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Tag: wifi

  • Cellcom Israel To Offer HD VoIP-enabled Mobile Calling


    AudioCodes has teamed up with MailVision to offer a mobile soft client (Pico) and a versatile mobile clients’ Distribution Platform to Israel’s leading mobile service provider, Cellcom.

    As a result, Cellcom is to offer a new service called Cellcom Link, which allows roaming subscribers to initiate voice calls and send text messages (SMS) over a Wi-Fi connection, via their current mobile handsets at low rates.

    Leev Lerner, CEO of MailVision, a provider of SIP Mobile Platforms for Wireless and NGN Service Providers, said its Pico Client delivers high voice quality to subscribers allowing them to utilize their personal handset and telephone number when travelling abroad.

    He said the PICO software has the ability to retain a mobile phone’s existing address book contacts, enabling users to use their regular phone interface.

    "Mobile operators are now able to offer an alternative to low cost PC based calls," he said.

    "By selecting to use our advanced mobile VoIP solution platform, Mobile operators can offer roaming end-users the ability to make calls at a significantly reduced rate."

    Adi Cohen, vice president of marketing at Cellcom, said the service is not intended to replace the existing Cellcom Abroad service.

    "Rather (it is) to serve as an additional solution for customers travelling abroad who make many phone calls with Wi-Fi supported devices and would like to cut costs, while retaining their personal cellphone number," he said.

  • snom: Drive to Unified Communications Remains Strong


    Mike Storella, director of business development at VoIP phone maker snom, believes unified communications is the strongest segment in the communications industry.

    As customers look to become leaner and meaner, he stresses the advantages offered by wireless technology, such as WiFi, saying he feels it should be "everywhere".

    "Our latest snom VoIP Desk phone 8xx series all do WiFi, I don’t know the percentages but it is drastically less expensive to deploy an all WiFi office eliminating cat5 cable runs and increased Ethernet switch deployments," he said.

    Headquartered in Germany, snom has a range of eight VoIP business phones and is a worldwide provider. It works with any platform that uses the SIP protocols for VoIP.

    In an interview with TMCnet, Storella said the company has learnt that ROI "rules the day" for customers to make a positive choice to buy a replacement solution for their voice communications.

    He said the economic situation hasn’t affected the company’s decisions to invest in markets and products.

    "Times might be tough, but it is no time to lose faith that your products solve problems and needs for customers as they try to compete better in their business," he said.

    "If our products do what we say they do, customers need them to increase their productivity."

  • 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.

  • Skype For iPhone App Offers 3G Calls


    A new app is offering iPhone users a way of making Skype calls using 3G by turning outgoing calls into incoming ones.

    Appropriately called Incoming, it connects to any landline or mobile phone over Edge, 3G, and WiFi – whereas the official Skype for iPhone app is limited to WiFi.

    Calls made on the iPhone using the Incoming app are routed through a user’s home PC’s Skype software and turned into an incoming call.

    This means users don’t eat into wireless dialplan minutes if they have unlimited inbound minutes.

    There’s obviously a cost if SkypeOut credits are required but that can be limited by signing up for one of Skype’s unlimited call plans.

    How it works:
    1. Open the Incoming app and enter a phone number and press CALL.
    2. Receive an incoming call, once answered, the dialled number is called
    3. Wait to be connected

    The app costs USD $4.99 on the iTunes store.

    Other features include:

    • Make a visual favorites list for fast dialing.
    • Access contacts from your address book.
    • Conference Calling supporting up to nine callers.
    • International Calling

  • Mobile VoIP Huge Challenge For Mobile Operators


    Traditional network-based mobile carriers face the real prospect of losing a major slice of their voice traffic and revenue to new non-infrastructure players that use VoIP.

    This could mean that within 10 years, more than 50 per cent of mobile voice traffic will be carried using end-to-end VoIP, according to Gartner.

    Its says that the threat posed by mobile portal VoIP is likely to have a huge and direct impact on the USD $692.6 billion global mobile voice market.

    If that all seems a little bleak for mobile operators, there are some bright spots.

    Gartner suggest that despite the significant potential for mobile VoIP, conditions for the rapid expansion in its use are not yet right.

