Voip Blog

Subscriptions

• VoIP Lowdown (feed)
• VoIP Now (feed)
• VoIP Watch (feed)

A quick note about the Novatel MiFi devices, both the CDMA version that works on Verizon and the GSM/HSPA version that works here in the USA on AT&T and on any GSM operator's network around the globe.

1. Verizon's network smokes the current edition of AT&T Mobile Broadband in the Bay Area for real time communications. After a day of use of the HSPA version, while it works very well, but I found that it is highly susceptible to the totem pole affect of GSM and great signals and amazing connectivity become simply marginal connectivity, especially if you are in a high traffic area. The Verizon CDMA version is not affected by this totem pole effect.

2. Voice communications-on Verizon the call quality is equal or better to being on a T1 line. On AT&T the call quality varies from good to great to sometime drop outs or packet loss. However I've held conference calls on both networks using Skype and HiDef Conferencing and the calls have gone well. This experience mirrors what iPhone users have experienced as well. I'm looking forward to putting this through its paces next week in the UK on a variety of networks.

3. SSID and Connectivity-I've easily latched my Nokia E71 and made calls using Truphone, as well as my iPod Touch to the MiFis. Talk about saving money. A few month's of calling via the iPod Touch over Truphone (or Skype) will pay for the device and be the gift that keeps on savings. (Note Truphone is an agency client of mine as is Nokia.)

4. Set Up- Simple and easy. I used the web interface.

5. Software-I could not install the software from the HSPA MiFi but did download it from a web site on my NetBook. I have been unsuccessful at installing the Mobilink software from Novatel on my MacBook Pro but suspect it is a version issue as Novatel is habitually behind on Mac centric software and has been that way for years. That said, they do make the best USB Dongles around and the MiFi is no exception.

Bottom line--Buy a MiFi.

A note. The HSPA MiFis are not yet for sale in the USA but you can find them internationally, and unlocked. For a road warrior like me, knowing I have one of these in my bag and a pay as you go data plan means less reliance on hotel broadband when I'm in Europe or the need to only grab a meal where WiFi is available.

A lot of time and words are spent bashing Comcast by many a pundit, but you can't ignore the fact that as a company they clearly have a strategy and a very defined one that says "we want to be you communications company."

In Portland Oregon, a market they serve in competition with iLec Qwest much in the same manner that Cablevision competes mostly with Verizon in the metro New York region, the cable giant is showcasing just why the invested in ClearWire after Sprint proved once again they can innovate but not market Xoom, their mobile WiMax play backed now by a consortium of cable operators and technology players including Google and Motorola, as well as Intel, who always plays the role of the Insider.

Rethink Wireless points out that:

Comcast is offering a 12-month introductory rate. For $50 a month, a subscriber gets 12Mbps home cable broadband and WiMAX, which is only a $7 premium over the cost of cable broadband alone (and includes a free Wi-Fi router). A national 3G add-on is an extra $20 a month and roaming to other Clearwire WiMAX markets is free. After the one-year trial the tariff goes up to $73 a month ($93 with 3G). There will be a $99 charge for a dongle (and other devices to follow in future), though people who commit to a two-year deal get the gadget for free.

To me, the $20 a month national mobile calling plan is a new low in pricing, and while the number of minutes weren't revealed, at the end of the day for $73 a month to have mobile WiMax, voice and cable broadband is a sweet deal. All they're missing is a WiFi roaming deal and this would make the WiMax bundle direction to really consider if you lived in the covered area.

Hat Tip to Doug Mohney for his discovery of Comcast's new International plan, which is another broad shot cross the bow taken at Vonage and Skype by the cable companies.

While not a "free" offer, this is a move by the cable giant is offering another reason to buy their triple play (voice, video and data) and then upsell the customers with more options. In this case $15 dollars buys you an added 300 minutes (six hours) of international calling.

The TechCrunch European Tech Awards nominations are out and the voting is open, and two of my clients plus a company we worked with for a year, Palringo, giving us three are in the running which in hockey terms gives us the Hat Trick!

Shozu and Truphone have hit the list in different categories. Truphone is joined by Palringo in the The Europas: Best Mobile Startup (EMEA) category, while Shozu is listed in the The Europas: Best Mobile Application (EMEA) category.

What's also great to see is that one Truphone's key founders, Alexander Straub was also listed a nominee in the The Europas: Best Investor Personality (EMEA) category. I just had dinner with Alexander and Truphone CEO Geraldine Wilson, along with CFO Coen Van Breda and founder James Tagg. If there was a category for best fund raisers it would be Van Breda and Tagg, who together have raised over $52 million US Dollars for Truphone.

It's also nice to see pal Pat Phelan's company, MaxRoam on the list. We all know Pat as one of the hardest working guys around so its nice to see his company recognized.

I've been trying to come up with a name for the cool, pocket size WiFi hotspot creators that are rapidly coming to market, starting with the Novatel Wirless MiFis (of which I now have both CDMA and GSM version-unlocked to boot).

