VON Mission Impossible

January 21st, 2009

I have not paid much attention to whatever is going on with VON after Jeff Pulver separated ways. There was always some understandable tension with institutional participants (bill-paying power) and revolutionaries. Now I see the revolution is over at VON. There is more evidence of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic than any embrace of what the IP revolution is about where it meets telephony . I clicked on an email link to an article pretending that so-called pure play VoIP is no threat to carriers. I was forced to click to see what this could possibly be about.

Apparently MagicJack, Skype, et. al. have not much to do with real people talking to each other. Every argument has some position that makes it rational, but you have to stretch a bit to find such position that is not crumbling under foot. I choked when I read the analyst quote, “What [the pure plays] offer is not a replacement for full residential phone service.” I wonder who pays for that kind of analysis? OK, I don’t really.

Now I am a customer so one might call me a hypocrite. I have AT&T U-verse, mostly to dump Comcast cable. It is my vote for the future. I do get to keep my legacy phone number as part of the bundle and I am forced to have unlimited national calling. If you like a good laugh you can look up my listed legacy number and call. I won’t answer. That is really a great product. One I really do not need.

So-called full residential service is a dinosaur, a buggy whip. How can I say this? I think I blogged about this recently even. We are not living in an interrupt based telephone call culture. Has anyone at phone carriers noticed this? Anyone know how many calls end in conversation? Anyone see the trend over the last X years? For years the carriers did well with widows’ investments. Maybe they can still eek out some phone traffic from the same widows. The only thing AT&T can be “proud of” is that I appear to be paying for my legacy phone. IF they gave me some option to only send voice mail to an online account, that would be just fine, and not for long. Almost no one calls me or anyone on my 30 year old legacy phone number. Hello?– this is not value. It is not a good product. It is an accident of history. Keep rearranging those deck chairs, but I think you will notice your feet getting wet.

Posted in NextGen Telephony, Skype, Tech Life, Telephony, VoIP | 3,693 Comments »

Random Sightings at CES – My Last Word

January 19th, 2009

The internet radio market now has numerous entrants. I stopped at the Myine Electronics booth to see a useful entry level variation. I like that they have created a versatile but low cost radio that works without any PC interaction. They displayed another variation that was entered into the last gadget standing competition. The Abbee product mines FM radio and reduces songs to MP3 format while removing ads and DJ talk. DRM has been messing with users long enough. It is time to respect fair use and get on with the future of digital media.

While I confess to not following mobile innovations too closely I did talk to the representatives for Peek who have a text-only device with unlimited mobile email and text messaging. Seemingly a bit off the mainstream, the rationale is that for $20/month unlimited text and email has a very strong appeal. I can’t argue with the premise, but I could not readily identify the target market. Also in crossing the North Hall (one place I did not cover completely, saving myself from every megawatt booming car audio system) I discovered StepLabs with some impressive hands-free mobile phone audio solutions. They have a great implementation of DSP technology in a visor mounted mic that blocks out audio not coming from the driver. It was also good to see Voiceonthego.com who offer email by voice to mobile users.

I have been aware of the value of bone conduction for hearing, but never experienced it personally. AudioBone offered demo units to appreciate the technology. Since it enables hearing below the ear drum, it has great value for the hearing impaired. They were promoting bone conduction headsets for outdoor activities such as bike riding. It also is remarkable in underwater uses. The virtue for bike riders is that your ears are open for hearing your environment. All those virtues aside I found the volume with modest amplification was quite low. Only in covering my ears did the audio seem of adequate volume, which undermines a main virtue.

Casio drafted the UNLV Cheer Leaders to present a fast moving show for visitors to experiment with their new cameras with burst mode feature that allows up to 60 frames per second. This will certainly allow you to find the photo that you wanted for that action shot. More interesting was a brand new feature they call Dynamic Photo. There were only prototypes and pricing is not announced. Better than a blue screen in some ways, you can use this feature to insert action into alternative scenes. A photo they were showing, for example, showed your little leaguer batting in a major league stadium. It is a clever Photoshop feature in your camera. Point and shoot seems so yesterday.

A trend that seemed more real than prior renditions was the movement toward every variation of file backup. I think that so many users have seen the risks up close, the market may be ready. With the numerous alternatives available there must be something that works for almost any user. I am going to try the goclickfree.com DVD-only backup which looks like a very clever concept. I talked to CMS Products with quite a line-up of solutions, but wherever you turned at the show someone was promoting a backup methodology.