    What’s more, the analysts reckon they aren’t likely to be so for at least five years – and perhaps not for as much as eight years.

    Tole Hart, research director at Gartner, said that mass-scale adoption of end-to-end mobile VoIP calling will not happen until fourth-generation (4G) networks are fully implemented in 2017.

    But he said that once the basic market conditions are in place, transition to mobile portal VoIP should be fairly rapid because of the inherent convenience and end-user cost savings.

    "In 10 years time we expect that 30 per cent of mobile voice traffic will be carried out through third-party mobile portals, such as Google, Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo, which will adopt wireless VoIP service as a voice option to their current communications hub," he said.

    A number of third parties, such as Skype, Truphone and fring, which carry VoIP traffic using a mobile phone, have cropped up in the past couple of years.

    These offer access to voice services via Wi-Fi and/or the carriers’ wireless voice networks.

    This has been the most efficient way to offer the service to date because of the inconsistencies of voice services over third-generation (3G) data networks.

    However, with the advent of 4G networks (WiMAX and Long Term Evolution [LTE]), and increased use of smartphones with open operating systems, Gartner says that it is conceivable, perhaps even inevitable, that wireless voice services will be run completely over VoIP.

    "Ten years from now, more than half of mobile voice traffic will be carried end-to-end using VoIP," said Akshay Sharma, research director at Gartner.

    "Carriers will adopt voice services because of the increased capacity and reduced cost of delivering voice over 4G networks.

    "Third parties will adopt a voice option for their communications hub."

    The Gartner analysts warn that there will also be a number of factors that will inhibit the adoption of third-party, end-to-end VoIP services.

    These include:

    • the delay in rolling out 4G networks because of current economic conditions
    • the general plan to put 4G only in the main cities and build out from there

    Nevertheless, they conclude that in five to 10 years time, as 4G networks become common, mobile VoIP services will have a strong impact on the communications market.

    Competing with mobile portal VoIP will be wireless carriers that offer circuit and VoIP voice and data services, and resellers and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that also offer services off the carrier networks.

    Gartner expects this opening of the VoIP channels to spawn a number of voice services from companies that offer voice services to communities using voice as a communications link.

    This means that the biggest competitors to mobile VoIP may be text messaging and e-mail, as people may prefer to use these types of communication because of their non-intrusive, less emotional and less time-consuming nature.

    Although the impact of the technology shift will be gradual as 4G networks roll out, Gartner advises carriers to start thinking now about how the transition will occur and how they might cooperate and partner with other types of service providers.

    It suggests that third-party providers, such as Google and Yahoo, should look to offer voice services today using the carriers’ networks and Wi-Fi to leverage their portfolio of services.
    Mobile social communities, such as Facebook and MySpace, which benefit from messaging traffic as it keeps eyeballs on their sites, should also have a voice option.

  • Social Networking and IM Broaden Appeal of Mobile VoIP Beyond Cheap Calls


    INTERVIEW: Alan Paton, research director for independent VoIP comparison website LowCostMob.com, tells voip.biz-news about the increasingly crowded – and sometimes confusing – mobile VoIP market.

    He also explains how social networking and Instant Messaging services such as Twitter have the potential to extend the appeal of mobile VoIP beyond simply offering cheap calls.

    Q: Why did you think it was necessary to set up LowCostMob.com and how does the service address this need?

    A: Though mobile phones have been popular for over 20 years – the penetration reached 100 per cent years ago and there are more mobile phones than people in the UK, many having two or more – the industry is far from mature.

    In fact it is now entering a period of even greater changes than in the past.

    With LowCostMob.com we are currently addressing one of these great changes and that is the availability of alternative mobile calling services, especially for international calls.

    Alternative phone services are not new in themselves. They have been a big part of the fixed line business since telecoms liberalisation in the 1980s and have become even more important since local loop unbundling was introduced.

    Ofcom (the UK regulator) statistics show for the UK there are at least 350 alternative fixed line calling services.

    But alternative calling services for mobile are new and have sprung up only in the last two years.

    The great enablers for this are:

    • the increasing computing power of mobile phones allowing them to run a wide range of add-on applications
    • their improving ability to access the web and services that the web makes possible

    We see an opportunity here to explain the growing range of offerings without the confusing marketing hype and to help users to select what suits them best.