Then it hit me..the term is POCKETSPOT. I claim first use of the term, even though you will find the term used in photography for a small spotlight to light a very discreet amount of space, I've yet to see the term used in relation to the MiFi like device .

Normally when I'm at San Diego's Lindbergh Field for a flight I'm used to amazingly fast download speeds. Not so today as I was waiting for Virgin America's flight to SFO this morning.

My download speeds were just pitiful, indicating either the network is overloaded or they airport is rate limiting the users. If it's the former, this means that there provider Time Warner Telecom may want to think about working to boost the fiber connection here, as this is really a showcase for their data and telecom broadband they sell to the enterprise and SMB marketplace, head to head against Cox Communications, AT&T and former brother in arms Time Warner Cable.

Also, with 3G dongles and MiFi devices from local Novatel Wireless here in San Diego and some other neat and nifty Qualcomm chipset devices about to hit the shores one has to recognize that untethered broadband is really growing by leaps and bounds. When you start seeing deals like these, where the MiFi is free in return for a contract, you have to expect AT&T, Sprint and even T-Mobile to all begin to offer similar plans with MiFi's and Cradlepoints and other pocketspots that come on board from ZTE, Huawai and additional manufacturers.

One good thing though. I was able to latch on immediately with my Nokia E71 and makes calls via client Truphone as well as update some apps on my new Apple iPhone GS. Favorite app so far is voice control. I can't wait to see it it works with my car's Bluetooth system.

It looks like Cisco is pulling out all the stops to make people in general more aware of their push for Telepresence, aka, video conferencing for the big corporate set. They have just launched a contest for>everyone to tell them they want "Telepresence."

I have to wonder if they have heard of Skype? With Skype or even Logitech's SightSpeed, the concepts behind Telepresence exist today. With Skype currently working on multi-party video calling (or so I hear) there is in my mind a great deal of alignment there that should be explored.

Since Cisco is one of the few companies that could snap up Skype without blinking an eye, it has to be on someone's mind there to consider.

Rafe Blandford, of All About Symbian, is someone I've gotten to know as a result of the Nokia Blogger Relations efforts over the past few years. He's someone whose perspective on what is happening on Nokia Symbian based devices combines the understanding of a user, with the insight of an analyst and the why it does what it does perspective of a programmer/engineer.

Yesterday Rafe posted what I am calling the seminal post about Truphone's expanded array of Nokia handset deployment options, in one concise and extremely well written post.

In a note to Rafe I said, "the post most accurately depicts the choices and options that the user now has, artfully explained the whys and how comes related to both the opportunities and challenges the developer now has before them with the Series 60 platform and its evolution, all while giving the reader a reason to want to use Truphone."

Give Rafe a read, especially if you use and are interested in the Nokia Symbian platform, as few are in his league when it comes to really "getting it" and then telling it from all perspectives.

In what should NOT be considered "Free" WiFi, Meraki, the makers of a lightweight mesh networking platform, have sponsored the deployment of WiFi inside San Francisco's City Hall, reports MuniWireless.com

To me there is a huge difference between "free" and "sponsored" even if the general public perceives it to be "free." The rationales are quite simple as the sponsored model in this case is the same as a park's beautification being underwritten by a benefactor. If the benefactor says no more, the ongoing beautification of the park stops until a new one can be found.

In the case of San Francisco, the city won't be subsidizing the WiFi anytime soon, so Meraki stepped in and in a very self serving (in a good way) developed a plan to bring greater attention to the merits and benefits of WiFi.

Well done by all, and hat tip to Esme Vos for drawing attention to this.

Trendstream, a research group that focuses on global web trends has issued a report that was picked up by the folks at the BIG FAT MARKETING BLOG, that shows the emergence of online video as more than just YOUTUBE and HULU.

Basically this is exciting news for companies like BrightCove, Sorenson Media, ShoZu, Livestream (both clients) and Livestream’s mobile partner, QIK, as well as many others, as it shows some very compelling trends are beginning to emerge.

For starters, the big networks do not own the space, evidence that recasting of traditional content is not the only programming the web connected is interested in.  Another interesting statistic is that good old standby, e-mail, is the chosen way to share links versus the flavor of the year, Twitter or other forms of social expression online.

For now, music sites remain the dominant type of site visited, but I think as content owners, event producers and broadcast properties begin to realize that new and original, made for the computer and mobile phone type content is what’s wanted, that more and more we’ll start seeing new programming emerge, with fans and fan favorites.

Personally, I’m thrilled to see these types of stats emerge as it shows that webcasting, something I’ve been supporting for over ten years is finally having its moment of emergence.

In what may be a controversial post with some pundits, Lee Dryburgh has gone out on a limb, picking up on a Phil Wolff meme to describe his passionate viewpoints and perspectives about what's up with Skype in the future. Phil in turn captured Lee's views and put them up on SkypeJournal.

Dryburgh (whose event, Ecomm is a client) clearly is coming at this from a "I've been inside" perspective and is sharing a lot of ideas and heart felt viewpoints on a company which I think is about to find its feet.