One of the few booths with frequent crowding was the Road Mice booth (redliointeractive.com) where they showed remarkably accurate (and licensed) wireless car model mice. A pricy but interesting concept was shown with the nPower PEG which will charge your portable battery device using the energy generating by walking.

Greening of Technology
We have been talking about green and making steps for years. As a people we are still finding our way, but I see evidence of real utility. Now we can find real green products. One of my Intel conversations was about the latest wake mechanism called Remote Wake Technology. This will allow PCs to shift into a lowest power mode yet be able to wake up to incoming events. I don’t know if it will be widely implemented and adopted but I hope so—check it out.

The whole question of what to do is still the biggest green/carbon issue as far as I am concerned. I had some good conversations that lead me to think we are beginning to come to grips with reality. I enjoyed speaking with Engaged Recycling, best known for the website http://myboneyard.com/. I was impresssed talking about modeling in this world of social responsibility with Planet Metrics who are clearly expert in the segment.

Even the expanded use of netbooks should reduce power consumption by personal computing devices. I saw some smart power strips that make practical good sense, coming soon from Tricklestar. The Ecobutton is also a great concept to click when you walk away to set power down.

In closing I should add I appreciated Koss showing the football playoff game and providing wireless headsets for all to listen as well. As attendees and the show ran out of energy on the last day (Sunday) it was a welcome respite for feet and mind. That is more than enough of my public rambling on CES 2009. You will have to track me down for any more stories from Las Vegas.

Posted in Tech Life | 873 Comments »

Tripping on Telephony at CES

January 15th, 2009

Most telephony new products are about mobile, but I pay almost no attention to every kind of accessory or feature for your mobile phone. No need to hear from me since the mobile mainstream is covered in many places—see Palm in the news. I still use a Palm IIIc (occasionally) and liked the work they did on the human interface, so I hope the new phone is as good as claimed. We know the mobile world needs plenty of advances in that category. Read about it elsewhere.

Of course, VoIP is on my view screen, but there is not much new to report. Try as you might, I don’t think there was a Skype phone anywhere except under the counter, which was a trend started last year. By changing management frequently no one can be responsible for where there should be embarrassment and concern at Skype. Partners are long ago lost in the dust bin. At least they did have a press conference promising new directions and an evening party. It’s good being king. I hope it works out.

The two VoIP consumer plays at CES live in a space I can’t quite imagine. Both Ooma and MagicJack have product and company strengths that defy logic and economics. Ooma has a pending DECT phone with features that I conceived of years ago, then as an open platform. Maybe someday that could happen, but no matter what evolution comes to pass I see a huge money pit that will be difficult to escape from. Too little too late, but they still look cool.

MagicJack has pulled off a significant integration of technology and network, but I don’t see where a business model based on upgrade revenue can work well. The first premise of selling to the most cost-sensitive users and then selling upgrades seems a contradiction. At least Ooma requires an entry fee that establishes some financial commitment. The greater fool theory of investment requires an environment of “irrational exuberance,” which seems quite unlikely in the foreseeable future for both of these companies.

Packet 8 was there representing the mainstream of VoIP, but like many exhibitors had plenty of time to talk to anyone who ventured by. A few other vendors were in evidence with small/medium office contributions. I did not recall seeing the Teligent phone system (by CSI Design) before. It looks like another in a long line of interesting products, but with no means to penetrate the small business market.

The one telephony play of interest was Newber. There have been various alternate or virtual phone number plays in the past and I think it remains a good area for innovation. Newber allows you to use a virtual number to control separate business and personal calls on a single mobile phone– now on iPhone. A fairly simple concept that should have many users, especially if it can work without subscribing to their more comprehensive VoIP hosted solutions.. It also has a location aware function so that calls can be auto-routed to the phone you are near. Pretty cool.

The most under-exploited telephone capability is text messaging. Unfortunately it is mostly locked up in proprietary islands and costly use cases. Cherple looks to have broken through this land of silos. Especially attractive is the consumer solution that allows text messages to be originated on the Internet and sentwithout cost to any US phone. Phones can respond, subject to the user’s text plan cost. This would be a winner in any market where it is possible. I see a big upside for this venture.