    Solutions range from the very simple (you can use your existing mobile phone as it is) to those that require you to download and install an application (usually done in a few minutes).
    Many services make use of dual-mode smartphones (they can use WiFi). Each solution has its pros and cons.

    Q: What are the most confusing/misleading aspects facing consumers when contemplating mobile VoIP or mobile calling applications?

    A: The new services use one or more of several basic technologies, call-back, call-through, local number substitution, VoIP and WiFi, and it is amazing how often you have to dig deep into a provider’s web site to know exactly what they are offering.

    It is like a garage selling a car but making it difficult for the customer to know if its automatic or manual, diesel or petrol, or four door or five door.

    One of the biggest confusions is over what constitutes true mobile VoIP.

    We think it should be only those systems that implement the transformation to VoIP on the phone itself.

    Many providers call it "mobile" VoIP if any part of the overall connection to the called person uses VoIP.

    There is very little information on the current practicalities of using mobile VoIP; does your data service allow it, what quality will you get, what are the costs of using the data channel for VoIP, and the role of WiFi.

    Q: Do consumers base their choice of which service to use solely on price or are other factors involved?

    A: A desire for cheaper calls especially international calls is a big driving force but by no means the only one.

    There is also at this early stage of market growth a lot of interest from the gadget minded who just love to get the latest electronic gizmo.

    Another very big factor is the popularity of Instant Messaging, services like Twitter, and Social Networking.

    Managing your contacts is a real headache and people want access to all their communications services, and this includes social networking, when they are on the move.

    Many alternative calling providers offer aggregation services, that is access to all the IM communities or social networks that a user might belong to through one application interface on their mobile phone, and other services such as address book management.

    Cheap calls may be just one, and not necessarily the most important, of a rich range of features and new mobile services.

    Q: Do you see a move towards a particular type of service (Mobile VoIP, Call through, Call Back etc)? If so, what is driving this?

    A: VoIP is the long term future for the whole mobile industry but there is plenty of scope for other technologies for many years, perhaps indefinitely.

    Smartphones are having a big impact and from being a few per cent a couple of years ago are expected to be at least 30 per cent of the market by 2012.

    The iPhone has given a big push to the market giving users for the first time a really good web experience on a mass market mobile phone.

    The Skype WiFi mobile application for the iPhone achieved over 2 million downloads in 9 days of being launched. Incredible.

    The user demand is there. And, by the way, Skype is certainly cheap but it is by no means the cheapest for mobile VoIP calls. (See here for a comparison)

    Over the coming months we will see what Google with its Android operating system for smartphones and Nokia with its new product response to the iPhone, can deliver.

    Q: Is the current economic situation likely to lead to a clear-out in the mobile VoIP industry?

    A: No, of itself it won’t lead to a clear out, though I’m sure it will make conditions tougher for everyone.

    Changes will happen, companies will fail, new ones will appear, services will evolve or be dropped and new ones appear, but who flourishes and who doesn’t, depends most on management skills and sound product concepts.

    Q: What are the likely implications of potential legislation by regulators in the EU and US which could force mobile operators to allow mobile VoIP calls to be made on their networks?

    A: Huge. Think of those Skype iPhone application downloads and that was just for mobile VoIP over WiFI.

  • Skype Announces iPhone App,Video Calling Coming Soon?


    STORY UPDATED: see below

    Skype is now available for the iPhone – and will be coming to BlackBerry in May.

    The VoIP app on the iPhone will only work over Wi-Fi and not 3G.

    It will allow iPhone subscribers to use phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book – without the need for duplicate lists.

    As always, it allows free calls between Skype users and charges for calls to landlines or mobiles.

    The free application began appearing in the app store early on Tuesday.

    UPDATE: Since being released on Tuesday it has emerged that Skype on iPhone does works over 3G, despite being intended only for use with WiFi.

    Users report it working over the 3G data connection if the beta 3.0 firmware is being run.

    Since VoIP over the 3G cellular is clearly forbidden in the SDK rules, it’s obviously due to a bug on 3.0 that it works.

    This raises the question of how long it will be before Apple closes the hole?

    But also, how did was the app "approved" and certified by for the App Store without first "testing" if Skype would work on the 3G connection?

