separate bills or a third system has to be used to generate them.

    Now Ipsmarx Technology is offering a solution which it claims streamlines the billing process.

    Called Unified Customer Management (UCM) it enables service providers to offer calling card, PINless dialing, IP phone, and video over IP services to the same customer and provide only one bill for all the services.

    It also makes life easier for end users, who get the convenience of signing up for each service using one web interface.

    Carrie Fedders, account manager with IPsmarx, told voip.biz-news that if a service provider does not have an all-in-one solution, they may have one system that manages their calling card platform and another system that manages their VoIP business.

    "Then, they cannot send only one bill to their customer or they have to generate the bill using a 3rd system, while pulling information from their calling card and VoIP systems, so it can be quite complicated," she said.

    With the IPsmarx package billing feature, service providers can decide to bill for all services on a per minute or flat rate basis as well as create selling packages, or "bundles", for different services.

    Fedders said the UCM solution streamlines the billing process and gives operators the ability to offer a complete suite of VoIP and calling card services to their end users.

    This in turn has the potential to increase revenue for operators, which are increasingly looking to diversify their services.

    So an operator with an established client base who are making international calls could can capitalize on this by offering additional long distance services and increase their market share.

    "A calling card company can now add VoIP service, for example, and advertise it to their calling card users, in order to increase their usage and call volume, thus generating another revenue stream," she said.

    "Also, operators avoid the expense of multiple systems and 3rd party billing/invoicing software."