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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Posted by Roberto
12:00 PM 0 comments

VOIP SYSTEM SALES SURGED 31 PERCENT

As of June, VoIP system sales grew 31 percent year-over-year, while sales of legacy voice systems fell by 20 percent during the same period, according to a research report issued by investment firm Merrill Lynch.

The two fastest-growing VoIP vendors: Cisco Systems and Avaya.
"Avaya and Cisco have consistently gained share in the enterprise telephony market, each with a slightly differing product strategy. Avaya offers a more manageable or slower migration path to IP that does not require the replacement of a company's existing legacy PBX voice system, while Cisco banks on "rip and replace" deals which involve a new IP infrastructure and with new IP telephones," the Merrill Lynch report explains.

As of June, market share for Cisco's pure-play VoIP products grew 15 percent quarter-over-quarter, while market share for Avaya's hybrid VoIP products climbed 14 percent during the same three-month period. VoIP vendors Alcatel, NEC, Nortel and Siemens are "treading water in the market as a result of share loss and lower revenue from legacy systems than is being offset by IP-related revenue," the report states.

It is interesting to notice that broadband providers can, potentially, adjust the priority and reduce the service quality of VoIP calls running on their networks. Also, Verso Technologies (VRSO) just began selling software that can allow broadband providers to prevent their networks' users from making calls via services such as Vonage or Skype. The legality of such filtering is still unclear.

According to research by Internet performance consultancy Keynote, on average, VoIP call quality is worse than cellular. Audio delay (the time between when you speak and the listener can hear you) is often unacceptably long, leading to overlapping conversations. So what's behind poor service quality? VoIP is spreading rapidly, with its user base more than doubling each year. "As these services grow, [the service providers] don't invest enough in their network components," says Jon Arnold, principal at J. Arnold & Associates, a telecom consultancy focusing on IP communications. "Their internal infrastructure isn't keeping up with the growth of subscribers."

A recent survey of seven VoIP providers found that Vonage offered the best call reliability, while AT&T's CallVantage service had the best audio clarity. Other services covered were Lingo, 8X8's (EGHT) Packet8, Verizon's VoiceWing, and Skype.

Monday, November 28, 2005
Posted by Roberto
11:54 AM 0 comments

ELECTRONIC PYJAMAS FOR CYBERSPACE HUGS

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have devised a wireless vibration jacket for pets that can be controlled with a computer and gives the animal the feeling of being touched by its owner. The next step, is a pyjama suit for children, which would use the Internet to adjust changes in pressure and temperature to simulate the feeling of being hugged. Parents on business trips wearing a similar suit could be "hugged" back by their children :)

Source: Monday's edition of The Straits Times
Mixed Reality Lab, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore

Friday, November 25, 2005
Posted by Roberto
4:21 PM 0 comments

OVERHEAD TARGET WITHIN SIGHT

"Whether it happens this week or next, odds are good the much heralded pop through Dow 11,000 will happen. But I suspect that when it does, rather than being the sign of a new bull leg beginning, it will be the sign of the last buyer buying." -- Harry Schiller

Source: RealMoney by TheStreet.com, Don't Believe in Santa Claus, by Harry Schiller

Posted by Roberto
2:30 PM 0 comments

MOBILE MARKET UPDATE

China has about 380 million mobile subscribers currently. By 2010 China will have added another 250 million subscribers, strengthening its position as the single largest mobile market in the world.

Nokia sold 23 million handsets in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in the first nine months of 2005, rising 77 percent from a year-earlier period. Nokia sold 30 percent more phones in the third quarter compared with the year-ago period as a result of booming sales in China and India. That growth came after the introduction of an aggressive pricing strategy where the average selling price (ASP) for Nokia phones slipped to 102 euros, down from 108 euros a year earlier.

Nokia produces one of every three mobile phones sold worldwide.

Nokia
Nokia770

Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Posted by Roberto
4:06 PM 0 comments

THE FIRST UNWIRED NATION

The Ocean island of Mauritius (100 square miles and population of 1.2 million) will later this year become the first country in the world to deploy a complete nationwide high speed wireless network. The wide-area wireless broadband system is a Non Line of Sight (NLOS) WWAN solution and is being installed by ADB Networks, the main Internet Service Provider in Mauritius.