  • Skype Announces iPhone App,Video Calling Coming Soon?


    STORY UPDATED: see below

    Skype is now available for the iPhone – and will be coming to BlackBerry in May.

    The VoIP app on the iPhone is intended to only work over Wi-Fi and not 3G. It will allow iPhone subscribers to use phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book – without the need for duplicate lists.

    As always, it allows free calls between Skype users and charges for calls to landlines or mobiles.

    The VoIP app allows iPhone subscribers to use the phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book – without the need for duplicate lists.

    News of the VoIP client coming to the iPhone and Blackberry was first reported by Gigaom ahead of this week’s mobile-centric CTIA conference in Las Vegas.

    The application for the BlackBerry platform will work in a similar fashion to that for the iPhone.

    The iPhone and Blackberry apps are being seen as part of Skype’s efforts to expand beyond its PC stronghold.

    Skype Chief Operating Officer Scott Durchslag said getting the app onto the iPhone was the top request from customers.

    He said there was "pent-up demand" for the service on the Apple handset.

    Skype has already been announced for Nokia and Android phones, as wel as handset operating Windows Mobile.

    The service will also work on later versions of Apple’s latest iPod Touch device, which has Wi-Fi links but no cellular connection.

    While Skype video is very popular with desktop customers, Durchslag said that the company is still considering whether it will offer video for the iPhone or other phones.

    "We’re considering video carefully but we have a really high bar on the quality," and how the user interaction will work with other applications on iPhone, he said. "If we do it we will have to do it incredibly well."

    Some other pieces of functionality are missing.

    While Skype is certain its native client will provide superior audio quality – there is no need to route through another server and transcode audio – the app is missing text messaging, file transfers and integrated voice mail.

    This will undoubtedly help multi-function apps like Fring and NimBuzz maintain a healthy presence on the iPhone, which famously doesn’t allow for multiple programs running concurrently.

    UPDATE: Since being released on Tuesday it has emerged that Skype on iPhone does works over 3G, despite being intended only for use with WiFi.

    Users report it working over the 3G data connection if the beta 3.0 firmware is being run.

    Since VoIP over the 3G cellular is clearly forbidden in the SDK rules, it’s obviously due to a bug on 3.0 that it works.

    This raises the question of how long it will be before Apple closes the hole?

    But also, how did was the app "approved" and certified by for the App Store without first "testing" if Skype would work on the 3G connection?

  • Choice of VoIP iPhone Apps Growing


    The options for VoIP calling on the iPhone are expected to continue expanding with both Skype and Truphone expected to join a growing list of VoIP apps for the Apple handset.

    Truphone already provides an app for the iPhone which enables users to make low-priced international calls via the GSM network even when the smartphone is not connected to the Wi-Fi network.

    But the company announced at the recent Macworld 2009 that callers will soon be able to use Truphone to make and receive Skype calls and instant message.

    Not to be left out, Skype itself announced at CES that it is also developing a native client for the iPhone.

    The subsidiary of eBay said that a version of its Internet calling and instant-messaging software is available for Google’s Android cell phone platform as a free download – and an iPhone Skype program is expected shortly.

    Fring also has an app that you make Skype calls using the iPhone.

    Keep them coming?

  • OnePhone VoIP Client Coming To Blackberry


    Devoteam is to release a Blackberry version of its VoIP client OnePhone that runs on mobile platforms enabling voice calls over an IP network.

    It is expected to be available for the RIM handset in the first quarter of 2009.

    OnePhone is a SIP-based, dual mode GSM-WiFi solution that is able to interwork with public and private WiFi hot spots, and with mobile networks.

    The application, which effectively turns mobile devices into extensions of employees’ desk phones, is also being made ready for Android and the iPhone.

    Christoph Wernli, business development manager at Devoteam, told voip.biz-news that legal requirements meant the application would have to be modified to comply with Apple’s legal requirements for services such as VoIP functionality.

    That aside, he said the aim was to expand beyond the current offering for Symbian and Windows Mobile handset to provide its clients – and in particular operators – with a wider choice of devices on which OnePhone can be used.

    "What we are aiming to do is create this same kind of convergence platform for all operating systems out there," he said.