Ever since Skype was bought by eBay, the company has had a steady stream of eBay types telling it what to do. One more management change at the top is likely, post IPO or sell off, to remove the entire eBay like culture that has kept Skype from chasing its own destiny, so while the current man at the top is far better than what was there before, there's still the eBay hand on his shoulder, clouding everyone's perspective of him. That and the pesky JoltID suit which on face has to make one question the concept of "due diligence" being exercised to the finest levels prior to the eBay purchase of Skype.

Anyway, without digressing, give the post a read and recognize that a lot of Lee's thoughts are coming from someone very much inside the industry, but from a perspective of someone who has actually made things work.

He may no longer be a daily blogger, as he does have to think seriously on how to keep food on the table and a roof over his family's heads, but from a perspective of insight, understanding and reality, there are few in the telco blogging fraternity (aka "The Cabal") who are as switched on as James Enck.

Back in the days of my sports era, one of the most colorful people in The Spectrum was "Joe, the Beerman." Joe would walk the aisles of the arena shouting, "beer, beer, get your cold beer here." He also led cheers in the stands, walked around with signs, and became a bit of a cult hero in the stands. Joe basically knew the faster he could sell beer, the colder it would be for the folks in the stands and the more money he'd make per night in tips.

Well, when it comes to Google Voice, I feel a bit like Joe. Part cheerleader (full disclosure I was a shareholder in GrandCentral and my agency did a lot to help with its awareness then) but also someone who has to let you know how to obtain your own GoogleVoice number. I'm doing this because not a week goes by where some reader or friend asks "can you help me get a Google Voice number? And as much as I'd like to help there's an easier way.

Google has posted a sign up page. Simply go to that link and you can apply.

My guess is, in typical Google fashion, instead of awarding all million numbers, they will assign a portion of those and then give each user the ability to invite more users. But, that's only a guess.

Chris Albrecht over at NewTeeVee has penned a piece on the plans of the cable giants to start to charge for online video. In a nutshell, they want to treat online video as premium channel like HBO, which means you pay more per month.

This is not a surprise to me at all, as back in April I aired my viewpoint on where the cable guys are going.

Wow..Just after I've been in three Orange powered nations (UK, France and Spain) out they come with a travel data offered geared for multinationals.

While no pricing details were disclosed, the concept tells me that today it's a corporate plan only, but I would expect that in a year or so, their Internet Everywhere plan, that includes a pre-paid option, will be coming to life too with a similar trans-border flavor.

I'm a fan of the Novatel Wireless MiFi, but now are even more excited about the possibilities, as the GSM version is now available.

This video shows just what it can do.

With an unlocked one of these and prepaid data, you can wander the world and stay connected.

According to Network World, the service previously known as GrandCentral is about to sprout wings, with reportedly 1 million numbers being reserved for use by the recently minted GoogleVoice platform.

The timing could be welcome news for many CallVantage customers of AT&T as they're all going to be losing their service, which has as one of its core features, Find Me/Follow Me that allows single number calling with multiple phone numbers as destinations and a wonderful, and perhaps even fuller featured Do Not Disturb mode, that makes even Google Voice binary style (on or off) Do Not Disturb setting seem antiquated. With CallVantage you can schedule a recurring Do Not Disturb time (like when you're sleeping) and have only emergency calls "barge through." With the free Google Voice service you can simply set it, and turn DND off, manually, and not have any recurring settings.

Still, as a user (and former agency and investor) GoogleVoice is my call management app of choice. Beyond the no cost feature, as someone who is on the road and always changing devices and phone numbers, the application has made it simple for family and friends to not have to wonder, "what phone is he using today and what number reaches him."

With the reported Local Number Portability feature also being added, with Google Voice, the Big G may have found their first "sticky" service for voice they have been looking for that has the same magic as Picasa with photos.

Client Truphone's CEO Geraldine Wilson demonstrates the wide array of Truphone services, including the Apple iPod Touch, for Sky News.

The interview is running at the right time, as Truphpone has just updated both of their iPod and iPhone applications to be 3.0 ready.

Unlike McDonalds in the USA, McDonalds in France offers FREE WiFi.

They also offer better food. Fresher tasting, more garlicky fries and people who even speak English. Yes, the young person behind the counter spoke English as well as any American. That's saying something. At the McDonalds in the USA they have a hard time understanding Philadelphian or even San Diegan.

But back to the WiFi. Easy log on. Dual language navigation, offered in both French and English and a very quick and snappy logon process. Just agree to the terms and conditions and your on.

Then again, the French parking payment machines make the Sacramento Amytrak Station Parking Payment system look like something draconian. Get your ticket on the way in. Insert on the way out. Put in your credit card. Leave. And, you don't even have to read French to follow the instructions.

Bottom line, I'm still finding that while Europe tends to lag behind in when a technology is deployed, they catch up fast and quickly surpass the USA in deployment, ease of use and making something affordable.

