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Covers the latest news, insight, analysis, blogs and product reviews of unified communications equipment and software. Topics include transmission of voice communications over a wired or wireless network using technologies such as VoIP, IP Telephony, IP PBX, press-to-talk and computer-based voice.
Top VOIP & Telephony News
BroadPoint AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie said a Google smartphone made by one vendor would be preferable to devices that pair hardware from Motorola, HTC and others with software and services from Google. The analyst said a Google phone would be a fine growth opportunity for the search engine as it seeks to extend its tendrils on the mobile Internet. Apple, by virtue of its singular choke point for hardware, applications and services, is best positioned to weather any Google phone attack. McKechnie expects 37.3 million iPhones will be sold worldwide in 2010, and said Apple could double its market share within a few years.
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Polycom is unveiling its ATX 300 offering, designed to enable businesses to work with audiovisual integrators to create customized telepresence environments based on Polycom technology. Polycom officials say this differentiates ATX 300 from the turnkey solutions rivals like Cisco and Tandberg offer.
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I read something yesterday that rankled me. In an interview with the New York Times, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein knocked the Motorola Droid, questioning its mainstream market appeal and dismissing the device as a techie phone. The Droid gracefully enabled me to use the same applications I use on my laptop for work and personal use, with little drop off in user experience. How is that not a sign of a great consumer device? Isn't Apple's iPhone touted for the same? What is a techie phone? Meanwhile, Google is reportedly building the Google Phone we've all been reading about for two years.
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News Analysis: The iPhone might be the leader in the mobile phone market, but that success won't be enough to stop Android's rise. Google's platform is simply too compelling and too appealing to consumers not to capture significant market share.
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Texting, e-mailing, Web surfing, searching, Facebooking and video watching are all increasing pursuits of mobile phone users, says the third in a series of studies. Since the first, mobile phone users have doubled their “non-voice communications.”
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Verizon Wireless and Motorola sold 250,000 units of the Motorola Droid smartphone in its first week, compared to the 1.6 million units of the iPhone 3GS Apple and AT&T sold in its first week, according to mobile analytics firm Flurry.
Apple launched its handset in eight countries at the same time; the Droid launched in the United States only. Flurry said Verizon's aggressive campaign coupled with its 3G network advantage positions the Droid as a legitimate challenger to the iPhone.
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News Analysis: Instead of retelling the Google Android-based Droid versus Apple iPhone grudge match, I'm putting the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris in the steel cage. My ground rule for testing and comparing the phones was that I wanted to turn them on and begin using them without looking at the tip guides. Call it an intuitiveness test. The Eris runs Android 1.5, the Droid runs Android 2.0. The Android operating system was a breeze to navigate on both smartphones, allowing me to flit from one application or phone feature to the next with virtually no time spent on learning how to use the devices. And the winner is ...
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Research in Motion’s new Blackberry smart phones like the Blackberry Storm2 9550 and the Blackberry Bold 9700 come with the new Blackberry 5.0 operation system. When paired with the latest RIM server solution, Blackberry Enterprise Server 5.0, enterprise users will experience new email, calendar, and file sharing capabilities.
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Google Nov. 12 confirmed that it had acquired Gizmo5 for an undisclosed sum. Gizmo5 makes Web-based calling software for mobile phones and computers. Specifically, it provides a Web-based VOIP client that lets users make phone calls over the Internet, similar to programs such as Skype. Some speculate Gizmo5 will evolve into a new version of the Google Talk voice and video chat application, supporting Google Voice and its many voicemail management features, including automatic voicemail transcription. Many industry watchers agree this deal puts Google Voice and Skype, which Google reportedly tried to acquire earlier this year, on a collision course.
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Hewlett-Packard's $2.7 billion bid for 3Com will enable HP to fill some holes in its ProCurve product portfolio as it continues to challenge Cisco Systems in the $40 billion networking space, and as the two sides collide in the burgeoning competition for converged data center solutions. According to some analysts, Cisco owned about 52 percent of the networking market, while HP and 3Com were a distant second and third, followed by a host of other vendors. Combined, HP and 3Com will have about 20 percent of the market, making it a solid No. 2 to Cisco. The deal also adds to HP's unified communications story and gives it greater traction in the important Chinese market.
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota writes to Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell C. McAdam and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski criticizing Verizon's decision to double the penalty fees to $350 for smartphone subscribers who leave their contracts early.
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News Analysis: Mac OS X might be considered far more secure than Windows today, but that may be changing over time. Apple's operating system is now a bigger target than ever. As more people jump on the Mac bandwagon, more and more malware makers will follow.
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Cisco Systems is extending the deadline for shareholders of Tandberg to accept its $3 billion offer for the Norwegian video conferencing company. The deadline is now Nov. 18. So far, Cisco has only received acceptance from investors who hold 9.37 percent of Tandberg stock. Cisco officials are looking for a 90 percent acceptance, or they will consider withdrawing the offer.
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Sprint Nextel plans to shed 2,500 jobs from its work force by the end of 2009. Sprint Nextel is the latest technology company to have layoffs in a series of job cuts in the past week that included Microsoft, Real networks, and Nokia Siemens.
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News Analysis: The iPhone is under attack by a relatively inconsequential worm that has found its way onto jailbroken iPhones in Australia. It might not affect too many users, but it does underscore the fact that the iPhone isn't as secure as people like to think.
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The current economy, business climate and technology trends have combined to make this a perfect time for hosted IP PBX systems. 8x8's Virtual Office is a turnkey system that provides all of the functionality of full-featured corporate PBX systems, without the upfront implementation and management costs. However, much of Virtual Office's Web-based interface is unintuitive, making ongoing management chores more difficult than they need to be.
Despite current iPhone limitations, Skype 1.0.1 for Apple iPhone performed well in eWEEK Labs' tests, providing most of Skype’s functionality--including instant message chats, presence and profile editing--on Wi-Fi, EDGE or (most likely) 3G. Voice calls are limited to Wi-Fi, but that can be a plus, depending on AT&T network coverage in your area. Next up is Skype support for (some) BlackBerry devices.
Savi Office, from Plantronics, offers more than a wireless headset solution with simultaneous connection to both a desk phone and PC. Savi Office also offers the PerSono software suite for controlling device behavior and for bridging content between communications channel. However, the flexible solution comes at a steep price and is not yet enterprise-ready. And it can only be used with Microsoft Windows-based PCs, though Plantronics says users of Apple Macs will be able to use the Savi Office devices as headsets.
With the recession raging and IT budgets contracting, enterprises looking to deploy unified communications solutions need to ensure that they're focused on the business objectives behind the plan. Even in this troubled economy, enterprises need to resist the urge to cut corners, which could hamper UC projects at the onset. IT administrators also must be careful with UC products that are on the market. Some UC solutions, like the ones from Unison, come up short on features that address all an enterprise's UC needs. Others, like those from Microsoft, fill most of a business's UC needs, but come at a high price.
Scopia Conferencing Platform manages to coax disparate conference room and desktop videoconferencing solutions into relative harmony.
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Hitachi announces IT Operations Analyzer software.
IT Operations Analyzer software monitors and diagnoses issues in multivendor network environments.
Web-based interface, agent-less, multiple network views and automated root cause analysis help maximize network availability and reduce expenses.
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VOIP & Telephony 