Posted in Skype, Tech Life, Telephony, VoIP | 791 Comments »

A Subdued CES 2009

January 13th, 2009

As I usually do, I walked every inch of the CES floor (well almost) and found it not much different than other CES shows, except it sure was easier walking. Not ever did I take a different aisle to avoid a crowd, nor I was jostled much, and there was little need for zigging and zagging down the aisles. From this attendees view that was not bad, but certainly the reduced traffic is sign of the economic times. Still there is no better place to get a handle on the consumer tech industry.

An advantage that I enjoyed was the ability to engage in useful extended conversations with product managers and engineers. Since my life has shifted to more of a software focus I miss tracking hardware evolution from an insider view. I had two longer conversations with Intel engineers, one on wireless and another about platform issues.

Wireless has been an evolving story for some time and now we are pushing into reality for wirelessly moving video around your house. While it is obvious why we may want this, I have to question how much we should be pushing wireless especially at higher frequencies. I am no Chicken Little about this, but there is no question we don’t know a lot. The newer high speed solution uses two frequencies and needs the high frequency for maximum bandwidth. While there are built-in algorithms for allocating the transmission, I would like some choice of selecting a preferred frequency, but this would be an acknowledgement that it just might be important.

I was far more impressed with flat wiring alternatives for moving data. Two vendors were at CES. I did not get into all the details, but I was very impressed with the concept. If you have not seen this imagine being able to wire (essentially anything) just like using wallboard tape. Spackle over and paint like no one was ever there—I think that is the deal? Here is where it should be trivial to mention the two companies I saw at CES. I have no sample, no business card, brochure or any schwag to make that easy. Even worse, it is not easy to find in the CES Show Directory. After some research I see Southwire as one of the company’s with their product Flatwire. The wire is available in modest spool sizes for do-it-yourself projects.

My other enlightening conversation with an Intel engineer was about platforms. Intel was trying to show how the different platforms are to be used, I think to be especially sure that consumers don’t adopt Atom-based solutions for all computing! The industry has never been completely integrated from hardware (processors, etc.) to software (Microsoft mostly), but this is keeping users from the best exploitation of the technology available. There are several dimensions to getting the most from available technology. The quad processor offers plenty of technical advantages, but how can apps and you take the best advantage? You can’t really, but it can get better. We have been sold multi-threading for some time, but this is a new dimension—IF you could actually effectively use four processors. It is a problem for each app, but of more interest to me is how could the O.S. best serve users? Unfortunately I think there is a lot of theory and capability, but I don’t think it will soon be exploited fully. And, yes, the Atom processor was everywhere, but it is not the only processor being used for various netbook products.

Posted in Product, Tech Life | 1,365 Comments »

What Happens in Vegas May Not be Widely Circulated

January 10th, 2009

Day 2 still didn’t get me into the mainstream at CES. I detoured for an open Q&A session on blogging successfully with Robert Scoble and Gary Vaynerchuk. Well, if you did blog with them you sure would be successful. In a room full of bloggers it may be covered somewhere, but it was more an inside conversation. Gary in particular thought it was good that social media is not understood, and furthermore that there was no need to convince others. It is a time to enjoy the exploitation and emerge in a strong position. The underlying observation was the parallel to the internet bubble bursting and the following emergence of blogging. We now have the same opportunity again. While it may be tough, you are not standing in a crowd and can rise to a visible position. Obviously lots more was discussed. I am not going to be the one to open the door. It was Vegas after all.

Posted in Social Networking, Tech Life | 3,532 Comments »

Day 1 in the Backwaters of CES

January 9th, 2009

My CES is different than what you read everywhere. I live on the edge, looking for innovation, uniqueness and even odd or strange things. It’s all here, even as we adjust to a calmer CES with reduced expectations. My first day was at the Sands or Sands/Venetian as they merge from hallway to show. No matter how you look at it, the Sands is lost, a long shuttle bus ride from the LVCC (Las Vegas Convention Center). Almost all new entrants will first be seen at the Sands, so where else must I go to see virgin ideas, products and companies.

There is no cure for being in the backwaters of any trade show. It is the strip mall without a magnet store. On the first day of the show it is always slow there, as I know too well. (I have been stuck there at my outpost many times waiting for the visitors to arrive.) So this year I am working the aisle-side only. I speed by most hopeful faces looking for someone to find their wares interesting. I am sorry to say that many are appropriately placed in the backwaters land of the lost. I press on seeking value.