P.S. Orange's Internet Everywhere rocks. Rapid connection. Pay as you go. Now if I can only find something like it in Spain where I'll be for the next five days, at Mobile 2.0 and then celebrating what will be the third birthday of the week with a dear friend in Madrid.

If you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, either hard copy or online, today's edition has Walt Mossberg's review of the new Apple iPhone and OS 3.0.

Apple always provides Walt an advance version of the phone, and his review tends to help set the stage for many things. Of what he didn't like on the new version, two-MMS and Tethering lack of availability in the USA have to be discounted because AT&T is limiting the availability until their network upgrades are farther along. That's no big deal for me. I use a Verizon MiFi card and my iPod Touch and get all the functions, plus better 3G connectivity for apps including those that are VoIP based, like Skype and client Truphone.

Walt's testing though methodology seemed to be as always rigorous. He likely pushed all things aside he had planned to get this review done for today, as Apple pretty much dropped a bomb last week at the World Wide Developer's Conference, surprising many with the earlier than expected availability of OS 3.0. My wonderment though is something he can't test for yet, which is how the newer version of the Apple OS will perform on a real 3G network.

Like Walt and all USA iPhone users, we're all used to the anemic AT&T network, which even the carrier admits is overloaded. Yesterday, using the prior version of the iPhone and it's last version of the OS I was on a train to Barcelona, and was using the Maps application. I never saw the maps application, or any other application run as fast as I did on the Movistar network from Telefonica. It was like watching a scene on CSI Miami or NCIS where they use these surface computing platform and move images and data around. In faster than a blink of an eye, the maps were updating as we rolled through the hillsides of Spain at close to 90 miles an hour or so.

Another key point Walt brings out in his review is Apple's WiFi authentication capability becoming native to remember credentials for as he describes "commercial" hotspots. This has to be viewed as great news for the many carriers and aggregators/operators of hotspot networks, such as the likes of Orange, SFR, Neuf, Kubi, Telefonica, Vodafone, BT, T-Mobile and client Boingo, as it means they can spend more time on technology efforts, designing in application functionality, and put additional emphasis at the network layer, and less time crafting the application's insides related to authorization and authentication. This will enable them all to go beyond the current levels of User Interface design and User Experience and spur all kinds of new experiences for their customers.

On the other hand, for all of the parasite type applications like Devicescape and EasyWiFi (which is from Devicescape) it will unfortunately minimize their value for people who only use one device and one service provider.

UPDATE--> WiFi Net News' Glenn Fleishman has more on this in Macworld.com.

What Walt didn't explain here is if Apple is likely taking that same technology and tacitly building it into the Mac or vice versa, if what we're really seeing is the Apple Keychain technology being dramatically expanded to have greater purpose on devices beyond the Mac itself starting with the iPhone, as we have seen with iTunes and Safari. I *SUSPECT* that Apple is further pushing out KeyChain and the WiFi log on capability as well as the lost phone/find the phone/wipe the data/ as just the tip of the iceberg of what we will see in this area of security and authentication on BOTH Mac and iPhone platforms. To me, Apple is continuing to converge the two, with MobileMe being the core transport/sync tool. That functionality, while still in it's infant stages, really is taking aim at RIM's Blackberry Enterprise Server capability, and likely a nuance that unless one uses a Blackberry or thinks like an Director of IT, would be missed.

Those functions mean that where Apple (and their carrier partners) will be going with 3.0 is not so much after the early adoptive consumer, but after the decide later IT Enterprise buyer, which represents a major market segment dominated by HP and RIM in the USA, and which globally really remains up for grabs.

Mossberg's review is worth the read, but I'll really be interested in how and if he reviews this version of the iPhone in four to five months as more of the AT&T network gets built out. Given that other reviews from more advance network countries will start to hit shortly after the new iPhone's hit other shores, I expect Walt's review will be the baseline to compare to, so we know how much we're missing in the USA and how much everyone else has been gifted by Apple.

Update--> The New York Times' David Pogue also has a very good review of the iPhone.

Truphone's Director of Consumer Apps, Karl Good (left) and MaxRoam's Mr. Everywhere, Pat Phelan share a chat at Mobile 2.0's Developer Day in Barcelona.

All the time I hear from companies about how much money will be saved using VoIP. But no one ever includes the cost of the T1 line or business grade DSL or Cable modem service.

To SpeakEasy I say.."Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!" Start with transparent pricing. For a small business let everyone know what they really need and then provide the cost benefit analysis, instead of getting companies all excited and then not have them know they really don't have enough bandwidth to support the VoIP!

Techcrunch is reporting that GoogleVoice is rolling out out Local Number Portability. That means you can transfer your phone number to Google and they'll be your carrier of record. The story also points out that the next generation of the software for mobile phones (currently Google Voice apps work on iPhones and Androids, and you can manage the service via a mobile version of the web site.)

FWIW...I'm already using the service the way Mike Arrington has described it but I'm not in the reported test group.

Changing SIMS and phones on whims and needs. For example, right now I'm in the middle of a three week, three country business trip that takes me to the UK, France and Spain. All the time I have GoogleVoice pointing to both Skype and Truphone. When I'm online with either my MacBook Air or my Asus Seashell 1008HA I answer calls on Skype just as I could be using Gizmo5 as easily as GoogleVoice and Gizmo peer.

But the real secret to my "staying connected" is how client Truphone overcomes the biggest limitation GoogleVoice has. I can forward my USA based Truphone number to any mobile number once I insert the SIM card. So, as I go from country to country, I simply switch SIMs and Truphone automatically updates to the new mobile number in whichever country I'm in.

The one, two punch combination is easy to use and really cuts down on calling costs. What's more I've even added local numbers in each country which I use as dedicated dial in numbers and can return calls from voice mail messages with simply one touch of a button, meaning my local call is all I'm paying for, while Google Voice does the rest.

Longtime business DSL and VoIP operator Speakeasy, now owned by BestBuy, has identified what they call the Five Myths of VoIP that prevent business from making the switch to VoIP:

1. It’s not really going to save much money- saves up to 45% over traditional services in some cases, not to mention costs of switching employee phone lines, which increase the average phone bill by about 30%.

2. It’s too much of a hassle to set up and manage – Hosted VoIP is as simple as setting up Internet service, and Integrated VoIP can plug right into existing equipment for those locked in a lease.

3. Call clarity is inferior to traditional phone quality – VoIP providers can optimize Internet bandwidth to ensure voice quality.

4. The technology is still too new – VoIP has been around since the mid 90s, and is trusted by millions of companies as their preferred source of communication.

5. VoIP is just a large business solution and is not necessary for small businesses – small businesses can achieve big business telecom functionality at a fraction of the cost with VoIP.

The more and more I look at Cablevision, the New York area cable company, the more I always sense that of all the major cable operators in the USA, they know their customers best.

Their move with WiFi, a successful deployment of true, metro wide WiFi that covers most of their footprint, is working judging by the stats.

The logic behind this is too simple. Keep your customers on your network more and more and you pay everyone else less. My question is simply this.

Why haven't other cable operators figured this out?

An interesting article out o Japan questions if FaceBook really even needs VoIP.

My view is it does, but it's really from the perspective of being a call trigger point, not a voice hosting platform. Services like Calliflower live well inside the Facebook world for group communications, but as far as building a calling service off of FaceBook, there won't be any real money to be made for a long, long time.

The company behind PBXes, i-p-tel of Germany has developed and released a VoIP client for the Google Android, called SipDroid. It takes advantage of the WiFi stack and the recently made available API.

I have not tested it yet.

An all organic white from the Loire Valley made of 100% Chenin Blanc.

I'd be remiss if I didn't draw attention to the story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal Online entitled One Home For Your Voice Mail.

The story led off with Google Voice, aka the service formerly knows as GrandCentral started by former clients and very good friends Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, which remains in a very tightly controlled Google Beta. It also included GotVoice, You Mail and PhoneTag, another company run by a good friend, James Siminoff, which many may know of as Simulscribe as well as UK export, Spinvox.

The key to these services is less clutter and less diffusion with regard to your voice mail, but of the services only Google Voice goes beyond taking and transcribing the message, in really making the attempt to eliminate voice mail all together. The service tries to find you first if you want to be found.

How well does it work? Take this real world example.

I'm in London. Someone calls my USA 858 area code number or my UK number. Both point/are forwarded to Google Voice. One of my destination settings is my USA Truphone number (a 415 area code number). Google Voice routes the call to Truphone which when I'm not on WiFi forwards the call to whichever SIM happens to be inside my Nokia E71 at the time, wherever in the world I may be. Net net, I paid nothing for that international transport of the call.

To be transparent, Google Voice/GrandCentral + Truphone. Both are currently or have been agency clients, and both solve the problem of staying in touch and easily being connected.

Let's face it. Before Apple released the iPhone mobile data was a "nice to have."

Apple made it a necessity.

Before the iPhone, those of us who were using other devices, mostly Nokia or Windows Mobile handsets pretty much had free reign on the networks and the network data folks were pretty much the castoffs, fighting the voice folks who run the mobile companies for as much bandwidth as they could get their hands on.

Now, thanks largely to the iPhone, and in some places, the Google Android, and in other markets, the INQ phones on 3 (like in the UK) mobile data being consumed on handsets (as well as on USB dongles) is increasing. And in those places, we're hearing more and more stories of the networks choking.

I thought the iPhone problems in the USA on both coasts were bad, where the apps just wait and wait, harking back to an era of dial up on AOL, but here in London its even worse, as the O2 network is pretty much slammed by iPhone users. On Sunday I think the train arrived faster than the app that tells me how to get around London would load the data set from the servers, and we all know that in the UK, the trains don't always run on time.

The point I'm making is that our "mobile data" networks are being crushed, and each day as more data ready handsets are being sold, the load factor is increasing, faster than the mobile operators can increase both access and network capacity. For a company like AT&T which has so many "networks" to contend with, this is a near critical matter that will only get resolved when the architect one total network that shares the resources they have in the ground and in the sky vs. the patchwork they currently have going.