In some ways I am not a good reporter. I am not going to repeat PR stories about the biggest whatever. I can’t easily summarize my first day in a list of newsworthy observations. It is a somewhat a blur that needs to be digested, but that won’t stop me from writing today. So I do get some laughs. The best chuckle was from an idea that I talked about with my best friend. Hands-free phones, we thought –why not just strap the phone to your head? There it was, a company doing just that—Velcro your phone to the headband and you are in business. I was surprised to see 3 or 4 companies with brain enhancing technology. Everyone has a brain so it should be a big market.

There were a few companies with video management technologies. One had a clever way of searching through a video to find the part you wanted. Boxee has a great interface for finding the video program/clip you want from a wide range of providers, and you can add your own favorite places as well, as long as a feed is available. Video is really merging well with the PC, even as it is being made easier to use without a PC.

There is always a shockingly simple product that someone bravely brings to market. This year a shield to use to cover your messy/ugly background for videoconferencing looks like a winner. Like the pop-open windshield sun screens it offers a light weight block, in this case blocking your distracting surroundings. This concept has been around, but this is a nice implementation– thewebaround.com. Speaking of video there was a beta announcement from Vue for a nice video remote viewing system. This has been coming and this looks like a great product. It is a standalone system with multiple cameras to let you monitor remotely. Got to get back into the melee at the main hall—to see the “real” news, but that is reported everywhere.

Posted in Tech Life | 837 Comments »

More Social Networking on the Road

January 9th, 2009

For most Californians the road to Las Vegas goes through Barstow. –Well, in today’s world that means it goes around Barstow. Barstow is one of the cities along the iconic Route 66. In the past Barstow must have been like a beacon to those heading west seeking a new life. Still in the high desert, I am sure travelers’ heads started to fill with visions of the Pacific Ocean, Hollywood and the life they were seeking. For me Barstow is a bit of an oasis on the road, a respite from flying low with the hammer down marking off the minutes to Las Vegas. To me Barstow is the Idle Spurs restaurant.

Long before Barstow became a marker to pass by, my path to Las Vegas ran along highway 58. It still does but now a new route 58 joins I-15 will the sole intent of missing Barstow. Before the modernization I found the Idle Spurs as most travelers looking for a break from fast food and hoping for a good meal. You get that and more. I peruse the menu, yet every time I order a house specialty prime rib—I’m a cowboy now.

The Idle Spurs has always seemed to me a mecca of social networking, but, of course I wouldn’t have called it social networking. I really don’t know much about Barstow, but from stopping at the Idle Spurs I know the people there know each other. It is worlds apart from Silicon Valley and far different than the college scene that birthed Facebook. Every time I am there I marvel a bit to myself of the conversations overheard all about connections. I can see the references to high school years in connecting directly, through siblings, relatives and across generations. Years ago I must have thought it a bit quaint, not thinking too much about it.

Today I think about social networking and the social graph. Barstow lives it, breathes it as every small town does. On one hand I am thinking why would anyone here give a rip about social networking in my context? My community is virtual and worldwide, rarely if ever sitting across a table, but with a richness you couldn’t find in this rural town. Where does this virtual world fit in Barstow? What can technology, Web 2,0, social applications do for this seeming pure world? Yet I am just as sure that social networking in my context may be used differently, but can be very meaningful in Barstow. My dinners in Barstow will never be the same now.

Posted in Social Networking, Tech Life | 783 Comments »

Social Networking on I-5

January 8th, 2009

Most may not enjoy the long drive from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas, but it a well worn path that works for me. The I-5 part is not the best part, but there I was caught in the inevitable conga line working past a line of trucks. And a couple of cars in front some strange thing strapped on top of a Jeep Wagoneer—or whatever they call those today. Funny looking legs sticking up at all angles. What is that thing and how safely is it secured?

I am thinking I probably don’t want to be behind it whatever it is. As I get closer and eventually pass. I think I better speed up. How can he drive nearly 80 mph with that thing? –Whatever that is with the platform hanging over the rear window. It must be valuable. It seems well wrapped, but I can’t take the time to study as I get past. It’s not a table, but it has legs, or are they antennae?