For users, we'll enjoy what we have, but bitch and complain at the same time. Simply because we don't have any real options just yet. With LTE a few years away, we'll just have to expect more and more traffic james on the information superhighway.

As someone who has been carrying a so called SmartPhone for as long as I can remember (I had Windows Mobile devices from Siemens and HTC since they launched years back) and even a Blackberry or Palm device, I'm not at all surprised at how the New York Times has now labeled the Personal Information Manager based devices a "necessity."

But the Smartphones have gone well past being just a PIM, as they have taken on the life of a being a computer in your pocket, running apps that make you more efficient, are more helpful or just more entertaining.

When you add in a solid VoIP client to the mix, the Smartphone also becomes a money saving and more capable device, almost paying for itself too.

My smartphone of choice? The Nokia E71. Hands down the most attractive, and most useful one I have. For me, while the newer and shinier Nokia E75 has a smaller form factor, the E71 is clearly the only device I have that really rivals the Blackberry as the ultimate Smartphone....for a person on the go.

Yes, Nokia is an agency client to be totally transparent.

Give it to pals Peter Csathy and Eric Quanstrom to pick the right time to bring out new technology that solves one of the iPhone's biggest shortcomings. Video.

Sure you can play YouTube videos using a special Apple approved You Tube app, or watch iTunes videos, but producers of content were pretty much locked out of their most lucrative market, the Apple iPhone market, until now.

Read Peter's post and see how enthusiastic he is about the newest technology wrapped into Sorenson Media's 360 platform which is "enabling users to easily encode video content in the iPhone-compatible H.264 format and deliver that content using the iPhone's native video player."

This is a big market opportunity and was clearly needed and wanted by many video content publishers.

My take is this new approach from Sorenson will transform video content delivery. Since they also set up their own Video Distribution Network they have taken a direct frontal assault on BrightCove, by combining both essential producer/creator tools, a network and now the largest number of screens that can deliver pristine video on the planet, already in the palm of someone's hands.

Client Global IP Solutions, which pretty much wrote the book on voice compression in the IP comms arena, landed Korea Telecom, now called KT, to provide the key piece of technology that will make the new Smartphone based on Windows Mobile sound good.

P.S. To keep track of GIPS's viewpoints on the emerging communications industry, especially what's happening in HD voice and video, you may want to follow their blog as well that is written by a cross section of their executives and even some guest bloggers.

While faxing may be so 20th century, there are still many people and businesses using the technology to send documents back and forth that require signatures, or proof of transmission.

But using fax machines over VoIP has always been a challenge, until now.

FaxBack has perfected it to work with Microsoft Fax.

Move over Smartphone, a new sheriff is in town, and it's called the Superphone. At least thats the moniker being plastered about via GigaOm's founder Om Malik, who in an comprehensive overview is describing just what is going on in the smartphone/superphone market.

The comment which caught my eye is his closing comment about M&A activities where Om opined about a New York Times comment that:

If nothing else, the SuperPhones has created a demand for mobile apps, The New York Times says. Increased M&A of these mobile apps is up next, the Times says.

Here's one that slipped by last week in what was a whirlwind week for me, culminating in a trip to the UK on Friday.

Back on June 1 Broadsoft and Counterpath released a customize version of Bria, an app I use on my Netbooks regularly.

While Broadsoft is touting this, I say this is a bigger win for Counterpath as this makes the second major telephony platform to really embrace Counterpath, with the first one being Cisco, whom the company has had for a few years.

Dean Bubley, a pseudo regular dining companion, from time to time in London (and elsewhere) has two insightful posts about Mobile broadband.

The first, and most recent, is a random musing on the subject, while the second takes apart some stats about the subject released by the GSMA.

Personally as the owner and user of various cards in multiple countries, I can’t live without my Broadband to Go!

Skype had a very interesting advert on the Virgin Atlantic flight I was on from Los Angeles to London Friday night.

It was about Skype Video. What was really cool though was it immediately followed a Virgin Broadband commercial, extolling the virtues of higher speed connectivity.

It was a short, 15 second or so spot, but it told me everything I wanted to know where Skype is really headed. VIDEO.

Pal Rich Teharani may be the only guy I know on the road more than me, and he’s come to a point where I did about 9 months ago. He misses blogging, when travel and meetings get in the way. But, hey, isn’t that what pays the bills?

Basically, with things like mobile data cards (I’m using one from 3 here in the UK) and in flight WiFi on airlines like Virgin and American Airlines, plus access to hotspots using client Boingo on more than just a laptop (have you checked out Boingo Mobile on the iPhone or a Nokia Symbian based WiFi device like the N95 or E71 yet) you’ll find that time to blog is somewhat easier, but that you also likely use it to catch up on email and your reading.

The problem with blogging when you’re in meetings is also difficult, as you’re supposed to be paying attention to what’s going on in the meeting, not being a distracted multi-tasker. What’s more sometime you just don’t have the time when flight delays, as Rich points out, hit you where it counts. In the time crunch box.

Alec Saunders asks if HD Voice can help reinvent VoIP or light another fire. I say yes, and all you need to do is talk to clients HiDefConferencing or GIPS, as both are experts in the art of delivering voice in HD. HiDef Conferencing is in the business of delivering the best high quality audio in the conferencing business, as conference calls over their SIP based service always are more alive and more colorful.

GIPS is in the business of developing the best audio and video codecs for real time communication. Instead of all the so called experts and pundits weighing on why HD is the future, my vote is to ask those who pioneered the concept, and had the vision and fortitude to make it work.

Wine by the tap is bulk wine so I'll pass and go for a beer at the pub in East Dulwich.

After another easy flight over on Virgin Atlantic, I cleared Immigration using the IRIS scanning system in all of 30 seconds. Then I walked to the Heathrow Express, used a digital ticket that was pre-paid for before I left the States (all I needed was the number) and then jumped on the Internet using T-Mobile's Hotspot on the Express.

Whilst on the train I checked email, replied to few on the Mac Book Air, pulled out the new Asus 1008 HA Netbook, installed the 3 Connect software for my USB data card, updated the software, then got to Paddington Station. Once there I walked to a waiting cab, called the west coast, using Truphone Anywhere on my Nokia E71, letting my wife know I was in London safe and sound.

Once in my hotel, I then made the room totally wireless, using my Asus travel router, charged up my SKypePhone 2 (which now no longer needs topping up as often or even activating a data plan to make Skype calls.)

Oh, and yes, I made my lunch and dinner reservations on line. Used the Getting Around London feature to figure out where to take the Tube to get somewhere vs. a cab, and even found time for a coffee. (Sorry, no photo)

Just a few weeks after the HD Voice conference organized by pal Jeff Pulver, comes news from New York area cable operator Cablevision that they are rolling out an HD Voice platform for business on their Optimum Lightpath platform that is built for business.

While other operators like client Junction Networks' OnSip platform already offers HD capability as well, and its likely any pure SIP provider can offer this with the right endpoints, Cablevision's foray into the HD Voice market, coupled with a rollout of Docsis 3.0 means that business in the New York area have a reason to think about something other than Verizon on a serious level.

This makes me think that Verizon, with an aggressive plan to push FIOS to its limits, likely will roll out an HD Voice platform too.

This is counter to AT&T's efforts with UVerse, which the analyst community is saying is slowing down the rollout.

It looks like we're going to see the concept of paying for access to the Internet for some apps that cut into the revenue of the service providers.

Today, MoCoNews is reporting in the Washington Post that T-Mobile Germany is going to charge 9.95 Euros to allow VoIP services to be accessed by their customers.

I'm not at all surprised. I have been expecting this and what Director of Strategy for BT Design, Martin Geddes, refers to as "sending party pays" to rise over time as the ISP's begin to recognize that they need some mechanism to recover lost revenue that is now going to 3rd parties.

But this is not all bad news from where i look at it. What the pricing model does is now set the bar for what operators of Voice services know they may have to factor in if they want to buy that access for their customers. I would contend that the smart operator, who can secure the "approved" status will likely be able to negotiate a better rate en masse, than the individual customers will be able to.

This also means, ala the baggage charge that airlines are now tossing around, and how that implies your bag has to arrive with you because you paid for it to travel with you, that the ISP has to insure a certain level of service quality, because their contention is that to use these services requires upkeep of the network. Their customers are not paying for future upgrades, their paying for access today to the network and they want to make VoIP calls.

My prediction is we will start seeing two kinds of pricing:

A La Carte or All you can eat, with the All you can eat being higher than today's rates, but offering more of more services included.

Last week TwitrCon was in SF was viewed as a hit, more because of the people in the room, than what was necessarily said on stage.

Upcoming in this month is Jeff Pulver's 140 Conference is happening on June 16 & 17 in New York City and it's lining up to be something special. The cast of characters Jeff has lined up for the conference is an eclectic blend of people from all facets of social and traditional communications.

Sadly, my travel schedule with clients has me out of the country, or I would be in New York, both to support Jeff and to stay current on the whole 140 character craze.

Fierce Wireless brought to light a new AT&T bundle plan aimed at small business. In essence it's a one bill play combining wireless, wired and high speed Internet services, all starting at less than $100 a month.

This is a way to simplify billing, and to get more of each customers business across their different operating units.

My take is that you will likely see AT&T move in the direction of one network that covers all their offerings and that one network will first look seamless to users before it really is, but over time there will be just one IP infrastructure, including mobile, where the fiber is all internetworked.

Cisco will have to be smiling on the news of one bill, as this is a clear tell to me, that AT&T is heading that way.

Not content with just mobile phones and Netbooks (from Acer), the know it all technology and gadget guys at Radio Shack just added OOMA.

Now the question is, how many per store will get sold and how thin has the distribution of the boxes? I ask that because even the very hot MIFI that Verizon is selling is being shipped at the rate of 2 per store or less according to store managers here in San Diego.