Oh no it’s catching up and I speed up. This could lead to a great conversation. “But officer I didn’t want to be behind that if it came off. Did you see it? I think you should investigate. Maybe they are aliens.” Where is the highway twitter stream? Maybe a url to explain this. I really am curious and I don’t want it falling off, that’s for sure. Social networking is solving more problems everyday. We need the highway twitter stream or didyouseethat.com.

Posted in Social Networking, Tech Life | 1,646 Comments »

Which Phone Technology or Application is Dead Now?

December 22nd, 2008

It is fun (and seasonal) to close the door on something as dead or being totally over. I have been playing with the concept that your phone is dead. There are two dimensions to this telephony question in my mind, technology and application.

It is great to speculate about some view of VoIP that finds it to be dead. You need to have a very specific view to make such a comment. VoIP, as a technology, is everywhere. That game is over– VoIP wins. As an application you could have a different view. Now all the pretenders, and they are legion, exploiting VoIP claiming to have invented some variation on perpetual motion are lining up to be declared dead. I am more amazed that some are still flourishing by any virtual measure. The search for greater fools to make a graceful exit becomes more difficult in the financial times we are mired in now. The grim reaper is stalking these operations.

From a technology perspective I think it would be hard to declare legacy (digital/analog) telephony dead as well. We would be speechless without it. It is a game that may be over in many ways, but gone it won’t be for some time. –How long has fax been dead? I rest my case.

From an application view I have been considering proclaiming your phone dead, or at least “over.” Almost every mode of communication is more useful, than a legacy phone call, that includes mobile. Of course we still talk, but the category of a “cold call” now includes your friends or almost any call. I find this to be the biggest story in telephony. Who made text so cheap to demand that we use it? Instant messaging and now Twitter variations and any other text mode is more useful. Where are you? How do you feel? What’s on your mind? Who would call to ask how are you? Your mother– we can count on that, of course.

While I am in a bashing mode I am pretty harsh on videoconferencing , but this is very different. I have been too close to videoconferencing since 1995. I was suspicious then and have seen it proclaimed as the next thing for so long, I could be tired of it. We have it integrated all over and that certainly makes it easy finally, but the value is still exaggerated. That is a subject in itself, but an unwelcome interrupting call is no more attractive because of video! Family, lovers and never-ending porn variations have real value. This does not make it a vital dimension of communication, no matter how much you love your mother. (A reference to porn and your mother is not good in the same logical sequence, but you get the idea.)

Posted in NextGen Telephony, Social Networking, Tech Life, Telephony, VoIP | 7,538 Comments »

Who Would Call Voxox Another Skype Killer?

November 17th, 2008

Of course, we like such phrases to capture mind share and claim a market position. I certainly hope that it was not PR activity from Voxox that planted the idea of being a Skype killer. With such praise I fell for downloading yet another voice/comm/VoIP client. I don’t know why. Consider that I did it to save you the trouble.

I did not get far and I am going no further. You may appropriately read between the lines. I have many years experience in the land of product design and technology products. Design is to my way of thinking central to whatever your market objective may be. I had to look at the GUI presented which could be called confusing, but I thought I would attempt the most simple action to call a phone number. It seemed a pretty simple first act. It required no other person to download and decode the interface. Simply make a phone call and proceed from there. I don’t know how many of the multitude of claimed capabilities I might have explored, but the result of attempting to dial a phone number revealed all I needed to know. This is not a beta product. It seems to be more an alpha headed toward its omega.

I entered a phone number to dial and got the following error message. “Please hold all the phone calls before to place a new one.” End of test. Some coder has an idea what event may have triggered such a message. I am certain something is wrong. I really don’t care what it is. During development all kind of error codes may be used to indicate events and trap behavior. If you expect a user to have any role in evolving a product, I would suggest one of two messages. 1. – a cryptic code that would require an inquiry or look up for possible meaning. (Microsoft has mastered this technique) Or 2. – an actual message express in words that would tell a user what has occurred. A cryptic message that masquerades as useful information only shows contempt for users. Please to hold all comments that claim reviewer mistake of code interpret. Advise to uninstall before to use again.

P.S. I might have guessed. After “uninstalling” and restarting Voxox continues to haunt. I will have to take extra steps to have an exorcism for my PC. This is definitely alpha to omega.

Posted in NextGen Telephony, Product, Skype, VoIP | 660 Comments »

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