Don't be mislead by a press release. These things take time to build and it won't be until you start seeing ad support of OOMA in the Radio Shack circulars and email blasts that you really know there's any traction behind it.

Stacy @ GIGAOM has been keeping a watchful eye on the meandering ways of Time Warner Cable and their new user agreement. Basically she points out the flaws in it, giving it a well deserved thumbs down.

Here's who should be upset:

Vonage

Skype

Gizmo5

and just about all the VoIP operators.

Add in:

UStream

Justin.TV

Livestream.com

YouTube

Vimeo

Also:

SightSpeed (Logitech)

ooVoo

Yahoo

Microsoft

Oh..yes, just about anyone in the business of real time and fat pipe communications. I guess that includes Google too with Wave, GoogleTalk and more.

Why should they be upset? Because we're seeing the cable TV model applied to broadband communications, something I wrote back on April 14 of this year as a follow up to Stacy's post then.

I'll admit, I'm a gadget guy, and the kind of person who just has to have the latest and greatest, then push the limits of it to the nth degree immediately upon purchase. I did that once with my Nissan 300zx back in 1995 when I bought my Z, getting to the 350 mile mark in one weekend, then taking it to the wide open highways near Banning and Palm Desert and letting the engine and turbo chargers do their thing.

Yesterday I went to the Verizon Wireless store and bought one of the new Novatel Wireless' MiFi mobile hotspot in your pocket devices that delivers broadband everywhere you go. Before I even left the store (and after a fast installation and activation, as well as update to Verizon's new Broadband Access 7.0 software on my Asus EEE PC 1008HA) I was up and running and making phone calls. That's right. I did a fast test right inside the Verizon Wireless store and used a T-Mobile UMA based Blackberry Curve to call first my Google Voice account, then to call a friend. Both calls sounded great.

Since Helene's flight to San Diego was delayed by heavy fog and overcast skies, I used the extra time to try out the device as I sat in the Cell Phone waiting lot by Lindbergh Field and made a few more calls. Before trying any of the calls I disabled the mobile network connectivity to T-Mobile, latched on to the hotspot and saw the WiFi and UMA indicators light up. Calls. Email, IM's and even Blackberry messenger all worked fine.

Once I got home I made a few Truphone and Skype calls using my Apple iPhone and iPod touch. All worked but had variable results, making me think that location and where you are in relation to the cell tower, how much traffic is going on at that time on the data network will have impact. One call was great, the next choppy. Still though, for $59.99 having an alternative way to call with an iPod Touch and Truphone's unlimited calling as a way to listen in on Conference Calls or via Skype to do the same and be on the beach without a cell phone is a pretty neat trick.

I'll be putting the MiFi through it's paces today with my Nokia E71 and will update my first day's experience then, but for now this is an amazing device to have if you need to share Internet access with up to 5 people. It runs on battery power, can be recharged via USB from a PC and easily fits in your pocket. Sprint is also releasing a similar unit this week.

Let me start off by saying that in flight WiFi can't be beat, but lousy customer service for a new product can kill it off.

This past Wednesday I boarded Virgin America flight 404 from LAX for JFK and after we crossed the 10,000 foot mark on our ascent out of Los Angeles opened up my Mac Book Air and joined the GoGo set. I was offered a code granting me free access and it was smooth sailing. Then after a few hours of flying, all of a sudden, without warning, the ability to browse just stopped. Sure I could still Twitter, use my blog posting software and even chat, but the ability to browse just stopped.

The very professional and helpful flight attendants went to the pilot, and the system was reset (it takes 15 minutes to do this) and we were back on the air, in the air. But this came at a price. I had to pay $12.95 this time. Ok, so the free ride was over. No big deal. I'd gladly pay that for the convenience factor alone. But then the fun began. No less than twice on the remaining time in the air, about three hours, did the offline situation reappear.

GoGo's Twitterer told me "We were making some changes to Gogo portal – it was free for a portion of the day which expired at approximately 11:30 am" which is fine. But to pay and have repeated interruptions just won't fly in my book. I've asked for a refund for even if I did have two thirds of the trip with connectivity, I don't think it's fair to be charged and not get full service.

I'll update this post later today, once I hear back from GoGo

UPDATE-> GOGINFLIGHT.COM came through with a credit, that was good for my next flight...THIS ONE. I'm up and online and WiFi connected.

Way to go GOGO!!

I'm representing Vringo, one of the companies whose advisory boards I sit on next week at what is shaping up to be a very talent filled conference in Los Angeles.

Dubbed, the Israel Conference, it is all about bringing the companies and technologies whom are both known and under the radar, which are looking to bring their stories to the public, gain awareness, foster relationships and more.

Given the success of so many Israeli startups in the past, such as ICQ, this event is ideal for those looking to hear first about what's new and rising, should make their way to Beverly Hills for the conference.

The speaker line up is impressive and the format is promising to be fast paced. If you find yourself in Los Angeles on June 4th, it clearly is worth attending.